A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

spoiled see BETTER one house spoiled than two.

spoken see many a TRUE word is spoken in jest.

spoon see he who SUPS with the Devil should have a long spoon.

spot see the LEOPARD does not change his spots.

spread see MONEY, like manure, does no good till it is spread; in vain the NET is spread
in the sight of the bird.

It is not SPRING until you can plant your foot upon twelve daisies

1863 R. CHAMBERS Book of Days I. 312 We can now plant our ‘foot upon nine

daisies’ and not until that can be done do the old-fashioned country people believe that

spring is really come. 1878 T. F. THISELTON-DYER English Folk-Lore i. ‘It ain’t spring

until you can plant your foot upon twelve daisies,’ is a proverb still very prevalent. 1910

Spectator 26 Mar. 499 Spring is here when you can tread on nine daisies at once on the

village green; so goes one of the country proverbs. 1972 CASSON & GRENFELL Nanny

Says 52 When you can step on six daisies at once, summer has come. calendar lore

spring (verb) see HOPE springs eternal.

The SQUEAKING wheel gets the grease

Attention is only given to a troublesome person or thing.

a 1937 in J. Bartlett Familiar Quotations 518 The wheel that squeaks the loudest Is

the one that gets the grease. 1948 in B. Stevenson Home Book of Proverbs 2483 I hate to

be a kicker, I always long for peace, But the wheel that does the squeaking is the one that

gets the grease. 1974 Hansard (Commons) 17 Oct. 502 It is the old story: the squeaky

wheel gets the grease. 2001 Washington Times 29 June A20 We are all acquainted with

the adage ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease.’ For the past decade or so, liberals have

been squeaking loudly and getting more than their fair share of the grease, many times

even from Republicans. trouble