hanged Idiom
Might as well be hanged for a sheep as (for) a lam
If the penalty is going to be the same, you might as well commit the greater offence.
Hanged for a sheep as a lamb
This is an expression meaning that if you are going to get into trouble for doing something, then you ought to stop worrying and should try to get everything you can before you get caught.
hang, hanged
hang, hanged In addition to the idioms beginning with
hang and
hanged, also see
draw and quarter;
get the hang of;
I'll be hanged;
leave hanging;
let it all hang out;
not give a damn;
thereby hangs a tale;
time hangs heavy.
hanged for a sheep as a lamb, might as well be
hanged for a sheep as a lamb, might as well be Might just as well be punished for a big misdeed as a small one. For example,
I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb and have a third piece of cake—I've gone off my diet anyhow. Already a proverb in John Ray's 1678 collection, this expression alludes to the old punishment for stealing sheep, which was hanging no matter what the age or size of the animal.
hanged, drawn, and quartered
hanged, drawn, and quartered see
draw and quarter.
I'll be hanged
I'll be hanged 1) I am very surprised, as in,
Well, I'll be hanged; there's Susan. 2) I'll be hanged if I. Under no circumstances will I, as in
I'll be hanged if I let you do that. Both of these hyperbolic colloquial usages allude to being executed by hanging.