A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

birds of a feather will flock together. To be too intimate with sinners, is to intimate that

you are sinners. 1828 BULWER-LYTTON Pelham III. xv. It is literally true in the

systematised roguery of London, that ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ 2001 Washington

Times 15 July D7 Birds of a feather flock together, so the second thing you should do is

find another friend who’s less troubled than the first. associates; human nature;

similarity and dissimilarity

Little BIRDS that can sing and won’t sing must be made to sing

1678 J. RAY English Proverbs (ed. 2) 343 The bird that can sing and will not sing

must be made to sing. 1846 DICKENS Cricket on Hearth ii. ‘The bird that can sing and

won’t sing, must be made to sing, they say,’ grumbled Tackleton. ‘What about the owl

that can’t sing, and oughtn’t to sing, and will sing?’ 1888 A. QUILLER-COUCH Troy

Town i. ‘A little music might perhaps leave a pleasant taste.’.. ‘Come, Sophy! Remember

the proverb about little birds that can sing and won’t sing?’ 1904 G. K. CHESTERTON

Napoleon of Notting Hill II. i. When the disdainful oligarchs declined to join in the songs

of the men of the Broadway .., the great Republican leader, with his rough humour, said

the words which are written in gold upon his monument, ‘Little birds that can sing and

won’t sing, must be made to sing.’ 1952 J. KNOX Little Benders 18 Heaven wasn’t so far

away when you could do your own singing about it. Mama believed that and many a time

she said, ‘A body who can sing and won’t sing ought to be made to sing.’ obstinacy;

speech and silence

bite see (noun) a BLEATING sheep loses a bite; every DOG is allowed one bite; (verb) a
BARKING dog never bites; BIG fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite them; DEAD
men don’t bite.

The man who has once been BITTEN by the snake fears every piece of rope

Chinese proverb, also found in Japan.

1937 H. H. HART 700 Chinese Proverbs (1960) no. 527 One year bitten by a snake,

for three years afraid of a grass rope. 1981 DALAI LAMA quoted in Observer 5 Apr.

(online) Frankly speaking, it is difficult to trust the Chinese. Once bitten by a snake you

feel suspicious even when you see a piece of rope. 1995 E. C. SYMMES Netsuke 94 The

snake appears in many Japanese proverbs—the man who has once been bitten by the

snake fears every piece of rope, or ‘once bitten, twice shy.’ 2004 New York Times 25 June

9 (online) China’s chief trade negotiator, Vice Premier Wu Yi, cited a Chinese proverb,

‘Once bitten by a snake, one is terrified of the mere sight of a piece of rope.’ experience