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A stitch in time.....

Posted by ESC on July 14, 2005

In Reply to: A stitch in time..... posted by Bob on July 14, 2005

: : A stitch in time.....

: : something leads me to beleive this is a very old sailing term when burying someone at sea.
: : 9 pounds of shot were used to weigh the body sack, then, when the sack was stitched closed the last stitch was passed through a body park (lips I think)
: : Should the so called body 'awake' 9 pounds of shot was saved.

: : Any better thoughts ?

: : Jon

: Wow. That is so complex, creative, and preposterous. Amazing.
: It's this simple: if you have a small tear in your clothing, it will get worse and worse if neglected, meaning more work later. But if you do a simple repair in a timely fashion, you will save the much greater effort you'd need down the road. A (single) STITCH (very easy to do) when done IN TIME, SAVES you the effort of having to use NINE stitches (very tedious to do) if you procrastinate.

: Admittedly this is straightforward and commonsensical, lacking the color and dash of dead bodies and gruesome disfigurement, but hey.

From the archives:

"A stitch in time saves nine. If you deal with problems immediately, when they first appear, you will save yourself a lot of money and trouble after. This adage is listed in the 1732 Thomas Fuller's book of proverbs, and was first cited in the United States in the 1787 'Journal of Tour of North America in 1796-1791' by Francis Bally (1774-1844). The word 'nine' was introduced for assonance." From Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings by Gregory Y. Titelman.

See also: the meaning and origin of the proverb 'a stitch in time saves nine'.

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