Say What? "An elephant never forgets" + "A friend in need is a friend indeed"
Today’s “Say What?” article focuses on the following phrases: “An elephant never forgets” and “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. Let’s find out more about them!
Examples include, among others, bits from Disney's The Jungle Book, Everyman, and Placebo's Pure Morning.
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I've noticed that it is mostly used with this meaning: a friend who stands by your side when you are in need is a true friend. However, the "in need" and "indeed" parts can lead to a few other interpretations. I can't explain them better than how I've found on a site (one of my sources), so I'll cheat a bit:
"1. A friend, (when you are) in need, is indeed a true friend. ('indeed')
2. A friend, (when you are) in need, is someone who is prepared to act to show it ('in deed')
3. A friend, (who is) in need, is indeed a true friend. ('indeed')
4. A friend, (who is) in need, is someone who is prepared to act to show it ('in deed')"
It mostly depends on who is in need of help: whether you're talking about yourself having a friend who will help you at any time, or whether the friend is the one who needs help. The second interpretation can also imply that a friend only acts nicely when in need of something.
In this article I focused more on the first meaning, as it seems to be the closest to what we can consider the original version of the phrase. Also, some of the phrases mentioned in other languages seem to focus more on this one than the other four.
I'm hoping both the meaning(s) and contexts are clear from that? Let me know if you'd like to know more. :)
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