A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

1569 W. WAGER Longer Thou Livest A2 To be a good man it is also expedient Of good Parents to be begotten and borne. .. Commonly ...

seen see CHILDREN should be seen and not heard. SELF-praise is no recommendation Cf. L. laus in proprio ore sordescit, praise in ...

1979 Daily Telegraph 27 July 19 That hoary old adage sell in May and go away, has yet again been vindicated with the Financial T ...

Loft. 1906 E. HOLDEN Country Diary of Edwardian Lady (1977) 121 September blow soft,—Till the fruit’s in the loft. 1928 Daily Ma ...

shame see (noun) FOOL me once, shame on you; (verb) TELL the truth and shame the Devil. shared see a TROUBLE shared is a trouble ...

Do not spoil the SHIP for a ha’porth of tar Ship is a dialectal pronunciation of sheep, and the original literal sense of the pr ...

with the founding and founded content of the pre-Gestalt Gestalters. 1980 J. KRANTZ Princess Daisy xvii. What’s this? Shirtsleev ...

has lost £233 million in six months. family shoemaker see also let the COBBLER stick to his last. shop see KEEP your shop and yo ...

short see also ART is long and life is short; LONG foretold, long last. shortest see BARNABY bright, Barnaby bright, the longest ...

shut see also a DOOR must either be shut or open; when ONE door shuts, another opens; it is too late to shut the STABLE-door aft ...

and silence SILENCE means consent This is not a principle accepted in modern English law. However, Sir Thomas More (1478– 1535) ...

silver see every CLOUD has a silver lining; SPEECH is silver, but silence is golden. It’s a SIN to steal a pin 1875 A. B. CHEALE ...

sinner see the GREATER the sinner, the greater the saint. If you SIT by the river for long enough, you will see the body of your ...

1623 J. WODROEPHE Spared Hours of Soldier 310 The Student sleepes six Howres, the Traueller seuen; the Workeman eight, and all L ...

sleep see one HOUR’S sleep before midnight is worth two after; SIX hours’ sleep for a man, seven for a woman, and eight for a fo ...

1762 R. LLOYD Poems 38 You may deride my awkward pace, But slow and steady wins the race. 1894 G. F. NORTHALL Folk-Phrases 22 Sl ...

really small, like Nanoarchaeum equitans, which measures a whole 100 millionth of a millimetre less than the tiniest bacterium, ...

A SOFT answer turneth away wrath With allusion to PROVERBS xv. 1 (AV) A soft answer turneth away wrath. Cf. c 1395 WYCLIF Bible ...

soldier see also the FIRST duty of a soldier is obedience; OLD soldiers never die. If you’re not part of the SOLUTION, you’re pa ...

Similar in sentiment to HALF a loaf is better than no bread. Cf. early 15th-cent. Fr. mieulx vault aucun bien que neant, somethi ...