Question

Choose the correct meaning of the given proverb:
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
A) New parents should not be so careless while bathing their baby.
B) Don’t discard something valuable along with something undesirable.
C) Don’t lose your temper over your body.
D) Babies are precious and should not be thrown away.

Answer 1

Hint:A proverb is a simple, concrete, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience or proverb is a short, stating a general truth or a piece of advice.

Complete answer:
Let us individually analyse the answer to figure out the correct one
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater is an idiomatic expression and the meaning of this expression is to lose valuable ideas or things in order to get rid of the invaluable things or unwanted things.
Option A) New parents should not be so careless while bathing their baby – is an incorrect answer because the meaning of ‘New parents should not be so careless while bathing their baby’ means that newly parents should not be too careless while handling their babies and this is an incorrect answer because this meaning does not match with the meaning of the given proverb. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option B) Don’t discard something valuable along with something undesirable – is the correct answer because the meaning of ‘Don’t discard something valuable along with something undesirable’ is ‘do not lose something valuable with something unwanted thing’ is exactly the meaning of the proverb ‘Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater’. Thus, this is the correct answer.
Option C) Don’t lose your temper over your body – is an incorrect answer because the meaning of ‘Don’t lose your temper over your body’ is to become so angry that you shout at someone and anger in such a way that it has no control over the body is not same as of the given proverb. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option D) Babies are precious and should not be thrown away – is an incorrect answer because the meaning of ‘Babies are precious and should be thrown away’ is ‘babies are the important part of any parents life and they cannot throw their baby at any cost and this is not the correct meaning of the proverb given in the question. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Hence, the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: Proverbs have a deeper meaning than the one can perceive. The given proverb has a deeper meaning. The baby represents something valuable; the bathwater represents something that has no value. Do not get rid of something valuable in the order to get rid of something worthless. Option B gives the same meaning; hence B is correct. Options A, C and D are general truths and don't mean the same as the meaning of the proverb, hence A, C and D are incorrect.