proverb · Words worth keeping
Need makes the old wife trot.
Need makes the old wife trot.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Urgent circumstances can draw an unexpected effort from someone. The trotting older woman makes the contrast between usual pace and immediate need vivid.
What the words are saying
The saying pictures someone moving more quickly than the speaker expects because a pressing need changes the situation. Its broader point concerns motivation and circumstance, rather than a reliable claim about age or physical capacity. It can describe a person taking a step they usually postpone when the purpose becomes clear. A useful reading recognises the particular effort without treating necessity as a way to force people beyond their limits. The gendered and age-based wording should not become a stereotype about ability.
Everyday example
A person who usually delays an optional errand acts promptly when someone is relying on the result.
When to use it
Use it to notice a specific effort prompted by a real need.
What it does not mean
Urgency does not give everyone the same capacity and should not be used to coerce effort.
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 1137 · Need
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English