| 词源 |
rob Peter to pay Paul. The expression rob Peter to pay Paul goes back at least to John Wycliffe’s Select English Works, writ- ten in about 1380. Equally old in French, the saying may derive from a 12th-century Latin expression referring to the Apostles: “As it were that one would crucify Paul in order to redeem Pe- ter.” The words usually mean to take money for one thing and use it for another, especially in paying off debts. |