Meaning & Analysis
The proverb is a humorous and emphatic way of saying one is very hungry, specifically that one's hunger pangs indicate it is lunchtime (traditionally noon).
Insights
Internal vs. External Time
The proverb metaphorically contrasts subjective, internal bodily rhythms with objective, external measures of time. It suggests that personal, physiological needs are a more urgent and authoritative measure of time than a mechanical clock.
Authority of the Body
It symbolizes the authority of bodily needs, suggesting that physiological signals like hunger are a primal and undeniable force that dictates human action, often taking precedence over social schedules or other obligations.
Urgent Necessity
"Striking twelve" serves as a metaphor for any urgent, non-negotiable internal signal that demands immediate attention. It represents a point of culmination where a need can no longer be ignored.
Historical Timekeeping
This proverb reflects a pre-industrial worldview where bodily sensations were a primary means of timekeeping. By personifying the stomach as a town clock—a central and authoritative community fixture—it humorously elevates a personal, biological need to the level of a public, objective event, underscoring a time when daily life was more closely aligned with natural rhythms.
Psychological Urgency
The proverb humorously captures the psychological state where a physiological need, like hunger, becomes so dominant that it overrides all other perceptions of time and priority. It validates the powerful and often undeniable connection between our physical state and our mental focus, suggesting the body has its own authoritative schedule.
Literary and Cultural Context
The expression's humor lies in its vivid personification, a feature common in early modern English literature. Shakespeare's related line in 'The Comedy of Errors' about the clock striking twelve for a meal highlights the cultural significance of noon as the dinner hour, a norm the proverb playfully internalizes.
Rhetorical Devices
Personification
The stomach is endowed with the human capability of a clock striking the hour, creating a vivid and comical image that emphasizes the commanding nature of hunger.
Metaphor
The proverb functions as a direct metaphor, equating the internal sensation of hunger with the external, time-telling function of a clock at noon.
Auditory Imagery
Phrases like "struck twelve" and "rung noon" create strong auditory imagery, humorously portraying a private bodily sensation as a loud, public announcement that cannot be ignored.
Hyperbole
The dramatic action of a stomach "striking" or "ringing" is a humorous exaggeration of the physical sensation of hunger, amplifying its intensity for emphatic effect.
Transcription
Quotations
It is hie dinner time, I know by my belly.
How goes the day? —My stomach has struck twelve.
And to supper too sir, I know not how the day goes with you, but my stomacke hath strucke twelue, I can assure you that.
I know not how the day goes with you, but for mine owne part, my stomacke is now much upon 12.
To be main hungry that one would eat Iron it selfe; the English, For ones belly to ring all in, to ring Noon, or Dinner time.
My empty stomach rang to dinner.
My guts chime twelve.
Your belly chimes, it's time to go to dinner.
Shakespeare Citations
The capon burns, the pig falls from the spit; The clock hath strucken twelve upon the bell.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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