potent myth’, the conviction of one European as equal to twenty others. boasting;
national characteristicsAn ENGLISHMAN’s house is his castle
1581 R. MULCASTER Positions xl. He is the appointer of his owne circumstance,
and his house is his castle. 1642 T. FULLER Fast Sermon 28 It was wont to be said A
mans house is his Castle but if this Castle of late hath proved unable to secure any, let
them make their conscience their castle. 1791 BOSWELL Life of Johnson II. 284 In
London.. a man’s own house is truly his castle, in which he can be in perfect safety from
intrusion. 1837 DICKENS Pickwick Papers xxiv. Some people maintains that an
Englishman’s house is his castle. That’s gammon [nonsense]. 1998 Garden (Royal
Horticultural Society) May 313 An Englishman’s house may be his castle, but does it
follow that his garden is his forest? 2002 Washington Times 1 Aug. A14 An Englishman’s
home is no longer his castle. Thanks to gun control zealots, England has become the land
of choice for criminals. home; national characteristicsAn ENGLISHMAN’s word is his bond
c 1500 Lancelot of Lake (STS) 1.1671 O kingis word shuld be o kingis bonde. a 1606
Nobody & Somebody C2V Nobodies worde is as good as his bond. 1642 T. FULLER Holy
State V. XIII. He hath this property of an honest man, that his word is as good as his
band. 1754 RICHARDSON Grandison I. Letter ix. I am no flincher. ..The word of Sir
Rowland Meredith is as good as his bond. 1841 DICKENS Old Curiosity Shop lviii.
‘Marchioness,’ said Mr. Swiveller, rising, ‘the word of a gentleman is as good as his bond
—sometimes better, as in the present case.’ 1916 F. VANE Letter 14 Sept. in M. Gibbon
Inglorious Soldier iii. [List of fictions underlying national conceit:] 3. That English
justice is something much more superfine than any other sort of justice (owing to Public
School training!) and that an Englishman’s word is his bond. 1981 A. GRAHAM-YOOLL
Forgotten Colony xvi. If a verbal promise is made the native, to seal the contract, usually
says palabra de inglés,.. meaning that he will act as an Englishman, whose word is his
bond. honour; national characteristicsENOUGH is as good as a feast
c. 1375 J. BARBOUR Bruce (EETS) XIV. 363 He maid thame na gud fest, perfay
[truly], And nocht-for-thi [nevertheless] yneuch had thai. c 1470 MALORY Morte
d’Arthur (1967) I. 246 Inowghe is as good as a feste. 1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of
Proverbs II. xi. M1 Here is enough, I am satisfied (sayde he).. For folke say, enough is as
good as a feast. 1833 LAMB Elia’s Last Essays vi. That enough is as good as a feast. Not