A dictionary of Proverbs (Oxford Paperback Reference)

You cannot CATCH old birds with chaff
The wise and experienced are not easily fooled.
□1481 CAXTON Reynard the Fox (1880) xl. Wenest [do you think] thou thus to deceyue. .. I am no byrde to be locked ne take by chaf. I know wel ynowh good corn. c 1590 Timon (1842) IV. ii. Tis well.—An olde birde is not caught with chaffe. 1670 J. RAY English Proverbs 126 You can’t catch old birds with chaff. 1853 THACKERAY Newcomes II. xv. They ogled him as they sang.. with which chaff our noble bird was by no means to be caught. 1961 ‘L. BRUCE’ Die All, Die Merrily (1986) xx. 188 ‘But why, headmaster? On what do you base that?’ ‘Aha,’ said Mr. Gorringer, ‘old birds are not to be caught with chaff. I sensed it as soon as you failed to name him among your “possibles.”’ ^experience; wisdom
catch see also it doesn’t matter if a CAT is black or white, as long as it catches mice; a CAT in gloves catches no mice; a DROWNING man will clutch at a straw; EAGLES don’t catch flies; the EARLY bird catches the worm; FIRST catch your hare; HONEY catches more flies than vinegar; KEEP no more cats than will catch mice; if you RUN after two hares you will catch neither; a SHUT mouth catches no flies; if the SKY falls we shall catch larks; SUE a beggar and catch a louse; set a THIEF to catch a thief; see also caught.
CATCHING’s before hanging
□1818 A. N. ROYALL Letters from Alabama (1830) xxxvi. Yes, says Marchant, but catching’s before hanging—the villain’s cleared out. 1876 W. G. NASH New England Life vii. Catchin’ before spankin’ is the rule. 1961 E. SEEMAN In Arms of Mountain 60 Ketchin’ comes before hangin’, I always say. "action and consequence
All CATS are grey in the dark
The proverb, which turns on the concept that the night obscures all distinguishing features, is used in a variety of contexts.
□c 1549 J. HEYWOOD Dialogue of Proverbs i. v. A6^V When all candels be out, all cats be grey. All thyngs are then of one colour. 1596 T. LODGE Margarite of America H2^V All cattes are grey in the darke.. and therefore (good madam) you doe well to preferre the eie. 1745 B. FRANKLIN Letter 25 June in Papers (1961) III. 31 And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior. 1886 H. JAMES Princess Casamassima I. xiv. ‘If she isn’t, what becomes of your explanation?’.. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter; at night all cats are grey.’ 1990 R. RICHARDSON Dying of Light xi. 130 He braked as a cat scuttled in front of him. .. ‘Was that black?’ ‘All cats are grey in the dark,’ Tess quoted. ‘But it could have been. That’s lucky.’ 2007 New Scientist 30 June 45 There is a French expression which in English becomes ‘at night all cats are grey’, but the Hungarian version of this translates as ‘at night all cows are black’. "similarity and dissimilarity