proverb · Words worth keeping
April borrows three days of March, and they are ill.
April borrows three days of March, and they are ill.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A few unpleasant April days are imagined as borrowed from March. The months are personified to describe weather that seems out of place in the new season.
What the words are saying
Borrowing gives March ownership of the troublesome days and April temporary use of them. The three-day count makes the complaint easy to remember. It does not establish that exactly three days recur or document the origin of a calendar custom. A useful reading appreciates the playful account of a seasonal interruption without turning it into a prediction.
Everyday example
Someone describes an unwelcome cold spell through the borrowed-days image while recognising that its duration is uncertain.
When to use it
Use it as a figurative description of unwelcome seasonal weather.
What it does not mean
The number is part of the saying, not a measured or guaranteed weather pattern.
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 37 · April
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English