Augean stables
Meaning: An extremely filthy, corrupt, or morally decayed place or situation that seems impossible to clean up.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: The Absurd
Origin: From classical mythology: King Augeas owned filthy stables housing thousands of cattle, uncleaned for thirty years; Heracles was tasked with cleaning them as a labor.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Nettoyer les écuries d'Augias — literally: To clean the Augean stables
More idioms — The Absurd
- play with house money — To take risks when one has nothing personal to lose, or to act recklessly because the sta…
- were you born in a tent — An admonishment to someone who has carelessly left a door open.
- rip it up — To perform with energy, excitement, and conspicuous success.
- anything goes — There are no rules, restrictions, or moral limits.
- at latter Lammas — Never; at a time that will never come.
- go overboard — To exceed reasonable limits; to do something to an excessive, unrestrained, or reckless d…
More English idioms
- on eternal patrol — Lost or missing at sea, presumed dead.
- all mouth and trousers — Full of loud boasting and empty talk, lacking substance or follow-through.
- turn on one's heel — To suddenly depart or walk away, often in a dramatic or dismissive manner.
- sugarcoat the pill — To make something unpleasant more palatable or easier to accept.
- ace up one's sleeve — A hidden advantage or secret resource kept in reserve to use when needed.
- what's eating you — What is bothering or irritating you?
From our untranslatable words
- Yurodivy — One who plays the fool deliberately as a religious act, and is therefore licensed to spea…
- Khalyava — Something good got for free and without effort — and, strictly, something you were never…
- Beloruchka — Someone who dodges dirty or hard work — a person whose hands stay conspicuously clean.