Meaning
Rushing a task often delays success by causing mistakes or wasted effort. Usually offered as practical advice. The apparent paradox is clearer when 'speed' is understood as successful progress. Regional use: General British English, with a long Scots proverbial tradition.
Origin
The proverb depends on an older sense of 'speed' meaning success or effective progress, not merely velocity. A related Scots warning occurs in the medieval Troy Book, and John Heywood printed 'the more haste, the less speed' in 1546. Scots retained forms such as 'the mair haste, the waur speed.'
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- The mair haste, the waur speed
- The more haste, the less speed
Usage Examples
- Check the measurements before cutting; more haste, less speed.
- The crew rushed the loading and had to begin again: the more haste, the less speed.
- The mair haste, the waur speed, warned the mason as the mortar slipped.