The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (611 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs
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when the WINE is in, the wit is out
Wit
is used in the sense of ‘intelligence,’ rather than ‘clever or amusing talk.’
c
1390
Confessio Amantis
VI
. 555
For wher that wyn doth wit aweie [does away with wit], Wisdom hath lost the rihte weie [path].
1529
Dialogue of Images
III
. xvi.
Whan the wyne were in and the wyt out, wolde they take vppon them .. to handle holy scrypture.
1560
Works
I. 536
V
When the wine is in, the wit is out.
1710
Proverbs
18
When the Wine's In, the Wit's Out.
1854
Last of Old Squires
vi.
None is a Fool always, every one sometimes. When the Drink goes in, then the Wit goes out.
1937
And so—Victoria
iii.
Remember what I told you last night—that with wine in, wits go out.
drunkenness
WINTER never rots in the sky
1621
Contemplations
XIII. in
Recollections
32
God .. chooses out a fit season for the execution; As we vse to say of winter, the iudgements of God doe neuer rot in the skie, but shall fall (if late, yet) surely.
1670
English Proverbs
42
Winter never rots in the sky.
1817
Diary
24 Jan. (1914) IV. 434
‘Winter does not rot in the sky.’ We have a deep snow and for the first time this season the Earth is completely covered.
1959
Boston Herald
13 Mar. 42
Winter never rots in the sky, says the old proverb.
retribution

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