behind every successful man there stands a woman

English

WOTD – 8 March 2020

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhaɪnd ˌɛvɹi səkˈsɛsfl̩ ˈmæn ðɛə ˈstændz ə ˈwʊmən/, /bə-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /bɪˈhaɪnd ˌɛvɹi səkˈsɛsfl̩ ˈmæn ðɛɚ ˈstændz ə ˈwʊmən/
• Hyphenation: be‧hind eve‧ry suc‧cess‧ful man there stands a wo‧man

• Audio (US, male voice):

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• Audio (US, female voice):

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Proverb

behind every successful man there stands a woman

1. A man’s achievements are made possible by the support and work of their wife or female partner.

   Synonyms: behind every great man is a great woman, behind every great man there stands a woman

Usage notes

• The intention of the saying is not so much as to make a factual observation, but to acknowledge the support that normally remains behind the scenes.

Translations

men's success often depends on the support and work of their wives or female partners

• Arabic: وَرَاءَ كُلِّ رَجُلٍ عَظِيمٍ اِمْرَأَةٌ (warāʔa kulli rajulin ʕaẓīmin imraʔatun)
• Azerbaijani: hər uğurlu kişinin arxasında bir qadın dayanır
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 每個成功的男人背後都有一個女人／每个成功的男人背后都有一个女人 (měi gè chénggōng de nánrén bèihòu dōu yǒu yīgè nǚrén)

• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: achter elke grote man staat een vrouw
• Finnish: jokaisen menestyvän miehen takana on nainen
• French: tout homme qui réussit a une femme derrière lui
• Galician: detrás dun gran home hai unha gran muller
• Georgian: ყოველი წარმატებული კაცის უკან ქალი დგას (q̇oveli c̣armaṭebuli ḳacis uḳan kali dgas)
• German: hinter jedem erfolgreichen Mann steht eine Frau
• Hebrew: מאחורי כל גבר מצליח עומדת אישה (meakhoréy kol géver matslíakh omédet ishá)
• Hindi: हर सफल पुरुष के पीछे एक महिला होती है (har saphal puruṣ ke pīche ek mahilā hotī hai)
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: di belakang setiap pria sukses ada seorang wanita hebat
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: すべての成功した男の後ろに女がいる (subete no seikō shita otoko no ushiro ni onna ga iru)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: aiz katra veiksmīga vīrieša stāv sieviete
• Lithuanian: už kiekvieno sėkmingo vyro stovi moteris
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bak hver vellykket mann står en kvinne

• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: por trás de todo grande homem existe uma grande mulher
• Russian: за ка́ждым успе́шным мужчи́ной стои́т же́нщина (za káždym uspéšnym mužčínoj stoít žénščina)
• Spanish: detrás de un gran hombre hay una gran mujer
• Swedish: bakom varje framgångsrik man står en kvinna
• Tagalog: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: her başarılı erkeğin arkasında bir kadın vardır
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
• Urdu: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: đằng sau một người đàn ông thành công luôn có bóng dáng người phụ nữ

See also

• the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

Further reading

• “behind every great/successful man there stands a woman”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• Gary Martin (1997–) “Behind every great man there's a great woman”, in The Phrase Finder.