Englishtake someone to the cleaners
Meaning: To steal or cheat someone out of all of his or her money.
Example: “The lawsuit took the company to the cleaners.”
Origin: Grew out of an older idiom, "clean someone out," documented from the early 1800s and meaning to strip a person of all their money, most likely originating among gamblers and card sharps who described a fully fleeced victim as "cleaned" — stripped of cash as thoroughly as clothing is stripped of dirt. "Take to the cleaners" itself is mid-20th-century American slang, arising once commercial dry-cleaning businesses had become a familiar, everyday part of American towns and cities in the 1920s, giving the older "cleaned out" image a specific, recognizable modern business to attach itself to. Both versions carry the identical underlying idea: a person relieved of everything they had, as completely and efficiently as a professional cleaning service removes every trace of dirt from a garment.
More English idioms
- talk a blue streak To talk fast and at length.
- talk through one's hat To speak without authority on some topic; to talk nonsense.
- throw the book at someone To give someone the harshest penalty or punishment allowed by law, or to impose any sever…
- throw one's hat into the ring To announce one's candidacy for elected office.
- tickle someone's fancy To please or amuse someone in a light-hearted way.
- tickled pink Thoroughly pleased; very happy.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Kiedy wejdziesz między wrony, musisz krakać jak i one Adapt to the customs of the people you are among.
- Co nagle, to po diable Things done in a hurry turn out badly.
- Jeszcze się taki nie urodził, co by wszystkim dogodził Nobody can please everyone.
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