Why is it 'give and take' and not 'take and give'?

Question

.........Samhillesq seems highly upset with the quality of the question, but two stars also have been given to this same question..... that is life!!

Answer 1

life is "give and take" and "take and give"...at the same time
imagine with me....you are person A.....and another one is person B....when you give person B it is TAKE for him.....and when you take it is GIVE for him .....so it only depends on you either you choose person A or person B

Answer 2

Because it is the natural order of things. Before we are able to take we first have to give.
We need to first breath out, so give in order to be able to take so to receive fresh air and fill our lounges with oxygen.
Every REaction precedes an ACTION. So giving comes always before taking.
The Universe has started with the Words "Let there be Light" so an ACTION which only then resulted in REACTIONS.
The action is the give and the reaction is the take. Everything on this planet works this way, in that the give precedes the taking. And only in giving are we and everything in nature or the universe able to take again. We people sometimes disregard this in that we believe we can take without giving. Or we believe we can take first what we like before putting an effort into the process. This only leads to frustrations.

One example is the environmental state of our planet as if we disregard this universal law nothing healthy comes from it.

Answer 3

Good question. Perhaps we'll never know the real answer, as we'd probably have to do some digging (literally) to get it.

"Give And Take" certainly rolls off the tongue more easily and it sounds less awkward.

It also sounds less selfish. It implies that you would give first, which makes you sound like a better person. Or maybe it implies that human beings would give first, if offered the choice.

Perhaps one of those reasons had something to do with it...?

Answer 4

Because if it is "Take and Give" then the mentality would be for everyone to have their hand out. "The Give and Take" mentality allows for a more peaceful
co-existence.
If I`am trying to take and your trying to take then a conflict definitely ensues. If I`m trying to give while your trying to give, we can definitely agree to let to other give first - as we know that we will get our just do in return. Imagine if all the companies gave to their employees money before work had been done. The employees would Take but not Give back. We must Give in order to Receive. If everyone was simply trying to Take nothing would ever be accomplished!

Answer 5

Well I'd like to say that it's because it's "better to give than receive" but it may just be that "give & take" rolls off the tongue better than "take and give"! It's supposed to represent a 50-50 situation, equal partnership so the terms should be interchangeable but you're right people do always say give and take not vice versa...

Answer 6

This has got to be one of the most useless questions ever, why would anyone even entertain the thought, I doubt anyone alive could answer this question without it being pure speculation, your own guess is as good as any you may receive, surely you can think up something deeper than that to ask?

Answer 7

I suppose it makes it sound better than it really is if you state the "give" first.
In other words, if you really were to give someone something and then take something from them, it sounds kinder that taking something first, and then having to give something back for it.
I hope that made sense...

Answer 8

We can not give what we do not have.So, I would take first so that I could give. I have to fill up my reserve in order for me to fill up the tanks.

Answer 9

My friend, you are so naive to the ways of life.
You must give to someone to gain their confidence, then you take them for everything.

Answer 10

Because you have to give before you get. Smile first, and you're almost certain to get a return - don't smile and tiddly-squat.