egg (redirected from with egg on face)

*sure as God made little green apples and *sure as eggs is eggs; *sure as fate; *sure as I'm stand-ing here; *sure as you live

Rur. absolutely certain. (*Also: as ~.) I'm as sure as God made little green apples that he's the one. I'm right, as sure as you live!

See also: apple, god, green, little, made, sure

(a) good egg

Fig. a good and dependable person. He seems like a good egg. I'll take a chance on him.

See also: good

egg someone on

to encourage, urge, or dare someone to continue doing something, usually something unwise. John wouldn't have done the dangerous experiment if his brother hadn't egged him on. The two boys kept throwing stones because the other children were egging them on.

Go fry an egg!

Go away and stop bothering me! Go away and stop bothering me. Go fry an egg! Get out of my way! Go fry an egg!

See also: fry

goose egg 

1. Fig. a raised bump on the skull as when one's head has been struck. I walked into the edge of the door and got a terrible goose egg.

2. Fig. in a sports score, zero. At the end of the game there was nothing but goose eggs next to our name.

See also: goose

have egg on one's face

Fig. to be embarrassed by something one has done. (As if one went out in public with a dirty face.) I was completely wrong, and now I have egg on my face. She's really got egg on her face!

See also: face, have

He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of hens.

Prov. You must be willing to endure unpleasant, irritating things in order to get what you want. Sue: I'm tired of working after school. All the customers at the store are so rude. Mother: But you wanted money to buy a car. He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of hens, dear.

See also: endure, have, hen, must

Kill the goose that lays the golden egg(s).

Prov. To destroy something that is profitable to you. Fred's wife knew he wasn't happy in his job, even though it paid well; still, she felt that advising him to leave it would be killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

See also: golden, goose, kill, lay

lay an egg 

1. Lit. [for a hen, etc.] to deposit an egg. Old Red stopped laying eggs, so we stewed her for Sunday dinner.

2. Fig. [for someone] to do something bad or poorly; to perform poorly on stage. I guess I really laid an egg, huh? The cast laid an egg in both performances.

See also: lay

one's (butter and) egg money

Fig. money that a farm woman earns. (Farm women would often sell butter and eggs for extra money that would be stashed away for an emergency.) Jane was saving her butter and egg money for a new TV. I've got my egg money. Let's go shopping.

See also: money

put all one's eggs in one basket

Fig. to make everything dependent on only one thing; to place all one's resources in one place, account, etc. (If the basket is dropped, all is lost.) Don't invest all your money in one company. Never put all your eggs in one basket. I advise you to diversify and not to put all your eggs in one basket.

See also: basket, one, put

rotten egg and bad egg

a bad or despised person; an evil influence. That guy is a real rotten egg. She sure has turned out to be a rotten egg.

See also: rotten

teach one's grandmother to suck eggs

Fig. to try to tell or show someone more knowledgeable or experienced than oneself how to do something. Don't suggest showing Mary how to knit. It will be like teaching your grandmother to suck eggs. Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs. Bob has been playing tennis for years.

See also: suck, teach

walk on eggs and walk on thin ice

Fig. to proceed very cautiously; to be in a very precarious position. (Fig. on the image of someone walking on something that offers little support and may collapse at any moment.) I have to remember that I'm walking on eggs when I give this speech. Careful with radical ideas like that. You're walking on thin ice.

See also: walk

You cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs.

Prov. In order to get something good or useful, you must give up something else. Jill: Why do they have to tear down that beautiful old building to build an office park? Jane: You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. Alan: We may make more money by raising our prices, but we'll also upset a lot of customers. Fred: You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs.

See also: breaking, cannot, make, without

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(as) sure as eggs (are/is eggs)  (British & Australian old-fashioned)

something that you say when you are certain about what is going to happen or what someone will do He'll be back again next week asking for more money, sure as eggs is eggs.

See also: sure

a bad egg  (mainly American informal)

someone who behaves in a bad or dishonest way He's a bad egg - don't believe anything he says.

See also: bad

a chicken and egg situation

a situation in which it is impossible to say which of two things existed first and which caused the other It's a chicken and egg situation - I don't know whether I was bad at the sciences because I wasn't interested in them or not interested in them and therefore not good at them.

See also: and, chicken, situation

a curate's egg  (British)

something which has both good and bad parts

Usage notes: A curate is a priest. There is a joke about a curate who was given a bad egg and said that parts of the egg were good because he did not want to offend the person who gave it to him.

Queen's College is something of a curate's egg, with elegant Victorian buildings alongside some of the ugliest modern architecture.

a good egg  (old-fashioned, humorous)

a person with good qualities such as kindness He's a good egg, your brother - he visited me every day while I was ill.

See also: good

a nest egg

an amount of money that you have saved Regular investment of small amounts of money is an excellent way of building a nest egg.

See also: nest

can't boil an egg  (humorous)

if someone can't boil an egg, they are not able to cook

Usage notes: This phrase comes from the idea that boiling an egg is a very easy thing to do.

Don't expect a dinner invitation from Laura - she can't boil an egg.

See also: boil

have egg on your face  (informal)

to seem stupid because of something you have done You'll be the one who has egg on your face if it goes wrong.

See can't boil an egg, lay an egg

See also: face, have

kill the goose that lays the golden egg

to destroy something that makes a lot of money If you sell your shares now, you could be killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

See also: golden, goose, kill, lay

lay an egg  (American informal)

to fail to make people enjoy or be interested in something Our first two sketches got big laughs, but the next two laid an egg.

See also: lay

over-egg the pudding  (British)

to spoil something by trying too hard to improve it As a director, I think he has a tendency to over-egg the pudding, with a few too many gorgeous shots of the countryside.

See also: pudding

put all your eggs in one basket

to risk losing everything by putting all your efforts or all your money into one plan or one course of action If you're going to invest the money, my advice would be don't put all your eggs in one basket.

See also: basket, one, put

teach your grandmother to suck eggs  (British & Australian)

to give advice to someone about a subject that they already know more about than you You're teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, Ted. I've been playing this game since before you were born!

See also: suck, teach

You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

something that you say which means it is difficult to achieve something important without causing any unpleasant effects Twenty jobs will have to be cut if the company's going to be made more efficient. But you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.

See also: breaking, make, without

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have egg on your face

to be embarrassed If the computer problems continue, then the software giant will have egg on its face.

Usage notes: also used in the form with egg on your face: People who supported him came away with egg on their faces.

Related vocabulary: blow up in your face

See also: face, have

put all your eggs in one basket

to risk your money or your reputation in support of one idea or plan I didn't want to put all my eggs in one basket, so I played five different lottery games, but lost all of them.

Etymology: based on the idea that if all the eggs you got from your chickens are in one basket ( container) and you drop it, you will lose all your eggs

See also: basket, one, put