proverb · Words worth keeping
Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying warns against counting chickens before the eggs hatch. It cautions against treating an expected result as already secured.
What the words are saying
The unhatched eggs represent a stage before the hoped-for outcome. A useful application distinguishes a forecast from a confirmed result while still allowing planning. It does not prohibit optimism or establish that every expected result will fail.
Everyday example
A group plans for an application’s possible success but waits for confirmation before announcing the result.
When to use it
Use it to distinguish expectations from confirmed outcomes.
What it does not mean
Uncertainty does not make planning or hope unreasonable.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 415; PDF page 62
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.