Að leggja árar í bát
Meaning: To give up and stop trying.
Language: Icelandic
Literally: To lay the oars in the boat
Category: Nature
Origin: Shipping the oars and letting the boat drift pictures abandoning the effort altogether.
More idioms — Nature
- Chover sobre mollado — Trouble piling on top of trouble.
- Il pleut comme vache qui pisse — It's pouring down — a crude, vivid way to say the rain is coming down extremely hard.
- set in stone — Unchangeable and permanent, fixed beyond modification.
- drop in the bucket — A contribution or action so small it is negligible compared to a massive problem.
- bed of roses — A situation or life that is entirely easy, comfortable, and free from hardship.
- made in the shade — Assured of comfort, success, or an effortless, favorable position.
More Icelandic idioms
- Að leggja höfuðið í bleyti — To sleep on a problem and think hard about it.
- Þetta reddast — Things will work out fine in the end.
- Að ganga með grasið í skónum — To be secretly in love or full of longing.
- Að kasta til höndunum — To do a job carelessly and in haste.
- Rúsínan í pylsuendanum — A pleasant, unexpected bonus at the very end.
- Að taka einhvern á beinið — To give someone a stern talking-to.
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