犬も歩けば棒に当たる。

Sentence Discussions Japanese
#1
English Translation

Every dog has his day.

Is this an expression?

#2

@ericaw
Yes, it’s a well-known Japanese proverb. It has two different meanings:

  1. If a dog goes out (i.e. doing something ordinary things), it can find a wood stick (i.e. a good one to play with).

  2. Such an active person also inevitably bears negative risks (i.e. finding a wood stick is like being hit by a car).

The first meaning is often translated as “A flying crow always catches something” in English (see 英辞郎). But I personally find the second meaning more often in use.

犬も歩けば棒に当たる is included in いろはかるた (a traditional Japanese card game to memorize 50音 with illustrations). This proverb is usually illustrated like this.