Say What? As thick as thieves / a person is known by the company he keeps
Happy Friday, and welcome back to Say What? Today we're going to focus on two sayings that deal with relationships-in particular, friendships-with some help from the characters of Hawaii 5-0.
As thick as thieves
Put simply, this saying is most often understood to mean that the people being spoken about are very close friends. However, "as thick as thieves" didn't always have quite that meaning. In fact, "thick," in relation to thieves, used to refer to their conspiratorial, secretive nature. After all, outlaws (to nobody's surprise) needed to keep their plans quiet, which they achieved by using a secret, furtive language that outsiders had difficulty deciphering. This practice-in fact, several established verbal codes for varying groups on the edges of respectable society-had a firmly entrenched place in England during the 1700s, which is why it's odd that "thick as thieves" doesn't appear in print until February 1828:
Bill Morris and me are as thick as two thieves. (from a letter dated March 1827, printed in The Morning Chronicle)
This saying is well-known, so you shouldn't have any difficulty working it into your fic, should you be so inclined:
Chin and Kono stood off to the side, watching as Danny and Steve held an entirely silent conversation over the suspect's head, using only eyebrow wiggles and constipated frowns, until Danny took a step back and let Steve start asking questions.
"Who would've guessed those two would go from animosity to being as thick as thieves so quickly?" Kono asked. "They didn't say a word!"
Chin shrugged. "Good partnerships are like that, cuz."
A person is known by the company he keeps
Here we have a saying that means we tend to surround ourselves with people who are like us, so our personality is reflected in the people we associate with, rather like "birds of a feather flock together." This is an old proverb, used by Euripides as far back as the fifth century BCE:
Every man is like the company he is wont to keep.
A similar assertion is also attributed to Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote:
Tell me thy company, and I'll tell thee what thou art.
So how do we use this proverb? Quite easily! You can slip it into any fic to have one person comment on another's quality of character:
Sang Min held up his hands. "You gonna uncuff me? I done nothing wrong since the last time I helped you!"
Danny scoffed and gave Steve a look of exaggerated disbelief. "'Done nothing wrong,' he says. I don't know about you, Steve, but I'd say hanging out with a bunch of low-life gun-runners and murdering drug dealers points to something wrong."
"Danny's got a point," Steve said. "A person is known by the company he keeps, and the last three times we saw you, you were working with Wo Fat and the Triads. If you want us to believe you, you should try getting better friends."
Whether they're as thick as thieves or keeping a certain kind of company, you can easily draw attention to the kinds of relationships your characters have with one or both of these sayings.
Sources:
"As thick as thieves." Phrasefinder.org.uk
"Be as thick as thieves." Idioms from Thefreedictionary.com
"Company." Collinsdictionary.com
"A man is known by the company he keeps." Idioms from Thefreedictionary.com
As thick as thieves
Put simply, this saying is most often understood to mean that the people being spoken about are very close friends. However, "as thick as thieves" didn't always have quite that meaning. In fact, "thick," in relation to thieves, used to refer to their conspiratorial, secretive nature. After all, outlaws (to nobody's surprise) needed to keep their plans quiet, which they achieved by using a secret, furtive language that outsiders had difficulty deciphering. This practice-in fact, several established verbal codes for varying groups on the edges of respectable society-had a firmly entrenched place in England during the 1700s, which is why it's odd that "thick as thieves" doesn't appear in print until February 1828:
Bill Morris and me are as thick as two thieves. (from a letter dated March 1827, printed in The Morning Chronicle)
This saying is well-known, so you shouldn't have any difficulty working it into your fic, should you be so inclined:
Chin and Kono stood off to the side, watching as Danny and Steve held an entirely silent conversation over the suspect's head, using only eyebrow wiggles and constipated frowns, until Danny took a step back and let Steve start asking questions.
"Who would've guessed those two would go from animosity to being as thick as thieves so quickly?" Kono asked. "They didn't say a word!"
Chin shrugged. "Good partnerships are like that, cuz."
A person is known by the company he keeps
Here we have a saying that means we tend to surround ourselves with people who are like us, so our personality is reflected in the people we associate with, rather like "birds of a feather flock together." This is an old proverb, used by Euripides as far back as the fifth century BCE:
Every man is like the company he is wont to keep.
A similar assertion is also attributed to Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote:
Tell me thy company, and I'll tell thee what thou art.
So how do we use this proverb? Quite easily! You can slip it into any fic to have one person comment on another's quality of character:
Sang Min held up his hands. "You gonna uncuff me? I done nothing wrong since the last time I helped you!"
Danny scoffed and gave Steve a look of exaggerated disbelief. "'Done nothing wrong,' he says. I don't know about you, Steve, but I'd say hanging out with a bunch of low-life gun-runners and murdering drug dealers points to something wrong."
"Danny's got a point," Steve said. "A person is known by the company he keeps, and the last three times we saw you, you were working with Wo Fat and the Triads. If you want us to believe you, you should try getting better friends."
Whether they're as thick as thieves or keeping a certain kind of company, you can easily draw attention to the kinds of relationships your characters have with one or both of these sayings.
Sources:
"As thick as thieves." Phrasefinder.org.uk
"Be as thick as thieves." Idioms from Thefreedictionary.com
"Company." Collinsdictionary.com
"A man is known by the company he keeps." Idioms from Thefreedictionary.com