| 单词 | better the devil you know than the devil you don't |
| 释义 | > as lemmasbetter the devil you know than the devil you don't P13. better the devil you know than the devil you don't and variants: it is wiser to deal with someone or something which is familiar, though undesirable, than to risk a change that might lead to an even worse situation. Now frequently shortened to better the devil you know. ΚΠ 1586 D. Rowland tr. Lazarillo de Tormes sig. H6v The olde prouerbe: Better is the euill knowne, than the good which is yet to knowe.] 1827 New Times 1 Sept. We may as well pay it [sc. rent] to..our countrymen as to strangers [on the principle]..laid down in the proverb, ‘better the devil we do know, than the devil we do not know’. 1857 A. Trollope Barchester Towers ii. vii. 123 ‘Better the d—— you know than the d—— you don't know,’ is an old saying..but the bishop had not yet realised the truth of it. 1929 K. S. Prichard Coonardoo ii. 31 Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know, and you'll always rule the roost, I suppose. 1959 M. Spark Memento Mori x. 135 Godfrey had always seemed better than the devil she did not know. 1997 A. Garland Beach 71 In one direction there were gunmen... In the other direction we didn't know what we might find... Better the devil you know is a cliché I now despise. 2007 Independent 10 Feb. (Save & Spend section) 5/2 The company seemed to think it was a case of ‘better the devil you know’. < as lemmas |
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