The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (502 page)

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Let SLEEPING dogs lie
Cf. early 14th-cent. Fr.
n'esveillez pas lou chien qui dort
, wake not the sleeping dog.
c
1385
Troilus & Criseyde
III
. 764
It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake.
1546
Dialogue of Proverbs
I
. x. D1
V
It is euill wakyng of a slepyng dog.
1681
Whigs' Supplication
II
. 27
It's best To let a sleeping mastiff rest.
1824
Redgauntlet
I. xi.
Take my advice, and speer [ask] as little about him as he does about you. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.
1976
Wilt
xx.
He would be better off sticking to indifference and undisclosed affection. ‘Let sleeping dogs lie,’ he muttered.
1996
Death's Autograph
ix. 98
‘They don't have to prove it! He's dead. It can't do him any harm now.’ She said distinctly, ‘Let sleeping dogs lie, then.’
action and inaction
;
busybodies
A SLICE off a cut loaf isn't missed
1592
Titus Andronicus
II
. i. 87
More water glideth by the mill Than wots [knows] the miller of; and easy it is Of a cut loaf to steal a shive [slice].
1639
Parœmiologia Anglo-Latina
118
'Tis safe taking a shive of a cut loafe.
1732
Gnomologia
no. 3012
It is safe taking a slice off a Cut Loaf.
1901
Wit & Wisdom of South Lancashire Dialect
11
A shoive off a cut loaf's never miss't. (A satirical remark.)
1981
Old Priory
v. iii.
I went into this with my eyes open and a slice off a cut loaf ain't missed.
gains and losses

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