Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth

Also:

Too many cooks spoil the soup
Too many cooks in the kitchen

Meaning of Idiom ‘Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth’

This proverbial idiom means that too many people trying to do the same work or activity at the same time will either hinder progress or ruin the final result. 1Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.,2Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

Usage

Often shortened to just “too many cooks.” It can be used in situations in which too many people are working on one project or too many people are trying to help. At times, the words brew, stew, or pie have been substituted for broth.

Sentence Examples

“Someone needs to be in charge of the party because we can’t all be in charge. Too many cooks spoil the broth.”

“Right now there are too many cooks and everybody is just getting in each other’s way. If this project is to get off the ground, someone needs to manage it.”

Origin

This idiom is based on an old proverb which alludes to many different cooks adding ingredients to a soup (broth) so that the taste of the final soup is ruined. It was seen as early as 1575 in a slightly different form in Life of Sir Peter Carew by John Hooker 3Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.:

“There is the proverb, the more cooks the worse the potage.”

More Idioms Starting with T

• Take a Nosedive
• That’s Saying Something
• Too Much On One’s Plate
• Tick Off
• Ticked Off

More Cook Idioms

• Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

More Many Idioms

• Too Many Irons in the Fire

More Spoil Idioms

More Too Idioms

• Too Much On One’s Plate
• Too Many Irons in the Fire
• Stoop To

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