proverb · Words worth keeping
To cry famine on a heap of corn.
To cry famine on a heap of corn.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A complaint of scarcity may overlook resources already available. Check what can actually be used before concluding that a situation offers nothing.
What the words are saying
The heap of corn makes the cry of famine appear contradictory. The proverb challenges a person to compare their description with the available provision. Sometimes attention is fixed on a preferred resource while another usable one is ignored. A practical review can show what is present, accessible and suitable. That final distinction matters: visible abundance does not prove access. The saying can expose exaggeration, but it should not become a way to dismiss a person whose apparent resources are unavailable to them.
Everyday example
A workshop organiser says there are no materials left. A colleague checks the store and finds usable supplies that were overlooked because they were packed differently.
When to use it
Use it to check an assertion of shortage against accessible resources.
What it does not mean
Ownership, access and suitability matter. A person can face real deprivation beside resources they are unable to use.
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 (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 14; French section, paragraph 279; source wording: Crier famine sur un tas de bled.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.