Meaning
Being cared for or handled by someone competent and trustworthy, so that no harm is expected. It is said of patients, children, customers, and projects, and 'you're in good hands' is one of the standard reassurances of English. The British equivalent 'in safe hands' and 'a safe pair of hands' carry the same idea. Warm and reassuring; strongly associated with professional care in medicine, childcare, and financial services. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The metaphor is custody and care: what you hold in your hands you protect, so being in someone's hands means being in their keeping. No reliable public source gives a first date for 'in good hands'; the closely related 'in safe hands' was already an established expression in 19th-century writing. Cambridge's lexicographers gloss the current idiom as being looked after or trained by someone skilled who can be trusted, and list the British 'a safe pair of hands' alongside it. The phrase's modern American prominence owes much to advertising: Allstate's slogan 'You're in Good Hands with Allstate' was created in 1950 by the company's general sales manager Davis W. Ellis - reportedly adapted from words he used to reassure his wife about a doctor treating their child - and has run continuously since, making the idiom a byword for trustworthy stewardship in insurance and beyond.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- a safe pair of hands
- in safe hands
- in the best of hands
- you're in good hands
Usage Examples
- Don't worry about the children - they will be in good hands with your sister.
- From the moment the surgeon explained the procedure, we felt we were in good hands.
- Leave the logistics to Marta; the project could not be in better hands.