1. Home
2. Idioms
3. let sleeping dogs lie

let sleeping dogs lie

---

---

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Prov. Do not instigate trouble.; Leave something alone if it might cause trouble. Jill: Should I ask the boss if he's upset at my coming in late in the mornings? Jane: If he hasn't said anything about it, just let sleeping dogs lie. I thought I would ask Jill if she wanted me to pay her back right away, but then I decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

See also: dog, let, lie, sleep

let sleeping dogs lie

to not talk about things which have caused problems in the past, or to not try to change a situation because you might cause problems His parents never referred to the shoplifting incident again. I suppose they thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie. It wasn't that we didn't want to improve the school - it was more a case of letting sleeping dogs lie.

See sleeping partner

See also: dog, let, lie, sleep

let sleeping dogs lie

Allow inactive problems to remain so, as in Jane knew she should report the accident but decided to let sleeping dogs lie. This injunction to avoid stirring up trouble was already a proverb in the 13th century. It alludes to waking up a fierce watchdog and has been stated in English since the late 1300s.

See also: dog, let, lie, sleep