lay an egg






lay an egg

be completely unsuccessful

fail badly - North American informal


RELATED IDIOMS :


a curate's egg = a curates egg

something that is partly good and partly bad

This expression stems from a Punch cartoon produced in 1895, showing a meek curate breakfasting with his bishop.

BISHOP : I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr. Jones.

CURATE : Oh no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!




do not put all your eggs in one basket

don't risk everything on the success of one venture – proverb

1996 - Mail on Sunday - Having too many eggs in one basket….the British stock market can be a bad idea. Overseas investments can add balance to an investment portfolio.




go suck an egg

go away (used as an expression of anger or scorn) - North American informal

1993 - Virginian Pilot & Ledger-Star (Norfolk, Va.) - A place [in the country] where you can drop a line in the water from your back yard and tell the rest of the world to go suck an egg.




kill the goose that lays the golden egg

destroy a reliable and valuable source of income

One of Aesop's fables tells the tale of a man who owned a miraculous goose that laid eggs of gold. However, he grew dissatisfied with its production of just one egg a day and killed it in the deluded expectation of finding a large quantity of gold inside it.

1999 - New York Times - Change is needed in the nation's drug policies. But we need to address the problem carefully in a way that doesn't kill the goose that lays the golden egg.




sure as eggs is eggs

without any doubt

absolutely certain




with egg on your face

appearing foolish or ridiculous - informal




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