when the maggot bites
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
When the fancy takes us. Swift, making fun of the notion, says that if the bite is hexagonal it produces poetry; if circular, eloquence; if conical, politics.
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.
Common questions
What does “when the maggot bites” mean?
When the fancy takes us. Swift, making fun of the notion, says that if the bite is hexagonal it produces poetry; if circular, eloquence; if conical, politics.
Is “when the maggot bites” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.