To go to the vintage without baskets.
To go to the vintage without baskets.
Meaning in plain English
A harvest is of little use if there is no suitable way to collect and carry it. The proverb connects an intended gain with the practical arrangements needed to receive it.
Example
A community group collects donated books and prepares boxes and a storage area before asking people to bring them.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
Vintage here supplies a harvest image, with baskets providing somewhere for what is gathered. Going without them leaves a gap between doing the work and making its result usable. The analogy can apply to storage, transport or organising a collection. It does not claim that baskets are the only possible method. Its useful question is how the output will be handled, rather than assuming that reaching the opportunity completes every part of the task.
When to use it
Use it when planning how to handle the results of an undertaking.
Keep in mind
A different suitable arrangement can serve the purpose; the image is not a literal equipment rule.
Edsverb editorial interpretation · agent reviewed · 2026-10-05. This explains the saying; it does not establish its historical origin.
- Source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857)
Printed page 3; French section, paragraph 50; source wording: Aller en vendanges sans panier.
Read the original context ↗ - Attribution confidence
- traditional · historical anthology
Preserved as printed; independently unverified. - Historical coordinate
- Undated
No reliable date supplied by the collection. - Rights & edition
- Public domain (United States)
Translations and rights may differ elsewhere.
Provenance and licences ↗