Dictionary

there's many a slip twixt cup and lip en · X

Pronunciation

• /ðɛɹz-/ (General-American)
• (General-American) audio
• /ðɛəz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ðɛəɹz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/ (General-American)
• /ðɛːz-/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

The Dutch humanist Erasmus (c. 1466 – 1536), in his collection of proverbs called Adagia, noted that the Carthaginian grammarian Sulpicius Apollinaris (fl. 2nd century C.E.) recorded two proverbs, one in Greek and the other in Latin, with the same meaning: πολλὰ μεταξὺ πέλει κύλικος καὶ χείλεος ἄκρου (pollà metaxù pélei kúlikos kaì kheíleos ákrou, literally “much takes place between the (wine) cup and the upper lip”) and multa cadunt inter calice[m], supremaq[ue] labra (literally “many things fall between the chalice and the upper lips”). The earliest English version of the expression recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is Richard Taverner’s 1539 translation of Erasmus’s work: see the quotation. The proverb refers to the possibility of a drink being spilled from a cup while it is being raised to the lips and before it can be drunk. The word slip (absent from the original Greco-Roman version) was chosen for its rhyme with lip.

Meanings

1. (dated) In any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong.
   • That "there is many a slip between the cup and the lip" is a proverb somewhat musty; but it pithily indicates the sudden mutations to which poor humanity is liable. 1835, [Catharine Sedgwick], chapter XXIX, in The Linwoods; or, “Sixty Years since” in America. […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 139:
   • […] Peter took occasion, from the horse casting its shoe, to make a few apropos moral observations, in the manner of the Rev. Mr Wiggie, on the uncertainties which it is every man's lot to encounter in the weariful pilgrimage of human life. "There is many a slip 'tween the cup and the lip," said Peter. 1839, Mansie Wauch [pseudonym; David Macbeth Moir], “The June Jaunt”, in The Life of Mansie Wauch, Tailor in Dalkeith. […], new edition, Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons; London: Thomas Cadell, →OCLC, page 270:
   • Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra. […] There is many a slip between the cup and the lip. 1797, Thomas Browne, “Ancæus”, in A New Classical Dictionary for the Use of Schools, […], London: […] G[eorge] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinson, […]; and E[lizabeth] Newbery, […], →OCLC, signature D, recto, column 1:
   • [Y]et conſidering that many things fall betwéene the cup and the lip, that in one luckie houre more rare things come to paſſe, thẽ [then; i.e., than] ſome-times in ſeauen yeare, […] there is no doubt but that they both will liue well in marriage, who loued ſo well before their matching: […] [[1578], Iohn Lylly [i.e., John Lyly], “Thine or Not His Owne, Philautus”, in Euphues. The Anatomy of Wyt. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 129, recto:
   • Aye, ſir, if the devil don't ſtep betvveen the cup and the lip, as he uſes to do. [1777 February 24 (first performance), Richard Brinsley Sheridan, A Trip to Scarborough. A Comedy. […], London: […] G. Wilkie, […], published 1781, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 18:
   • With the blessings of my elders, I started for Bombay. This was my first journey from Rajkot to Bombay. My brother accompanied me. But there is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. There were difficulties to be faced in Bombay. 1927, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, “Preparation for England”, in Mahadev Desai, transl., The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Translated from the Original in Gujarati, volume I, Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Press, →OCLC, part I, page 98:
   • He forgot the old adage— / “There's many a slip / ’Twixt the cup and lip;” / and fancied himself so secure of the hand of Bertha, that after her declaration of the abhorrence in which she held her cousin, he gaily quaffed a cup of wine to his health, and actually made some approaches to intimacy, by drawing his settle nearer to him. 1826 August, B. J., “Henwood”, in The Literary Lounger, London: [Ibbetson and Palmer for] Lupton Relfe, […]; W. Sams, […]; Kerr and Ashmead, […]; and Sampson Low, […], →OCLC, page 353:
   • [W]e sent and purchased bread and meat, but the eyes of Argus were necessary to prevent too frequent verification of the proverb, "many a slip 'twixt cup and lip." Even after our bit of meat was in the pot with the rice and we were superintending its cooking, some dexterous Chinese thief would whip it out with his chopsticks, if our eye strayed from it one moment. 1836, James F. O’Connell, chapter XVIII, in A Residence of Eleven Years in New Holland and the Caroline Islands: Being the Adventures of James F. O’Connell. […], Boston, Mass.: B. B. Mussey, →OCLC, page 246:
   • She had heard of girls who would not speak of their love, arguing to themselves cannily that there may be many a slip between the cup and the lip. 1862 September – 1864 April, Anthony Trollope, “Mrs. Dale’s Little Party”, in The Small House at Allington. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published April 1864, →OCLC, page 87:
   • Losing no time in London I reached Birmingham on the evening of Sunday the 5th, and found my friend Hall quite sure of my election by the governors of the school on the recommendation of his friend Jeune. But then began a whole series of slips between the cup and lip! […] [A] part of the board wished, on financial grounds, to defer the election of a new master for a while. 1887, Thomas Adolphus Trollope, chapter XII, in What I Remember […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley and Son […], →OCLC, page 256:
   • And now Robin's heart began to laugh aloud, for he thought that his danger had gone by, and that his nostrils would soon snuff the spicy air of the woodlands once again. But there is many a slip betwixt the cup and the lip, and this Robin was to find. 1883, Howard Pyle, “The Chase of Robin Hood”, in The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood […], New York, N.Y.: […] Charles Scribner’s Sons […], →OCLC, part seventh, page 240:
   • But thus you ſee th' old Adage verified, / Multa cadunt inter—you can gueſs the reſt. / Many things fall betvveen the Cup and Lip: / And though they touch, you are not ſure to drink. [1633 (first performance), Ben Jonson, “A Tale of a Tub. A Comedy […]”, in The Works of Beniamin Jonson, […] (Third Folio), London: […] Thomas Hodgkin, for H[enry] Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Bassett, R[ichard] Chiswell, M. Wotton, G. Conyers, published 1692, →OCLC, Act III, scene vii, page 521, column 2:
   • There's many a slip between the cup and the lip! Who knows what may happen, Mr. Huxter, or who will sit in Parliament for Clavering next session? 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Mr. and Mrs. Sam. Huxter”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 332:
   • Many thynges fall betwene the cuppe and the mouth. [1539, Erasmus, “Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaq[ue] labra”, in Richard Taverner, transl., Proverbes or Adagies with Newe Addicions Gathered out of the Chiliades of Erasmus […], London: […] Ricardum Bances, →OCLC, folios xv, recto – xv, verso:

Forms

Relateds

halloo before one is out of the wood · it ain't over till it's over · out of the woods · it ain't over till the fat lady sings

Synonyms

don't count your chickens before they're hatched

Translations (18)

cmn 天有不測風雲 /天有不测风云 (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · es de la mano a la boca desaparece la sopa (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · it tra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · fi moni asia voi mennä pieleen (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · gd na cuir do làmh eadar a' chlach is an sgrath (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · cmn 百密一疏 (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · cmn 計劃趕不上變化 /计划赶不上变化 (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · gd eadar long is laimhrig (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · ca de prometre a complir hi ha molt a dir (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · la multa cadunt inter calicem supremaque labra (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · de man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · bg не се заричай (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · ca de prometre a complir hi ha molt tros per penedir (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · hi दिल्ली अभी दूर है (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · de freu dich nicht zu früh (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · ja 油断大敵 (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · fr il y a loin de la coupe aux lèvres (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong) · es del dicho al hecho hay mucho trecho (in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong)

wikipedia: Oxford English Dictionary · wikipedia: Richard Taverner · wikipedia: Erasmus · wikipedia: Sulpicius Apollinaris · wikipedia: Adagia