E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Quick.
Living; hence animated, lively; hence fast, active, brisk (Anglo-Saxon, cwic, living, alive). Our expression, “Look alive,” means Be brisk.
1
Quick at meat, quick at work. In French, “Bonne bête s’échauffe en mangeant,” or “Hardi gagneur, hardi mangeur.” The opposite would certainly be true: A dawdle in one thing is a dawdle in all.
