what's good for the goose is good for the gander

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English

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Etymology

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From earlier what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander (1670s). Other early forms include “as deep drinketh the goose as the gander” (1562).[1][2]

Proverb

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what's good for the goose is good for the gander

  1. Literally, what is good for a female goose is equally good for a male goose (gander); or, what is good for a woman should be equally as good for a man.
  2. If something is good for one person, it should be equally as good for another person; someone who treats another in a certain way should not complain if the same is done to them.

References

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  1. ^ John Heywood, The Proverbs, Epigrams, and Miscellanies of John Heywood, 1562, p. 82
  2. ^ John Lyly, Euphues and his England, 1579/1580, “as deepe drinketh the Goose as the Gander”, note on p. 377