proverb · Words worth keeping
When our daughter is married sons-in-law are plenty.
When our daughter is married sons-in-law are plenty.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Options may become plentiful after a commitment has already been made. The married daughter and arriving sons-in-law expose awkward timing, without treating marriage or people as interchangeable purchases.
Example
After choosing a venue, an organiser notices several new listings but evaluates the earlier decision using what was available when it was made.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The potential sons-in-law appear when the daughter is already married. The contrast is between the time when a choice could be made and the time when alternatives become visible. Applied to another decision, later abundance does not necessarily help an earlier search. Consider what could reasonably have been known at the time instead of treating hindsight as a fair test of the chooser. The marriage image belongs to the source; it should not make a person’s wishes secondary or suggest that commitments must be abandoned whenever another option appears.
When to use it
Use it to distinguish later options from the information available at a decision’s proper time.
Keep in mind
People’s wishes and commitments matter; later alternatives do not automatically prove that an earlier choice was wrong.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Date unknown