"once a man, twice a child" meaning in English

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      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "once a woman, twice a child"
        }
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1827, “The Progress of Art”, in William Hone, editor, The Table Book, London: […] [F]or William Hone, by Hunt and Clarke, […], →OCLC, page 745, column 2",
          "text": "In verification of the old saying, \"Once a man, twice a child,\" Mr. Hood tells of \"A School for Adults,\"—and gives a picture of aged men, baldheaded and wigged, whose education had been neglected, studying their A, B, C.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1861, “a Wykehamist” [pseudonym; George Jennings Davies], “The Power of Proverbs to Impress”, in Papers on Preaching and Public Speaking. […], London: Bell and Daldy, […], →OCLC, page 104",
          "text": "Again, it is a saying, ‘once a man twice a child,’ but, of cases without number, it may justly be said, once a man always a man; tens of thousands there are whom this second childhood toucheth not, whose inward vigour evidently increaseth as their outward strength decays, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
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        {
          "ref": "1888 March, Eliza Allen, “Mother. A Few Words for the Young.”, in Charlotte M[ary] Yonge, editor, The Monthly Packet of Evening Readings for Members of the English Church, volume XV (Third Series), part LXXXVII, London: Walter Smith and Innes (late Mozley), […], →OCLC, page 279",
          "text": "The time will come, dear children, when the mother becomes as a little child. Once a man, twice a child. This must happen to us all if we live to a great age. Bear then, dear ones, with a mother's infirmities, weaknesses, aye, even petulances; you may come to this yourselves.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1889, Oscar F[itzalan] Safford, “Toward Evening”, in Hosea Ballou: a Marvellous Life-story, 3rd edition, Boston, Mass.: Universalist Publishing House, →OCLC, page 243",
          "text": "“I am an old man,” he said; “I avail myself of the privilege of an old man,—to be a child. ‘Once a man, twice a child.’[…]”",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1971, Plays and Players, volume 19, London: Hansom Books, →ISSN, →OCLC, scene iii, page 64, column 1",
          "text": "dora: Look at all these games. Once a man, twice a child, my mother used to say. / ansell: What did she mean by that? / dora: She meant that a man grows from a boy, to a man, to a boy again.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1980 June 10, Bob Marley (lyrics and music), “Real Situation”, in Uprising, performed by Bob Marley and the Wailers, New York, N.Y.: Island Records, →OCLC",
          "text": "Give them an inch, they take a yard / Give them a yard, they take a mile / Once a man and twice a child / And everything is just for a while",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Camyl Sosa Belanger, Eva Gabor, an Amazing Woman: ‘Unscrupulous’, New York, N.Y.: iUniverse, page 201",
          "text": "The child in people sometimes comes out after one reaches a certain stage in life, which makes the saying, \"Once a man twice a child\" to be the truth.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A man is born as a child, grows to adulthood, and consequently enters old age, when he deteriorates and reverts to a childlike state."
      ],
      "id": "en-once_a_man,_twice_a_child-en-proverb-sUQYPLw3",
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          "man",
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        [
          "born",
          "bear#Verb"
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          "child",
          "child#Noun"
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      "related": [
        {
          "word": "retrogenesis"
        },
        {
          "word": "second childhood"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "once a man, twice a boy"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a man is born as a child, grows to adulthood, and consequently enters old age, when he deteriorates and reverts to a childlike state",
          "word": "höperö vanhus on kuin lapsi"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "a man is born as a child, grows to adulthood, and consequently enters old age, when he deteriorates and reverts to a childlike state",
          "word": "tvisvar verður gamall maður barn"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "a man is born as a child, grows to adulthood, and consequently enters old age, when he deteriorates and reverts to a childlike state",
          "word": "gå i barndom"
        }
      ]
    }
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      "ipa": "/ˌwʌn(t)s‿ə ˈmæn ˌtwaɪs‿ə ˈt͡ʃaɪld/",
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  "word": "once a man, twice a child"
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{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "once a woman, twice a child"
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      "word": "retrogenesis"
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        "Rhymes:English/aɪld",
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          "ref": "1827, “The Progress of Art”, in William Hone, editor, The Table Book, London: […] [F]or William Hone, by Hunt and Clarke, […], →OCLC, page 745, column 2",
          "text": "In verification of the old saying, \"Once a man, twice a child,\" Mr. Hood tells of \"A School for Adults,\"—and gives a picture of aged men, baldheaded and wigged, whose education had been neglected, studying their A, B, C.",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "text": "Again, it is a saying, ‘once a man twice a child,’ but, of cases without number, it may justly be said, once a man always a man; tens of thousands there are whom this second childhood toucheth not, whose inward vigour evidently increaseth as their outward strength decays, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "1888 March, Eliza Allen, “Mother. A Few Words for the Young.”, in Charlotte M[ary] Yonge, editor, The Monthly Packet of Evening Readings for Members of the English Church, volume XV (Third Series), part LXXXVII, London: Walter Smith and Innes (late Mozley), […], →OCLC, page 279",
          "text": "The time will come, dear children, when the mother becomes as a little child. Once a man, twice a child. This must happen to us all if we live to a great age. Bear then, dear ones, with a mother's infirmities, weaknesses, aye, even petulances; you may come to this yourselves.",
          "type": "quotation"
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        {
          "ref": "1889, Oscar F[itzalan] Safford, “Toward Evening”, in Hosea Ballou: a Marvellous Life-story, 3rd edition, Boston, Mass.: Universalist Publishing House, →OCLC, page 243",
          "text": "“I am an old man,” he said; “I avail myself of the privilege of an old man,—to be a child. ‘Once a man, twice a child.’[…]”",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "1971, Plays and Players, volume 19, London: Hansom Books, →ISSN, →OCLC, scene iii, page 64, column 1",
          "text": "dora: Look at all these games. Once a man, twice a child, my mother used to say. / ansell: What did she mean by that? / dora: She meant that a man grows from a boy, to a man, to a boy again.",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "1980 June 10, Bob Marley (lyrics and music), “Real Situation”, in Uprising, performed by Bob Marley and the Wailers, New York, N.Y.: Island Records, →OCLC",
          "text": "Give them an inch, they take a yard / Give them a yard, they take a mile / Once a man and twice a child / And everything is just for a while",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2005, Camyl Sosa Belanger, Eva Gabor, an Amazing Woman: ‘Unscrupulous’, New York, N.Y.: iUniverse, page 201",
          "text": "The child in people sometimes comes out after one reaches a certain stage in life, which makes the saying, \"Once a man twice a child\" to be the truth.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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        "A man is born as a child, grows to adulthood, and consequently enters old age, when he deteriorates and reverts to a childlike state."
      ],
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          "man",
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          "born",
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      "synonyms": [
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          "word": "once a man, twice a boy"
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      "ipa": "/ˌwʌn(t)s‿ə ˈmæn ˌtwaɪs‿ə ˈt͡ʃaɪld/",
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  "translations": [
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      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a man is born as a child, grows to adulthood, and consequently enters old age, when he deteriorates and reverts to a childlike state",
      "word": "höperö vanhus on kuin lapsi"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "a man is born as a child, grows to adulthood, and consequently enters old age, when he deteriorates and reverts to a childlike state",
      "word": "tvisvar verður gamall maður barn"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "a man is born as a child, grows to adulthood, and consequently enters old age, when he deteriorates and reverts to a childlike state",
      "word": "gå i barndom"
    }
  ],
  "word": "once a man, twice a child"
}