Alternative forms
edit
Etymology
edit
First attested in English in Thomas Howell's 1570 New Sonnets and Pretty Pamphlets in the couplet "Counte not thy Chickens that vnhatched be, / Waye wordes as winde, till thou finde certaintee", possibly deriving from similar medieval and early modern Latin fables and maxims.
don't count your chickens before they're hatched
- One should not depend upon a favorable (and typically overoptimistic) outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur.
- Synonyms: don't get your hopes up, don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear
[1663, [Samuel Butler], “The Second Part of Hudibras”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, canto III, page 175:[...] Make Fools believe in their fore-seeing / Of things before they are in Being; / To swallow Gudgeons ere th' are catch'd, / And count their Chickens ere th' are hatch'd, [...]]
Translations
edit
one should not depend upon a favorable outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur
- Afrikaans: moenie die beer se vel verkoop voordat hy geskiet is nie
- Albanian: peshku në det, tigani në zjarr
- Arabic: لَا تَشْتَرِي ٱلسَّمَكَ وَهُوَ فِي ٱلْبَحْرِ بَلِ ٱنْتَظِرْ حَتَّى يُصْطَادَ (lā taštarī s-samaka wahuwa fī l-baḥri bali ntaẓir ḥattā yuṣṭāda)
- Catalan: no diguis blat fins que no sigui al sac i ben lligat
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: (勿打)如意算盤/(勿打)如意算盘 (wù dǎ rúyìsuànpán), (別)一廂情願/一厢情愿 (zh) (bié yīxiāngqíngyuàn), (別做)白日夢/(别做)白日梦 (bié zuò báirìmèng)
- Czech: neříkej hop, dokud nepřeskočíš, nechval dne před večerem (cs)
- Danish: pels ikke bjørnen før den er skudt
- Dutch: de huid niet verkopen voor de beer geschoten is (nl)
- Esperanto: la manĝota fiŝo estas ankoraŭ en la rivero
- Finnish: älä nuolaise ennen kuin tipahtaa, älä nylje karhua ennen kuin se on kaadettu
- French: il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué (fr)
- Friulian: no stâ vendi le piel dal ors prime di vêlu copât
- German: man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben (de) (common, but slightly different sense), man soll das Fell des Bären nicht verteilen, bevor er erlegt ist (de)
- Hindi: सूत न कपास जुलाहों में लट्ठम-लट्ठा (sūt na kapās julāhõ mẽ laṭṭham-laṭṭhā)
- Hungarian: ne igyál előre a medve bőrére (hu), nyugtával dicsérd a napot (hu)
- Icelandic: ekki er sopið kálið þó í ausuna sé komið, fyrr skal fuglinn veiddur en steiktur
- Irish: ní breac é go raibh sé ar an bport
- Italian: non dire gatto se non ce l'hai nel sacco, non cantare vittoria troppo presto
- Japanese: 捕らぬ狸の皮算用 (ja) (toranu tanuki no kawazan'yō)
- Korean: 김칫국부터 마시지 마라 (gimchitgukbuteo masiji mara)
- Latin: ante victoriam ne canas triumphum
- Lithuanian: viščiukus skaičiuoja vakarais
- Maori: kāti te toitoi okewa, ahakoa iti te koutu whenua e kore e taea te parepare
- Navajo: tʼáadoo danitʼání íítiʼ
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: selge skinnet før bjørnen er skutt (no)
- Persian: جوجه رو آخر پاییز می شمارند
- Polish: nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu, nie chwal dnia przed zachodem słońca (pl), nie mów hop, póki nie przeskoczysz (pl)
- Portuguese: não conte com o ovo dentro da galinha, não conte com o ovo antes da galinha botar
- Romanian: toamna se numără bobocii, nu vinde blana ursului din pădure, nu zice hop până nu ai sărit
- Russian: цыпля́т по о́сени счита́ют (cyplját po óseni sčitájut), не дели́ шку́ру неуби́того медве́дя (ne delí škúru neubítovo medvédja), не говори́ «гоп», пока́ не перепры́гнешь (ne govorí «gop», poká ne pereprýgnešʹ)
- Sanskrit: अजातपुत्रनामोत्कीर्तन (ajātputranāmotkīrtan)
- Scottish Gaelic: na h-abair diug a choidhche ris an eun gus an dig e às an ugh, dèan fanaid air do sheann-bhrògan nuair a gheibh thu do bhrògan ùra, mol an latha math mu oidhche, mol an deireadh
- Spanish: no vendas la piel del oso antes de cazarlo, hasta el rabo, todo es toro, no echar las campanas al vuelo
- Sranan Tongo: no kosi kaiman mama fosi yu abra liba
- Swedish: sälj inte skinnet innan björnen är skjuten, ta inte ut segern i förskott
- Telugu: ఆలు లేదు, చూలు లేదు, కొడుకు పేరు సోమలింగము (ālu lēdu, cūlu lēdu, koḍuku pēru sōmaliṅgamu)
- Ukrainian: не хвали́ день до ве́чора (ne xvalý denʹ do véčora), хвали́ день уве́чері, а життя́ пе́ред сме́ртю (xvalý denʹ uvéčeri, a žyttjá péred smértju)
- Walloon: i n' fåt nén vinde l' oû k' est co e cou del poye (wa)
|
Translations to be checked
See also
edit
Further reading
edit
- Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 63.
- Jennifer Speake, ed., Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, 6th ed., 2015, →ISBN, p. 60.