Also:
Count one’s chickens
Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched
Don’t count your chickens before they have hatched
Meaning of Idiom ‘Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch’
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch means to not act on an assumption that you will get or achieve something until you actually have it or you can be certain of success; to not treat something that has not occurred as a certainty; do not depend on something that you hope for until you know for sure that it is happening; do not make plans based on future events that may not happen; don’t make future plans without knowing first how a particular situation will develop; don’t make financial decisions based on future funds that don’t actually exist yet. 1,2,3,4,5
Usage Notes
Count one’s chickens can be used alone to mean making plans based on something that you are not yet sure is going to happen. It is usually used in a negative form.
“It’s too early to count your chickens. Wait and see if your house sells for what you are asking.”
Examples Of Use
“You haven’t even gotten the job yet and you want to go buy a new car. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!”
“The congressman announced a major breakthrough on the bill this morning. It turned out he was counting his chickens before they hatched as the opposition denied any compromises had been reached.”
“I’m going to quit my job because my band is going to get signed.” “Don’t count your chickens yet. They haven’t committed to anything.”
“In business, avoid counting your chickens before they are hatched. In other words, don’t spend money you haven’t yet earned.”
“I already found an apartment but it turns out I was counting my chickens before they hatched. My friend can’t move in with me and I can’t afford the apartment without her.”
Origin
This proverbial idiom has existed since at least the mid-1500s in the form ‘Count not thy chickens that unhatched be.’ 6
It is based on the fact that chicken eggs sometimes fail to hatch, so you do not know how many chickens you will have until they have actually hatched.
- Manser, Martin H., et al. The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs. Checkmark Books, 2007.
- Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.
- Count One’s Chickens from COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers, 2012.
- (Definition of don’t count your chickens before they hatch from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
- “Count one’s chickens (before they hatch).” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/count%20one%27s%20chickens%20%28before%20they%20hatch%29. Accessed 16 Jun. 2021.
- Manser, Martin H., et al. The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbs. Checkmark Books, 2007.