What does the saying "cut your nose off despite your face" mean, anyone please?

Question

(I think I've got it said correctly above anyway).

Answer 1

Dear Hairspray;
I really like your nickname !
You have asked a VERY interesting question and you have received VERY interesting and varied answers !
Sincerely,
Karma doll

Answer 2

The proverb "Don't cut your nose off despite your face." is a warning not to pursue revenge in such a way as to damage yourself more than the object of your anger. It's not a good idea for example to throw something at the tv cause John Karr is on the set and you hate him! Karr can't feel it but you will feel the pain of loosing money when you have to buy a new set!

Answer 3

There is some debate as to whether the correct saying is "to cut your nose off despite your face" or "to cut off your nose to spite your face" which I think makes absolutely no sense at all so I'm going with your version! I think it means to make a rash judgement or act too quickly. Too cut off your nose despite your face implies you acted to take care of one problem only to create a larger one OR you took care of a problem but it's only the tip of the iceberg...that you aren't looking at the whole picture; meaning you are making a big mistake. Good question...not sure if I made any sense or just made it more confusing! LOL

Wow! After reading the other answers, I see i was wayyyyy off! LOL My bad :D

Answer 4

It means you do something to get back at someone but in the end you're only hurting yourself. For example, there's a party that you really really want to go to, but then you hear that someone you hate is going to be there so you don't go. Well, you don't go because of that other person but that person goes and has a good time while you sit at home alone. You only hurt yourself by not going and having a good time despite the other person.

Answer 5

Do not cut off your nose to spite your face.

In other words, do not take action that may cause a greater harm in order to fix a small problem. Usually, this type of action is when you wish to "get even" with someone and in the process do more harm to yourself than you do to them.

Hope that helps!

Will D
Enterprise AL
http://www.notagz.com

Answer 6

Should be... Cut your nose off to spite your face... so, it means you do something to get at someone, but the something you do actually hurts yourself. Example, if you chose not to attend a free concert just because you got the tickets mailed to you instead of being hand delivered.... geddit?

Answer 7

While I think you really did get the old saying wrong, I'm not going to argue about it......wait I just did. Here's an explanation in better words than I could come up with:

"Cutting off the nose to spite the face is an expression used to describe a needlessly spiteful or self-destructive overreaction to a problem. "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is a warning not to act out of pique or pursue revenge in such a way as to damage yourself more than the object of your anger.

The phrase is believed to have originated from a (probably fictional) event that was said to have taken place in AD 867: Viking pirates from Sjaelland and Uppsala landed in Scotland and raided the monastery of Coldingham. When news of the raid reached Aebbe the Younger, the Mother Superior, she gathered her nuns together and urged them to disfigure themselves, that they might be unappealing to the Vikings. In this way, they hoped to protect their chastity. St. Aebbe accomplished this by cutting off her nose and upper lip. The nuns proceeded to do the same. The Viking raiders were so disgusted by the scene that they burned the entire building to the ground.

Although the nuns believed their actions to be justified (indeed, Aebbe was canonized), the expression has since come to refer to pointlessly self-destructive actions motivated purely by malevolence. For example, if a man is mad at his wife, he may burn down their house to punish her. Of course, this would be an example of cutting off his nose to spite his face, as in the process of burning down her house he would also be destroying his home, along with all his personal possessions.

An example from history is the Embargo Act of 1807, passed by the United States Congress to protest British and French interference in U.S. shipping. The act had the side-effect of prohibiting nearly all U.S. exports and most imports, greatly disrupting the U.S. economy.

Since the advice contained in "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is good, it's not surprising that similar proverbs have been popular in other languages and cultures, including the Chinese "Do not burn down your own house even to annoy your wife's mother."[citation needed]

It is closely related to the "appeal to spite" logical fallacy."

Answer 8

It's "Cut your nose off to spite your face."

Don't do something terrible like getting angry when doing so would hurt you (or someone else) more than the indignity or embarrassment or pain you suffered in the first place...

Answer 9

"Cutting off the nose to spite the face"
is an expression used to describe a needlessly spiteful or self-destructive overreaction to a problem. "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is a warning not to act out of pique or pursue revenge in such a way as to damage yourself more than the object of your anger.

The phrase is believed to have originated from a (probably fictional) event that was said to have taken place in AD 867: Viking pirates from Sjaelland and Uppsala landed in Scotland and raided the monastery of Coldingham. When news of the raid reached Aebbe the Younger, the Mother Superior, she gathered her nuns together and urged them to disfigure themselves, that they might be unappealing to the Vikings. In this way, they hoped to protect their chastity. St. Aebbe accomplished this by cutting off her nose and upper lip. The nuns proceeded to do the same. The Viking raiders were so disgusted by the scene that they burned the entire building to the ground.

Although the nuns believed their actions to be justified (indeed, Aebbe was canonized), the expression has since come to refer to pointlessly self-destructive actions motivated purely by malevolence. For example, if a man is mad at his wife, he may burn down their house to punish her. Of course, this would be an example of cutting off his nose to spite his face, as in the process of burning down her house he would also be destroying his home, along with all his personal possessions.

An example from history is the Embargo Act of 1807, passed by the United States Congress to protest British and French interference in U.S. shipping. The act had the side-effect of prohibiting nearly all U.S. exports and most imports, greatly disrupting the U.S. economy.

Since the advice contained in "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is good, it's not surprising that similar proverbs have been popular in other languages and cultures, including the Chinese "Do not burn down your own house even to annoy your wife's mother."[citation needed]

It is closely related to the "appeal to spite" logical fallacy.

Answer 10

lets use what happened to me. my girl did or repeated things to cause me great pain inside that's because i don't get jealous i get really hurt.i loved her for so long, i won't even mention, it's so sad, you might even cry. so one day i blew up and told her, i will never stop loving you but i can't see you it's killing me. well i cut off my nose despite my face. i don't see her anymore but she doesn't get to hurt me and at the end, i'm left hurting anyway, get it, do you get it ???

Answer 11

no that was incorrect
it is to cut of your nose to spite your face

it means exessive reprisal ,whereby you get hurt more that the person you are trying to get back at

like blowing up your house so that your mother in law wont come to visit