# Please explain the proverb "borrowed things will home again" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903 "2021-02-27T16:24:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903/1 "2021-02-27T16:24:01Z")
Hi I hope someone can explain the proverb “borrowed things will home again”. I couldn’t find any satisfactory explanations of it. I believe it simply means to return borrowed things promptly so as to remain in good standing if one needs to borrow again in the future. Perhaps there are less cryptic versions of the proverb out there. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903/2 "2021-02-27T17:43:28Z")
Never heard the proverb and it parses as grossly ungrammatical to my ears (well, eyes at any rate). will GO home again? will CREATE for themselves a home again? have a WILL to get themselves home again? will point their little noses in the direction of home like a hunting dog, metaphorically speaking, and haunt the borrower as a reminder of the item’s home? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903/3 "2021-02-27T19:23:02Z")
The word ‘home’ is a verb as well as a noun (and adjective and adverb) - as in homing pigeons, homing missiles, etc, so the sentence isn’t automatically ungrammatical even on plain reading. However, I think the use here is as an adverb - and there is an implied ‘go’ before the word home - in the same way as in, say, the phrase ‘I must away’ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903/4 "2021-02-27T19:27:43Z")
It still doesn’t make much sense. If I lend something out and don’t get it back right away I will never see it again. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903/5 "2021-02-27T19:31:02Z")
All websites I’ve seen so far point to a French proverb “Ce qui est bon à prendre est bon à rendre”. Is the tone here a reprimanding or a gentle admonishing one ? It’s not clear to me. How is it used? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903/6 "2021-02-27T19:37:08Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It still doesn’t make much sense. If I lend something out and don’t get it back right away I will never see it again. it’s a proverb. They aren’t always filled with truth. I checked my map and most roads don’t lead to Rome, and I’m starting to suspect there may not actually always be more fish in the sea ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903/7 "2021-02-27T19:39:33Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > All websites I’ve seen so far point to a French proverb > “Ce qui est bon à prendre est bon à rendre”. Is the tone here a reprimanding or a gentle admonishing one ? It’s not clear to me. How is it used? If it’s supposed to be a translation of that phrase, it’s a poor translation. That phrase in French means something to the effect ‘If it was good enough for you to borrow, it’s good enough that you should give it back’ ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-proverb-borrowed-things-will-home-again/933903/8 "2021-02-28T23:23:29Z")
or “the truth will out”.