there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
UK/ðɛəz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp//ðɛəɹz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/
there's many a slip twixt cup and lip proverb: in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong.
Proverb
there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
- In any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong.
- Many thynges fall betwene the cuppe and the mouth.[1539, Erasmus, “Multa cadunt inter calicem supremaq[ue] labra”, in Richard Taverner, transl., Proverbes or Adagies with Newe Addicions Gathered out of the Chiliades of Erasmus […], London: […]...
- [Y]et conſidering that many things fall betwéene the cup and the lip, that in one luckie houre more rare things come to paſſe, thẽ [then; i.e., than] ſome-times in ſeauen yeare, […] there is no doubt but that they both will liue well in marriage, who loued ſo well before their matching: […][[1578], Iohn Lylly [i.e., John Lyly], “Thine or Not His Owne, Philautus”, in Euphues. The Anatomy of Wyt. […], London: […] [Thomas East] for Gabriell Cawood, […], →OCLC, folio 129, recto
there's many a slip twixt cup and lip meaning in Hindi
there's many a slip twixt cup and lip in Hindi
- in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong
- दिल्ली अभी दूर है dillī abhī dūr hai
Synonyms of there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
Forms of there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
| alternative form | there's many a slip between the cup and the lip |
|---|---|
| alternative form | there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip |
Origin of there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
The Dutch humanist Erasmus (c. 1466 – 1536), in his collection of proverbs called Adagia, noted that the Carthaginian grammarian Sulpicius Apollinaris (fl. 2nd century C.E.) recorded two proverbs, one in Greek and the other in Latin, with the same meaning: πολλὰ μεταξὺ πέλει κύλικος καὶ χείλεος ἄκρου (pollà metaxù pélei kúlikos kaì kheíleos ákrou, literally “much takes place between the (wine) cup and the upper lip”) and multa cadunt inter calice[m], supremaq[ue] labra (literally “many things fall between the chalice and the upper lips”). The earliest English version of the expression recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is Richard Taverner’s 1539 translation of Erasmus’s work: see the quotation. The proverb refers to the possibility of a drink being spilled from a cup while it is being raised to the lips and before it can be drunk. The word slip (absent from the original Greco-Roman version) was chosen for its rhyme with lip.
Words that rhyme with there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
Questions about there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
- What does there's many a slip twixt cup and lip mean?
- There's many a slip twixt cup and lip means in any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong.
- What is there's many a slip twixt cup and lip in Hindi?
- There's many a slip twixt cup and lip in Hindi is दिल्ली अभी दूर है (dillī abhī dūr hai). See There's many a slip twixt cup and lip meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is there's many a slip twixt cup and lip?
- There's many a slip twixt cup and lip is a proverb.
- How do you pronounce there's many a slip twixt cup and lip?
- There's many a slip twixt cup and lip is pronounced /ðɛəz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/ (UK).
Words near there's many a slip twixt cup and lip in the dictionary
- there's been
- there's been an accident
- there's life in the old dog yet
- there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle
- there's many a slip between the cup and the lip
- there's many a slip twixt cup and lip
- there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip
- there's more than one way to cook an egg
- there's more than one way to crack an egg
- there's more than one way to feed a cat
- there's more than one way to fuck a cat
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: there's many a slip twixt cup and lip (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-there's many a slip twixt cup and lip.wav.
Cite this entry: “there's many a slip twixt cup and lip.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/there%27s_many_a_slip_twixt_cup_and_lip. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.