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In my language, there is another idiom "the hasty bridegroom carried the women away". It means that a hasty man makes a mess of things if he is in an extreme hurry. In Hindu marriages, especially in Andhra marriages, 5 women accompany the groom and do the marriage rituals; they are considered holy at that time. The groom carrying them away would be a ludicrous development.

The idiom itself is funny. It is intended to teach something in a funny manner. A hasty man man makes a mess of things unnecessarily. You can't ask reasons for the idiom as if it were true. "Haste makes waste" is a moral but it is an imaginary funny incident to relate to a real situation.

Could you please give me an equivalent or nearly equivalent idiom for this?

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    That's funny. Why should he do that? "All the women are considered holy at that time". Does that mean he's a choice to pick any one of the women? I'm sorry, I don't mean to be disrespectful but I honestly don't get it. Are you simply looking for a fancy way of saying botched attempt or Haste makes waste?
    – user405662
    Commented Jul 25 at 17:17
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    By 'carr[ies] them away', are we to understand that he runs off with them all (deserting his wife), carries them to a cafe one at a time, or drives them off in a minibus to say the seaside?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 25 at 18:07
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    A superficially similar proverb in English is "Marry in haste, repent at leisure," but its implication differs from the probable sense of the saying that you are trying to match. The English proverb is a warning that marriage is a lifetime commitment and shouldn't be entered into on a lark or without careful appraisal of one's prospective spouse, one's own readiness for the commitment, and the likely realities of future life together. The Hindi saying suggests something more like, "The bridegroom was so eager to start his honeymoon that he accidentally drove off without the bride."
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Jul 25 at 18:11
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    If one is not familiar with how the marriage ceremony in question works normally, and thus with what would make it aberrational for the groom to carry the women (which women?) away (where?), one can respond to your question only as a request for an expression meaning that a 'man makes a mess of things if he is in an extreme hurry', which leads to the answers such as haste makes waste. If you are seeking an English expression that matches the nuances of the original version, you need to either explain more fully its cultural background or wait for somebody familiar with it to visit this page.
    – jsw29
    Commented Jul 25 at 21:15
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    Can you also quote the proverb verbatim in your native Telugu language ?
    – Narasimham
    Commented Jul 25 at 21:36

3 Answers 3

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Those that springs to mind are.

More haste, less speed.

The faster you do something the more likely you are to make mistakes.
Then there is

If you don't have the time to do it right, when are you going to have the time to do it again?

Possibly

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

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    Non angli sed angeli?
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Jul 25 at 17:40
  • @KateBunting in 80 years I've never learned to spell! That's why I always have the spell checker engaged. But it doesn't pick up typos.
    – Peter Jennings
    Commented Jul 26 at 0:32
  • హడావిడి పెళ్లి కొడుకు పేరంటా ల ను యెత్తుకుని పోయాడు.
    – Jvlnarasimharao
    Commented Jul 26 at 3:32
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    @Jvlnarasimharao Google translate gives "Hastily, the bridegroom took the name of the son and went away." That doesn't seem the same as what you describe... You should you can edit in the original question what you think the right translation is (along with the original Telegu you just gave here in the comment). You are asking a lot of good questions but they can be better for the site with all the info in the original question rather than haphazardly over comments in different places.
    – Mitch
    Commented Jul 26 at 13:05
  • The google translation is totally wrong. The women who do marriage rituals for the groom is carried away by him may be in a state of joy, haste or something else. What makes the situation so funny is that if the women are not there with the groom, the marriage process will not continue. The marriage rituals will last for 3 or 5 days . Now you may understand the humorous situation. This may tell us how certain funny things happen because of hastiness or foolishness
    – Jvlnarasimharao
    Commented Jul 26 at 13:14
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"Measure twice, cut once." This phrase hints at the problem of haste, but more pointedly focuses on the irreversibility of the bad decision. "Haste makes waste" names both problems more explicitly, but it lacks the imagery.

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"Whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way."

This is from Proverbs, chapter 19, verse 2. The implication is that haste leads to unwise decisions and the negative consequences, as a path or way is often used as an image for wisdom. Failing to take careful steps causes one to become lost.

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