Meaning & Analysis
A person is so extraordinarily cheap that they would not even give up or waste something as worthless and repulsive as the mucus from their own nose.
Insights
Pathological Avarice
The proverb is a powerful metaphor for extreme, pathological avarice. The 'droppings of his nose' symbolize the absolute lowest level of value, implying that the person's unwillingness to part with anything, no matter how insignificant, is absolute.
Dehumanization of Greed
It illustrates how obsessive greed can be dehumanizing. The focus on a base, biological function suggests that the miser has lost their sense of dignity, social grace, and proper valuation, prioritizing possession above all else.
Obsessive Hoarding
The proverb serves as a statement of ultimate worthlessness. It suggests a person so consumed by hoarding that they cannot distinguish between treasure and trash, assigning value to things that society deems utterly valueless and disposable.
Psychology of Disgust
This proverb uses the powerful rhetorical tool of disgust to condemn extreme avarice. By associating the miser with a worthless and repulsive bodily fluid, it frames pathological greed not merely as a social failing but as a form of moral and physical corruption.
Early Modern Satire
The proverb reflects a common theme in early modern European literature and social commentary, where the figure of the 'miser' or 'snudge' was a stock character for satire. The grotesque, physical nature of the insult is characteristic of the period's robust and visceral language for moral critique.
Symbolism of Waste
The imagery connects to a broader cultural trope seen in related proverbs like 'He will not part with the parings of his nails.' Using worthless bodily excretions as a symbol for miserliness powerfully communicates that the person's greed has no lower limit.
Rhetorical Devices
Hyperbole
The statement is a deliberate and shocking exaggeration used to emphasize the extremity of the person's miserliness in a memorable way.
Grotesque Imagery
The use of 'droppings of his nose' creates a visceral, repulsive image, linking the moral flaw of greed directly to physical filth and disgust.
Symbolism
The nasal droppings function as a powerful symbol for anything that is completely without value, utility, or desirability.
Transcription
Quotations
As vsurers do God knowes, Who cannot spare the dropping of their nose.
A miser .. One that will not lose the droppings of his nose.
It is such an old snudge, he will not loose the dropping of his nose.
(To be extreme covetous, and miserable; The English say, that will not part with).
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.