Phrase guide

what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

proverb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

If something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another (often of the opposite gender).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

proverb

Meaning 2

One who treats others in a certain way should not complain about receiving the same treatment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

1670s, figuratively using goose/gander for women and men, and literally meaning that the same sauce applies equally well to cooked goose, regardless of sex. Early forms include “as deep drinketh the goose as the gander” (1562) and similar “As well for the coowe calfe as for the bull” (1549). The expression appears in Dickens when a spy attempting to evade culpability insists, “For you cannot sarse the goose and not the gander.”

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: gelijke monniken, gelijke kappen — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Esperanto: saŭco por la anserino ankaŭ estas saŭco por la viransero — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Finnish: ei köyhänkään suu tuohesta ole — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • French: sauce bonne pour l'oie est bonne pour le jars — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • German: was dem einen recht ist, ist dem anderen billig — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Hungarian: ami jó az egyiknek, jó a másiknak is — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Hungarian: ami nekem jó, legyen neked is jó — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Italian: quel che vale per l’uno vale anche per l’altro — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Portuguese: pau que dá em Chico, dá em Francisco — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Spanish: lo que es bueno para el pavo, es bueno para la pava — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Turkish: aynı tas aynı hamam — if something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another
  • Hungarian: ami az egyiknek szabad, szabad a másiknak is (legyen) — one who treats others in a certain way should not complain about receiving the same treatment