where there's smoke, there's fire
- idiom
- Informal
:
donde hay humo, hay fuego
- Many people believe that where there's smoke, there's fire when it comes to rumors about celebrities.
Examples
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Despite his denials, some thought that where there's smoke, there's fire and suspected he was involved.
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You shouldn't ignore the rumors; as they say, where there's smoke, there's fire.
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She tries not to gossip, but often where there's smoke, there's fire.
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Don't forget, where there's smoke, there's fire!
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I believe in the saying, where there's smoke, there's fire.
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Many people believe that where there's smoke, there's fire when they hear rumors about politicians.
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Despite his insistence that he did nothing wrong, many felt that where there's smoke, there's fire regarding the allegations against him.
How Likely
Surface Forms
Morphology
where + there's + smoke, + there's + fire
The literal relation between smoke and fire is directly understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words and basic world knowledge, so the general inference 'signs indicate an underlying cause' is accessible. However, the proverb's conventionalized, metaphorical extension to rumors or suspicions requires pragmatic mapping beyond simple compositional meaning, so it is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Where there's smoke, there's fire comes from a simple image: if you can see smoke, there is usually a fire burning nearby. So it means 'when there are signs of a problem or wrongdoing, there is likely to be some truth to the rumors'.