when the cat's away the mice will play

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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play

No etymology was provided for this word.

61 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Afrikaans: as die kat weg is, is die muis baas — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Albanian: iku macja, lozin minjtë — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Azerbaijani: atlar ölüb, itlərin bayramıdır — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Breton: pa vez ar c'hazh er-maez ag ar gêr, al logod a ra fest er solier — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Chinese Mandarin: 山中無老虎,猴子稱大王 /山中无老虎 — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Chinese Mandarin: 猴子称大王 (shānzhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàwáng) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Chinese Mandarin: 老虎不在山,猴子稱大王 /老虎不在山 — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Chinese Mandarin: 猴子称大王 (lǎohǔ bù zài shān, hóuzi chēng dàwáng) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Cimbrian: balda di khatz velt, di maüs tåntzan — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Czech: když kocour není doma, myši mají pré — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Danish: når katten er ude, spiller musene på bordet — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Dutch: als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Esperanto: kiam kato promenas, la musoj festenas — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Estonian: kui kassid läinud, on hiirtel pidu — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Finnish: kun kissa on poissa, hiiret hyppivät pöydällä — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• French: quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• French: le chat parti, les souris dansent — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• German: ist die Katze aus dem Haus, tanzen die Mäuse auf dem Tisch — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Greek: όταν λείπει η γάτα χορεύουν τα ποντίκια (ótan leípei i gáta chorévoun ta pontíkia) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Hungarian: ha nincs otthon a macska, cincognak az egerek — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Icelandic: þegar kötturinn er frá fara mýsnar á stjá — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Irish: nuair a bhíonn an cat amuigh, bíonn na lucha ag rince — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Italian: quando il gatto non c'è, i topi ballano — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Japanese: 鬼の居ぬ間の洗濯 (oni no inu ma no sentaku) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Japanese: 鼬無き間の貂誇り (itachi naki ma no ten hokori) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Japanese: 鼬無き間の鼠 (itachi naki ma no nezumi) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Khmer: ឆ្មាមិននៅ កណ្ដុរឡើងរាជ្យ (cmaa mɨn nɨv kɑndol laəŋ riec) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Kikuyu: hiti ciathiĩ mbwe ciegangara — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Kikuyu: ngatia ciathiĩ hiti cĩeragara — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Korean: 호랑이 없는 골에 토끼가 왕 노릇 한다 (horang'i eomneun gor-e tokki-ga wang noreut handa) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Kumyk: мишик ёкъ ерде чычкъан баш гётерир (mişik yoq yerde çıçqan baş göterir) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Northern Kurdish: kitik ne li mal e, navê mişkî Evdal e — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Latin: audācem reddit fēlis absentia murem — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Latin: fēle comprehensā saltant murēs in mensā — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Latin: quō nōn versantur cattī mures dominantur — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Luxembourgish: wann d’Kaz fort ass, sinn d’Mais Meeschter — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Manx: Tra vees yn kayt mooie bee ny lughee daunsin — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Norwegian: når katten er borte, danser musene på bordet — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Persian: در خانه کسی که گربه نباشد موش کدخداست — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Polish: gdy kota nie ma, myszy harcują — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Polish: hulaj dusza – piekła nie ma — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Portuguese: quando o gato sai, os ratos fazem a festa — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Romanian: când pisica nu-i acasă, joacă șoarecii pe masă — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Russian: без кота́ мыша́м раздо́лье (bez kotá myšám razdólʹje) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Russian: кот из дома - мыши в пляс (kot iz doma - myši v pljas) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Scottish Gaelic: tha fios aig an luch nach eil an cat a-staigh — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Serbo-Croatian: где мачке у кући нема ту мишеви коло воде — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Serbo-Croatian: gde mačke u kući nema tu miševi kolo vode — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Lower Sorbian: gaž jo kócor z domu, ga maju myšy swóju wólu — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Spanish: cuando el gato no está, bailan los ratones — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Spanish: cuando el gato no está los ratones están de fiesta — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Spanish: cuando el gato no está, los ratones bailan — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Swedish: när katten är borta, dansar råttorna på bordet — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Tagalog: kapag wala ang pusa, naglalaro ang mga daga — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Tagalog: kapag wala ang pusa ay pista ng mga daga — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Telugu: రౌతు మెత్తనైతే గుర్రం మూడు కాళ్ళ మీద పరిగెత్తుతుంది (rautu mettanaitē gurraṁ mūḍu kāḷḷa mīda parigettutundi) — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Thai: แมวไม่อยู่ หนูระเริง — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Thai: แมวไม่อยู่ หนูร่าเริง — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Turkish: kedi olmayan yerde meydan farelere kalır — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Vietnamese: vắng chủ nhà, gà vọc niêu tôm — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances
• Welsh: llon llygod lle ni bo cath — in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances