A meaning of a phrase
Hello,

Thank you for reading my question.

Could you tell me the meaning of a phrase? A boy wrote when he wants to go to a party and his father says that he is not allowed to go, his father often says "Better alive than dead."

Could you tell me what is the meaning of "Better alive than dead"? And the boy in the story spends time with his friends rather than at home with his parents.

Thank you for your help.

Kind Regards,
Jing W

Question

A meaning of a phrase
Hello,

Thank you for reading my question.

Could you tell me the meaning of a phrase? A boy wrote when he wants to go to a party and his father says that he is not allowed to go, his father often says "Better alive than dead."

Could you tell me what is the meaning of "Better alive than dead"? And the boy in the story spends time with his friends rather than at home with his parents.

Thank you for your help.

Kind Regards,
Jing W

Answer

I don't think that I have heard that phrase before. But I'm guessing that it is a variant of "better safe than sorry". Maybe the father is concerned for the son's safety, and he would rather have his son not attend the party at all than to risk something happening to him. I don't have enough context to know whether he'd be actually dying at the party.