proverb · Words worth keeping
'Tis good fish if it were but caught.
'Tis good fish if it were but caught.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
An attractive possibility is not yet an achieved result. The good fish still needing to be caught distinguishes what might be valuable from what is actually available to use.
Example
A group discusses a useful guest speaker but waits for confirmed availability and an agreed venue before advertising the session as arranged.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The fish can be judged desirable in the image, yet its value remains conditional on catching it. Figuratively, a promising idea or offer may need practical steps before it supplies the benefit being discussed. A useful reading names those steps and checks whether they are feasible. The saying does not make planning worthless, nor guarantee that every promising opportunity should be pursued. Some possibilities remain unsuitable after examination. Its emphasis is the gap between imagining a useful result and securing it, rather than a judgement about fishing methods or a demand to claim success before the necessary work is done.
When to use it
Use it when a promising possibility is being counted as an accomplished result.
Keep in mind
Possibility can guide planning; confirmation still matters before promising an outcome.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their 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
- Date unknown
- Culture
- English