APAD: Rob Peter to pay Paul

7
7grizzly
楼主 (文学城)

Meaning: To take money from one source to give to another that is virtually

identical.

 

Background: It seems more likely is that the saying derives from the shared

feast day of St Paul and St Peter and thus to rob the feast of St Peter to pay

for the feast of St Paul is pointless.

 

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Nero the wayward Emperor, it was said, played the fiddle while Rome burned. It

was too late to fight the fire, he thought, but time to come up with a fitting

pyromaniac. Two weeks later, one of the dwellers of the ghetto, a fisherman from

Galilee and leader of an obscure cult, was found guilty as the firebug and crucified.

The year was AD 64.

 

No one would've guessed. Two and a half centuries passed and the former humble

sect rose and their God succeeded all the gods in the Pantheon. On the martyr's

burial site a bascilica was erected, and St. Peter, posthumously, became the

first pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

w
waterfowl
The modus operandi of the US Treasury department
暖冬cool夏
I see why it‘s Peter and Paul, not Brandon and Bryan.
7
7grizzly
An overt scheme for taxing purposes.
7
7grizzly
So many things to know here. I love it :-)
w
waterfowl
Yep,sure is.
方外居士
拆东墙 补西壁
盈盈一笑间
The year was AD 64. What happened in that year?
盈盈一笑间
The martyrdom of Peter?
7
7grizzly
Yes!
7
7grizzly
房子守恒定律 :-)
方外居士
我再次确认你是一个物理学家!
卫宁
The law of conservation of energy ? :))
暖冬cool夏
I know he is a Phd, doctor of philosophy:)), not in physics.