Sour grapes

  • This everyday expression means that it is easy to be scornful of something that we cannot have.
  • The expression comes from one of Aesop's Fables, ‘The Fox and the Grapes’. Aesop lived between c. 620-560 BCE.

Aesop’s Fable ‘The Fox and the Grapes’

  • A Fox was walking under the branch of a tree, when he saw a bunch of delicious looking grapes hanging down.
  • Unable to reach, he took a running jump at the grapes, but every time he jumped, he missed the bunch.
  • Finally, exhausted by his attempts, the Fox walked away, saying with great scorn, that they were probably sour anyway.
  • The moral of the story is that it is easy to be scornful of something that is beyond your reach.

 

Everyday Expressions that come from Aesop
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