Meaning of a proverb

Question

Hi Folks,I recently encountered a proverb"The difference is wide that the sheets will not decide."Could somebody please care to explain the meaning?Help.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hi Folks, I recently encountered a proverb "The difference is wide that the sheets will not decide." Could somebody please care to explain the meaning?[/nq]
This is a guess: it refers to make-up ***. Although you might have been having an argument with your significant other just a short time earlier, you can still get along quite well between the sheets.

Ian.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi Folks, I recently encountered a proverb "The difference is wide that the sheets will not decide." Could somebody please care to explain the meaning?[/nq]
I reckon that's a saying, rather than a proverb. I never heard it before, and there are only 9 hits for it, so it's not exactly common. If I hadn't found those 9 hits I would have suspected that it was a bad translation, but it seems that it may be 17th Century English.

At a guess (remembering that I have never encountered it), it means that a couple are disagreeing to such an extent that they won't even be able to sort out their differences in bed.

David
==
replace usenet with the

Usenet · Answer

David's explanation seems more logical.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]David's explanation seems more logical.[/nq]
Would you mind quoting some of what you're referring to? Never mind, I'll do it this time:
[nq:2]I reckon that's a saying, rather than a proverb. I ... even be able to sort out their differences in bed.[/nq]
The problem I see with David's theory is it doesn't quite fit the grammar. I see this as essentially a "double negative" although you don't see the first negative. There's another famous proverb with similar grammar:
It's an ill wind that blows nobody good.
The two negatives (ill, not) cancel out and the meaning becomes more like:
Any wind will blow some good (i.e., goodness to somebody).

So, with that model, I have to read your proverb as "There would have to be an extraordinarily wide difference between a couple for *** not the bridge the gap," or, in the positive, "*** will always overcome differences."
"Decide" is a funny word to use, though. Either we're all on the wrong track about sheets/***, or maybe they were just reaching hard for a rhyme...
I see that this is listed in the Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs. The actual wording is cited from 1678 on. An earlier entry is:
1611 W. Vaughan /Spirit Detrac, 310/ According towhich agrees that Italian saying: ... the heate of the bed thawes oftentimes the ice of secrecie or
Taciturnitie.
So we're on the right track. My guess that someone wrote the later version as a rhyming translation of Italian.

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

Thanks a lot Donna. I got that in a mailing list I subscribe to. Then I looked up on worldofquotes.com and found it has been listed as proverb. However there is no explanatoin given to it.
I asked my friend who works as a journalist and she said it means "you should not bite more than you can chew". I do not think she was referring to this saying. I think she probably meant me.

You have now twisted this completely. It sounds logical too. So I am now wondering what reference could help me.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Thanks a lot Donna. I got that in a mailing list I subscribe to. Then I looked up on worldofquotes.com ... You have now twisted this completely. It sounds logical too. So I am now wondering what reference could help me.[/nq]
A Google search generates multiple hits on that phrase, but no explanations of its meaning. The phrase is almost 400 years old apparently: http://www.bartleby.com/66/45/2445.html so is it possible that it isn't referring to *** at all? Could it instead be referring to coming to a decision after a good night's rest? This approach to decision-making was also addressed by American philosopher "Meatloaf" in the line "Let me sleep on it, and I'll give you an answer in the morning."
http://www.twin-music.com/lyrics file/meatloaf/bat/paradise.html

Regards,
Ian.

Usenet · Answer

(about: "The difference is wide that the sheets will not decide.")
[nq:1]Thanks a lot Donna. I got that in a mailing list I subscribe to. Then I looked up on worldofquotes.com ... You have now twisted this completely. It sounds logical too. So I am now wondering what reference could help me.[/nq]
I gave you the only reference I've got. There are a few sites on the Web about proverbs, but not many and not very reliable. There's a small chance that you might be able to track down the Italian version.

When you say you "got that in a mailing list," was there any context? Can you share it with us? Was someone just listing interesting things to say, or were they trying to make a point? The meanings of most new words and expressions are figured out from context.
It's possible that even if someone tried to make a point by saying this, that it still isn't the "correct" one - maybe he thought it meant something about bookkeeping or sheet music or making beds or sailboats or almost anything. People do misunderstand proverbs and use them inappropriately. But you're the one with a clue as to what was intended.

You may need to ask the writer what they meant! Is that possible?

Best Donna Richoux

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1] maybe he thought it meant something about bookkeeping or sheet music or making beds or sailboats or almost anything.[/nq]
The Scottish author (poet?) Allan Cunningham (1784?1842) wrote ?A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea?. I've wondered whether that title had to with sailing, enuresis, or something else.
(I may have already mentioned this here one or three times over the years.)

Usenet · Answer

Hi Donna,
There was no context. The total content of the mail said this.
Today is May 30, 2005.
The difference is wide that the sheets will not decide. ~Proverb, (English)~
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Usenet · Answer

[nq:1](about: "The difference is wide that the sheets will not decide.")[/nq]
[nq:2]Thanks a lot Donna. I got that in a mailing ... So I am now wondering what reference could help me.[/nq]
[nq:1]I gave you the only reference I've got. There are a few sites on the Web about proverbs, but not ... a clue as to what was intended. You may need to ask the writer what they meant! Is that possible?[/nq]
The only explanation I could find was in Spanish:
Todos los problemas se arreglan en la cama (the difference is wide that the sheets will not decide): Dicen muchos matrimonios que la solución a sus conflictos de pareja se halla en la cama. De los problemas extra matrimoniales, no hay tanta estadística.
from http://acebo.pntic.mec.es/~aromer3/Lengua/Los%20Dichos/t.htm

Regards
John
for mail: my initials plus a u e
at tpg dot com dot au

Meaning of a proverb

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