A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

(Marcin) #1
Master’s Questions xxi I would listen..to this question..whenever..I am eagerly reaching
out my hands to grasp what may satisfy an unlikely ambition. All hands are not steady
enough to carry a full cup. good fortune; prudence

It’s ill speaking between a FULL man and a fasting

A hungry man is never on good terms with a well-fed man; in quot. 1824, used as an
incitation to eat.


a 1641 D. FERGUSSON Scottish Proverbs (STS) no. 1349 Thair is nothing betuix a
bursten body and a hungered. 1824 SCOTT Redgauntlet I. xi. Ye maun eat and drink,
Steenie.. for we do little else here, and it’s ill speaking between a fou man and a fasting.
1934 J. BUCHAN Free Fishers ii. It’s ill speaking between a full man and a fasting, but
two fasting men are worse at a crack. hunger; quarrelsomeness

Out of the FULLNESS of the heart the mouth speaks

With allusion to MATTHEW xii. 34 (AV) Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaketh.


c 1390 CHAUCER Parson’s Tale 1. 626 After the habundance of the herte speketh
the mouth ful ofte. 1699 T. CHALKLEY Fruits of Divine Meditation in Works (1751) II.
26 Out of the Abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh. 1861 TROLLOPE Framley
Parsonage II. x. As out of the full head the mouth speaks, so is the full heart more prone
to speak at such periods of confidence as these. 1932 ‘S. FOWLER’ Hand-Print Mystery
ii. The murder.. had been in the background of her mind all the time. ‘Out of the fullness
of the heart the mouth speaketh.’ speech and silence

One FUNERAL makes many

A similar idea to one WEDDING brings another. The thinking behind this saying is
illustrated in the quots.


1894 BLACKMORE Perlycross I. vii. It has been said, and is true too often.. that
one funeral makes many. A strong east wind.. whistled through the crowd of mourners.
1935 R. C. WOODTHORPE Shadow on Downs V. iv. 137 The funeral went off very well.
.. I am glad we had such a fine day for it. Standing about bareheaded in driving rain..
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