look out for number one
Meaning: To put one's own interests first.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “In that office everyone looks out for number one.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: "Number one" for oneself is recorded from the 18th century, and the phrase became common in 20th-century American English.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: arrimar el ascua a su sardina — literally: to draw the hot coal toward one's sardine
- Italian: tirare l'acqua al proprio mulino — literally: to pull the water to one's own mill
More idioms — Daily Life
- with only the clothes on one's back — With no possessions at all.
- well, I never! — An exclamation of surprise or disbelief.
- luck out — To have unexpected good luck.
- put in one's two cents — To give one's opinion, whether or not it was asked for.
- crunch time — The decisive moment, when there is no more time left.
- get things back on track — To bring a situation back under control after it has gone wrong.
More English idioms
- lose one's marbles — To go crazy.
- the heart of the matter — The most important part of an issue.
- play cat and mouse — To toy with someone one has power over.
- blow me down — An exclamation of complete surprise.
- be in for a rude awakening — To be about to discover an unpleasant truth.
- carry coals to Newcastle — To do something completely unnecessary.
From our untranslatable words
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
- Mono no aware — A bittersweet awareness of impermanence — the gentle sadness and appreciation that arise…
- Ikigai — The thing that makes you want to get out of bed — the intersection of what you love, what…