revenge is a dish best served cold

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Earliest known metaphorical reference to revenge as food in English is “And then revenge is very good eaten cold, as the vulgar say”, from an 1846 translation of Eugène Sue's Mathilde: Mémoires d'une Jeune Femme. The passage suggests that it was an existing expression. Similar proverbs are known as early as the 17th century with “Reuenge is not good in cold bloud” in a translation of Don Quixote. The phrase exists in various Romance languages: Italian la vendetta è un piatto che va servito freddo, Spanish la venganza es un plato que se sirve frío, French la vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid. In French, it's commonly used since at least the 19th century. In English, many variations are attested but the exact phrase revenge is a dish best served cold may originate from the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Catalan: la venjança és un plat que se serveix fred — revenge should not be rushed
• Chinese Mandarin: 君子報仇,十年不晚 /君子报仇 — revenge should not be rushed
• Esperanto: venĝo estas plado manĝita malvarme — revenge should not be rushed
• Finnish: kosto on parhaimmillaan kylmänä — revenge should not be rushed
• French: la vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid — revenge should not be rushed
• German: not idiomatic — revenge should not be rushed
• German: Rache wird am besten kalt serviert — revenge should not be rushed
• German: Rache ist süß — revenge should not be rushed
• Greek: η εκδίκηση είναι ένα πιάτο που τρώγεται κρύο (i ekdíkisi eínai éna piáto pou trógetai krýo) — revenge should not be rushed
• Hungarian: a bosszú hidegen tálalva a legjobb — revenge should not be rushed
• Indonesian: ada hujan ada panas, ada hari boleh balas — revenge should not be rushed
• Italian: la vendetta è un piatto che va servito freddo — revenge should not be rushed
• Korean: 복수는 차갑게 내어야 제맛인 요리 (boksuneun chagapge naeeoya jemasin yori) — revenge should not be rushed
• Polish: zemsta najlepiej smakuje na zimno — revenge should not be rushed
• Portuguese: vingança é um prato que se come frio — revenge should not be rushed
• Portuguese: a vingança é um prato que se serve frio — revenge should not be rushed
• Romanian: răzbunarea este un fel de mâncare care este servit la rece — revenge should not be rushed
• Russian: Месть - это блюдо, которое подают холодным (Mestʹ - eto bljudo, kotoroje podajut xolodnym) — revenge should not be rushed
• Spanish: la venganza es un plato que se sirve frío — revenge should not be rushed
• Swedish: hämnden är ljuv — revenge should not be rushed
• Vietnamese: quân tử trả thù, mười năm chưa muộn — revenge should not be rushed