More Sayings from the Past

Dingus

Born too late
May 19, 2010
113
2
18
Billericay
[FONT=&quot]Further to my last post "Expressions from the Past" pleas check out these ancient proverbs. Some are very close to those we still use today.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]ENJOY:lol: [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]A Dictionary of Proverbs in England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: " MP Tilley, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press 1950[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This is a vast book containing over 11,000 proverbs and sayings out of which I have selected those below. The dates are those where the phrase is first recorded; many are of course much older. Many of the quotes include "as the proverb says" or similar.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]He swears like an abbot/lord/tinker 1531[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that spends beyond his ability may hang himself with great agility 1611[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There is no accord where every Jack would be a lord 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As owlde as Adam 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When Adam delved and Eve span who was then the gentleman 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As deaf as an adder 1605[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Much ado abo26[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As meek as a lamb 1520[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As soon goes the young lambskin to market as the old ewe's 1527[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that buys land buys many stones, he that buys flesh buys many bones, he that buys eggs buys many shells, but he that buys good ale buys nothing else 1565[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The lapwing cries most when farthest from her nest 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To sing like a lark 1590[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As lithe as a lass of Kent 1579[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Last but not least 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I'm not worthy to loose the latchet of his shoes 1568[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Better late than never 1529[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To lay in lavender[in pawn] 1600[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Agree, for the law is costly 1616[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Law, logic and switzers may be hired to fight for anybody 1593[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have the law in one's own hand 1599[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Law catches little flies but lets great hoenets go free 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The more laws the more sins 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A lawyer will not plead but for money 1460[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As heavy as lead 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have lead on one's heels 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He quakes like an aspen leaf 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that is afraid of leaves must go not to the wood 1596[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To turn over a new leaf 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that will thrive must ask leave of his wife 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A leg of a lark is better that the body of a kite 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be on one's last legs 1599[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A panther may not change his spots 1605[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A liar is not believed when he tells the truth 1477[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A liar should have a good memory 1531[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You are a lick-the-widdy[you deserve hanging] 1508[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Life is but a span 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Life is short but sweet 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Where there's life there's hope 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He is lifless that is faultless 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To hide one's light under a bushel 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Like breeds like 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Loke will draw to like 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As white as a lily [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He swears like an abbot/lord/tinker 1531[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that spends beyond his ability may hang himself with great agility 1611[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There is no accord where every Jack would be a lord 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As owlde as Adam 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When Adam delved and Eve span who was then the gentleman 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As deaf as an adder 1605[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Much ado about nothing 1529[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do not add affliction to the afflicted 1550[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Age and wedlock do bring a man to his night-cap 1594[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Age breeds aches 1596[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Where old age is evil,youth can learn no good 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Agues come on horseback but go away on foot 1611[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ale that would make a cat speak 1585[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He mends as sour ale mends in summer 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Covet all, lose all 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All that glistens isn't gold 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All's well that ends well 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All lay load on a willing horse 1611[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All shall be well and Jack shall have Jill 1517[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To set all at sixes and sevens 1542[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]An ape is an ape though clad in scarlet 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As drunk as an ape 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As wise as an ape 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Apparel maketh the man 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The apple of my eye 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As like as an apple is to an oyster 1559[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A rotten apple... 1577[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A good archer is not known by his arrows but his aim 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Oftentimes the arrow hits the shooter 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As pale as ashes 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You would lose our ass if it be loose 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To dance attendance.. 1522[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]ur in vain] 1542[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]An evening red and a morning gray is the sign of a fair day 1586[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He sucked evil from the dug 1531[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that helps evil hurts the good 1526[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The least of two evils 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Experience is the mistress of fools 1570[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Experience is the mother of wisdom 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Have an eye to the main chance 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]That the eye sees not, the heart rues not 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be an eyesore 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] One eyewitness is better than twenty earwitnesses 1590[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]As witty as a haddock 1510[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To bring haddock to paddock[to come to destitution]1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Beware of had I wist 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Had I wist come too late 1565[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As thick as haile 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hail fellow well met 1519[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]His hair grows through his hood 1515[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It goes against the hair 1579[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Take a hair of the dog that bit you 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Not to stir a hair's breadth 1533[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]What we lost in hake we shall have in herring 1602[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Better half a loaf than no bread 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My better half 1590[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Half warned in half armed 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is hard halting before a cripple 1540[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Between the hammer and the anvil 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He knows not his right hand from his left 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One hand washes the other and both wash the face 1567[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Put not your hand between the bark and the tree 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have the upper hand 1470[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To live from hand to mouth 1559[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Many hands make light work 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To wash your hands of a thing 1554[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tis better to be happy than wise 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As mad as a march hare 1497[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To run with the hare and hunt with the hound 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You shall as soon catch a hare with a tabor 1520[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Set the hare's foot against the goose giblets [tit for tat] 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Better the harm I know than that I know not 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They agree like harp and arrow [not at all] 1559[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A long harvest of little corn 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Haste makes waste 1534[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Resolve in haste repent at leisure 1477[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Marry in haste... 1566[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]More haste than good speed 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He is none of the Hastings [he is slow/slack] 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As hungry as a horse 1555[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Make hay while the sun shines 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Better be the head of the yoemanry than the tail of the gentry 1589[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]His head is full of bees 1513[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be over head and ears in a thing 1534[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Two heads are better than one 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Faint heart ne'er won the lady 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A heart as hard as stone 1489[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]His heart is in his hose 1522[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A merry heart lives long 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To eat one's heart out 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Take heed of enemies reconciled and of meat twice boiled 1585[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To cool one's heels 1602[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As black as hell 1511[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]From Hell Hull and Halifax , good Lord deliver us 1595[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hell is broke loose 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To throw the helve after the hatchet 1577[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Turkeys[/FONT][FONT=&quot] carps hops piccarell and beer came into England all in one year 1599[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do on the hill as you would in the hall 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There is no hill without its valley 1583[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hit or miss 1547[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hobbledehoy, half a man and half a boy 1540[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As fat as a hog 1470[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Holy scripture is made a nose of wax 1529[out of context][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Home is home be it never so homely 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Honey is sweet but the bee stings 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is but honey moon with them 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] It is better to die in honour that live in shame 1557[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Honours do change manners 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By hook or by crook 1525[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As round as a hoop 1555[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hope well have well 1540[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As shortly as a horse will lick his ear 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do not spur a willing horse 1477[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A grunting horse and a groaning wife never fail there master 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that hath a white horse and a fair wife never wants trouble 1581[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He will lie as fast as a horse will trot 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Look not a gift horse in the mouth 1508[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A short horse is soon curried 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He keeps open house 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He will burn his house to warm his hands 1481[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is a sad house when the hen crows louder that the cock 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A smoking house and a chiding wife make a man run out of his house 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To eat out of house and home 1483[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In huggermugger 1517[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]What some win in the hundred they lose in the shires 1520[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hunger breaks down stone walls 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hunger drops out of his nose 1517[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hunger is the best sauce 1542 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hunger makes hard beans sweet 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A good husband makes a good wife 1591[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To laugh like a hyena 1594[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]To break the ice 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is better to be idle than ill ocupied 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Idleness begets lust 1567[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Idleness is the devil 's cushion 1577[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Idleness is the root of all evil 1483[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ignorance of the law excuseth no man 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that speaks ill of another let him think first of himself 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Ill will never speaks well 1558[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Give an inch and he will take an ell 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He will not yield an inch 1588[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He makes indentures with his legs 1605[zigzags about as if drunk][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As black as ink 1515[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To get an inkling of a thing 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be high in the instep[proud] 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Iron not used soon rusts 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Strike while the iron is hot 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have a stomach like an ostrich[like iron]1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Other irons in the fire 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As white as ivory 1565[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Jack would be a gentleman 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]True jests are the worst 1599[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Jest not with edged tools 1508[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As black as jet 1510[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Joan is as good as my lady in the dark 1525[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He is John Herb in the pottage ,that will do niether good nor harm 1599[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The times are out of joint 1591[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Joy shared is sorrow halved 1583[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To give a Judas kiss 1523[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Jupiter himself pleaseth not at all 1581[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]He is wise enough that can keep himself warm 1537[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that will eat the kernel ,let him crack the nut 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As cold as a key 1501[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The nearer in kin the less in kindness 1565[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To kill with kindness 1558[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Like king like people 1525[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nearest the king nearest the gallows 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He clips the King's English[he is drunk] 1600[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The King's English 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Many kinsfolk few friends 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Who frequents the kitchen will smell of smoke 1591[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Neither kith nor kin 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A crafty knave needs no broker 1595[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The more knave the better luck 1550[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One knave seeks out another 1559[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The same knife cuts both bread and fingure 1579[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has tied a knot with his tongue 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I wot what I wot 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To know what is what 1522[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]He has his labour for his pains 1589[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Past labour is present 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that will not labour must not eat 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The laborer is worthy of his hire 1508[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]What do you lack? What will you buy[hucksters call] 1563[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As chaste as a lamb 15 1485[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A lion in the field, a lamb in the town 1557[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Scald not your lips in another man's pottage 1598[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With what liquor a vessel is first seasoned, it will long keep the scent of it 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By little and little 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Little said , soon amended 1550[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Many a little makes a mickle 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Though he said little he thought the more 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Live and let live 1598[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Live charily if not chasly 1561[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Too soon wise to live long 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Live well, die well 1506[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No lock will hold against the power of gold 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To keep under lock and key 1566[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He is sick of the Lombard fever[is idle] 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The long and the short of it 1571[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Look ere you leap 1528[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]New kings new laws 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I have dined so well as my Lord Mayor of London 1577[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Better lost than found 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My gown is so bare that a lowse can get not holde on it 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Not worth a louse 1547[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To flay a louse for the skin 1591[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Follow love and it will flee, flee love and it will follow 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hot love is soon cold 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Not for love or money 1565[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Love and an itch cannot be hid 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Love and lordship like no fellowship 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Love first enters in at the eyes 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Love is blind 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Love is potent but money is omnipotent 1611[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Love lives in a cottage as well as in courts 1590[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Love of lads and fire of chips is soon in and soon out 1460[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Marry first and love will come after 1601[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Love me little love me long 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Lovers live by love as larks live by leeks 156[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To leave one in the lurch 1576[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Maids say nay and take it 1534[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Maidens should be seen and not heard 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To make or mar 1527[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Malt is above meal[wheat] with him[drunk] 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As good a man as ever trod on shoe leather 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As honest a man as ever broke bread 1599[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As long lives a merry man as a sad 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As the man so is his talk 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A blind man can judge no colours 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A blind man might see that 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Every man after his fashion 1517[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Every man can rule a shrew but he that has her 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Every man for himself 1478[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Every man is master in his own house 1596[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Greet a red man and a bearded woman thre miles off 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]An angry man never wants woe 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The healthful man gives good council to the sick 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If a man once fall, all will tread on him 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If a man will have his business well done he must do it himself 1611[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If the young man knew and the old man could, there is nothing but would be done 1584[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is like to be true that every man sayeth 1520[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A man after his own heart 1531[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A man cannot be in two places at once 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A man cannot live on air like a chameleon 1557[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Man is but a bubble 539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A man is weal or woe as he thinks himself so 1549[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A man or a mouse 1542[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Man proposes God disposes 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No man looses but another wins 1526[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No man loves his fetters though made of gold 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One foot in the grave 1566[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The rich man may dine when he will, the poor man when he may 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The rich man walks to get a stomach to his meat, the poor man to get meat for his stomach 1586[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A wise man commonly has a fool to his heir 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He is not wise who sometimes cannot play the fool 1602[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has a nose like a shoeing horn[is wise/cunning] 1508[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A man's countrie is where he does well 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A man's house is his castle 1581[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One man's meat is another's poison 1587[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When a man's house burns, play not at chess 1596[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All men are mortal 1537[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dead men bite not 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do as most men do and fewest will speak evil of you 1486[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that all men will please will never find ease 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Keep good men company and you shall be of the number 1477[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Old men and travellers may lie by authority 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Poor man have no souls[no masses said for them after death] 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]So many men so many minds 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Who waits for dead mens shoes shall long go barefoot 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As full of manners as an egg is of oatmeal 1520[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Manners maketh man 1513[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A fine marble needs no painting 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The grey mare is the better horse 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has found a mare's nest and laughs the eggs[laughs with others but knows not what at] 1582[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He shoots wide of the mark 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Marriage is destiny 1558[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]At marriages and burials friends and kinsfolk be known 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Marriages are made in heaven 1566[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The marrowbone of the matter 1554[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Marrying is marring 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is neither mass nor matins[one or the other] 1450[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Like master like servant 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Most masters wear no bridge. 15th century[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The mater's eye makes the horse fat 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has met his match 1470[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As fresh as May 1600[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To match May with December 1581[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As tall as a Maypole 1602[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be mealymouthed 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]With what measure you mete it shall be measured unto you 1523[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]After meat comes mustard[something comes too late] 1566[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Meat makes and cloth shapes but manners maketh a man 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Of all the meat in the world drink goes best down 1525[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sweet meat must have sour sauce 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Either mend or end 1606[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He is a merchant of eelskins[without wares] 1545[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I cry you mercy, I took you for a joint stool[overlooked you]1594[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Merry go down[strong ale]1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He is a corbie messenger[does not return with the answer]1511[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Better marry over the midden than over the moor 1598[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Might overcomes right 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that comes first to the mill. grinds first 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No Mill no meal 1577[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mills and wives are ever wanting 1581[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]An honest miller has a golden thumb 1510[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The mill is a thief 1533[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have whittled[thwitten] a mill post to a pudding prick 1529[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I can see as far into a millstone as any other 1540[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]His mind is on his meat 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There is no mirth without mourning 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mischief comes by pounds and goes away by ounces 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A miser, like a hog, does no good until he dies 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Misfortune seldom comes alone 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Like Mistress like maid 1557[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I care not a mite 1485[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mock and be mocked 1484[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As blind as a mole 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Making a mountain from a molehill 1560[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If money go before all ways lie open 1542[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Money begets money 1587[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Money is the sinews of war 1549[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Money, like dung, does no good until it is spread 1564[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Money makes the man 1542[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Money makes the mare to go 15th century[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No money no swiss 1596[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To get money from him is like pulling teeth 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As changeful as the moon 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Midsummer moon[madness] 1588[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Pale moon does rain, red moon does blow 1588[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As black as a moor 1489[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The more a man has the more he desires 1523[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]More belongs to marriage than four bare legs in a bed 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The more the merrier 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have more of the serpent than the dove 1589[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You can have no more of a cat than her skin 1564[can't have more than there is][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By the morning one knows the day 1581[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You can see a mote in another man's eye but not a beam in your own 1481[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Like mother like daughter 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Every mother's son 1470[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]His Mother's milk is not out of his nose 1598[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The mother's side is the surer side 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The mountain was in labour and brought forth a mouse 1549[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He promises mountains and performs molehills 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As drunk as a mouse 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As safe as a mouse in a mill 1590[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As mute as a mouse 1584[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is a wily mouse that breedeth in the cat's ear 1522[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A mouse that has but one hole is quickly taken 1586[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To look like a drowned rat 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A close mouth catches no flies 1599[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To blow hot and cold 1577[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A good mule, a good goat and a good woman were three unhappy creatures 1585[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A multitude of people is a beast of many heads 1542[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mum is councel 1540[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Murder will out 1481[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A mushrump grows in a night 1573 [applied to upstarts][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]What must be must be 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He loves laced mutton[is a wencher] 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As naked as my nail 1533[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]to hit the nail on the head 1508[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One nail drives out another 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Put down money upon the nail 1596[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that hath an evil name is half hanged 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He who gets a good name may piss abed and say he sweats 1591[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To take one napping 1594[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nature abhores a vacuum 1551[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nature does nothing in vain 1481[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nature has given us two ears but one tongue 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nature passeth nurture 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that will not when he may,when he would he shall have nay 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Necessity is a hard weapon 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Necessity is the best schoolmistress 1519[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Necessity is the mother of invention 1545[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To seek a needle in a bundle of hay 1533[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that has a good neighbour has a good morrow 1566[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A near neighbour is better than a far friend 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To feather ones nest 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has pissed on a nettle 1546[is out of sorts][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If you will learn news you must go to an oven or a mill 1611[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]In the nick of time 1565[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As silent as night 1602[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dark night is Cupid's day 1595[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To make a night of it 1602[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To Bring a noble to ninepence 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As plain as the nose on a man's face 1581[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He holds his nose to the grindstone[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He puts his nose out of joint 1602[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To follow one's nose 1508[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nothing but skin and bone 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that knows nothing doubts nothing 1611[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nothing can come of nothing 1550[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nothing is impossible to a willing heart 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nothing venture nothing win 1481[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nothing violent can be permanent 1565[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As nice as a nun's hen 15th century[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have a nut to crack 1564[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]It touches him to the quick 1517[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]To lie at rack and manger[live in luxury] 1550[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]After the rain cometh the sun 1484[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A small rain abateth a great wind 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As lean as a rake 1485[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I smell a rat 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The croaking raven bodes misfortune 1589[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As sharp as a razor 1519[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Read not before you learn to spell 1600[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Where there be no recievers there be no thieves 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do not wear red before a bull or white before an elephant 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The relapse is worse that the disease 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There is a remedy for all things but death 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Saving your reverence ...1596[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To play the Rex 1563[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Neither rhyme nor reason 1529[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The rich have many friends 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He rides sure that never fell 1470[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is good riding at two anchors[have two strings to the bow] 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Soon ripe soon rotten 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The rising of one man is the falling of another 1571[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Follow the river and you will get to the sea 1594[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To rule the roost 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Many speak of Robin Hood that never shot of his bow 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As firm as a rock 1558[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has made a rod for his own tail 1489[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Spare the rod and spoil the child 1517[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have rods in piss for him[punishment in store] 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Rome[/FONT][FONT=&quot] was not built in one day 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When in Rome...1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As meet as a rope for a thief 1540[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Every rose grows from prickles 1569[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Under the Rose[between friends]..1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He bears no more rule than a goose turd in the Thames 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There is no rule without some exception 1590[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He may ill run that cannot go 1415[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Strew green rushes for the sranger 1546[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To call a spade a spade 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Of a little spark a great fire 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Spick and span-new 1579[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To put a spoke in one's cart 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He must have a long spoon that will eat with the devil 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has won his spurs 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To set up one's staff 1573[decide to live there][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As stiff as a staff 1566[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As true as you stand there 1497[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The higher th standing the greater the fall 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To look at the stars and fall into a ditch 1583[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Shut the stable door before the horse be lost 1484[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As hard as steel 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You would leap over the stile before you came at it 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Essex stiles, Kentish miles, Suffolk wiles, Norfolk giles. 16th century[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To beat one as a stock fish[flat and dry with clubs and stocks] 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To wear yellow stockings and cross garters[to be jealous] 1584[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]My belly has rung noon 1571[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It went against my stomach...1581[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As cold as stone 1503[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As hard as stone 1513[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He has not a stone to cast at a dog 1594[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that stumbles twice at the same stone deserves to have his fingers broke 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A rollong stone gathers no moss 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To leave no stone unturned 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To roast a stone 1522[to labour in vain][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Between two stools the ass goes to ground 1536[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Store is no sore 1546[plenty does no harm][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A cock and bull story 1608[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be strait laced 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Not to care a straw 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Not worth a straw 1489[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They stumble at straw and leap over a block 1525[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Go peel straws [contempt] 1522[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It is folly to strive against the stream 1460[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A little stream drives a light mill 1597[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The stream stopped swells the higher 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To swim with the stream 1579[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Harp no more on that string [change the subject] 1543[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To have two strings to ones bow 1477[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Many strokes fell oaks 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be in a brown study 1579[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To bestir one's stumps 1559[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Loose not the substance for the shadow 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be left in the suds 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To be sick of the sullens 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As clear as the sun 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The same sun melts wax and hardens clay 1579[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The sun is never worse for shining on a dunghill 1578[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The sun shines on all 1552[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To light the sun with a candle 1540 [waste effort][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When two Sundays come together 1598[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No man can sup and blow together 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Light supper longer life 16th century[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Suspicion is no proof 1546[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As swift as a swallow 1551[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]One swallow makes not a summer 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To live by the sweat of one,s brows 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He deserves not the sweet who will not taste of the sour 1535[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As drunk as a sow 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A swine overfat is the cause of his own bane 1562[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]He that strikes with the sword shall be beaten with the scabbard 1521[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A wooden sword in a golden sheath 1542[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Put not a sword in the hands of a child 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To slay with a leaden sword 1559[to convince with a weak argument][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To stand to one,s tackling 1562[stand your ground][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tag rag and bobtail 1553[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To turn tail 1596[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Take it as you will 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Take it or leave it 1603[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To take one as we find him 1559[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Must I tell you a tale and find your ears 1546[to one who does not listen][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A tale of a roasted horse 1570[nonesense][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A tale of a tub 1546[ditto][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thereby hangs a tale 1523[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To take the word out of one,s mouth 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]You tell a tale to a deaf man 1538[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tales of Robin Hood[fools tales] 1509[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To tell tales out of school 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Great talk least work 1523[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]To swallow a tavern token[be drunk] 1604[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tell me it snows[nonesense]1585[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]They came thick and threefold[plentifully] 1548[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Through thick and thin 1475[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]As safe as a thief in a mill 1606[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Save a thief from the gallows and he will cut your throat.1484[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The thief knoweth the thief 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A staff is soon found to beat a dog 1564[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]There is no new thing under the sun 1594[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A thing done well is ever done 1530[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Too much of one thing is good for nothing 1500[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Topsy turvey 1523[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All things that breed in the mud are not eels 1580[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Little things catch little minds 1576[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Many things fall between the cup and the lip 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Things are not as they seem 1573[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Things done cannot be undone 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Things that are above us are nothing to us 1539[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
 

Bar Sinister

Executive Branch Member
Jan 17, 2010
8,252
19
38
Edmonton
Alright, Dingus I charge you with the duty of explaining the meaning and describing the origin of each expression over the next ten years. One a day should do it.
 

Dingus

Born too late
May 19, 2010
113
2
18
Billericay
Please don't get me started - these are just a few of the 25 pages I have been sent allready. How many more are out there? AAARRRGGGHHH! (It seemed like a good idea at the time)
 

JLM

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 27, 2008
75,301
548
113
Vernon, B.C.
Please don't get me started - these are just a few of the 25 pages I have been sent allready. How many more are out there? AAARRRGGGHHH! (It seemed like a good idea at the time)

One classic that doesn't appear to be listed-- "He doesn't have enough strength to pull a man's pr*ck out of a lard can". :smile: