Englishbeat a hasty retreat
Meaning: To run very fast in the opposite direction.
Example: “When the bees started buzzing, the picnickers beat a hasty retreat.”
Other ways to say this
French: Prendre ses jambes à son cou Literally: To take one's legs around one's neck
Hindi: नौ दो ग्यारह होना (nau do gyaarah hona) Literally: To become nine, two, eleven
Russian: Делать ноги (Delat' nogi) Literally: To make legs
Ukrainian: Дати драла (Daty drala) Literally: To give a bolt
Italian: battere i tacchi Literally: To beat one's heels- French: Prendre la tangente Literally: To take the tangent
- English: take to one's heels
Origin: "Beat" here is literal: a military retreat was originally called by drummers, whose specific pattern of beats told troops on a noisy, chaotic battlefield to fall back, since a shouted order could carry only so far over gunfire. England's 1554 Rules and Ordynaunces for the Warre and Robert Barrett's 1598 Theorike and Practice of Moderne Warres both detail this drum-signal system in some depth, and the practice remained standard well into the 1600s and beyond. "Hasty" was added later to sharpen the image into a rushed, undignified withdrawal, and by the 1800s the whole phrase had drifted out of the military and into everyday use for quickly abandoning any awkward argument, situation, or risk.
More English idioms
- bet one's bottom dollar To be sure.
- beyond the pale Beyond or outside the limits of morally or socially acceptable behavior.
- big shot An important, powerful, or influential person.
- big wheel An important, powerful, or influential person.
- black and blue Discolored from a bruise; injured in a fight either physically or verbally.
- black out To lose consciousness temporarily.
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