proverb · Words worth keeping
A tradesman who gets not loseth.
A tradesman who gets not loseth.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying treats a tradesperson’s lack of gain as a loss. It judges merely standing still as insufficient within the commercial activity it imagines.
What the words are saying
Gets not and loseth make the absence of a benefit count negatively. A careful application asks what expenses or responsibilities continue even when no new return arrives. The text does not give accounts that prove a particular business is losing money, nor does it require every activity to produce profit. Its contrast invites scrutiny of the actual situation.
Everyday example
A small project reviews its continuing expenses instead of assessing progress only by whether any new income arrived.
When to use it
Use it to discuss the difference between no gain and no cost.
What it does not mean
The saying is not a financial calculation or a rule for all work.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1652 · Tradesman
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English