any old how
Meaning: Carelessly, with no attention to doing it properly.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The boxes were stacked any old how in the hallway.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: "Any old" is an informal intensifier, as in "any old thing." The British phrase is common from the early 20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Italian: alla carlona — literally: in the Carlon manner
- Italian: alla bell'e meglio — literally: at the beautiful and better
More idioms — Daily Life
- without a fight — With no resistance at all.
- pave the way — To prepare the ground so that something can happen later.
- catch someone off guard — To surprise someone who is not prepared.
- all at once — Suddenly, with no warning.
- do more harm than good — To make matters worse while trying to help.
- go through the motions — To do something without care or real effort.
More English idioms
- take to one's heels — To run away.
- where the sun doesn't shine — Somewhere hidden; also a rude way of naming the body.
- drag one's feet — To delay deliberately.
- be tone-deaf — To be unable to tell musical notes apart; also, to have no sense of how others feel.
- throw dust in someone's eyes — To mislead someone by distracting them.
- when pigs fly — Never.
From our tongue twisters
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? — A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. — Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. — A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.