First attested in English in Thomas Howell 's 1570 New Sonnets and Pretty Pamphlets in the couplet "Counte not thy Chickens that vnhatched be, / Waye wordes as winde , till thou finde certaintee " , possibly deriving from similar medieval and early modern Latin fables and maxims.
don't count your chickens before they're hatched
One should not depend upon a favorable (and typically overoptimistic ) outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur .
Synonyms: don't get your hopes up , don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear
[1663 (indicated as 1664 ) , [Samuel Butler ], “The Second Part of Hudibras. Canto III.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. [ … ] , London: [ … ] John Martyn and Henry Herringman , [ … ] , published 1678 , →OCLC ; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller , editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars , Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press , 1905 , →OCLC , page 175 : [...] Make Fools believe in their fore-seeing / Of things before they are in Being; / To swallow Gudgeons ere th' are catch'd, / And count their Chickens ere th' are hatch'd , [...] ]
one should not depend upon a favorable outcome to one's plans until it is certain to occur
Afrikaans: moenie die beer se vel verkoop voordat hy geskiet is nie
Albanian: peshku në det, tigani në zjarr
Arabic: لَا تَشْتَرِي ٱلسَّمَكَ وَهُوَ فِي ٱلْبَحْرِ بَلِ ٱنْتَظِرْ حَتَّى يُصْطَادَ ( lā taštarī s-samaka wahuwa fī l-baḥri bali ntaẓir ḥattā yuṣṭāda )
Catalan: no diguis blat fins que no sigui al sac i ben lligat
Chinese:
Mandarin: (勿 打 )如意算盤 / (勿 打 )如意算盘 ( wù dǎ rúyìsuànpán ) , (別 )一廂情願 / 一厢情愿 (zh) ( bié yīxiāngqíngyuàn ) , (別 做 )白日夢 / (别 做 )白日梦 ( bié zuò báirìmèng )
Czech: neříkej hop, dokud nepřeskočíš , nechval dne před večerem (cs)
Danish: pels ikke bjørnen før den er skudt
Dutch: de huid niet verkopen voor de beer geschoten is (nl)
Esperanto: la manĝota fiŝo estas ankoraŭ en la rivero
Finnish: älä nuolaise ennen kuin tipahtaa , älä nylje karhua ennen kuin se on kaadettu
French: il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué (fr)
Friulian: no stâ vendi le piel dal ors prime di vêlu copât
German: man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben (de) ( common, but slightly different sense ) , man soll das Fell des Bären nicht verteilen, bevor er erlegt ist (de)
Hindi: सूत न कपास जुलाहों में लट्ठम-लट्ठा ( sūt na kapās julāhõ mẽ laṭṭham-laṭṭhā )
Hungarian: ne igyál előre a medve bőrére (hu) , nyugtával dicsérd a napot (hu)
Icelandic: ekki er sopið kálið þó í ausuna sé komið , fyrr skal fuglinn veiddur en steiktur
Irish: ní breac é go raibh sé ar an bport
Italian: non dire gatto se non ce l'hai nel sacco , non cantare vittoria troppo presto
Japanese: 捕らぬ狸の皮算用 (ja) ( toranu tanuki no kawazan'yō )
Korean: 김칫국부터 마시지 마라 ( gimchitgukbuteo masiji mara )
Latin: ante victoriam ne canas triumphum
Lithuanian: viščiukus skaičiuoja vakarais
Maori: kāti te toitoi okewa , ahakoa iti te koutu whenua e kore e taea te parepare
Navajo: tʼáadoo danitʼání íítiʼ
Norwegian:
Bokmål: selge skinnet før bjørnen er skutt (no)
Persian: جوجه رو آخر پاییز می شمارند
Polish: nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu , nie chwal dnia przed zachodem słońca (pl) , nie mów hop, póki nie przeskoczysz (pl)
Portuguese: não conte com o ovo dentro da galinha , não conte com o ovo antes da galinha botar
Romanian: toamna se numără bobocii , nu vinde blana ursului din pădure , nu zice hop până nu ai sărit
Russian: цыпля́т по о́сени счита́ют ( cyplját po óseni sčitájut ) , не дели́ шку́ру неуби́того медве́дя ( ne delí škúru neubítovo medvédja ) , не говори́ «гоп», пока́ не перепры́гнешь ( ne govorí «gop», poká ne pereprýgnešʹ )
Sanskrit: अजातपुत्रनामोत्कीर्तन ( ajātputranāmotkīrtan )
Scottish Gaelic: na h-abair diug a choidhche ris an eun gus an dig e às an ugh , dèan fanaid air do sheann-bhrògan nuair a gheibh thu do bhrògan ùra , mol an latha math mu oidhche , mol an deireadh
Spanish: no vendas la piel del oso antes de cazarlo , hasta el rabo, todo es toro , no echar las campanas al vuelo
Sranan Tongo: no kosi kaiman mama fosi yu abra liba
Swedish: sälj inte skinnet innan björnen är skjuten , ta inte ut segern i förskott
Telugu: ఆలు లేదు, చూలు లేదు, కొడుకు పేరు సోమలింగము ( ālu lēdu, cūlu lēdu, koḍuku pēru sōmaliṅgamu )
Turkish: dereyi görmeden paçaları sıvamak (tr)
Ukrainian: не хвали́ день до ве́чора ( ne xvalý denʹ do véčora ) , хвали́ день уве́чері, а життя́ пе́ред сме́ртю ( xvalý denʹ uvéčeri, a žyttjá péred smértju )
Walloon: i n' fåt nén vinde l' oû k' est co e cou del poye (wa)
Translations to be checked
Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings , 1996, →ISBN , p. 63.
Jennifer Speake, ed., Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs , 6th ed., 2015, →ISBN , p. 60 .