Meaning & Analysis
One can deduce a person's favorite food or drink by observing the condition or color of their nose and face, implying that dietary habits leave physical marks.
Insights
Physical Manifestation of Vice
Suggests that private indulgences—specifically excessive drinking or gluttony—cannot be hidden because they inevitably alter one's physical appearance. The body publicly betrays the secrets of the appetite.
Transparency of Desire
Beyond physical consumption, the proverb implies that human emotions and desires are easily readable. Just as alcohol reddens the nose, excitement or attraction (such as blushing) reveals hidden affections to an observant onlooker.
Inescapable Consequences
Highlights the law of cause and effect in personal habits; one cannot partake in a vice without eventually bearing its brand, rendering hypocrisy or secrecy impossible.
Medical Folklore and Alcoholism
The specific focus on the 'nose' is a direct historical reference to the physical symptoms of chronic alcoholism (rhinophyma or 'gin blossoms'). In the 16th and 17th centuries, a red or bulbous nose was universally recognized as the stigma of a drunkard, making 'pottage' a sarcastic euphemism for strong ale or wine.
The Science of Physiognomy
The 1556 citation by T. Hill from a treatise on 'Physiog' (Physiognomy) underscores the early modern belief that outer physical traits provided a scientific map to inner character. The proverb wasn't just a folk saying; it was rooted in the accepted pseudo-science that the face was a legible text of the soul.
Romantic Betrayal
Thomas Lodge's 1590 usage in *Rosalinde* shifts the context from drunkenness to romance. Here, the 'nose' likely refers to a flush or blush of excitement. This illustrates the proverb's flexibility: it could accuse a drunkard of their vice or tease a lover about their crush with equal efficacy.
National Stereotyping
The 1604 citation regarding French and Dutch habits reveals how the proverb was weaponized for xenophobic stereotyping. It suggests that entire nations could be judged as drunkards merely by the complexion of their citizens, reflecting the era's reliance on visual generalization to categorize 'the other.'
Rhetorical Devices
Irony
The use of 'pottage' or 'porridge'—wholesome, bland staple foods—to represent intoxicating liquor or illicit passions creates a humorous ironic contrast, softening the accusation while maintaining the insult.
Synecdoche
The 'nose' stands in for the entire face or the person's general health, focusing the observer's attention on the specific feature most likely to reveal the vice.
Euphemism
Replacing specific accusations (e.g., 'you are a drunkard') with a culinary metaphor allows the speaker to make a sharp judgment under the guise of a polite observation about food.
Transcription
Quotations
That face . . declareth that man to be a drinker of good wyne after the choyse of the nose, as the prouerbe is.
I see by his nose that of al potage he loueth good Ale.
Her colour chaungde, and she said to Aliena, See, Mistresse, where our iolly Forrester comes. And you are not a little glad thereof, quoth Aliena; your nose bewrayes what porredge you loue.
But wee may pay Commines with his owne coyne, and reply, that a Frenchman of all other (except the Dutch) hath least cause to taxe vs of drinking: for we may see by many of their noses, what pottage they loue.
One may see by her nose what pottage she loves.
(face).
I know by your nose what porridge you love.
A man may know by your nose what porridge you love.
You may know by his lookes what porridge he likes.
(By your nose, what pottage you love).
(Porridge).
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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