the.com/nip in the bud
Kill the problem while it's still small enough to kill.
means To stop something undesirable at its very earliest stage, before it has a chance to grow or develop.
from A gardening image: to 'nip' a bud is to pinch or clip it off a plant before it can flower, literally cutting a stem short with fingers or shears. The phrase appears in English from the 1500s-1600s, often in the form 'nip in the bloom' or 'nip in the blade' before 'bud' became the standard version — all variations on the same horticultural idea of cutting off growth before it even starts.
- origin
- horticultural, about pinching off buds before bloom
- common error
- people say nip it in the butt
- logic
- prevention costs less than cure, always
- timing
- works only before momentum builds