let well enough alone

let well enough alone

To refrain from changing, disturbing, or becoming involved in something so as to avoid unintentionally causing (or worsening) problems. To be honest, you should just let well enough alone at this point. She's so angry that anything you say will just make things worse. Messing with the registry can cause catastrophic problems for your computer. If it isn't already totally busted, I would let well enough alone.

See also: alone, enough, let, well

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

let well enough alone

 and leave well enough alone

to leave things as they are (and not try to improve them). There isn't much more you can accomplish here. Why don't you just let well enough alone? This is as good as I can do. I'll stop and leave well enough alone.

See also: alone, enough, let, well

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

leave/let well enough alone

Do not try to improve matters lest you make them worse. This idea was stated in ancient Greek times. In Aesop’s fable, the fox refused the hedgehog’s offer to remove its ticks, “lest by removing these, which are full, other hungry ones will come.” There is a medieval French version of the saying, Assez est bone, lessez ester (It is good enough, let it be). An English proverb for many centuries, the phrase became the motto of Sir Robert Walpole, prime minister from 1715 to 1717 and again from 1721 to 1742. A slangy twentieth-century Americanism meaning the same thing is if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Reporting on a meeting between West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and President George H.W. Bush concerning the future of NATO in view of German unification, Strobe Talbott wrote, “They both believe in the old adage, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ NATO has kept the peace for 40 years, and there’s no reason to believe it can’t do so for another 40” (Time, July 2, 1990). See also let sleeping dogs lie.

See also: alone, enough, leave, let, well

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer