there's nothing for it
Meaning: There is no other choice.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The last bus had gone, so there was nothing for it but to walk.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: "For it" means "to be done about it." The phrase is common in British English from the 19th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Russian: хоть ложись и умирай (hot' lozhis' i umiray) — literally: even lie down and die
More idioms — Daily Life
- on the back of an envelope — Roughly worked out, without proper tools or care.
- truth be told — To be honest about it.
- for the life of me — However hard I try.
- kick the can down the road — To put off dealing with a problem, leaving it for later.
- drop the ball — To make a mistake, especially by failing to do something one was responsible for.
- come out of the closet — To tell people openly that one is gay or lesbian; more broadly, to reveal something kept…
More English idioms
- a scapegoat — Someone blamed for others' faults.
- away with the fairies — Daydreaming, or not quite in touch with reality.
- neither here nor there — Not relevant to the matter being discussed.
- something is rotten in the state of Denmark — Something is seriously wrong, often something being hidden.
- at this stage of the game — At this point in a process, usually when it is late to change things.
- get the hang of something — To learn how to do something.
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.