Talk:might and main
Latest comment: 10 months ago by Ilovemiddleenglish in topic Earliest usage of this phrase
Earliest usage of this phrase
[edit]https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/might-and-main.html This website claims that the earliest known usage of this phrase is "in Old English from the late 13th century." That seems likely to me, but the earliest version I can verify is from the late 14th century poem Siege of Jerusalem.
But more þing in our mode myneþ today,
þat by resoun to Rome þe realte fallyþ,
Boþe þe myȝt and þe mayn, maistre and oþer,
And lordschip of eche londe þat liþe vnder heuen. (SoJ lines 509 - 512) Ilovemiddleenglish (talk) 21:52, 14 October 2023 (UTC)