blow the lid off
Meaning: To expose a scandal or secret.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The documentary blew the lid off conditions in the factories.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A pot boiling over throws its lid off. The phrase is American journalistic slang from the early 20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: tirar de la manta — literally: to pull the blanket
More idioms — Daily Life
- be ahead of the game — To be in a better position than one's rivals.
- there are no two ways about it — The matter admits no doubt or alternative.
- a dime a dozen — So common as to be worth very little.
- fire the starting gun — To signal the official start of something.
- come what may — Whatever happens.
- have plenty left in the tank — To still have energy or resources in reserve.
More English idioms
- get out of hand — To become impossible to control.
- bang one's head against a brick wall — To keep trying something with no result.
- have a whale of a time — To enjoy oneself enormously.
- get off on the right foot — To make a good start.
- turn one's back on someone — To abandon or refuse to help someone.
- willy-nilly — Whether one wants it or not; also, in a disorganized way.
From our tongue twisters
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- 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.