Throw out the baby with the bath water facts for kids
The phrase throw out the baby with the bath water is an idiom. An idiom is a special phrase where the words together mean something different from their individual meanings.
This idiom describes a common mistake. It happens when someone tries to get rid of something bad, but accidentally loses something good or important at the same time. Imagine you're cleaning your room and you throw away a broken toy (the bad thing), but you also accidentally throw away your favorite game (the good thing) that was hidden underneath it! That's like throwing out the baby with the bath water.
It means losing something valuable or necessary while trying to get rid of something unwanted. Sometimes, it also means focusing on things that aren't important and ignoring what truly matters.
What Does It Mean?
This idiom means that when you are trying to remove something negative or unwanted, you might accidentally remove something positive or essential along with it. It's like trying to clean up a mess but making an even bigger one by getting rid of something important.
For example, if a school decides to stop all after-school clubs because a few students were misbehaving in one club, they would be "throwing out the baby with the bath water." They would be getting rid of the fun and learning opportunities for many students just to solve a small problem with a few.
Where Did It Come From?
This idiom comes from an old German saying: das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten. This means "to pour out the child with the bath."
One of the earliest known times this phrase appeared was in a German book from 1512. The book was called Narrenbeschwörung, which means Appeal to Fools. It was written by Thomas Murner. In this book, there was a woodcut picture. This picture showed a woman who was tossing a baby out along with the dirty bath water. This image clearly showed the idea of accidentally getting rid of something precious while cleaning up.
Other Ways to Say It
Sometimes, people use slightly different phrases that mean almost the same thing. They all describe the mistake of losing something good while trying to remove something bad.
- Throw out the champagne with the cork
- Empty the baby out with the bath
