English equivalent for "When the head is present, tail should not wag."

Question

In Malayalam/Indian, there's a saying "Thala Irikkumbol, Valu-attaruthu!", which literally translates to:

When the head is present, tail should not wag.

It means that one should not act out of turn in the presence of one's superiors.

Consider: Mafia bosses A and B discussing stuff; a low-ranking member M chimes in interrupting them; A puts a bullet between M's eyes saying something-cool-here.

I'm not limiting answers to mafia style, though that would be cool.

What are other English idioms equivalent to this?

Answer 1

Something cool here could be:

"When I want your opinion, I'll tell it to you." - Indicating the speaker has power over the one they are talking too, doesn't care what they think, and he/she has spoken out of turn. Sometimes "I'll tell it to you." can be replaced with "I'll beat it out of you.", when the speaker is more violent.

"Know your role, and shut your mouth!" - Not so much an idiom as a wrestler's catch phrase. But it fits, and it is fun to say.

Answer 2

Before putting the bullet between M's eyes, A could say that M should be put in his place.

to let someone know that they are not as important as they think they are

or

A could rhetorically ask M as to who's running the show, before pulling the trigger on M's head.

to be in charge; to be in command

[The Free Dictionary]

Note

I tend to concur with @FumbleFingers, I think the saying in Tamil/Malayalam is derived from tail wagging the dog. The saying in Tamil goes something like:

_{தல இருக்கும் போது வால் ஆட கூடாது {thala irukum pothu vaal aada koodathu}}

Answer 3

Children should be seen and not heard

From The Phrase Finder

In the original form of this proverb it was specifically young women who were expected to keep quiet. This opinion is recorded in the 15th century collections of homilies written by an Augustinian clergyman called [John] Mirk's Festial, circa 1450:

Hyt ys old Englysch sawe: A mayde schuld be seen, but not herd.

A 'sawe', or 'saw' as we would spell it now, was a mediaeval term for saying or proverb. It has the same root as the words 'say' and 'saga'.

While the expression was aimed at women, the Old English names denoting gender are now somewhat altered. A 'mayde' was normally a young female, usually unmarried, although it was also used to denote celibate men. Girls however, could be of either sex, the term simply meaning young child.

If you used this phrase today, mothers everywhere (in the US at least) would rise up and denounce you. But how I wish the airlines would enforce it!

Answer 4

There is a similar proverb in English, when (or while) the cat's away, the mice will play which means:

Without supervision, people will do as they please, especially in disregarding or breaking rules. For example, As soon as their parents left, the children invited all their friends over when the cat's away, you know . This expression has been a proverb since about 1600 and is so well known it is often shortened, as in the example.

[The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms]

You can change the proverb to fit in your context:

When the cat's not away, the mice should not play.