phrase
also: Fairy Tales & Folklore
Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch
Don't plan on a gain you don't yet have — the proverb of every prematurely celebrated promotion.
Origin
Goes back to Aesop's fable of the milkmaid who plans how she'll spend the profit from her milk pail before reaching market, then trips and spills it. The modern English form is in Thomas Howell's *New Sonnets and Pretty Pamphlets* (1570): 'Counte not thy Chickens that vnhatched be.' A medieval staple across European languages.
Modern usage
Standard skeptic's caution at every stage of a deal — before the offer is signed, the funding wires, the bill is signed into law, the playoff series ends. Pairs with [[a-bird-in-the-hand-is-worth-two-in-the-bush]] as the two proverbs every grandparent quotes when you announce good news too early.
Tags
caution
aesop
proverb