A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

BLOOD will have blood

Violence begets violence. Cf. GENESIS ix. 6 (AV) Who so sheddeth man’s blood, by man
shall his blood be shed.

a 1449 J. LYDGATE Minor Poems (EETS) 512 Blood will have wreche [vengeance],

that wrongfully is spent. 1559 Mirror for Magistrates (1938) 99 Blood wyll haue blood,

eyther fyrst or last. 1605–6 SHAKESPEARE Macbeth III. iv. 122 It will have blood; they

say blood will have blood. 1805 SOUTHEY Madoc I. vii. Blood will have blood, revenge

beget revenge. 1974 A. FOREST Cricket Term i. ‘Blood will have blood,’ quoted Lawrie

smugly. revenge; violence

BLOOD will tell

Family characteristics or heredity cannot be concealed.

1850 G. H. BOKER World a Mask IV. in S. Bradley Glaucus (1940) 38 He looked

like the tiger in the Zoological, when I punch him with my stick. .. Game to the backbone

—blood will tell. 1914 WODEHOUSE Man upstairs & Other Stories 253 Blood will tell.

Once a Pittsburgh millionaire, always a Pittsburgh millionaire. 2002 Oldie June 63 By the

end, she herself has turned out to be the cousin of‘darling Clare’, and the daughter of

long-lost Sir David Beaumont,.. which is a bit of a cheat really because blood will out,

won’t it, and it’s not surprising that Daisy is such a marvel. family

bloom see when the FURZE is in bloom, my love’s in tune; when the GORSE is out of
bloom, kissing’s out of fashion.

blow see it’s an ILL wind that blows nobody any good; NORTH wind doth blow, we shall
have snow; SEPTEMBER blow soft, till the fruit’s in the loft; STRAWS tell which way the
wind blows.

BLUE are the hills that are far away

A northern proverb comparable to DISTANCE lends enchantment to the view. Green is
sometimes found instead of blue. Cf. the GRASS is always greener on the other side of the
fence.