How common is this saying:

I'm from Illinois originally (transplanted to California), and I've never heard of that saying. What does it mean?

I've never heard this one Muse. I have to second TheIt's question - What does it mean?

So it's a variation on, "Where there's smoke, there's fire." Might not be fire, might be zebras. Neat.

I could see having a character in the medical profession using it to someone outside medicine and needing to explain. Could be good characterization.

I know it but with the reverse meaning. i.e. the most common explanation is probably true hoofbeats (unless you are in Africa) means horses not zebras.

i heard it for the first time when I was in my 20s--not at all connected to medicine-- and would not think of it as a common saying

Put me down as another who has never heard it and would have had no idea what it meant. FYI I´m from London and have no medical background.

I thought it was a common expression - almost a cliche. I don't have a medical background. Maybe I've seen too many TV medical dramas.

Rather than explain it, why not try to write it in a context so that the meaning of the phrase becomes obvous to the reader? Those who are familiar with the saying will get it right away; those who aren't will think you're extremely clever.

I have heard it, but in the version Veinglory described: "When you hear hoofbeats, don't look for zebras". I can't remember where I heard or read it, but it was probably in the context of scientific experimentation - a warning to not to discount the simplest explanation, just because it's the simplest. (There is a tendency for some young scientists to create convoluted explanations for data, when often a simple one would suffice.)

So, to answer your question, if someone just said "Look for zebras", I wouldn't know what they were referring to.

Never came across it in the UK, I got the gist though.

Peggy said:

I have heard it, but in the version Veinglory described: "When you hear hoofbeats, don't look for zebras". I can't remember where I heard or read it, but it was probably in the context of scientific experimentation - a warning to not to discount the simplest explanation, just because it's the simplest. (There is a tendency for some young scientists to create convoluted explanations for data, when often a simple one would suffice.)

So, to answer your question, if someone just said "Look for zebras", I wouldn't know what they were referring to.

Click to expand...

I've always heard it the way Veinglory did too. It was used in science classes, especially biology classes, to mean that the simplest and most common explanation was most often correct.

Not me! Moose or caribou maybe?

Personally, I'd rather look for unicorns or hippogriffs.

Oklahoma - no medical background - never heard of it either.

Oklahoma too (not right this minute, but originally) - no medical background - but I have heard it. Go figure.

I believe I've heard about it, but in the context of "If you hear hoofbeats, don't think they're zebras".

In other words, it would be more likely that the hoofbeats would come from horses than zebras.

This is is similar to Sutton's Law which is used in medicine. I can't quote it exactly, but the idea is to look for the most common diagnosis that coincides with the symptoms, not the rarest.

This comes from the famous bank rober, Willie Sutton. He denied saying this, by the way, but the story is that a reporter asked him why he robbed banks, and he said,

"Because that's where the money is."

I've seen it, as a maxim taught in medical school, in the form (roughly) "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." I haven't gone to medical school. I just read a lot.

I first heard it, "Just because you hear hoofbeats, don't assume zebras." And yes, in the medical profession. It was within context, and therefore had no problem figuring out what it meant.

Hi,

I'm in the UK - I've only heard it used on US TV. I might be wrong, but wasn't it used in House not so long back? (I love that show. The dialogue's so sharp.)

Cheers,
Steve

zebras

I've heard it, but the same way as most of the others. "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." It means the simplest explanation is probably the right one. In other words, if you hear hoofbeats, it's probably a horse, not a zebra.

This is the way it's always used in med school, and with doctors.

It's very common this way, but it doesn't make sense to say, "When you hear hoofbeats, assume Zebras."

http://medscape.typepad.com/thedifferential/2006/01/seeing_zebras.html

I've never heard the expression. If I saw it I would think something else because I've heard the expression "Like being a zebra in lion country" used in investing a lot. If I read "look for zebras" out of context my first thought would be "look for suckers".

Just a thought . . . although not much of one.

Jamesaritchie said:

I've heard it, but the same way as most of the others. "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." It means the simplest explanation is probably the right one. In other words, if you hear hoofbeats, it's probably a horse, not a zebra.

This is the way it's always used in med school, and with doctors.

It's very common this way, but it doesn't make sense to say, "When you hear hoofbeats, assume Zebras."

http://medscape.typepad.com/thedifferential/2006/01/seeing_zebras.html

Click to expand...

The saying appeared within an article in this morning's PARADE magazine in my Sunday paper as "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras" in an article about rare diseases. Within the article it stated that it's a common expression in med school and the medical professions.