Meaning of the fish dies through the mouth (what is it, concept and definition)

What is the fish dies through the mouth:

The saying "By the mouth the fish dies" is a call for discretion. He resorts to the image of fishing, whose success depends on the carelessness of the fish that does not warn of danger and opens its mouth to bite the hook, which is, by itself, the real cause of its perdition.

Indeed, many people get into trouble as a result of not knowing how to keep sensitive information, either their own or someone else's, which exposes them to suffer the consequences of their slip. Popular wisdom portrays this situation through this image.

In this sense, the saying teaches that those who speak more than necessary reveal themselves or get into trouble because of their indiscretion. Therefore, it can be used as a warning or it can be used to sentence the result of an imprudence committed by an indiscreet person.

A similar meaning has the expression "One is master of what is silent and slave of what he says." Other expressions that may have a similar meaning are "he who speaks a lot errs a lot"; "If the juil did not open their mouth they would never catch it" or "In a closed mouth no flies enter".

This saying has other variants, depending on the country and culture. One of them is "Partridge dies by the beak", which is applied with the same meaning.

See also:

• In a closed mouth, no flies enter; the one with a mouth is wrong.