sweet-talk
Meaning: To persuade someone with flattery.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “She sweet-talked the guard into letting her in after closing time.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: American English from the 1930s, from "sweet talk," flattering or loving words.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: Conter fleurette — literally: To tell little flowers
More idioms — Daily Life
- 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.
- 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.
More English idioms
- a pie-crust promise — A promise that is easily broken.
- drag someone's name through the mud — To damage someone's reputation publicly.
- as old as the hills — Extremely old.
- forewarned is forearmed — Knowing about something in advance lets you prepare.
- behind closed doors — In private or in secret.
- a low blow — An unfair or cruel attack.