push up daisies
Meaning: To be dead and buried.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “If I'd eaten that mushroom, I'd be pushing up daisies.”
Category: Nature
Origin: The flowers growing over a grave. Soldiers' slang in the First World War made it common; earlier variants are found in the 19th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Polish: wąchać kwiatki od spodu — literally: to sniff flowers from below
More idioms — Nature
- gild the lily — To spoil something already perfect by adding to it.
- lightning never strikes twice — An unusual event, lucky or unlucky, is unlikely to happen again in the same way.
- Avoir le vent en poupe — To be doing very well; everything is going your way.
- Avoir la tête dans les nuages — To be a daydreamer; out of touch with reality.
- Jeter de l'huile sur le feu — To make a bad situation worse.
- faire la pluie et le beau temps — Having complete control over a situation or someone's fate.
More English idioms
- lose one's head — To stop thinking clearly because of panic, anger or passion.
- manna from heaven — Something good that arrives unexpectedly just when it is needed.
- lose face — To lose respect or be humiliated in public.
- play for time — To delay deliberately in the hope of improving one's position.
- shoulder the burden — To take on a heavy responsibility.
- even Homer nods — Even the most skilled people sometimes make mistakes.
From our compliments & insults
- És uma joia — You're a gem — a precious, lovely person.
- Sei un salame — You're a clumsy, dopey softie — said with a smile.
- Eres más corto que las mangas de un chaleco — You're not the sharpest — a bit slow on the uptake.