Re: Blood
is thicker than water
Posted by ESC on February
18, 2003 In Reply to: Blood is thicker than
water posted by Lorrie on February 18, 2003
: It was my "understanding"
that this phrase originated from bibilical times; specifically with Abraham...
that the blood of a covenant was thicker than the water of the womb (birth & family
ties). Quite the opposite of what is most commonly believed.
Interesting! From
the archives:
BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER -- I didn't find anything that explained
the why of "water" as a comparison with "blood." (Does anyone have a copy of "Reynald
the Fox"?) But I did find an earlier date of origin than mentioned in this inquiry.
The first reference listed here gives the earliest date and the most complete
information. Just for the record (and since I'd already done the typing) I'm including
the other references also.
1. "This proverb on the bonds of family and common
ancestry first appeared in the medieval German beast epic 'Reinecke Fuch' (c.
1130 'Reynald the Fox') by Heinrich der Glichezaere, whose words in English read,
'Kin-blood is not spoiled by water.' In 1412, the English priest John Lydgate
observed in 'Troy Book,' 'For naturelly blod will ay of knde/ Draw vn-to blod,
wher he may it fynd.' By 1670, the modern version was included in John Ray's collected
'Proverbs,' and later appeared in Sir Walter Scott's novel 'Guy Mannering' (1815)
and in English reformer Thomas Hughes's 'Tom Brown's School Days' (1857). In 1859,
a U.S. Navy commodore also quoted the proverb in a letter explaining why he had
gone to the aid of a British fleet during a battle with the Chinese that year.
More recently, Aldous Huxley's 'Nineth Philosopher's Song' (1920) gave the saying
quite a different turn with 'Blood, as all men know, than water's thicker/ But
water's wider, thank the Lord, than blood. From "Wise Words and Wives' Tales:
The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde
and New" by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993).
2.
"Relatives stick together; one will do more for relation than for others. A similar
expression in German dates from the 12th century, but in English it seems to have
been passed on verbally until the early 19th century when it appeared in print,
in 1815, in Sir Walter Scott's 'Guy Mannering'" 'Weel - Blud's thicker than water
- she's welcome to the cheeses.'" From "The Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers
(Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).
3. "Relationships within the family are
stronger than any other kind. The saying was first cited in John Lydgate's 'Troy
Book' (c. 1412). Appeared in J. Ray's collection of proverbs in 1670. First attested
in the United States in 'Journal of Athabasca Department' (1821)." From "Random
House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings" (1996) by Gregory Y. Titelman
(Random House, New York, 1996).
4. This reference says the phrase was collected
in a book of proverbs in 1672. From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins"
by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).
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