you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours
Meaning: If you help me, I will help you.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Lend me your truck and I'll help you move: you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.”
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Nobody can easily scratch their own back. The phrase is recorded from the 18th century, originally of sailors punishing each other lightly by agreement.
Equivalents in other languages
- Malay: Bagai aur dengan tebing — literally: Like bamboo and the riverbank
More idioms — Body & Senses
- thin-skinned — Easily offended or hurt by criticism.
- right-hand man — Someone's most trusted and useful helper.
- have a big mouth — To talk too much, especially about things that should be kept secret.
- a bundle of nerves — A very anxious or nervous person.
- light-fingered — Tending to steal.
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
More English idioms
- use a sledgehammer to crack a nut — To use far more force than a small problem needs.
- a monkey's wedding — A sunshower, when rain falls while the sun shines.
- off one's trolley — Crazy or foolish.
- as scarce as hen's teeth — Extremely rare.
- half a loaf is better than none — Getting part of what you want is better than getting nothing.
- an army marches on its stomach — People cannot work well without food.
From our compliments & insults
- 空気が読めない (kūki ga yomenai) — Completely oblivious to the unspoken social mood — the person who kills the atmosphere wi…
- 눈치가 없다 (nunchi ga eopda) — Hopelessly socially oblivious — can't pick up on emotional cues, awkward silences, or uns…
- حمار (ḥimār) — A stubborn fool — the donkey being the universal symbol of obstinacy in Arabic culture.