Shakespeare, William -- Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 256ff (1.1.256-262) (1598)

Dave — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 22:41:01 +0000

PRINCE: In time the savage bull doth bear the yoke.

BENEDICK The savage bull may, but if ever the sensible Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull’s horns and set them in my forehead, and let me be vilely painted, and in such great letters as they write “Here is good horse to hire” let them signify under my sign “Here you may see Benedick the married man.”

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 256ff (1.1.256-262) (1598)
(Source)

~Proverbs and Sayings -- Circassian proverb

Dave — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 23:14:06 +0000

When an ox enters a palace, it doesn’t become a king but the palace turns into a barn.

[Öküz saraya çıkınca kral olmaz. Ama saray ahır olur.]

Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
Circassian proverb

This "Turkish" (properly Circassian or Adyghe) proverb (source) can be found with a variety of forms and choice of livestock. It was famously used by journalist Sedef Kabaş in early 2022:

A bull does not become king just by entering the palace, but the palace becomes a barn.

Kabas was jailed for supposedly insulting Turkish President Erdoğan with the reference.

Based on Kabas' usage, it was reworked on 23 January 2022 by Elizabeth Bangs, a British academic consultant, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in mind, and posted on Twitter into a more viral form:

When a clown moves into a palace he does not become a king. The palace becomes a circus.

The clown version is now widely misattributed as a Turkish proverb.

More notes:

WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, sc. 1, l. 256ff (1.1.256-262) (1598)

~Proverbs and Sayings -- Circassian proverb