go through the wringer
Meaning: To go through a very hard experience.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “After the lawsuit and the divorce, she really went through the wringer.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A wringer was a pair of rollers used to squeeze water out of laundry. The figurative sense is from the 20th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Des vertes et des pas mûres — literally: Some green ones and some unripe ones
More idioms — Daily Life
- go off on a tangent — To wander away from the subject being discussed.
- strike out — To fail completely, especially in an attempt to attract someone.
- nothing doing — Refusal; there is no chance of that happening.
- be in the know — To have information that most people do not have.
- be off one's game — To perform worse than usual.
- be miles away — To be lost in thought and not paying attention.
More English idioms
- clear as day — Completely obvious.
- have had it up to here — To be completely fed up.
- sly as a fox — Very cunning.
- walk a tightrope — To be in a situation where one small mistake would be disastrous.
- take one's ball and go home — To quit in a sulk and spoil the activity for everyone else.
- a spare tire — A roll of fat around the waist.