"dance with the one that brought you" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Referring to the polite practice of someone dancing with the person who brought them to a dance, instead of ignoring them and dancing with other people.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "proverb",
        "head": "~brought:bring"
      },
      "expansion": "dance with the one that brought you",
      "name": "en-head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
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          "name": "English proverbs",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hokkien translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Vietnamese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              40,
              77
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "[1984 February 3–4, Richard C. Richardson Jr., Improving Opportunities for Earning the Baccalaureate Degree for Urban Students, [Washington, D.C.]: Education Resources Information Center, National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education, →OCLC, page 1:",
          "text": "There is an expression in sports about ‘dancing with the one that brought you’; it means sticking with players and strategies that have worked.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              155,
              190
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1986 January 30 (date delivered), Donald I. Carter, “Session I: Opening Remarks and Principal Speakers”, in Proceedings of the Joint Government–Industry Symposium on R&D Planning Information Management, 30–31 January 1986 […] (AD-A167 020), Cameron Station, Alexandria, Va.: Defense Technical Information Center, published March 1986, →OCLC, page 33:",
          "text": "We support this free and open exchange of ideas. That's what got us here and as Bum Phillips, the ex-coach of the Houston Oilers used to say, you ought to dance with the one that brought you.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              112,
              149
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "[1999, Roger D. Launius, “Patterns of Innovation in Aeronautical Technology”, in Roger D. Launius, editor, Innovation and the Development of Flight, College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, →ISBN, page 13:",
          "text": "To some extent, adhering to traditional methods and ideas is understandable. It is the real-life equivalent of \"dancing with the one that brought you,\" that is, staying with practices that brought success before and perhaps sustained the institution in times of crisis. But without the ability to innovate, eventual failure of the entire institution will be assured as well.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              22,
              57
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2000 October 18, Thomas Boswell, “Unlike the boss, Torre recognizes the right stuff”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2025:",
          "text": "Sometimes you have to dance with the one that brought you. And, ever since he won a crucial Game Four in Cleveland on 16 days rest in the 1998 ALCS, [Joe] Torre has trusted [Orlando] Hernandez more than any of his starters.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              65,
              100
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2014 February 17, John E[dward] Sununu, “Keeping Obama at arm’s length”, in The Boston Globe, Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Jan 2025:",
          "text": "[Barack] Obama's approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent. \"Dance with the one that brought you,\" the saying goes, but when you are a Senate Democrat stuck with the wrong prom date, there's only one thing to do: hide in the bathroom.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              95,
              130
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2016 April 30, James Allan, “Leaving the dance with the one who brought you”, in The Spectator, London: Old Queen Street Ventures, archived from the original on 13 Oct 2019:",
          "text": "I mention this Canadian Conservative Prime Minister because he coined the political adage ‘you dance with the one that brought you’. In less colourful terms [Brian] Mulroney meant that a Prime Minister should ‘never, ever ignore his party’s base’.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you."
      ],
      "id": "en-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you-en-proverb-0LHVHrFO",
      "links": [
        [
          "considerate",
          "considerate#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "loyal",
          "loyal"
        ],
        [
          "person",
          "person#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "attentive",
          "attentive"
        ],
        [
          "helpful",
          "helpful"
        ],
        [
          "supportive",
          "supportive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly Canada, US, informal) Be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "leave with the one that brought ya"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one that brung ya"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one that brung you"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one what brought ya"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one what brought you"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one what brung ya"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one what brung you"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one who brought ya"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one who brought you"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one who brung ya"
        },
        {
          "word": "leave with the one who brung you"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "nan-hbl",
          "lang": "Chinese",
          "lang_code": "nan-hbl",
          "note": "食果子拜樹頭 /食果子拜树头 (zh-min-nan) (chia̍h ké (kér, kóe)-chí pài chhiū-thâu, literally “to pay respect to the branches of the tree when one eats the fruit”)",
          "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
          "tags": [
            "Hokkien"
          ]
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "lang_code": "cmn",
          "note": "飲水思源 /饮水思源 (yǐnshuǐsīyuán, literally “when drinking water, remember its source”)",
          "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "lang_code": "fi",
          "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
          "word": "vanhaa ystävää ei pidä unohtaa"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
          "word": "nie porzuca się starych przyjaciół dla nowych"
        },
        {
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "lang_code": "vi",
          "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
          "word": "ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây"
        },
        {
          "alt": "飲水思源",
          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "lang_code": "vi",
          "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
          "word": "uống nước nhớ nguồn"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɑːns wɪð ðə wʌn ðət ˈbɹɔːt juː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdæns wɪð ðə wʌn ðət ˈbɹɔt ju/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ˈbɹɑt-/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-dance with the one that brought you.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "dance with the one that brought you"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Referring to the polite practice of someone dancing with the person who brought them to a dance, instead of ignoring them and dancing with other people.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "proverb",
        "head": "~brought:bring"
      },
      "expansion": "dance with the one that brought you",
      "name": "en-head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with Hokkien translations",
        "Terms with Mandarin translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Terms with Vietnamese translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              40,
              77
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "[1984 February 3–4, Richard C. Richardson Jr., Improving Opportunities for Earning the Baccalaureate Degree for Urban Students, [Washington, D.C.]: Education Resources Information Center, National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education, →OCLC, page 1:",
          "text": "There is an expression in sports about ‘dancing with the one that brought you’; it means sticking with players and strategies that have worked.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              155,
              190
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1986 January 30 (date delivered), Donald I. Carter, “Session I: Opening Remarks and Principal Speakers”, in Proceedings of the Joint Government–Industry Symposium on R&D Planning Information Management, 30–31 January 1986 […] (AD-A167 020), Cameron Station, Alexandria, Va.: Defense Technical Information Center, published March 1986, →OCLC, page 33:",
          "text": "We support this free and open exchange of ideas. That's what got us here and as Bum Phillips, the ex-coach of the Houston Oilers used to say, you ought to dance with the one that brought you.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              112,
              149
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "[1999, Roger D. Launius, “Patterns of Innovation in Aeronautical Technology”, in Roger D. Launius, editor, Innovation and the Development of Flight, College Station, Tex.: Texas A&M University Press, →ISBN, page 13:",
          "text": "To some extent, adhering to traditional methods and ideas is understandable. It is the real-life equivalent of \"dancing with the one that brought you,\" that is, staying with practices that brought success before and perhaps sustained the institution in times of crisis. But without the ability to innovate, eventual failure of the entire institution will be assured as well.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              22,
              57
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2000 October 18, Thomas Boswell, “Unlike the boss, Torre recognizes the right stuff”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Jan 2025:",
          "text": "Sometimes you have to dance with the one that brought you. And, ever since he won a crucial Game Four in Cleveland on 16 days rest in the 1998 ALCS, [Joe] Torre has trusted [Orlando] Hernandez more than any of his starters.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              65,
              100
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2014 February 17, John E[dward] Sununu, “Keeping Obama at arm’s length”, in The Boston Globe, Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 Jan 2025:",
          "text": "[Barack] Obama's approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent. \"Dance with the one that brought you,\" the saying goes, but when you are a Senate Democrat stuck with the wrong prom date, there's only one thing to do: hide in the bathroom.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              95,
              130
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2016 April 30, James Allan, “Leaving the dance with the one who brought you”, in The Spectator, London: Old Queen Street Ventures, archived from the original on 13 Oct 2019:",
          "text": "I mention this Canadian Conservative Prime Minister because he coined the political adage ‘you dance with the one that brought you’. In less colourful terms [Brian] Mulroney meant that a Prime Minister should ‘never, ever ignore his party’s base’.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "considerate",
          "considerate#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "loyal",
          "loyal"
        ],
        [
          "person",
          "person#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "attentive",
          "attentive"
        ],
        [
          "helpful",
          "helpful"
        ],
        [
          "supportive",
          "supportive"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly Canada, US, informal) Be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdɑːns wɪð ðə wʌn ðət ˈbɹɔːt juː/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈdæns wɪð ðə wʌn ðət ˈbɹɔt ju/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/-ˈbɹɑt-/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-dance with the one that brought you.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/6a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_%28NaomiAmethyst%29-dance_with_the_one_that_brought_you.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "leave with the one that brought ya"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one that brung ya"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one that brung you"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one what brought ya"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one what brought you"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one what brung ya"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one what brung you"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one who brought ya"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one who brought you"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one who brung ya"
    },
    {
      "word": "leave with the one who brung you"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nan-hbl",
      "lang": "Chinese",
      "lang_code": "nan-hbl",
      "note": "食果子拜樹頭 /食果子拜树头 (zh-min-nan) (chia̍h ké (kér, kóe)-chí pài chhiū-thâu, literally “to pay respect to the branches of the tree when one eats the fruit”)",
      "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
      "tags": [
        "Hokkien"
      ]
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "lang_code": "cmn",
      "note": "飲水思源 /饮水思源 (yǐnshuǐsīyuán, literally “when drinking water, remember its source”)",
      "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
      "word": "vanhaa ystävää ei pidä unohtaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
      "word": "nie porzuca się starych przyjaciół dla nowych"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "lang_code": "vi",
      "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
      "word": "ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây"
    },
    {
      "alt": "飲水思源",
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "lang_code": "vi",
      "sense": "be considerate and loyal to the person who has been attentive, helpful, or supportive to you",
      "word": "uống nước nhớ nguồn"
    }
  ],
  "word": "dance with the one that brought you"
}