Throw the baby out with the bathwater

Meaning

The idiom "throw the baby out with the bathwater" means to throw away something along with its good qualities or usefulness, without considering its value. It is often used when someone is discarding something important along with something less valuable, but they mistakenly thought that the latter had no value.

Usage

• Sarah was so excited to buy a new laptop, but when she realized that it didn't have the features she needed, she decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater and buy a more expensive one instead.
• Mark wanted to quit his job and start his own business, but he found out that his business idea was not feasible, so he threw the baby out with the bathwater and stayed in his job.
• When Mary went shopping for clothes, she accidentally picked up a shirt that didn't fit her well, but before returning it, she thought of all the other shirts that did fit, and decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
• John was so impressed by the design of his new car that he decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater and get a more expensive one.
• Emily was in love with the idea of traveling around the world, but when she found out that it would cost her a lot of money, she threw the baby out with the bathwater and decided to save money instead.

Roots and History

The origin of this idiom is not entirely clear, but one theory suggests that it comes from the biblical story of Job. In the story, Job lost everything he had, including his wealth, possessions, and family, and he was left with nothing but his faith. However, God ultimately restored everything to him, but Job decided to throw away all his material possessions and keep only his faith, which is often seen as a metaphor for throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Synonyms in English

• Cut off the good along with the bad
• Discard everything
• Leave nothing behind
• Take all or nothing
• Keep nothing

Synonyms in other languages

• French - jeter le bébé avec l'eau chaude (throw the baby with hot water)
• German - das Kind mit dem Wasser wegwerfen (throw the child with water)
• Spanish - tirar al niño con el agua caliente (throw the child with hot water)
• Italian - gettare il bambino con l'acqua calda (throw the child with hot water)
• Portuguese - jogar o bebé com a água quente (throw the baby with hot water)

Similar Idioms

• in hot water

• take for a ride

• to a T