“ad fontes!”
do not to discard winter clothes too soon—Britain, 1668—‘clout’: any piece of clothing—the original reference is to the end of the month of May and not to the appearance of spring blossom
Read MoreThe proverbial phrase ‘if it should rain pottage, he would want his dish’, and its many variants, are used of a person who is characterised by bad luck or by an inability to be organised or prepared.
Read Moreearly 18th century—‘to anticipate unduly’, in particular, ‘to spend one’s revenue before it comes in’
Read More1695—This phrase means ‘having an appearance of respectability’. The image of a prostitute at a christening is used to indicate that a person is out of place in a particular situation.
Read Moreaddressed to slow persons—1858—said to be from a promissory note in which a Kentuckian named Hopkins wrote it was agreed he was not to be hurried into paying
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The original form of this phrase was ‘pigs fly with their tails forward’. Also: the French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish equivalent expressions.
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word histories 