A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

lose see also a BLEATING sheep loses a bite; LEND your money and lose your friend; the
SUN loses nothing by shining into a puddle; a TALE never loses in the telling; USE it or lose
it; you WIN a few, you lose a few.

loser see FINDERS keepers (losers weepers).

One man’s LOSS is another man’s gain

c 1527 T. BERTHELET tr. Erasmus’ Sayings of Wise Men D1V Lyghtly whan one

wynneth, an other loseth. 1733 J. BARBER in Correspondence of Swift (1965) IV. 189

Your loss will be our gain, as the proverb says. 1821 SCOTT Pirate I. vi. Doubtless one

man’s loss is another man’s gain. 1918 D. H. LAWRENCE Letter 21 Feb. (1962) I. 544 I

am glad to have the money from your hand. But..one man’s gain is another man’s loss.

1979 R. LITTELL Debriefing vi. Well, their loss is my gain! gains and losses

There’s no great LOSS without some gain

a 1641 D. FERGUSSON Scottish Proverbs (STS) no. 1408 Thair was never a grit

loss without som small vantag. 1868 W. CLIFT Tim Bunker Papers 134 However, ‘there

is no great loss but what there is some small gain,’ and Jake Frink claims that he has got

his money’s worth in experience. 1937 L. I. WILDER On Banks of Plum Creek xxv. The

hens.. were eating grasshoppers... ‘Well, we won’t have to buy feed for the hens. ..

There’s no great loss without some gain.’ 1957 M. P. HOOD In Dark Night viii. I didn’t

think there’d be enough business on the wharf for him to need me this afternoon... No

loss without some small gain. gains and losses

lost see BETTER to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all; he who
HESITATES is lost; what a NEIGHBOUR gets is not lost; for WANT of a nail the shoe was
lost.

lottery see MARRIAGE is a lottery.

loud see LONG and lazy, little and loud.

louder see ACTIONS speak louder than words.

louse see SUE a beggar and catch a louse.