1883: Blood is Thicker than Water Feb 10, 2020

It is generally understood that "blood is thicker than water" refers to the importance of family over others, but a handful of scholars have taken the nearly opposite view over the years. While it should be noted that earliest known records about this phrase take the more commonly understood stance, those are in German. Looking not only at English records, but also Greek and later Arabic sources (replacing 'water' for 'milk'), similar phrases exist approximating "blood of a covenant (or shed in battle) is stronger than water of the womb". Ultimately, this view is not widely accepted, but even among the traditional interpretations, there is some disagreement as to what 'water' refers to as well.

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