Photo by N. Demello. Meaning: To seriously delay, postpone, a matter.
The ball is in your court.
Photo by moerschy. Meaning: To hold on to something, to persevere.
Forgive or forget.
Photo by 1442863
To clean out an Augean stable.
Image by Peter van Geest – AI. Meaning: To remove large amounts of dirt or debris; bringing order to a chaotic business; to clean up a corrupt organization. Origin: According to Greek legend, Heracles managed to rid the stables of Augeas, where 3,000 cattle were kept, of all the dirt in a very short time.
Work your ass off.
Photo by mamit2504. Meaning: Vulgar way of saying that you try very hard and put in a lot of effort.
In the middle of nowhere.
Image by Peter van Geest – AI. Meaning: Very far away.
Bit ( someone ) in the ass.
Photo by Tim Acke. Meaning: Rude slang. To inflict punishment or misfortune on one for one’s poor judgment or misdeed(s). Typically the punishment or misfortune is not exacted by a person, but as a general consequence for the misbehavior itself.
Cutting the Gordian knot.
Painting by Jean-François Godefroy – Alexander the Great Cutting the Gordian Knot (1767). Meaning: To overcome a very difficult problem with the necessary speed or violence. Origin: Greek legend; Gordius was a farmer who became king of Phrygia in Asia Minor. According to tradition, he tied a knot in the ropes of the wagon he had driven as a farmer. The oracle predicted that whoever could untie this Gordian knot would become lord of the entire world. Alexander the Great saw the chariot with the knot on his journey against Asia and heard about the oracular saying. Immediately he took his sword and cut the knot.
Bleed someone dry.
Image by Peter van Geest – AI.Meaning: To exploit someone financially. Origin: In former times, barber surgeons mastered the art of bloodletting and cupping, for which they were well rewarded.
I’m baffled.
Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy. Meaning: To cause someone to be completely unable to understand or explain something.
Practice makes perfect.
Photo by Sasin Tipchai. Meaning: By working we become (good) workers, one learns by doing.
To burn the candle at both ends.
Photo by evangelinar. Meaning: To work excessively hard or to exhaust oneself by trying to do too much at once.
To be a wolf in a sheep’s clothing.
Photo by Linda Duits. Meaning: A villain who pretends to be an honest man. Origin: Biblical expression (Matt. 7:15) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but are actually ravenous wolves.”
Being in love head over heels.
Photo by fineartamerica
Tilting at windmills.
Photo by Frank M. Meaning: To fight a losing battle; to fight against imaginary enemies. Origin: Miguel de Cervantes has his hero Don Quixote, also known as the “Knight of the Sad Face”, recognize a supposed giant in a windmill, against whom he begins a battle, despite warnings from his squire, which does not end well for him. Origin: Miguel de Cervantes has his hero Don Quixote, also known as the “Knight of the Sad Face”, recognize a supposed giant in a windmill, against whom he begins a battle, despite warnings from his squire, which does not end well for him.
This is getting on my nerves!
Photo by fajarmag. Meaning: Get on (one’s) nerves. To irritate, grate on, or exasperate one.
Meet your Waterloo.
Photo by fy.tingclass.net. Meaning: To suffer a crushing defeat. Origin: In 1815, the French Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte suffered a decisive defeat at the Belgian town of Waterloo, after which he had to finally abdicate and was sent into exile on the island of St. Helena.
To tell old stories / To stir up past events / To stir up the past / To dig up (some) dirt.
Photo by Chiot’s Run
A man’s home is his castle.
Photo by Tim Rebkavets
Killing time.
Image by Keren. Meaning: Filling time with something that doesn’t really interest you, due to boredom or impatience.
Being thrown in at the deep end.
Photo by projectsucces. Meaning: Being confronted with a difficult task without sufficient preparation.
Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.
Photo by Andre Quelet. Origin: Proverbs 27:10: “Better a neighbor near than a brother far away.”
Time is money.
Photo by Morgan Housel
The straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Photo by passengerprotection. Meaning: the small thing which causes failure, or causes inability or unwillingness to endure any more of something. Origin: This comes from an Arab proverb about loading up a camel beyond its capacity to move.
To do some frank talking.
Photo by 5598375
Tell someone the unvarnished truth.
Photo by sharkolot
Thwarting someones plans.
Photo by Hans. Meaning: Obstructing someone.
To swear stone and bone.
Photo by securitymanagement. Origin: The expression is often traced back to medieval oath rituals on altar stones and relics (“leg” in the sense of bone), but it is more likely that it simply refers to the particular hardness of the items mentioned.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Photo by Cocoparisienne
Off-the-cuff
Photo by skiddle. Meaning: Not prepared in advance; impromptu.
After a storm comes a calm.
Photo by s-usans-blog. Meaning: Things often improve after a difficult, chaotic, or stressful time.
The venom is in the tail.
Photo by unknown
To look for a needle in a haystack.
Photo by Dominika Roseclay. Meaning: Trying to do something impossible.
The wolf may lose his teeth but never his nature.
Photo by Wikikimages. Meaning ; You can never trust a bad person.
Speech is silver, silence is golden.
Photo by Jerzy Górecki . Remark: Originating in Arabic culture, it occurs in several languages.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Photo by istockphoto
A bird cannot fly with one wing.
Photo by tumblr#outlouwpetegsc
He that stays in the valley, shall never get over the hill.
Photo by beautyjapan24
To want to reinvent the wheel.
Photo by nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiel. Meaning: to waste time trying to create something that someone else has already created
A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay. A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon. A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly.
Photo by Niklas Stumpf
Make a mountain out of a molehill.
Photo by enge.com. Meaning: To exaggerate an insignificant thing immensely.
His heart sank into his boots.
Photo by lookatme.ru. Meaning: Someone became afraid of his own courage and abandoned his project
Was in the merry month of May when flowers were a bloomin’, sweet William on his death bed lay for the love of Barbara Allen.
Photo by Marina Yalanska
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.
Photo by Clay Banks
Pull somebody’s leg.
Photo by teclasap.com.br. Meaning: to try to persuade someone to believe something that is not true
Put somebody on.
Photo by Polina Kuzovkova
Compare apples and oranges.
Photo by istockphoto.com. Meaning: Comparing two completely different things.
To be at one’s wit’s end.
Photo by albawaba.com. Meaning: Not knowing anymore, not being able to go on.
April weather, rain and sunshine both together.
Photo by pinterest.com – Sunny rain
Let bygones by bygones.
Photo by awkwarddness.blogspot.com. Meaning: To forgive someone for something done or for a disagreement and to forget about it.
To give one’s two cents worth.
Foto door pknbierumholwierdekrewerd.nl. Meaning: Oftentimes used for someone who makes irrelevant and unqualified comments to everything.
You’re pulling my leg.
Photo by Dawin Rizzo. Meaning: You are joking
In the middle of nowhere.
Photo by Alec Favale
As through the poplar’s gusty spire, the March wind sweeps and sings, I sit beside the hollow fire, and dream familiar things; Old memories wake, faint echoes make a murmur of dead springs.
Photo by Clark Young
March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers.
Photo by Alexander Schimmeck
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
Photo by Arleen Wiese
See which way the wind blows.
Photo by Mick Haupt
Better late than never.
Photo by Christopher Luther
Door Peter
Mensenmens, zoon, echtgenoot, vader, opa.
Spiritueel, echter niet religieus.
Ik hou van golf, wandelen, lezen en de natuur in veel opzichten.
Onderzoeker, nieuwsgierig, geen fan van de mainstream media (MSM).
