英语词汇great fleas have lesser fleas的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

词汇	great fleas have lesser fleas
词源	great fleas have lesser fleas. All of us, no matter how great, have our troubles, our enemies who prey on us. The expression has its roots in Jonathan Swift’s volume of satirical advice to a poet, On Poetry, a Rhapsody (1733), with its lines: “Hobbes clearly proves that every creature/Lives in a state of war by na- ture;/ So naturalists observe a flea/ Has smaller fleas that on him prey,/ And these have smaller still to bite ’em/ And so pro- ceed ad infinitum.”
随便看	you betcha etc you better believe you can bet your bottom dollar you can play with my dog you can play with my wife but you’d better leave my gun alone you can run but you can’t hide you can say that again you can take it to the bank you can whistle for it you can’t cheat an honest man you can’t cod me you can’t con me you can’t have your cake and eat it too you can’t judge a book by its cover you can’t keep a squirrel on the ground you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow-s ear you can’t win ’em all you could have heard a pin drop you couldn’t detect my interest with a high-powered telescope you don’t have money give yourself volunteer you don’t want to go there you furnish the pictures and i’ll furnish the war you gotta believe you have money give money you have the words but you don’t have the music

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