he that waits on another man's trencher, makes many a late dinner
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Someone dependent on others may face delays or uncertainties
Literally: he who waits on another man's food plate
Examples
He that waits on another man's trencher, makes many a late dinner
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “he that waits on another man's trencher, makes many a late dinner” mean?
Someone dependent on others may face delays or uncertainties Literally: he who waits on another man's food plate
Is “he that waits on another man's trencher, makes many a late dinner” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.