Meaning
To take money or resources from one person, account or purpose in order to satisfy a debt or need somewhere else, so that the overall position does not improve; solving one obligation by creating another of roughly the same size. Disapproving; highlights the futility of shifting money around rather than outright theft. Regional use: General English.
Origin
An old proverb. The earliest solid evidence is the English religious treatise Jacob's Well, dated about 1440, in the line 'to robbe Petyr and geve it Poule, it were non almesse but gret synne'. A possibly older passage attributed to John Wyclif around 1380 is disputed: the original manuscript is lost and the text may date nearer 1500. The saying was established enough to appear in John Heywood's 1546 proverb collection. A later explanation, offered by Peter Heylyn, traced it to the diversion of Westminster Abbey lands (the abbey being dedicated to St Peter) to repair St Paul's, but this is folk etymology attached long after the fact - the phrase predates those events by at least a century. The pairing more likely reflects Peter and Paul's inseparable association in medieval England, where the two apostles shared a feast day on 29 June, reinforced by alliteration.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- borrow from Peter to pay Paul
- robbing Peter to pay Paul
- steal from Peter to pay Paul
- take from Peter to pay Paul
Usage Examples
- The council is robbing Peter to pay Paul, funding the road repairs by stripping the school maintenance budget.
- Shifting the balance to a new credit card is just robbing Peter to pay Paul unless the spending stops.
- She warned the board that moving engineers from security to sales would simply rob Peter to pay Paul.