give a dog a bad name and hang him这句直译过来是“给狗起个坏名字，然后绞死它”，可正确的理解却是完全不同，它可以翻译为“欲加之罪，何患无辞；人言可畏”。

【例句】
Give a dog a bad name and hang him is true in george's case, for no in ever has a good word to say for him now.
人言可畏，乔治的情况便是如此，现在没人替他说一句好话了。

Well, give a dog a bad name and hang him, right?
嗯，人言可畏，一旦有了恶名就难以洗刷掉，不是吗?