"Don't count your chickens before they hatch"? English Edification Enrichment (20)


What is the meaning and origin of the idiom, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch"?

Some people, as soon as they buy a lottery ticket think they are going to win. They begin to make plans as to what they are going to do with the money when they get it. When you tell such a person "not to count your chickens before they hatch" what you are doing is warning him. You are telling the individual not to celebrate prematurely; you are advising him not to count his profits before he has the money in his hand. You are asking him to wait for the lottery results to be announced before he starts making plans.

Here are a few examples,

* Ask Sam. He may be willing to lend you some money. But don't count your chickens before they hatch.
* Stop talking about the places you are going to see. You still haven't got your visa yet. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

This is an expression which comes from a story in Aesop's Fairy Tales. In the story a woman is carrying a basket of eggs. While she is walking, she begins to think about ....how many chicks she will soon have...how much money she'll make by selling the chicks...the things she'll buy with all the money...As she is thinking about all this, she drops the basket of eggs!

Result? The woman is left with no eggs and no chicks. Hence the expression, "don't count your chickens before they hatch".


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