the pitcher goes to the well once too often
Meaning: Repeated risk-taking eventually ends in disaster.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “He's gotten away with speeding for years, but the pitcher goes to the well once too often.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: An old European proverb: a jug taken to the well again and again will eventually break. It is recorded in English from the 14th century in a form like "the pitcher goes so often to the water that it comes home broken."
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Tant va la cruche à l'eau qu'à la fin elle se casse — literally: The pitcher goes to the water so often that it finally breaks
More idioms — Daily Life
- a road to Damascus moment — A sudden, life-changing realization or conversion.
- the sword of Damocles — A constant threat of disaster hanging over someone.
- the deck is stacked — The situation is unfairly arranged so that someone will lose.
- after me, the deluge — I don't care what happens after I am gone.
- slow on the uptake — Slow to understand.
- kiss something goodbye — To accept that one has lost something or will never get it.
More English idioms
- lie through one's teeth — To lie openly and shamelessly.
- set one's sights on — To decide to try to get or achieve something.
- God forbid — Used to say that one hopes something bad will not happen.
- kill them all and let God sort them out — A grim or joking call to act ruthlessly without distinguishing innocent from guilty.
- a little bird told me — I learned it from a secret source I won't name.
- put one's feet up — To relax and rest.
From our compliments & insults
- Du hast Köpfchen — You're sharp and clever — you use your brain well.
- Du bist klasse — You're brilliant — excellent, impressive, top-notch.
- 気が利く (ki ga kiku) — You're perceptive and considerately thoughtful — you notice what people need before they…