Meanings
- Do not seek advice from a biased party.
You never ask the barber if you need a haircut. What do you think he will say? So corn farmers tell Congress that ethanol is good and will help stop the greenhouse effect and make cars run smoother and we will all be in energy heaven if we listen to them.
2013, Philip Theibert, Potato Chip Economics […] , John Hunt Publishing, →ISBN
Origin
Attributed to Daniel S. Greenberg, who wrote “Don’t ask the barber whether you need a haircut” in the November 1972 issue of the Saturday Review, popularizing the saying. It was made more famous by Warren Buffet in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
never ask the barber if you need a haircut. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20ask%20the%20barber%20if%20you%20need%20a%20haircut
“never ask the barber if you need a haircut.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20ask%20the%20barber%20if%20you%20need%20a%20haircut. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “never ask the barber if you need a haircut,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/never%20ask%20the%20barber%20if%20you%20need%20a%20haircut.
Source: never ask the barber if you need a haircut on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.