英语词汇the game is not worth the candle的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

the game is not worth the candle. According to William Safire in his “On Language” column (February 27, 2005), this phrase is first recorded by French essayist Michel de Montaigne in 1580. English poet George Herbert (1593–1633) wrote “It is a poor sport that is not worth the candle” in Jacula Prudentum (1651), a collection of foreign proverbs in translation; Ernest Weekley in An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English tells us “the game is not worth the candle (i.e., the stakes are not high enough to pay for the lights) has parallels in other languages.” Most writers I have read claim the phrase originally referred to gambling done at night, which was not worthwhile unless the stakes were high enough to pay for the lights (the candles). But others say the original reference is to a poor play not worth lighting the theater for. The words have come to mean any ef- fort that is not worth making.

词汇	the game is not worth the candle
词源	the game is not worth the candle. According to William Safire in his “On Language” column (February 27, 2005), this phrase is first recorded by French essayist Michel de Montaigne in 1580. English poet George Herbert (1593–1633) wrote “It is a poor sport that is not worth the candle” in Jacula Prudentum (1651), a collection of foreign proverbs in translation; Ernest Weekley in An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English tells us “the game is not worth the candle (i.e., the stakes are not high enough to pay for the lights) has parallels in other languages.” Most writers I have read claim the phrase originally referred to gambling done at night, which was not worthwhile unless the stakes were high enough to pay for the lights (the candles). But others say the original reference is to a poor play not worth lighting the theater for. The words have come to mean any ef- fort that is not worth making.
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