give (someone) enough rope, and they will hang themselves
proverb If you give someone the opportunity to do something wrong or detrimental to themselves, they will usually do it; one does not need to interfere to bring about someone's downfall. Don't interrupt the suspect, just let him keep talking. Give him enough rope and he will hang himself. Tom keeps bullying me to see if he can get a reaction. So today, I just let him carry on until I knew the boss could hear us, and Tom got fired for it. Give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves! Look, you don't have to do anything to undermine Bill, just give that fool enough rope, and he'll hang himself!
give him enough rope and he'll hang himself
If you give people the opportunity to do something wrong or detrimental to themselves, they will usually do it; one does not need to interfere to bring about someone's downfall. Don't interrupt him with questions. Just let him keep talking and he'll incriminate himself. Give him enough rope and he'll hang himself! Tom keeps bullying me to see if he can get a reaction. So today, I just let him carry on until I knew the boss could hear us, and Tom got fired for it. Give him enough rope and he'll hang himself! Look, you don't have to do anything to undermine Bill—he's a fool. Just give him enough rope and he'll hang himself!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.