The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (162 page)

Cf. Fr.
chacun á son goût
, each to his taste.
1580
Euphues & his England
II. 161
Betweene them it was not determined, but euery one as he lyketh.
a
1640
et al.
Old Law
II. ii.
Every one to their liking. But I say An honest man's worth all.
1760
Tristram Shandy
I. vii.
I own I never could envy Didius in these kinds of fancies of his:—But every man to his own taste.
1849
Caxtons
III. XVII ..
‘Sheep are dull things to look at after a bullhunt.’.. ‘Every man to his taste in the Bush.’
1929
Poet's Pub
xxvi.
‘I like fairy tales,’ said the professor … ‘Every man to his taste,’ agreed the landlord.
1986
Tourist Trap
xviii.
Tried to get me to try one, and our son and daughter-in-law too. But we wouldn't do it. I said, ‘“Everybody to their own taste,” said the old lady as she kissed the cow.’
idiosyncrasy
;
taste

 
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With allusion to I CORINTHIANS vii. 20 (AV) Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Cf.
1539
R. TAVERNER tr.
Erasmus' Adages
E1 Let euerye man exercise hym selfe in the facultie that he knoweth.
1590
–1 SHAKESPEARE
Henry VI
,
Pt. 2
IV. ii. 15 And yet it is said‘ Labour in thy vocation’; which is as much to say as ‘Let the magistrates be labouring men’; and therefore should we be magistrates.
1597
–
8
Henry IV Pt.1
II. ii. 75
Every man to his business.
1605
Dutch Courtesan
I. i.
Every man must follow his trade, and every woman her occupation.
a
1721
Dialogues of Dead
(1907) 221
Every man to his trade, Charles, you should have challenged me at long pike or broad sword.
1930
Murder at Fenwold
viii.
‘I dabble in Mathematics but .. I'd rather have your Latinity’. ‘Every man to his trade.’
1978
Silent Reach
xvi.
I understand your distrust of theories … Every man to his trade.
business
;
work

 
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see also
every CLOUD has a silver lining
;
every COCK will crow upon his own dunghill
;
every DOG has his day
;
every DOG is allowed one bite
;
every ELM has its man
;
there is an EXCEPTION to every rule
;
every HERRING must hang by its own gill
;
every JACK has his Jill
;
every LAND has its own law
;
every PICTURE tells a story
;
if every man would SWEEP his own doorstep the city would soon be clean
;
every TUB must stand on its own bottom
;
there are TWO sides to every question
.

 
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1869
in
Queen Elizabeth's Academy
(EETS) p. xii.
The second tract .. is printed, not mainly because ‘John Bull loves a Lord’.. but because the question of Precedence was so important a one in old social arrangements.
1908
Spectator
3 July 9
It is always said that an Englishman loves a lord. It would be more exact to say that he is in love with lordliness.
1980
Importance of being Oscar
(1981) 58
If pressed, he would probably have admitted that he was no exception to the adage that ‘Everybody Loves a Lord.’
society

 
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