hindsight is 20/20

English

Etymology

From the term 20/20 referring to normal visual acuity.

Proverb

hindsight is 20/20

1. (idiomatic) In hindsight things are obvious that were not obvious from the outset; one is able to evaluate past choices more clearly than at the time of the choice.
   • 2009, Joseph Grcic, Facing Reality: An Introduction to Philosophy, Revised edition, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, page 57:

     Another common error dealing with memory is that of "hindsight bias." This is the tendency to exaggerate what could have been anticipated in the past. This is also known as "Monday morning quarter backing" or "hindsight is 20/20" where the "right" decision as to what should have been done appears to be more obvious now than it was in the past.

   • 2023 July 30, Gretty Garcia, “Coco Gauff Is Still a Teenager, but Her Net Worth Reveals That She’s Already a Millionaire”, in Cosmopolitan‎^[1]:

     Honestly? If you would have told me that becoming a professional tennis player might net me a decent supply of free pasta, I would have never begged my mom to quit my lessons. 😭 Hindsight = 20/20.

Related terms

• twenty-twenty hindsight

See also

• Monday-morning quarterback
• it is easy to be wise after the event

Translations

in hindsight things are obvious that were not obvious from the outset

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 馬後炮／马后炮 (maa⁵ hau⁶ paau³), 有早知，冇乞兒／有早知，冇乞儿 (jau⁵ zou² zi¹, mou⁵ hat¹ ji^4-1, literally “there would be no homeless people if everyone knows beforehand”), 事後孔明／事后孔明 (si⁶ hou⁶ hung² ming⁴, literally “everyone can be Kongming in hindsight”)

  Mandarin: 事後諸葛亮／事后诸葛亮 (zh) (shìhòu Zhūgě Liàng), 馬後炮／马后炮 (zh) (mǎhòupào)

• Czech: po bitvě je každý generál (cs)
• Danish: i bagklogskabens klare lys (prepositional phrase)
• Finnish: jälkiviisaus on helppoa
• German: hinterher ist man immer klüger
• Hebrew: כולם חכמים בדיעבד, במבט לאחור רואים הכול שש־שש, במבט לאחור כולנו חכמים, חוכמה לאחר מעשה
• Hungarian: utólag könnyű okosnak lenni
• Italian: del senno di poi son piene le fosse
• Latvian: pēc kara visi gudri (literally “after the war everyone is wise”), pēc kaujas visi gudri (literally “after the battle everyone is wise”)
• Norwegian: det er lett å være etterpåklok
• Polish: mądry Polak po szkodzie (pl)
• Portuguese: depois que a onça já está morta, todo caçador é valente
• Russian: за́дним умо́м всяк кре́пок (zádnim umóm vsjak krépok, literally “everyone is strong by one's hindmind”), пото́м и Семён умён (potóm i Semjón umjón, literally “afterwards, even Semyon is wise”), догада́лся, как проигра́лся (dogadálsja, kak proigrálsja, literally “(he) guessed it after (he) lost”), (пока́) гром не гря́нет, мужи́к не перекре́стится (ru) ((poká) grom ne grjánet, mužík ne perekréstitsja, literally “until it thunders the man won't cross himself”)
• Spanish: después de la batalla somos todos generales (literally “after the battle we all are generals”)
• Swedish: efterklokhet (sv), det är lätt att vara efterklok
• Ukrainian: по шко́ді всі му́дрі (po škódi vsi múdri)
• Yiddish: אחר־המעשׂה איז יעדערער אַ חכם (akher-hamayse iz yederer a khokhem)