shut someone up

Meaning: To force someone to stop talking.

Language: English

Literally: (Already vivid in English)

Example: “The lawsuit was meant to shut the journalist up.”

Category: Daily Life

Origin: "Shut up" for closing something, including a mouth, is found from the 19th century. Used of a person it is blunt and often rude.

Equivalents in other languages

a pack of lies — A story that is entirely untrue.
be pocket change — To be a trivial amount of money for the person paying.
be a known quantity — To be someone whose character or ability is already understood.
take the rap — To accept blame or punishment, often for someone else.
you can't win them all — Said to console someone after a small failure.
right on cue — At exactly the right moment.

rein someone in — To bring someone under control.
keep one's feet on the ground — To stay realistic and unaffected by success.
become second nature — To become so familiar that one does it without thinking.
you snooze, you lose — If you are slow to act, someone else will take the chance.
smell a rat — To sense that something dishonest is going on.
a hard nut to crack — A difficult problem, or a person who is hard to deal with.

Lectura — Actually means 'reading'. A lecture is una conferencia.
Compromiso — Actually means 'commitment', 'obligation', or 'engagement'. For a negotiated compromise,…
Gracioso — Actually means 'funny' or 'amusing'. For gracious (kind and polite), say amable.