The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (64 page)

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What's BRED in the bone will come out in the flesh
Lifelong habits or inherited characteristics cannot be concealed (cf.
BLOOD will tell
). The form and emphasis of the proverb have been altered in recent years by the omission of a negative. Cf. medieval L.
osse radicatum raro de carne recedit
, that which is rooted in the bone rarely comes out from the flesh.
c
1470
Morte d'Arthur
(1947) I. 550
Sir Launcelot smyled and seyde, Harde hit ys to take oute off the fleysshe that ys bredde in the bone.
1546
Dialogue of Proverbs
II. viii. K2
This prouerbe prophecied many yeres agone, It will not out of the fleshe, thats bred in the bone.
1603
tr.
Montaigne's Essays
III. xiii.
They are effects of custome and vse: and what is bred in the bone will never out of the flesh.
1832
Swallow Barn
III. v.
What is bred in the bone—you know the proverb.
1909
Epistle to Romans
231
‘You cannot expel nature with a fork,’ said the Roman. ‘What's bred in the bone won't come out of the flesh,’ says the Englishman.
1923
Chambers's Journal
June 432
I know the clan … What's bred in the bone will out, and they'll be high-steppers to the end.
a
1957
First Four Years
(1971) iv.
We'll always be farmers, for what is bred in the bone
will
come out in the flesh.
1981
Last Ferry
iv.
There's bad blood there … What's bred in the bone comes out in the flesh.
family
;
habit
;
human nature

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