A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

EVERY man to his trade
With allusion to I CORINTHIANS vii. 20 (AV) Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Cf. 1539 R. TAVERNER tr. Erasmus’ Adages E1 Let euerye man exercise hym selfe in the facultie that he knoweth. 1590-1 SHAKESPEARE Henry VI, Pt. 2 IV. ii. 15 And yet it is said ‘Labour in thy vocation’; which is as much to say as ‘Let the magistrates be labouring men’; and therefore should we be magistrates.

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  1597-8 SHAKESPEARE Henry IV, Pt. 1 II. ii. 75 Every man to his business. 1605 MARSTON Dutch Courtesan I. i. Every man must follow his trade, and every woman her occupation. a 1721 M. PRIOR Dialogues of Dead (1907) 221 Every man to his trade, Charles, you should have challenged me at long pike or broad sword. 1930 C. BUSH Murder at Fenwold viii. ‘I dabble in Mathematics but.. I’d rather have your Latinity.’ ‘Every man to his trade.’ 1990 ‘C. AIRD’ Body Politic (1991) x. 110 ‘Too early at the crem [crematorium], of course,’ said Tod, surprised. ‘That’s always bad.’ ‘Yes, I can see that,’ agreed Sloan. Every man to his own trade. ■business; trades and skills; work
  

every see also every CLOUD has a silver lining; every COCK will crow upon his own dunghill; every DOG has his day; every DOG is allowed one bite; every ELM has its man; there is an EXCEPTION to every rule; every HERRING must hang by its own gill; every JACK has his Jill; every LAND has its own law; every PICTURE tells a story; if every man would SWEEP his own doorstep the city would soon be clean; every TUB must stand on its own bottom; there are TWO sides to every question.
EVERYBODY loves a lord

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  1869 f. J. furnivall in Queen Elizabeths Academy (eets) p. xii. The second tract.. is printed, not mainly because ‘John Bull loves a Lord’.. but because the question of Precedence was so important a one in old social arrangements. 1908 Spectator 3 July 9 It is always said that an Englishman loves a lord. It would be more exact to say that he is in love with lordliness. 1980 M. NICHOLLS Importance of being Oscar (1981) 58 If pressed, he would probably have admitted that he was no exception to the adage that ‘Everybody Loves a Lord’. ■ society