leave well enough alone
to keep something like it is
TRANSLATION
leave well enough alone = etwas gut sein lassen --- GOOGLE INDEX leave well enough alone: approximately 180,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Author Learns To LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE
(National Public Radio - News Headline)
---
I keep telling myself, better walk on
LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE
Better find a woman of my own
Keep on telling myself I can't make her my very own
Leave well enough alone
Better move on
-from the song Leave Well Enough Alone, by Uncle Sam
(National Public Radio - News Headline)
---
I keep telling myself, better walk on
LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE
Better find a woman of my own
Keep on telling myself I can't make her my very own
Leave well enough alone
Better move on
-from the song Leave Well Enough Alone, by Uncle Sam
Did you
know?
leave well enough alone (also let well enough alone)
idiom
-to allow something to stay as it is because doing more might make things worse
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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The idea behind this expression dates from ancient Greek times, specifically Aesop's fable about a fox who refuses a hedgehog's offer to take out its ticks because he is afraid other hungry ones will replace those that are already full. It was expressed as "let well alone" in the early 1700s and first recorded as "let well enough alone" in 1827.
A similar expression is "let sleeping dogs lie," meaning to allow inactive problems to remain so. This injunction to avoid stirring up trouble was already a proverb in the 13th century. It alludes to waking up a fierce watchdog and has been in use since the late 1300s.
(source: American Heritage Dictionary)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"This program has worked well for many years, so it would be best to leave well enough alone."
idiom
-to allow something to stay as it is because doing more might make things worse
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
The idea behind this expression dates from ancient Greek times, specifically Aesop's fable about a fox who refuses a hedgehog's offer to take out its ticks because he is afraid other hungry ones will replace those that are already full. It was expressed as "let well alone" in the early 1700s and first recorded as "let well enough alone" in 1827.
A similar expression is "let sleeping dogs lie," meaning to allow inactive problems to remain so. This injunction to avoid stirring up trouble was already a proverb in the 13th century. It alludes to waking up a fierce watchdog and has been in use since the late 1300s.
(source: American Heritage Dictionary)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"This program has worked well for many years, so it would be best to leave well enough alone."
