drop the ball
Meaning: To make a mistake, especially by failing to do something one was responsible for.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Someone dropped the ball and nobody booked the venue.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From ball games, where dropping a catch costs the team. The figurative use is American, common from the mid-20th century.
Other ways to say this
- Greek: Τα έκανε θάλασσα — literally: He turned it all into a sea
- Portuguese: Pisar na bola — literally: To step on the ball
- Spanish: No dar pie con bola — literally: To not give foot to ball
- English: be off one's game
- English: make a hash of something
More idioms — Daily Life
- come out of the closet — To tell people openly that one is gay or lesbian; more broadly, to reveal something kept…
- neither here nor there — Not relevant to the matter being discussed.
- at this stage of the game — At this point in a process, usually when it is late to change things.
- get the hang of something — To learn how to do something.
- go all out — To make the greatest possible effort.
- at the end of the day — When everything is taken into account; in the end.
More English idioms
- something is rotten in the state of Denmark — Something is seriously wrong, often something being hidden.
- the eye of the storm — The center of a crisis; sometimes a brief calm in the middle of it.
- poor as a church mouse — Extremely poor.
- tough luck — Said when nothing can be done about a disappointment, often without much sympathy.
- cut to the chase — To get straight to the point.
- be lost for words — To be so surprised or moved that one cannot speak.
From our compliments & insults
- Tête de linotte — A scatterbrain who can't hold a thought.
- Courir sur le haricot — To get badly on someone's nerves.
- Tienes menos luces que un barco pirata — You're really not the brightest.