Meaning & Analysis
It is physically impossible for a person to inhale liquid (sup/sip) and exhale air (blow) at the exact same moment; the mechanics of the mouth and throat prevent these opposing actions from occurring simultaneously.
Insights
Mutually Exclusive Actions
The proverb serves as a metaphor for logical incompatibility. It asserts that one cannot pursue two contradictory courses of action, hold two opposing opinions, or serve two conflicting interests at the same time.
The Failure of Duplicity
While similar to 'blowing hot and cold,' this variation emphasizes the futility rather than just the malice of being two-faced. It suggests that trying to play both sides of a conflict or argument will eventually lead to a breakdown, as the positions cannot be sustained simultaneously.
Resource Allocation
In an economic sense, one cannot 'sup' (gather/consume resources) and 'blow' (expel/waste them) at once. It dictates a choice between accumulation and expenditure.
The Aesopic Connection
This proverb is deeply rooted in Aesop’s fable of 'The Satyr and the Traveler.' In the story, a Satyr rejects a man who blows on his hands to warm them and on his porridge to cool them, fearing a beast that can blow hot and cold with the same breath. The proverb distills this narrative into a rule about the suspicion aroused by ambiguity.
Latin Lineage
The citation from Elyot (1548) references the Latin 'Simul flare et sorbere.' This indicates the proverb was not just folk wisdom but a translation of a classical rhetorical device used to describe 'contraries'—a fundamental concept in logic and philosophy regarding states that cannot coexist.
Physiological Truth
Unlike proverbs based on superstition, this one is grounded in anatomical reality. The epiglottis prevents simultaneous breathing and swallowing to avoid choking. By basing the metaphor on an undeniable bodily function, the proverb makes the abstract concept of 'logical contradiction' irrefutable.
Breton’s Nuance
Nicholas Breton’s 1597 citation offers a fascinating deconstruction. He notes that while 'contraries cannot at one time be in one subject,' the man in the fable technically *does* achieve opposite effects (warming and cooling) with the same breath. Breton uses the proverb to explore the paradox of human nature, which frequently defies the laws of logic.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The verbs 'sup' (intake/consume) and 'blow' (expel/reject) are kinetic opposites, creating a sharp binary contrast that defines the impossibility.
Adynaton
The phrase uses a physical impossibility (doing X and Y together) to express a logical prohibition, effectively saying 'this is as impossible as stopping time.'
Kinesthetic Imagery
It evokes the basic, daily sensations of eating and breathing, ensuring the listener feels the awkwardness and danger of the proposed contradiction in their own throat.
Transcription
Quotations
Simul flare et forbere, a prouerbe signifyng to dooe two contrary thynges together.
Contraries cannot at one time be in one subiect: which we see otherwise doe fall out in a man, that warmes his hands, and cooles his pottage, and all with one breath.
I can not both sup and blow.
(to blowe and sup both at once).
Na man can both sup and blow together.
'Tis hard to sup and blow both with a wind.
It is hard to sup and blow with one breath.
We cannot both sup and blow.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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