älä nylje karhua ennen kuin se on kaadettu
Finnish
Etymology
älä (“don't”) nylje (“skin”) karhua (“a bear”) ennen kuin (“before”) se (“it”) on kaadettu (“has been killed”); a similar proverb referring to a bear and its skin exists in many other European languages, and may ultimately derive from a variant of the Aesop's fable The Bear and the Travelers.
Similar proverbs in other languages
- Swedish sälj inte skinnet innan björnen är skjuten
- Danish pels ikke bjørnen før den er skudt
- Norwegian Bokmål selge skinnet før bjørnen er skutt
- Russian не дели́ шку́ру неуби́того медве́дя (ne delí škúru neubítovo medvédja)
- Polish nie dziel skóry na niedźwiedziu
- Dutch de huid niet verkopen voor de beer geschoten is
- Hungarian ne igyál előre a medve bőrére
- French il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué
- Spanish no vendas la piel del oso antes de cazarlo
Proverb
älä nylje karhua ennen kuin se on kaadettu
- don't count your chickens before they're hatched (you should not count on something before it happens)