Etymology:
- From a German proverb that dates to 1512. First recorded by Thomas Murner in his satire Narrenbeschwörung. First appeared in English when Thomas Carlyle translated it and used it in an 1849 essay on slavery. In the 20th century, English writers also started to use it. The idea was that if a baby is being bathed, after the bath is complete, the bathwater is thrown out even if the baby is still in the tub. This means that the most important thing “the baby” is almost being thrown away while getting rid of something useless “bathwater”.
- 85 Views
They cancelled the entire project because the new management didn't like the prototype, but I think they threw the baby out with the bathwater.
Submitted on September 01, 2009
Modified by TriplePurple on August 23, 2024
Translation
Find a translation for the don't throw the baby out with the bathwater phrase in other languages:
buttare il bambino fuori con l'acqua del bagno
把婴儿和洗澡水一起扔出去
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to don't throw the baby out with the bathwater
don't be a fool, wrap your tooldon't ask, don't tell, don't harass, do…don't be a strangerdish outdon't count your eggs before they …don't put your cart before the hor…don't be chicken!don't cry over spilt milkdole outdish outdon't bite the hand that feeds youdon't call us, we'll call youdon't buy green bananasdon't cry over spilled milk
How to pronounce this phrase?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this don't throw the baby out with the bathwater definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"don't throw the baby out with the bathwater." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/don't-throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater_7510>.
Discuss this don't throw the baby out with the bathwater phrase with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In