proverb · Source-linked selection
Drink water like an ox, wine like a king of Spain.
Drink water like an ox, wine like a king of Spain.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying gives water and wine different models of drinking: an ox and a king of Spain. It contrasts an animal image with a royal one without specifying amounts.
What the words are saying
The two comparisons may suggest plain need beside a more ceremonial or restrained style, but the wording does not explain exactly which royal practice is meant. A responsible reading identifies the contrast instead of inventing a national custom or prescribing consumption. Mention of a king does not establish the saying’s country of origin.
Everyday example
A reader compares the two images while leaving the king’s precise manner of drinking unstated.
When to use it
Use it to examine an animal-and-royal contrast with its context qualified.
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What it does not mean
No drinking amount, national practice or health benefit is verified by the phrase.
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 450 · Drink
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English