Questions tagged [idiom-requests]
This tag is for questions seeking an idiom that fits a certain meaning. If you are asking more generally about a suitable phrase to use in a particular context, see the "phrase-request" tag. If you are seeking only a single word, see the "single-word-requests" tag.
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Saying similar to Chinese 安贫乐道: "To be content with poverty and strive for virtue"?
There is a saying in Chinese, 安贫乐道, which means something along the lines of "To be content with poverty and strive for virtue."
I'm looking for something similar in English, even if it's ...
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Idiom for standing out positively? [duplicate]
What's an idiom for describing the one good apple in a bunch?
This book's a ______
In a group where you may expect to find only bad members, one member may stand out as surprisingly positive, and ...
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Idiomatic alternative to “going to Canossa”
The metaphorical expression to go to Canossa means:
To humble oneself, as in “he went to Canossa when he reversed his policy”.
The saying refers to an event that happened nearly a thousand years ago:...
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Is there a word/phrase that describes things people say to be "the smartest person in the room"? [duplicate]
Examples would be
(1) The tomato is not a vegetable
(2) Washington didn't really cut the Cherry Tree
(3) no evidence that Marie Antoinette said "let them eat cake"
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Idiomatic expression for "this will cost $1000 as if a penny"
In Hungarian, one can say "ehhez legalább $1000 kell, mint egy fillér". It means that a task will be expensive - $1000 might be enough to start but it might be much more, that is, $1000 ...
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Equivalent idiom for "The hasty bridegroom has carried the women away"
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, ...
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Word or idiom to describe clothes colours that don't match
In Arabic, when somebody is wearing clothes that ridiculously don't match colour-wise, and therefore the person looks goofy, we describe their mismatched clothing as "zaraq waraq" - That ...
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Synonym for "of my production"
Let's say I produce something and sell it, e.g. honey. What would I write on the sign outside my shop? My initial ideas don't sound right:
Honey of my production?
In-house honey?
I'm looking for a ...
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Is there a better word for 'anonymity' here? [closed]
This is the sentence:
The Festival was the reason he had chosen this place to enter the country, the safety and 'anonymity' it provided would make his further travels much smoother.
Some context:
...
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Idiomatic expressions for making sarcastic comparisons with other person: translations for ‘otra que’ or ‘ser un poroto’ [closed]
Consider this situation. I'm playing a football game and one of my teammates eludes all the opponents and scores all on his own. If he is a regular player, I would say with irony one of these two ...
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A word or phrase that means "picky about something they can't have"
I'm searching for a word, phrase, or even an idiom to describe someone who is very picky about things out of their reach. For example, they may love Lamborghinis but think Ferraris are too overstyled ...
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Idiom for "different people know different things"
There is the common saying that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” to show that different things may have different value to different people.
However, I teach a class of students and often ...
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Idiom for a situation where a problem has two simultaneous but unrelated causes?
A colleague of mine, who is a software engineer, recently mentioned that while debugging problems he often finds that, for any given symptom he is investigating, there turn out to be two simultaneous ...
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Person who says they want to help, but doesn't want to do it when asked [duplicate]
I'm looking for a word that means a person who says that they're here to help, but when the help is asked for they don't really want to do it
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A phrase that means you are indifferent towards the things you are familiar with?
Locals may not even be as well-travelled in their own country as a tourist who is only there for a fraction of the time. Maybe they see the same tourist attractions from a distance time and time again,...
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What do you call a moderate victory?
In the following bible passage, Prophet Elisha prophesies that King Joash should take his bow and arrows, and subsequently orders Joash to use his arrows to strike the ground to signify a symbolic act....
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Phrase or Idiom [duplicate]
What is the phrase or Idiom, if any, that describes two persons who don't move forward because they step from side to side to allow the other to pass as a mark of courtesy?
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English equivalent of the Russian idiom "You are confusing sour with yellow"
There is an idiomatic expression in my native language: "You are confusing sour with yellow", which means something like that though lemons are sour and yellow, not every yellow thing is ...
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What do you call it when someone's really pushing it?
In Iraqi Arabic, when someone is bothering you or hassling you continuously and you reach that level where you can't handle it (like when they begin insulting you), you literally say to them (in ...
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someone much too enthusiastic about something that doesn't concern them
A group of people is too interested, enthusiastic, and excited about a basketball tournament taking place in Armenia when they live in the farthest country from Armenia in the world—New Zealand. They ...
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What idiom could describe bureaucratic inefficiency?
To begin with, the bureaucratic process was extremely time-consuming, and when I inquired about the status of my documents, they gave me the runaround. After incessantly contacting them regarding my ...
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People who frequently travel in planes are called…?
What do you call people who travel in a plane?
I know "passenger" is appropriate but that is also true for travelling in taxis, trains, ships, and buses. Also, a passenger suggests someone ...
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The expression relating to bugs biting each other, causing them to move faster in a swarm
This may extend beyond the scope of this stack exchange. In some notes I am writing for a class, I identify that capitalism always demands growth since everyone is always competing to outdo one other.
...
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Idiom to describe that a house has been there for all the history of a family or person
I've been living in the same house ever since my mama birthed me there. From preschool up through high school, you can say _____
I'm pretty sure I've read before poetic phrases along the lines of &...
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To gain ground: Synonym
What is the right synonym to describe that a scientific field gained ground?
My ideas:
The field progressed/made progress
The field evolved rapidly
The field experienced an upswing
Do these convey ...
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Idiom/phrase for; something so explosively life changing/profound that it leaves you speechless [duplicate]
I found a few that came kind of close but I'm looking for something tht essentially combines the definitions of Epochal Momentum, Red/Scarlett Letter, & Magnum Opus. But it has a lot more of a ...
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2
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What is the origin of "take one's medicine"? [closed]
I would really like to know where the idiom "take one's medicine" comes from. At first l thought it was another version of taste of their own medicine, but I found that these two have ...
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looking for a correct/ idiomatic phrase
Context: A recent meeting between Chinese and American Foreign affairs bosses in Munich.
Original:
双方就开展人文交流，便利人员往来交换了意见。王毅敦促美方停止无端滋扰盘查中国公民，多做有利于增进两国人民相互了解的事情，并送美方一句古话：“勿以恶小而为之，勿以善小而不为。
During their ...
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Idiom for model organism / prototypical example / "MNIST of X"
I'm looking for idioms or phrases conveying something similar to one of the following:
a toy example on which practitioners of X usually test a new method first, as it's expected that if a method ...
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Idiom meaning to give a stern lecture
I'm looking for an idiom that means something like "to give someone a brutal talking to":
For example:
After Jim failed the first two exams, Prof. X gave Jim ____, which set Jim straight.
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How do you describe someone who pretends to know the answer to their question after it's been answered?
I have a coworker who constantly asks questions, obvious ones and sometimes not so obvious, and always pretends to have known the answer but it accidentally slipped their mind.
example
Coworker: How ...
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What is a word/ expression for a cut down said with a grin?
When someone is grinning at you while cutting you down. A snide comment is the best I have found. Or cheshire cat grin. There has to be a better word for this common occurrence.
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word or phrase to describe wanting to ask how someone is coping with something difficult but not asking due to respect?
Is there a word or phrase to describe the longing to know how someone is coping with something hard - illness, death etc - but not wanting to pry due to the painful nature of the person who is going ...
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Idiomatic expression for "putting off a task until a disaster strikes" [duplicate]
In Russian language there is a proverb "Пока гром не грянет, мужик не перекрестится".
Literal translation would be something like this: the peasant will not cross himself before it begins to ...
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A man of many talents/ the man of many talents
Can I use the article the with the idiom “man of many talents” if I want to emphasise that it refers to just a specific person and not speaking generally? For instance: “You’re the man of many talents”...
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What do you call a person who can "read a room" and adapt socially by doing so?
What word or words could I use to describe being able to read a room and adapt to that social setting by doing so? I have an interview and I'm trying to list strengths. I work in medical offices ...
3
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2
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To make people get used to and accept the bad by showing them the worse
I am searching for an idiomatic expression for making people accept and get used to what they normally wouldn't by showing or making them experience a worse one.
Edit; when authority wants to increase ...
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0
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More common terms for "tall poppy syndrome"
I came across this New York Times article:
Ms. Hathaway could simply be a victim of what the British call “tall poppy syndrome” — the bloom that pokes above the others is the first to get cut.
I ...
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Idiom for “pretending to like someone when you actually hate them”
I’m trying to translate a Vietnamese proverb into English, and I couldn’t find an idiom or proverb in English that provides an exact match with my Vietnamese one.
The Vietnamese one goes as follows: “...
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Compound words/phrases that still make sense when their order is swapped [closed]
Thinking of compound words or phrases where the order of the words can be swapped around and still make sense:
Examples: Lighthouse - House Light Birdhouse - House BirdRacetrack - Track Race
So far ...
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Idiom for unexpected solution?
Is there an idiom for an unexpected solution?
For more specificity, I want to write about how if you're sincere enough, sometimes you can find a solution in unexpected places.
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 3: the guesser falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘mandar fruta’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 2: the sophist falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘versear’ or ‘chamuyar’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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4
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity: the misconception falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘la re flasheé’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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How to positively say "one bad apple ruins every other good apple"?
There is an unhappy colleague in our company and I want to talk about this issue in my next meeting. I want to mean "A bad apple ruins good apples" but this sounds so negative. I want to ...
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What is the idiom for holding onto something that is hindering you?
It’s a kind of self sabotage but specific to coveting something. Sort of Sisyphean, but also not. Carrying a burden. Imagine holding a sack of potatoes while trying to escape a dangerous situation but ...
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Is there a word or expression that describes a situation where a person repetitively "comes and goes"?
In Levantine Arabic, the expression "siri miri" (سِرِّي مِرِّي) is used for someone who continually and incessantly comes and goes, or passes by, such as like near your house or just about ...
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Idiomatic word/expression for someone ‘who has no feeling for the game’ - Translation of Spanish ‘pechofrío’
I'm having trouble translating the expression pechofrío (pecho frío, ‘cold chest’) from Spanish—specially Argentinian Spanish, I don't know if it's used in other countries. It means:
s. masc. Persona ...
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What's a proverb or idiom that describes the opposite of "the gift that keeps on giving"? [closed]
I'm looking for an idiom that describes something (or someone) that keeps on harming or taking from others, as opposed to giving or benefiting them. Or something along those lines. Any input is ...
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Idiom for when two people agree on an idea for very contrasting reasons
What are some idioms that would describe a scenario where two people agree on an idea- but for very contrasting reasons?
Scenario 1: Two classmates support the demolition of an abandoned factory: ...
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