A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

The more you STIR it the worse it stinks

1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs II. vi. The more we stur a tourde, the

wours it will stynke. 1639 J. CLARKE Parœmiologia Anglo-Latina 200 The more you

stirre it the worse it stinkes. 1706 P. A. MOTTEUX tr. Cervantes’ Don Quixote II. xii.

The more ye stir, the more ‘twill stink. 1929 T. COBB Crime without Clue xx. The more

we stir the worse it stinks, inspector. One would never imagine there were so many shady

histories in this harmless-looking village. 1971 H. VAN DYKE Dead Piano iv. I could

tell you. .. But like my mama always used to say, ‘The more you stir shit, the more it

stinks.’ action and consequence; busybodies

stir see also you should KNOW a man seven years before you stir his fire.

A STITCH in time saves nine

The proverb was originally a couplet. The number nine was apparently introduced
fancifully for the sake of assonance.

1732 T. FULLER Gnomologia no. 6291 A Stitch in Time May save nine. 1797 F.

BAILY Journal 30 Apr. (1856) 268 After a little while we acquired a method of keeping

her [a boat] in the middle of the stream, by watching the moment she began to vary, and

thereby verifying the vulgar proverb, ‘A stitch in time saves nine.’ 1868 READE &

BOUCICAULT Foul Play I. ix. Repairing the ship. Found a crack or two in her inner skin.

.. A stitch in time saves nine. 1979 Homes & Gardens June 105 Looking after oneself is

like looking after a house: a stitch in time..

STOLEN fruit is sweet

The proverb is used in a variety of forms, principally in allusion to the temptation of Eve
(Genesis iii. 6): e.g. c 1390 CHAUCER Parson’s Tale 1. 332 The fleesh hadde delit in the
beautee of the fruyt defended [forbidden]. See also the next entry.

1614 T. ADAMS Devil’s Banquet III. 98 But as the Proverbe hath it.. Apples are

sweet, when they are plucked in the Gardiners absence. Eve liked no Apple in the Garden

so well as the forbidden. 1668 F. KIRKMAN English Rogue II. B1V So eager are these

sort of people to buy any thing that is unlicensed, following the Proverb, that stollen meat

is sweetest. 1855 GASKELL North & South II. vi. I can remember.. your being in some

disgrace.. for stealing apples. .. Some one had told you that stolen fruit tasted sweetest.