proverb · Words worth keeping
To go to the vintage without baskets.
To go to the vintage without baskets.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A harvest is of little use if there is no suitable way to collect and carry it. The proverb connects an intended gain with the practical arrangements needed to receive it.
What the words are saying
Vintage here supplies a harvest image, with baskets providing somewhere for what is gathered. Going without them leaves a gap between doing the work and making its result usable. The analogy can apply to storage, transport or organising a collection. It does not claim that baskets are the only possible method. Its useful question is how the output will be handled, rather than assuming that reaching the opportunity completes every part of the task.
Everyday example
A community group collects donated books and prepares boxes and a storage area before asking people to bring them.
When to use it
Use it when planning how to handle the results of an undertaking.
What it does not mean
A different suitable arrangement can serve the purpose; the image is not a literal equipment rule.
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 (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 3; French section, paragraph 50; source wording: Aller en vendanges sans panier.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.