Iliff-King phrasebook
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definition
I have had an elegant sufficiency expression or saying
Used when turning down a second (or subsequent) helping at table
Origin
“‘An elegant sufficiency’ first appears in James Thomson’s 1728 poem Spring¹, albeit in a context devoid of food. In the years between then and 1840, where Frederic G Cassidy traces it back to, it seems to have become something of a pre-digital-age meme”
—from a British Library blog post – link below
Collector
Evelyn – 1940s?
Evelyn King (Joyce Collard) – mother of Naomi, Francis, Clare & Jeremy
Notes
Granny Dixon would sometimes come out with “I’ve had an elegant sufficiency of the delICacies upon this table, and if I had any more I’d burst”. The more usual ending is “…and any more would have been a superfluous indulgence.”
¹ An elegant sufficiency, content,
Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books,
Ease and alternate labor, useful life,
Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven;
These are the matchless joys of virtuous love.