add insult to injury

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play

Derived from the fables of Phaedrus in the first century CE. The story was of a bald man who swats at a fly which has just landed on his head, but instead hits himself on the head. The fly comments, "You wished to kill me for a touch. What will you do to yourself since you have added insult to injury?" (quid facies tibi, Iniuriae qui addideris contumeliam?) The actual wording appears in English from the middle of the 18th century.

41 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: زَادَ الطِّينَ بِلَّةً (zāda ṭ-ṭīna billatan) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Bengali: কাটা ঘায়ে নুনের ছিটে (kaṭa ghaẏe nuner chiṭe) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Chinese Mandarin: 雪上加霜 (xuě shàng jiā shuāng) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Danish: føje spot til skade — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Finnish: pahentaa asiaa entisestään — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• French: ajouter l'injure à l'insulte — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• French: pour couronner le tout — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• French: comme si ça ne suffisait pas — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Galician: aínda por riba — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Galician: sobre mel filloas — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Georgian: ცეცხლზე ნავთის დასხმა (cecxlze navtis dasxma) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• German: Salz in die Wunde streuen — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• German: dem Ganzen die Krone aufsetzen — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• German: das Ganze noch schlimmer machen — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• German: noch einen draufsetzen — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Greek: όλα του γάμου δύσκολα κι η νύφη γκαστρωμένη (óla tou gámou dýskola ki i nýfi gkastroméni) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Hebrew: הוסיף חטא על פשע — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Hebrew: הרצחת וגם ירשת — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Icelandic: bæta gráu ofan á svart — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Icelandic: gera vont verra — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Icelandic: bæta móðgun við meingjörð — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Icelandic: blammera — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Irish: cuir an tarcaisne i gceann na héagóra — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Italian: oltre il danno la beffa — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Italian: cornuto e mazziato — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Japanese: 傷口に塩を塗る (kizuguchi-ni shio-o nuru) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Korean: 설상가상 (seolsanggasang) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Korean: 엎친 데 덮친 격 (eopchin de deopchin gyeok) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Polish: na domiar złego — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Portuguese: esfregar sal na ferida — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Romanian: a răsuci cuțitul în rană — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Russian: сы́пать соль на ра́ну (sýpatʹ solʹ na ránu) — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Scottish Gaelic: bris mo chlaigeann air thùs, is an sin ciùrr mo chorrag — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Sicilian: nuttata persa e figghia fìmmina — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Spanish: echar leña al fuego — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Spanish: para colmo de males — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Spanish: para añadir insulto a la injuria — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Spanish: para añidir afrenta a la lesión — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Swedish: strö salt i såren — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Vietnamese: đổ thêm dầu vào lửa — to further a loss with mockery or indignity
• Vietnamese: xát muối vào vết thương — to further a loss with mockery or indignity