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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

my bark will lose it's bite

English answer:

my sharp tongue will lose its (cutting) edge

Added to glossary by airmailrpl
Jun 9, 2014 16:59
10 yrs ago
8 viewers *
English term

my bark will lose it's bite

Non-PRO Not for points English Other General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters lyrics/colloquial expression
I heard this expression in Zac Brown Band's song titled Sweet Annie. It goes like this:
"But one day lightning will strike, and my bark will lose its bite"
What is the meaning of this? Thank you!
Responses
4 my sharp tongue will lose its (cutting) edge
4 My talk will go without consequences from then on
Change log

Jun 9, 2014 17:01: writeaway changed "Field (specific)" from "Poetry & Literature" to "General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters" , "Field (write-in)" from "lyrics" to "lyrics/colloquial expression"

Jun 12, 2014 07:24: airmailrpl Created KOG entry

Discussion

airmailrpl Jun 12, 2014:
"Discussion entries" Text boxes may be used only for their intended purposes. For example:

The "Discussion entries" box provides a place to post additional exchanges of information and linguistic discussions on the question.
Peter Simon Jun 12, 2014:
@airmailrpl You seem to have gone on a personal vengeance trip with your last remark. Answerers to the Q should consider that if the asker had a problem with the original idiomatic phrase, he could now ask if your tongue is of steel, and who rasped its(!) edge away. Then you added a few poetic line, "My sharp tongue has been a contradiction to the convictions I have ..." In short, you explained an idiom with another kind, expanded it and added more idioms as explanation. Your sentences are all fine, but to what extent do you think they'll help one with the original problem? Then you state that my explanation has nothing to do with the phrase. IMHO, that didn't have much to do with your steely tongue as such but with how the person uses it and to what effect. In my expl, "effects of perhaps threatening sb" and "lose the sting, i.e. the consequences of his barking, i.e. his talk" are about this. All that you've said are nice and correct except "its edge" but helps the asker little.
Rachel Fell Jun 12, 2014:
but always in this phrase "its", not "it's"
Wendy Cummings Jun 10, 2014:
his bark is worse than his bite For information, this is loosely drawn from the idiom "his bark is worse than his bite" which means a person who makes lots of threats but doesn't follow through on them (imagine a dog that barks a lot but only bites very gently!)
Peter Simon Jun 9, 2014:
@writeaway thanks
writeaway Jun 9, 2014:
@ Peter Simon hide the answer and then post a new answer in English explaining what a bark losing its bite means.
Peter Simon Jun 9, 2014:
@ unfortunately, I can't change my original Hu answer to E ... :( but I'm sure Balla Bill will understand me.
Peter Simon Jun 9, 2014:
@writeaway You're properly quick to notice the discrepancy in my answer. Sorry, I wasn't careful about the category as I'm doing translation work as well. Hope it's alright with my added expl. in E.
writeaway Jun 9, 2014:
Would you like this changed to Hungarian monolingual or English-Hungarian?

Responses

21 hrs
Selected

my sharp tongue will lose its (cutting) edge

my bark will lose it's bite => my sharp tongue will lose its (cutting) edge

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Note added at 21 hrs (2014-06-10 14:53:40 GMT)
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Are You Sharp-Tongued? (Part One)
www.cgg.org/index.cfm/...sr/.../Are-You-Sharp-Tongued-Part-...
Words can be the warmest of embraces or the hardest of slaps in the face. ... We may smile at first, but after a while we pay little attention to them and their words. .... words can cut us and wound us, because something in the experience will teach us what ... My sharp tongue has been a contradiction to the convictions I have ...

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Note added at 2 days7 hrs (2014-06-12 00:26:17 GMT)
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Are You Sharp-Tongued? (Part One)
www.cgg.org/index.cfm/...sr/.../Are-You-Sharp-Tongued-Part-...
The idea of a "sharp tongue" was always humorous to me as a child. ... An old song goes: "You always hurt the one you love, the one you shouldn't hurt at all.

Are You Sharp-Tongued? (Part Two)
www.cgg.org/index.cfm/.../Are-You-Sharp-Tongued-Part-Two.ht...
James' exhortation about the use of our tongues seems to stop with James 3:12. However, the rest of the chapter provides additional wisdom on controll.
Peer comment(s):
neutral Peter Simon : Nice and poetic ... but not much to do with this situation. Then, your explanation is just as much in need of explanation as the original. Unfortunately, your reference can't be found, it's damaged or sg.
5 hrs
actually it is exactly what the speaker meant to say
Something went wrong...
52 mins
English term (edited): my bark will lose it\'s bite

My talk will go without consequences from then on

It's like the original dog in 'barking dogs don't bite' first also had the bite, the essential effects of perhaps threatening sb, but will lose the sting, i.e. the consequences of his barking, i.e. his talk, because of the said event. So in this case, 'I'll only keep blubbering'.
Peer comment(s):
neutral writeaway : it's actually more about the impact of what he says (or other verb since I don't know this at all). but it's about losing impact, losing effect imo /I was unaware that impact and consequences were absolute synonyms. whatever.....
12 mins
And what does 'consequences' mean if not impact or effect, imho? I also included the possibility of threats in my answer, that's quite an impact, but I didn't want to narrow it down too much. Kákán csomó ...
neutral airmailrpl : not much to do with this situation.
2 days 6 hrs
Something went wrong...
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