Don't make clothes for a not yet born baby. (Strauss 1994, p. 683)

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Don't prepare for something that may not happen

Literally: making clothes for an unborn baby

Examples

We shouldn't buy a new house until we're sure we're moving

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 “Don't make clothes for a not yet born baby. (Strauss 1994, p. 683)” mean?

Don't prepare for something that may not happen Literally: making clothes for an unborn baby

Is “Don't make clothes for a not yet born baby. (Strauss 1994, p. 683)” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.