A few days ago
poetsheart

Where does the saying they got the lions share come from?

I said to a friend today that 1 of my cats got the lions share of the brains. My other cat is rather dim but cuddly.

We wondered if that had to do with the asops fable where the lion hunting with other beasts took the biggest and best cuts of the meat on virtue of being the king and the biggest /strongest leaving them with the leftover unwanted scraps.

Top 3 Answers
A few days ago
Lisa B

Favorite Answer

This is a quote from (of all places!) the on line version of “The Hindu”, an Indian newspaper. I believe it is correct:

This is an expression which owes its origin to a story from Aesop’s Fairy Tales. In the story, a lion and three of his friends – a fox, [a donkey], and a wolf – go hunting. After they make a kill the lion says that he is going to keep three fourths of the meat for himself. The reasons he provides for keeping the “lion’s share” are the following: one fourth as his just share, one fourth for his lioness and cubs, and the other one fourth for his courage. The lion then goes on to inform his friends that he is prepared to part with the remaining one fourth provided one of them challenges him to a fight and defeats him. The three friends refuse to take him on and as a result leave the entire kill to the king of beasts. “Lion’s share” as you can guess from the story means the larger share of something.

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A few days ago
boggle10
The lion takes what he wants, but that does not necessarily mean all. The lion’s share is the biggest portion, and certainly everything (as in Aesop’s fable) is the biggest portion.

Another example:

Since Richard owns 60% of the company, he always gets the lion’s share of any profits.

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A few days ago
physician
It does
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