The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (555 page)
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Don't THROW out your dirty water until you get in fresh
c1475
in
Modern Philology
(1940) XXXVIII. 121
He ys a fole that castith a-way his olde water or he have new.
1623
Palace of Pleasure
C4
V
The wise prouerbe wish all men to saue Their foule water vntill they fayrer haue.
1710
Proverbs
89
Don't throw away Dirty Water till you have got Clean… The Man being possess'd with Avarice, throws away a Certain Benefit upon uncertain .. Expectations.
1842
Handy Andy
xxix.
‘I'll change my clothes’… ‘You had better wait … You know the old saying, “Don't throw out your dirty wather until you get in fresh.”’
1911
Fanny's First Play
III
. 208
Dont you throw out dirty water til you get in fresh. Dont get too big for your boots.
1922
Greensea Island
V
.
I'm keeping him on for the present … It's no good throwing away dirty water until one's got clean.
innovation
Don't THROW the baby out with the bathwater
The proverb is often used allusively, especially in the metaphorical phrase
to throw (or empty) out the baby with the bathwater
. Known in German from at least as early as the start of the sixteenth century; Cf.
1610
J. KEPLER
Tertius Interveniens
(sub-heading)
Das ist Warnung .. das sie .. nicht das Kindt mit dem Badt ausschütten
, this is a caution .. lest you throw out the baby with the bath.
1853
Nigger Question
(ed. 2) 29
The Germans say, ‘You must empty out the bathing-tub, but not the baby along with it.’ .. How to abolish the abuses of slavery, and save the precious thing in it: also, I do not pretend that this is easy.
1911
Getting Married
(Preface) 186
We shall in a very literal sense empty the baby out with the bath by abolishing an institution [marriage] which needs nothing more than a little .. rationalizing to make it .. useful.
1937
Insurrection versus Resurrection
i.
In their ardour to get rid of it [old-fashioned apologetic] they ‘emptied out the baby with the bath-water.’
1979
Art of Learning to Manage
91
Do be careful that you don't throw the baby out with the bath water, and find yourself with too many people who lack experience.
1997
Washington Times
18 Feb. A 14
Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let's note that, while diplomats who wantonly break the laws of their host countries should be forced to face the consequences of their behavior, a new system is not necessary.
prudence
to throw (or empty) out the baby with the bathwater
. Known in German from at least as early as the start of the sixteenth century; Cf.
1610
J. KEPLER
Tertius Interveniens
(sub-heading)
Das ist Warnung .. das sie .. nicht das Kindt mit dem Badt ausschütten
, this is a caution .. lest you throw out the baby with the bath.
1853Nigger Question
(ed. 2) 29
The Germans say, ‘You must empty out the bathing-tub, but not the baby along with it.’ .. How to abolish the abuses of slavery, and save the precious thing in it: also, I do not pretend that this is easy.
1911
Getting Married
(Preface) 186
We shall in a very literal sense empty the baby out with the bath by abolishing an institution [marriage] which needs nothing more than a little .. rationalizing to make it .. useful.
1937
Insurrection versus Resurrection
i.
In their ardour to get rid of it [old-fashioned apologetic] they ‘emptied out the baby with the bath-water.’
1979
Art of Learning to Manage
91
Do be careful that you don't throw the baby out with the bath water, and find yourself with too many people who lack experience.
1997
Washington Times
18 Feb. A 14
Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let's note that, while diplomats who wantonly break the laws of their host countries should be forced to face the consequences of their behavior, a new system is not necessary.
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