a variation of the expression there's many a
slip 'twixt the
cup and the
lip: a plan,
intention, etc., may easily go
wrong before it is fully carried out; nothing is certain until it is actually obtained or fulfilled. From a Greek
legend of Ancaeus, the son of
Zeus, in which it is said that while planting a vineyard, he was told by a soothsayer that he would never drink of its wine. As soon a s the
grapes were ripe, he squeezed the
juice into a
cup and raising it to his lips, mocked the seer, who retorted with the
phrase "there's many a
slip between the
cup and the
lip." At that
moment it was announced that a wild boar was
ravaging the land. Ancaeus
set down the
cup, leaving the wine untasted, hurried out and was killed by the boar.
—SHSBC Binder 26 Approved Glossary