What’s good for the goose is good for the gander -or not? :)

Hi

What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander
or the version from the thread name is a ‘standard’ idiom.

But I’ve also met
What’s good for the goose is not good for the gander.

  • which is the truth, as well :slight_smile:

(In Russian there are some idioms that play this thing. Two opposite meanings, both self-valued :slight_smile: )

Can I consider them both as separate idioms?

Hi Tamara
I know the equivalent of this proverb in Russian, either :lol:
I don’t think they are of the same meaning because in the second its meaning is contradicted to the first one, as you mentioned. I think the second proverb corresponds to

What’s good for one is bad for another

Let’s see what our moderators think :wink:

Hi Tamara

I’d say the negative version is probably relatively new and the usage may be pretty limited. It seems to be simply a little bit of word play with the original idiom.

By the way, I’d never heard the “sauce version” before – only the “good version”. :lol:

Amy