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Phrase(s): Better be an old man’s darling than a young man’s slave.
Prov. A young woman should prefer to marry an old man who dotes on her rather than a young man who may treat her badly. • When Mr. Nash proposed to me, I thought he was too old, but my mother advised me, "Better be an old man’s darling than a young man’s slave." • When Marion’s friends objected that her fiancé was much too old for her, she said, "Better be an old man’s darling than a young man’s slave."
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs