Meaning & Analysis
He can endure jokes at his expense without taking offense; his metaphorical ‘broad back’ can carry the load of teasing.
Insights
Thick-skinned resilience
A broad back figures emotional sturdiness: the person absorbs mockery without buckling, signaling confidence and self-command.
Social lubrication
Good-humored tolerance of jests keeps group harmony; the target’s forbearance licenses playful banter that bonds the company.
Status armor
Rank, reputation, or costume can function as padding—like the ‘master’s gown’—so that slights glance off, implying that social standing helps one ‘bear’ ridicule.
Burden-bearing virtue
Beyond comedy, the image praises capacity to carry communal strain—teasing, blame, or complaint—without passing it on, a civic form of patience.
Invitation to wit
Declaring one’s back ‘broad enough’ invites sharper jests, turning the self into a stage where others’ wit can shine without fear.
Body as moral emblem
Backs carry loads; calling a back ‘broad’ maps physical strength onto moral toughness. Early modern idiom often made the back the site of burdens—labor, lashes, or blame—so it naturally hosts the ‘weight’ of jokes.
Company manners
Feast and tavern culture prized repartee; to ‘bear jests’ marked civility and mastery of temper. The proverb encodes a norm: wit is welcomed, touchiness is not.
Power and immunity
Dekker’s quip about wearing the master’s gown hints that clothing/office provides symbolic armor. Those under authority might need thick skins; those with authority can afford them.
From mock to blame
Cognate phrases speak of a ‘broad back’ that can ‘bear’ censure or responsibility, showing how the same load-bearing metaphor slides from jest to justice.
Psychological economy
Absorbing teasing without counterattack prevents escalation; the proverb esteems self-regulation as a social good that protects collective mood.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
‘Broad back’ stands for robustness of spirit; ‘bearing jests’ casts jokes as physical burdens one can carry.
Synecdoche
The ‘back’ represents the whole person’s capacity to endure, condensing character into a single body part.
Alliteration
The b-sounds in ‘back,’ ‘broad,’ and ‘bear’ give a brisk, memorable snap that suits convivial banter.
Ellipsis
No context or agent is specified, making the line a ready-made compliment or self-description in any social setting.
Hyperbole
A back ‘broad enough’ exaggerates tolerance to emphasize unfussy good humor.
Transcription
Quotations
Go watch a bole, your bak is brode.
My backe is broade inought to bare away that mock.
I thanke you Mistris, my back's broad enough, now my Masters gown's on.
I suppose you think my back is broad enough to bear everything.
Cross References
- See ST., no. 1960.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.