when the cat's away the mice will play

when the cat's away the mice will play

English

Alternative forms

• when the cat’s away the mice play
• when the cat's away

Proverb

when the cat’s away the mice will play

1. In the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances.

Translations

in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances

Afrikaans: as die kat weg is, is die muis baas (af) (literally “when the cat's away the mouse is boss.”) Arabic: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Cantonese: please add this translation if you can Mandarin: 山中無老虎，猴子稱大王／山中无老虎，猴子称大王 (shānzhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàwáng), 老虎不再山，猴子稱大王／老虎不再山，猴子称大王 (lǎohǔ bù zài shān, hóuzi chēng dàwáng) Cimbrian: balda di khatz velt, di maüs tåntzan Czech: když kocour není doma, myši mají pré (cs) Danish: når katten er ude, spiller musene på bordet Dutch: als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel (nl) Esperanto: kiam kato promenas, la musoj festenas Estonian: kui kassid läinud, on hiirtel pidu Finnish: kun kissa on poissa, hiiret hyppivät pöydällä French: quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent (fr), le chat parti, les souris dansent (fr) German: ist die Katze aus dem Haus, tanzen die Mäuse auf dem Tisch (de) (literally “if the cat's out of the house, the mice dance on the table”) Greek: όταν λείπει η γάτα χορεύουν τα ποντίκια (ótan leípei i gáta chorévoun ta pontíkia) Hungarian: ha nincs otthon a macska, cincognak az egerek (hu) Icelandic: þegar kötturinn er frá fara mýsnar á stjá Irish: nuair a bhíonn an cat amuigh, bíonn na lucha ag rince Italian: quando il gatto non c'è, i topi ballano Japanese: 鬼いぬ間の洗濯 (おにいぬまのせんたく, oni inu ma-no sentaku), 鼬無き間の貂誇り (いたちなきまのてんほこり, itachi naki ma no ten hokori), 鼬無き間の鼠 (いたちなきまのねずみ, itachi naki ma no nezumi) Khmer: ឆ្មាមិននៅ កណ្ដុរឡើងរាជ្យ (cmaa mɨn nɨv kɑndol laəŋ riec) Kikuyu: hiti ciathiĩ mbwe ciegangara, ngatia ciathiĩ hiti cĩeragara Korean: 고양이가 없으면 쥐가 살판이 난다 (goyang'iga eopseumyeon jwiga salpani nanda) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: kitik ne li mal e, navê mişkî Evdal e Latin: audācem reddit fēlis absentia murem, fēle comprehensā saltant murēs in mensā, quō nōn versantur cattī mures dominantur Luxembourgish: wann d’Kaz fort ass, sinn d’Mais Meeschter (literally “when the cat is gone, the mice are masters”) Norwegian: når katten er borte, danser musene på bordet (when the cat’s away, the mice are dancing on the table) Persian: در خانه کسی که گربه نباشد موش کدخداست‎ Polish: gdy kota nie ma, myszy harcują (pl) Portuguese: quando o gato sai, os ratos fazem a festa Romanian: când pisica nu-i acasă, joacă șoarecii pe masă (literally “when the cat isn't home, the mice are dancing on the table”) Russian: без кота́ мыша́м раздо́лье (bez kotá myšám razdólʹje), кот из дома - мыши в пляс (kot iz doma - myši v pljas) Scottish Gaelic: tha fios aig an luch nach eil an cat a-staigh Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: где мачке у кући нема ту мишеви коло воде Roman: gde mačke u kući nema tu miševi kolo vode Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: gaž jo kócor z domu, ga maju myšy swóju wólu Spanish: cuando el gato no está, bailan los ratones, cuando el gato no está los ratones están de fiesta, cuando el gato no está, los ratones bailan (es) Swedish: när katten är borta, dansar råttorna på bordet (sv) Telugu: రౌతు మెత్తనైతే గుర్రం మూడు కాళ్ళ మీద పరిగెత్తుతుంది (rautu mettanaitē gurraṁ mūḍu kāḷḷa mīda parigettutundi) Thai: แมวไม่อยู่ หนูระเริง, แมวไม่อยู่ หนูร่าเริง Vietnamese: vắng chủ nhà, gà vọc niêu tôm

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman (1996) Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, →ISBN, page 367