A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

Take away the Bees, and.. you shall have no Honey in the Hive,.. but there always will be Honey where there are Bees. 1931 P. A. ...

1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs I. X. D1 Folke say alwaie, beggers shulde be no choosers. 1728 VANBRUGH Journey to London I ...

A BELLOWING cow soon forgets her calf An excessive show of grief (at a bereavement) quickly passes. Cf. 1553 T. WILSON Art of Rh ...

1861 R. C. TRENCH Commentary on Epistles to Seven Churches in Asia p. v. ‘The best is oftentimes the enemy of the good’; and.. m ...

The General Lambert referred to in quot. 1680 was the Parliamentarian commander John Lambert (1619–83), who played an important ...

1668 DRYDEN & NEWCASTLE Sir Martin Mar-all V. i. I’m resolv’d to be on the sure side. 1811 J. AUSTEN Sense & Sensibility ...

Herbs here is used in the archaic sense of’plants of which the leaves are used as food’, and a stalled ox is one that is fattene ...

Darling, than a young Man’s Wonderling, say the Scots, Warling, say the English. 1859 J. R. PLANCHÉ Love & Fortune 8 Let def ...

that?’ said the tinker: ‘it’s betther be sure than sorry’. 1933 Radio Times 14 Apr. 125 Cheap distempers very soon crack or fade ...

The BETTER the day, the better the deed Frequently used to justify working on a Sunday or religious festival. Cf. early 14th-cen ...

honours!—mere caprich! Better be fortunate than rich: Since oft me find..Is verify’d what proverbs prate. 1846 M. A. DENHAM Denh ...

friends that it is better to give than to receive. 2001 Washington Times 2 July B9 (Herb & Jamaal comic strip)’Herb, you kno ...

BETTER to marry than to burn With allusion to I CORINTHIANS vii. 8–9 (AV) I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is goo ...

BETTER wed over the mixen than over the moor It is better to marry a neighbour than a stranger. For mixen, see quot. 1661. a 162 ...

bicycle see a WOMAN without a man is like a fish without a bicycle. Never BID the Devil good morrow until you meet him 1873 J. M ...

little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum. And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on; While ...

binding see you can’t tell a BOOK by its cover. A BIRD in the hand is worth two in the bush It is better to accept or be content ...

that fouls its own nest; in vain the NET is spread in the sight of the bird. There are no BIRDS in last year’s nest Circumstance ...

birds of a feather will flock together. To be too intimate with sinners, is to intimate that you are sinners. 1828 BULWER-LYTTON ...

bitten see also ONCE bitten, twice shy. black see it doesn’t matter if a CAT is black or white.. ; the DEVIL is not so black as ...