IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishkeep up appearances
Meaning: To behave as if nothing is wrong, to protect one's reputation.
Example: “They kept up appearances at the party, though the business was failing.”
Origin: "Appearances" are what others see, as opposed to the reality. The phrase is recorded from the 18th century.
Equivalents in other languages
Spanish: salvar las apariencias Literally: To save the appearances
More English idioms
- grow like wildfire To spread very fast.
- tread carefully To act with great caution in a delicate situation.
- pull the other one Said to someone telling an obvious lie.
- use someone as a cat's paw To get someone else to do one's dirty work.
- lose one's marbles To go crazy.
- well, I never! An exclamation of surprise or disbelief.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
- She sells seashells by the seashore. The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.
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