Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

there's many a slip twixt cup and lip

/ðɛəɹz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.07 in modern English

Syllables
there's -many a s-lip twix-t cup and lip
IPA
/ðɛəɹz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/
56
Scrabble Score
29
Letters
4
Syllables
17
Unique Chars

Meaning

proverb

In any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong.

Dated

Example Sentences

Etymology

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.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ðɛəɹz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/
  • British English: /ðɛəz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/

Usage

Inflected Forms

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip (alternative) there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip (alternative)

Phrases

halloo before one is out of the wood out of the woods it ain't over till it's over it ain't over till the fat lady sings

Frequently Paired Words

halloo before one is out of the wood out of the woods it ain't over till it's over it ain't over till the fat lady sings

Synonyms

don't count your chickens before they're hatched

Rhymes With

lofty ship researchship schnip

Questions

How do you pronounce there's many a slip twixt cup and lip?
The recorded pronunciation is /ðɛəɹz ˌmɛni‿ə ˈslɪp twɪkst ˌkʌp‿n̩ ˈlɪp/.
What does there's many a slip twixt cup and lip mean?
In any situation, however well planned, something can always go wrong.
Where does there's many a slip twixt cup and lip come from?
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.

How to pronounce there's many a slip twixt cup and lip

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “there's many a slip twixt cup and lip”.
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