what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

If something is good, acceptable, or beneficial for one person, it is or should be equally so for another person or persons as well. Well I guess if you are entitled to stay out until all hours, then I'll do the same. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, right?

See also: for, gander, goose, sauce

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Prov. What is good for one person is good for another.; What is good for the man in a couple is good for the woman. Jane: You're overweight; you should get more exercise. Alan: But I don't really have time to exercise. Jane: When I was overweight, you told me to exercise; what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

See also: for, gander, goose, sauce

sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, what's

What applies to one applies to both, especially to both male and female. For example, After her husband went off with his fishing buddies for a week, she decided to take a vacation without him-what's sauce for the goose, you know . This proverbial expression, often shortened as in the example, was cited and described as "a woman's proverb" in John Ray's English Proverbs (1678).

what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

OLD-FASHIONED

People say what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander when they are arguing that a rule that applies to one person should apply to others, because people should be treated equally. If a man can marry someone twenty years younger than him, why can't a woman? What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

See also: for, gander, goose, sauce

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

what is appropriate in one case is also appropriate in the other case in question. proverb

This expression is often used as a statement that what is right or wrong for one sex is right or wrong for the other as well. John Ray , who was the first to record this saying (in his English Proverbs of 1670 ), remarked ‘This is a woman's Proverb’.

1998 New Scientist What is sauce for the US goose is sauce for the Iraqi gander!

See also: for, gander, goose, sauce

what’s ˌsauce for the ˌgoose is ˌsauce for the ˈgander

(old-fashioned, saying) if one partner in a marriage or relationship can behave in a particular way, then the other partner should also be allowed to behave in this way: If she can go out with her friends, why can’t I? What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

A gander is a male goose.

See also: for, gander, goose, sauce

sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, what's

What’s good for one is good for the other; it applies to both (especially, male and female, or husband and wife). John Ray included this expression in his 1678 proverb collection and termed it “a woman’s Proverb.” An early assertion of sexual equity, it has since been applied both in instances of male and female and in more general terms. The former is meant in Lawrence Block’s novel A Stab in the Dark (1981): “I knew she had accused her husband of infidelity, so I thought she might be getting a bit of sauce for the goose.”