Who eats oysters on St
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
James's Day will never want. St. James's Day is the first day of the oyster season (August 5th), when oysters are an expensive luxury eaten only by the rich.
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 “Who eats oysters on St” mean?
James's Day will never want. St. James's Day is the first day of the oyster season (August 5th), when oysters are an expensive luxury eaten only by the rich.
Is “Who eats oysters on St” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.