Meaning & Analysis
This is a pun. A chafing dish is a portable heater for keeping food warm. The proverb plays on the word 'chafing', which also means to be in a state of annoyance or anger. Thus, it literally means that every meal she serves is accompanied by her own irritation and bad temper.
Insights
Pervasive Irritability
The proverb describes a person whose defining characteristic is their constant irritability. Every interaction or situation ('dish') they are involved in is 'heated' by their anger, making all encounters with them unpleasant.
Domestic Unhappiness
It paints a picture of a dysfunctional domestic environment where meals, typically a symbol of comfort and communion, become occasions for conflict. The source of nourishment is tainted by constant emotional friction.
Inescapable Conflict
The proverb suggests that conflict with this person is inescapable. Just as every dish is a 'chafing dish', every social offering or interaction is guaranteed to be an occasion for anger or annoyance.
Linguistic and Historical Wordplay
The proverb's effectiveness relies on a 16th-century pun, contrasting the literal function of a 'chafing dish' (to keep food warm) with the figurative meaning of 'chafing' (to be in a state of irritation or anger). This wordplay was characteristic of the verbal wit popular in the Elizabethan era.
Psychology of Pervasive Anger
This proverb offers a sharp psychological portrait of a person whose perpetual ill-temper poisons everyday life. The 'heat' of the chafing dish becomes a metaphor for the 'heat' of anger, suggesting an environment where even acts of nourishment and community, like sharing a meal, are fraught with tension.
Social and Domestic Commentary
The earliest recorded use targets a 'wyfe', tapping into the common early modern trope of the 'shrew' or ill-tempered woman who disrupts domestic harmony. It reflects societal anxieties about household order and the emotional tenor of the home.
Rhetorical Devices
Pun / Wordplay
The proverb's entire meaning hinges on the dual meaning of 'chafing'—referring both to the warming dish and the state of being angry.
Metaphor
The 'chafing dishes' serve as a metaphor for the person's constant anger, while the 'dishes' (meals) represent all of their social or domestic offerings, which are invariably 'served hot' with temper.
Hyperbole
The use of 'All' is a deliberate exaggeration to emphasize the unending and pervasive nature of the person's ill humor, suggesting no respite from their anger.
Transcription
Quotations
Wyfe, all thy disshes be chaffyng disshes plast: For thou chafest at sight of euery dishe thou hast.
But what sayest thou to thy dames chafing? —Nothing, but all her dishes are chafing dishes.
(All his dishes).
All his meat is in chafing dishes.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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