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Where does the saying don't cut off your nose to spite your face come from?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
The idiom means that you should not do something that affects you badly just to get even with someone.
It may have come from legends of pious women disfiguring themselves in order to protect their virginity. One example is a Mother Superior who had all of the nuns in her convent cut off their noses to make themselves physically unattractive to Viking raiders, who might be intent on raping them. Instead, the Vikings became angered and burned down the convent.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
The saying "don't cut off your nose to spite your face" dates back to the 12th century. It originated from a story about a man who, in a fit of anger, cut off his nose to spite his own face. The phrase is used to caution against taking self-destructive actions out of spite or revenge.
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What does Dont' cut off your nose to spite your face mean?
It means that you do something in anger that will only hurt you
Which is correct Cut off your nose despite your face or Cut off your nose to spite your face?
'to spite'
Cut of your nose to spite your face?
"Cutting off the nose to spite the face" is an expression used to describe a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem: "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is a warning against pursuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one's anger.
Why is it easier to get your emotions out over a text?
Because we are 21st century people and we dont get interupted if we are saying it face to face and they cant see our emotions so we wont get embarassed if we are crying.
What is a famous saying that jennie finch said?
i dont want to be just a pretty face. i want to go out on the field and prove something.
When will Mindless Behavior come to Mississippi?
I really dont think but so i hope that they do one day.but for all the people out there who dont mindless behavior will come.one day when they come im going to say in your face
How do you tell a girl you like her in a text message?
u should tell her face to face that is better then anything just dont come on 2 strong she might get scared
What is the difference between the outside of a frog's nostril and a humans?
Frogs noses are much smaller and dont come out of their face. They are just two holes simply in the middle of their face
What does inspitation mean?
It's actually two words, the proposition "in" and the word "spite". Spite is a motivation for doing mean or cruel or hurtful things, and often boils down to a kind of mean-spirited revenge. "To cut off your nose to spite your face" is an expression meaning that sometimes doing harm to another does greater harm to yourself. The "spite your face" part, means that you think you are doing something mean to your face by cutting off your nose. Spite is often the feeling we have when we say, "I'll show him!". It sometimes takes the form of wilful and peevish disobedience as a kind of revenge. It is this meaning that comes across in the phrase "in spite of". E.g. "My dad told me not to go to the party, but in spite of what he said, I went anyway." By extension, it can mean wilful and peevish disobedience to the common-sense dictates of reality. E.g. "In spite of the pouring rain, I determined to go tenting." The word "despite", which obviously comes from the same root, means exactly the same thing.
What would happen if i crapped on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's face?
you dog will have green and orange poo and you will turn gay then next symptom is you eyes will turn inside out and you will not stop saying the word oesophegus so dont poop on his face bebs
What if the guy you like knows you like him?
Act as though you dont care. Then either talk to him and come out to him face-to-face and see where the relationship could go from there or ignore him and don't do anything at all about it.
What was the first animal to have a face?
What animals dont have a face.
