The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (424 page)
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PAY beforehand was never well served
1591Second Fruits
39
He that paieth afore hand, hath neuer his worke well done.
1721
Scottish Proverbs
278
Pay beforehand was never well serv'd
. It is common to see .. Labourers, to go about a piece of Work with great Uneasiness, which is to pay a just Debt.
1786
Letter
7 Jan. in
Writings
(1938) XXVIII. 370
I have had some reason to remember an old adage, that one of the bad paymasters is him that pays before hand.
1819
Bride of Lammermoor
iii.
‘Your honour is the bad pay-master,’ he said, ‘who pays before it is done.’
1928
Dr. Glazebrook's Revenge
xi.
The old Scots adage that ‘fore-hand payments mak' hint-hand wark.’
employers and employees;
work
He that cannot PAY, let him pray
1611Dict. French & English
s.v. Argent,
He that cannot pay let him pray.
1732
Gnomologia
no. 6362
He that cannot pay, Let him pray.
1954
Three Men Out
v.
They're quotations from things. One of them says, ‘He that cannot pay, let him pray.’
money;
poverty
If you PAY peanuts, you get monkeys
Peanuts
in the sense of ‘a small sum of money’ (esp. when considered as inadequate payment) originated as mid-20th-cent. US slang.
1966
in
Director
Aug. 228
Shareholders want the best available businessmen to lead the companies and recognise that you get what you pay for. If you pay in peanuts, you must expect to get monkeys.
1979
Show me Hero
iii.
‘That's forty thousand we're giving away. Seems an awful lot.’ ‘If you pay peanuts,’ said Ashman, ‘you get monkeys.’
1979
Guardian
11 Sept. 30
The companies' chief negotiator .. was greeted with shouts of ‘if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.’
1994
Origin and Cause
xvii. 107
‘How much is .. this photo-enhancement going to cost my client?’ ‘A bundle… But in my experience, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.’
employers and employees
;
money
in the sense of ‘a small sum of money’ (esp. when considered as inadequate payment) originated as mid-20th-cent. US slang.
1966in
Director
Aug. 228
Shareholders want the best available businessmen to lead the companies and recognise that you get what you pay for. If you pay in peanuts, you must expect to get monkeys.
1979
Show me Hero
iii.
‘That's forty thousand we're giving away. Seems an awful lot.’ ‘If you pay peanuts,’ said Ashman, ‘you get monkeys.’
1979
Guardian
11 Sept. 30
The companies' chief negotiator .. was greeted with shouts of ‘if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.’
1994
Origin and Cause
xvii. 107
‘How much is .. this photo-enhancement going to cost my client?’ ‘A bundle… But in my experience, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.’
employers and employees;
money
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