proverb · Words worth keeping
November take flail, Let ships no more sail.
November take flail, Let ships no more sail.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying assigns November to threshing work and warns against further sailing. It divides the season into a preferred task and a discouraged undertaking.
What the words are saying
The flail and ship give two activities contrasting treatment in the same month. It can show how a seasonal calendar imagines priorities and risk. The explanation does not verify the month as safe or unsafe for any particular work or journey. A useful reading identifies the contrast while leaving real conditions, equipment and circumstances to separate assessment.
Everyday example
Someone studying seasonal work sayings records the two activities without treating November alone as a travel decision.
When to use it
Use it to discuss calendar-based priorities in older language.
What it does not mean
This is not farming, handling or maritime safety advice.
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 1161 · November
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English