make hay while the sun shines

English

Etymology

Hay harvest can be spoiled by wet weather. It is important that farmers seize the opportunity of dry weather for haymaking tasks (cutting, drying, gathering). Especially in medieval times, when forecasting the weather several days in advance was more difficult, it was all the more vital. Attested since 1546, originally a Tudor expression, and used figuratively since 1673.

Pronunciation

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Verb

make hay while the sun shines (third-person singular simple present makes hay while the sun shines, present participle making hay while the sun shines, simple past and past participle made hay while the sun shone)

1. (literal, agriculture) To make hay during favourable (dry) weather.
2. (idiomatic) To act while an opportunity exists; to take action while a situation is favorable.
   • 2023 June 28, Ben Jones, “Are we getting rid of our (still useful) rolling stock too early?”, in RAIL, number 986, page 28:

     Until the mid-2010s, the ROSCOs 'made hay while the sun shone', taking advantage of growing passenger demand and expanding services to find homes for their rolling assets - in some cases, well beyond their expected design lives.

Usage notes

In the imperative form, this verb is used as a proverb.

Translations

act while an opportunity exists

• Breton: pa'z eus avel eo gwentañ a zo d'ober (br)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 趁熱打鐵／趁热打铁 (zh) (chènrèdǎtiě)

• Czech: kuj železo, dokud je žhavé (cs)
• Dutch: het ijzer smeden als het heet is
• Finnish: tao kun rauta on kuumaa (fi)
• French: battre le fer tant qu’il est chaud (fr)
• German: das Eisen schmieden, so lange es heißt ist
• Greek: στη βράση κολλάει το σίδερο (sti vrási kolláei to sídero)
• Hindi: बहती गंगा में हाथ धोना (bahtī gaṅgā mẽ hāth dhonā)
• Hungarian: addig üsd a vasat, amíg meleg (hu)
• Italian: battere il ferro finché è caldo
• Japanese: 善は急げ (ja) (ぜんはいそげ, zen wa isoge)
• Lao: ນ້ຳຂຶ້ນໃຫ້ຮິບຕັກ (nam khưn hai hip tak)
• Macedonian: железото се кове додека е жешко (železoto se kove dodeka e žeško)
• Malay: sediakan payung sebelum hujan (literally “be ready with an umbrella when the rain comes”)
• Polish: kuć żelazo, póki gorące (pl) impf
• Portuguese: aproveite a maré
• Russian: куй желе́зо, пока́ горячо́ (kuj želézo, poká gorjačó)
• Scottish Gaelic: buain am maorach nuair a tha an tràigh ann
• Spanish: ahora que hay modo, la ocasión, la pintan calva

See also

• grasp the nettle
• strike while the iron is hot
• take time by the forelock

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 225.