hanged
hanged hanged, drawn, and quartered in allusion to the traditional mode of execution for traitors, by which prisoners were drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, and after being hanged were disembowelled while still alive; their bodies were then quartered, for display in different places.
one might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb if one is going to incur a severe penalty it may as well be for something substantial; the allusion is to the former penalty for sheep-stealing. The saying is recorded from the late 17th century, but the idea is found a little earlier in a mid 17th-century source, in the words, ‘As good be hanged for a great deal, as for a little.’
See also if you're born to be hanged, hang, he that has an ill name is half hanged, little thieves are hanged, never mention rope in the house of a man who has been hanged.
one might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb if one is going to incur a severe penalty it may as well be for something substantial; the allusion is to the former penalty for sheep-stealing. The saying is recorded from the late 17th century, but the idea is found a little earlier in a mid 17th-century source, in the words, ‘As good be hanged for a great deal, as for a little.’
See also if you're born to be hanged, hang, he that has an ill name is half hanged, little thieves are hanged, never mention rope in the house of a man who has been hanged.
More From encyclopedia.com
Little , lit·tle / ˈlitl/ • adj. small in size, amount, or degree (often used to convey an appealing diminutiveness or express an affectionate or condescendin… Sow , sow
sow1 / sō/ • v. (past sowed ; past part. sown / sōn/ or sowed) [tr.] plant (seed) by scattering it on or in the earth: fill a pot with compost an… No , no / nō/ • adj. 1. not any: there is no excuse | no two plants are alike. 2. used to indicate that something is quite the opposite of what is being s… finger , fin·ger / ˈfinggər/ • n. each of the four slender jointed parts attached to either hand (or five, if the thumb is included). ∎ a part of a glove inte… Euphuism , euphuism precious style of diction characteristic of John Lyly's ‘Euphues, the anatomy of wyt’ (1579) and ‘Euphues and his England’ (1580). XVI. f. G… Better , better better a dinner of herbs than a stalled ox where hate is simple food accompanied by goodwill and affection is preferable to luxury in an atmos…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
hanged