kill the goose that lays the golden eggs: meaning & examples

Open in app

Language: English

Meanings:

  • 2.

    English (international)literalrareMachine
    • To kill an animal that produces a valuable or recurrent product, thereby eliminating the future benefits it provides.

    Examples

    Beta

    • The farmer killed the goose that lays the golden eggs by slaughtering the hen that produced fresh eggs every day.

      The farmer killed the animal that produced valuable eggs daily, thus losing future benefits.

    • It seems unwise to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs just for a quick profit from selling the milk cow.

      It seems unwise to kill the animal that provides continuous valuable products just for immediate profit.

    • They killed the goose that lays the golden eggs by cutting down the fruit trees that kept producing year after year.

      They destroyed the animals that provided valuable recurrent products by cutting down the fruit trees.

    • If you kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, you won't have any more honey to sell next season.

      If you destroy the animal producing honey, you won't have honey to sell in the future.

  • 1.

    English (international)proverbialidiomaticfigurativeMachine
    • To destroy or spoil a continual source of profit, advantage, or benefit by acting for immediate gain or through short-sighted, greedy, or reckless behavior.

    Examples

    Beta

    • By over-harvesting the forest, the company killed the goose that lays the golden eggs and lost its main income source.

      By over-harvesting the forest, the company destroyed its continual source of profit and lost its main income.

    • Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs by cutting the budget on research and development.

      Do not ruin the continual source of advantage by cutting the budget on research and development.

    • If we keep exploiting the land without care, we’ll kill the goose that lays the golden eggs and face long-term losses.

      If we keep exploiting the land carelessly, we will destroy the continual source of benefits and suffer losses.

Examples:

  • EN: Would you really kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?
    ES: ¿De verdad vas a matar ¿a la gallina de los huevos de oro?
  • EN: Can't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
    ES: No puedo matar a la gallina de los huevos de oro.
  • EN: More importantly, I don't get why such a wise man like you decided to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
    ES: Lo que es más importante, no entiendo cómo un hombre tan sabio como usted decidió matar a la gallina de los huevos de oro.
    ID: Aku tak paham kenapa pria bijak sepertimu mengesampingkan pilihan yang lebih efektif dan bertindak gegabah.
  • EN: I hope we didn't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
    ES: A ver si no matamos a la gallina de los huevos de oro.
    ID: Semoga kita tak mematikan rezeki sendiri.
  • EN: We live here and we don't want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
    HI: आती नहीं बनानी हमें, मारेगा खाने वाला कस के चाट।
  • EN: "Because you'd kill the goose that lays the golden eggs," replied
    HI: 'बुलंदियों को कैसे छुआ जाता है, आपने वो बताया'
  • EN: He knows better than to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
    ID: Dia tidak perlu menyerah atas keuntungan jangka panjang demi keuntungan sesaat.

Related Idioms

Validation Count: 0

Source: Wiktionary