Throw caution to the wind

Posted by ESC on August 08, 2001

In Reply to: Wind... posted by Rico on August 07, 2001

: Quit and throw caution to the wind...when this was used at first what was the original intent

THROW CAUTION (MODESTY) TO THE WINDS - Decide on a bold (or brazen) course. The image of the wind or winds as a means of dispersal is old enough to appear in John Milton's 'Paradise Lost' : 'Fear of Death deliver to the winds.'" From The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985). "Don't throw caution to the wind. Rec. Dist. (recorded distribution): N.Y. 1st cit.: US1965 Grebanier, 'Great Shakespeare'." From A Dictionary of American Proverbs edited by Wolfgang Mieder & Others (Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 1992).