Modul 5: Idiom 50: Nip it in the Bud

Nip it in the Bud

Hi. Let’s take a look at the Idiom, ‘Nip it in the bud.’ To nip something in the bud, you are stopping it before it develops. It is usually a bad situation that you want to stop before it gets worse.

So what is the origin of this idiom?

This idiom is based on the act of de-budding flowers. By cutting the buds off, you are preventing them from blooming into flowers. The first writing of this phrase was actually ‘nip it in the bloom’ and this came from the writer Henry Chettle in 1595. He wrote, ‘Extinguish these fond loves with mind’s labour, and nip thy affections in the bloom, that they may never be of power to bud.’ He is saying ‘stop their affections (their love) now so that they don’t have the chance to develop into stronger feelings.’

Take a look at our illustration.

The plant has four buds on it. Three of the buds have bloomed but one of them is yet to bloom. Do you think that it will get the chance to bloom? No, it won’t because of a pair of scissors that are cutting it to make sure that it doesn’t bloom like the others. The flowers are heart-shaped to remind us that the original writing of the quote which was stopping affections before they bloomed into love. There is a copy of the writing of Henry Chettle on the ground below the plant.

Here are some examples before we go to the concept questions…

“We need to nip Charlie’s tantrums in the bud right now before he becomes spoilt!”

“I keep spending too much, I need to nip that in the bud and start saving!”

“Jack, you’ve been late to work twice. We need to nip this in the bud now before it becomes a habit.”

“We bought a new dog yesterday; but it’s had a wee in the house three times already. We need to nip it in the bud!”

“I don’t need to nip my smoking in the bud. I’ve already stopped.”

Great.

Let’s look at some situations and check your understanding:

1. The spectators (the people watching) in the courtroom began to shout for justice as they watched the trial of the accused murderer. The accused murderer is someone who the police think have murdered someone. The judge banged his gavel (his hammer) and demanded silence in the court: “Silence!”. Did he nip the noise in the bud? Yes, by banging his gavel on the table, he stopped it before it disrupted the court hearing.
2. Alfie was lying down in the middle of the supermarket screaming and kicking. He had been doing so for 20 minutes. Had his mother nipped his behaviour in the bud? No. He had been this way for 20 minutes.
3. Steve loved gardening in his vegetable patch. He took care of it every day. One day, however, he noticed two slugs eating his lettuces, so he decided to put some slug pellets down to kill them. Did Steve nip his slug problem in the bud? Yes. He put down slug pellets before all of his vegetables were eaten.
4. Harry didn’t enjoy reading time at school and had started daydreaming… His teacher decided that Harry should read aloud to her to help his concentration. Did the teacher nip Harry’s poor concentration in the bud? Yes. By getting him to read aloud, she was nipping his poor concentration in the bud before his schoolwork suffered.
5. Sheila had been late 6 times in 2 weeks and she had been warned about her lateness becoming a habit too. Her boss, Martin, decided to fire her. Was this nipping her tardiness (her being late) in the bud? No. It became a habit and she had already been warned, so he had no choice but to fire her.

Great. Now go and practise. See you soon.