The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (513 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs

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, speak no evil of the dead (attributed to the Spartan ephor [civil magistrate] Chilon, 6th cent. BC); L.
de mortuis nil nisi bonum
, say nothing of the dead but what is good.

1540
tr.
Erasmus' Flores Sententiarum
A6
Rayle not vpon him that is deade.
1609
MS
(Trinity College, Cambridge) 81
^VSpeake not evill of the dead.
1682
No Cross, No Crown
(ed. 2) xix.
Speake well of the dead.
1783
Lives of Poets
(rev. ed.) IV. 381
He that has too much feeling to speak ill of the dead .. will not hesitate .. to destroy .. the reputation .. of the living.
1945
Lark Rise
xiv.
‘Never speak ill of the dead’ was one of their maxims.
1984
San Andreas
xii.
And speaking of the dead—and one should speak no ill of the dead—they were a couple of moderately useless characters.

reputation
;
slander

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SPEAK not of my debts unless you mean to pay them

1640
Outlandish Proverbs
no. 998
Speake not of my debts, unlesse you meane to pay them.
1875
Proverbial Folk-Lore
88
Special proverbs supply us with some excellent admonitions… Dont talk of my debts unless you mean to pay them.
1981
Times
2 Jan. 10
An old proverb recommends you not to speak of my debts unless you mean to pay them.

money
;
tact

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