proverb · Words worth keeping
It's ill shaving against the wool.
It's ill shaving against the wool.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
An approach that works against the nature of a task can make it unnecessarily difficult. Shaving against the wool pictures resistance created by the chosen method.
What the words are saying
The direction of the action is imagined to oppose what is being worked on. As a metaphor, the saying can encourage understanding a task before applying force or repeating an unsuitable technique. It does not establish that every difficult method is wrong or that one should never challenge an established practice. A useful reading distinguishes genuine requirements from mere habit.
Everyday example
A group adjusts its explanation to the learner’s actual questions instead of repeating a format that keeps confusing them.
When to use it
Use it to examine whether a method fits the task.
What it does not mean
Difficulty can accompany worthwhile change; this is not physical handling advice.
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 1422 · Shaving
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English