Proverbs from English Proverbs

Found 1328 related proverbs. Click on any proverb below to view the full analysis and original text.

• A1 Make ABB or warp of the business as soon as you can
• A20 Bate me an ACE, quoth Bolton
• A30 When ADAM delved and Eve span who was then the gentleman?
• A55 More AFRAID than hurt
• A79 An AGUE in the spring is physic for a king
• A88 As free as the AIR (wind)
• A101 Derby¹ ALE and London beer
• A103 Good ALE is meat, drink, and cloth
• A106 He mends as sour ALE mends in summer
• A127 ALL covet all lose
• A136 ALL is fish that comes to net
• A146 ALL is not gold that glisters (glitters)
• A154 ALL is well that ends well
• A156 ALL is well when the mistress smiles
• A182 He looks as if he had sold ALL and took nothing for it
• A184 He teaches ill who teaches ALL
• A186 He that comes last makes ALL (the door) fast
• A193 He that would please ALL and himself too undertakes what he cannot do
• A208 To set ALL at six and seven
• A212 When ALL is gone and nothing left what avails the dagger with the dudgeon haft?
• A237 Some do AMEND when they cannot appair¹ (grow worse)
• A262 An APE is an ape, a varlet is a varlet, though they be clad in silk or scarlet
• A267 As fond as an APE of a whip
• A278 A broken APOTHECARY a new doctor
• A280 To speak like an APOTHECARY
• A295 Won with an APPLE (egg) and lost with a nut (the shell)
• A301 Two APPLES in my hand and the third in my mouth
• A325 Shoot one ARROW after another
• A341 I proud (stout) and thou proud (stout), who shall bear the ASHES out?
• A363 It is a sorry ASS that will not bear his own burden
• A371 You will make me believe that an ASS's ears are made of horns
• A382 I will not creep in her ASS to bake in her oven
• A385 You may lend your ASS and shit through your ribs
• B1 He knows not a B from a battledore¹
• B10 BACHELORS' wives and maids' children are well taught
• B12 Fall BACK fall edge
• B22 Dunmow BACON¹ and Doncaster daggers, Monmouth caps² and Lemster wool³, Derby ale⁴ and London beer
• B28 Gip, quoth BADGER (Gilbert) when his mare kicked
• B59 When BALE is highest boot is next¹
• B65 Be as be may is no BANNING (Be as be may)
• B75 BARBERS are correctors of capital crimes
• B85 Great BARKERS are no biters
• B92 BARNABY BRIGHT, the longest day and the shortest night
• B94 Neither (Never a) BARREL better herring
• B108 BAWDS and attorneys, like andirons, the one holds the sticks, the other their clients, till they consume
• B127 As willingly as the BEAR goes to the stake
• B133 Are you there with your BEARS?
• B139 He that is BORN to be hanged (drowned) shall never be drowned (hanged)
• B143 A red BEARD and a black head, catch him with a good trick and take him dead
• B148 He that has eaten a BEAR PIE will always smell of the garden¹
• B184 Early to BED and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise
• B190 If the BED could tell all it knows it would put many to the blush
• B218 What is better than the BEER that's made of malt?
• B228 The BEGGAR is never out of his way
• B229 The BEGGAR may sing before the thief
• B234 I know him as well as the BEGGAR knows his dish¹
• B238 Set a BEGGAR on horseback and he will ride a gallop (run his horse out of breath)
• B240 Sue a BEGGAR and get (catch) a louse
• B243 As merry as forty BEGGARS
• B247 BEGGARS should be no choosers
• B254 Well BEGUN is half done
• B259 A good BEGINNING makes a good ending
• B260 A hard BEGINNING has (makes) a good ending
• B262 Such BEGINNING such end
• B265 BELIEVE well and have well
• B275 He bears away the BELL
• B277 Who shall tie (hang) the BELL about the cat's neck?
• B279 I must not hang all my BELLS upon one horse
• B281 They agree like BELLS, they want nothing but hanging
• B291 Better BELLY burst than good drink (meat) lost
• B303 When the BELLY is full the bones would be at rest
• B313 I have the BENT of his bow
• B318 The BEST is behind
• B319 The BEST is best cheap
• B332 Seldom comes the BETTER
• B346 Be not too bold with your BIGGERS or betters
• B352 Fast (Sure) BIND fast (sure) find
• B354 They that are BOUND must obey
• B436 BLACK will take no other hue
• B437 He that wears BLACK must hang (carry) a brush at his back
• B451 The BLIND eat many a fly
• B452 If the BLIND lead the blind they both fall into the ditch
• B475 The second BLOW makes the fray
• B481 He cannot say BO to a goose
• B488 Great BOAST (and) small roast
• B500 It is a good BODY,¹ she wants but a new pair of sleeves
• B509 BOLSTER or pillow, be it whose will for me
• B513 Wide, quoth BOLTON when his bolt flew back-ward
• B545 He that goes a BORROWING goes a sorrowing
• B546 He will creep into your BOSOM
• B561 A BOW long bent at last waxes weak
• B566 Better BOW than break
• B578 A smiling BOY seldom proves a good servant
• B581 To leave BOY's play and fall (go) to blowpoint
• B584 You seek a BRACK (gap) where the hedge is whole
• B587 BRAG is a good dog
• B595 If the BRAIN sows not corn it plants thistles
• B597 You will not believe he is bald (dead) till you see his BRAIN
• B606 Fly, BRASS, thy father is a tinker
• B607 His old BRASS (cloak) will buy you a new pan (kirtle)
• B622 He would eat finer BREAD than is made of wheat
• B624 Lemster¹ BREAD and Weabley² ale
• B643 Scratch my BREECH and I will claw your elbow
• B644 You seek (To beg) a BREECH of a bare-assed man
• B654 As one BREWS so let him bake (drink)
• B655 He smiles like a BREWER's horse
• B670 To bite upon the BRIDLE
• B674 Better spare at the BRIM than at the bottom
• B682 A new BROOM (besom) sweeps clean
• B698 If you be angry you may turn the BUCKLE of your girdle behind you
• B701 Bounce BUCKRAM, velvet's dear, Christmas comes but once a year, and when it comes it brings good cheer, but when it's gone it's never the near¹
• B710 He looks like a BULL that has beshit the fair
• B723 They cleave (stick, hold) together like BURS
• B727 Light BURDEN far heavy
• B740 One beats the BUSH and another catches the bird
• B743 A BUSHEL of March dust is worth a king's ransom
• B761 The BUTCHER looked for his knife when he had it in his mouth
• B770 BUTTER is gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead at night
• B771 BUTTER is good for anything but to stop an oven or seal a letter
• B773 BUTTER is once a year in the cow's horn
• B774 He looks as if BUTTER would not melt in his mouth
• B775 It is not all BUTTER that comes from the cow
• B776 It melts like BUTTER in a sow's tail
• B778 No BUTTER will stick on his bread
• C12 His CAKE is dough
• C14 There was never a CAKE but it had a make¹
• C15 You can't eat your CAKE and have your cake (have it too)
• C23 Everyone must walk (labor) in his own CALLING (vocation)
• C40 He that worst may must hold the CANDLE
• C42 It is good to hold (set) a CANDLE before the devil
• C50 When CANDLES be out (At night) all cats be gray
• C51 A good CANDLEHOLDER proves a good gamester
• C57 Who was killed by a CANNON BULLET was cursed in his mother's belly
• C65 Thy CAP has more ease than thy head
• C78 Many can pack the CARDS that cannot play
• C80 When you have counted your CARDS you will find you have gained but little
• C94 Such (Like) CARPENTER such (like) chips
• C101 The best CART may overthrow
• C103 To set the CART before the horse
• C111 The CASE is altered, quoth Plowden
• C113 Well goes the CASE where wisdom counsels
• C123 Were I in my CASTLE of Bungay upon the river of Waveney I would not care for the King of Cockney
• C126 To build CASTLES in the air
• C129 As melancholy as a gibbed CAT
• C135 CAT (Kit) after kind
• C140 The CAT knows whose lips (beard) she licks well enough
• C141 A CAT may look on a king
• C144 The CAT would eat fish but she will not wet her feet
• C150 He loves me as a CAT does mustard
• C152 Let the CAT wink and let the mouse run
• C157 A muffled (muzzled, cuffed) CAT was never good mouser (hunter)
• C158 My CAT has no such ears
• C160 An old CAT laps as much milk as (more milk than) a young
• C172 To turn the CAT in the pan
• C174 Well might (It was not for nought that) the CAT wink (winked) when both her eyes were out
• C175 When the CAT's away the mice will play
• C185 They agree like two CATS in a gutter
• C189 CATCH that catch may
• C200 He that is angry without a CAUSE must be pleased without amends
• C218 No more like than CHALK and cheese (To give chalk for cheese)
• C228 CHANGE (Exchange) is no robbery
• C230 CHANGE of pasture makes fat calves
• C239 The first CHAPTER of fools is to hold themselves wise
• C249 As cold as CHARITY
• C251 CHARITY begins at home
• C257 Good CHEAP is dear
• C261 As sure as CHECK
• C275 You cannot see green CHEESE but your teeth (mouth) must water
• C292 You count (reckon) your CHICKENS before they be hatched
• C297 The burnt CHILD dreads the fire
• C299 A CHILD may have too much of his mother's blessing
• C304 Give a CHILD while he crave and a dog while his tail wave, you shall have a fair dog and a foul child
• C305 Happy is the CHILD whose father goes to the devil
• C309 It is a wise CHILD (father) that knows his own father (child)
• C312 Many kiss (love) the CHILD for the nurse's sake
• C318 To christen one's own CHILD first
• C326 Better CHILDREN weep than old men
• C328 CHILDREN (Drunkards) and fools cannot lie (Children and fools speak truth)
• C330 CHILDREN are certain cares but uncertain comforts
• C349 He must needs swim that is held up by the CHIN
• C350 So we get the CHINK we will bear with the stink
• C354 Look not too high lest a CHIP fall in your eye
• C357 Hew not too high lest the CHIPS fall into the eye
• C368 At CHRISTMAS great loaves, at Easter clean souls, and at Whitsuntide new clothes
• C371 A light CHRISTMAS a heavy sheaf
• C382 As hungry (poor) as a CHURCH MOUSE (church rat)
• C386 Claw a CHURL by (Grease a fat sow in) the tail and he (she) will beray your hand
• C394 A rich CITIZEN's daughter marrying a nobleman is like a black pudding:¹ the one brings blood, the other suet
• C405 CLAW me and I will claw thee
• C409 The greatest CLERKS are not the wisest men
• C411 A CLIENT 'twixt his attorney and counselor is like a goose 'twixt two foxes
• C412 He that never CLIMBED never fell
• C431 It is a bad CLOTH (wool) that will take no color (dye)
• C442 After black CLOUDS clear weather
• C447 Better to see a CLOUT than a hole out
• C472 Cut your COAT according to your cloth
• C477 COATS change with countries
• C480 Let not the COBBLER (shoemaker) go beyond his last
• C482 COBBLERS and tinkers are the best ale drinkers
• C483 Better be a COCK for a day than a hen for a year
• C484 The COCK crows but the hen goes
• C486 Every COCK is proud on his own dunghill
• C491 The young COCK crows as he the old hears
• C493 He sets COCK on the hoop
• C496 Crush (Kill) the COCKATRICE in the egg
• C508 Where COIN (wine) is not common commons must be scant
• C512 COLL¹ under canstick,² he can play with both hands
• C513 After a COLLAR comes a halter
• C515 As melancholy as a COLLIER's horse
• C522 Of a ragged COLT comes a good horse
• C524 When you ride a young COLT see your saddle be well girt
• C530 First COME first served
• C533 Lightly COME lightly go
• C536 As proud COMES behind as goes before
• C543 Stark dead be thy COMFORT
• C548 It is ill COMING to the end of a feast (shot¹) and beginning of a fray
• C550 A good COMING IN is all in all with a widow
• C556 A fat COMMODITY has no fellow
• C586 He is proper (noble) that has proper (noble) CONDITIONS
• C605 A good CONSCIENCE is a continual feast
• C636 He is an ill COOK that cannot lick his own fingers
• C639 You starve in a COOK's shop
• C645 As bald as a COOT
• C710 In every COUNTRY the sun rises in the morning
• C732 Full of COURTESY full of craft
• C750 A COW may catch a hare
• C765 Who bulls the COW must keep the calf
• C767 Who would keep a COW when he may have a quart of milk for a penny?
• C780 Look high and fall into a COW TURD
• C784 The CRAB of the wood is sauce very good for the crab of the sea, but the wood of the crab is sauce for a drab that will not her husband obey
• C786 The greatest CRABS are not all the best (the best meat)
• C792 Foul (Fair) in the CRADLE, fair (foul) in the saddle
• C808 Shameful CRAVING must have shameful nay
• C820 First CREEP, then go (Learn to creep before you go)
• C825 As merry as a CRICKET
• C833 As coy as CROKER's MARE
• C836 He has never a CROSS (penny, halfpenny) to bless himself withal
• C851 The CROW thinks her own bird¹ fairest (whitest)
• C852 He struts like a CROW in a gutter
• C853 He will say the CROW is white
• C855 I have a CROW to pluck with you
• C871 Great CRY and little wool
• C882 Let every CUCKOLD wear his own horns
• C890 As scabbed as a CUCKOO
• C893 When the CUCKOO comes to the bare thorn sell your cow and buy you corn, but when she comes to the full bit sell your corn and buy you sheep
• C901 A drunken CUNT has no porter
• C903 As merry as CUP and can
• C942 No CUT to unkindness
• C943 A CUTPURSE is a sure trade, for he has ready money when his work is done
• D12 Dear bought and far fetched are DAINTIES for ladies
• D36 Who perishes in needless DANGER is the devil's martyr
• D39 He that gropes in the DARK finds that he would not
• D49 DAVID¹ and Chad² sow peas good or bad
• D52 The dasnell¹ DAWCOCK² sits among the doctors
• D54 Dab, quoth DAWKINS, when he hit his wife in the ass with a pound of butter
• D67 Every DAY in the week one shower of rain and on Sunday twain
• D90 The longest DAY has an end
• D112 You come a DAY after the fair
• D123 You burn DAYLIGHT
• D159 Welcome, DEATH, quoth the rat when the trap fell down
• D163 DEBT is better than death
• D176 There is no DECEIT in a brimmer
• D204 It is easier to DESCEND than ascend
• D226 The DEVIL and John of Cumber
• D232 The DEVIL dances in a woman's placket
• D248 The DEVIL is good to some
• D258 The DEVIL makes his Christmas pie of lawyers' tongues and clerks' fingers
• D264 The DEVIL run through you booted and spurred with a scythe on his back
• D265 The DEVIL shits upon a great heap
• D271 The DEVIL wipes his tail with the poor man's pride
• D276 He is like the DEVIL, always in mischief
• D279 He must rise betimes that will cozen the DEVIL
• D295 That will come when the DEVIL is blind
• D296 There is a DEVIL in every berry of the grape
• D302 To play the DEVIL in the horologue
• D315 He is patterning the DEVIL's paternoster
• D331 Little DIFFERENCE between a feast and a bellyful
• D340 After DINNER sit a while, after supper walk a mile
• D344 DINNERS cannot be long where dainties want
• D376 You clap your DISH¹ (beg, knock) at a wrong man's door
• D389 A DIURNAL-MAKER¹ is the subamner² to a historian
• D390 DIVERSITY of humors breeds tumors
• D393 As good undone as DO it too soon
• D396 DO it well or do it again
• D398 DO well and have well
• D400 DO what you ought and come what come can
• D405 Self DO self have
• D406 We will DO anything that we may dance all
• D417 Better it be DONE than wish it had been done
• D426 That is but one DOCTOR's opinion
• D429 Doctor DODDYPOLL
• D452 A DOG in a doublet
• D460 The DOG who hunts foulest hits at most faults
• D461 A DOG will bark ere he bite
• D464 Every DOG has his day
• D467 Fight DOG, fight bear, the devil part them
• D473 Hang a DOG on a crab tree and he'll never love verjuice
• D479 Help the lame DOG over the stile
• D480 The hindmost DOG may catch the hare
• D481 I am not everybody's DOG that whistles
• D488 It is an ill (poor) DOG that is not worth the whistling
• D491 It would vex a DOG (man) to see a pudding creep
• D493 Let the DOG worry the hog
• D495 A living DOG is better than a dead lion
• D496 Love me love my DOG
• D507 To blush like a black DOG
• D522 A DOG's nose and a maid's knees are always cold
• D538 Hungry DOGS will eat (love) dirty puddings
• D572 As innocent (harmless) as a DOVE
• D590 If DREAMS and wishes were true there would hardly be found a maid in all the nunneries of Christendom
• D595 DRIFT is as bad as unthrift
• D599 Drink off your DRINK and steal no lambs
• D601 He was hanged that left his DRINK behind
• D607 He that never DRANK was never athirst (adry)
• D619 He will not lose the DROPPINGS of his nose
• D625 Ever DRUNK ever dry
• D646 As plain as DUNSTABLE¹ HIGHWAY (Plain Dunstable)
• E11 He cannot hear on that EAR (side)
• E12 In at one EAR and out at the other
• E27 EARLY up and never the nearer
• E40 Think of EASE but work on
• E45 The longer EAST the shorter west
• E48 When EASTER DAY sits in Lady Day's¹ lap England must beware of a clap
• E75 I will warrant you for an EGG at Easter
• E87 I have other EGGS to fry
• E92 You come with your five EGGS a penny and four of them be rotten
• E95 Not worth an EGGSHELL (egg)
• E97 If it be not true here is my ELBOW
• E98 My ELBOW itches, I must change my bedfellow
• E103 It smells of ELBOW GREASE
• E114 Better come at the latter END of a feast than the beginning of a fray
• E121 Everything has an END and a pudding¹ has two
• E124 In the END things will mend
• E132 He has (holds) the better (worse) END of the staff
• E156 You are a right ENGLISHMAN, you cannot tell when a thing is well (when you are well)
• E158 ENOUGH is as good as a feast
• E177 Better be ENVIED than pitied
• E180 A sleeveless (bootless) ERRAND
• E207 Of two EVILS (ills) choose the least
• E214 A bad EXCUSE (shift) is better than none at all
• E228 Blessed is the EYE that is between Severn and Wye
• E241 He that winks with the one EYE and looks with the other, I will not trust him though he were my brother
• E242 Jest (Bourd¹) not with the EYE or with religion (honor)
• E247 That the EYE sees not, the heart rues not
• E260 He that plays more than he sees forfeits his EYES to the king
• E261 His EYES are bigger than his belly
• E268 Two (Four) EYES can see more (are better) than one (two)
• E272 The EYESERVANT is never good for his master
• F14 Thy FACE is shorn against the wool
• F17 To set a good FACE on the matter (on a bad matter)
• F20 He carries (bears) two FACES under one hood
• F41 There is FALSEHOOD (flattery) in fellowship
• F54 FANCY may bolt¹ bran and think it flour
• F63 As soon may you get a FART of a dead man (horse)
• F67 He that is afraid of every FART must go far to piss
• F72 Four FARTHINGS and a thimble make a tailor's pocket jingle
• F75 The plain FASHION is best
• F79 The FAT (All the fat) is in the fire
• F84 The FATHER to the bough, the son to the plow
• F92 Such a (Like) FATHER such a (like) son
• F94 You teach your FATHER to get children
• F99 Our FATHERS which were wondrous wise did wash their throats before they washed their eyes
• F128 You shall have as much FAVOR as at Billingsgate for a box on the ear
• F164 He would fain fly (flee) but he wants FEATHERS
• F167 FEBRUARY fill-dike be it black or be it white, but if it be white it's the better to like
• F174 Better FED than taught
• F175 FEELING has no fellow
• F177 Ask my FELLOW (companion) if I be a thief
• F189 When FERN grows red then milk is good with bread
• F204 FIDDLER's fare, meat, drink, and money
• F207 A hard-fought FIELD where no man escapes un-killed
• F209 FIELDS have eyes and woods have ears
• F227 I love his little FINGER more than thy whole body
• F233 When he should work, each FINGER is a thumb
• F244 I sucked not this out of my FINGERS' ends
• F253 FIRE and water are good servants but bad (ill) masters
• F263 FIRE, quoth the fox when he pissed on the ice
• F267 He bears (carries) FIRE in one hand and water in the other
• F280 Soft FIRE makes sweet malt
• F282 There is no FIRE without some smoke
• F307 FISH is cast away that is cast into dry pools
• F315 If you swear you'll catch no FISH
• F317 It is good FISH, if it were but caught
• F319 Neither FISH nor flesh nor good red herring
• F320 Of all the FISH in the sea, herring is the king
• F334 It is good FISHING in troubled waters
• F335 It is ill FISHING (Fish not) before the net
• F336 There is no FISHING to¹ the sea nor service to¹ the king
• F341 As fine as FIVEPENCE
• F344 He gave him a FLAP with a foxtail
• F355 It is but a FLEABITING
• F365 It will not out of the FLESH that is bred in the bone
• F373 To flay (skin) a FLINT
• F375 To fetch a FLITCH of bacon from Dunmow¹
• F382 As flat as a FLOUNDER
• F387 It is the fairest (finest) FLOWER in his garland (garden)
• F390 As welcome as FLOWERS in May
• F395 He capers like a FLY in a tarbox
• F397 One cannot catch a FLY when he will
• F402 Hungry FLIES bite (A hungry louse bites) sore
• F408 How can the FOAL amble when the horse and mare trot?
• F423 Poor FOLKS are glad of pottage (porridge)
• F425 Threatened FOLKS (men) live long
• F433 FOLLY it is to spurn (kick) against a prick
• F438 Happy is he who knows his FOLLIES in his youth
• F445 As the FOOL thinks the bell clinks
• F446 Better be a FOOL than a knave
• F451 Everyone has a FOOL in his sleeve
• F452 A FOOL and his money are soon parted
• F463 A FOOL is fulsome
• F489 He that sends a FOOL means to follow him
• F490 He that teaches himself has a FOOL to his master
• F501 One FOOL makes a hundred (many)
• F506 There is no FOOL to¹ the old fool
• F548 If all FOOLS had (were to wear) baubles we should want fuel (fuel would be dear)
• F584 FORBEARANCE (Omittance, Sufferance) is no quittance (acquittance)
• F612 He that has no ill FORTUNE is troubled with good
• F613 If FORTUNE favor I may have her, for I go about her; if fortune fail you may kiss her tail and go without her
• F618 Farewell (Gramercy) FORTY PENCE, Jack Noble is dead
• F629 As wily (crafty) as a FOX
• F630 Either a FOX (hare) or a fern bush (fernbrake)
• F632 The FOX fares best (well) when he is cursed (banned)
• F639 The FOX (wolf) preys farthest from his hole (den)
• F641 The FOX was sick and he knew not where, he clapped his hand on his tail and swore it was there
• F656 When the FOX preaches beware the geese
• F675 The FRIAR preached against stealing and had a goose (when he had a pudding) in his sleeve
• F687 Better is a FRIEND in court than (A friend in court is worth) a penny in purse
• F694 A FRIEND is never known till a man have need
• F695 A FRIEND is not so soon gotten as lost
• F711 Make not thy FRIEND too cheap to thee nor thyself too dear to him
• F718 Prove your FRIEND ere you have need
• F720 A true FRIEND should be like a privy, open in necessity
• F731 Choose your FRIENDS like your books, few but choice
• F733 Farewell and be hanged, FRIENDS must part
• F741 Have but few FRIENDS though much acquaintance
• F744 He that has many FRIENDS eats too much salt with his meat
• F767 You fish fair and catch a FROG
• F769 Farewell FROST
• F770 FROST and fraud have always foul ends
• F772 They must hunger in FROST that will not work in heat
• F775 So many FROSTS in March so many in May
• F784 Out of (To leap like the flounder out of) the FRYING PAN (pan) into the fire
• G1 When GABRIEL blows his horn then this question will be decided
• G4 It is clear GAIN that remains by honest gettings
• G7 Light GAINS make heavy purses
• G11 As bitter as GALL
• G18 If I be hanged I'll choose my GALLOWS
• G30 To stop two GAPs with one bush
• G33 No GAPING against an oven
• G47 It is ill GATHERING of stones where the sea is bottomless
• G87 As just (jump) as GERMAN's lips
• G90 Evil (Ill) GOTTEN evil (ill) spent
• G91 Soon GOTTEN soon spent
• G96 As free of his GIFT as a blind man (poor man, Jew) of his eye
• G119 Better to GIVE than take (receive)
• G125 He that GIVES quickly (in a trice) gives twice
• G150 To strain at a GNAT and swallow a camel
• G151 The farther we GO the farther behind
• G187 GOD grant your early rising do you no harm
• G193 GOD help the rich, the poor can beg
• G199 GOD (Nature) is no botcher
• G202 GOD is where he was
• G207 GOD never sends mouth but he sends meat
• G216 GOD send you more wit and me more money
• G217 GOD sends a curst (shrewd) cow short horns
• G218 GOD sends cold after (according to) clothes
• G220 GOD sends fortune to fools
• G222 GOD sends meat and the devil sends cooks
• G231 He is poor that GOD hates
• G245 Serve GOD in your calling, 'tis better than praying
• G246 Soon todd¹ soon with GOD
• G247 Spend and GOD will send
• G249 There is GOD in the ambry¹
• G264 You are one of them to whom GOD bade ho¹
• G272 Out of GOD's blessing into the warm sun
• G276 GOD-A-MERCY (Gramercy), horse
• G294 Win GOLD and wear gold
• G301 Evil-gotten (Ill-gotten) GOODS never prove well (prosper, endure)
• G313 GOOD is good but better carries it
• G324 GOOD to be merry and wise
• G345 As deep drinks the GOOSE as the gander
• G364 To steal a GOOSE and give the giblets in alms
• G365 To steal a GOOSE and stick down a feather
• G369 All his GEESE are swans
• G374 I care no more for it than a GOOSE TURD for the Thames
• G376 A GOSHAWK beats¹ not at a bunting
• G394 The GRACE of God is worth a fair
• G406 Go teach your GRANDAME to get children
• G407 Teach your GRANDAME (grannam) to grope her ducks
• G413 GRASS and hay, we are all mortal
• G416 He that fears every GRASS must not piss (walk) in a meadow
• G432 GRAY's INN for walks, Lincoln's Inn for a wall, the Inner Temple for a garden, and the Middle for a hall
• G448 The GRIEF of the head is the grief of griefs
• G473 To swallow (gape for) a GUDGEON
• G476 An unbidden GUEST knows not where to sit (must bring his stool with him)
• G486 Not worthy to carry GUTS to a bear
• H8 Beware of HAD I WIST
• H17 His HAIR grows through his hood
• H23 Take a HAIR of the dog that bit you
• H36 Better HALF a loaf than no bread
• H40 HALF an acre is good land
• H54 HALF-WARNED (Forewarned) is half-armed (fore-armed)
• H55 It is merry in HALL when beards wag all
• H60 It is hard (ill) HALTING before a cripple
• H83 Lay thy HAND on thy heart and speak the truth
• H88 Put not your HAND between the bark and the tree
• H106 Wish in one HAND and shit in the other and see which will be full first
• H119 Many HANDS make light work
• H123 Two HANDS in a dish and one in a purse
• H136 Some have the HAP, some stick in the gap
• H140 It is better to be HAPPY (fortunate) than wise
• H148 As mad as a March HARE
• H149 A HARE and a mare go one year
• H156 Take a HARE without a meuse and a woman without a 'scuse
• H157 There goes the HARE away
• H158 To hold (run) with the HARE and run (hold, hunt) with the hound
• H161 Set the HARE's head (foot) against the goose giblets
• H167 HARM watch harm catch
• H173 They agree like HARP and harrow
• H176 Have among you, blind HARPERS
• H184 A long HARVEST of a little corn
• H189 HASTE makes waste
• H198 The more HASTE the less (worse) speed
• H201 NO HASTE to hang true men
• H203 He is none of the HASTINGS
• H207 It is good to have a HATCH¹ before the door
• H209 I have hung up my HATCHET
• H213 Better HAVE it than hear of it
• H214 Better to HAVE than wish
• H220 To make HAVOC and set cock on the hoop
• H235 Make HAY while the sun shines
• H248 He has thy HEAD under his girdle
• H252 He will not give his HEAD for the washing
• H265 A scald¹ HEAD (A scald man's head) is soon broken
• H269 To break one's HEAD and give him a plaster
• H275 When the HEAD aches all the body is the worse
• H279 So many HEADS so many wits
• H281 TWO HEADS (wits) are better than one
• H283 It is ill HEALING an old sore
• H295 Who so deaf as he that will not HEAR?
• H314 His HEART is in his hose (heels)
• H315 His HEART (mind, hand) is on his halfpenny
• H317 I will not set at my HEART what I should set at my heel (what you set at your heel)
• H332 To take HEART of grace
• H334 What the HEART thinks the tongue speaks
• H361 A low HEDGE is easily leaped over
• H364 Where the HEDGE is lowest men may soonest over
• H366 I would it were in again with the HEDGEHOG after it
• H380 Take HEED of lightning at both ends
• H410 They that be in HELL ween there is no other heaven
• H413 To throw the HELVE after the hatchet
• H415 As busy as a HEN with one (two, ten) chicken (chickens)
• H422 If one knew how good it were to eat a HEN in January, had he twenty in the flock he'd leave but one to go with the cock
• H430 HENGSTEN DOWN well wrought is worth London Town dear bought
• H472 She is loose in the HILTS (haft)
• H480 HOBBLEDEHOY, half a man and half a boy
• H487 Everyone bastes the fat HOG, while the lean one burns
• H489 He looks like a HOG in armor
• H495 Lose not a HOG¹ (sheep) for a halfpennyworth of tar²
• H503 You have brought your HOGS (eggs) to a fair (fine, wrong) market
• H505 You were born at HOGS NORTON, where pigs play on organs
• H508 As much HOLD of his word as of a wet eel by the tail
• H513 HOLD fast when you have it
• H534 HOME is home be it never so homely
• H548 He is all HONEY or all turd
• H562 You will (cannot) make HONEY of a dog's turd
• H563 It is but HONEYMOON with them
• H570 HONOR bought is temporal simony
• H588 By HOOK or crook
• H605 If it were not for HOPE (Without hope) the heart would break (burst)
• H611 HOPE well and have well
• H613 HOP-O'-MY-THUMB
• H615 As loud as a HORN
• H619 You cannot make a HORN (pipe, whistle) of a pig's (ape's, tod's¹) tail
• H638 Do not spur a free HORSE
• H639 Either win the HORSE or lose the saddle
• H649 A grunting HORSE and a groaning wife never fail their master
• H660 He will lie as fast as a HORSE (dog) will trot
• H668 A hungry HORSE makes a clean manger
• H670 It is a good HORSE that never stumbles
• H673 It would make a HORSE break his bridle or a dog his halter (It would make a horse [dog] laugh)
• H675 Lend your HORSE for a long journey, you may have him return with his skin
• H678 Look not a given HORSE in the mouth
• H679 My HORSE pisses whey, my man pisses amber, my horse is for my way, my man is for my chamber
• H683 A proud HORSE that will not carry (bear) his own provender
• H690 A scald (scabbed) HORSE is good enough for a scabbed (scald) squire
• H691 A short HORSE is soon curried
• H692 Some may better steal a HORSE than others look on (look over the hedge)
• H700 Touch (Rub) a galled HORSE on the back and he will wince (kick)
• H702 Well, HORSE, winter will come
• H710 His HORSE's head is swollen so big that he cannot come out of the stable
• H724 He has sneezed thrice, turn him out of the HOSPITAL
• H726 He that reckons without his (Reckoners without their) HOST must reckon twice
• H730 The fairer the HOSTESS the fouler the reckoning
• H732 Soon HOT soon cold
• H734 You are a HOT SHOT
• H741 It happens in one HOUR that happens not in seven years
• H779 A little HOUSE well filled, a little land (ground) well tilled, and a little wife well willed
• H806 An HUMBLEBEE in a cow turd thinks himself a king
• H810 He is hidebound, he is an HUNGARIAN
• H811 HUNGER breaks down (pierces) stone walls
• H813 HUNGER drops out of his nose
• H819 HUNGER is the best sauce
• H822 HUNGER makes hard beans sweet (hard bones sweet beans)
• H838 When the HUSBAND drinks to the wife all would be well, when the wife drinks to the husband all is well
• I38 Three ILLS (evils) come from the North, a cold wind, a shrinking cloth, and a dissembling man
• I49 Give an INCH and he will take an ell
• I54 An INCH breaks no square
• I56 An INCH in a miss is as good as an ell
• I83 Wear the INSIDE of thy stockings outward to scare the witches
• I84 To be high in the INSTEP
• I94 It is good to strike while the IRON is hot
• I106 ITCH and ease can no man please
• I107 An ITCH is worse than a smart
• J1 A good JACK makes a good Jill
• J4 JACK would be a gentleman if he could speak French
• J8 To play the JACK with one
• J23 He is JACK-OUT-OF-OFFICE
• J25 JACK SPRAT he loved no fat and his wife she loved no lean, and yet betwixt them both they licked the platters clean
• J32 A JAILER's conscience and his fetters made both of one metal
• J34 JANUARY freezes the pot by the fire
• J45 It is ill (no, not good) JESTING (meddling) with edged tools
• J57 JOAN is as good as my lady in the dark
• J63 JOHN (Jack, Nick) would wipe his nose if he had one (it)
• J70 He is JOHN Herb in the pottage, that will do neither good nor harm
• J71 To send (To come) by JOHN LONG (Tom Long) the carrier
• J91 JUDAS might have repented before he could have found a tree to have hanged himself upon had he betrayed Christ in Scotland
• J100 As sure as a JUGGLER's box
• K1 KA¹ me ka thee
• K10 He is wise enough that can KEEP himself warm
• K15 In KENT is found health and no wealth, wealth and no health, and health and wealth
• K23 As cold as a KEY
• K29 The KEYS hang not all at one man's girdle
• K49 KINDNESS (Love, Kind) will creep where it cannot go
• K53 Wheresoever you see your KINDRED make much of your friends
• K55 Better to be KING of a molehill than a kaiser's slave
• K59 It shall be done when the KING comes to Wogan
• K60 The KING and the pope, the lion and the wolf
• K77 He that eats the KING's goose shall be choked with the feathers
• K79 The KING's cheese goes half away in parings
• K97 Many KINSFOLK few friends
• K108 KISSING goes by favor
• K114 A carrion KITE (bittern) will never be a good hawk
• K118 He has many KNACKS in his budget
• K121 Better kiss a KNAVE than be troubled with him
• K122 A crafty KNAVE needs no broker
• K132 An old KNAVE is no babe (child)
• K133 Once a KNAVE and ever a knave
• K138 There I caught a KNAVE in a purse net
• K145 KNAVES (Thieves) and whores go by the clock
• K147 Two false KNAVES need no broker
• K159 Oxford KNIVES and London wives
• K163 A KNIGHT OF CALES,¹ a gentleman of Wales, and a laird of the North Country, a yeoman of Kent with his yearly rent will buy them out all three
• K172 I KNOW what I do when I drink
• K175 KNOW thyself
• L17 LACK of looking to makes cobwebs grow in boys' tails
• L34 As gentle (quiet, meek, mild) as a LAMB
• L39 As soon goes the young LAMBSKIN (lamb) to the market as the old ewe's (sheep)
• L85 Better LATE than never
• L90 At LATTER LAMMAS
• L93 He LAUGHS that wins
• L99 He will go to LAW for the wagging of a straw
• L133 Leave her on a LEA¹ and let the devil flit her
• L140 He trembles (quakes, shakes) like an aspen LEAF
• L161 Too much LEARNING makes men mad
• L171 I will take no LEAVE of you, quoth the baker to the pillory
• L172 Better LEAVE than lack
• L182 Badger-like, one LEG shorter than another
• L186 A LEG (pestle) of a lark is better than the body of a kite
• L207 Eat LESS and drink less and buy a knife at Michaelmas
• L219 A LIAR should have a good memory
• L235 A LIE stands on one leg, truth on two
• L254 LIFE is sweet
• L273 Every LIGHT is not the sun
• L286 LIKE will to like
• L287 LIKE will to like, quoth the devil to the collier
• L308 As fierce (valiant) as a LION
• L314 The LION is not so fierce as he is painted
• L317 Wake not a sleeping LION
• L324 He can ill pipe that lacks (wants) his upper LIP
• L326 Like (Such) LIPS like (such) lettuce
• L358 LITTLE (Nothing) said, soon amended
• L362 Many a LITTLE (Every little) makes a mickle (a great)
• L379 LIVE and learn
• L400 A white LOAF and a hard cheese never shame the master
• L413 He is sick of the LOMBARD FEVER
• L421 LONG and lazy, little and loud, fat and fulsome, pretty and proud
• L423 LONG LOOKED FOR comes at last
• L428 LOOK behind you and consider what you were
• L429 LOOK ere (before) you leap
• L455 It is LOST that is unsought
• L458 Give LOSERS leave to speak (talk)
• L460 He that goes out with often LOSS at last comes home by Weeping Cross¹
• L467 As sure as LOUSE in bosom
• L483 Hot LOVE is soon cold
• L485 In LOVE is no lack
• L496 LOVE and pease pottage will make their way
• L502 LOVE comes in at the window and goes out at the door
• L506 LOVE is blind
• L559 LOVE me little love me long
• L561 They that LOVE most are least set by
• L569 LOVERS live by love as larks live by leeks
• L575 He that would have good LUCK in horses (horseflesh) must kiss the parson's wife
• L584 What is worse than ill LUCK?
• L589 His LUST is as young as his limbs are old
• M3 MADAM PARNELL, crack the nut and eat the kernel
• M14 As good a MAID as her mother
• M31 A young MAID married to an old man is like a new house thatched with old straw
• M37 Old MAIDS lead apes in hell
• M48 To MAKE or mar
• M49 You MAKE me scratch (claw) where it does not itch.
• M59 The MALTMAN comes on Monday
• M63 As a MAN is friended so the law is ended
• M65 As a MAN must take a wife, for better or for worse
• M71 As long lives a merry MAN as a sad
• M80 A blind MAN can (should) judge no colors
• M83 Brave MAN at arms but weak to Balthasar
• M87 A covetous MAN is like a dog in a wheel, that roasts meat for others
• M94 A drunken MAN (Drunken folk) seldom catches (take) harm
• M100 Every MAN (one) after his fashion
• M103 Every MAN (one) as he loves, quoth the good man when he kissed his cow
• M106 Every MAN (one) can rule a shrew but he that has her
• M110 Every MAN cannot hit the nail on the head
• M113 Every MAN for himself and God for us all
• M116 Every MAN has (No man is without) his faults
• M125 Every MAN is either a fool or a physician to himself
• M129 Every MAN (The wearer) knows best where the shoe wrings (pinches)
• M143 Find me a true MAN Trent northward and I will find you an honest whore
• M146 Give a MAN luck (fortune) and throw him into the sea
• M149 A good MAN (She) can no more harm than a sheep (she-ape)
• M158 Happy MAN happy dole (be his dole)
• M159 A hasty (angry) MAN never wants woe
• M175 He that kills a MAN when he is drunk shall be hanged when he is sober
• M180 He will kill a MAN for a mess of mustard
• M185 An honest plain MAN without pleats
• M187 A hungry MAN an angry man
• M196 If every MAN mend one all shall be mended
• M204 It is true that every MAN says
• M232 A MAN far from his good is nigh his harm
• M244 A MAN is a man though he have but a hose on his head
• M252 A MAN is not so soon healed as hurt
• M257 A MAN may buy gold too dear
• M262 A MAN may lead a horse to the water but he cannot make him drink unless he will
• M290 A MAN of gladness seldom falls into madness
• M291 The MAN of God is better for having his bows and arrows about him
• M296 A MAN of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds
• M297 A MAN or a mouse
• M304 A MAN will rather hurt his body than displeas his palate
• M306 A MAN without reason is a beast in season
• M312 A married MAN turns his staff into a stake
• M338 No MAN loves his fetters though made of gold
• M366 The rich MAN walks to get a stomach to his meat, the poor man to get meat for his stomach.
• M395 To a red MAN read thy rede, with a brown man break thy bread, at a pale man draw thy knife, from a black man keep thy wife
• M404 Today a MAN tomorrow none
• M444 Better to be an old MAN's darling than a young man's warling¹ (worldling)
• M449 Every MAN's nose will not make (He has a nose like) a shoeing-horn
• M467 A MAN's best fortune or his worst is a wife
• M483 One MAN's meat is another man's poison
• M547 MEN fear death as children fear to go in the dark
• M577 Poor MEN have no souls
• M583 So many MEN so many minds
• M597 Where MEN are well used they will frequent there
• M609 Young MEN may die, old men must die
• M615 It is good to (He is wise who can) beware by other MEN's harms
• M619 Who waits for dead MEN's shoes shall go long barefoot
• M636 As wise as a MAN OF GOTHAM¹
• M647 The gray MARE is the better horse
• M651 My old MARE would have a new crupper
• M656 When the MARE has a bald face the filly will have a blaze
• M661 MARGERY, good cow, gives a good meal (pail) of milk but throws it down with her heels
• M667 He shoots well that hits the MARK
• M668 He shoots wide of the MARK
• M688 MARRIAGES are made in heaven
• M723 Like (Such a) MASTER like (such a) man (ser-vant)
• M734 The MASTER's footsteps fatten the soil
• M739 Blurt, MASTER CONSTABLE
• M740 O MASTER VIER, we cannot pay you your rent, for we had no grace of God this year, no ship-wreck upon our coast
• M749 As comfortable as MATRIMONY
• M762 Go dig at MAVORN¹ HILL
• M764 A cold MAY and a windy makes a full barn and a findy¹
• M765 Come it early, come it late, in MAY comes the cowquake
• M766 A hot MAY makes a fat churchyard
• M781 A thin MEADOW is soon mowed
• M788 Better are MEALS many than one too merry
• M789 Two hungry (ill) MEALS make the third a glutton
• M797 One may know your MEANING by your gaping (mumping)
• M802 Feed by MEASURE (sparingly) and defy the physician
• M804 MEASURE is a merry mean
• M809 After MEAT comes mustard
• M816 He brings (carries) MEAT in his mouth
• M839 Sweet MEAT must have sour sauce
• M847 The wholesomest MEAT is at another man's cost
• M849 You cannot fare well but you must cry roast MEAT
• M858 Of little MEDDLING comes great rest (ease)
• M882 He is a MERCHANT of eelskins
• M883 He is a MERCHANT without money or ware
• M887 He that could know what would be dear need be a MERCHANT but one year
• M897 I cry you MERCY, I took you for a joint stool
• M933 I will have none of your flat MILK
• M957 Put a MILLER, a weaver, and a tailor in a bag and shake them, the first that comes out will be a thief
• M964 To have thwitten¹ a MILLPOST to a pudding-prick
• M965 I can see as far into a MILLSTONE as another man
• M1001 There is no MISCHIEF in the world done but a woman is always one
• M1014 MISRECKONING (Wrong count) is no payment
• M1016 A Scotch MIST will wet an Englishman to the skin
• M1021 If you can kiss the MISTRESS never kiss the maid
• M1041 He that has it and will not keep it, he that wants it and will not seek it, he that drinks and is not dry shall want MONEY as well as I
• M1042 He that has MONEY in his purse cannot want a head for his shoulders
• M1064 MONEY is that which art has turned up trump
• M1069 MONEY is welcome though it come in a dirty clout
• M1071 MONEY, like dung, does no good till it is spread
• M1090 Put MONEY in thy purse
• M1092 Ready MONEY will away
• M1101 Too much MONEY makes one mad
• M1114 He casts beyond the MOON
• M1116 He would make him believe that the MOON is made of green cheese
• M1117 It is midsummer MOON with you
• M1128 He strives for the MOONSHINE in the water
• M1139 He that does kiss and do no MORE may kiss behind and not before
• M1146 MORE belongs to marriage than four bare legs in a bed
• M1153 The MORE the merrier, the fewer the better cheer (fare)
• M1163 We can have no MORE of the fox but the skin
• M1170 Drink in the MORNING staring, then all the day be sparing
• M1178 Cloudy MORNINGS turn to clear evenings (days)
• M1183 Backare,¹ quoth MORTIMER to his sow
• M1185 To take one napping, as MOSSE took his mare
• M1191 You can see a MOTE in another man's eye but cannot see a beam in your own
• M1235 A MOUSE in time may bite in two a cable
• M1238 To speak like a MOUSE in a cheese
• M1240 Whist (Peace), and catch a MOUSE
• M1242 As merry as MICE in malt
• M1245 You must not let your MOUSETRAP smell of cheese
• M1246 As like him as if he had been spit out of his MOUTH
• M1250 He speaks as if he would creep into one's MOUTH
• M1255 Let me spit in your MOUTH
• M1258 Out of one MOUTH to blow hot and cold
• M1271 Drink as MUCH after an egg as after an ox
• M1287 MUCH would have more
• M1310 MUM is counsel (the word)
• M1313 Mock not, quoth MUMFORD when his wife called him cuckold
• M1332 As strong (keen, hot) as MUSTARD
• M1339 He loves MUTTON (sheep's flesh) well that dips (wets) his bread in the wool
• N16 He has hit the NAIL on the head
• N17 One NAIL drives out another
• N25 He that has an ill (evil) NAME is half hanged
• N26 He that has the NAME (fame¹) to be an early riser may sleep till noon
• N27 He who but once a good NAME gets may piss abed and say he sweats
• N54 He that will not when he may, when he would he shall have NAY (shall not when he will)
• N67 One may as soon break his NECK as his fast there
• N76 NEED (Necessity) has no law
• N79 NEED makes the old wife trot
• N105 He is my NEIGHBOR who grinds at my mill
• N109 Love your NEIGHBOR, yet pull not down your hedge
• N116 When thy NEIGHBOR's house does burn be careful of thine own
• N117 He dwells far from NEIGHBORS (has ill neighbors) that is fain to praise himself
• N129 The rough NET is not the best catcher of birds
• N130 You dance in a NET and think nobody sees you
• N132 He has pissed on a NETTLE
• N134 It is better to be stung by a NETTLE than pricked by a rose
• N151 NEWS, news, the skin of your ass will make a new pair of shoes
• N169 A fine (fit) NIGHT to run away with another man's wife (to steal away a fair lady)
• N182 The NIGHTINGALE sings clear
• N187 As neat as NINEPENCE
• N188 NINEPENCE, no pence, half a groat¹ wanting two pence
• N194 To bring a NOBLE (shilling) to ninepence
• N215 As plain as the NOSE on a man's face
• N218 He holds his NOSE to the grindstone
• N222 He would wipe his NOSE if he had one
• N223 His NOSE will abide no jests
• N249 Who can sing so merry a NOTE as he that cannot change a groat?¹
• N279 I will say NOTHING (nought) but mum
• N287 NOTHING down nothing up
• N290 NOTHING has no savor
• N291 NOTHING have nothing crave
• N299 NOTHING is impossible (hard, difficult) to a willing heart (mind)
• N319 NOTHING (Nought) venture nothing (nought) have
• N335 Well fare NOTHING (nought) once a (by the) year
• N336 Where NOTHING is, a little does ease
• N338 Where NOTHING (nought) is (is to be had) the king must lose his right¹
• N340 As good play for NOUGHT (nothing) as work for nought (nothing)
• N347 Where NOUGHT is to wed with, wise men flee the clog
• N352 The NUN of Sion¹ with the friar of Shean¹ went under the water to play the quean
• N353 As nice as a NUN's hen¹
• N354 A NURSE spoils a housewife
• N359 Crack me that NUT, quoth Bumstead
• O4 He will have an OAR in every man's boat
• O5 It is not good to have an OAR in every man's boat
• O6 To sow his wild OATS
• O22 A new OFFICE, like a new garment, straight at first putting on
• O36 OLD young, young old
• O57 ONE of the four and twenty qualities of a knave is to stay long at his errand
• O62 That (If) ONE will not another will
• O67 To weep (It may serve) with an ONION
• O98 To walk by OWL-LIGHT
• O100 OWN is own
• O103 The black OX never trod on his foot
• O110 To swallow an OX and be choked with the tail
• P9 There is a PAD¹ in the straw
• P17 It is more PAIN (painful) to do nothing than something
• P22 PAINS are the price that God puts upon all things
• P34 One PAIR of heels (legs, feet) is worth two pair of hands
• P36 There went but a PAIR of shears between them
• P52 He will not part with the PARINGS of his nails
• P56 The PARISH PRIEST forgets that ever he was clerk
• P68 She is as tender as a PARSON's leman
• P96 He may be in my PATERNOSTER but he shall never come in my creed
• P97 PATERNOSTER built churches and Our Father pulled them down
• P109 PATIENCE is a virtue
• P112 PATIENCE perforce is a medicine for a mad dog
• P117 PATIENCE is a flower that grows not in every garden
• P118 What again? quoth PAUL when his wife made him cuckold the second time
• P121 PAUL's will not always stand
• P124 A fair (good) PAWN never shamed his master
• P127 He that PAYS last never pays twice
• P134 Every PEA[SE] has its vease and a bean fifteen
• P138 Who has many PEAS may put the more in the pot
• P139 By PEACE plenty
• P165 Cast not PEARLS before swine
• P168 PEASE POTTAGE and tawny never made good medley
• P174 Let every PEDDLER carry his own burden
• P185 As old as PENDLE HILL
• P194 He thinks his PENNY (farthing, halfpenny) good silver
• P204 The PENNY in pocket is a good companion
• P210 That PENNY (halfpenny) is well spent that saves a groat¹ (penny)
• P218 PENNY-WISE and pound-foolish
• P224 Hasty PEOPLE will never make good midwives
• P231 He takes PEPPER in the nose
• P250 Near is my PETTICOAT (kirtle, coat) but nearer is my smock (sark)
• P291 A PIECE of a kid is worth two of a cat
• P304 I will not buy a PIG in a poke
• P305 A PIG of your (my) own sow
• P308 When the PIG is proffered (offered) hold up (open) the poke
• P322 As plain as a PIKESTAFF (packstaff)
• P328 To be tossed from PILLAR (post) to post (pillar, pillory)
• P342 A PINT of wine to a vintner is but a pippin to a costermonger
• P363 Small (Little) PITCHERS have wide ears
• P365 As great a PITY to see a woman weep as a goose go barefoot
• P366 Foolish (Peevish) PITY mars a city
• P368 It is PITY fair weather should do any harm
• P369 It is PITY to part three things: the lawyer and his client, the physician and his patient, and a pot of good ale and a toast
• P382 PLAIN DEALING is a jewel but they that use it die beggars
• P387 He that is born under a threepenny (three-halfpenny) PLANET will never be worth a groat¹
• P395 He who swears when he is at PLAY may challenge his damnation by way of purchase
• P397 PLAY, women, and wine undo men laughing
• P404 He PLAYS well (best) that wins
• P413 Never PLEASURE without repentance
• P423 Stolen PLEASURES are sweetest
• P424 He that has PLENTY of goods shall have more, he that has but a little he shall have less, and he that has right nought right nought shall possess
• P432 If your PLOW be jogging you may have meat for your horses
• P441 The higher the PLUM TREE the riper the plum, the richer the cobbler the blacker his thumb
• P448 Everyone is not born a POET
• P453 The first POINT of hawking is hold fast
• P474 POOR and proud, fie, fie
• P487 POSSESSION is eleven (nine) points of the law
• P496 He that comes last to the POT soonest wroth
• P497 A little POT is soon hot
• P499 Neither POT broken nor water spilt
• P501 So long goes the POT (pitcher) to the water (well) that at length it comes home broken
• P518 A POUND of care will not pay an ounce of debt
• P520 A thousand POUNDS and a bottle¹ of hay is all one thing at doomsday
• P529 POVERTY parts fellowship (good company, friends)
• P537 A POX on these true jests
• P550 PRATE is prate but it is the duck that lays the eggs
• P553 PRAYER brings down the first blessing and praise the second
• P556 PRAYERS and provender hinder no journey
• P563 To be in the same PREDICAMENT
• P575 PRIDE feels no cold (frost, pain)
• P576 PRIDE goes before and shame (ambition) comes after
• P581 PRIDE will have a fall
• P596 It is an evil (ill) PROCESSION where the devil bears (carries, holds) the cross (colors, candle)
• P604 All PROMISES are either broken or kept
• P608 The PROOF of the pudding is in the eating
• P615 PROVENDER pricks him
• P628 There is a PUDDING in the fire and my part lies therein
• P632 You are he that did eat the PUDDING and the bag
• P634 To come in PUDDING TIME
• P646 Be it better, be it worse, do after him that bears the PURSE
• P666 You cannot make a silk PURSE OF a sow's ear
• P669 Ill PUTTING (Put not) a naked sword in a mad-man's hand
• R8 After RAIN (showers) comes fair weather (the sun)
• R12 In RAIN and sunshine cuckolds go to heaven
• R14 RAIN, rain, go to Spain, fair weather, come again
• R22 As lean as a RAKE
• R28 As right (straight) as a RAM's horn
• R30 RANCOR sticks long by the ribs
• R43 Let REASON rule all your actions
• R47 Such a REASON pissed my goose
• R49 There is REASON in roasting of eggs
• R53 Where be no RECEIVERS there be no thieves
• R54 Even RECKONING makes long friends
• R57 A good RECORDER sets all in order
• R58 To give one a RECUMBENTIBUS
• R107 RICHES are but the baggage of fortune
• R118 Ill for the RIDER good for the abider
• R119 Good RIDING at two anchors men have told, for if the one fail the other may hold
• R121 It is safe RIDING in a good haven (harbor)
• R133 Soon RIPE soon rotten
• R155 Spare the ROD and spoil (spill) the child (He that spares the rod hates the child)
• R163 ROME was not built in one day
• R180 The fairest ROSE at last (in the end, in three days) is withered (becomes a hep)
• R181 I took her for a ROSE but she proved a bur
• R188 He would live as long as old ROSS OF POTTERNE, who lived till all the world was weary of him
• R190 Everyone cannot dwell at ROTHERAS
• R193 Better to rule than be ruled by the ROUT
• R208 He may ill RUN that cannot go¹
• R210 He RUNS far that never turns again
• S6 It is a bad SACK (case) that will abide no clouting
• S7 Let every SACK stand upon its own bottom
• S16 Set (Lay, Put) the SADDLE on the right horse
• S19 Where SADDLES lack, better ride on a pad than. on the horse bareback
• S33 Young SAINT old devil
• S35 To follow one like a SAINT ANTHONY's PIG
• S46 Go ride upon SAINT LEONARD's saddle
• S51 SAINT MATTHIAS¹ both leaf and grass
• S61 Blessed be SAINT STEPHEN, there's no fast on his even
• S62 If it rain on SAINT SWITHIN's DAY¹ expect 'twill do so forty days after more or less
• S73 SALISBURY PLAIN is seldom (never) without a thief or twain
• S80 SALT seasons all things
• S86 SAMPSON was a strong man and Solomon was a wise man but neither of them both could pay money before they had it
• S110 Do not SAY go, but gaw
• S116 It is sooner (easier, better) SAID than done
• S119 SAYING and doing are two things
• S129 One does the SCATHE and another has the scorn
• S134 He that robs a SCHOLAR robs twenty men
• S135 A mere SCHOLAR is a mere ass
• S145 Who has a SCOLD has sorrow to his sops
• S148 To cast up old SCORES
• S168 Who expounds SCRIPTURE upon his own warrant lays together hot brands with his fingers
• S207 I have SEEN as far come as nigh
• S208 Seldom SEEN soon forgotten
• S226 A SERGEANT is the spawn of some decayed shop-keeper
• S252 Proffered SERVICE (ware) stinks
• S255 An old SERVINGMAN a young beggar
• S256 A young SERVINGMAN an old beggar
• S259 You may as soon sip up the SEVERN and swallow Mavern¹
• S264 To make a SHAFT (bolt) or a bolt (shaft) of it
• S277 SHAME take (Evil to) him that shame (evil) thinks
• S289 I will take as falls in the SHEAF wherever it fall
• S295 As rich as a new-shorn SHEEP
• S308 One scabbed SHEEP mars (infects) a whole flock
• S323 He casts a SHEEP's EYE at her
• S331 A SHERIFF had he been and a countor,¹ was nowhere such a vavasor²
• S351 A SHIP under sail, a man in complete armor, a woman with a great belly are three of the handsomest sights
• S356 Close fits (sits) my SHIRT (coat) but closer my skin
• S358 SHITTEN COME SHITES is the beginning of love
• S363 A black SHOE makes a blithe (merry) heart
• S371 The SHOE will hold with the sole
• S372 To cast an old SHOE after one for luck
• S374 He is over SHOES at first step
• S377 Meddle with your old SHOES
• S379 Over SHOES over boots
• S387 Who is worse shod than the SHOEMAKER's wife (the shoemaker's wife and the smith's mare)?
• S390 Short SHOOTING loses the game
• S392 Keep thy SHOP and thy shop will keep thee
• S393 Let him set up SHOP on Goodwin's Sands
• S399 As fit as a SHOULDER of mutton for a sick horse
• S405 To get over the left SHOULDER
• S411 April SHOWERS bring May flowers
• S412 It is better to be a SHREW than a sheep
• S425 He knows on which SIDE his bread is buttered
• S438 Out of SIGHT out of mind
• S440 To play least in SIGHT
• S447 SILENCE is the best ornament of a woman
• S468 He shall sink in his own SIN
• S491 Better (As good) SIT still than (as) rise and fall
• S498 SKIDDAW, Lauvellin, and Casticand are the highest hills in all England
• S513 I will sit on your SKIRTS
• S517 When (If) the SKY (heaven) falls we shall have (catch) larks
• S530 It is good SLEEPING in a whole skin
• S531 A broken SLEEVE holds the arm back
• S535 To laugh in one's SLEVE
• S560 Better is the last SMILE than the first laughter
• S569 No SMOKE without some fire
• S573 SMOKE of Charren
• S591 As white as the driven SNOW
• S593 SNOW is white and lies in the dike and every man lets it lie; pepper is black and has a good smack and every man does it buy
• S599 It works like SOAP (wax) in a sow's tail (ear)
• S601 SOFT AND FAIR goes far
• S605 SOLDIERS in peace are like chimneys in summer
• S612 SOME are wise and some are otherwise
• S623 SOMEWHAT (Something) is better than nothing
• S657 SORROW is good for nothing but sin
• S662 When SORROW is asleep wake it not
• S663 Make not two SORROWS of one
• S669 You put a silly SOUL to be a keeper for the devil's good grace
• S672 As meet as a SOW to bear a saddle
• S676 Little knows the fat SOW (man) what the lean does mean
• S685 You take the wrong SOW by the ear
• S693 The rath¹ (early) SOWER never borrows of the late
• S697 In SPACE comes grace
• S698 In SPACE comes grace
• S708 SPARE not to spend but spare to go thither
• S709 SPARE to speak spare to speed
• S720 SPEAK fair and think what you will
• S748 SPICK-AND-SPAN-NEW (Spick-and-span)
• S749 He has swallowed a SPIDER
• S812 The loath (ill, loose) STAKE stands long (longest)
• S813 The low STAKE stands long
• S824 Long STANDING and small (little) offering makes poor parsons (priests, a poor price)
• S833 Talk not too much of STATE AFFAIRS
• S856 You would be (leap) over the STILE before you come at it
• S866 Who lacks a STOCK his gain is not worth a chip
• S899 Put a STOOL in the sun, when one knave rises another comes
• S900 Between two STOOLS the tail (ass) goes (comes) to ground
• S903 STORE is no sore
• S908 After a STORM comes a calm (fair weather)
• S913 STRAND ON THE GREEN, thirteen houses, fourteen cuckolds, and never a house between
• S922 To stumble at a STRAW and leap over a block
• S927 It is hard (folly, in vain) to strive against the STREAM
• S932 STRETCHING and yawning lead to bed
• S934 Harp no more on that STRING
• S936 To harp upon one (the same) STRING
• S941 Many (Little) STROKES fell great oaks
• S944 They thrive as New College STUDENTS,¹ who are golden scholars, silver bachelors, and leaden masters
• S955 Of SUFFERANCE comes ease
• S966 You dream of a dry SUMMER
• S969 As clear as the SUN
• S1021 SUTTON WALL and Kenchester Hill are able to buy London were it to sell
• S1024 Fly and you will catch the SWALLOW
• S1025 One SWALLOW makes not summer
• S1035 He deserves not the SWEET that will not taste of the sour
• S1039 SWEETHEART and bag pudding
• S1043 A SWINE overfat is cause of his own bane
• S1047 He that strikes with the SWORD shall be beaten (stricken) with the scabbard
• S1055 Who draws his SWORD against his prince must throw away the scabbard
• T14 Make not thy TAIL broader than thy wings
• T19 Whip, says the TAILOR, whir, says the shears, take a true tailor and cut off his ears
• T33 TAKE HEED is a good rede¹ (a fair thing)
• T38 A good TALE ill told is marred in the telling
• T41 Must I tell you a TALE and find you ears?
• T42 One TALE is good until another be told (heard)
• T45 A TALE of a tub
• T46 A TALE of Tom Thumb
• T47 Tell a TALE to a mare and she will let a fart
• T53 TALES of Robin Hood are good for fools
• T54 To tell TALES out of school
• T57 Here is TALK of the Turk and the Pope but it's my next neighbor does me the harm
• T64 The greatest TALKERS are the least (not the greatest) doers
• T70 The TAP is a thief
• T86 TELL me it snows
• T89 So you TOLD me
• T104 Give a THIEF rope enough and he will hang himself
• T122 When THIEVES fall out true men come by their goods (to their own)
• T128 Give a THING and take a thing, that is the devil's gold ring
• T135 I seek for a THING, wife, that I would not find
• T136 It is a rare THING to do good (to be honest)
• T152 A THING there was, and done it was, and wise was he that hid it; let no man know who knows it not, nor do so no more that did it
• T153 A THING well done is twice done (is ever done)
• T158 Too much of one THING is good for nothing
• T218 Who meddles in all THINGS may shoe the goslings
• T226 The THIRD of November the Duke of Vandosm was under water, the fourth of November the Queen was delivered of a daughter, the fifth of November we were like to have a great slaughter, and the sixth of November was the next after
• T230 As sharp as a THORN
• T232 It early pricks (It pricks betimes) that will be a THORN
• T252 You have spun a fine (fair) THREAD
• T257 THREE (Two) may keep counsel if two (one) be away
• T265 He that will THRIVE must rise at five, he that has thrived may lie till seven, he that will never thrive may lie till eleven
• T283 The TIDE keeps its course
• T301 In TIME of prosperity friends will be plenty, in time of adversity not one among twenty
• T312 Take TIME when time comes (while time serves)
• T313 Take TIME when time comes lest time steal away
• T323 TIME and tide (The tide) tarries (stays for) no man
• T331 TIME is tickle
• T334 TIME stays for no man
• T345 As lazy as the TINKER who laid down his budget¹ to fart
• T348 As rough as a TINKER's budget
• T350 As merry as TINKERS
• T351 Like Banbury TINKERS, who in mending one hole make three
• T353 He has turned his TIPPET (coat)
• T359 TITTLE-TATTLE, give the goose more hay
• T362 To swell like a TOAD
• T363 As hot as a TOAST
• T375 When you do hear a TOLL or knell then think upon your passing bell
• T388 His TONGUE is like a lamb's tail or the clack of a mill
• T391 A honey TONGUE a heart of gall (poison)
• T394 Let not your TONGUE run at rover
• T395 A lickerish TONGUE (mouth) a lickerish tail
• T403 The TONGUE breaks bone though itself has none
• T412 Your TONGUE runs before your wit
• T418 Any TOOTH, good barber
• T419 Better TOOTH out than always ache
• T438 As soon drive a TOP over a tiled house
• T476 A TRAVELER may lie with authority
• T489 The highest TREE has the greatest fall
• T519 TRICK for trick and a stone in your foot besides, quoth one pulling a stone out of his mare's foot when she bit him on the back and he her on the buttock
• T525 TRIMTRAM, like master like man
• T534 Search not too curiously lest you find TROUBLE
• T543 TRUE BLUE will never stain
• T549 In TRUST is treason
• T566 Speak the TRUTH and shame the devil
• T568 TRUTH and oil are ever above
• T571 TRUTH has a good face but ill clothes
• T588 TRUTH shames the devil
• T592 Who follows TRUTH too close at the heels, she may chance dash out his teeth
• T596 Every TUB must stand on its own bottom
• T602 He that wrestles with a TURD, fall he undermost or uppermost, he shall be sure to be bedirten
• T606 There is not a TURD to choose
• T607 A TURD in his teeth
• T610 Where the TURK's horse once treads the grass never grows
• T616 One good TURN asks (requires, deserves) another
• T617 One shrewd TURN follows (asks) another
• T629 TWELVE, quoth Twat when it rung noon
• T644 TWO to one is odds (is odds at football)
• T645 You TWO are finger and thumb
• U1 Better (A child is better) UNBORN than untaught
• U7 UNDERSTANDING and reason cannot conclude out of mood and figure
• U10 UNGIRT unblessed
• U14 UNKNOWN (Uncouth) unkissed
• U15 Better be UNMANNERLY than troublesome
• U16 UNMINDED unmoaned
• U24 USE (Practice) makes mastery (perfectness)
• U28 An USURER is one that puts his money to the unnatural act of generation, and the scrivener is his bawd
• U29 An USURER is one that torments men for their good conditions
• U31 USURERS' purses and women's plackets are never satisfied
• U33 Let UTHER PENDRAGON do what he can, the River Eden will run as it ran
• V8 The VALE OF HOLMSDALE never won nor never shall
• V29 There is no VENOM to¹ that of the tongue
• V41 The VICAR OF FOOLS (of Saint Fools) be your ghostly¹ father
• V93 He has a good VOICE to beg bacon
• W7 It is evil (ill, not good) WAKING of a sleeping dog
• W10 It is good WALKING with a horse in one's hand
• W12 Farther than the WALL we cannot go
• W22 As wise as WALTHAM's calf
• W58 WARs are sweet to them who know them not
• W61 All his WARDROBE is on his back
• W71 A Scotch WARMING PAN
• W76 As angry as a WASP
• W77 She is as quiet as a WASP in one's nose
• W80 Spend and be free but make no WASTE
• W86 As good (false, unstable) as ever WATER wet
• W88 As weak as WATER
• W92 Foul WATER as soon as fair will quench hot fire
• W104 There was no more WATER than the ship drew
• W106 To cast WATER into the sea (Thames)
• W109 To look to one's WATER
• W111 To pour WATER into a sieve
• W119 WATER, fire, and soldiers (war) quickly make room
• W126 You are as welcome as WATER in one's shoes
• W154 The wholesomest WAY to get a good stomach is to walk on your own ground
• W158 The farthest WAY about is the nearest way home
• W179 There be more WAYS to the wood than one
• W183 The WEAKER goes to the pot
• W185 The WEAKEST goes to the wall
• W194 The greatest WEALTH is contentment with a little
• W197 Little avails WEALTH where there is no health
• W207 Everything is the worse for the WEARING
• W214 Cold WEATHER and crafty knaves come out of the North
• W229 Who WEDS (marries) ere he be wise shall die ere he thrive
• W232 WEDDING and hanging go by destiny
• W238 An ill WEED grows apace (fast, well)
• W240 One ill WEED (turd) mars a whole pot of pottage (porridge)
• W248 To come home by WEEPING CROSS¹
• W251 WEIGH not what you give but what is given you
• W256 Such WELCOME such farewell
• W265 Never WELL, full nor fasting
• W276 Who goes to WESTMINSTER¹ for a wife, to Paul's² for a man, and to Smithfield³ for a horse may meet with a whore, a knave, and a jade
• W296 A WHET is no let
• W301 Stay a WHILE (a little) that we may make an end the sooner
• W305 A WHIP for a fool and a rod for a school are always in good season
• W314 As good never a WHITT as never the better
• W318 You have leaped a WHITING
• W321 Once a WHORE and ever a whore
• W336 He who marries a WIDOW will often have a dead man's head (death's-head) thrown in his dish
• W351 A good WIFE makes a good husband
• W353 The good WIFE would not (No woman would) seek her daughter in the oven if she had not been there before
• W358 He that kisses his WIFE in the market place shall have many teachers
• W364 He that would an old WIFE wed must eat an apple before he goes to bed
• W371 Refuse a WIFE with one fault and take one with two
• W379 WIFE and children are bills of charges
• W397 WILL will have will (wilt) though will woe win
• W398 With as good a WILL as ever I came from school
• W406 He has played WILY-BEGUILED with himself
• W408 WIN it and wear it
• W410 All this WIND shakes no corn
• W421 It is an ill (evil) WIND that blows no man good (to good)
• W422 Keep (Save) your WIND (breath) to cool your pottage (porridge, broth)
• W423 Let this WIND overblow
• W434 To have one in the WIND
• W442 When the WIND is in the east it is good for neither man nor beast
• W471 When WINE (ale) is in wit is out
• W506 I might put my WINNINGS in my eye and see never the worse
• W514 WINTER's thunder and summer's flood never boded Englishman good
• W515 WINTER's thunder is (makes) summer's wonder
• W518 By WISDOM peace, by peace plenty
• W539 WISHERS and woulders are never good householders
• W545 Bought WIT is best
• W557 It is WIT to pick a lock and steal a horse but wisdom to let them alone
• W567 WIT is never good till it be bought (dearly bought)
• W569 The WIT (thrift) of you and the wool of a blue dog will make a good medley (web)
• W570 WIT, whither wilt thou?
• W578 Good WITS jump¹
• W582 His WITS go a woolgathering
• W605 Keep the WOLF from the door
• W614 A WOLF in a lamb's (sheep's) skin
• W636 A silent WOMAN better than a double-tongued man
• W652 A WOMAN has nine lives, like a cat
• W669 A WOMAN's advice (wit) helps at a pinch (is best at a dead lift)
• W687 Many WOMEN many words, many geese many turds
• W712 WOMEN in state affairs are like monkeys in glass shops
• W728 A WONDER lasts but nine days
• W733 Not to be able to see WOOD for trees
• W747 One WOODCOCK does not make a winter
• W751 As warm as WOOL
• W770 One ill WORD asks another
• W781 A WORD to a wise man is enough (Few words to the wise suffice)
• W783 At three WORDS he is at the top of the house
• W793 Fair WORDS hurt not the mouth (tongue)
• W794 Fair WORDS (promises) make fools fain
• W808 Good WORDS cost nought (nothing)
• W812 Good WORDS without deeds are rushes and reeds
• W817 Many WORDS will not fill a bushel (fill not the firlot¹)
• W832 WORDS are but sands (words), it is money buys lands
• W833 WORDS are but wind
• W834 WORDS are but wind, but blows are unkind (but dunts¹ are the devil)
• W839 WORDS hurt (cut) more than swords
• W842 All WORK and no play makes Jack a dull boy
• W859 What is a WORKMAN without his tools?
• W909 Tread on a WORM and it will turn
• W913 It is good to fear (Provide for) the WORST, the best will save itself
• W916 The WORST can fall is but a denial
• W918 The WORST is behind
• W935 Everything helps, quoth the WREN when she pissed in the sea
• Y1 You measure everyone by your own YARD
• Y12 It is hard to wive and thrive both in a YEAR
• Y23 The more thy YEARS the nigher (nearer) thy grave
• Y34 A YORKSHIRE TIKE
• Y43 YOUTH and age will never agree
• Y44 YOUTH and white paper take any impression
• Y53 It is easy to cry YULE at other men's cost