# What does ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ mean?

To “too many cooks spoil the broth” means to too many people working on the same task will ruin it. Brewer's lists this as a familiar English proverb, in print by the 16th century.

## What it means

- Brewer's lists this as a familiar English proverb, in print by the 16th century.

## Action steps

1. Standard warning against overcrowded projects.
2. Example: Let just two of you edit it — too many cooks spoil the broth.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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