Proverb: Two wrongs will not make one right (antedating 1768)

[Joel S. Berson]

At 6/6/2010 12:33 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>The problem with imputing the archaic sense 1 for this dictum is that
>I think it yields (infers?) the  wrong meaning:  If I'm understanding
>it correctly, in "two wrongs infer one right", "infer" means 'imply,
>involve as a consequence', not 'render'.  But Joel's reading (= 'two
>wrongs render one correct') is plausible too, although it doesn't get
>my vote.

I agree with Larry that 1.a doesn't fit.  But I think 1.c ("to make,
render") does -- a concrete "making".  However, I'm willing to defer
to the OED's voters.

Joel

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