This tag is for questions seeking an idiom that fits a meaning. If you're also seeking a phrase, see the "phrase-requests" tag too.
-1
votes
2answers
69 views
How do you say “I made books fall off the shelf” [closed]
One way is to say "I spilled the books off the shelf". I am looking for a more suitable usage of words.
0
votes
2answers
121 views
What does “Lose the whiny entitled air” mean after the sentence “Say, ‘could you warm the soup up,’ Not, ‘How dare you serve me cold soup!’”?
There was the following sentence in New York Times’ (May 3rd) article titled, “Complaining is hard to avoid, but try to do it with a purpose,” ...
2
votes
3answers
90 views
“Flipping a table over”
In Israel, there is an idiom that is literally "flipping a table over" (להפוך שולחן, Lahafokh Shoolkhan) and means an overly assertive, sometimes vulgar act out of desperation that is intended to ...
4
votes
4answers
343 views
English equivalent of Hindi phrase - छुपा रुस्तम (chupa rustam)
I'm looking for English word[s] that come close to:
छुपा रुस्तम (chupa rustam): when literally translated it's "hidden warrior". Actually, it's attributed to a person who is "very clever but not ...
0
votes
2answers
91 views
Is the phrase “breed of men” weird or just different?
Forgive me for asking two questions in a single post, but I think it would make more sense to post them together. So please indulge me.
Sentence: He is not unique. We should be able to discover such ...
1
vote
2answers
136 views
Usage of 'on the brink of'
(Talking about a chimp): "In human age, he would have been on the brink of puberty."
I was told that this sentence is odd because 'be on the brink of' is usually used for something negative: ...
1
vote
0answers
104 views
Contradictory Idioms [closed]
I stumbled across some contradictory idioms, and it made me wonder how many idioms can be contradicted with other idioms! Some that I've collected so far:
The pen is mightier than the sword
...
0
votes
3answers
116 views
Is there a familiar phrase for spending too much time on something?
We all know that "a stitch in time saves nine" and "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", but sometimes the opposite is true. A stitch before its time is a waste of time and thread. If ...
2
votes
4answers
188 views
A phrase that means “to finally select (or decide) something”
I am looking for a phrase or an idiom that means that i have selected the one object from a group or settled on some solution out of many others. Let me provide some examples:
I went to the travel ...
1
vote
4answers
153 views
“Promised to be exciting, but ended being boring” [duplicate]
Although it promised to be exciting, it ended being boring/dull/useless.
Any idiom for the above phrase?
7
votes
2answers
398 views
People who sell their virginity for money
I'm Vietnamese and I'm writing an essay about prostitution. I want to ask the word to express properly the people who sell their virginity for money. In Vietnamese, we use a phrase literally means ...
2
votes
2answers
96 views
Denying own statement
Is there a word of phrase for someone who denies their own statement?
It’s like when somebody snitches and then denies having done so.
6
votes
7answers
338 views
Idiom/word/saying request: Accepting a situation out of desperation
How can I say for example:
Individual retailers run out of business when a big fish came to town. So they had accepted that they cannot compete and closed their stores.
In the novel To Kill A ...
4
votes
5answers
357 views
Idiom request: Putting too much effort, but the return is so low that it was not worth the effort
I am looking for an idiom.
You put too much effort, but there is so little gain that it would not be worth the effort.
Update: More specifically, some guy wants to save money and gas, thus he skips ...
8
votes
10answers
589 views
“You get what you deserve nothing more nothing less”
In this world we reside, what we acquire depends on what we can acquire. In other words, if we have the money to, we can buy a house; if we have the necessary educational qualifications to, we can get ...
15
votes
10answers
1k views
What is a synonym for “superstition” but without the negative connotation?
In my native language (Latvian) there is a word that denotes a superstition, but in a more positive way, somehow. It’s hard to explain, so let me give some examples:
If you swing on the swings a ...
