A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

THREE may keep a secret, if two of them are dead

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  1546 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs II. V G4^V We twayne are one to many (quoth I) for men saie, Three maie keepe a counsell, if two be awaie. c 1595 SHAKESPEARE Romeo & Juliet II. iv. 190 Is your man secret? Did you ne’er hear say Two may keep counsel, putting one away? 1735 B. FRANKLIN Poor Richard’s Almanack (July) Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead. 1979 D. CLARK Heberden’s Seat ii. Two of everything.. two bodies, two causes of death. .. What was it? ‘Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.’ 2007 Times 14 Aug. 9 With their motto of ‘Three can keep a secret if two are dead’, initiation into the group [Hell’s Angels] ensures an intense loyalty. ■ concealment; discretion
  

THREE removals are as bad as a fire

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  1758 B. FRANKLIN Poor Richard’s Almanack (Preface) I never saw an oft removed Tree, Nor yet an oft removed Family, That throve so well, as those that settled be. And again, Three Removes are as bad as a Fire. 1839 DICKENS Letter 14 Nov. (1965) 1.602 Did you ever ‘move’?.. There is an old proverb that three removes are as bad as a fire. 1931 E. PEARSON in Liberty 5 Sept. 28 Mr. Small’s historians have traced at least six removals from place to place after he left his native Portland, and by reckoning ‘three moves as bad as a fire’.. you may estimate the extent of his misfortune. 1999 Washington Post 17 Sept. E12 In terms of general disruption, it’s been said that two moves equal one fire. But unlike fires, moves can be planned and budgeted. ■change
  

THREE things are not to be trusted: a cow’s horn, a dog’s tooth, and a horse’s hoof
Cf. 13th-cent. Fr. dent de chael, рё de cheval, cul d’enfant ne sunt pas a crere, a dog’s tooth, a horse’s hoof, and a baby’s bottom are not to be trusted.

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  c 1383 JOHN OF FORDUN Scotichronicon (1759) II. XIV. xxxii. Till horsis fote thou never traist, Till hondis tooth, no womans faith. 1585 S. ROBSON Choice of Change K2 Trust not 3 things. Dogs teeth. Horses feete. Womens Protestations. 1910 P. W. JOYCE English as We speak it in Ireland 110 Three things are not to be trusted—a cow’s horn, a dog’s tooth and a horse’s hoof. 1948 T. H. WHITE Elephant & Kangaroo xiii. He was.. beginning to worry about being employed by a venomous Englishman. ‘Four things not to trust,’ said the Cashelmor proverb: ‘a dog’s tooth, a horse’s hoof, a cow’s horn, and an Englishman’s laugh.’ ■caution; trust and scepticism
  

three see also BAD things come in threes; two BOYS are half a boy, and three boys are no boy at all; from CLOGS to clogs is only three generations; feed a DOG for three days and he will remember your kindness for three years.. ; one ENGLISHMAN can beat three Frenchmen; FISH and guests smell after three days; it takes three GENERATIONS to make a gentleman; from SHIRTSLEEVES to shirtsleeves in three generations; TWO is company, but three is none