A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

hunt with the hounds. hunter see until the LIONS produce their own historian,... HURRY no man’s cattle 1822 SCOTT Pirate I. ix. ...

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I ice see the RICH man has his ice in the summer and the poor man gets his in the winter. An IDLE brain is the Devil’s workshop ...

IDLENESS is the root of all evil The idea is attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Cf. early 14th-cent. Fr. oiseuseté atrait v ...

1742 GRAY Poems (1966) 10 Thought would destroy their paradise. No more; where ignorance is bliss, ‘Tis folly to be wise. 1865 S ...

an ill bird that fouls its own nest. 2000 C. GOFF Rant of Ravens i. 2 Miriam cleared her throat. ‘It’s an ill bird that fouls it ...

Man’s Heir, to get his Place, or Wife, if he should dye. 1758 A. MURPHY Upholsterer I. ii. You have very good pretensions; but t ...

blew Enron away was a warm breeze from Eden. misfortune ill see also BAD news travels fast; EVIL doers are evil dreaders; EVIL t ...

index see the EYES are the window of the soul. Indian see the only GOOD Indian is a dead Indian. infinite see GENIUS is an infin ...

J Every JACK has his Jill 1611 R. COTGRAVE Dict. French & English s.v. Demander, Like will to like; a Iacke lookes for a Gil ...

WALPOLE History of England I. 311 It would be unfair to say of Lord Brougham that he was ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’ ...

phrase to jouk and let the jaw go by is also found. 1721 J. KELLY Scottish Proverbs 189 Juck [stoop], and let the jaw [rush of w ...

his own case was generally accepted. The chairman of a meeting was in a quasi-judicial capacity. 1981 Daily Telegraph 16 May 18 ...

1999 Daily Nation (Nairobi) 9 Dec. 6/1 As they say, justice delayed is justice denied, an expression that obtains especially in ...

K Why KEEP a dog and bark yourself? 1583 B. MELBANCKE Philotimus 119 It is smal reason you should kepe a dog, and barke your sel ...

1721 J. KELLY Scottish Proverbs 118 Give your own Sea Maws [gulls] your own Fish Guts. If you have any Superfluities give them t ...

kid see the BLEATING of the kid excites the tiger. kill see it is the PACE that kills; it is not WORK that kills, but worry. kil ...

a 1654 J. SELDEN Table-Talk (1689) 27 The King can do no wrong, that is no Process [action at law] can be granted against him. 1 ...

1539 R. TAVERNER tr. Erasmus’ Adages A4V Kynges haue longe handes. They can brynge in men, they can pluck in thinges, though the ...

‘I should like.. to give you one kiss, Insie.’.. Before he could give reason in favour of a privilege which goes proverbially by ...