It is unlawful to tread upon a STRAW lying across

Meaning & Analysis

It is considered a forbidden or illegal act to step on a single piece of straw that is lying across one's path.

Insights

Critique of Scrupulosity

The proverb criticizes an excessively scrupulous or overly conscientious mindset, where an individual is paralyzed by the fear of committing even the most trivial and insignificant moral or religious transgression.

Absurd Prohibitions

It serves as a commentary on the absurdity of arbitrary and meaningless rules or superstitions. The 'law' against stepping on a straw represents any pointless prohibition that lacks a rational basis.

Warning Against Pedantry

The proverb warns against a legalistic obsession with minor details at the expense of common sense or the spirit of the law. It describes a mindset that focuses on trivialities while potentially ignoring more significant moral issues.

Religious and Historical Context

The proverb's appearance in a 1561 translation of Calvin's 'Institutes of the Christian Religion' suggests its use as a critique of what some Protestants viewed as the excessive, non-scriptural scrupulosity and superstitious regulations within the Catholic tradition, where a trivial 'sin' is given undue weight.

Psychological Anxiety

Psychologically, the proverb vividly illustrates the state of scrupulosity—an obsessive concern with minor moral or religious transgressions. The 'straw lying across' symbolizes an insignificant detail that becomes a major barrier for an overly anxious or meticulous conscience.

Symbolism of Triviality

Straw itself is a classic symbol of worthlessness (e.g., 'not worth a straw'). The proverb's power comes from the hyperbolic contrast between the object's insignificance and the severe 'unlawful' prohibition against touching it, emphasizing the absurdity of the rule.

Rhetorical Devices

Hyperbole

The proverb's central device is the extreme exaggeration of making a trivial act—stepping on a piece of straw—'unlawful', which effectively highlights the absurdity of the underlying superstition or rule.

Juxtaposition

A powerful contrast is created between the serious, formal weight of the word 'unlawful' and the utter insignificance of the 'straw', which generates irony and drives home the proverb's critique of trivial concerns.

Symbolism

The 'straw lying across' the path functions as a symbol for any trivial obstacle, superstition, or rule that is given an irrational amount of power to halt progress or induce guilt.

scrupulositysuperstitiontrivialitylegalismanxietyhyperbole

Analyzed with gemini-2.5-pro on December 5, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

He wil come to this point, to thinke it unlawfull (as the common sayinge is) to treade uppon a strawe lying a crosse.

— 1561, T. NORTON, Inst. Chr. Rel. (1st ed.), III, f. 210

Related Proverbs

S922 To stumble at a STRAW and leap over a block 88.9%S921 To step over a STRAW 88.5%T159 When a THING is done advice comes too late 86.8%N345 NOUGHT won by the one, nought won by the other 86.3%B101 It is not a BASKET of hay but a basket of flesh which will make a lion roar 86.3%T378 Defer not until TOMORROW if you can do it today 86.2%C105 I am left out of the CART's tail 86.2%S129 One does the SCATHE and another has the scorn 86.1%S368 He that makes the SHOE cannot tan the leather 85.9%M735 Many MASTERS, quoth the paddock¹ to the harrow when every tine took her a knock 85.8%M369 A scrupulous MAN stumbles and staggers among quicksands and flint stones 85.8%H193 Make HASTE to an ill way that you may get out of it 85.7%M1337 A MUTE among the vowels 85.7%S919 There lay a STRAW 85.7%M1292 To offer MUCH is a kind of denial 85.6%H104 Who can hold that they have not in their HAND? 85.6%T468 It is easy to fall into a TRAP (net) but hard to get out again 85.6%F581 He will not come within forty FOOT of him 85.5%S924 STRAWS show which way the wind blows 85.4%B677 It is as BROAD as it is long 85.4%

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