| 单词 | a bad workman blames his tools |
| 释义 | > as lemmasa bad workman blames his tools a bad workman blames his tools and variants: a person who has done something badly will blame his or her equipment, materials, etc., instead of admitting responsibility. [In quot. 1568 ultimately with reference to a longer discussion in Dante Convivio (a1307) i. xi. With quot. 1611 compare Old French mauvés ovriers ne trovera ja bon hostill (13th cent.). Similar proverbs also exist in other European languages.] ΚΠ 1568 W. Barker tr. G. B. Gelli Fearfull Fansies of Florentine Couper ii. sig. B.iij All artificers not cunninge, doe impute all the errours they do, to the matter they work on [It. tutti gli artifici non molto buoni, li quali di tutti gli errori ch' e' fanno attribuiscono sempre la colpe alla materia]. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Outil A bungler cannot find (or fit himselfe with) good tooles [Fr. meschant ouvrier ne trouvera ia bons outils].] a1633 G. Herbert Outlandish Prov. (1640) sig. A4 Never had ill workeman good tooles. 1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 13 A bad Workman quarrels with his Tools. 1781 Remembrancer 12 37/1 It proves the truth of an old proverb... A bad workman always complains of his tools. 1828 G. Holford Acct. Gen. Penitentiary at Millbank viii. 195 It has been said that a bad workman is apt to quarrel with his tools. 1883 Vick's Monthly Mag. Oct. 303/1 They say ‘a bad workman always blames his tools’, and I know a bad gardener always blames his seed. 1922 Fortn. Rev. 1 Mar. 516 It is a bad workman who complains of his tools. 1978 Boston Globe 11 Nov. 8/3 The bad workman blames his tools; the bad bridge player complains about the suit breaks. 2008 C. Bradshaw Bloody Nations iii. 65 A bad workman blames his tools; the fact that he does not know how to use them is irrelevant. < as lemmas |
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