near is my kirtle, but nearer is my smock
- near is my kirtle, but nearer is my smock
A justification for looking after one’s own closest interests; see also the next proverb (
near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin). A
kirtle is a woman’s skirt or gown; a
smock is an undergarment.
Cf. PLAUTUS
Trinummus 1. 1154
tunica propior palliost, my tunic is closer than my cloak.
1461 Paston Letters (1976) II. 228 Nere is my kyrtyl but nerre is my smok.
1545 R. TAVERNER tr. Erasmus’ Adages (ed. 2) B7v The Englysshe prouerbe sayethe thus: nere is my cote, but nerer is my shyrt.
1622 J. HOWELL Familiar Letters 1 May (1903) 1. 126 That king..having too many irons in the fire at his own home..answered them that his shirt was nearer to him than his doublet.
1861 C. READE Cloister & Hearth IV. xxix. You must not think all of him and none of yourself. Near is your kirtle, but nearer is your smock.
Proverbs new dictionary.
Look at other dictionaries:
near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin — See also the preceding proverb (near is my kirtle, but nearer is my smock). Cf. early 14th cent. Fr. plus pres m’est char que n’est chemise, my skin is nearer to me than my shirt. c 1570 in J. P. Collier Old Ballads (1840) 99 Neerer is my skin… … Proverbs new dictionary
near — see near is my kirtle, but nearer is my smock near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin the nearer the bone, the sweeter the meat the nearer the church, the farther from God … Proverbs new dictionary
kirtle — see near is my kirtle, but nearer is my smock … Proverbs new dictionary
smock — see near is my kirtle, but nearer is my smock … Proverbs new dictionary
Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, Thematic Index — absence absence makes the heart grow fonder he who is absent is always in the wrong the best of friends must part blue are the hills that are far away distance lends enchantment to the view out of sight, out of mind … Proverbs new dictionary
