E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Pull Devil, Pull Baker.
Let each one do the best for himself in his own line of business, but let not one man interfere in that of another.
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“It’s all fair pulling, ‘pull devil, pull baker;’ someone has to get the worst of it. Now it’s us [bushrangers], now it’s them [the police] that gets … rubbed out.”—Boldrewood: Robbery under Arms, chap. xxxvii.
