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Thick As Thieves
Posted by ESC on January 08, 2002 at
In Reply to: Thick As Thieves posted by Tony Zavaleta on January 08, 2002
: Any thoughts on this expression's origin?
From a previous discussion:
The OED says "close in confidence; intimate;
familiar" There's a reference to 1833, but that quote calls it a proverb, so it's
older.
The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985) says "thick as thieves" means "intimate, conspiratorially close." And it also refers to an 1833 quote -- from "The Parson's Daughter" by Theodore E. Hook. "She and my wife are thick as thieves, as the proverb goes."
- Thick As Thieves James Briggs 01/08/02
