heroes need writers to commemorate them if they are to achieve eternal fame: HORACE Odes
IV. ix. 25 vixere fortes ante Agamemnona multi, many brave men lived before Agamemnon.
1616 JONSON Forest VIII. 114 There were braue men, before Aiax or Idomen, or all
the store That Homer brought to Troy. 1819 BYRON Don Juan I. V. Brave men were
living before Agamemnon And since, exceeding valorous and sage. 1980 Times 23 June
16 Brave men lived before Agamemnon, lots of them. But on all of them.. eternal night
lies heavy, because they have left no records behind them. courage; fame and
obscuritybrave see also (adjective used as noun) FORTUNE favours the brave; (verb) ROBIN Hood
could brave all weathers but a thaw wind.
The BREAD never falls but on its buttered sideA formulation of Murphy’s Law; cf. if ANYTHING can go wrong, it will.1867 A. D. RICHARDSON Beyond Mississippi iii. His bread never fell on the
buttered side. 1891 J. L. KIPLING Beast & Man x. We express the completeness of ill-
luck by saying, ‘The bread never falls but on its buttered side.’ 1980 Guardian 3 Dec. 12
Murphy’s (or Sod’s) Law. .. Murphy’s many relatives always quote it as ‘Buttered bread
falls buttered side down—and if it’s a sandwich it falls open.’ luck; misfortunebread see also HALF a loaf is better than no bread; MAN cannot live by bread alone.break see (noun) never give a SUCKER an even break; (verb) HARD words break no
bones; if it were not for HOPE, the heart would break; it is the LAST straw that breaks the
camel’s back; OBEY orders, if you break owners; STICKS and stones may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me; also BREAKING, BROKEN.
breakfast see HOPE is a good breakfast but a bad supper; SING before breakfast, cry
before night.
breaking see IGNORANCE of the law is no excuse for breaking it; you cannot make an
OMELETTE without breaking eggs.
What’s BRED in the bone will come out in the flesh