poacher turned gamekeeper
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
The figurative sense is by self-evident metaphor from the literal sense. The thought of poachers turned gamekeepers goes back centuries; for example, William Tinsley said in his memoirs that "There is an old saying that the most expert poachers make the best gamekeepers. I do not think the saying is true as a rule […] "[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
poacher turned gamekeeper (plural poachers turned gamekeepers)
- (idiomatic, figurative) A person now charged with protecting what they formerly preyed upon.
- Synonym: wolf guarding the sheep
- 1877, Mayne Reid, Gwen Wynn: A Romance of the Wye[2], volume III, Tinsley Brothers, page 71:
- Ah! poacher turned gamekeeper! That be settin' thief to catch thief!
- 1938, The Strand Magazine[3], volume 95, page 373:
- When President Roosevelt appointed Kennedy to the Securities Exchange Commission, he was acting on the "poacher turned gamekeeper" principle.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see poacher, turned, gamekeeper.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Tinsley, William (1900) Random Recollections of an Old Publisher[1], volume 1, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Company, page 36