an uphill battle
Meaning: A long, difficult struggle.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Getting the town to fund a new library was an uphill battle.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Fighting uphill is harder than fighting downhill, a well-known disadvantage in warfare. The phrase is common from the 20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Turkish: İğneyle kuyu kazmak — literally: To dig a well with a needle
- Urdu: لوہے کے چنے چبانا (lohe ke chane chabana) — literally: To chew chickpeas of iron
More idioms — Daily Life
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.
- Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options.
- Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done.
- Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof — I don't understand anything at all.
- Schwein haben — Getting unexpectedly lucky — rooted in medieval tournaments where the last-place finisher…
More English idioms
- 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.
- It's raining cats and dogs — It's raining extremely heavily.
- To have butterflies in your stomach — To feel nervous excitement.
- Bob's your uncle — And there you have it; simple as that.
- take the biscuit — to be the most outrageous or remarkable thing; to win or excel.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.