old sayings

[Maggie.]

'All's well that ends well'


Most people think that the phrase "all's well that ends well" originates from Shakespeare, but this is not the case. While most closely associated with Shakespeare, the proverb was contained in the 1564 A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue by John Heywood.

See:- http://voices.yahoo.com/phrase-origins-alls-well-ends-well-7666934.html?cat=4

[SwissGill]

Sue - I wish you the best of luck if you decide to go ahead with the book, it will be a lot of work but it will be a most interesting, worthwhile and rewarding project should it go ahead.

I shall watch to see if you start another thread as initially, before the thread got so long, I certainly enjoyed reading the old sayings particularly the ones that had an explanation of how they originated.

I wonder if you can now claim to be the originator of the longest RC thread ever?  I have no idea, but someone will have the answer. 

Regards,
Maggie 

Whatever the outcome, thank you Sue for a thread that brightened up my mornings and made me forget some of the woes I have to bear 

I have been busy lately and haven't been able to pop in as much as I would have liked but appreciate all the old sayings folks have contributed.

Gill

[a-l]

Thankyou for your kind words Maggie . Unfortunately not all the origins are known but yes , interesting when they are . Others are just plain funny and we will never understand them or their origins , they too are worth recording because they are dying out.                         I have no objection to keeping this thread alive or re starting  as long as people want to keep contributing to it .                           As for the longest thread I 'll have a badge please lol.

[SwissGill]

I don't think it's very easy to give the origins of all the old sayings. Many a time I have thought mine were Cheshire sayings but read that Yorkshire, Lancashire claimed some of them.

One I do remember from my aunt was "that'll larn you". Aunt Irene was born in Cheshire of Cheshire folk and a German father whose parents were from the Hohenlohe region.

My mum used to refer to divorced couples as "semi-detached" and, after going back to accounting in MetroVickers, Trafford, learnt a few more sayings, such as "chip butty" which she asked me what it was. So really my Dad was the supplier and what a supplier!!

I very often don't supply a "meaning" as I think that is half the fun of trying to work it out. If all else fails, one can ask.