proverb · Words worth keeping
Hail brings frost in the tail.
Hail brings frost in the tail.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Hail is imagined as arriving with frost following behind it. The tail image turns a sequence of weather into a single creature-like visitor.
What the words are saying
The event is given a trailing part that carries the next condition. This can make an expected succession easy to picture and remember. It does not establish that every hail event is followed by frost or identify an interval between them. A careful reading explains the personification without using it to forecast what comes next.
Everyday example
A reader notices how the tail image connects two conditions while leaving any actual sequence to separate observation.
When to use it
Use it to discuss the image of one weather event bringing another.
What it does not mean
This is not a verified forecast of frost after hail.
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 736 · Hail
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English