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English people make modest company.
Hi,
Wikiquote English proverbs: A coin of gold is delighting in a bag of silver coins Meaning: English people make modest company. I don’t understand the commentary. There must be a mistake. What do you say? Thanks.
The silver coins are the English people and they are modest compared to the gold coin among them.
Any member of the upper classes. The silver coins represent the lower class majority.
Hi,
Wikiquote English proverbs: A coin of gold is delighting in a bag of silver coins Meaning: English people make modest company. I don’t understand the commentary. There must be a mistake. What do you say? Thanks. This is not a proverb that I have ever come across before. However I would suggest that the explanation "English people make modest company" is misleading. Think of another proverb: 'Big Fish in a Small Pool' which has it's opposite. This person was a 'big fish in a small pool' in Jamican Society, but on return to London, this person was a small fish in a big pool. I saw something similar about 'Lord Nelson' and how he met his wife or mistress. So... A Gold coin, amongst silver coins, is something special!
I have just been reading about Lady Hamilton, the famous mistress of Lord Nelson.
She was a 'Gold coin' amongst silver coins. But you must remember "everything that glistens is not gold", she started her career in a Brothel! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma,_Lady_Hamilton
Sorry - The big fish in a small pool was 'Francis (Fanny) Nisbet. Nelson was on the island of Nevis which he could not leave for eight months, when he met a local beauty - who became his wife.
Later, Lady Hamilton became his mistress, which obviously provoked great interest and a lot of comment! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson,_1st_Viscount_Nelson After seizing four American vessels off Nevis, Nelson was sued by the captains of the ships for illegal seizure. As the merchants of Nevis supported them, Nelson was in peril of imprisonment and had to remain sequestered on Boreas for eight months. It took that long for the courts to deny the captains their claims, in the interim Nelson met Frances "Fanny" Nisbet, a widow native to Nevis.[49] Nelson and Fanny were married on 11 March 1787 towards the end of his tour of duty in the Caribbean.[50] Nelson returned to England, arriving in July, with Fanny following on behind.[51]
Thanks, Robin Michael.
It’s very kind of you to pick up the abandoned thread and confirm my suspicion – the comment "English people make modest company" is odd. Anyway, I think I won’t ask here anything else - after failing to get answers to a few questions I feel like a beggar, not an equal member of a community and a partner in a conversation. It’s humiliating. I’ll drop in to read, perhaps.
Dear H
Thank you for your reply. I do not often look at the Anti-Moon Forum. I took an interest a long time ago, when I was interested in teaching the English Language to Foreigners (Non-English Speakers). However I felt that my comments were not particularly appreciated, and that some people felt that the Forum should be the preserve of Linguistic Experts. I know that there was also another breed of self proclaimed expert. British people who felt they had a unique contribution to give to the Forum. One of the things that I have always liked about this Forum is that it is very easy to make a comment. You do not have to 'Log On' and have a Password. The point that you made was perfectly valid. The entry in Wikiquote was incorrect (wrong)! What caught my eye, and made me interested in you Post, was the suggestion that "English people make modest company". Certainly when Nelson was around, English people did not make modest company. Can you imagine a National Hero publically deserting his wife in favour of a whore - today? Yes: I can: it happens all the time! Even in this age of Politically Correctness. << Hi, Wikiquote English proverbs: A coin of gold is delighting in a bag of silver coins Meaning: English people make modest company. I don’t understand the commentary. There must be a mistake. What do you say? Thanks. >>
I don't think antimoon is the preserve of linguistic experts. I'm glad to have the "linguists". I would say that some of them are good at describing or transcribing sounds and some may have general or specific knowledge of language families.
H, It's not a common expression. I think Uriel or Jasper would have answered if they could. Generally speaking, I find them helpful and down-to-earth, not aloof elitists.
Hi
I have given this a little bit of thought Wikiquote English proverbs: A coin of gold is delighting in a bag of silver coins Meaning: English people make modest company. The meaning given is incorrect. There is another proverb: A Teacher is a man amongst boys and a Boy amongst men. Which is a bit like saying, in the Valley of the Blind, the one eyed man is King. H.G. Wells "The Country of the Blind" All the old stories of the lost valley and the Country of the Blind had come back to his mind, and through his thoughts ran this old proverb, as if it were a refrain:-- "In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King." "In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King." And very civilly he gave them greeting. |