Fig.: to discard the essential with the waste

After the fall of Communism, in the frenzy of denying everything good or bad that was before, they run the risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water

Dopo la caduta del Comunismo, molti vedono, nella volontà di cancellare totalmente quello che è stato, il pericolo di buttar via il bambino con l'acqua sporca

The idea of closing down small libraries because people are borrowing less and less “physical” books, sounds to me like the baby may be thrown out with the bath water

Mi sembra che l'idea di chiudere le piccole biblioteche, poiché ormai si prendono in prestito sempre meno libri “cartacei”, sia come gettare via l'acqua sporca con il bambino dentro

This expression is a translation of a German proverb dating back from 1512. It reads “das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten” (to pour the baby out with the bath) and it comes with an illustration of a woman dumping a tub of water, with a baby inside, into the river. In 1853 it was translated into English and published by Thomas Carlyle.George Bernard Shaw, in Pen Portraits & Reviews (1909), wrote: "Like all reactionists, he usually empties the baby out with the bath.” He used this expression in several occasions, thus helping in making it popular