# There is many a slip twixt cup and lip



## dn88

Hello everyone,

As the saying goes, "There is many a slip twixt cup and lip", we can never ever be sure of anything before it is completed as many things may go wrong in the meantime. Is there any saying in your mother tongue that conveys the same message? If so, then please share it with me.

*Polish:*

"Wiele się może zdarzyć między ustami a brzegiem pucharu"
Literally: "A lot can happen between  the mouth and the edge of a cup"

I will be glad if you also provide literal translations. 

Lots of thanks in advance,

dn88


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## jonquiliser

Swedish has it a little different: 

Ropa aldrig hej förrän du är över bäcken 
(Never shout before you've crossed the stream)

The idea is more or less the same, simply, there's an emphasis (in the Swedish version) on not celebrating your achievement before you've actually achieved whatever it is you're attempting.


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## dn88

Thanks jonquiliser. There are more sayings in Polish that have a similar meaning, for instance:

"Nie chwal dnia przed zachodem słońca" (Do not praise a day before sunset)

or:

"Nie mów 'hop!' zanim nie przeskoczysz" (Do not say 'hop!' before you jump over)

Quite honestly, I'm mainly looking for proverbs or sayings with the closest meaning to my thread's title. Really none such in Swedish?

Thanks a lot.


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## jonquiliser

d88, sorry, that I can remember there isn't one - but perhaps someone else can help you here


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## dn88

Okay, thanks.


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## Aurin

In Spanish:
Entre la taza y la boca, se pierde la sopa.
(Between cup and mouth you lose the soup.)


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## suslik

In Estonian we have: "Ära hõiska enne õhtut." 
It means that "Don't cheer before the night."  
The idea would be that don't be so happy about it, anything can happen and ruin it before you have achived something what you wanted.


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## Aurin

dn88 said:


> Thanks jonquiliser. There are more sayings in Polish that have a similar meaning, for instance:
> 
> "Nie chwal dnia przed zachodem słońca" (Do not praise a day before sunset)
> 
> 
> Thanks a lot.


 In German there is a similiar:
Man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben.
(Do not praise a day before the evening.)


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## Thomas1

dn88 said:


> [...]*Polish:*
> 
> "Wiele się może zdarzyć między ustami a brzegiem pucharu"
> Literally: "A lot can happen between the mouth and the edge of a cup"
> [...]


I've never heard this one, thanks. 

Here's a thread that deals with a very similar topic you're interested in. 


Tom


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## dn88

Thomas1 said:


> I've never heard this one, thanks.
> 
> Here's a thread that deals with a very similar topic you're interested in.
> 
> 
> Tom



Thank you Tom, that's interesting.


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## kirsitn

In Norwegian we have: "Ikke selg skinnet før bjørnen er skutt" - Don't sell the hide/fur before the bear has been shot. Don't think we have any closer equivalent.


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## Lugubert

dn88 said:


> we can never ever be sure of anything before it is completed as many things may go wrong in the meantime.


I think that jonquiliser's suggestion is sufficiently close, but we also have kirsitn's "Sälj inte skinnet förrän björnen är skjuten". 'Don't sell the hide/fur before the bear has been shot.' I've read a Persian fable with the same conclusion, but I don't know if there's a quotation from it that qualifies for a proverb, like the latter part of
*جواب داد دو نصيحت کرد يکی آنکه با رفيق ترسو به شکار خرس مرو وديگر آنکه پوست خرس شکار نکرده مفروش. *​


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## Alijsh

Lugubert said:


> I've read a Persian fable with the same conclusion, but I don't know if there's a quotation from it that qualifies for a proverb, like the latter part of
> 
> *جواب داد دو نصيحت کرد يکی آنکه با رفيق ترسو به شکار خرس مرو وديگر آنکه پوست خرس شکار نکرده مفروش. *​


In colloquial Persian we have this as a proverb: 

یه سیب رو که بندازی بالا هزار تا چرخ می خوره تا بیاد پایین​ 
ye sib ro ke bendazi bâlâ hezâr tâ čarx mixore ta biyâd pâyin: *An* *apple that you throw up, makes thousand rounds (i.e. very much) before coming down*. In another variation we have it with "makes hundred rounds" (sad tâ čarx mixore).

***
There are certainly other words in Persian literature. For example, I remeber this from Sa'di (a Persian poet):

نباید سخن گفت ناساخته - نشاید بریدن نینداخته​ 
Sorry. I can't translate it now.​


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## irene.acler

In *Italian* you can say: non dire gatto finché non ce l'hai nel sacco.


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## min300

Alijsh said:


> In colloquial Persian we have this as a proverb:
> 
> یه سیب رو که بندازی بالا هزار تا چرخ می خوره تا بیاد پایین​
> ye sib ro ke bendazi bâlâ hezâr tâ čarx mixore ta biyâd pâyin: *An* *apple that you throw up, makes thousand rounds (i.e. very much) before coming down*. In another variation we have it with "makes hundred rounds" (sad tâ čarx mixore).
> 
> ***
> There are certainly other words in Persian literature. For example, I remeber this from Sa'di (a Persian poet):
> 
> نباید سخن گفت ناساخته - نشاید بریدن نینداخته​
> Sorry. I can't translate it now.​



Hi Alijsh,

I have also heard this version of what you have written.  *A coin that you throw up, makes thousands rounds before coming down.

* سکه ای رو که میندازی بالا هزار تا چرخ می خوره تا بیاد پایین​


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## Alijsh

min300 said:


> Hi Alijsh,
> 
> I have also heard this version of what you have written. *A coin that you throw up, makes thousands rounds before coming down.*


Hi min300. Thanks for mentioning "coin" variation. I have heard it.


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## JamesM

In English, there is also "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched" and "we're not out of the woods yet."  They both mean that the outcome is not guaranteed and many things may go wrong.  

The first expression, in my opinion, emphasizes a warning not to get too cocky or confident about the outcome and begin planning something else based on the success of the current venture. 

The second expression seems to be more of a premonition that there are most likely many dangers or difficulties ahead before the goal is reached.


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## Alijsh

JamesM said:


> In English, there is also "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched"


Its Persian equivalent: *juje râ âxar-e pâyiz mišomârand* -> one counts chickens at autumn's end -> on compte des poulets à la fin d'automne


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## Alijsh

JamesM said:


> "we're not out of the woods yet."


For this we have: *šâhnâme âxar-aš xoš ast ->* _It's the end of __Shahname__ that's good_. There are also other parallel proverbs but I don't recall now.


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## betulina

The closer equivalent I can think of in Catalan is:

"No diguis blat fins que no sigui al sac i ben lligat" (similar to the Italian phrase)
(Don't say wheat until it is in the sack and well tied up)


Just remembered - I think this thread is similiar to this one.


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## dn88

betulina said:


> The closer equivalent I can think of in Catalan is:
> 
> "No diguis blat fins que no sigui al sac i ben lligat" (similar to the Italian phrase)
> (Don't say wheat until it is in the sack and well tied up)
> 
> 
> Just remembered - I think this thread is similiar to this one.



Yes, I know about it. However, "There is many a slip twixt cup and lip" is not mentioned there.  Does it really exist only in English?


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## barbiegood

In Hungarian

"Ne igyál előre a medve bőrére!"
Which would mean something like don't drink upfront for the bear's fur/skin... (I guess before you shot it, or something...)


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## dn88

barbiegood said:


> In Hungarian
> 
> "Ne igyál előre a medve bőrére!"
> Which would mean something like don't drink upfront for the bear's fur/skin... (I guess before you shot it, or something...)



Thanks, there's a similar saying in Polsih:

"Nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu" - "Do not divide the skin of (literally "on") a bear"


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## Freston

Funny how these sayings can be the same in different tongues. In Dutch we say: "Je moet de huid niet verkopen voor de beer geschoten is" (Don't sell the hide before the bear is shot)

Also: "De dag niet voor de avond prijzen" (Don't praise the day before the evening)

And: "Eén zwaluw maakt nog geen lente" (One swallow doesn't mean spring)


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## dn88

Freston said:


> [...]
> And: "Eén zwaluw maakt nog geen lente" (One swallow doesn't mean spring)
> [...]



In Poland we say "Jedna jaskółka nie czyni wiosny" (One swallow doesn't make a spring).


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## Lugubert

Freston said:


> Funny how these sayings can be the same in different tongues. In Dutch we say: "Je moet de huid niet verkopen voor de beer geschoten is" (Don't sell the hide before the bear is shot)


Right; this one is already mentioned in Swedish in the thread. Some sayings can be traced to Aesop's fables and from there to very ancient India, like the sour grapes fable. The Swedish version uses not grapes, which aren't normally grown outdoors here, but rowanberries, but we could keep the fox.



> Also: "De dag niet voor de avond prijzen" (Don't praise the day before the evening)


The Swedish bishop, politician, poet, professor of Greek etc. Esaias Tegnér (1782-1846) has a similar wording in his "Frithiofs saga", "The Saga of Frithiof". It is inspired by, perhaps even loaned from the Icelandic saga literature. He has


> Dag skall du prisa, Fritiof, sen bärgad sol sig döljt, och öl, när det är drucket, och råd, när följt.


Having found no translation on the Internet, I paraphrase "Frithiof, praise the day, when the gathered sun is hiding, and beer, when drunk, and advice, when followed."



> And: "Eén zwaluw maakt nog geen lente" (One swallow doesn't mean spring)


It should be no major surprise, considering our climate, that we have "En svala gör ingen sommar": freely, "One swallow doesn't mean summer".


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## Nizo

Since about 1905, the standard translation in the international language *Esperanto* has been:  _Inter pokalo kaj lipoj povas multe okazi_.


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