English

Proverb

what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

1. If something is acceptable for one person, it is acceptable for another, of the opposite gender.
   • 1674, Richard Head, The English Rogue, Part 3, page p. 4:

     … sawce which is good for the Goose, I hope will be good for the Gander …

   • 1678, John Ray, Collection of English proverbs, second edition, Cambridge, page 148:

     That that’s good sauce for a goose, is good for a gander.

   • 1682, Thomas Otway, Venice Preserv'd, page 53:

     … what is Sawce for a Goose is Sawce for a Gander …

Derived terms

• what's good for the goose is good for the gander

Descendants

• sauce bonne pour l'oie est bonne pour le jars^[5]

Translations

References

1. ↑ John Heywood, The Proverbs, Epigrams, and Miscellanies of John Heywood, 1562, "as+deep+drinketh+the+goose+as+the+gander" p. 82
2. ↑ John Lyly, Euphues and his England, 1579/1580, “as deepe drinketh the Goose as the Gander”, note on p. 377
3. ↑ 1549, John Heywood, A Dialogue Conteinyng the Nomber in Effect of All the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue
4. ↑ "Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New" by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993).
5. ↑ 1856, Charles Cahier, Quelque six mille proverbis et aphorismes usuels empruntés à notre âge et aux siècles derniers, p. 380: gives French form as borrowing from English

References