It’s an Ill Wind That Blows No Good

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, this is Anne from Philadelphia.

Hello, Anne in Philadelphia. Welcome to the show. What’s up?

Thank you, and thanks for taking my question.

I’ve been curious about a phrase that I’ve actually used in the past and confused people by, and then I confused myself.

And the phrase is, it’s an ill wind that blows nobody good, or something like that.

And like, I don’t know, like 20 years or so ago, I was talking to my partner. I used it. I thought appropriately. She was perplexed. And I just have been thinking about it since, like what my interpretation of it is versus what other people say it means and in what context it’s used.

So the expression again is?

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good.

And in the example that you’re talking about, what was going on where you thought that was an appropriate saying?

Right. And I was actually trying, I have, it’s pretty vague, my memory of the situation, but I think I meant to be communicating that it’s only truly ill winds that do nobody good, that usually events or circumstances or changes bring about good to somebody.

So I kind of imagine like a sailing analogy or something like that where there’s winds.

Some people will be blown off course.

Others will be speeded up.

So we kind of like to say good comes out of almost every situation.

That’s what I think in that moment what I meant to be saying.

Yeah, I think that’s a pretty good summary of it.

I think usually the version that you’ll see, for example, in dictionaries is it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good, which is pretty close to what you were saying.

But, you know, those negatives and the ill meaning bad and nobody any good is a little bit confusing.

I think the modern meaning most often is what you were suggesting, that even a bad event usually benefits somebody.

Somebody gets something out of it.

So there’s a silver lining if you look hard enough.

Yeah.

Right.

That’s what I, okay.

So it is actually what I thought.

It is, I guess, a complex kind of communication.

But what you, good.

Yeah.

Yeah, definitely.

One dictionary says that you can describe an unfortunate event as an ill wind if somebody benefits from it.

And the example they give is, but it’s an ill wind. I recovered and married one of my nurses from the hospital.

Nice. That’s a good wind.

Yeah. And there’s a version of this expression, which goes back at least to the 16th century.

There’s a version of it that’s used to incredibly powerful effect in Shakespeare.

Oh, yeah.

In Henry VI, part three, in the middle of this bloody civil war, a soldier brings in a body and says, ill blows the wind that profits nobody.

And what he means is that there’s always somebody who’s going to get something from something terrible.

And he thinks this corpse may have money on him.

And then he turns the face and realizes that the man he’s killed is his father.

That’s pure Shakespeare right there.

Yeah, right.

Right.

Talk about a tragedy.

Yeah.

Yeah, but you’re using it correctly.

Okay.

Well, thank you.

It’s been good to hear kind of the full context of it.

So I appreciate your taking the time.

We appreciate the question, Anne.

Thanks for calling.

Okay.

Okay.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

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