A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

keep a secret, if two of them are dead.’ 2007 Times 14 Aug. 9 With their motto of ‘Three

can keep a secret if two are dead’, initiation into the group [Hell’s Angels] ensures an

intense loyalty. concealment; discretion

THREE removals are as bad as a fire

1758 B. FRANKLIN Poor Richard’s Almanack (Preface) I never saw an oft removed

Tree, Nor yet an oft removed Family, That throve so well, as those that settled be. And

again, Three Removes are as bad as a Fire. 1839 DICKENS Letter 14 Nov. (1965) 1.602

Did you ever ‘move’?.. There is an old proverb that three removes are as bad as a fire.

1931 E. PEARSON in Liberty 5 Sept. 28 Mr. Small’s historians have traced at least six

removals from place to place after he left his native Portland, and by reckoning ‘three

moves as bad as a fire’.. you may estimate the extent of his misfortune. 1999 Washington

Post 17 Sept. E12 In terms of general disruption, it’s been said that two moves equal one

fire. But unlike fires, moves can be planned and budgeted. change

THREE things are not to be trusted: a cow’s horn, a dog’s tooth, and a horse’s hoof

Cf. 13th-cent. Fr. dent de chael, pé de cheval, cul d’enfant ne sunt pas a crere, a dog’s
tooth, a horse’s hoof, and a baby’s bottom are not to be trusted.

c 1383 JOHN OF FORDUN Scotichronicon (1759) II. XIV. xxxii. Till horsis fote

thou never traist, Till hondis tooth, no womans faith. 1585 S. ROBSON Choice of Change

K 2 Trust not 3 things. Dogs teeth. Horses feete. Womens Protestations. 1910 P. W.

JOYCE English as We speak it in Ireland 110 Three things are not to be trusted—a cow’s

horn, a dog’s tooth and a horse’s hoof. 1948 T. H. WHITE Elephant & Kangaroo xiii. He

was.. beginning to worry about being employed by a venomous Englishman. ‘Four things

not to trust,’ said the Cashelmor proverb: ‘a dog’s tooth, a horse’s hoof, a cow’s horn, and

an Englishman’s laugh.’ caution; trust and scepticism

three see also BAD things come in threes; two BOYS are half a boy, and three boys are no
boy at all; from CLOGS to clogs is only three generations; feed a DOG for three days and he
will remember your kindness for three years.. ; one ENGLISHMAN can beat three Frenchmen;
FISH and guests smell after three days; it takes three GENERATIONS to make a gentleman;
from SHIRTSLEEVES to shirtsleeves in three generations; TWO is company, but three is
none

THRIFT is a great revenue