A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

Throwback vii. If you aimed at a grouse it was hit or miss and a miss was as good as a

mile. error

You never MISS the water till the well runs dry

a 1628 J. CARMICHAELL Proverbs in Scots no. 1140 Manie wats [know] not

quhairof [whereof] the wel sauris [tastes] quhill [until] it fall drie. 1659 J. HOWELL

Proverbs (British) 24 Of the Well we see no want, till either dry, or Water skant. 1721 J.

KELLY Scottish Proverbs 351 We’ll never know the worth of Water ‘till the well go dry.

1874 H. LINN You never miss Water 5 Do not let your chances, like sunbeams pass you

by; For you never miss the water till the well runs dry. 1996 Washington Times 18 July

A6 ‘There is an old adage,’ Sen. Robert Byrd.. recalled this week, ‘that “you never miss

the water until the well runs dry.”’ blessings; gratitude and ingratitude

miss see also what you’ve never HAD you never miss; a SLICE off a cut loaf isn’t missed.

If you don’t make MISTAKES you don’t make anything

1896 CONRAD Outcast of Islands III. ii. It’s only those who do nothing that make

no mistakes, I suppose. 1925 Times 9 Nov. 17 The comforting assurance that ‘a man who

never makes mistakes never makes anything.’ 1980 M. DRABBLE Middle Ground 86 If

you don’t make mistakes you don’t make anything, she said, a motto which Hugo seemed

to remember having seen pinned over the desk. error; risk

mistress see like MASTER, like man.

So many MISTS in March, so many frosts in May

1612 A. HOPTON Concordancy of Years xxx. Some say, so many mistes in March,

so many hoare frosts after Easter. 1678 J. RAY English Proverbs (ed. 2) 344 So many

frosts in March so many in May. 1978 R. WHITLOCK Calendar of Country Customs iii.

Many old country beliefs are not content with generalities but strive to be more precise.

A well-known proverb is: So many mists in March, So many frosts in May. weather

lore

mixen see BETTER wed over the mixen than over the moor.