ill weeds...

[Tom Hoekstra]

Dear,
The Dutch expression "onkruid vergaat niet" I found translated in:
“Ill weeds grow apace”.
This expression is not in your idioms database.
Is it incorrectly translated or does there exist a better one?
Thanks for your reply.
Regards, Tom Hoekstra

[birdeen's call]

Thanks for this, I didn't know the proverb. Here's what I found on the web:

Ill weeds grow apace.
Nettles are never frostbitten.
Vices are learnt without a master.

Proverbs > Weeds

If you want to sound erudite, you can also use a Latin maxim:

Herba mala (mala herba) cito crescit.

[5jj]

Like BC, I had never heard this proverb.

I tried searching to see if I could come up with a more natural alternative and discovered, to my surprise, that it does appear to be an English proverb.

We live and learn.

[BobK]

FYI - Another weeds-based proverb (either quoted or coined by Shakespeare) is 'Lilies that fester smell far/[much? - some monosyllable] worse than weeds.'

b

[5jj]

FYI - Another weeds-based proverb (either quoted or coined by Shakespeare) is 'Lilies that fester smell far/[much? - some monosyllable] worse than weeds.'

Lilies That Fester - CSLBOOKCLUB.COM

[susiedqq]

Bad grass grows best

or

It's always the weeds that grow the best.

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