A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

shoe see also it’s ILL waiting for dead men’s shoes; for WANT of a nail the shoe was lost.
The SHOEMAKER’s son always goes barefoot
A skilled or knowledgeable person commonly neglects to give his own family the benefit of his expertise. Found in a number of variants.

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  1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs I. xi. E1^V But who is wurs shod, than the shoemakers wyfe, With shops full of newe shapen shoes all hir lyfe? 1773 R. GRAVES Spiritual Quixote I. III. ii. The Shoe-maker’s wife often goes in ragged shoes. .. Although there had been a [Methodist] Society begun here by Mr. Whitfield, yet.. the people of Gloucester are not much the better for having had so great a Prophet born amongst them. 1876 S. SMILES Life of Scotch Naturalist xvii. His large family.. were all.. well shod, notwithstanding the Scottish proverb to the contrary. ‘The Smith’s meer [mare] and the shoemaker’s bairns are aye the worst shod.’ 1981 ‘E. PETERS’ Saint Peter’s Fair 30 Spruce in his dress, but down at heel, Cadfael noticed—proof of the old saying that the shoemaker’s son is always the one who goes barefoot! 1987 S. STEWART Lifting the Latch 58 They say the cobbler’s children go the worst shod. Dad made sure we children went dry-shod by giving us a penny-a-week for the Boot-fund. 2001 Spectator 4 Aug. 28 The cobbler’s children go barefoot, and Pearson, which publishes the Financial Times,
  

has lost £233 million in six months. ■family
shoemaker see also let the COBBLER stick to his last.
shop see KEEP your shop and your shop will keep you.
shopkeeper see the ENGLISH are a nation of shopkeepers.
shorn see GOD tempers the wind to the shorn lamb; many go out for WOOL and come home shorn.
A SHORT horse is soon curried
A slight task is soon completed. Curried here means ‘groomed with a currycomb’.

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  с 1350 Douce MS 52 no. 17 Short hors is son j-curryed. a 1530 R. HILL Commonplace Book (EETS) 128 A shorte hors is son curried. 1732 T. FULLER Gnomologia no. 395 A short Horse is soon curried. 1820 SCOTT Abbot I. xi. A short tale is soon told—and a short horse soon curried. 1939 L. I. WILDER By Shores of Silver Lake xxx. A short horse is soon curried. This is our tightest squeeze yet,.. but it’s only a beginning. 1948 F. P. KEYES Dinner at Antoine’s xx. That’s a short horse and soon curried. Let’s go see this Captain Murphy and put an end to it. "efficiency and inefficiency; work