Once bitten, twice shy

Cultural  

1. An injury makes a person wary of its cause.

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once bitten, twice shy Idioms  

1. Once hurt, one is doubly cautious in the future, as in He was two days late last time, so she's not hiring him again—once bitten, twice shy. This seemingly old observation, presumably alluding to an animal biting someone, was first recorded in 1894.

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Example Sentences

But some families are now once bitten, twice shy.

From BBC

"It's sort of as the saying goes - once bitten, twice shy," she said.

From BBC

Its biggest single was a rowdy cover of Ian Hunter’s “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” which peaked at No. 5 in 1989 and drove the group’s album “…Twice Shy” to sales of more than 2 million copies.

From Los Angeles Times

“Once Bitten, Twice Shy” was nominated for best hard rock performance at the Grammy Awards in 1990.

From Los Angeles Times

Certainly, nettles in their natural state do pack a wallop, and most people, once bitten, twice shy, avoid them.

From Seattle Times