spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar
do not spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar
proverb Do not ruin something simply to avoid some minor difficulty, inconvenience, or expense. "Ship" is thought to be a dialectical pronunciation of "sheep," and a "ha'porth" is a "halfpennyworth." Tar was used to protect sheep skin from flies (and thereby illness and death), so not having enough tar would contribute to the death of the sheep. You know your mom is going to be offended, so please call her before the dinner party—do not spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar.
See also: not, of, ship, spoil, tar
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar
risk the failure of a large enterprise by trying to economize on trivial things.The expression originally referred to the use of tar to keep flies off sores on sheep (ship represented a dialectal pronunciation of sheep ). Ha'p'orth is a contraction of halfpennyworth .
See also: of, ship, spoil, tar
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
- do not spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar
- hap
- porth
- spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar
- spoil the ship for a ha'porth/ha'penny-worth of tar
- teach a man to fish
- for want of a nail
- For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse ...
- it takes a village
- village