Idiom: He is the only honest thief

Hamidp · Fri May 09, 2008 22:30 pm *Idiom: He is the only honest thief*

hi everybody

what is the meaning of the following sentence?is it an idiom?

"He is the only honest thief".

MrPedantic · Sat May 10, 2008 0:48 am *idiom*

Hello Hamid,

It's a quotation from an essay by Charles Lamb.

Lamb says that a smuggler is the "only honest thief", because a smuggler only robs "the revenue" – i.e. a smuggler does not pay duty on the goods he imports.

"The revenue" means "those who collect duties on imported goods".

The phrase "honest thief" is an oxymoron: it combines two contradictory ideas.

Best wishes,

MrP

Nessie · Sat May 10, 2008 8:22 am *Idiom: He is the only honest thief*

Hi MrP,
Can we use that to refer to thieves that rob the rich and give those properties to the poor? Wink

_________________
Sad

... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. Sad

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...

Daemon99 · Sat May 10, 2008 8:53 am *Idiom: He is the only honest thief*

I guess it should be property. Not sure though. I think properties means charactersitics or something like that.

By the way, you can also refer to the one who steals your heart as 'an honest thief' Laughing