From where comes the expression "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water"?

Elisa

In the 1700s, people only took baths like once a month and in an average lower class household there was only one tub to take a bath in and everyone used the same water. The father went first, followed by any other older male relatives, then the wife and so on down to the kids. By the end the water was so dirty that you could barely see the baby in the tub, hence the warning, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Always ckeck all factors before doing something you can't undo. Apr 18 00, 5:17 AM

zbeckabee

This common metaphorical phrase is actually of German origin and of relatively recent use in the English language. It had its first written occurrence in Thomas Murner's (1475-1537) versified satirical book Narrenbeschwörung (1512) which contains as its eighty-first short chapter entitled "Das kindt mit dem bad vß schitten" (To throw the baby out with the bath water) a treatise on fools who by trying to rid themselves of a bad thing succeed in destroying whatever good there was as well. http://www.deproverbio.com/DPjournal/DP,1,1,95/BABY.html Jan 24 08, 3:46 PM