a Procrustean bed
Meaning: A rigid standard forced on everything, whatever the damage.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The standardized test is a Procrustean bed for creative students.”
Category: The Absurd
Origin: In Greek myth, the bandit Procrustes made travelers fit his bed by stretching them or cutting off their legs, until Theseus killed him.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Un lit de Procuste — literally: A bed of Procrustes
More idioms — The Absurd
- a Sisyphean task — An endless, futile task.
- Captain Obvious — A mocking name for someone who states the obvious.
- diddly-squat — Nothing at all.
- a fat lot of good that does me — That is of no use to me at all.
- what have you been smoking? — Said to someone whose idea sounds crazy.
- yada yada yada — And so on; skipping boring details.
More English idioms
- so near and yet so far — Close to something one wants but unable to reach it.
- jam tomorrow — A promise of good things in the future that never arrive.
- a rolling stone gathers no moss — Someone who keeps moving never settles or accumulates anything; sometimes also, keeping a…
- little strokes fell great oaks — Small, steady efforts achieve great results.
- have one foot in the grave — To be close to death.
- cast the first stone — To be the first to condemn someone.
From our untranslatable words
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