the proof of the pudding is in the eating

English

Etymology

This proverb dates back at least to the 14th century as "Jt is ywrite that euery thing Hymself sheweth in the tastyng", and William Camden stated it in 1605 in Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine as "All the proofe of a pudding, is in the eating", per Rogers' Dictionary of Cliche and the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.[1]

A 1682 translation of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux Le Lutrin (written between 1672 and 1674) renders it "The proof of th' pudding's seen i' the eating."[2]

The current phrasing is generally attributed to the 1701 translation by Peter Anthony Motteux[3] of a proverb Miguel de Cervantes used in Don Quixote (1615),[4] al freír de los huevos lo verá (“you will see it when you fry the eggs”).[5]

The shorter form the proof is in the pudding, which dates back to the 1920s and came into common use in the United States in the 1950s, is becoming increasingly common.[6][7]

Proverb

the proof of the pudding is in the eating

  1. You can only say something is a success after it has been tried out or used.
    I know you didn't think it was a very good product, but just look at the fantastic sales figures. That's the proof of the pudding.

Translations

References
  1. Proof of the pudding (Answers.com)
  2. Re: Correct Cliche (Joel Wolfson, Imagelib mailing list, Monday, 10 June 1996)
  3. “Proof of the pudding” in Gary Martin, The Phrase Finder, 1997–, retrieved 26 February 2017.
  4. The proof of the pudding is [in] the eating. by Miguel de Cervantes (Quoteworld)
  5. New Boundaries in Old Territory. Emory Studies in Early Christianity, volume 3, footnote 107
  6. “Proof of the pudding” in Michael Quinion, World Wide Words, 13 March 2004.
  7. The American Heritage Dictionary, According to Ask Yahoo, "the proof is in the pudding" come from?", Tue 03 Sep 2002.
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