take a rain check
Meaning: To decline an invitation for now, with the idea of accepting it another time.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “I can't make it to dinner tonight, but can I take a rain check?”
Category: Nature
Origin: From American baseball in the late 19th century: when a game was rained out, spectators received a ticket stub, a "rain check," admitting them to a later game. By the 20th century it meant postponing any offer or invitation.
More idioms — Nature
- take something by storm — To win great success or popularity very quickly.
- take the wind out of someone's sails — To deflate someone's confidence or spoil their high expectations.
- too many irons in the fire — Too many activities demanding one's time.
- turn over a new leaf — To change one's bad ways and begin to lead a better life.
- under a cloud — Less than entirely trustworthy; suspected of some wrongdoing.
- under the weather — Unwell; ill.
More English idioms
- water under the bridge — Past and finished; over and done with.
- the wave of the future — A strong, growing trend.
- ace in the hole — A hidden but effective means of winning a conflict.
- Achilles' heel — A person's weakness or the vulnerable spot in his or her character.
- acid test — The most crucial or important test of worth.
- across the board — Equally for everyone, for everything, or in all cases.
From our tongue twisters
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? — A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
- The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. — Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
- 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.