🗓️ Idiom: Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater (v)
💬 Meaning
- To remove something useful by mistake while trying to fix a problem.
- To throw away too much and lose the good part.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The old system had problems, but they threw the baby out with the bathwater by deleting everything.
- Let’s fix the schedule, but don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
- Some parts of the plan still work, please don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from old times when people used baths. After the water was dirty, someone might forget and throw out the baby too. Today, it means removing something important by mistake.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
We had problems with the website, but we shouldn’t __________. Some parts are still working.
Answer
throw the baby out with the bathwater
2. Choose the correct meaning of “throw the baby out with the bathwater”:
A) Change everything on purpose
B) Make a small mistake
C) Remove something useful by mistake
D) Add more steps to the process
Answer
C) Remove something useful by mistake
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“They got rid of the whole system, but many parts were still good.” → Change the sentence using: throw the baby out with the bathwater
Answer
They threw the baby out with the bathwater getting rid of that system.
Leave a Reply