A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

cover. 1969 S. MAY et al. You can’t judge Book by its Cover (song) 1 I can’t let you

know you’re getting to me.. ‘cause you can’t judge a book by its cover. My pappa used to

say, look, child, look beyond a tender smile. 1984 D. CANNELL Thin Woman xii.

Appreciate your allowing me to participate, but you should be less trusting, Ellie—can’t

always judge a book by its cover. 2001 Bookseller 9 Nov. 28 Don’t judge a book by its

cover, read it for yourself at BookBrowse.com. appearance, deceptive

book see also a GREAT book is a great evil.

If you’re BORN to be hanged then you’ll never be drowned

Commonly used to qualify another’s apparent good luck. Cf. mid 14th-cent. Fr. noyer ne
peut, cil qui doit pendre, he cannot drown who must hang; c 1503 A. BARCLAY tr. Gringore’s
Castle of Labour (1506) A8 He that is drowned may no man hange.

1593 J. ELIOT Ortho-Epia Gallica 127 He thats borne to be hangd shall neuer be

drownde. 1723 DEFOE Colonel Jack (ed. 2) 126 He had a Proverb in his Favour, and he

got out of the Water.. not being born to be drown’d, as I shall observe afterwards in its

place. 1956 H. LEWIS Witch & Priest v. There is another picture, and underneath it says..

If you’re born to be hanged, then you’ll never be drowned. 1986 M. SLUNG More

Momilies 16 If you’re born to hang, you won’t drown. fate and fatalism; luck

born see also it is BETTER to be born lucky than rich; because a MAN is born in a stable
that does not make him a horse; YORKSHIRE born and Yorkshire bred, strong in the arm and
weak in the head.

borrow see the EARLY man never borrows from the late man.

Neither a BORROWER nor a lender be

1601 SHAKESPEARE Hamlet I. iii. 73 Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan

oft loses both itself and friend. 1985 R. CURTIS & B. ELTON Blackadder II in R. Curtis

et al. Black-Adder (1998) 192 Take heed the moral of this tale, Be not a borrower or

lender, And if your finances do fail, Make sure your banker’s not a bender. 2002 Times 2

11 Mar. 7 The moral architecture of my childhood was supported by a series of massive,

neo-Victorian precepts, among which ‘neither a borrower nor a lender be’ occupied a

particularly imposing position. borrowing and lending