/ · 1894 Brewer’s · B · Better kind Friend, etc
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Better kind friend than friend kind. Friend is a corruption of fremd, meaning a stranger. Better [a] kind stranger than a kinsman who makes himself a stranger, or an estranged kinsman.
Better off. In more easy circumstances.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.