A Dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

borrowing see he that GOES a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing.

bottle see you can’t put NEW wine in old bottles.

bottom see TRUTH lies at the bottom of a well; every TUB must stand on its own bottom.

bought see GOLD may be bought too dear.

bowls see those who PLAY at bowls must look out for rubbers.

You can take the BOY out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy

Originally North American, it has generated a large variety of humorous by-forms.

1938 ‘B. BAER’ in Baer & Major Hollywood (caption to caricature of James

Stewart) You can take a boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of a

boy. 1950 F. BUNCE So Young a Body vii. ‘You can take the girl out of the country, but

you can’t take the country out of the girl,’ Remington interjected casually. ‘Ginnie’s from

a crossroads in Vermont, and she’s still a small-town kid at heart.’ 1978 W. B. MURPHY

Leonardo’s Law x. ‘He was just something I picked up off the counter.’ She smiled. I

guess you can take the girl out of the chorus line but you can’t take the chorus line out of

the girl. 1987 Washington Post 27 Apr. C2 Back in the good old days, when eager young

rubes were descending upon the great metropolises in search of fame and fortune, it used

to be said that you can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out

of the boy. 1997 Times 19 Sept. 33 And, while you can take Björk out of Iceland, it seems

you cannot take Iceland out of Björk’s music. 2001 National Review 20 Aug. 56 My own

visceral responses to the case are distinctly Southern, which is about as far removed from

the civilized response as you can get. You can take the girl out of the South but you can’t

take the South out of the girl, e.g., ‘Why doesn’t her father kill him?’ nature and

nurture; origins

Never send a BOY to do a man’s job

1931 G. FOWLER Great Mouthpiece xii. Mr. Alfred J. Talley.. took command of

the.. prosecution. He was an able man. .. ‘It’s about time they gave me a run for the

money,’ Fallon said. ‘The People shouldn’t send boys on men’s errands.’ 1941 ‘T.

CHANSLOR’ Our Second Murder xxviii. Never send a boy to do a man’s work. 1967 E.