“Bow out”in other languages
Withdraw or retire, gracefully.
English
French
German
Same idea, different pictures
English and French end with a bow, like a performer leaving the stage. Tirer sa révérence, to make your bow, was how you left a room at court; today it's said of retirements and resignations.
German takes its hat, seinen Hut nehmen, the way a visitor picks it up to leave. It usually means resigning from a post.
More sayings in other languages
- Breathe down someone's neck
- Take the bull by the horns
- Burn one's bridges
- Butter someone up
- Butter wouldn't melt in someone's mouth
- By hook or by crook
- Call the shots
- Carry coals to Newcastle
- Caught red-handed