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Help with an expression

Posted October 22nd, 2014 by Wanda

Hello!

I'm trying to figure out how to translate the expression: "There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip" into spanish, and my brain just cant come up with it lol. Can someone explain what it means exactly? Maybe that can help me come up with an spanish equivalent for it...

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Hi Wanda~ Yes, when I saw

On October 22nd, 2014 Charles Fi... says:

Hi Wanda~ Yes, when I saw that expression used I thought, great, how is anyone supposed to translate that? It's an old English proverb which I have never heard anyone use in real life and which I had to look up to figure out what it meant.

Wikipedia says it "implies that even when the outcome of an event seems certain, things can still go wrong."

TheFreeDictionary says it is "something that you say in order to warn someone not to be too confident about the result of a plan, because many things can go wrong before it is completed."

The picture is of something as simple as taking a drink of something and all the things that can go wrong before you get the cup up to your mouth. You can drop it, spill it, sneeze, get bumped, on and on. Most of the effect of the saying in English is because it rhymes and has rhythm, like a little poem.

Thanks, Charles. It's

On October 23rd, 2014 Gloria Wen... says:

Thanks, Charles. It's wonderful to have you here. You sure have a great grasp of language.

Wanda, this is from a poem by Robert Burns. Does this one possibly work in Spanish?

"The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

Thank you both!

On October 23rd, 2014 Wanda says:

I cant quite think of an exact expression in spanish similar to it, but knowing what it means i can at least try and figure a way to express the idea of what it means lol.

Thanks a lot! :)