go through fire and water
Meaning: To face any danger or hardship for someone or something.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “She would go through fire and water for her students.”
Category: Nature
Origin: Fire and water are the two ordeals of medieval trial, and the pairing appears in the Psalms ("we went through fire and through water"). The phrase is old in English.
Equivalents in other languages
- Russian: через огонь, воду и медные трубы (cherez ogon', vodu i mednye truby) — literally: through fire, water, and copper pipes
More idioms — Nature
- the eye of the storm — The center of a crisis; sometimes a brief calm in the middle of it.
- fight fire with fire — To respond to an attack with the same methods.
- in broad daylight — Openly, during the day, when anyone could see.
- wish the ground would swallow one up — To feel so embarrassed that one wants to disappear.
- push up daisies — To be dead and buried.
- gild the lily — To spoil something already perfect by adding to it.
More English idioms
- a closed book — Something one knows nothing about, or someone impossible to understand.
- up to one's ears in debt — Deeply in debt.
- hand on heart — Said when swearing that something is completely true.
- you'll live — Said to someone making a fuss over a small injury or setback.
- with an iron fist — With harsh, absolute control.
- a trump card — A decisive advantage kept in reserve.
From our untranslatable words
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