proverb · Source-linked selection
We are not yet roasting, and already we make sops in the pan.
We are not yet roasting, and already we make sops in the pan.
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
Enjoyment of a result begins before the work producing it has started. The roasting and sops image questions consuming an expected benefit as though it were already available.
What the words are saying
The pan is already being used for sops while the roasting has not begun. That reversed timing makes anticipation look like possession. In another setting, someone may plan to enjoy a result before the steps needed to obtain it are underway. Optimism can support preparation, but it cannot make an uncertain outcome available now. Check what has actually happened and what still depends on work or circumstances. The image is about premature expectation, not a culinary instruction.
Everyday example
A group waits for an event’s confirmed outcome before allocating the surplus it hopes the event will produce.
When to use it
Use it to separate an expected benefit from a result that actually exists.
Put a useful idea into practice: try the free seven-day guide ↗
What it does not mean
Hope is useful, but an anticipated outcome should not be treated as guaranteed or already available.
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 (Spanish-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 203; Spanish section, paragraph 4224; source wording: Aun no asamos, é ya empringamos.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.