1. Home
2. Idioms
3. Better be an old man's darling than a young ma

Better be an old man's darling than a young ma

---

---

Better be an old man's darling than a young man's slave.

Prov. A young woman should prefer to marry an old man who dotes on her rather than a young man who may treat her badly. When Mr. Nash proposed to me, I thought he was too old, but my mother advised me, "Better be an old man's darling than a young man's slave." When Marion's friends objected that her fiance was much too old for her, she said, "Better be an old man's darling than a young man's slave."

See also: better, darling, old, slave, young