The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (395 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs

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You can't put NEW wine in old bottles

With allusion to
MATTHEW
ix. 17 (AV) Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish. The idea is also expressed allusively as a metaphorical phrase.

1912
Landmarks in French Literature
vi.
The new spirits had animated the prose of Chateaubriand and the poetry of Lamartine; but .. the
form
of both these writers retained most of the important characteristics of the old tradition. It was new wine in old bottles.
1948
Civilization on Trial
vi.
The new wines of industrialism and democracy have been poured into old bottles and they have burst the old bottles beyond repair.
1960
Dignity & Purity
viii.
‘I don't think you can put new wine in old bottles.’ I looked doubtful … ‘A lot of this could be rationalized.’
1974
Porterhouse Blue
x.
‘Motives?..Good old-fashioned lust.’ ‘That hardly explains the explosive nature of his end.’ .. ‘You can't put new wine in old bottles.’