upset the apple cart
Meaning: To disturb the status quo; to shake up the existing situation.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: Similar to: rock the boat Whereas rock the boat usually describes a situation in which the people involved do not want a change, upset the apple cart can be used to describe any situation. The expression dates back to the Roman Empire and was originally `upset the cart.' `Apple' was added by the late 1700s.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Raconter des salades — To tell lies or tall tales.
- En faire tout un fromage — To make a big deal out of nothing.
- Mettre son grain de sel — To give an unsolicited opinion.
More English idioms
- albatross around one's neck — Something or someone that is a burden and difficult to get rid of.
- armed to the teeth — Well-equipped with weapons.
- go back to square one — Return to the beginning.
- go back to the drawing board — Return to the planning stage of a project.
- have one's back to the wall — To be in a difficult or desperate situation.
- back-seat driver — A person who gives driving orders when he/she is not the driver.
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