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- This also should include women. ONCE A MAN TWICE A CHILD means we are born as children, come into adulthood and man leads a hopefully good and strong life and works hard, but, old age sneaks up and before death the man becomes a child again (either in a nursing home where he is cared for like a baby) or loses his place in the ranks of society. Thus "twice a child."
- That is not a Biblical expression, it is simply an old worldly phrase.
- Perhaps you are already aware of this and are asking for the origin prior to Shakespeare, but the phrase "an old man is twice a child" is actually from Hamlet.
It is not original to Hamlet, however: One of the Christian 'church fathers,' Clement of Alexandria, writing around 200AD on the subject of plagiarism, writes this:
Theopompus [c. 350BC] having written:-"Twice children are old men in very truth; " And before him Sophocles [c. 450BC] in Peleus:- "Peleus, the son of Aeacus, I, sole housekeeper, Guide, old as he is now, and train again, For the aged man is once again a child,"- Antipho the orator [c. 430BC] says, "For the nursing of the old is like the nursing of children." Also the philosopher Plato [c. 400BC] says, "The old man then, as seems, will be twice a child.
(from the Stromata, or Miscellanies, Book VI, Chapter II)
It is also quoted in the Jewish Midrash "Genesis Rabbah" (pg. 62) which would be dated somewhere around 500AD; it appears to be a reference to Lot, as it's referring to his descendants, the Ammonites and Moabites, but is contained in a larger section of commentary on Gen. 14.
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Does American Idol come on once or twice in a year?
once
What relationship to you is the child of your first cousin once removed?
The child of your first cousin, once removed, is your first cousin, twice removed.
What Bob Marley record contains the line 'once a man twice a child'?
The lyric, 'once a man,twice a child' is from the song titled "Real Situation". This song was released in 1980 on Bob Marley & The Wailers' album, "Uprising". Also, there is a great reggae song called "Once a Man, Twice a Child" by Justin Hinds.
Is fool me once shame on you fool me twice i punch your face a real saying?
Yes.
What is the third line from fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me.?
The third line from the saying "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" is "fool me twice, shame on me."
You come at the beginning of the end and the end of time you come twice a week once a year and come in the middle of sex what are you?
the answer is e what happens once in a minute twice in a moment but never in a thousand years :O
What do you call your first cousin once removed's child?
The child of your first cousin, once removed, is your first cousin, twice removed, if your first cousin once removed is the child of your first cousin. If your first cousin once removed in the first cousin of one of your parents, the child is your second cousin.
You are not in a day but twice in a week you come once in a year?
end
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They actually come once a month
Is the quote 'Once a man twice a child' a proverb or an idiom?
Does it mean what it seems to mean? That is how you tell.Let's look at it - "Once a man, twice a child" would mean that you are a child twice, and a man once - or, you are childish, then you grow up, then you grow old and become childish again.So it's not an idiom because an idiom would not make sense unless you knew exactly what it meant. It must be a proverb.
What comes twice a week once in a year?
The letter "e" comes twice in the phrase "once in a year".
You will come thrice in a minute twice in a hour once in a day who are you?
Answer is VOWEL
