when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- horses, not zebras
- when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras
- when you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras
Etymology edit
Coined by American medical researcher Theodore Woodward.
Proverb edit
when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras
- (medicine, informal) When diagnosing a patient's symptoms, common ailments should be considered as more probable than rare ones.
See also edit
- Occam's razor
- Zebra (medicine) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia