Appendix:Snowclones/X does not a Y make
English edit
Etymology edit
From one swallow does not a summer make, part of a translation of a remark by Aristotle (384 B.C.E. – 322 B.C.E.): "One swallow does not a summer make, nor one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy." The phrase is more commonly translated as one swallow does not make a summer.[1]
The "does not a summer make" word order first appears circa 1921, with snowcloned variants beginning to appear around the mid to late 20th century.
Phrase edit
- (snowclone) Used to state that X is not sufficient to establish Y, or that Y is absent in spite of the presence of X.
- 1948, Burns Chronicle and Club Directory
- Schools do not a scholar make. Even professors and teachers will tell you that all their teaching will not produce a scholar unless that scholar is willing, receptive, adaptive and applies himself with earnestness and diligence to study.
- 1963, Cue: The Weekly Magazine of New York Life
- But a prologue and a set do not a comedy make.
- 1975, Birding
- While most of the best birders probably have high list totals for the area of their expertise, it is still true that 600 birds does not a birder make. The only real test of a birder's integrity is his ability in the field with others.
- 1948, Burns Chronicle and Club Directory