behind every successful man there stands a woman

behind every successful man there stands a woman

English

WOTD – 8 March 2020

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhaɪnd ˌɛvɹi səkˈsɛsfl̩ ˈmæn ðɛə ˈstændz ə ˈwʊmən/, /bə-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhaɪnd ˌɛvɹi səkˈsɛsfl̩ ˈmæn ðɛɚ ˈstændz ə ˈwʊmən/
• Hyphenation: be‧hind eve‧ry suc‧cess‧ful man there stands a wo‧man

• Audio (US, male voice)

  (file)

• Audio (US, female voice)

  (file)

Proverb

behind every successful man there stands a woman

1. A man’s achievements are made possible by the support and work of their wife or female partner.

   Synonyms: behind every great man is a great woman, behind every great man there stands a woman

Usage notes

The intention of the saying is not so much to make a factual observation, but to acknowledge the support that normally remains behind the scenes.

Translations

men's success often depends on the support and work and support of their wives for female partners

Arabic: وَرَاءَ كُلِّ رَجُلٍ عَظِيمٍ اِمْرَأَةٌ‎ (warāʾa kulli rajulin ʿaẓīmin imraʾatun) Azerbaijani: hər uğurlu kişinin arxasında bir qadın dayanır Bengali: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 每個成功的男人背後都有一個女人／每个成功的男人背后都有一个女人 (měi gè chénggōng de nánrén bèihòu dōu yǒu yīgè nǚrén) Czech: please add this translation if you can Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: achter elke grote man staat een vrouw Finnish: jokaisen menestyvän miehen takana on nainen French: tout homme qui réussit a une femme derrière lui Georgian: ყოველი წარმატებული კაცის უკან ქალი დგას (q̇oveli c̣armaṭebuli ḳacis uḳan kali dgas) German: hinter jedem erfolgreichen Mann steht eine Frau Hebrew: מאחורי כל גבר מצליח עומדת אישה‎ (meakhoréy kol géver matslíakh omédet ishá) Hindi: हर सफल पुरुष के पीछे एक महिला होती है (har saphal puruṣ ke pīche ek mahilā hotī hai) Icelandic: please add this translation if you can Indonesian: di belakang setiap pria sukses ada seorang wanita hebat Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: すべての成功した男の後ろに女がいる (subete no seikō shita otoko no ushiro ni onna ga iru) Korean: please add this translation if you can Latvian: aiz katra veiksmīga vīrieša stāv sieviete Lithuanian: už kiekvieno sėkmingo vyro stovi moteris Norwegian: Bokmål: bak hver vellykket mann står en kvinne Persian: please add this translation if you can Portuguese: por trás de todo grande homem existe uma grande mulher Russian: за ка́ждым успе́шным мужчи́ной стои́т же́нщина (za káždym uspéšnym mužčínoj stoít žénščina) Spanish: detrás de un gran hombre hay una gran mujer Swedish: bakom varje framgångsrik man står en kvinna Tagalog: please add this translation if you can Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: her başarılı erkeğin arkasında bir kadın vardır Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Urdu: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: đằng sau một người đàn ông thành công luôn có bóng dáng người phụ nữ

See also

• the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

Further reading

• “behind every great/successful man there stands a woman” in the Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Gary Martin (1997–), “Behind every great man there's a great woman”, in The Phrase Finder.