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Contraposition Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

keep the wolf from the door

What is the origin of the idiom "keep the wolf from the door"?
  

Top answer

Hi That's interesting and others may disagree with me; the saying is very old. The wolf is an ancient symbol of humans in an animal state. It's a state that we like to think of ourselves as having left quite a few millennia ago If we have done enough to keep the wolf from the door, we have done enough and learnt enough to move away from that situation.

— Dave_anon

  • Hi That's interesting and others may disagree with me; the saying is very old.
  • The wolf is an ancient symbol of humans in an animal state.
  • It's a state that we like to think of ourselves as having left quite a few millennia ago If we have done enough to keep the wolf from the door, we have done enough and learnt enough to move away from that situation.
  • We may not be very wealthy or privileged but we know enough to keep the wolf from the door.
  • We are able to act in a way that is civilised Dave
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3 Answers
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Hi

That's interesting and others may disagree with me; the saying is very old. The wolf is an ancient symbol of humans in an animal state. It's a state that we like to think of ourselves as having left quite a few millennia ago

If we have done enough to keep the wolf from the door, we have done enough and learnt enough to move away from that situation. We may not be very wealth
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In modern terms it obviously means to be financially secure at least for a short while, but as with all of these very old idioms its origins are obscure and your theory is as good as any I expect.
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contrapositionWhat is the origin of the idiom "keep the wolf from the door"?
The origin may be lost in history, but "the wolf" was most likely a metaphoric reference to hunger.

CJ
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