📚 Beg, Borrow, or Steal: The Historical Journey of a Perennial Phrase 🕰️
The Chaucer Beginning
The phrase “beg, borrow, or steal” often gets tossed around when someone emphasizes the lengths they’ll go to for a specific purpose. Its early roots can be traced back to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (The Tale of the Man of Law, circa 1386):
“Maugre [despite] thyn heed, thou most for indigence or stele, or begge, or borwe [borrow] thy despence [expenditure]!”
Yes, Chaucer’s Middle English word-soup may sound a bit antiquated but hang on! The nugget of this cliché had already been slow-cooking since the 14th century!
The Seventeenth-Century Cautionary Tale
Skipping a few centuries ahead, a slightly different version showed up in a 17th-century poem, which was picked up by Washington Irving, presenting the moral with reflections as timely for their era as they are today:
“But to beg or to borrow, or get a man’s own, ’tis the very worst world that ever was known.”
Ben Franklin’s Contribution
Connect this to the ever-blunt Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard’s Almanack (1742):
“The diligent Bungler Thorowstrive, set all awry to get their Ends; a man if needs, his own must seek, Though to borrow or steal “ your words rewrite it…… The sage’s way with under=finesse,borrowed success”
Clearly, early literature was already aware of good and bad values surrounding the act of desirability in values or possessions, even if it takes “begging, borrowing, or stealing.”
Related Terms & Expressions
- ❖ Make Ends Meet: Managing finances just well enough to cover expenses.
- ❖ Down and Out: Poverty stricken; a person reduced to begging.
- ❖ Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures: Extreme situations require extreme actions.
Proverbs & Quotes
- “He who begs timidly courts a refusal.” – English Proverb
- “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” – William Shakespeare
- “A man without money is like a ship without a sail.” – Anonymous
Recommended Literature, Songs, & Movies
- 📚 The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer – For the classic (and bawdy) tales.
- 📘 Poor Richard’s Almanack by Benjamin Franklin – For timeless wisdom.
- 📖 “The Man in the Iron Mask” – For intrigue, history, and captivity concepts.
- 🎵 “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits – Reflects on obtaining money by society’s standards.
- 🎥 Catch Me If You Can (Movie) – A true story on going to lengths to live an extraordinary life.
Until we meet by these phrases again, remember life’s lessons often hide within the words we so easily utter. ✨
-E. L. Weiswald, October 2023
