kɪl ðə ɡuːs ðæt leɪz ðə ˈɡoʊldən ɛɡz
Money & Finance
neutral
advanced
- Literally:
- To slaughter a goose that produces golden eggs
What does "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs" mean?
- To destroy a valuable source of income for short-term gain
- To sacrifice long-term benefits for immediate profit
Examples
- Cutting R&D funding would be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
- Don't raise prices too high—you'll kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
- Overworking your best employees is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Origin
From Aesop's fable about a man who killed his magical goose thinking it contained gold inside, only to find nothing and lose the source of golden eggs forever.
How to use it
Warns against short-sighted decisions. Common in business strategy discussions.
Similar expressions
destroy the source of wealth
short-sighted
sacrifice long-term for short-term
Opposites
nurture
invest in the future
sustainable approach
Related idioms
- pay an arm and a leg
To pay an extremely high price
- make ends meet
To earn just enough money to cover basic expenses
- cost an arm and a leg
To be very expensive
- money doesn't grow on trees
Money is not easily acquired; it must be earned
- break the bank
To cost too much money
- hit the jackpot
To achieve great success or win something valuable
Use it in a practice answer
Try "kill the goose that lays the golden eggs" in a CELPIP-style Speaking or Writing task. The AI feedback tells you whether your word choice worked.