rich as Croesus
Meaning: Extremely wealthy.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “After selling his app, he's rich as Croesus.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Croesus was king of Lydia, in present-day Turkey, in the 6th century BC, famous for his gold; his kingdom is linked to some of the first coins. Herodotus tells his story. The English comparison is found from the 16th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Riche comme Crésus — literally: Rich as Croesus
More idioms — Daily Life
- everyone's a critic — A wry reply to unwanted criticism: it is easy to find fault.
- the pitcher goes to the well once too often — Repeated risk-taking eventually ends in disaster.
- a road to Damascus moment — A sudden, life-changing realization or conversion.
- the sword of Damocles — A constant threat of disaster hanging over someone.
- the deck is stacked — The situation is unfairly arranged so that someone will lose.
- after me, the deluge — I don't care what happens after I am gone.
More English idioms
- lie through one's teeth — To lie openly and shamelessly.
- slow on the uptake — Slow to understand.
- kiss something goodbye — To accept that one has lost something or will never get it.
- set one's sights on — To decide to try to get or achieve something.
- God forbid — Used to say that one hopes something bad will not happen.
- kill them all and let God sort them out — A grim or joking call to act ruthlessly without distinguishing innocent from guilty.
From our tongue twisters
- 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…
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. — A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.