don't count chickens
Assuming future success
Don't count chickens is a shortened form of the proverb "don't count your chickens before they hatch"—advice against assuming success before it's certain.
Eggs may not hatch; plans may fail.
The phrase cautions against premature celebration or overconfidence: I know the job interview went well, but don't count your chickens.
- hatchingEmergence from an egg
- eggsReproductive cells in shells
- egg basketContainer for collected ova
- prematureOccurring before expected
- jumping the gunActing before appropriate time
before they hatch · assumptions · anticipation · jinx · tempting fate · optimism · caution · wait and see · proverb · best laid plans · expectations · wishful · harvest · farmyard · basket · patience · wait · hope
- proverbsproverbs, sayings, maxims, adages, aphorisms
- farm idiomsmake hay while the sun shines, cream of the crop, put the cart before the horse, till the cows come home, buy the farm
- folk sayingsproverb, adage, maxim, folk saying, old saying
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- animal expressionslet sleeping dogs lie, raining cats and dogs, curiosity killed cat, horse sense, wild goose chase
- thrift sayingspenny saved, penny wise, pinch pennies, penny pincher, live within means
don't count chickenssure thing
Guaranteed outcome or agreement
money in the bank · slam dunk · take it to the bank · fait accompli · locked up
don't count chickensjump the gun
Start before permitted
tempt fate · presumptuous · overconfident · bank on it · cocksure
don't count chickenstake for granted
Assume without questioning
jump the gun · tempt fate · speak too soon · overconfidence · hubris
undone, count, counts, counted, counting, counter, counters, recount, recounted