mend fences
Meaning: To repair a damaged relationship after a disagreement.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “After the wedding fiasco, the two sisters spent a weekend together to mend fences.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: American political slang. In 1879 Senator John Sherman of Ohio went home to Mansfield, saying, according to a much-repeated account, that he had come to look after his fences, meaning his farm but also his standing with voters. "Fence-mending" soon meant shoring up local support, and later any reconciliation.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: recoller les morceaux — literally: to glue the pieces back together
More idioms — Daily Life
- play one's last card — To make a final attempt, using the last resource one has.
- people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones — One should not criticize others for faults one has oneself.
- take potshots at — To criticize someone in a casual, unfair or opportunistic way.
- go underground — To go into hiding or begin operating in secret.
- the knives are out — People are openly hostile and ready to attack someone, usually to bring them down.
- lay it on with a trowel — To flatter or exaggerate very heavily and without subtlety.
More English idioms
- not believe one's ears — To be so surprised by what one hears that it seems impossible.
- cross the Rubicon — To take an irreversible step.
- like a bear with a sore head — In a very bad, irritable mood.
- dead on one's feet — To be utterly exhausted.
- fall flat on one's face — To fail completely and embarrassingly.
- burst someone's bubble — To destroy someone's illusion or happy belief.
From our proverbs
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- Muddles at home make husbands roam. — Domestic disorder and neglect push spouses toward seeking comfort and companionship elsew…
- Where music is no harm can be. — Harmony and artistic expression create spaces where malice and cruelty cannot take root.