Better go about than fall into the ditch. (Ward, 1842 p. 11)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
It's better to take action than risk a worse outcome by doing nothing
Literally: to go around is better than to fall into a ditch
Examples
I don't like the new policy, but better go about than fall into the ditch and lose my job
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “Better go about than fall into the ditch. (Ward, 1842 p. 11)” mean?
It's better to take action than risk a worse outcome by doing nothing Literally: to go around is better than to fall into a ditch
Is “Better go about than fall into the ditch. (Ward, 1842 p. 11)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.