Dictionary

change horses in midstream en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Popularized by Abraham Lincoln.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To change one's plan or approach when an effort is already underway or at another inopportune time.
   • A change in the weather is known to be extreme / But what's the sense of changing horses in midstream? 1975, Bob Dylan, “You're a Big Girl Now”, in Blood on the Tracks:

Forms

Translations (14)

uk міня́ти коне́й на перепра́ві (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · fr changer de cheval au milieu du gué (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · pl zmieniać plan w połowie (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · fi muuttaa mieltään kesken kaiken (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · cmn 半途而废 (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · it squadra che vince non si cambia (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · uk хто ко́ні міня́є - тому́ хому́т гуля́є (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · pl zmienić plan w połowie (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · fi muuttaa suunnitelmia kesken kaiken (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · cmn 临敌易将 (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · ru меня́ть коне́й на перепра́ве (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · cmn 陣前換帥, 臨敵易將 /阵前换帅 (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · lv mainīt zirgus upes vidū (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway) · de mitten im Strom die Pferde wechseln (to change one's plan when an effort is already underway)

wikipedia: Abraham Lincoln