Origins II

a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

. . . The proverb comes from Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet (2:2): “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Some proverbs have come into use in contemporary times. These include:

garbage in, garbage out

. . . First recorded in 1964, the proverb originally referred to computer input and output, and is still used in that context, often in the form of the acronym GIGO.

if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

. . . The proverb was first recorded in 1977, popularized by Bert Lance, director of the
Office of Management and Budget in President Jimmy Carter’s administration.

it takes a village to raise a child

. . . Of African origin, the proverb was popularized by Hillary Clinton, wife of
President Bill Clinton, in the mid-1990s.

The “first recorded” date given is not the date of origin—most proverbs origi- nated in spoken language, and this is simply the first known written record of the proverb:

first impressions are the most lasting

. . . The proverb was first recorded in William Congreve’s play TheWay of theWorld
(1700) in the form “There is a great deal in the first impression.”

Where an early form of a proverb or other quotation is taken from a named source, the spellings of the original have been retained; in other cases spellings have been modernized for the convenience of the user:

nature abhors a vacuum

. . . Of ancient origin, the proverb was first recorded in English in 1551, in Thomas
Cranmer’s Answer to Gardiner: “Naturall reason abhorreth vacuum.”

a cat has nine lives

. . . The proverb was first recorded in 1546 in the form “A woman has nine lives like a cat.”