| 单词 | it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog |
| 释义 | > as lemmasit is easy to find a stick to beat a dog P3. it is easy to find a stick to beat a dog and variants: if a person wishes to take offence, pick a fight, etc., it is easy to find an excuse or reason to do so. Hence allusively a stick to beat a dog: an expedient reason to do something. ΚΠ 1587 J. Bridges Def. Govt. Church of Eng. xv. 1294 Loe, how easie a matter it is to finde a sticke to beate a dogge; to picke a quarrell at euery small offence, when one is disposed to cauill. 1683 Whip for Devil 2 Now though it be a thing well known that the Devil is generally hated, and as true that it is an easie thing to find a stick to beat a dog, yet is it not so easie to find a Rod to whip the Devil. 1782 F. Hopkinson in Pennsylvania Gaz. 21 Aug. 2/1 A proverb..naturally occurs on this occasion: It is easy to find a stick to beat a dog. ?1846 J. R. Planché Queen Mary's Bower i. i. 7 Orm. Why, how have you offended him?.. Hec. When you want to beat a dog it's easy to find a stick. 1884 Nineteenth Cent. Aug. 197 Any stick is good enough to beat a dog with. Any excuse seems sufficient to satisfy the Peers in destroying a Reform Bill. 1933 Harper's Mag. Sept. 482/1 When the Armory Show of 1913 was at the Chicago Art Institute a campaign was waged against it on the grounds of indecency... (Any stick will do to beat a dog with). 1987 Washington Times 30 Apr. 11 a/2 When you want to beat a dog, any stick will do. 2014 Guardian (Nexis) 20 Aug. 24 There has been great sport to be had poking fun at the business secretary... But there is a danger of picking up any stick to beat a dog. < as lemmas |
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