“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty”: meaning, origin and examples
What it means
The phrase Hindsight is always twenty-twenty means that it’s easy to understand what you should have done after something has happened. In other words, people have perfect clarity about past events, but cannot predict the future.
Tone Reflective and slightly ironic
Where it comes from
The expression combines hindsight, which refers to the understanding of a situation only after it has occurred, with twenty-twenty, a term used to describe normal visual acuity (perfect vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet. The phrase suggests that looking back, events seem clear and obvious, just like someone with 20/20 vision can see clearly.
Examples
- He regretted not buying stocks earlier, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
- They realized they should have prepared more for the storm; hindsight is always 20/20.
- I shouldn’t have said those things, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
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