Where did the expression....

[Tripper11]

"Throwing out the baby with the bathwater" come from?

[Liberal Veteran]

1. Here ya go.

The expression "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water" is German in origin and can be traced to the fifteenth century satire Narrenbeschwörung by Thomas Murner.

[Tripper11]

4. Cheers, thanks! N/T

[mikehiggins]

2. When bathing, the father of the family

washed first, then the mother, then the children in order of age. By the time it was over the water was filthy and dirty enough that you could lose something in it.

Like a baby.

So you had to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Life was so much simpler and more natural back then.

[PinkTiger]

6. Wrong order of bathers.

I was raised in a family of seven children, and we often stayed on the farm in the summer, without electricity and running water. We took a bath in a galvanized bathtub, and the children were first, followed by the girls, then the boys and the father. That's because the guys were the dirtiest.

And I think that is the way it was, most of the time. Having the dirtiest people bathe first would be criminal.

[gator_in_Ontario]

3. I read somewhere

that it had to do with the fact that the lineup for the weekly bath was : men, women, children, then babies. The water was so dirty by then, the baby might get thrown out when the water was tossed. You would think it would have drowned by then anyway...

[Tripper11]

5. Actually I found this through a google

after lib vet gave me the Narrenbeschwörung lead.

Baby and the bathwater

Thanks for all the input though!