English proverbs (O)

English proverbs (O)

Proverbs are popularly defined as short expressions of popular wisdom. Efforts to improve on the popular definition have not led to a more precise definition. The wisdom is in the form of a general observation about the world or a bit of advice, sometimes more nearly an attitude toward a situation.

O

• An old dog will learn no tricks. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721
• Old is Gold
• On your feet lose your seat.
• One good turn deserves another. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721
  • Meaning: You should return a favour done to you.
• One grain of sand can tip the scale.
  • Meaning: Any advantage, no matter how slight, can turn a hopeless situation into a fighting chance if used properly.
• One hand washes the other. From the Latin MANUS MANAM LAVAT, meaning "Hand washes hand," or "One hand washes the other"; or impliedly, "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours."
• One man's junk is another man's treasure.
• One man's meat is another man's poison.
  • Meaning: What is liked by one person is disliked by another.
• One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. - Ronald Reagan
• One might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. - English, 17th century
  • meaning: If you are going to incur a cost/risk, make sure to maximize the benefit for the cost/risk incurred.
• One murder makes a villain, millions a hero.
• One rotten apple will spoil the whole barrel.
  • Meaning: Corruption must be rooted out or else it will spread.
  • Cf. Dan Michael of Northgate, Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340): "A rotten apple will spoil a great many sound ones." (Middle English: "A roted eppel amang þe holen: makeþ rotie þe yzounde.")
• One scabbed sheep mars the whole flock.
  • This Proverb is apply'd to such Persons who being vicious themselves,
    labour to debauch those with whom they converse. - Divers Proverbs, Nathan Bailey, 1721
• One should not think, when one is not equipped for the job.
• One swallow doesn't make a summer.
• Once bitten, twice shy
  • William Caxton, the first English printer, gave the earliest version of this saying in 'Aesope' (1484), his translation of Aesop's fables: 'He that hath ben ones begyled by somme other ought to kepe hym wel fro(m) the same.' Centuries later, the English novelist Robert Surtees referred to the saying in 'Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour' (1853) with '(He) had been bit once, and he was not going to give Mr. Sponge a second chance.' The exact wording of the saying was recorded later that century in 'Folk Phrases of Four Counties' (1894) by G.G. Northall and was repeated by, among others, the English novelist Joseph Conrad (1920, 'The Rescue'), the novelist Aldous Huxley (1928, 'Point Counter Point'), and the novelist Wyndham Lewis (1930, 'The Apes of God'). 'Once bitten, twice shy' has been a familiar saying in the twentieth century. From Wise Words and Wives' Tales by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993).
  • A variation, once burned, twice shy, is also traced back to Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour. Once burned was First attested in the United States in 'Dead Sure' (1949) by S. Sterling. The meaning of the saying is One who had an unpleasant experience is especially cautious. From the Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman (Random House, New York, 1996).
• Once in a lifetime comes often, so be prepared.
• Only a coward will write an anonymous letter. -President Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Only bad drivers cut corners.
• The only free cheese is in the mouse trap.
  • Russian saying.
• Only losers say "Winning isn't everything."
• The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.
• Only the good die young
• The only thing you get from picking bottoms (ie. of the stock market) is a smelly finger.
• Opinions are like assholes: everyone has them and they usually stink.
• Opportunity knocks only once.
  • Meaning: Do not waste time while grabbing opportunities.
• Opportunity is waiting, you need but to open the door.
• An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit.
  • Meaning: it is better to be careful and discreet than to be clever.
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
  • Possible interpretation: Similar to that of A stitch in time saves nine. Preventing something in advance is better than fixing it later on.
• Our costliest expenditure is time.
• Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
  • Confucius
• Out of sight... Out of mind
  • Cf. Fulke Greville's sonnet "And out of minds as soons as out of sight"
• Out of small acorns grow mighty oaks.
• Owt for Nowt
  • Northern English, Anything for nothing...