while the grass grows, the steed starves
- while the grass grows, the steed starves
Dreams or expectations may be realized too late. Cf. medieval L. dum gramen crescit, equus in moriendo quiescit, while the grass grows, the horse lies dying.
c 1350 Douce MS 52 no. 20 While the grasse growes, the goode hors sterues.
a 1500 in Wright & Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1841) I. 208 While the grasse growes the steede starves.
1600–1 SHAKESPEARE Hamlet III. ii. 333 You have the voice of the King himself for your succession.—Ay, sir, but ‘While the grass grows’—the proverb is something musty.
1821 J. GALT Ayrshire Legatees x. Until ye get a kirk there can be no marriage. But the auld horse may die waiting for the new grass.
1911 G. B. SHAW Doctor’s Dilemma III. 56 I shall sell them next year fast enough, after my one-man-show; but while the grass grows the steed starves.
1973 ‘M. INNES’ Appleby’s Answer ii. ‘The working capital?’ ‘Well..while the grass grows the steed mustn’t starve. Say five hundred down.’
Proverbs new dictionary.
Look at other dictionaries:
grass — see while the grass grows, the steed starves the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers … Proverbs new dictionary
steed — see while the grass grows, the steed starves … 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
Pferd — (s. ⇨ Ross). 1. A blind Ferd trefft gleich (gerade) in Grüb herein. (Jüd. deutsch. Warschau.) 2. Alte Pferde achten der Peitsche nicht. Lat.: Psittacus senex ferulam negligit. (Gaal, 926.) 3. Alte Pferde gehen nicht durch. Holl.: Het hollen is… … Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon
Gras — 1. Ae mî Gräs, ä winjer Hâ. (Siebenbürg. sächs.) – Schuster, 57. 2. All bi lütjen kummt dat Gras ut n Grund. (Oldenburg.) – Weserzeitung, 4057. 3. Aus Gras wird Heu, aus frischen Blumen Streu. Die Russen fügen hinzu: Aus einem schönen Mädchen ein … Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon
horse — see you can take a horse to the water, but you can’t make him drink don’t change horses in mid stream England is the paradise of women, the hell of horses, and the purgatory of servants never look a gift horse in the mouth a good horse cannot be… … Proverbs new dictionary
Hengst — 1. An Hingst kaan snöwli üüb fjàu r Bian, do kaan lacht an Minsk üübkau. (Nordfries.) – Johansen, 96. 2. An witjen Hingst skal föl Streilis ha. (Amrum.) – Lappenkorb; Firmenich, III, 7, 101. Ein weisser Hengst (Pferd) soll viel Streu haben, wird… … Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon
grow — see while the grass grows, the steed starves great oaks from little acorns grow one for the mouse, one for the crow, one to rot, one to grow … Proverbs new dictionary
starve — see feed a cold and starve a fever while the grass grows, the steed starves … Proverbs new dictionary
