stitch in time saves nine, a
stitch in time saves nine
Prov. If you fix a small problem right away, it will not become a bigger problem later. Let's patch the roof before that hole gets bigger. A stitch in time saves nine.
See also: nine, save, stitch, time
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
stitch in time saves nine, a
Solving a difficulty while it is small may save a great deal of trouble in the end. The analogy to mending a small rip versus sewing an entire new seam was a proverb by the eighteenth century, appearing in Thomas Fuller’s 1732 collection. It has been repeated dozens of times since; Ogden Nash played with it in the title of a verse collection, A Stitch Too Late Is My Fate (1938).
See also: save, stitch, time
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- find the root of the problem
- determine
- determine the root of the problem
- get at the root of the problem
- get to the root of the problem
- no problem
- band-aid solution
- a-ha moment
- eureka moment
- ha