sue a beggar and catch a louse
- sue a beggar and catch a louse
1639 J. CLARKE Parœmiologia Anglo-Latina 72 Sue a begger and get a louse.
1659 J. HOWELL Proverbs (English) 2 Goe to Law with a beggar, thou shalt gett a lowse.
1732 T. FULLER Gnomologia no. 4285 Sue a Beggar, and catch a Louse.
1819 SCOTT Bride of Lammermoor iii. I guess it is some law phrase—but sue a beggar, and—your honour knows what follows.
1937 R. WINSTON It’s a Far Cry xi. Such suit would have been useless as he was insolvent. The case indeed would have been the old one of suing a beggar and catching a louse!
Proverbs new dictionary.
Look at other dictionaries:
catch — see you cannot catch old birds with chaff it doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice a cat in gloves catches no mice a drowning man will clutch at a straw eagles don’t catch flies … Proverbs new dictionary
beggar — see set a beggar on horseback, and he’ll ride to the devil beggars can’t be choosers sue a beggar and catch a louse if wishes were horses, beggars would ride … Proverbs new dictionary
louse — see sue a beggar and catch a louse … Proverbs new dictionary
sue — see sue a beggar and catch a louse … 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
Bettler — 1. Am Tag ein Bettler, zu Nachts ein Dieb. – Sailer, 199; Simrock, 1032. 2. An ringen Bedler, thiar egh ian dör amgungkân. (Nordfries.) – Firmenich, III, 5, 65. Ein schlechter Bettler, der nicht eine Thür umgehen, meiden kann. 3. Au der mis… … Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon
