you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
1796 in English, from French, on ne saurait faire d'omelette sans casser des œufs (1742 and earlier), attributed François de Charette.[1]
Proverb[edit]
you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
- In order to achieve something, it is inevitable and necessary that something should be destroyed.
- 1796, Walker's Hibernian Magazine:[1]
- It was remarked to him that he had caused the death of a great many persons. Yes, he replied, omlets are not made without breaking eggs.
- 1796, Walker's Hibernian Magazine:[1]
Translations[edit]
you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette — see you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 James A. H. Murray [et al.], editor (1884–1928) A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697; and The Oxford English Dictionary; being a Corrected Re-issue with an Introduction, Supplement, and Bibliography of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (the First Supplement), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933, OCLC 2748467.
