[lit-ideas] "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 10:10:45 EDT
In a message dated 6/28/2004 11:11:14 PM Eastern Standard Time,
JulieReneB@xxxxxxx writes:
I would have
expected it to have originated here, probably somewhere in the south because
it does
have that flavour.
---- It would still be interesting to see if it's listed in some
encyclopaedia or dictionary of proverbs. The idea of 'fool' and 'shame' it
incorporates
don't seem too Oriental to me, more like French. My guess is that's an
Anglo-Norman Latin proverb, introduced by the Plantagenets, and then, via the
Pilgrims, in New England (Bush possibly heard it when in New Haven).
I would even venture that the earliest English record would have it as:
"Fool me once, shame on _thee_; fool me twice, shame on mee."
which rhynes.
Cheers,
JL
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