Short hair is soon combed

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Short hair is combed soon is a saying that means that a simple matter is quickly settled.

In Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks it is put in the mouth of an unsuccessful merchant when he is asked why he cannot be found in the office :

“'Well, and you, Döhlmann?' asked Senator Gieseke and yawned ... 'You have given yourself completely to the aquavit, have you?'

'What is the chimney supposed to smoke from?' Said the consul. 'I check the office every few days. Short hair is soon combed. '"

The proverb appeared in this wording as early as 1880 in the German dictionary of proverbs as a High German explanation for the proverb "Short bristles are soon brushed".

variants

  • Short hair is easy to brush.
  • Short hair is soon brushed (shorn).
  • A bald head is soon shaved.
  • English : A bald head is soon shaven.
  • French : De peu de drap courte cappe.
  • Dutch : Kort haar is gauw gekamd.
  • Spanish : Quien pequeña heredad tieno á pasos la mide.
  • Czech : Dlouhé vlasy, krátký rozum.
  • Hungarian : Könnyü a 'kopaszt beretválni.
  • Low German : Short bristles will soon be brushed.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Mann: Buddenbrooks , Fischer, Frankfurt a. M. 1991, p. 668
  2. ↑ a b Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Wander (Ed.): German Sprichwort Lexikon. A household treasure for the German people , Volume 5, FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1880, column 1035, keyword bristles (facsimile on zeno.org)
  3. ^ Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm : German dictionary . Fourth volume, second section, edited by Moritz Heyne, Leipzig 1877, column 16 , accessed on December 9, 2009

literature