Origin of “the grass is always greener”












0














Earlier versions of this well-known proverb, according to “writingexplained.org”, include:




A Latin proverb cited by Erasmus of Rotterdam was translated into English by Richard Taverner in 1545, as:




  • “The corne in an other mans ground semeth euer more fertyll and plentifull then doth oure own.” (The corn in another man’s ground seems ever more fertile and plentiful than our own does.)


The poet Ovid takes this further, saying in his “Art of Love” (1 BC) that




  • the harvest is always richer in another man’s field.”




But, apparently, as far as the current English version is concerned:




this idiom has been popular since at least the early 1900’s, evidenced by the fact that a song recorded in 1924 by Raymond B. Egan and Richard A. Whiting carried its wording, “The Grass is Always Greener in the Other Fellow’s Yard.”




One often suggested origin of the current version is:




It is speculated that the expression came from the habit of cattle of grazing through the fence on the grass of the adjacent field, or escaping from one pasture to another through a broken fence line, in search of new grass to eat.(www.idioms.online)




and curiously the sama pro era, with almost the same wording, exits also in other languages such as French, Italian, and even in Japanese.



Questions:




  • Where does the English proverb comes from? Did it originate in England or was it “imported” from a foreign language?


  • When do the first English usage instances date back to?











share|improve this question



























    0














    Earlier versions of this well-known proverb, according to “writingexplained.org”, include:




    A Latin proverb cited by Erasmus of Rotterdam was translated into English by Richard Taverner in 1545, as:




    • “The corne in an other mans ground semeth euer more fertyll and plentifull then doth oure own.” (The corn in another man’s ground seems ever more fertile and plentiful than our own does.)


    The poet Ovid takes this further, saying in his “Art of Love” (1 BC) that




    • the harvest is always richer in another man’s field.”




    But, apparently, as far as the current English version is concerned:




    this idiom has been popular since at least the early 1900’s, evidenced by the fact that a song recorded in 1924 by Raymond B. Egan and Richard A. Whiting carried its wording, “The Grass is Always Greener in the Other Fellow’s Yard.”




    One often suggested origin of the current version is:




    It is speculated that the expression came from the habit of cattle of grazing through the fence on the grass of the adjacent field, or escaping from one pasture to another through a broken fence line, in search of new grass to eat.(www.idioms.online)




    and curiously the sama pro era, with almost the same wording, exits also in other languages such as French, Italian, and even in Japanese.



    Questions:




    • Where does the English proverb comes from? Did it originate in England or was it “imported” from a foreign language?


    • When do the first English usage instances date back to?











    share|improve this question

























      0












      0








      0







      Earlier versions of this well-known proverb, according to “writingexplained.org”, include:




      A Latin proverb cited by Erasmus of Rotterdam was translated into English by Richard Taverner in 1545, as:




      • “The corne in an other mans ground semeth euer more fertyll and plentifull then doth oure own.” (The corn in another man’s ground seems ever more fertile and plentiful than our own does.)


      The poet Ovid takes this further, saying in his “Art of Love” (1 BC) that




      • the harvest is always richer in another man’s field.”




      But, apparently, as far as the current English version is concerned:




      this idiom has been popular since at least the early 1900’s, evidenced by the fact that a song recorded in 1924 by Raymond B. Egan and Richard A. Whiting carried its wording, “The Grass is Always Greener in the Other Fellow’s Yard.”




      One often suggested origin of the current version is:




      It is speculated that the expression came from the habit of cattle of grazing through the fence on the grass of the adjacent field, or escaping from one pasture to another through a broken fence line, in search of new grass to eat.(www.idioms.online)




      and curiously the sama pro era, with almost the same wording, exits also in other languages such as French, Italian, and even in Japanese.



      Questions:




      • Where does the English proverb comes from? Did it originate in England or was it “imported” from a foreign language?


      • When do the first English usage instances date back to?











      share|improve this question













      Earlier versions of this well-known proverb, according to “writingexplained.org”, include:




      A Latin proverb cited by Erasmus of Rotterdam was translated into English by Richard Taverner in 1545, as:




      • “The corne in an other mans ground semeth euer more fertyll and plentifull then doth oure own.” (The corn in another man’s ground seems ever more fertile and plentiful than our own does.)


      The poet Ovid takes this further, saying in his “Art of Love” (1 BC) that




      • the harvest is always richer in another man’s field.”




      But, apparently, as far as the current English version is concerned:




      this idiom has been popular since at least the early 1900’s, evidenced by the fact that a song recorded in 1924 by Raymond B. Egan and Richard A. Whiting carried its wording, “The Grass is Always Greener in the Other Fellow’s Yard.”




      One often suggested origin of the current version is:




      It is speculated that the expression came from the habit of cattle of grazing through the fence on the grass of the adjacent field, or escaping from one pasture to another through a broken fence line, in search of new grass to eat.(www.idioms.online)




      and curiously the sama pro era, with almost the same wording, exits also in other languages such as French, Italian, and even in Japanese.



      Questions:




      • Where does the English proverb comes from? Did it originate in England or was it “imported” from a foreign language?


      • When do the first English usage instances date back to?








      etymology proverbs phrase-origin






      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question











      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question










      asked 52 mins ago









      user240918

      24.9k1068149




      24.9k1068149






















          0






          active

          oldest

          votes











          Your Answer








          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "97"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: false,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: null,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });














          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f479662%2forigin-of-the-grass-is-always-greener%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          0






          active

          oldest

          votes








          0






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes
















          draft saved

          draft discarded




















































          Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





          Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


          Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f479662%2forigin-of-the-grass-is-always-greener%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          What visual should I use to simply compare current year value vs last year in Power BI desktop

          How to ignore python UserWarning in pytest?

          Alexandru Averescu