throw the baby out with the bathwater

See also: throw the baby out with the bath water

English

Alternative forms

• throw out the baby with the bathwater
• throw out the baby with the bath water
• throw the baby out with the bath water

Etymology

From a German proverb that dates to 1512. First recorded by Thomas Murner in his satire Narrenbeschwörung. First appeared in English when Thomas Carlyle translated it and used it in an 1849 essay on slavery.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /θɹəʊ ðə ˈbeɪbi aʊt wɪð ðə ˈbɑːθwɔːtə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /θɹoʊ ðə ˈbeɪbi aʊt wɪθ ðə ˈbæθwɔtɚ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

throw the baby out with the bathwater (third-person singular simple present throws the baby out with the bathwater, present participle throwing the baby out with the bathwater, simple past threw the baby out with the bathwater, past participle thrown the baby out with the bathwater)

1. (idiomatic) To discard, especially inadvertently, something valuable while in the process of removing or rejecting something unwanted.

   They cancelled the entire project because the new management didn't like the prototype, but I think they threw the baby out with the bathwater.

Translations

(idiomatic) to discard something valuable

• Czech: vylít vaničku i s dítětem
• Danish: kaste barnet ud med badevandet, smide barnet ud med badevandet
• Dutch: het kind met het badwater weggooien (nl)
• Finnish: heittää lapsi pois pesuveden mukana, heittää lapsi pesuveden mukana
• French: jeter le bébé avec l’eau du bain (fr)
• German: das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten (de)
• Hebrew: לשפוך את התינוק עם המים (he)
• Hungarian: a fürdővízzel együtt a gyereket is kiönti (hu)
• Icelandic: að kasta barninu út með baðvatninu
• Irish: an t-asal a dhíol leis an adhastar
• Italian: buttare il bambino con l'acqua sporca
• Japanese: 角を貯めて牛を殺す (tsuno o tamete ushi o korosu, literally “save the horns and kill the cow”)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: helle barnet ut med badevannet, kaste barnet ut med badevannet, slå barnet ut med badevannet

  Nynorsk: slå ut barnet med badevatnet

• Polish: wylewać dziecko z kąpielą impf, wylać dziecko z kąpielą (pl) pf
• Portuguese: deitar fora a criança com a água do banho (Portugal), jogar fora o bebê com a água do banho (Brazil)
• Russian: вме́сте с водо́й вы́плеснуть и ребёнка (vméste s vodój výplesnutʹ i rebjónka), вы́плеснуть ребёнка вме́сте с водо́й (výplesnutʹ rebjónka vméste s vodój)
• Swedish: kasta ut barnet med badvattnet (sv)

References

• “Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater”, in BBC Learning English‎^[1], BBC, 2014 October 14

Anagrams

• throw out the baby with the bath water, throw out the baby with the bathwater