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There is no new thing under the sun

Posted by ESC on October 11, 2000

In Reply to: Nothing much new under the sun posted by Oxhead on October 11, 2000

: : does anyone know the origin of this phrase?

: It's Biblical. O.T., probably Ecclesiastics

"That thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun." Eccles. 1:9 King James Version.

"...The proverb appears in the Old Testament, and was first used in English by Chaucer in the 'Knight's Tale' . It is first attested in the United States in the 'Works of Anne Bradstreet' . The proverb was used by Thomas Jefferson in 1801..."

  • PS ESC 10/11/00

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