IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishcheckered past
Meaning: A personal history that includes both successes and failures, or ethical and unethical behavior.
Example: “The candidate's checkered past came back to haunt him during the campaign.”
Origin: A checkerboard alternates black and white squares, so a checkered life is a mix of good and bad episodes. "Checkered" in this sense is found from the 17th century, and "checkered past" usually hints at the bad squares.
More English idioms
- come full circle To return (figuratively) to a point where one has been before.
- come home to roost To return to cause trouble.
- clown around To act silly.
- come off it! Stop pretending or exaggerating; I don't believe you.
- come out of one's shell To stop being shy.
- come out smelling like a rose To avoid blame that one deserves; to seem innocent.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- 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.
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