haste

Acting too quickly and without due diligence, focus, and attention to detail will result in avoidable mistakes and thus require even more time to complete the task satisfactorily. (The logic of the phrase is essentially "too much haste results in less overall speed.") Primarily heard in UK. I know we're all eager to get the new software released to the public, but remember: more haste, less speed. We don't want to end up wasting time fixing bugs that could have been avoided.

Prov. You do not save any time by working too fast; hurrying will cause you to make mistakes, and you will have to take extra time to do the job over again. Fred: Hurry up and get my car fixed. Alan: Don't rush me. Haste makes waste.

very fast; in a big hurry. John always did his homework in great haste. Why not take time and do it right? Don't do everything in great haste.

Prov. Act quickly, but not so quickly that you make careless mistakes. Jane: Why are you throwing your clothes around the room? Alan: You told me to get my things packed in a hurry. Jane: Yes, but make haste slowly; otherwise we'll have to spend an hour cleaning up the mess you make. I know you want to finish that sweater by Joe's birthday, but you're knitting so fast that you make mistakes. More haste, less speed.

Prov. If you marry someone you do not know well, or decide to marry someone without first carefully considering what you are doing, you will probably regret it for a long time. Sally wanted some time to consider Sam's proposal of marriage; she had heard the saying, "Marry in haste, and repent at leisure."

something that you say which means if you marry someone too soon, without knowing for certain that they are the right person for you, you will have an unhappy marriage It's true I've only known him for six months and I know you're thinking 'marry in haste, repent at leisure' but I'm telling you, he's the man for me.

as quickly as possible A letter was dispatched post-haste to their offices.

Proceeding too quickly can spoil an enterprise, as in Stop trying to rush through three things at once-haste makes waste, you know. This rhyming warning, first recorded in this exact form in 1575, was in John Ray's 1678 proverb collection, where the full text was: "Haste makes waste, and waste makes want, and want makes strife between the goodman and his wife."

Also, make it snappy. Hurry up, move or act quickly, as in If you don't make haste we'll be late, or Make it snappy, kids. The first expression was first recorded in Miles Coverdale's 1535 translation of the Bible (Psalms 39:13): "Make haste, O Lord, to help me." The variant dates from the early 1900s and uses snappy in the sense of "resembling a sudden jerk." The oxymoron make haste slowly, dating from the mid-1700s, is a translation of the Latin festina lente. It is used either ironically, to slow someone down (as in You'll do better if you make haste slowly), or to comment sarcastically on a lack of progress (as in So far the committee has been making haste slowly).

To move or act swiftly; hurry.