Proverb: omlets are not made without breaking eggs (antedating 1796 May)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Randall Jarrell said it best, 'way back in 1951:

"_You can't break eggs without making an omelette_ --
That's what they tell the eggs."

JL




On Fri, Feb 4, 2011 at 1:56 PM, Ken Hirsch <kenhirsch at ftml.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Ken Hirsch <kenhirsch at FTML.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Proverb: omlets are not made without breaking eggs
>              (antedating 1796 May)
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Here it is in a letter from 1748, again in a French military context:
>
>
> On ne sçauroit faire d'Omelette sans casser des oeufs
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=WVs2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA120&dq=%22sans+casser%22
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org