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DON'T SHOUT UNTIL YOU'RE OUT OF THE WOODS - "Don't feel safe until you are out of danger. The proverb originated in the United States and has been traced back to 'Papers of Benjamin Franklin' . It was used by Abigail Adams (1744-1818) in a letter dated November 13, 1800. First attested in England in 'Hereward the Wake' by Charles Kingsley (1819-75). The proverb is found in varying forms."
Comments (8)
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by
marjialexa
28 Jul 2011
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You are so cool to find these things. I dare not look in that Wikipedia thing, because I get lost there for hours and hours. I expect that in the 1700's in the USA, there were "wild Indians" in those woods, so if you shouted or otherwise made a ruckus, they'd know you were there, and you'd have less chance of getting "out of the woods" in one piece. Interesting!! Luv ya, Marji
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Also used as an idiom meaning about a health problem about recovering from a surgery. The doctor might say, "that things are slightly better but not yet well and The operation went fine, but they are not out of the woods yet – the next 24 hours will tell us whether or not there will be recovery."
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shirlener88
28 Jul 2011
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Jerrilyn, I too was going to look this up and my mind didn't let me remember - thank you so much - I knew it had to be something like this - glad to know - exactly where it was 1st attested to. Thanks dear one.
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Guess I'm the guilty party Jerrilyn with "not out of the woods" this came straight from my grandmothers mouth years ago. How often I heard her say that. I grew up knowing nothing was safe & sure unless you were" out of the woods" with it. LOL. Somewhere in my brain there's lots more of these 'cause she had something for everything./Lillian
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I didn't remember who said it. I had heard it many times, but didn't stop to think where it had originated. I found it very interesting.