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Blood is thicker than water is a proverb in English meaning that familial bonds will always be stronger than other relationships. The oldest record of this saying can be traced back to the 12th century in German. [1]
A similar proverb in German first appeared in a different form in the medieval German beast epic Reinhart Fuchs (c. 1180; English: Reynard the Fox ) by Heinrich der Glîchezære. The 13th-century Heidelberg manuscript reads in part, "ouch hoer ich sagen, das sippe blůt von wazzere niht verdirbet". [2] In English it reads, "I also hear it said that kin-blood is not spoiled by water." Jacob Grimm suggests that this saying, which is not read anywhere else, means that the bonds of family blood are not erased by the waters of baptism, and so the raven Diezelin will have inherited his father's outlook despite having been christened. [3]
In 1412, the English priest John Lydgate observed in Troy Book , "For naturelly blod wil ay of kynde / Draw unto blod, wher he may it fynde." [1] [4]
William Jenkyn referenced the proverb in its modern form in a 1652 sermon: "Blood is thicker (we say) then [sic] water; and truly the blood of Christ beautifying any of our friends and children, should make us prefer them before those, between whom and us there’s only a watery relation of nature." [5]
The proverb appears frequently in the literary works of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Scottish authors. In John Moore's Zeluco (1789), a character assures another in a letter that there is little danger in him forgetting his old friends "and far less my blood relations; for surely blood is thicker than water." [6] In Christian Isobel Johnstone’s Scottish romance, Clan-Albin: A National Tale (1815), the character Flora is considered "of mixed blood at best," but a distant relative observes that “blood is thicker than water… and all the water in the Monzievar could not wash our blood from her’s." [7] The phrase or some variation appears several times in Sir Walter Scott's work, including Marmion (1808), [8] Rob Roy (1817), [9] and Guy Mannering (1815): "Wheel — Blud's[ sic ] thicker than water — she's welcome to the cheeses." [10] The proverb appears in English reformer Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days (1857).
The phrase was first attested in the United States in the Journal of Athabasca Department (1821). [11] On June 25, 1859, U.S. Navy Commodore Josiah Tattnall III, in command of the U.S. Squadron in Far Eastern waters, made this adage a part of U.S. history when explaining why he had given aid to the British squadron in an attack on Taku Forts at the mouth of the Hai River, thereby abandoning the strict American policy of neutrality that had been adopted in the Second Opium War after the Battle of the Barrier Forts. [12]
The use of the word blood to refer to kin or familial relations has roots dating back to Greek and Roman traditions. [13] This usage of the term was seen in the English-speaking world from the late 1300s.
In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century uses of the proverb, blood could be a metaphor for national or clan affiliations rather than biological kinship. For instance, in Clan-Albin, the characters are debating whether the small and soft Flora has pure enough clan ties to marry into the Craig-gillian family, who prefer "Amazonian daughters". [14] The notion of a "national" affiliation could also be interpreted quite broadly as in the Tattnall example above, in which an American commodore came to the aid of the British Navy. A nineteenth-century British contributor to Notes and Queries determined that Americans were still bound to Britain by "education and descent": "The thrill of grief and indignation with which the news of President Garfield's assassination was received in England, and the sympathy which his long agony called forth, could have been awakened by no alien. 'Blood is thicker than water,' and the frequently heard remark, 'He is not a foreigner, he is an American,' shows that this is generally acknowledged." [15]
H.C. Trumbull contrasts the expression with a comparison of blood and milk in the Arab world:
We, in the West, are accustomed to say that "blood is thicker than water"; but the Arabs have the idea that blood is thicker than milk, than a mother's milk. With them, any two children nourished at the same breast are called "milk-brothers," or "sucking brothers"; and the tie between such is very strong. […] But the Arabs hold that brothers in the covenant of blood are closer than brothers at a common breast; that those who have tasted each other's blood are in a surer covenant than those who have tasted the same milk together; that "blood-lickers," as the blood-brothers are sometimes called, are more truly one than "milk-brothers," or "sucking brothers"; that, indeed, blood is thicker than milk, as well as thicker than water. [16]
Aldous Huxley's Ninth Philosopher's Song (1920) approached the proverb differently, stating, "Blood, as all men know, than water's thicker / But water's wider, thank the Lord, than blood." [17]
Writing in the 1990s and 2000s, author Albert Jack [18] and Messianic Rabbi Richard Pustelniak, [19] claim that the original meaning of the expression was that the ties between people who have made a blood covenant (or have shed blood together in battle) were stronger than ties formed by "the water of the womb", thus "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb". Neither of the authors cite any sources to support their claim. [18] [19]
A proverb or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial expression is a type of a conventional saying similar to proverbs and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context. Collectively, they form a genre of folklore.
This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1815.
Russian proverbs originated in oral history and written texts dating as far back as the 12th century. The Russian language is replete with many hundreds of proverbs and sayings. The proverbs express a universal concept, have a moral lesson and provide an insight into many aspects of history, culture, and national character of the people who created them. By the 17th century, the proverbs were collected and documented. They were studied in the 19th and 20th centuries. Vladimir Dal was a famous lexicographer of the Russian Empire whose collection was published in Russian language in the late 19th century as The Sayings and Bywords of the Russian People, featuring more than 30,000 entries. They continue to endure in modern literature and folklore. Evidence of this is seen in the collection of Russian anti-proverbs collected by Reznikov.
A crumpet is a small griddle bread made from an unsweetened batter of water or milk, flour, and yeast, popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Blood brother can refer to two or more people not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or the forearm, and then the two cuts are pressed together and bound, the idea being that each person's blood now flows in the other participant's veins.
Commodore Josiah Tattnall was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812, the Second Barbary War and the Mexican–American War. He later served in the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War.
An anti-proverb or a perverb is the transformation of a standard proverb for humorous effect. Paremiologist Wolfgang Mieder defines them as "parodied, twisted, or fractured proverbs that reveal humorous or satirical speech play with traditional proverbial wisdom". Anti-proverbs are ancient, Aristophanes having used one in his play Peace, substituting κώẟων "bell" for κύων "bitch, female dog", twisting the standard and familiar "The hasty bitch gives birth to blind" to "The hasty bellfinch gives birth to blind".
The Dog and Its Reflection is one of Aesop's Fables and is numbered 133 in the Perry Index. The Greek language original was retold in Latin and in this way was spread across Europe, teaching the lesson to be contented with what one has and not to relinquish substance for shadow. There also exist Indian variants of the story. The morals at the end of the fable have provided both English and French with proverbs and the story has been applied to a variety of social situations.
A rolling stone gathers no moss is a proverb, first credited to Publilius Syrus, who in his Sententiae states, "People who are always moving, with no roots in one place or another, avoid responsibilities and cares." The phrase spawned a shorter mossless offshoot image, that of the rolling stone, and modern moral meanings have diverged, from similar themes such as used in the popular song "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", to a more complementary commentary on "freedom" from excessive rootedness, such as in the band The Rolling Stones.
Adynaton is a figure of speech in the form of hyperbole taken to such extreme lengths as to insinuate a complete impossibility:
I will sooner have a beard grow in the palm of my hand than he shall get one on his cheek.
There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip is an English proverb. It implies that even when a good outcome or conclusion seems certain, things can still go wrong, similar in meaning to "don't count your chickens before they hatch".
Christian Isobel Johnstone (1781–1857) was a prolific journalist and author in Scotland in the nineteenth century. She was a significant early feminist and an advocate of other liberal causes in her era. She wrote anonymously, and under the pseudonym Margaret Dods. She is highlighted as one of the first paid female editors of a journal.
Wolfgang Mieder is a retired professor of German and folklore who taught for 50 years at the University of Vermont, in Burlington, Vermont, USA. He is a graduate of Olivet College (BA), the University of Michigan (MA), and Michigan State University (PhD). He has been a guest speaker at the University of Freiburg in Germany, the country where he was born.
"The Moon is made of green cheese" is a statement referring to a fanciful belief that the Moon is composed of cheese. In its original formulation as a proverb and metaphor for credulity with roots in fable, this refers to the perception of a simpleton who sees a reflection of the Moon in water and mistakes it for a round cheese wheel. It is widespread as a folkloric motif among many of the world's cultures, and the notion has also found its way into children's folklore and modern popular culture.
The Ass in the Lion's Skin is one of Aesop's Fables, of which there are two distinct versions. There are also several Eastern variants, and the story's interpretation varies accordingly.
Still waters run deep is a proverb of Latin origin now commonly taken to mean that a placid exterior hides a passionate or subtle nature. Formerly it also carried the warning that silent people are dangerous, as in Suffolk's comment on a fellow lord in William Shakespeare's play Henry VI part 2:
Events from the year 1815 in Scotland.
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" is a common English-language proverb that appeared in the 19th century, advocating for the consumption of apples, and by extension, "if one eats healthful foods, one will remain in good health and will not need to see the doctor often."
Blood Is Thicker than Water may refer to:
blood is thicker than water.