echar la soga tras el caldero

Question

I'm pretty sure that this saying means "to throw the baby out with the bath (water)." But what I don't understand is the connection in Spanish. How is a soga connected (figuratively) to a caldero? Were calderos hung from sogas in the old days? Seems like a cadena de hierro would be better because it wouldn't burn over a fire. And why would anyone throw out a soga along with a caldero?

In other words, I'm trying to figure out how this dicho came to be.

Answer 1

If anyone can give you an explanation, I'm interested too, because I've never heard this saying.

Answer 2

echar la soga tras el caldero. Perdido algo importante, echar a perder el resto.

Al parecer está tomado del que yendo a sacar agua del pozo se le cayó el caldero dentro. Y de la rabia tiró la soga detrás.

Answer 3

I think it's kind of old, and probably isn't used that much anymore. I came across it in a textbook, and though I'll probably never use it, I was curious about its origin. The DRAE says this:

echar la soga tras el caldero.
1. loc. verb. coloq. Dejar perder lo accesorio, perdido lo principal.

Answer 4

Ah, dipping it into the well for water. I hadn't thought of that, but that sounds very likely. Thank you.