fare a scaricabarile
Meaning: To evade responsibility by shifting blame to someone else; to pass the buck.
Language: Italian
Literally: to make load-dumping
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The phrase pictures people taking turns dumping a load on each other rather than accepting it themselves.
More idioms — Daily Life
- alla carlona — In a careless, rough, or sloppy way without regard for neatness or precision.
- la bellezza di — A considerable quantity or duration of something, often used with mock admiration to emph…
- senza colpo ferire — Without any struggle, opposition, or difficulty; achieved effortlessly.
- essere di casa — To be accepted as a family member; to feel completely at home and comfortable somewhere.
- girare a vuoto — To spin idly without accomplishing anything; to waste time in aimless activity.
- alla sprovvista — Without warning; caught unprepared or by surprise.
More Italian idioms
- battere i tacchi — To run away or flee hastily.
- dove non batte il sole — In a place that is dark, hidden, or not respectable; a euphemism for somewhere very undes…
- fuori del seminato — Off the point; irrelevant or beside the subject at hand.
- a viso aperto — Openly and frankly; without deception or concealment.
- cavare le castagne dal fuoco — To help someone out of a dangerous or difficult situation, often at one's own risk or eff…
- preparare il terreno — To establish the conditions or foundations that will make something possible later.
From our tongue twisters
- Tigre contro tigre, tigre contro un'altra tigre. — Pure 't/ig/re' drill — short and merciless; the double-g demands a crisp Italian stop.
- Apelle figlio di Apollo fece una palla di pelle di pollo e tutti i principi della città di Capua la palpeggiarono. — A wall of 'p/ll/l/a' that seems to grow longer as you speak it faster.
- Se la serpe si avvicina alla siepe del serpente, il serpente scappa dalla siepe. — A sibilant 's/se/si/sci' minefield; both words (serpe and serpente) slither through the s…