In English
“play with a puppy and it licks your mouth”
Meaning
If you play with a puppy, the puppy will lick your mouth. Too much familiarity invites over-familiarity in return — when you are overly casual with people beneath you in age or station, they lose all sense of respect and take liberties. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Examples
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Him too friendly wid di workers an now dem nuh respect him; yuh play wid puppy, puppy lick yuh mout.
He's too familiar with the workers and now they don't respect him; over-familiarity breeds liberties.
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Keep some distance from di youth dem — yuh play wid puppy, puppy lick yuh mout.
Keep some distance from the young ones — too much closeness invites disrespect.
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She let dem get too close an dem tek advantage; yuh play wid puppy, puppy lick yuh mout.
She let them get too close and they took advantage; familiarity breeds contempt.
Origin
A puppy image: fondle a puppy and it grows bold enough to lick your face — a figure for how excessive familiarity emboldens people to overstep.
How it’s used
A caution against being over-familiar, especially with those you need to keep respect from.