navel-gaze
Meaning: To be absorbed in oneself and one's own concerns to an excessive degree.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The committee spent the whole retreat navel-gazing instead of fixing the budget.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: It mocks a real devotional practice: in the 19th century, certain Eastern Orthodox monks were derided as "omphalopsychites" for contemplating their navels in prayer. "Navel-gazing" as a dismissive word for self-absorbed introspection is a mid-20th-century usage.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Se regarder le nombril — literally: To stare at one's own navel
More idioms — Body & Senses
- be a pain in the neck — To be very annoying.
- be bone idle — To be extremely lazy.
- like pulling teeth — Extremely difficult, especially when trying to get someone to cooperate.
- 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.
More English idioms
- that ship has sailed — It is too late; the opportunity has passed.
- have one's cake and eat it too — To want two things that cannot both be had.
- muddy the waters — To make a situation confusing, often on purpose.
- 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.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu es mon rayon de soleil — A warm way to tell someone they brighten your day.
- Joli comme un cœur — Utterly charming or adorable.
- Tu as un cœur d'or — You are genuinely kind and generous.