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What Does “Throwing Caution To The Wind” Mean? How To Use It

What Does “Throwing Caution To The Wind” Mean? How To Use It

You may have taken a daring step at some point in life without considering its consequences; in short, you acted in a reckless way, therefore, you threw caution to the wind. Sometimes, you are unaware of what the outcome of a decision or situation may be, but you take the risk anyway.

“Throwing caution to the wind” means to engage in significant risk without stressing about unfortunate results. If you are not careful and act carelessly, you “throw caution to the wind”. i.e. You need to throw caution to the wind and follow your dreams. What is the worst that can happen?

Let’s say you want to start a personal business and you invest a lot of money in it without further thinking of possible things that can go wrong; this means you are making a bold move and the risk involved may cause you a fortune in the event of failure. You are now throwing caution to the wind.

Origin Of The Phrase

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Before “throwing caution to the wind” was widely used, the phrase was actually known as “throwing discretion to the wind.” To throw, cast or send something to the winds is to get rid of it and in this sense, the expression dates from at least the 1400s. Nevertheless, one can throw reasoning, discretion, politeness, or anything at all, to the wind. In recent times, for unconfirmed reasons, caution has become the solid favorite and throwing it to the wind began from the late 19th century.

The use of “to the winds” is making reference to ‘entirely vanishing’, ‘cast completely away’, or ‘out of existence’.

Some say that both expressions are related to one used by the English polemicist, John Milton (December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1647) in his poem, “Paradise Lost: A Poem In Ten Books”, published in 1667. The poem was referring to Adam and Eve when they were tempted by Satan and were eventually thrown out of the Garden of Eden. The passage in this poem goes like this:

Taste so divine, that what of sweet before

Hath touched my sense, flat seems to this, and harsh.

On my experience, Adam, freely taste,

And Fear of death deliver to the winds.

So saying, she embraces him, and for joy

Tenderly wept; much won, that he is love

Had so ennobled, as of choice to incur

Divine displeasure for her sake, or death.

It is also possible that the phrase originated from a prayer written by Richard Rolle (circa 1290-1349). This prayer goes as follows:

“…desire for you that is unrestrained and yearning for you that throws caution to the winds, and this for your own love’s sake. Amen.” This is a translation from Latin, therefore, some of it could have been lost in translation.

How People Use The Phrase

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The phrase “Throwing caution to the wind” does not have to be all that generic. There are different ways to use the phrase, such as when referring to just an action or it can be used in a humorous way. You can say, “Amy threw caution to the wind and told her boss off today”, in a more serious way or say “I am going to throw caution to the wind and guess you feel like hell today”, in a more comical way. In addition, some people choose to use ‘wind’ in plural and “throw their caution to the winds.”

Other Meanings Of The Phrase

  • To make a decision without worrying about the unfavorable effects that may result from it.
  • To not care about the negative effects of doing something.
  • To do something in the heat of the moment, or at a whim, where the consequences are not considered.
  • To abandon one’s cautiousness in order to take a risk.
  • Commonly used to indicate a decision that is not well thought of or reckless behavior.

Usage Scenarios

I have been working at the same place with the same job for ten years. By now I am just used to it and am not that enthusiastic about it. I don’t do much regularly in my spare time and have a very basic routine every day. The other day, I received a job offer in another country. Even though I do not have much information about this foreign country or the new job, I think I am ready for a change. Should I throw caution to the wind and accept the job offer?

The opposite of caution? Caveat.

Brian and Georgina are out dining at their usual spot. Brian always orders the same meal every time, roast lamb with mint sauce.

Georgina: Are you going to order your usual, sweetheart?

Brian: Hmm, I’m thinking of trying something new tonight.

Georgina: Really?

Brian: Yes, I’ll throw caution to the wind and order the octopus.

Examples Of The Phrase In A Sentence

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We will now see how to apply the idiom in different sentences:

  1. She just woke up one morning and said, “Why don’t we throw caution to the wind and start a Spanish publishing company for kids?”
  2. The Finance Manager communicated to the Mexican communication giant Avantel Carlos that he decided to throw caution to the wind and follow his dream to start an adventure travel company.
  3. As a computer user, you should never throw caution to the wind by opening suspicious emails or clicking on weird links.
  4. Both teams are aware that they will need to throw caution to the wind to secure a first win.
  5. I threw caution to the wind and bought the most expensive ring.
  6. Despite expecting unfavorable weather, the fisherman threw caution to the wind and sailed away.
  7. After working the entire night, Carmen threw caution to the wind by sleeping through her lecture.
  8. Diana threw caution to the wind by opting for the Botox treatment even after knowing about its harmful effects.
  9. After the stock market crashed, they regretted throwing caution to the wind by investing a huge amount in it.
  10. Drug traffickers continuously throw caution to the wind by being involved in an illegal practice.
  11. At the interview, John was confident even though he threw caution to the wind, when he faked his qualifications.
  12. Erick didn’t want to throw caution to the wind by going to work when he was feeling sick.
  13. Finn threw caution to the wind by flirting with his colleague even though he was married.
  14. Herbert is so addicted to alcohol that he throws caution to the wind by drinking even while driving.
  15. She is known for throwing caution to the wind for performing daring stunts.
  16. There are periods of times when investors throw caution to the wind.
  17. It does not mean that they should throw caution to the wind.
  18. In the past, irrational exuberance caused investors to throw caution to the wind.
  19. They’re more apt to throw caution to the wind, Fatima communicated.
  20. They didn’t throw caution to the wind as far as we can tell.
  21. Just throw caution to the wind and go up and talk to that foreigner. It will help your speaking and listening skills.
  22. When I was young, I would often throw caution to the wind and do some really risky things without my mom and my dad knowing.
  23. I will throw caution to the wind and invest some money in cryptocurrency at the current value.

Conclusion

To finalize, it is evident that sometimes life presents us with situations in which serious decisions have to be made without much hesitation. Whether they are big or small, every action has a reaction. If you are in a desperate situation, the only thing you can do is throw caution to the wind; act recklessly or in a dangerous way, you probably wouldn’t normally do. It is unlikely to not have been in a situation where you made a decision and this one impacted you or someone else in a negative way, but the reality is, it had to be done without much dwelling on it. However, there are other cases when we have the time to reflect and consider if taking a risk will be a good idea.

In these types of situations, we can be in control and not just “throwing caution to the wind”, thus minimizing our risk. There are also circumstances in which “throwing caution to the wind” can bring benefit to our lives or the lives of others in whatever setting it may be. This comes with the act of letting go of worry and trusting things will work out, and they just might in your favor.

Basically, you can’t live life entirely restrained. You’ve got to throw caution to the wind from time to time; forget about it and do something a little dangerous, or very dangerous. Trying new and different things may not work out all the time, and if they don’t, simply don’t try them again, but what if they do work? In that case, you get to learn something. With this being said, we hope this phrase has inspired you to analyze its context and dive deeper into the meanings and situations where it is valid to apply. Have you thrown caution to the wind recently? Was it worth it?