wishing bone
Preserved but no longer current.
See MERRYTHOUGHT. Wishing cap, Fortunatus jfa.v.) had an in- exhaustible purse and a wishing cap, but these gifts proved the ruin of himself and his sons. The object of the tale is to show the vanity of human prosperity.
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 “wishing bone” mean?
See MERRYTHOUGHT. Wishing cap, Fortunatus jfa.v.) had an in- exhaustible purse and a wishing cap, but these gifts proved the ruin of himself and his sons. The object of the tale is to show the vanity of human prosperity.
Is “wishing bone” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.