proverb · Legacy record
Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.
Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying calls testing water depth with both feet foolish. It pictures a test that commits the tester before the uncertainty has been resolved.
What the words are saying
Both feet make the supposed check resemble full entry into the situation. A useful wider application can ask whether a small preliminary assessment is possible before a major commitment. The phrase is not a method for entering water or a guarantee that a smaller test is safe.
Everyday example
A team examines a limited prototype before committing the resources for a complete project.
When to use it
Use it as an explicit analogy about testing before committing.
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What it does not mean
No water-safety method or guaranteed safe preliminary test is provided.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 158; PDF page 27
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.