Select the most appropriate meaning of the given proverb. You can’t make an…
2025
Select the most appropriate meaning of the given proverb.
You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.
Answer: A. Sacrifices must be made to achieve something important. — Concept — A proverb states a general truth through concrete images, so its meaning is figurative rather than literal. To interpret one, work out what each…
- A.
Sacrifices must be made to achieve something important.
- B.
Eggs are essential in every good recipe.
- C.
Cooking requires patience and precision.
- D.
Making mistakes in cooking is inevitable.
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Correct answer: A
Concept — A proverb states a general truth through concrete images, so its meaning is figurative rather than literal. To interpret one, work out what each image stands for in the abstract — what is given up, what is gained — and then state the general rule that connects them.
Application — The images here are an omelette and broken eggs, joined by the frame “you can’t … without …”, which makes one a necessary condition for the other.
The omelette is the thing wanted: a desirable end result.
Breaking the eggs is the irreversible cost paid to reach it — broken eggs cannot be put back together.
“Can’t … without” fixes the relation between them: the cost is not optional, it is a precondition of the result.
Stated in the abstract, the rule is: something of value must be given up in order to achieve something worthwhile — that is, sacrifices must be made to achieve something important.
Cross-check — Readings that stay at the literal level fail to produce that rule:
Literal reading | What it leaves out |
|---|---|
Eggs are essential in every good recipe. | Describes what a recipe contains; it names no result gained and no cost accepted. |
Cooking requires patience and precision. | Describes the manner of doing the work; the proverb says nothing about care or skill. |
Making mistakes in cooking is inevitable. | Treats the breaking as an accident, whereas in the proverb the breaking is deliberate and required. |
Result — The proverb means that sacrifices must be made to achieve something important. It is typically used to justify unavoidable damage caused while carrying out a plan, as in: “The restructuring will cost some jobs, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.”