hindsight is 20/20

hindsight is 20/20

English

Etymology

From the term 20/20 referring to normal visual acuity.

Proverb

hindsight is 20/20

1. (idiomatic) In hindsight things are obvious that were not obvious from the outset; one is able to evaluate past choices more clearly than at the time of the choice.
   • Another common error dealing with memory is that of "hindsight bias." This is the tendency to exaggerate what could have been anticipated in the past. This is also known as "Monday morning quarter backing" or "hindsight is 20/20" where the "right" decision as to what should have been done appears to be more obvious now than it was in the past. Facing Reality: An Introduction to Philosophy Revised Edition, PhD Joseph Grcic

Related terms

• twenty-twenty hindsight

See also

• Monday-morning quarterback
• it is easy to be wise after the event

Translations

in hindsight things are obvious that were not obvious from the outset

Chinese: Cantonese: 馬後炮 (maa5 hau6 paau3), 有早知，冇乞兒 (jau5 zou2-zi1, mou5 hat1-ji4, literally “there would be no homeless people if everyone knows beforehand”), 事後孔明 (si6 hou6 hung2-ming4, literally “everyone can be Kongming in hindsight”) Mandarin: 吃一塹，長一智 (zh), 吃一堑，长一智 (zh) (chīyīqiàn, zhǎngyīzhì, literally “falling in a moat makes you all the wiser”) Czech: po bitvě je každý generál (cs) Danish: i bagklogskabens klare lys (prepositional phrase) Finnish: jälkiviisaus on helppoa German: hinterher ist man immer klüger Hebrew: כולם חכמים בדיעבד‎, במבט לאחור רואים הכול שש־שש‎, במבט לאחור כולנו חכמים‎, חוכמה לאחר מעשה‎ Hungarian: utólag könnyű okosnak lenni Italian: del senno di poi son piene le fosse Latvian: pēc kara visi gudri (literally “after the war everyone is wise”), pēc kaujas visi gudri (literally “after the battle everyone is wise”) Norwegian: det er lett å være etterpåklok Polish: mądry Polak po szkodzie (pl) Portuguese: depois que a onça já está morta, todo caçador é valente Russian: за́дним умо́м всяк кре́пок (zádnim umóm vsjak krépok, literally “everyone is strong by one's hindmind”), пото́м и Семён умён (potóm i Semjón umjón, literally “afterwards, even Semyon is wise”), догада́лся, как проигра́лся (dogadálsja, kak proigrálsja, literally “(he) guessed it after (he) lost”), (пока́) гром не гря́нет, мужи́к не перекре́стится (ru) ((poká) grom ne grjánet, mužík ne perekréstitsja, literally “until it thunders the man won't cross himself”) Spanish: después de la batalla somos todos generales (literally “after the battle we all are generals”) Swedish: efterklokhet (sv), det är lätt att vara efterklok Ukrainian: по шко́ді всі му́дрі (po škódi vsi múdri) Yiddish: אחר־המעשׂה איז יעדערער אַ חכם‎ (akher-hamayse iz yederer a khokhem)