IdiomFood & Drink
English
Englishpacked like sardines
Meaning: Crowded very tightly together.
Example: “We were packed like sardines on the last bus home.”
Origin: Sardines are pressed side by side into a flat tin with no space at all. The comparison is recorded from the 19th century.
Equivalents in other languages
Russian: Как сельдь в бочке (Kak sel'd' v bochke) Literally: Like herrings in a barrel
More English idioms
- give someone the runaround To put someone off with excuses instead of a straight answer.
- pin the blame on someone To make someone take responsibility for a fault, often unfairly.
- let the grass grow under one's feet To waste time and miss opportunities.
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- a closed book Something one knows nothing about, or someone impossible to understand.
- up to one's ears in debt Deeply in debt.
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