when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras
English
Alternative forms
- when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras
- when you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras
Etymology
Coined in the late 1940s by Dr. Theodore Woodward, professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Proverb
when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras
- (medicine, informal) When diagnosing a patient's symptoms, common ailments should be considered as more probable than rare ones.
Related terms
- zebra