let the cobbler stick to his last
- let the cobbler stick to his last
Attributed to the Greek painter Apelles (4th cent. BC): see quot. 1721. The ‘shoemaker’ variant is a long-standing one in British proverb lore, but is now mainly North American. A last is a wooden or metal model on which a shoemaker fashions shoes or boots. Cf. PLINY Natural History xxxv. 85 ne supra crepidam sutor iudicaret, the cobbler should not judge beyond his shoe; ERASMUS Adages I. vi. 16 ne sutor ultra crepidam.
1539 R. TAVERNER tr. Erasmus’ Adages 17 Let not the shoemaker go beyond hys shoe.
1616 J. WITHALS Dict. (rev. ed.) 567 Cobler keepe your last.
1639 J. CLARKE Parœmiologia Anglo-Latina 21 Cobler keepe to your last.
1721 J. KELLY Scottish Proverbs 242 Let not the Cobler go beyond his last... Taken from the famous Story of Apelles, who could not bear that the Cobler should correct any part of his Picture beyond the Slipper.
1868 W. CLIFT Tim Bunker Papers lix. I understood the use of a plow..better than the use of a pen..remembering the old saw ‘Let the cobbler stick to his last.’
1930 C. F. GREGG Murder on Bus xxx. Yet even then, Mapell had been mixed up with a gang of blackmailers. The shoemaker sticks to his last!
1984 A. MACLEAN San Andreas viii. Point taken, Mr. McKinnon. You see before you a rueful cobbler who will stick to his last from now on.
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let the cobbler stick to his last — ► let the cobbler stick to his last proverb people should only concern themselves with things they know something about. [ORIGIN: translating Latin ne sutor ultra crepidam.] Main Entry: ↑cobbler … English terms dictionary
let the cobbler stick to his last — proverb people should only concern themselves with things they know something about Origin: translating Latin ne sutor ultra crepidam … Useful english dictionary
the cobbler to his last and the gunner to his linstock — A fanciful variant of the preceding proverb (let the cobbler stick to his last). A linstock is a staff with a forked head to hold a lighted match. 1748 SMOLLETT Roderick Random II. xlii. I meddle with no body’s affairs but my own; The gunner to… … Proverbs new dictionary
cobbler — ► NOUN 1) a person whose job is mending shoes. 2) chiefly N. Amer. a fruit pie with a rich, cake like crust. 3) (cobblers) Brit. informal nonsense. [ORIGIN: originally in the sense «testicles»: from rhyming slang cobbler s awls «balls».] ● let… … English terms dictionary
last — noun see let the cobbler stick to his last the cobbler to his last and the gunner to his linstock adjective see the last drop makes the cup run over it is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back … Proverbs new dictionary
cobbler — see let the cobbler stick to his last the cobbler to his last and the gunner to his linstock the shoemaker’s son always goes barefoot … Proverbs new dictionary
let — see let well alone let the cobbler stick to his last let the dead bury the dead let them laugh that win live and let live let sleeping dogs lie spare at the spigot, and l … Proverbs new dictionary
stick — noun see it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog up like a rocket, down like a stick speak softly and carry a big stick sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me verb see let the cobbler stick to his last … Proverbs new dictionary
The Clancy Brothers — and Tommy Makem The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the 1960s. Background information Origin County Tipperary County Armagh, Ireland … Wikipedia
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
