A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

22 (1962) iv. 33 A little grease is what makes this world go round. One hand washes the

other. Know what I mean? You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. 2002 Washington

Times 3 Mar. D1 Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg outlined the stages of moral

development in children:.. 2. Doing right for self-serving reasons: ‘You scratch my back,

and I’ll scratch yours.’ reciprocity

SCRATCH a Russian and you find a Tartar

The proverb is also used allusively, especially of other nationalities. Cf. Fr. grattez le
Russe et vous trouverez le Tartare, scratch the Russian and you will find the Tartar (attributed
to Napoleon).

1823 J. GALLATIN Diary 2 Jan. (1914) 229 Very true the saying is, ‘Scratch the

Russian and find the Tartar.’ c 1863 J. R. GREEN in Notes & Queries (1965) CCX. 348

They say, if you scratch a Russian you always find the Tartar beneath. 1899 F. A. OBER

Puerto Rico xii. Scratch a Puerto Rican and you find a Spaniard underneath, so the

language and home customs of Spain prevail here. 1911 Spectator 2 Dec. 964 Until a

short time ago the aphorism, ‘Scratch a Russian and you find a Tartar,’ was the sum of

British comprehension of the Russian character. 1947 J. FLANNER in New Yorker 31

May 6 Scratch a Pole and you find a Pole, even if he is a Communist. 1967 D.

BLOODWORTH Chinese Looking Glass xxxiv. Mao.. discovered many years ago that

you only had to scratch a Russian Communist to find a Tatar. human nature; national

characteristics

Scripture see the DEVIL can quote Scripture for his own ends.

He that would go to SEA for pleasure, would go to hell for a pastime

A sailors’ proverb.

1899 A. J. BOYD Shellback viii. Shentlemens vot goes to sea for pleasure vould go

to hell for pastime. 1910 D. W. BONE Brassbounder xxvi. He gave a half-laugh and

muttered the old formula about ‘the man who would go to sea for pleasure, going to hell

for a pastime!’ 1924 R. CLEMENTS Gipsy of Horn iii. ‘He who would go to sea for

pleasure, would go to hell for a pastime’ is an attempt at heavy satire. 1933 M. LOWRY

Ultramarine i. ‘What made you come to sea anyway?’ ‘Search me. .. To amuse myself, I

suppose.’ ‘Well, a man who’d go to sea for fun’d go to hell for a pastime. ..It’s an old

sailor expression.’ 1986 Newsweek 27 Jan. 62 Just before Steven Callahan set out to sail

alone from Penzance to Martinique, a Cornish seaman warned him that ‘a fella who’d go