Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs Online
Authors: John Andrew Simpson,
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (115 page)
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day
see also
an APPLE a day keeps the doctor away
;
BARNABY bright, Barnaby bright, the longest day and the shortest night
;
the BETTER the day, the better the deed
;
every DOG has his day
;
FAIR and softly goes far in a day
;
FISH and guests stink after three days
;
OTHER times, other manners
;
ROME was not built in a day
;
my SON is my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter's my daughter all the days of her life
;
SUFFICIENT unto the day is the evil thereof
;
TOMORROW is another day
.
an APPLE a day keeps the doctor away
;
BARNABY bright, Barnaby bright, the longest day and the shortest night
;
the BETTER the day, the better the deed
;
every DOG has his day
;
FAIR and softly goes far in a day
;
FISH and guests stink after three days
;
OTHER times, other manners
;
ROME was not built in a day
;
my SON is my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter's my daughter all the days of her life
;
SUFFICIENT unto the day is the evil thereof
;
TOMORROW is another day
.
Let the DEAD bury the dead
With allusion to
MATTHEW
viii. 22 (AV) Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
1815
Hist. Cosmopolite
(1859) 340
A religious bigot made a motion to mob me; but none would second it. A worldling replied to him, ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’
1931
What dare I Think
? vi.
Let, then, the dead bury the dead. The task for us is to rejuvenate ourselves and our subject.
1984
San Andreas
xii.
The best thing would be if
you
forgot them. Sounds cruel, I know, but let the dead bury their dead.
1997
Spectator
8 Nov. 28
There is something repellent, as well as profoundly unhistorical, about judging the past by the standards or prejudices of another age. Let the dead bury the dead.
death
MATTHEW
viii. 22 (AV) Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
1815Hist. Cosmopolite
(1859) 340
A religious bigot made a motion to mob me; but none would second it. A worldling replied to him, ‘Let the dead bury their dead.’
1931
What dare I Think
? vi.
Let, then, the dead bury the dead. The task for us is to rejuvenate ourselves and our subject.
1984
San Andreas
xii.
The best thing would be if
you
forgot them. Sounds cruel, I know, but let the dead bury their dead.
1997
Spectator
8 Nov. 28
There is something repellent, as well as profoundly unhistorical, about judging the past by the standards or prejudices of another age. Let the dead bury the dead.
deathDEAD men don't bite
The words put into the mouth of Theodotus, a teacher of rhetoric, advising the Egyptians to murder Pompey when he came seeking refuge in Egypt after his defeat at Pharsalia in 48 BC: PLUTARCH
Pompeius
lxxvii.
o
o
, a dead man does not bite. Cf. ERASMUS
Adages
III. vi.
mortui non mordent
, the dead do not bite.
a
1547
Chronicle
(1548) Hen. VI 92
V
A prouerbe .. saith, a dead man doth no harme: Sir John Mortimer .. was attainted [convicted] of treason and put to execucion.
1579
tr.
Plutarch's Lives: Pompey
717
A dead man bytes not.
a
1593
Jack Straw
F2
I trow [believe] they cannot bite when they be dead.
1655
Church Hist. Britain
IX. iv.
The dead did not bite; and, being dispatch'd out of the way, are forgotten.
1883
Treasure Island
xi.
‘What are we to do with 'em anyway? .. Cut 'em down like that much pork?’..‘Dead men don't bite,’ says he.
1902
Hist. Scotland
II. xii.
The story that Gray ‘whispered in Elizabeth's ear, The dead don't bite’, is found in Camden.
1957
See Rome & Die
xvi.
A dead man cannot bite, as it says somewhere in Plutarch. Pompey's murderers, I think. Anyhow, that was the way their minds worked then.
Pompeius
lxxvii.
oo, a dead man does not bite. Cf. ERASMUSAdages
III. vi.
mortui non mordent
, the dead do not bite.
a1547
Chronicle
(1548) Hen. VI 92
V
A prouerbe .. saith, a dead man doth no harme: Sir John Mortimer .. was attainted [convicted] of treason and put to execucion.
1579
tr.
Plutarch's Lives: Pompey
717
A dead man bytes not.
a
1593
Jack Straw
F2
I trow [believe] they cannot bite when they be dead.
1655
Church Hist. Britain
IX. iv.
The dead did not bite; and, being dispatch'd out of the way, are forgotten.
1883
Treasure Island
xi.
‘What are we to do with 'em anyway? .. Cut 'em down like that much pork?’..‘Dead men don't bite,’ says he.
1902
Hist. Scotland
II. xii.
The story that Gray ‘whispered in Elizabeth's ear, The dead don't bite’, is found in Camden.
1957
See Rome & Die
xvi.
A dead man cannot bite, as it says somewhere in Plutarch. Pompey's murderers, I think. Anyhow, that was the way their minds worked then.
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
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