Wow! That’s really sad. And what a terrible thing to say to anyone, and especially to a child (also see 1884 poem and 2007 quote below), putting a damper on and snuffing out another’s expression of joy and optimism. Humbug! Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men, as the ‘Shadow’ of old time radio used to say (http://www.uuca.org/sermon.php?id=11). Or is it just negativity, pessimism, cynicism, or plain stupidity?<2007 “One morning when I was 9, he [[her father]] heard me humming as I poured my cereal and said. ‘Sing before breakfast and you’ll cry before supper.’ Coming from a man of so few words, that assumed real import. I never sang before breakfast again.”—‘Newsweek,’ 11 June, page 16
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SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, CRY BEFORE NIGHT: Taken literally by some and as a figurative warning by others. Those who wake up feeling happy and carefree often encounter sorrow or trouble before the end of the day. So don’t tempt fate by too much early cheer. The ‘proverb’ was first recorded, with somewhat different wording (see quote below), in Palsgrave’s L’éclaircissement de la Langue Francaise (1530). Variants include: IF YOU SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, YOU’LL CRY BEFORE SUPPER; LAUGH BEFORE BREAKFAST, CRY BEFORE SUNSET; SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, CRY BEFORE TEA; and the reversed CRY BEFORE BREAKFAST, SING BEFORE SUPPER.
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The American Heritage Dictionary defines PROVERB as “A short pithy saying in frequent and widespread use that expresses a basic truth or practical precept.” So let’s see. Do we have a basic truth here? – not! Precept – yes. Is it practical? – I don’t think so, but it depends on one’s definition of practical. I guess I would feel better about this pithy little piece of nonsense if instead of classifying it as a proverb (as does The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs, etc), it were classified as a ‘superstition’ (as in Cassell’s Dictionary of Superstitions, Encyclopedia of Superstitions, etc.)
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As for the origin of this notion, Cassell’s Dictionary of Superstitions said the following:
SING BEFORE BREAKFAST AND CRY BEFORE NIGHT: This idea apparently originated in the classical notion that a person should not celebrate the day’s achievements in song before the day’s business has begun.
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So folks, let’s not get our hopes up too early and show signs of cheer or optimism because they may later we dashed in the mud – one could easily get gored and trampled by a crazed bull or hit by a meteor, or . . . and then where would all that unnecessary cheer and optimism have gotten you? (>:)
(Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs, and archived sources)<1530 “You waxe mery this morning god gyue grace you wepe nat or [before] nyght.”—“L’éclaircissement de la Langue Francaise” by Palsgrave, page 404>
<1611 “s.v. Soir, Some laugh amornings who ere nigth shed teares.”—‘Dictionary of French and English’ by Cotgrave>
<1721 “They that laugh in the morning may greet [weep] e’er Night.”—Scottish Proverbs’ by Kelly, page 332>
<1863 “‘That boy will plague the life out of me yet!’ said Miss Ruth, in a tone intended to counterfeit peevishness. ‘I don't know what has got into him this morning. It's a bad sign FOR A BIRD TO SING BEFORE BREAKFAST. THE CAT WILL CATCH HIM BEFORE NIGHT, and Robert has begun the day in too great a glee. I just hope he mayn't change his tune before sundown – that's all!’”—‘Husks. Colonel Floyd's Wards’ by Marion Harland, page 385>
<1866 “‘You'd better take care, Cerinthy Ann,’ said her mother; ‘they say that “those who SING BEFORE BREAKFAST WILL CRY BEFORE SUPPER.” Girls talk about getting married,’ she said, relapsing into a gentle didactic melancholy, ‘without realizing its awful responsibilities.’”—‘The Minister's Wooing’ by Harriet Beecher Stowe, page 456>
<1884 “An Old Saw: A dear little maid came skipping out / In the glad new day, with a merry shout; / With dancing feet and flying hair / She sang with joy in the morning air. // ‘DON’T SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, YOU’LL CRY BEFORE NIGHT!’ / What a croak, to darken the child's delight! / And the stupid old nurse, again and again, / Repeated the ancient, dull refrain. // The child paused, trying to understand; / But her eyes saw the great world rainbow-spanned: / Her light little feet hardly touched the earth, / And her soul brimmed over with innocent mirth. // ‘Never mind, -don't listen, O sweet little maid! / Make sure of your morning song,’ I said; / ‘And if pain must meet you, why, all the more / Be glad of the rapture that came before.’”—‘Poems for children’ by Celia Thaxter, page 96>
<1886 “If you SING BEFORE BREAKFAST YOU’LL CRY BEFORE SUPPER.”— ‘Freeborn County Standard’ (Albert Lea, Minnesota), 21 July, page 14>
<1895 “SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, CRY BEFORE NIGHT’ is the most ridiculous of old bogies, and the most destructive of mirth, laughter, and happiness. Let every man, woman, and child stand up against it, sing, howl, . . . laugh merrily, and rejoice at the coming of the day . . . and thus will this detestable superstition retire to the gloom of its inception and be heard no more.”—‘New York Times.’ 3 November, page 27>
<1920 “1886. ‘SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, CRY BEFORE NIGHT.’ 1887. If you SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, you’ll get a whipping before the week is gone.’”—‘Kentucky Superstitions’ by D. L. & L. B. Thomas, page 153>
<1927 “The Ozark housewife is careful not to SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, for this is a sure sign that she will WEEP BEFORE MIDNIGHT.”—‘The Journal of American Folklore,’ Vol. 40, No. 155, January, page 90>
<1940 “‘You remember the saying, “SING BEFORE BREAKFAST—”’ ‘Oh dear—“cry before night.””—‘Our First Murder’ by T. Chanslor, xii>
<1954 “CRY BEFORE BREAKFAST, SING BEFORE SUPPER.”—‘Katherine’ by A. Seton, xxxi>
<1959 “I never sing before breakfast. ‘SING BEFORE BREAKFAST, CRY BEFORE TEA’ is an old English saying.”—‘North American Newspaper Alliance’ dispatch from Dover, England, to the San Diego Union, 1 November>
<1997 (book review for Willy's Silly Grandma by Nancy Vasilakis) “Willy's lovin' (and superstitious) grandma issues a warning for each day of the week. It's bad luck to cut your toenails on Sunday, she tells him. On Monday she cautions, SING BEFORE BREAKFAST AND YOU’LL CRY BEFORE SUPPER. . . .”— ‘The Book Horn,’ 1 May>
<2007 “Old sayings meant to keep kids quiet -- not me. I think the guy who banned singing before breakfast was a miserable old curmudgeon . . . There are scads of old sayings to keep kids from getting into mischief or just stay quiet. . . Like “SING BEFORE BREAKFAST AND YOU’LL CRY BEFORE SUPPER.”—‘Hickory Daily Record’ (North Carolina), 19 May>
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Ken G – June 6, 2007
