Even a worm will turn

"The Worm That Turned" – illustration by E. V. Campbell for a satirical poem published in 1883

"Even a worm will turn" is an English language expression used to convey the message that even the meekest or most docile of creatures will retaliate or seek revenge if pushed too far.[1] The phrase was first recorded in a 1546 collection of proverbs by John Heywood, in the form "Treade a worme on the tayle, and it must turne agayne."[2] At the time “agayne” also meant “against” or “oppose”.[3] It was used in William Shakespeare's play Henry VI, Part 3 (Act 2, Scene 2).[4][5] In the play, the phrase is uttered by Lord Clifford, killer of Rutland as:[6]

To whom do lions cast their gentle looks?
Not to the beast that would usurp their den.
The smallest worm will turn being trodden on,
And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.

It's been proposed[7] that this passage from Henry VI was suggested by one in a history by Edward Halle. In that book[8] the Earl of Warwick makes a speech that includes the passage:

What worme is touched, and will not once turne agayn? What beast is striken, that will not rore or sound? What innocet child is hurt that will not crye? If the poore and unreasonable beastes: If the sely babes that lacketh discrecion, grone agaynst harme to theim proffered, How ought an honest man to be angery, when thinges that touche his honestie be daily agaynst him attempted.

In 1641, the following passage in a letter from Edmund Verney to his son Ralph Verney further confirms the proverb's meaning that small affronts can lead to rebellion.[9]

The horse have sent theire peremptory answere that they will not muster till they are payde ; if the foote doe the lyke, beleeve me it can tend to noe lesse than a generall mutiny. A worme will turne agayne if it be trod on.

The proverb is also found in other countries

France

In 1694 the 1st edition of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française[10] included the proverb with an explanation:

Un ver de terre se rebecque bien quand on marche dessus,
 pour dire, qu’Il n’est point d’homme si foible & si chetif, qu’il n’ait quelque ressentiment quand on l’offense.

In english (per Google translate 2025) "An earthworm shrivels up when you step on it,' [that is] to say that there is no man so weak and puny that he does not feel some resentment when he is offended." However in 1694 se rebe(c)quer implied more rebel than shrivel.[11]

Earlier in 1592[12] the proverb appeared in the poem Plainte de l’Autheur durant une sienne longue maladie by Philippes Des Portes. The verse with a translation is shown below:

French English
Le ver avorton de la terre The worm castling of the earth* (*see spontaneous generation)
Se rebecque alors qu’on le serre, Resists when [op]pressed
Poussé d’un naturel devoir: It is an instinctive reflex:
Et moy pourtraict de ton image, Now picture me in your place,
Quand ton pié me foule & m’outrage When your foot steps on me & offends me
N’oserois-je un peu m’esmouvoir? Would I not dare to stir a little?

Germany

In german the expression is: Auch der Wurm krümmt sich, wenn er getreten wird. [13][14].

In 1782, in his dictionary of german proverbs[15], Joachim Blum gave the meaning as:

The writhing, twisting, screaming of the worm or animal in general can be partly an expression of the pain it feels and partly of its inability to resist the insult to which it must submit.
The poor, defenseless person is oppressed only so long, until he, in his pain, resists the abuse.
The trampled worm writhes; shouldn't a man do much more ? Should he feel oppressed and not speak out?

The earliest surviving record in german is from 1541 in a book of proverbs by Sebastian Franck [16]. Franck recorded three versions of the proverb and listed them under latin sayings expressing similar ideas.

German Latin Latin to English
Wan man ein wurm lang trit / so krümpt er sich. Furor fit laesa saepius patientia.[17] Patience tried can turn to fury
Wan man ein wurm trit / so krumpt er sich. Inest & formicae bilis.[18] There is bile in the ant too
Man trit ein wurm so lang / bis er sich krümt (Latin indecipherable)[19]

German writers who used the expression include Goethe[20], Schopenhauer[21] and Nietzsche[22]

References

  1. ^ Knowles, Elizabeth. "worm". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  2. ^ Speake, Jennifer, ed. (2015). The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs. Oxford University Press. p. 353. ISBN 9780198734901.
  3. ^ J. H. Stevenson, ed. (1901), Gilbert of the Haye's prose manuscript (A.D. 1456), p. 124, Here speris the doctour quhethir ony lordis men ar behaldyn to help thair lorde agayne thair king
  4. ^ Martin, Gary. "The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on". phrases.org.uk. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  5. ^ "The Mavens' Word of the Day: worm has turned". Random House. 17 July 1997. Archived from the original on 2013-07-27.
  6. ^ "The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on". english-for-students.com. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
  7. ^ Shakespeare, William (1910). H. C. Hart (ed.). The third part of King Henry the Sixth. p. 50.
  8. ^ Halle, Edward (1548). The union of the two noble and illustre famelies of Lancastre and Yorke.
  9. ^ Verney, Frances Parthenope; Verney, Margaret Maria (1904). Memoirs of the Verney family during the seventeenth century I. p. 199.
  10. ^ https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A1V0052
  11. ^ https://www.dictionnaire-academie.fr/article/A1B0105-08
  12. ^ des Portes, Philippes (1592). Les Oeuvres de Philippes des Portes. p. 495.
  13. ^ Willy Brandt. "Speech by the Mayor of Berlin, Willy Brandt, before the German Bundestag, 18 August 1961". Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  14. ^ Langenscheidt, Handwörterbuch Englisch, 2005, page 684
  15. ^ Joachim Christian Blum (1782). Deutsches Sprichwörterbuch.
  16. ^ Sebastian Franck (1541). Sprichwörter / Schone / Weise / Herzliche Clugreden / unnd Hoffsprüch.
  17. ^ ibid page 115/768
  18. ^ ibid page 120/768
  19. ^ ibid. page 638/768
  20. ^ Goethe (1810), Zur Farbenlehre, p. 477, Every being that feels itself a unity wants to maintain itself in its own state, undivided and unmoved. This is an eternally necessary gift of nature, and so one can say that each individual has character, right down to the worm that writhes when trodden on.
  21. ^ Letter to Julius Frauenstädt, 11 March 1852, You will have seen the poisonous review [of Parerga and Paralipomena] in the January [10 edition of the] Literarisches Centralblatt [für Deutschland]: it is certainly from a lecturer: well, the worm writhes when it is trodden on.
  22. ^ Götzen-Dämmerung, 1889, The kicked worm writhes. This is wise. It thus reduces the likelihood of being kicked again. In moral terms: humility.
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