don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar

don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar
► don't spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar proverb don't risk the failure of a large project by trying to economize on trivial things. [ORIGIN: referring to the use of tar to keep flies off sores on sheep (from dialect pronunciation of sheep as ship).]
Main Entry: ↑halfpennyworth

English terms dictionary. 2015.

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  • do not spoil the ship for a ha’porth of tar — Ship is a dialectal pronunciation of sheep, and the original literal sense of the proverb was ‘do not allow sheep to die for the lack of a trifling amount of tar’, tar being used to protect sores and wounds on sheep from flies. Hog (quots. 1623… …   Proverbs new dictionary

  • halfpennyworth — (also ha p orth) ► NOUN Brit. 1) as much as could be bought for a halfpenny. 2) (ha p orth) informal a negligible amount: he s never been a ha p orth of bother. ● don t spoil the ship for a ha p orth of tar Cf. ↑don t spoil the ship for a ha p… …   English terms dictionary

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