“So Far So Good” means things have gone satisfactorily up to the present point. The phrase is deliberately limited to progress until now and does not guarantee a successful final outcome.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionPhrases & Idioms
Quick answer
Things have gone satisfactorily up to the present point.
Key details
Canonical FormSo Far So Good
Core Meaningthings have gone satisfactorily up to the present point
Further guidance
History Boundary
Current meaning is published without claiming a single inventor, exact coinage date, or absolute first use unless separately evidenced.
Meaning
things have gone satisfactorily up to the present point
Usage Boundary
The phrase is deliberately limited to progress until now and does not guarantee a successful final outcome.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
The saying “a watched pot never boils” expresses how impatient waiting can make time feel unusually slow. This guide limits its public explanation to the present meaning supported by Oxford and does not publish a speculative origin chronology.
“Against the clock” describes working quickly to finish before a time limit and can also describe an activity in which elapsed time is recorded to compare speed. This guide keeps those current senses separate from unsupported origin chronology.
“As fit as a fiddle” means very healthy and physically strong. The guide stays with documented present-day meaning and does not invent an exact origin or first-use story.
“At the drop of a hat” describes acting immediately or very readily. This guide publishes the current form and meaning supported by Cambridge without adding an unsupported story about a precise origin or first use.
To put something “on the back burner” is to postpone or deprioritize it temporarily rather than deal with it now. The guide stays with current documented meaning and does not add unsupported origin chronology.
“Better late than never” is used when a delayed action, arrival, or improvement is still considered worthwhile because the alternative would be no action at all. This guide does not claim an exact origin date.
“Bite the dust” is an informal idiom used for dying, failing, stopping working, or being defeated depending on context. This guide publishes the supported modern senses without asserting an exact origin or first use.
“Break a leg” is an informal good-luck wish, especially before a performance. The theatrical sense is documented in mid-twentieth-century American print, but several popular explanations for why a deliberately negative wish came to mean good luck remain unproved.
