The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (596 page)
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WASTE not, want not
Want
is variously used in the senses ‘lack’ and ‘desire.’ Another proverb making the connection between
waste
and
want
is
WILFUL waste makes woeful want
.
1772
Letter
10 Aug. (1931) V. 334
he will waste nothing; but he must want nothing.
1800
Parent's Assistant
(ed. 3) V. 136
The following words .. were written .. over the chimney-piece, in his uncle's spacious kitchen—‘Waste not, want not.’
1872
Under Greenwood Tree
I.
I
. viii.
Helping her to vegetable she didn't want, and when it had nearly alighted on her plate, taking it across for his own use, on the plea of waste not, want not.
1941
Red Tapeworm
xxii.
‘The lorry's full of children as well as rubbish.’..‘And what is printed on the banner?’.. ‘Waste Not Want Not.’
1987
Skeleton in Grass
i.
No crusts to be eaten up, either—Sarah's childhood had been dominated by crusts to be eaten up, and waste not want not.
1995
Hard Christmas
vii. 69
‘I use turkey broth instead of ham at Thanksgiving.’ she said. ‘Waste not, want not.’
thrift
;
waste
is variously used in the senses ‘lack’ and ‘desire.’ Another proverb making the connection between
waste
and
want
is
WILFUL waste makes woeful want
.
1772Letter
10 Aug. (1931) V. 334
he will waste nothing; but he must want nothing.
1800
Parent's Assistant
(ed. 3) V. 136
The following words .. were written .. over the chimney-piece, in his uncle's spacious kitchen—‘Waste not, want not.’
1872
Under Greenwood Tree
I.
I
. viii.
Helping her to vegetable she didn't want, and when it had nearly alighted on her plate, taking it across for his own use, on the plea of waste not, want not.
1941
Red Tapeworm
xxii.
‘The lorry's full of children as well as rubbish.’..‘And what is printed on the banner?’.. ‘Waste Not Want Not.’
1987
Skeleton in Grass
i.
No crusts to be eaten up, either—Sarah's childhood had been dominated by crusts to be eaten up, and waste not want not.
1995
Hard Christmas
vii. 69
‘I use turkey broth instead of ham at Thanksgiving.’ she said. ‘Waste not, want not.’
thrift;
waste
A WATCHED pot never boils
1848Mary Barton
II. xiv.
What's the use of watching? A watched pot never boils.
1880
Cloven Foot
III. viii.
Don't you know that vulgar old proverb that says that ‘a watched pot never boils’?
1940
Europe in Spring
X
.
‘He [Mussolini] is waiting to see how the next battle turns out,’ they said… ‘A watched pot never boils,’ they said—only this one finally did.
1979
Murder in Outline
ii.
I .. remained seated .. fixing my eyes hungrily on the rear mirror for signs of other guests arriving. It was a case of the watched pot, however.
1995
Washington Post
6 Oct. C4
A watched pot never boils, but any time you watch a Patriots game Bill Parcells boils over.
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