TWO (or MANY) STRINGS TO ONE’S BOW, phr. (colloquial).—An alternative; more resources than one. Of old, archery, as the dominant pursuit, gave many figures of speech to the language: e.g., ‘Get the shaft-hand of your adversaries’; ‘Draw not thy BOW before thy arrow be fixed’; ‘Kill two birds with one shaft’; ‘Never shoot wide of the mark’; ‘The fool’s bolt is soon shot’; ‘Draw a long BOW’; ‘Many talk of Robin Hood, who never shot his BOW’; ‘An archer is known by his aim, and not by his arrows’; etc.
1562. HEYWOOD, Proverbs and Epigrams (1867), 30. Ye have MANY STRYNGIS TO THE BOWE.
1588. Marprelate’s Epistle, 18 (ARBER). Doe you not thinke that I haue TWO STRINGS TO MY BOW.
1606. JOHN DAY, The Ile of Guls, ii., 2, 39. A wise man’s BOW goes with a TWO-FOLD STRING.
d. 1704. T. BROWN, Works (1760), iv., 115, ed. 1760. A man in Amsterdam is suffer’d to have but one religion, whereas in London he may have TWO STRINGS TO HIS BOW.
1748. SMOLLETT, Roderick Random, xvii. He was resolved to have TWO STRINGS TO HIS BOW, that in case the one failed, he might use the other.
1886. MRS. J. H. RIDDELL, For Dick’s Sake, iv., 11 (S.P.C.K.). She had a SECOND STRING TO HER BOW, which suited her far better; and she sent Dick back his letters and his presents, and a note beginning, ‘Dear sir,’ and ending ‘Yours truly.’
TO DRAW (or PULL) THE LONG BOW, phr. (colloquial).—To exaggerate; TO GAS (q.v.); TO TALK UP (q.v.); to tell improbable stories. Hence LONG-BOW MAN = a liar.
ENGLISH SYNONYMS, to climb a steep hill, to come (or cut) it strong (or fat, or THICK), to embroider, TO GAMMON (q.v.), to lay it on thick, to put on the pot, to pull a leg, to slop over.
FRENCH SYNONYMS. La faire à l’oseille; en voilà une sévère; c’est plus fort que de jouer au bouchon.
[1662. FULLER, Worthies, ‘Notts.’ Surely the poet gives a twang to the loose of his arrow, making him [Robin Hood] shoot one a cloth-yard long at full forty-score mark, for compass never higher than the breast, and within less than a foot of the mark.]
1653. URQUHART, Rabelais, V. 30. ’Twas Ælian, that LONG-BOW MAN, that told you so, never believe him, for he lies as fast as a dog can trot.
1767. RAY, Proverbs [BOHN (1893), 64], s.v.
1798–1821. Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin, ‘Ode to Lord Moira,’ 63.
| But still, howe’er you draw your bow, | |
| Your charms improve, your triumphs grow. |
1819–24. BYRON, Don Juan, xvi., I. They … DRAW THE LONG BOW better now than ever.
1849. THACKERAY, Pendennis, xxx. What is it makes him PULL THE LONG BOW in that wonderful manner? Ibid. (1854–5), The Newcomes, i. King of Corpus (who was an incorrigible wag) was on the point of PULLING some dreadful LONG BOW, and pointing out a half dozen of people in the room as R. and H. and L., &c., the most celebrated wits of that day.
1871. Daily News, 29 Dec. If now and then he appears to DRAW THE LONG BOW, or rather to shoot with an extraordinary rifle, he does not abuse the reader’s faith unmercifully.
1883. A. DOBSON, Old-World Idylls, ‘To Q. H. F.,’ 134.
| The great Gargilius, then, behold! | |
| His ‘LONG-BOW’ hunting-tales of old | |
| Are now but duller. |
TO DRAW THE BOW UP TO THE EAR, phr. (colloquial).—To do a thing with alacrity; to put on FULL STEAM (q.v.); to exert oneself to the utmost.
1860. Macmillan’s Magazine, Feb., 258. So Miller, the coxswain, took to DRAWING THE BOW UP TO THE EAR at once.
TO SHOOT IN ANOTHER’S BOW, verb. phr. (old).—To undertake another’s work; to practise an art or profession other than one’s own.
BY THE STRING RATHER THAN THE BOW, verb. phr. (old).—In a direct fashion; by the straightest way to an end.
THE BENT OF ONE’S BOW, phr. (old).—One’s intention, inclination, disposition.
TO BEND (or BRING) TO ONE’S BOW, verb. phr. (old).—To control; to compel to one’s will or inclination.
TO COME TO ONE’S BOW, verb. phr. (old).—To be complaisant; become compliant.
