Referring to amousetrap with cheese as bait: after a mouse is captured in it, another mouse is able to take the cheese.
thesecondmousegetsthecheese
- Others reap the advantages after afirst mover absorbs the loss of afirst-mover disadvantage.
2007 February 26, John J. Fialka, “Thrifty Electric Car Turns On One Town”, inThe Wall Street Journal[1], New York, N.Y.:Dow Jones & Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on13 August 2024:A product recall later sent his Livonia, Mich., company into bankruptcy. Its remains were sold to a Fargo businessman who moved the business there and later sold it to DaimlerChrysler, just as California's first electric car mandates were looming. "We were the story of howthe second mouse gets the cheese," Mr.[Dan] Sturges says.
2009 August 20,James Fallows, “More reassuring news: new life for Eclipse?”, inJames Bennet, editor,The Atlantic[2], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on16 November 2011:Operating on what is often known as the "second mouse gets the cheese" principle,[Mason] Holland appears to be interested in retaining what was valuable about the airplane's design, after the wreck of the original company's finances.
2013 March 26, Fred Kerber, “Knicks’ Chandler hoping to play tonight vs. Celtics”, inNew York Post[3], New York, N.Y.:News Corp,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on10 August 2025:BOSTON — Discretion is the better part of valor. Prevention is better than cure.The second mouse gets the cheese. Sometimes, caution is the way to go. So the Knicks have listed Tyson Chandler as “questionable” tonight against the Celtics in Boston. Chandler has missed the last six games, primarily because of a bulging disk in his neck, although he also has battled a bone bruise in his left knee.
2016 July 22, David Berman, Tim Kiladze, “Shaking up Scotiabank: Brian Porter’s vision for a bank of the future”, inThe Globe and Mail[4], Toronto, ON:The Woodbridge Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on26 September 2022:"There was a saying around here:The second mouse gets the cheese," he[Chris Ford] said of Scotiabank's historic aversion to tech spending. "There's no advantage to being a first mover.
2024 July 6, Patrick Iversen, “F1 British GP live updates: Lewis Hamilton wins amazing race at Silverstone”, inThe Athletic[5], New York, N.Y.:The New York Times Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe original on10 August 2025:Love to see a Haas tucked in behind the Mercedes/Red Bull/McLaren chaos that might unfold when lights go out.Second mouse gets the cheese!
