打狗还得看主人 in English da3 gou3 hai2 dei3 kan4 zhu3 ren2 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) when one beats a dog, one must answer to its master (idiomatic expression)
  • metaphorically before punishing somebody, one should consider how that would affect others associated with him

Simplified Characters

打 狗 还 得 看 主 人

Traditional Characters

打 狗 還 得 看 主 人

Pinyin

da3 gou3 hai2 dei3 kan4 zhu3 ren2

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

打da3dozen (loanword) 狗gou3dog 还hai2surname Huan 得de2to obtain 看kan4to look after 主zhu3owner 人ren2man