Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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proverb
With limited tools, single-minded people apply them inappropriately or indiscriminately.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail
Antonyms: none provided
proverb
Individuals deeply versed in a particular subject or proficient in the use of a specific tool may display confirmation bias, viewing it as relevant to all situations.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Likely traditional. In this form, perhaps from Abraham Maslow, The Psychology of Science, 1966, page 15 and his earlier book Abraham H. Maslow (1962), Toward a Psychology of Being: : I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail. Similar concept by Abraham Kaplan, The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science, 1964, page 28: : I call it the law of the instrument, and it may be formulated as follows: Give a small boy a hammer, and he will find that everything he encounters needs pounding. Labeled "Baruch's Observation" (after Bernard Baruch) in The Complete Murphy's Law: A Definitive Collection (1991) by Arthur Bloch. Also often attributed, without citation, to Mark Twain (for example in Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Mind, page 9).
