the squeaky wheel gets the grease

English

Alternative forms

• the squeaky wheel gets the oil

Proverb

the squeaky wheel gets the grease

1. The person who complains or speaks up most loudly receives the redress or attention which he or she seeks.
   • 1979, James Taylor (lyrics and music), “Shower the People”, in In the Pocket, →OCLC:

     I think it's true what they say about the squeaky wheel / Always getting the grease

   • 1995, Roger Zelazny, Robert Sheckley, A Farce To Be Reckoned With, Bantam, →ISBN, page 13:

     You know perfectly well that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and that if you don't complain nothing ever changes.

Derived terms

• squeaky wheel system

Related terms

• squeaky wheel

Translations

the person who complains most receives the attention

• Danish: som man spørger får man svar
• Finnish: kitisemällä saa haluamansa
• French: ceux qui parlent le plus fort ont toute l’attention
• Galician: quen non chora non mama (literally “he one who does not cry does not breastfeed”)
• Hebrew: הגלגל החורק הוא זה שזוכה לשימון, מי שצועק מקבל
• Hungarian: néma gyereknek az anyja sem érti a szavát (literally “a mute child, even their mother doesn't understand them”)
• Maori: me whāngai anō te mōkai kākā e ngete ai (literally “the pet parrot that is squawking must be fed again”)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: som man roper i skogen får man svar

• Portuguese: quem não chora, não mama
• Spanish: al que no habla Dios no lo oye (literally “God can't hear that who doesn't speak”), quien no llora, no mama (literally “he who doesn't weep, doesn't breastfeed”)
• Turkish: ağlamayana meme yok

See also

• the nail that sticks out gets hammered down
• empty vessels make the most sound
• vocal minority