The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (262 page)
Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs Online
Authors: John Andrew Simpson,
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
10.97Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
you cannot HAVE your cake and eat it
You cannot ‘have it both ways’: once the cake is eaten, it can no longer be ‘had’ or retained in one's possession. The positions of
have
and
eat
are often reversed.
1546
Dialogue of Proverbs
II. ix. L2
I trowe ye raue, Wolde ye bothe eate your cake, and haue your cake?
1611
Scourge of Folly
no. 271
A man cannot eat his cake and haue it stil.
1738
Polite Conversation
I. 90
She was handsome in her Time; but she cannot eat her Cake, and have her Cake.
1812
in
Document Transcriptions of War of 1812
(1959) VI. 204
We cannot have our cake and eat it too.
1878
Is he Popenjoy?
I. viii.
You can't eat your cake and have it too.
1938
Funeral in Eden
ii.
Not that the savages were especially savage. They have always been a sensitive people, and when they ate a man they probably felt genuinely sorry that they could not have their cake and eat it, so to speak.
1980
Middle Ground
159
Judith cannot eat her cake and have it. Judith liked Hugo for his style .. and she can bloody well suffer for its inconveniences.
have
and
eat
are often reversed.
1546Dialogue of Proverbs
II. ix. L2
I trowe ye raue, Wolde ye bothe eate your cake, and haue your cake?
1611
Scourge of Folly
no. 271
A man cannot eat his cake and haue it stil.
1738
Polite Conversation
I. 90
She was handsome in her Time; but she cannot eat her Cake, and have her Cake.
1812
in
Document Transcriptions of War of 1812
(1959) VI. 204
We cannot have our cake and eat it too.
1878
Is he Popenjoy?
I. viii.
You can't eat your cake and have it too.
1938
Funeral in Eden
ii.
Not that the savages were especially savage. They have always been a sensitive people, and when they ate a man they probably felt genuinely sorry that they could not have their cake and eat it, so to speak.
1980
Middle Ground
159
Judith cannot eat her cake and have it. Judith liked Hugo for his style .. and she can bloody well suffer for its inconveniences.
have
HAWKS will not pick out hawks' eyes
1573Garden of Pleasure
104
One crowe neuer pulleth out an others eyes.
1817
Rob Roy
III. iii.
I wadna .. rest my main dependence on the Hielandmen—hawks winna pike out hawks' een.—They quarrel amang themsells .. but they are sure to join .. against a' civilized folk.
1883
Thicker than Water
III. xli.
Members of his profession .. while warning others of the dangers of the table, seem to pluck from them the flower Safety. (Is it that, since hawks do not peck out hawks' een, they know they can be cured for nothing?)
1915
Salute to Adventurers
vi.
I have heard that hawks should not pick out hawks' eyes. What do you propose to gain?
1975
Women in Wall
xiv.
The crow doesn't pluck out the crow's eye but poor folk bear the brunt.
reciprocityOther books
The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert
Dancing in the Light by Shirley Maclaine
Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood
The Thing About Leftovers by C.C. Payne
Sackett's Land (1974) by L'amour, Louis - Sackett's 01
Accidental Proposal (A Year Agreement Book 1) by Kenadee Bryant
Madness: A Brief History by Roy Porter
A Christmas Seduction by Van Dyken, Rachel, Vayden, Kristin, Millard, Nadine
Wanted by Kym Brunner
Every Good Boy Deserves Favor and Professional Foul by Tom Stoppard