Meaning of dance with the one that brought you | Babel Free

Definitions

Be considerate and loyal to the person who has been supportive, attentive, or helpful.

Canada, US, colloquial, informal

Examples

“"I have had people say, ‘Oh, the landscaping business is doing OK. So, you're going to get out of tobacco farming.’ No! I would like to see my landscaping business grow. But, without the cash flow from the farm, I would not have been able to start the landscaping operation," the Bunn, N.C., farmer stresses. "As they say, you dance with the one that brought you."”

“Sometimes you have to dance with the one that brought you. And, ever since he won a crucial Game Four in Cleveland on 16 days rest in the 1998 ALCS, Torre has trusted Hernandez more than any of his starters.”

“Obama’s approval ratings have fallen below 40 percent. “Dance with the one that brought you,” the saying goes, but when you are a Senate Democrat stuck with the wrong prom date, there’s only one thing to do: hide in the bathroom.”

“I mention this Canadian Conservative Prime Minister because he coined the political adage ‘you dance with the one that brought you’. In less colourful terms Mulroney meant that a Prime Minister should ‘never, ever ignore his party’s base’.”

CEFR level