Read The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs Online
Authors: John Andrew Simpson,
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (508 page)
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
6.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
My SON is my son till he gets him a wife, but my daughter's my daughter all the days of her life
1670English Proverbs
53
My son's my son, till he hath got him a wife, But my daughter's my daughter all days of her life.
1863
Hard Cash
I. v.
‘Oh, mamma,’ said Julia warmly, 'and do you think all the marriage in the world .. can make me lukewarm to my .. mother? .. It's a son who is a son only till he gets him a wife: but your daughter's your daughter, all-the-days-of her life.
1943
Growing Up
iii.
She doesn't hear from him for months at a time now of course and then it's only a wire as often as not, but your son's your son till he gets him a wife, as the saying is.
1981
Listener
27 Aug 206
There's a very old-fashioned sort of saying we have in the North which goes, ‘My son is my son till he finds him a wife, but my daughter is my daughter the rest of her life.’
children and parents
son
SOON ripe, soon rotten
Cf. L.
cito maturum cito putridum
, quickly ripe, quickly rotten.
1393
Piers Plowman
C.
XIII
. 233
And that that rathest [earliest] rypeth, roteth most saunest.
1546
Dialogue of Proverbs
I
.
X
. C4
V
In youth she was towarde [promising] and without euill. But soone rype sone rotten.
1642
Naaman
x.
Some indeed .. are moved to .. disdaine by their inferiours forwardnesse, called them hastings, soone ripe, soone rotten.
1887
Life & Labour
vi.
Very few prize boys and girls stand the test of wear. Prodigies are almost always uncertain; they illustrate the proverb of ‘soon ripe, soon rotten.’
1976
O KAPLAN! My KAPLAN!
II. iii.
‘Parkhill,’ Mr. Robinson steelily murmured, ‘we may all profit from the ancient adage:
“Presto maturo
,
presto marcio?!”
Yes: “The sooner ripe, the sooner rotten!” That applies to pupils no less than fruit!’
youth
cito maturum cito putridum
, quickly ripe, quickly rotten.
1393Piers Plowman
C.
XIII
. 233
And that that rathest [earliest] rypeth, roteth most saunest.
1546
Dialogue of Proverbs
I
.
X
. C4
V
In youth she was towarde [promising] and without euill. But soone rype sone rotten.
1642
Naaman
x.
Some indeed .. are moved to .. disdaine by their inferiours forwardnesse, called them hastings, soone ripe, soone rotten.
1887
Life & Labour
vi.
Very few prize boys and girls stand the test of wear. Prodigies are almost always uncertain; they illustrate the proverb of ‘soon ripe, soon rotten.’
1976
O KAPLAN! My KAPLAN!
II. iii.
‘Parkhill,’ Mr. Robinson steelily murmured, ‘we may all profit from the ancient adage:
“Presto maturo
,
presto marcio?!”
Yes: “The sooner ripe, the sooner rotten!” That applies to pupils no less than fruit!’
youthThe SOONER begun, the sooner done
1578Most Virtuous Susanna
(1937) l. 948
The sooner that we do begin, the sooner is it done.
1872
Golden Lion
XX.
‘I suppose I might as well go to him alone,’ said Michel, groaning. ‘Well, yes … Soonest begun, soonest over.’
1955
Queen's Knight
46
Sooner task's begun, sooner task is done—so it's said.
1987
Voyage of Chianti
vii.
‘Would you like Viola and me to begin on her book tomorrow?’ Amy asked him. ‘The sooner begun, the sooner done.’
beginnings and endings;
efficiency and inefficiency
BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
6.52Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
Other books
Lingerie and Lariats (Rough & Ready#7) by Cheyenne McCray
Heaven or Hell by Roni Teson
The Three Monarchs by Anthony Horowitz
The Lightning Keeper by Starling Lawrence
Windburn (Nightwing# 2) by Juliette Cross
Not the Marrying Kind (Destiny Bay Romances - Forever Yours) by Conrad, Helen
Living by the Word by Alice Walker
One Hell of a Guy: The Cambion Trilogy, Book 1 by Tammi Labrecque
Let the Devil Sleep by John Verdon
Beautiful Music by DeVore, Lisa
