English Proverbs

Proverb:

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Meaning:

The proverb has a literal meaning, although the ‘weakest link’ referred to is figurative and usually applies to a person or technical feature rather than the link of an actual chain.

 Origin:

It is clearly a literal fact that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The conversion of that notion into a figurative phrase was established in the language by the 18th century. Thomas Reid’s Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, 1786, included this line:

English Proverbs

Proverb:

“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”

Meaning:

It’s better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing.

Origin:

This proverb refers back to mediaeval falconry where a bird in the hand (the falcon) was a valuable asset and certainly worth more than two in the bush (the prey).

The first citation of the expression in print in its currently used form is found in John Ray’s A Hand-book of Proverbs, 1670, in which he lists it as:

A/one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush