IdiomDaily Life
English
Englishkick it up a notch
Meaning: To increase effort, intensity or excitement.
Example: “The team kicked it up a notch in the second half.”
Origin: A notch is one step on a scale. The phrase was popularized in the 1990s by the American TV chef Emeril Lagasse.
Equivalents in other languages
Dutch: een tandje bijsteken Literally: To stick on a little tooth
More English idioms
- take matters into one's own hands To act oneself because others have failed to.
- fight fire with fire To respond to an attack with the same methods.
- all in one's head Imagined rather than real, or a matter of attitude.
- stink to high heaven To smell terrible; also, to seem very dishonest.
- on a silver platter Given to someone without any effort on their part.
- dig one's heels in To refuse stubbornly to change one's mind.
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