Once bitten, twice shy

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

Idioms and Phrases

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.

Example Sentences

The show’s been in our head for six years; it was always like, Season 2 was once bitten, twice shy, especially if you’re Wednesday Addams — or once bitten, twice stabbed.

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But some families are now once bitten, twice shy.

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

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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.

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

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