Origin: This is a very old saying or proverb that exists in many languages. In English, it dates back to at least the 16th century when it first appeared in print. It may well be older. There are also a number of different versions. Sometimes it’s soup, sometimes it’s stew. A similar saying is “Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.” However, as with many proverbs there are several antonyms, such as “The more the merrier,” or “Many hands make light work.”
Usage: Informal, spoken and written, general American and British English
Idiomatic Meaning: On a job or in a project, if too many people give orders, or try do the same job there is little chance for success
Literal Meaning: In a kitchen if there a many cooks cooking the same soup and each one adds something they think is needed, the resulting soup will taste terrible.
Why is this funny? In this old photograph we see a number of women standing by large cauldrons filled with something which appears to be soup, or perhaps stew. It’s not clear if they all contain the same soup or not. For the sake of this idiom, we’ll assume it’s the same. In that case, if this proverb is true then with this many cooks, the resulting soup should taste terrible. In fact, we can say that since “too many cooks spoil the broth”, then most likely too many cooks have spoiled this broth!
Sample sentence: If everybody is going to be giving orders, we’ll never get the job done. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Usage: Informal, spoken and written, general American and British English
Idiomatic Meaning: On a job or in a project, if too many people give orders, or try do the same job there is little chance for success
Literal Meaning: In a kitchen if there a many cooks cooking the same soup and each one adds something they think is needed, the resulting soup will taste terrible.
Why is this funny? In this old photograph we see a number of women standing by large cauldrons filled with something which appears to be soup, or perhaps stew. It’s not clear if they all contain the same soup or not. For the sake of this idiom, we’ll assume it’s the same. In that case, if this proverb is true then with this many cooks, the resulting soup should taste terrible. In fact, we can say that since “too many cooks spoil the broth”, then most likely too many cooks have spoiled this broth!
Sample sentence: If everybody is going to be giving orders, we’ll never get the job done. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
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