revenge is a dish best served cold

English

Etymology

Earliest known metaphorical reference to revenge as food in English is "And then revenge is very good eaten cold, as the vulgar say", from a 1846 translation of Eugène Sue's Mathilde: Mémoires d'une Jeune Femme.[1][2] The passage suggests that it was an existing expression. Similar proverbs are known as early as the 17th century with "Reuenge is not good in cold bloud" in a translation of Don Quixote.[3] Many variations are attested and the exact phrase revenge is a dish best served cold may originate from the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.[4]

Proverb

revenge is a dish best served cold

Revenge is best or most satisfying when delayed.
- 1949, Robert Hamer; John Dighton, Kind Hearts and Coronets, spoken by Louis Mazzini (Dennis Price):
  Time had brought me revenge on Lionel, and as the Italian proverb says, revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold.
- 1982, Jack B. Sowards, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, spoken by Khan (Ricardo Montalbán):
  Of course! We are one big, happy fleet! Ah, Kirk, my old friend, do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold?

Translations

revenge is best or most satisfying when delayed

Arabic: ^{(please verify)} الاِنْتِقَامُ وَجْبَة تُؤْكَلُ بَارِدَة‎ (al-intiqāmu wajba(t) tuʾkalu bārida) (literally “revenge must be eaten cold”)
Catalan: la venjança és un plat que se serveix fred (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 君子報仇，十年不晚 (zh), 君子报仇，十年不晚 (zh) (jūnzǐ bàochóu, shí nián bù wǎn) (literally “when a nobleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late”)
Dutch: ^{(please verify)} mijn wraak zal zoet zijn
Esperanto: venĝo estas plado manĝita malvarme
Finnish: kosto on parhaimmillaan kylmänä
French: la vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid (fr)
German: Rache serviert man am besten kalt, Rache genießt man am besten kalt
Greek: η εκδίκηση είναι ένα πιάτο που τρώγεται κρύο (i ekdíkisi eínai éna piáto pou trógetai krýo)
Hindi: ^{(please verify)} बदला एक ऐसा व्यंजन है जिसे ठंडा परोसा तो अच्छा होगा (badlā ek aisā vyañjan hai jise ṭhaṇḍā parosā to acchā hogā)
Hungarian: a bosszú hidegen tálalva a legjobb
Indonesian: ada hujan ada panas, ada hari boleh balas
Italian: la vendetta è un piatto che va servito freddo
Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 復讐は最高の寒い料理です (Fukushū wa saikō no samui ryōri desu)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 복수는 최고의 추운 요리 (boksuneun choegoui chuun yori)
Polish: zemsta najlepiej smakuje na zimno
Portuguese: vingança é um prato que se come frio (Brazil), a vingança é um prato que se serve frio (Portugal)
Spanish: la venganza es un plato que se sirve frío
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} hämnd är en rätt som bäst serveras kall
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} intikam soğuk yenen bir yemektir
Vietnamese: quân tử trả thù, mười năm chưa muộn

References

Eugène Sue (1864), “XXXV, Revelations”, in , D. G. Osborne, transl., The Orphan, or Memoirs of Matilda‎, volume 1, illustrated by Robert Cruikshank, London: T. C. Newby, page 303
The citation for the passage in the original French work is: Eugène Sue; Jean Cavalier, et al. (1841), “XVII, Révélations [XVII, Revelations]”, in Mathilde: Mémoires d'une Jeune Femme [Mathilde: Memoirs of a Young Woman]‎ (in French), volume 3, third edition, Paris: Librairie de Charles Gosselin, page 53: “Et puis la vengeance se mange très-bien froide, comme on dit vulgairement”
John Simpson; Jennifer Speake, editors (2008), “REVENGE is a dish that can be eaten cold”, in The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, fifth paperback edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press: “Vengeance need not be exacted immediately; but cf. 1620 ᴛ. ꜱʜᴇʟᴛᴏɴ tr. Cervantes' Don Quixote ɪɪ. lxiii. Reuenge is not good in cold bloud.”
Gary Martin (1997–), “Revenge is a dish best served cold”, in The Phrase Finder.

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[1] Eugène Sue (1864), “XXXV, Revelations”, in , D. G. Osborne, transl., The Orphan, or Memoirs of Matilda‎, volume 1, illustrated by Robert Cruikshank, London: T. C. Newby, page 303

[2] The citation for the passage in the original French work is: Eugène Sue; Jean Cavalier, et al. (1841), “XVII, Révélations [XVII, Revelations]”, in Mathilde: Mémoires d'une Jeune Femme [Mathilde: Memoirs of a Young Woman]‎ (in French), volume 3, third edition, Paris: Librairie de Charles Gosselin, page 53: “Et puis la vengeance se mange très-bien froide, comme on dit vulgairement”

[3] John Simpson; Jennifer Speake, editors (2008), “REVENGE is a dish that can be eaten cold”, in The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, fifth paperback edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press: “Vengeance need not be exacted immediately; but cf. 1620 ᴛ. ꜱʜᴇʟᴛᴏɴ tr. Cervantes' Don Quixote ɪɪ. lxiii. Reuenge is not good in cold bloud.”

[4] Gary Martin (1997–), “Revenge is a dish best served cold”, in The Phrase Finder.