A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

c 1576 T. WHYTEHORNE Autobiography (1961) 23 Hy women be layzy and low be

lowd, fair be sluttish, and fowll be proud. 1591 J. FLORIO Second Fruits 189 If long, she

is lazy, if little, she is lowde. 1648 HERRICK Hesperides 166 Long and lazie. That was

the Proverb. Let my mistress be Lasie to others, but be long to me—Ibid. 248 Little and

loud. Little you are; for Womans sake be proud; For my sake next, (though little) be not

loud. 1659 J. HOWELL Proverbs (English) 10 Long and lazy, little and loud, Fatt and

fulsome, prety and proud; in point of women. 1872 BLACKMORE Maid of Sker I. xiii.

You are long enough, and lazy enough; put your hand to the bridle. women

LONG foretold, long last; short notice, soon past

Cf. 1863 R. FITZROY Weather Book 15 The longer the time between the signs and the
change foretold by them, the longer such altered weather will last; and, on the contrary, the
less the time between a warning and a change, the shorter will be the continuance of such
predicted weather.

1866 A. STEINMETZ Manual of Weathercasts xiv. Old saws [sayings] about the

barometer. Long foretold, long last; short notice, soon past. 1889 J. K. JEROME Three

Men in Boat v. The barometer is.. misleading... Boots.. read out a poem which was

printed over the top of the oracle, about ‘Long foretold, long last; Short notice, soon

past.’ The fine weather never came that summer. 2002 Times 6 Apr. (online) ‘Long

foretold, long last; short notice, soon past’ the old saying says, meaning that a long rise in

atmospheric pressure brings a long spell of high pressure, which there was. future;

weather lore

It is a LONG lane that has no turning

Commonly used as an assertion that an unfavourable situation will eventually change for
the better.

1633 Stationers’ Register (1877) IV. 273 (ballad) Long runns that neere turnes. 1670

J. RAY English Proverbs 117 It’s a long run that never turns. 1732 T. FULLER

Gnomologia no. 2863 It is a long Lane that never turns. 1748 RICHARDSON Clarissa IV.

xxxii. It is a long lane that has no turning—Do not despise me for my proverbs. 1945 F.

P. KEYES River Road VIII. xxxvii. ‘You’re through in politics, Gervais. You might just

as well face it.’.. ‘It’s a long lane that has no turning.’ 2002 Country Life 11 Apr. 117 ‘It’s

a long road that doesn’t have to turn some time,’ says Mr Plant, who intends to continue

sheep farming, like his father and grandfather before him. circumstances;