like pulling teeth
Meaning: Extremely difficult, especially when trying to get someone to cooperate.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Getting my brother to answer an email is like pulling teeth.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Before modern anesthesia, pulling a tooth was a slow, painful struggle for dentist and patient alike. The comparison is in American newspapers by 1835, describing a confession that was clearly hard to get out.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: C'est la croix et la bannière — literally: It is the cross and the banner
More idioms — Body & Senses
- put one's foot in it — To say something tactless or embarrassing.
- have pins and needles — To feel a prickling, tingling sensation in a limb that has gone numb.
- have a big head — To be conceited; to think too highly of oneself.
- have itchy feet — To feel a restless urge to travel or move on.
- wait on someone hand and foot — To do everything for someone, attending to their every need.
- have a sharp tongue — To speak in a harsh, cutting way.
More English idioms
- have the wind in one's sails — To be doing well and moving forward with confidence and momentum.
- talk behind someone's back — To say unkind things about someone when they are not present.
- add fuel to the fire — To make a bad situation worse.
- be on pins and needles — To be very anxious while waiting for something.
- make a killing — To make a lot of money quickly.
- worm something out of someone — To get information from someone gradually and persistently.