nine tailors make a man



nine tailors make a man

1. A phrase spoken after the custom of ringing church bells for a deceased male. The number of times the bells rang traditionally indicated the deceased person's sex, with a male receiving nine "tellers," or tolls, of the bell. A: "Did you hear the bells ringing?" B: "I did. Nine tailors make a man."
2. The phrase was also used to mock tailors as frail and ineffectual, in comparison to the average man. You will certainly best him in a duel. He's a tailor, after all, and nine tailors make a man!
See also: make, man, nine, tailor

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
LidiaLEED-yah (Polish), LEE-dyah (Italian), LEE-dhyah (Spanish)Polish, Italian, Spanish, Romanian
Teresate-RE-sah (Spanish, Polish), te-RE-zah (Italian, German), TE-re-sah (Finnish), tə-REE-sə (English), tə-REE-zə (English)Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Finnish, Polish, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, English
MarcoMAHR-ko (Italian, Spanish, Dutch)Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Dutch
MareMAH-re (Croatian)Estonian, Slovene, Macedonian, Croatian
Boutros-Arabic, Coptic
Photina-Ancient Greek (Latinized)