Another fairly common phrase in the English language is “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” which means “don’t rely on something or expect something to happen until you are sure of it.” The expression originated in one of Aesop’s fables about a young milk maid.
Count your Chickens
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
As the story goes, the maiden was carrying a bucket of milk on her head and thinking about how she would use the cream from the milk to make butter to sell and buy eggs. The eggs would hatch into chickens and would, in turn lay more eggs.
She could then start a poultry farm and make enough money to buy a new gown and show off to the boys at the fair. She then accidentally drops her bucket of milk and her mother tells her “don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
Since it was first coined, the expression has grown to refer to more than just eggs and hatching. It now means to make sure something is certain before putting faith in it. Here is an example:
1. He thinks he will get rich by selling his house, but I told him not to count his chickens before they hatch because houses are not selling very quickly now.
There is another examples of how this phrase is used:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8eqylEdqFc This is a literal interpretation of the phrase.
