A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

1887 T. H. HALL CAINE Deemster I. v. ‘What’s it sayin’,’ they would mutter, ‘a

green hill when far away from me; bare, bare, when it is near.’ 1902 J. BUCHAN Watcher

by Threshold IV. 236 ‘Blue are the hills that are far away’ is an owercome [common

expression] in the countryside. 1914 Spectator 6 June 955 It is the habit of the Celt to

create fanciful golden ages in the past—’Blue are the faraway hills,’ runs the Gaelic

proverb. 1949 J. L. MORRISSEY Necktie for Norman iii. 21 It was so much like the

attitude of the habitual stay-at-home. They say that ‘distant hills are always the greenest.’

absence; content and discontent

blush see TRUTH makes the Devil blush.

boat see a RISING tide lifts all boats.

body see CORPORATIONS have neither bodies to be punished nor souls to be damned; if
you SIT by the river for long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by.

boil see a WATCHED pot never boils.

bold see NOTHING so bold as a blind mare.

bolted see it is too late to shut the STABLE-door after the horse has bolted.

bond see an ENGLISHMAN’S word is his bond.

bone see what’s BRED in the bone will come out in the flesh; you BUY land you buy
stones; a DOG that will fetch a bone will carry a bone; HARD words break no bones; the
NEARER the bone, the sweeter the meat; STICKS and stones may break my bones, but words
will never hurt me; while TWO dogs are fighting for a bone, a third runs away with it.

You can’t tell a BOOK by its cover

1929 American Speech IV. 465 You can’t judge a book by its binding. 1946 ROLFE

& FULLER Glass Room i. ‘Forgive me, sir,’ he said. ‘I had you all wrong. You can never

tell a book by its cover.’ 1954 R. HAYDN Journal of Edwin Carp 131 This is a nice

respectable street, wouldn’t you say, sir?.. Unfortunately, sir, you can’t tell a book by its