go down fighting
Meaning: To keep struggling until the very end, even when defeat is certain.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The team was four goals behind, but they went down fighting.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: "Go down" meaning to fall or be defeated goes back to the late 16th century. When the full phrase first appeared has not been reliably dated.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: vendre chèrement sa peau — literally: to sell one's skin dearly
More idioms — Daily Life
- that's all she wrote — That is the end of it; there is nothing more.
- the butt of the joke — The person everyone laughs at or makes fun of.
- roll in the hay — To have casual sex.
- pull an all-nighter — To stay up all night, usually to study or work.
- the gospel truth — Something absolutely true.
- sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me — Insults cannot really harm you, so they are best ignored.
More English idioms
- none of your beeswax — A playful way of saying "none of your business."
- Aunt Flo is visiting — A euphemism for having one's menstrual period.
- thick as a brick — Very stupid.
- shed light on — To help explain something or make it clearer.
- laugh one's head off — To laugh very loudly and for a long time.
- blow a gale — Of the wind: to blow extremely hard.
From our proverbs
- Doing nothing is the hardest work. — Idleness demands constant mental struggle against restlessness and guilt, making it parad…
- Nothing came out of the sack but what was in it. — You cannot obtain results from circumstances that lack the necessary ingredients or poten…
- It is more painful to do nothing than something. — Inaction breeds regret and anxiety; taking action—even imperfect action—relieves the torm…