|
|
Article: Do not spoil the SHIP for a ha'porth of tar
- Article from:
- The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
- Author:
-
|
Copyright information© The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information)
|
Do not spoil the SHIP for a ha'porth of tar
Ship
is a dialectal pronunciation of
sheep
, and the original literal sense of the proverb was ‘do not allow sheep to die for the lack of a trifling amount of tar’, tar being used to protect sores and wounds on sheep from flies.
Hog
(quots. 1623 and 1670) seems to have been understood by Ray (quot. 1670 note) as a swine, but it was also a widely used dialect term for a young sheep older than a lamb but before its first shearing. The current form of this proverb was standard by the mid nineteenth century. The metaphorical phrase
to spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar
is also found.
1623 W. Camden
Remains concerning Britain
(ed. 3) ...