best-laid plan
1
5.4
- noun
- Informal
:
mejor plan
- It was the Scottish poet Robert Burns who wrote about "the best-laid plans of mice and men," and how they often go awry.
- best-laid plans can go
Well, the full poem goes something like the best laid plans of mice and men go awry.
- Well, the full poem goes something like the best laid plans of mice and men go awry.
Examples
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However, a dog can still go missing in spite of the best-laid plans.
Blog text (12) -
I tell ya, the best-laid plans...
Blog text (28) -
The very best part of this past election was watching Karl Rove's best laid plans blow up in his fat, stupid face.
Blog text (19) -
Well, the full poem goes something like the best laid plans of mice and men go awry.
-
Drought, flood, storm, diseases, insects, and other destructive forces of nature can nullify the best-laid plans of farmers, but complete crop failure is only part, and usually quite a small part, of the explanation.
Academic text (2001) -
The four member organizations (that'd be those acronyms at the top) will be giving away slices of a $100,000 Ford Foundation grant to applicants who have the best-laid plans for a sustainable small business.
Blog text (26) -
Even the best-laid plans can fail when unexpected circumstances arise.
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We followed the best-laid plans for our project, but unforeseen obstacles caused delays.
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The wedding was meticulously planned, but the best-laid plans were disrupted by a sudden storm.
Synonyms
2
6.6
A funny idea that if something can go wrong, it will
Plans often change when they face real problems
When things can go wrong, they often do
How Carefully Planned
Surface Forms
Morphology
best-laid + plan
The core composition 'best' + 'laid' + 'plan' transparently yields 'a very carefully prepared plan,' so a B1 learner who knows the parts can infer the basic sense. However, the phrase functions proverbially to mean that even such careful plans can go wrong, an idiomatic/pragmatic extension (and the somewhat archaic 'laid' form) that is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Best-laid plan comes from a famous poem by Robert Burns that shows how even careful plans can fail. It paints the picture of a best-laid or carefully placed plan, like a seed or stone set just right but then moved by chance, so the phrase means even the most careful plans can 'go wrong'.