Meaning & Analysis
His fingers are like lime twigs, which are sticky branches used to catch birds, implying that anything he touches is liable to stick to him.
Insights
Thievery and Dishonesty
The proverb figuratively describes a person who steals or pilfers—whose hands are so 'sticky' that objects (especially valuables) are liable to adhere to them as if by magic or compulsion.
Irresistible Temptation
Beyond outright theft, it can also refer to someone unable to resist taking things that do not belong to them, hinting at a character flaw involving greed, temptation, or a lack of self-restraint.
Historical Symbolism
Lime twigs were smeared with birdlime—a sticky substance used in trapping birds—making them a powerful metaphor for stickiness and capture. In early modern England, describing fingers as 'lime twigs' was a vivid and instantly recognizable way to label someone as a thief.
Literary and Cultural Resonance
The image recurs in Renaissance literature (notably in Shakespeare’s 'The Tempest'), and is closely related to phrases like 'light-fingered' or 'sticky-fingered.' Its persistent popularity reflects both societal anxieties about property and the enduring appeal of inventive metaphor in moral censure.
Psychological Dimensions
The proverb also touches on psychological themes: the compulsion to steal (kleptomania), rationalizations for minor theft, and the fine line between opportunism and outright dishonesty.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor
The central metaphor likens a thief’s fingers to lime twigs, making the accusation vivid and memorable through sensory association.
Allusion
The phrase alludes to common practices of bird trapping, a familiar rural technique, which enriches the proverb’s meaning and resonance for contemporary audiences.
Imagery
The sticky, trapping nature of lime evokes a strong tactile image, reinforcing the proverb’s underlying moral warning.
Transcription
Quotations
All my fyngers were arayed with lyme, So I conuayed a cuppe manerly.
A cleane fyngerd huswyfe, and an ydel, folke saie, And will be lyme fyngerd, I feare.
My fingers are as good as a liue [for lime] twig.
A certain gentleman that had his fingers made of lime twigges, stole a peece of plate.
His fingers is lyk lyme wands.
Will you goe set your limetwigs, and get me some birds, some money?
His fingers are made of lime-twigs.
In receiving of honey for others, to twitch up some for ones self; the English say, to have pitch, or glue at ones fingers ends.
*Spoken of a thievish person.
*All he layes his hand on is his own.
Shakespeare Citations
Monster, come put some lime upon your fingers, and away with the rest!
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.