“Blow hot and cold”in other languages
Keep changing your mind or your loyalties.
English
French
Slovak
Swedish
Same idea, different pictures
Three of these follow the wind. French is a weathervane, être une girouette, turning with every gust. Swedish and Slovak turn their cloak with the wind, vända kappan efter vinden, kam vietor, tam plášť: these two are about opportunists who side with whoever is winning.
English blow hot and cold comes from Aesop's fable of the satyr and the traveler, who blows on his hands to warm them and on his soup to cool it. The satyr wants nothing to do with someone who can blow both ways.
More sayings in other languages
- Twiddle one's thumbs
- Put in one's two cents
- Until the cows come home
- Up the creek without a paddle
- All hell breaks loose
- Have friends in high places
- Wet behind the ears
- A white elephant
- Wide of the mark