proverb · Words worth keeping
An ill stake standeth longest.
An ill stake standeth longest.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying claims that a bad stake remains standing longest. As an explicit analogy, an unwelcome or poor thing may persist beyond what someone expects.
What the words are saying
Ill and longest make persistence frustrating rather than admirable. A careful figurative application distinguishes endurance from quality: surviving for a long time does not make something good. The wording does not explain why the stake stays up or establish a universal relation between weakness and durability. The useful question is whether a lingering problem still needs attention.
Everyday example
A team reviews a long-standing unhelpful rule instead of accepting its age as proof of value.
When to use it
Use it as a qualified analogy about unwelcome persistence.
What it does not mean
The literal cause and intended setting remain unspecified.
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 1515 · Stake
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English