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Een appeltje met iemand te schillen hebben

Meaning: To have a bone to pick with someone.

Language: Dutch

Literally: To have a little apple to peel with someone

Category: Food & Drink

Origin: In 16th-century Dutch, sharing an apple to peel meant a private sit-down — the perfect cover for settling a score.

More idioms — Food & Drink

  • Musztarda po obiedzie — Too late to be of any use.
  • Rzucać grochem o ścianę — To plead with someone who will not listen.
  • 국수를 먹다 — To attend a wedding — or, asked as a question, when will you marry?
  • حط في بطنك بطيخة صيفي — Relax completely; do not worry about a thing.
  • दाल में कुछ काला है — Something suspicious is going on.
  • Å koke bort i kålen — To come to nothing; to fizzle out unresolved.

More Dutch idioms

  • Iets onder de knie hebben — To have mastered a skill.
  • Met de neus in de boter vallen — To arrive at exactly the right, lucky moment.
  • Het regent pijpenstelen — It is raining very heavily.
  • Iets met de Franse slag doen — To do it carelessly and half-heartedly.
  • De kat uit de boom kijken — To wait cautiously before committing.
  • Iets voor zoete koek aannemen — To swallow a story uncritically.

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