Man’s Heir, to get his Place, or Wife, if he should dye. 1758 A. MURPHY Upholsterer I.
ii. You have very good pretensions; but then its waiting for dead Men’s Shoes. 1815
SCOTT Guy Mannering II. xvi. That’s but sma’ gear, puir thing; she had a sair time o’t
with the auld leddy. But it’s ill waiting for dead folk’s shoon. 1912 E. V. LUCAS London
Lavender iv. I pointed out that I was executor to no fewer than three persons.. ‘It’s ill
waiting for dead men’s shoes,’ Naomi quoted. 1963 C. BUSH Case of Heavenly Twin xvi.
Perhaps I was right when I suggested he told Staffer he was waiting for a dead man’s
shoes. expectationILL weeds grow apaceCf. 14th-cent. Fr. male herbe croist, bad grass thrives.c 1470 in Anglia (1918) XLII. 200 Wyl[d] weed ys sone y-growe. Creuerat herba
satis, que nil habet utilitatis. 1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs I. x.C4V Ill weede
growth fast Ales [Alice], wherby the corne is lorne [lost]. 1578 J. FLORIO First Fruits
31 V An yl weede groweth apace. 1594 SHAKESPEARE Richard III II. iv. 13 ‘Ay,’ quoth
my uncle Gloucester, ‘Small herbs have grace: great weeds do grow apace.’.. I would not
grow so fast, Because sweet flow’rs are slow and weeds make haste. 1738 SWIFT Polite
Conversation i. 23 ‘Don’t you think Miss is grown?’.. ‘Ay; ill Weeds grow a-pace.’ 1905
A. MACLAREN Gospel according to St. Matthew II. 208 The roots of the old lay hid,
and, in due time, showed again above ground. ‘Ill weeds grow apace.’ 1986 M. SLUNG
More Momilies 67 It’s always the weeds that grow the best. good and evil; wrong-doersIt’s an ILL wind that blows nobody any goodA sailing metaphor frequently invoked to explain good luck arising from the source of
others’ misfortune.
1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs II. ix. L1 An yll wynde that blowth no
man to good, men saie. 1591 SHAKESPEARE Henry VI, Pt. 3 II. v. 55 Ill blows the wind
that profits nobody. 1655 T. FULLER Church Hist. Britain II. ii. It is an ill wind which
bloweth no man Profit. He is cast on the Shoar of Freezland.. where the Inhabitants ..
were by his Preaching converted to Christianity. 1832 S. WARREN Diary of Late
Physician I. i. My good fortune (truly it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good) was
almost too much for me. 1979 J. SCOTT Angels in your Beer xxviii. It is an ill wind that
blows nobody any good, but then John Quinlan.. was about as close to being a nobody as
anyone could get. 2002 Washington Times 11 Jan. A4 It’s an ill wind that blows nobody
any good, as the wise man said, and certain Democrats and pundits think the wind that