all hell breaks loose
Meaning: Chaos and disorder suddenly erupt.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “When the fox got into the henhouse, all hell broke loose.”
Category: The Absurd
Origin: The image of the damned escaping hell. Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) asks "Wherefore with thee came not all hell broke loose?"
Equivalents in other languages
- Norwegian: Helt texas — literally: Completely Texas
- Persian: خر بیار و باقالی بار کن (khar biyār o bāqālī bār kon) — literally: Bring a donkey and load it with fava beans
More idioms — The Absurd
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Da steppt der Bär — It's going to be a great party.
- Ich glaub mein Schwein pfeift — I can't believe it! That's outrageous!
- Estar como una cabra — To be completely crazy.
- Fare il diavolo a quattro — To raise absolute hell; to cause a huge scene.
More English idioms
- make short work of something — To deal with or finish something quickly.
- you've made your bed, now lie in it — You must accept the consequences of your own choices.
- be put out to pasture — To be retired or set aside as no longer useful.
- an uphill battle — A long, difficult struggle.
- The last straw that broke the camel's back — The final small burden that causes a total collapse.
- To have a frog in your throat — To have difficulty speaking due to hoarseness.
From our tongue twisters
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. — A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.
- Unique New York. — Three words that jam the 'y/n/k' sequence together — repeat it and it collapses into 'you…