A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

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The LABOURER is worthy of his hire

With allusion to LUKE x. 7 (AV) The labourer is worthy of his hire.

c 1390 CHAUCER Summoner’s Tale 1. 1973 The hye God, that al this world hath

wroght, Seith that the werkman worthy is his hyre. 1580 J. BARET Alveary D697 Digna

canis pabulo. .. A Prouerbe declaring that the laborer is worthie of his hire: it is taken as

well of the labour of the mind, as of the bodie. 1824 SCOTT St. Ronan’s Well I. x. Your

service will not be altogether gratuitous, my old friend—the labourer is worthy of his

hire. 1980 Times 4 Mar. 7 Forget haggling. .. The labourer is worthy of his hire. 2001 R.

HILL Dialogues of Dead ii. 11 Penn had no difficulty squaring his assertion that the

labourer was worthy his hire with using Dee as his unpaid research assistant, but the

librarian never complained. employers and employees; money; work

ladder see CROSSES are ladders that lead to heaven.

lady see FAINT heart never won fair lady; FAR-FETCHED and dear-bought is good for
ladies; the OPERA isn’t over till the fat lady sings.

lamb see the BLEATING of the kid excites the tiger; GOD tempers the wind to the shorn
lamb; one might as well be HANGED for a sheep as a lamb; MARCH comes in like a lion, and
goes out like a lamb.

Lancashire see what MANCHESTER says today, the rest of England says tomorrow.

Every LAND has its own law

a 1628 J. CARMICHAELL Proverbs in Scots no. 469 Everie land hes the laich. 1721

J. KELLY Scottish Proverbs 92 Every land hath its own Laugh, and every Corn its own

Caff [chaff]. Every Country hath its own Laws, Customs, and Usages. 1916 British

Weekly 2 Nov. 84 ‘Every land’, says the old Scottish proverb, ‘has its ain lauch.’ And

every class has its own mode of thought and expression. idiosyncrasy; national

characteristics