proverb · Words worth keeping
For the last-comer the bones.
For the last-comer the bones.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Someone arriving after a resource has been divided may find only leftovers. The bones image warns about distribution and timing without making that unequal result fair or deserved.
What the words are saying
The last arrival receives bones instead of the more substantial part of a meal. This can picture an opportunity diminished before everyone has a chance to participate. A useful reading can ask how information, access and allocation were arranged, rather than simply blame the late arrival. Timing may matter, but people can have legitimate reasons for arriving later. The proverb describes a sharp contrast in what remains; it does not justify excluding someone from a fair share.
Everyday example
An event organiser reserves materials for later arrivals instead of allowing the earliest visitors to take everything available.
When to use it
Use it to question how a limited resource is shared over time.
What it does not mean
Being last does not remove a person’s entitlement to fair treatment or establish fault.
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 (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 6; French section, paragraph 116; source wording: Au dernier les os.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.