A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

c 1350 Douce MS 52 no. 20 While the grasse growes, the goode hors sterues. a 1500

in Wright & Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1841) I. 208 While the grasse growes the steede

starves. 1600–1 SHAKESPEARE Hamlet III. ii. 333 You have the voice of the King

himself for your succession.—Ay, sir, but ‘While the grass grows’—the proverb is

something musty. 1821 J. GALT Ayrshire Legatees x. Until ye get a kirk there can be no

marriage. But the auld horse may die waiting for the new grass. 1911 G. B. SHAW

Doctor’s Dilemma III. 56 I shall sell them next year fast enough, after my one-man-show;

but while the grass grows the steed starves. 1973 ‘M. INNES’ Appleby’s Answer ii. ‘The

working capital?’ ‘Well.. while the grass grows the steed mustn’t starve. Say five

hundred down.’ expectation

The GRASS is always greener on the other side of the fence

Cf. OVID Ars Amatoria I. 349 fertilior seges est alienis semper in agris, the harvest is
always more fruitful in another man’s fields.

1959 H. & M. WILLIAMS in J. C. Trewin Plays of Year XIX. 13 (title) The grass is

greener. 1965 Which? Mar. 91 ‘The grass always looks greener on the other side of the

fence,’ said another informant, explaining that while stores who do practise the system

are uneasy about it.. those outside constantly wonder whether results might not justify it.

2001 Spectator 15/22 Dec. 26 They push their heads through fences and get stuck (the

grass on the other side really is greener: sheep invented the axiom). content and

discontent

grass see also when ELEPHANTS fight, it is the grass that suffers.

grease see the SQUEAKING wheel gets the grease.

A GREAT book is a great evil

Cf. CALLIMACHUS Fragments 465 (Pfeiffer)
the great book is equal to a great evil.

1628 BURTON Anatomy of Melancholy (ed. 3) 7 Oftentimes it falls out.. a great

Booke is a great mischiefe. 1711 ADDISON Spectator 23 July We do not expect to meet

with any thing in a bulky Volume. .. A great Book is a great Evil. 1933 Oxford English

Dictionary (Preface) p. vii. If there is any truth in the old Greek maxim that a large book

is a great evil, English dictionaries have been steadily growing worse ever since their