Ignore the trolls — the loudest boos come from the cheapest seats.
the loudest boos come from the cheapest seats
idiom C1 Informal
The harshest criticism often comes from those least invested or least knowledgeable — people jeering from a distance rather than doing the work themselves.
Origin
disputed originPopularly attributed to baseball legend Babe Ruth (around 1932), though the attribution is not well-documented. The image is a stadium: the cheapest seats sit farthest from the field, so the spectators with the least invested — and the poorest view of the game — are often the ones booing loudest.
When her startup took off, the people who'd never built anything grew loudest — the loudest boos come from the cheapest seats.
The saying that the loudest boos come from the cheapest seats is a reminder that the fiercest criticism tends to come from those with the least skin in the game.
Last updated July 23, 2026