Thursday, July 30, 2015

Needs must...






My friend Candi gave me fresh vegetables from her garden last week and I made all this good food: Zucchini bread, pork chops braised with tomatoes and tomatillos, cucumber salad with basil.

"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin."

Well, our lilies are as glorious as Solomon, but in these new hot times maybe I should be dumping water on more useful plants instead.  Like vegetables that toil and spin.

Have you ever heard the old saying,  Needs must?

Meaning
Necessity compels. The phrase is used to express something that is done unwillingly, but with an acceptance that it can't be avoided.

Origin
The phrase is old. In early writings it is usually given in full form - Needs must when the devil drives. That is, if the devil is driving you, you have no choice. Pretty simple.  This dates back to the Middle English text, The Assembly of Gods, circa 1500:  "He must nedys go that the deuell dryes."

This saying was pared down to needs must during the 20th century. Everyone knew what it meant. Unfortunately the saying is fading from popular use and you seldom hear it unless you're a watcher of Masterpiece Theater. Or read blogs written by walking antiques.

No comments:

Post a Comment