A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

Name, and he’ll soon be hanged. Spoken of those who raise an ill Name on a Man on purpose to prevent his Advancement. 1803 Norfo ...

The proverb is based on the old common law rule (dating at least from the seventeenth century) by which the keeper of a domestic ...

herself—‘like a dog to his vomit’.. —to her former.. extravagance and dissipation. 1981 P. McCUTCHAN Shard calls Tune xvi. The o ...

DOGS bark, but the caravan goes on Quot. 1956 is a humorous inversion of the proverb. In most instances of this proverb, caravan ...

dollar see ANOTHER day, another dollar. What’s DONE cannot be undone Also found in the terser, more casual form what’s done is d ...

door see also a CREAKING door hangs longest; a GOLDEN key can open any door; when ONE door shuts, another opens; OPPORTUNITY nev ...

and ruled draws see also BEAUTY draws with a single hair. dread see a BURNT child dreads the fire. dreader see EVIL doers are ev ...

drink see EAT, drink, and be merry.. ; you can take a HORSE to the water, but you can’t make him drink. He that DRINKS beer, thi ...

1539 R. TAVERNER tr. Erasmus’ Adages 44 Thurst out nature wyth a croche [staff], yet woll she styll runne backe agayne. 1831 T. ...

drunken see CHILDREN and fools tell the truth; HEAVEN protects children, sailors, and drunken men. druv (drove, driven): see SUS ...

E eagle see where the CARCASE is, there shall the eagles be gathered together. EAGLES don’t catch flies Great or important peopl ...

The EARLY man never borrows from the late man 1659 J. HOWELL Proverbs (English) 17 The rath [early] sower never borroweth of the ...

EAST, west, home’s best 1859 W. K. KELLY Proverbs of all Nations 36 ‘East and west, at home the best’ (German). .. Ost und West, ...

easy see it is easy to find a STICK to beat a dog; it is easy to be WISE after the event; also EASIER. You are what you EAT Ger. ...

A conflation of two biblical sayings: ECCLESIASTES viii. 15 (AV) Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing unde ...

1672 T. SHADWELL Miser 46 Eat to live, not live to eat; as the Proverb says. 1912 A. W. PINERO Preserving Mr. Panmure II. 85 I s ...

woman, and eight for a fool. elephant see with a SWEET tongue and kindness, you can drag an elephant by a hair. When ELEPHANTS f ...

1642 G. TORRIANO Select Italian Proverbs 90 Sacco vuoto non può star in piedi. An emptie sack cannot stand upright: nota, Applie ...

SHAKESPEARE Troilus & Cressida IV. v. 223 The end crowns all; And that old common arbitrator, Time, Will one day end it. 182 ...

my enemy is my friend.’ 2002 National Review 3 May (online ed.) Or was she [Barbie]— as conservatives insisted, taking the view ...