you cannot catch old birds with chaff
- you cannot catch old birds with chaff
The wise and experienced are not easily fooled.
1481 CAXTON Reynard the Fox (1880) xl. Wenest [do you think] thou thus to deceyue... I am no byrde to be locked ne take by chaf. I know wel ynowh good corn.
c 1590 Timon (1842) IV. ii. ’Tis well.—An olde birde is not caught with chaffe.
1670 J. RAY English Proverbs 126 You can’t catch old birds with chaff.
1853 THACKERAY Newcomes II. xv. They ogled him as they sang..with which chaff our noble bird was by no means to be caught.
1961 ‘L. BRUCE’ Die All, Die Merrily (1986) xx. 188 ‘But why, headmaster? On what do you base that?’ ‘Aha,’ said Mr. Gorringer, ‘old birds are not to be caught with chaff. I sensed it as soon as you failed to name him among your “possibles.”’
Proverbs new dictionary.
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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
chaff — see you cannot catch old birds with chaff a king’s chaff is worth more than other men’s corn … Proverbs new dictionary
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bird — see a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush a bird never flew on one wing there are no birds in last year’s nest birds in their little nests agree birds of a feather flock together little birds th … Proverbs new dictionary
List of common misconceptions — This incomplete list is not intended to be exhaustive. This is a list of current, widely held, false ideas and beliefs about notable topics which have been reported by reliable sources from around the world. Each has been discussed in published… … Wikipedia
