one thing led to another
Meaning: A series of events happened, each causing the next, often with a hint that something embarrassing followed.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “We met for a coffee, one thing led to another, and now we're married.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A natural chain-of-events expression, common from the 20th century; its first use has not been traced.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: De fil en aiguille — literally: From thread to needle
More idioms — Daily Life
- the end justifies the means — A good result excuses any way of achieving it.
- sweet-talk — To persuade someone with flattery.
- get on the wrong side of — To make someone angry or hostile toward you.
- you can't be in two places at once — One person cannot do two things in different places at the same time.
- play to the gallery — To behave in a way meant to win popular approval.
- there's no accounting for taste — People's preferences cannot be explained.
More English idioms
- Ariadne's thread — Something that guides one through a complicated problem.
- a pie-crust promise — A promise that is easily broken.
- drag someone's name through the mud — To damage someone's reputation publicly.
- get one's hooks into — To get a firm hold or control over something or someone.
- don't judge a book by its cover — Don't form an opinion based only on appearance.
- as old as the hills — Extremely old.
From our tongue twisters
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. — Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
- Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. — A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…