many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, there's
There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip
. Prov. Many things may happen to prevent you from carrying out what you intend to do. Bob: Now that I have a contract with a publisher, nothing in the world can stop me from writing this book. Alan: Don't be so sure. There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.
See also: and, cup, lip, many, slip
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, there's
Nothing is certain until one possesses it. This old proverb is thought by many to come from the ancient Greek legend of Antaeus, helmsman of the ship Argo. A slave told him he would never live to taste the wine from his own vineyard. As some wine from his grapes was set before him, he sent for the slave to show him his mistake, but the slave allegedly said, “There’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip.” Just then a messenger arrived, telling him the Calydonian boar was destroying his vineyard. Antaeus jumped up, set down his wine, and went out to kill the boar, but was himself killed by the ferocious animal. Another writer believes the phrase comes from Homer’s Odyssey, in which Odysseus aimed an arrow at Antinous as he was about to drink some wine. The arrow hit him in the throat, and the cup fell from his hands before he could drink.
See also: and, cup, many, slip
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof
- We must learn to walk before we can run
- mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small
- eye for an eye
- no accounting for tastes, there is no
- thing you don't want is dear at any price
- Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride to the devil
- butter wouldn't melt (in his/her mouth), looks as if
- One's bark is worse than bite
- if the truth were known