Essere al verde
Meaning: To be broke; to have no money left.
Language: Italian
Literally: To be at the green
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Italian candle auction tradition — the green base meant the candle (and funds) were spent.
Equivalents in other languages
- Russian: Гол как сокол (Gol kak sokol) — literally: Bare as a falcon
- English: flat broke
- French: Fauché comme les blés — literally: Mown like the wheat
More idioms — Daily Life
- 半斤八两 (bàn jīn bā liǎng) — Six of one, half a dozen of the other — equally bad.
- Met de deur in huis vallen — To get straight to the point without any preamble.
- नाच न जाने आंगन टेढ़ा (naach na jaane aangan tedha) — A bad workman blames his tools.
- على قد لحافك مد رجليك (ʿalā qadd liḥāfik midd rijlayk) — Live within your means.
- C'est la croix et la bannière — It is an enormous effort or ordeal.
- Faire d'une pierre deux coups — To kill two birds with one stone.
More Italian idioms
- avere la coda di paglia — Feel guilty about something because you're afraid of being discovered or criticized.
- mangiare la foglia — Understand someone's hidden intentions or see through their deception immediately.
- avere un diavolo per capello — Be extremely angry or agitated, ready to argue with anyone about anything.
- essere un osso duro — Be a difficult, stubborn person who is challenging to deal with or influence.
- piangere sul latte versato — Waste time regretting something that cannot be changed or undone.
- Prendere due piccioni con una fava — To achieve two goals with a single effort.
From our untranslatable words
- Meriggiare — To take a quiet midday rest in a cool, shaded spot, escaping the fierce afternoon sun.
- Magari — One word doing the work of 'if only', 'I wish', 'perhaps' and 'you bet' — the tone decide…
- Sprezzatura — The art of making something difficult look wholly effortless, hiding every trace of the w…