viper in bosom

V

viper in bosom

Meaning | Synonyms

  • a person who deceives you after receiving help from you
  • an unappreciative friend

Example Sentences

  1. I got my friend a good position in my company and all he did is convinced my manager to get him the designation I had in the project. He was no more than a viper in my bosom.
  2. He provided Anaya shelter in his house when she was rendered homeless and she kept stealing money from his cupboard until he knew that she was a viper in his bosom.
  3. She was confident of their relationship being truthful and transparent to only know that she has nursed a viper in her bosom all these years: Her husband eloped with a younger woman of the age of his daughter.
  4. Only after the police arrested him for sheltering a friend involved in terrorist activities did he know that all these years he had been nursing a viper in his bosom.

Origin

The phrase has originated from one of the tales of Aesop, in which a farmer who gives shelter to a viper dying from cold is eventually bitten by the viper after its recovery. A similar thought is also found in Latin ( insinu viperam habere) & the expression is found in various forms in English from the late 16th century after it was referred by Shakespeare and Chaucher.

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