IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishfall on hard times
Meaning: To become poor or suffer misfortune.
Example: “The old family fell on hard times after the war.”
Origin: "Fall on" meaning to come upon. "Hard times" for poverty is found from the 18th century, and Charles Dickens used it as a novel title in 1854.
Equivalents in other languages
French: Manger de la vache enragée Literally: To eat rabid cow
More English idioms
- holy cow! An exclamation of surprise.
- clear as day Completely obvious.
- be in the know To have information that most people do not have.
- have had it up to here To be completely fed up.
- be off one's game To perform worse than usual.
- be miles away To be lost in thought and not paying attention.
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