They may wipe their NOSE that have it

Meaning & Analysis

The proverb states plainly that only those who possess a nose can wipe it, meaning only those who have a certain capacity or qualification can perform a related action.

Insights

Entitlement and Capability

Expresses that rights, privileges, or actions are reserved for those who legitimately possess the necessary attributes or qualifications.

Realistic Limits

Serves as a reminder to recognize practical or inherent limitations—one cannot do what one does not have the means for.

Grounding Expectations

Warns against presumptuousness or entitlement beyond one’s actual capacities or possessions.

Pragmatic Folk Wisdom

The proverb conveys a down-to-earth truth reflecting social or personal boundaries, reinforcing realistic assessment of what one can or cannot do.

Complement to Related Proverbs

Acts as a counterpart to 'He would wipe his nose if he had one' (N222), together forming a folk logic about capacity, entitlement, and practicality.

Bodily Metaphor for Social Rights

Uses the nose and its function as a metaphor for broader social or personal claims, emphasizing that possession precedes action.

Rhetorical Devices

Literalism

The phrase’s straightforwardness lends it clarity and force, anchoring abstract concepts of entitlement in concrete physical reality.

Parallelism

Its structure complements and contrasts with related proverbs, reinforcing meaning through paired sayings.

Economy of Expression

The concise phrasing makes it memorable and easy to apply broadly.

entitlementcapacityrealismfolkwisdombodilymetaphorlimits

Analyzed with gpt-4o on July 10, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

— 1639, CL., s.v. Derisio, p. 86

Cross References

N222 He would wipe his nose if he had one.

Related Proverbs

F206 FIDDLERS, dogs, and flies (flatterers) come to feasts uncalled 85.6%M35 MAIDS want nothing but husbands and when they have them they want everything 85.4%F666 He farts FRANKINCENSE 84.5%L334 Eat your LIST and leave the lave¹ 84.4%C707 Overnarrow COUNTING culzies¹ no kindness 84.4%L28 The LADY kisses her man for his master's sake 84.1%M1227 A dead MOUSE feels no cold 84.1%W695 WOMEN and hens are lost by gadding 84.0%W756 You were better give the WOOL than the sheep 83.9%L476 Aye be as merry as be can, for LOVE ne'er delights in a sorrowful man 83.8%S298 The glorious SHEEP said to the goat, Give me some of your wool 83.8%C160 An old CAT laps as much milk as (more milk than) a young 83.8%W634 An old WOMAN can do that the devil himself cannot do 83.7%C343 She spins well that breeds her CHILDREN 83.7%M1025 MISUNDERSTANDING brings lies to town 83.7%F714 No longer foster,¹ no longer FRIEND (leman²) 83.7%H38 HALF a pea a day will serve a lady 83.6%G399 One GRAIN fills not a sack but helps his fellows 83.6%N80 NEED makes virtue 83.5%M1163 We can have no MORE of the fox but the skin 83.5%

These connections are generated using word-embeddings. Learn more.