give them an inch and they'll take a mile
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.09 in modern English
59
Scrabble Score
32
Letters
3
Syllables
14
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "O the tyranny of aristocracy!—give it a furlong, and it will take a mile,—a veto stopped me once from going to Brussels: and now comes a Lettre de cachet ordering me to Paris."
- "If you had a horse or a small article of property taken, you would recover it by law; not for the value of the article itself, but if you give an aggressor an inch, he will take a mile."
- "Show them that those who have defended the nation with the sword can control it by the ballot-box. Give no cowardly scamp an inch, or he will take a mile."
- "Buy for them beautiful pictures, and encourage them to decorate their rooms each in his or her own childish way. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. Allow them the privilege and they will make your home beautiful."
- "Undertake to make men of students by giving full immunities, and lawlessness, or perhaps we should say carelessness and indifference, results. "Give them an inch and they will take a mile," is the maxim that illustrates their course."
- "Don't let us tempt the devil to tempt us. If we give Satan an inch, he will take a mile."
Etymology
A modified variant of the expression give them an inch and they'll take an ell, adjusted for the obsolescence of the ell due to the standardization of the imperial system.