English · Idiom Historical

quey calves are dear veal

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

An old proverb, somewhat analogous to "killing the goose which lays the golden eggs." Female calves should be kept and reared for cows.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tục ngữ cũ tương tự như 'giết con ngỗng đẻ trứng vàng'

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “quey calves are dear veal” mean?

An old proverb, somewhat analogous to "killing the goose which lays the golden eggs." Female calves should be kept and reared for cows.

Is “quey calves are dear veal” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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