Phrases and sayings in English are exciting ways to learn how locals and natives speak with funny little messages. “Don’t pet a burning dog” is one of those idioms that very rarely comes up, but when it does, it will help you to understand what it means. Not many native speakers use this one, but it’s worth learning about nonetheless.
What Is The Meaning Of “Don’t Pet A Burning Dog”?
The meaning of “don’t pet a burning dog” is that you can’t show kindness to an angry, injured, or frightened person or thing because they won’t reciprocate it and will often just attack you. It can also mean a more simple thing, such as “don’t be an idiot,” which many people believe and use in this sense. It’s a good phrase that comes with a few meanings based on who you ask.
Some of the best phrases in English (and the most popular ones) come with more than one potential meaning. They’re made even better when they’re left ambiguous (where no one knows the true answer), and everyone is allowed to figure out exactly what they mean for themselves. Some people believe “don’t be an idiot” is the more appropriate translation, while others believe it’s about showing kindness to the wrong people.
What Is The Origin Of “Don’t Pet A Burning Dog”?
The origin of “don’t pet a burning dog” comes from the 2006 romance movie “A Good Year” by Ridley Scott. It’s said in a scene in this movie and is used in the context that you can’t show kindness to something that doesn’t have the capacity to accept it at the minute. Think about it for a second. If a dog was actually burning, what would it be doing?
It’s pretty simple when you boil it down to the basics. A burning dog would be screaming, crying, and frantically trying to do whatever it takes to stop itself from burning. Thus, when we try to pet that burning dog, we’re going to do one of two things. We either make it worse when we pet it and lead to more suffering, or it attacks us when we pet it because it has absolutely no idea what to do and is just working with its instincts.
It’s a very meaningful saying if you can use it in the right context. However, the reason it’s not commonplace in English is that it’s hard to come across a context where people might use it. You’re better off using a different phrase or idiom that holds a similar meaning because the exact situation where “petting a burning dog” will make sense very rarely comes up. Still, we’ll look at some good examples for it in the next section.
9 Examples Of How To Use “Don’t Pet A Burning Dog”
Okay, as we stated above, it’s not common to find this phrase used in English. Because of this, we’ve had to think hard about the examples we want to share with you. You’ll very rarely find a time to use this yourself, but it’s good to have in your arsenal, just in case. There are plenty of English speakers who know thousands of sayings and have probably only ever used a handful of them.
After all, examples are the best way to learn how to make idioms and sayings work practically. We find the best learning we get when we dedicate some time to practicing with the examples we share here.
- Don’t help that girl anymore if she doesn’t want it. Remember, don’t pet a burning dog.
- Don’t pet a burning dog. If he doesn’t want your help, you can’t do anything about it.
- Make sure you don’t pet a burning dog. You’re only asking for trouble.
- Are you serious? Don’t pet a burning dog and make this situation worse.
- Please don’t pet a burning dog. They’ve made it clear already how they feel.
- Don’t pet a burning dog. They’ll never love you back.
- You mustn’t go to see her today. She’s mad at you. Don’t pet a burning dog.
- How could you do something so stupid? Didn’t your mother ever tell you, don’t pet a burning dog?
- Don’t pet a burning dog, and you won’t end up burning yourself.
As you can see, these situations won’t come up all that often. However, it’s useful to know that you can use the phrase when you’re talking about comforting someone who doesn’t want your help. Obviously, you don’t want to use it to their face because it will be seen as insensitive. In most of these examples, you can see that someone else is talking to you about not continuing to “pet the burning dog” rather than you talking to the “burning dog” yourself.
“Don’t Pet A Burning Dog” Synonyms
There’s one last thing that we think will help you. We’re going to cover a few synonyms that have similar meanings. Of course, it’s hard to come across these because this is a very specific saying. Nevertheless, we came up with a few that you can use. If you come across a situation like in the examples above, then you might end up using one of these instead of the lesser-known “don’t pet a burning dog” quip.
- Don’t be an idiot.
As we said above, many people believe this to be the most appropriate translation of the phrase. However, it doesn’t quite come with the same value when upsetting someone who isn’t looking for help or comfort. Still, this is a great one to use in certain situations.
- Don’t prod a burning house.
Similar to the “burning dog” phrase, this one tells people not to prod a burning house. This time, though, we’re talking about how “prodding a burning house” will only make the fire worse, which is similar to what happens when you “pet a burning dog.”
- They’re beyond help
If you don’t want to use a saying, this simple phrase is a much better way of getting the same meaning across. Everyone will understand what this means if you say it.
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
