PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDN’T THROW STONES

This is a proverb rather than an idiom, but it’s regularly used. It means that people who have faults of their own shouldn’t criticise others.

 Examples

 “It added: ‘Ms Dinenage is reminded that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.’”

 “As the saying goes, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. And all our houses have parts made of glass.”


 This proverb is believed to originate from a line in Chaucer’s “Troilus & Criseyde”, which dates back to 1385. [1]


 [1] “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” in Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, edited by Speake, Jennifer. Oxford University Press, 2015.

 Photo credit: Julie (Creative Commons)

CLIMBING THE WALLS

To be climbing the walls is an idiom that means to be feeling frustrated, anxious and/or trapped, as many of us are at the moment, as we remain in our homes, worrying about COVID-19 and its associated problems!

 Examples

 “Do everything you can to get the help you need to keep yourself from climbing the walls.”

 “There’s probably only so much screen time you want them to have, so how do you stop them (and you) from climbing the walls until it’s safe to go outside again?”

 “Another admitted he was climbing the walls already.”


Photo credit: Barbara Barden (Creative Commons)

EMPTY-HANDED

This week, I visited my parents in West Yorkshire. Due to COVID-19 panic buying, after driving around for two hours hunting for liquid soap for them, I returned empty-handed.

 If you’re empty-handed, you failed to obtain what you wanted.

 Examples

 “Had it not been for Indian sportswomen, the nation would have returned empty-handed from the Rio Olympics - for the first time since the 1992 Olympics.”

 “He ran off empty-handed and was later caught by police.”

 “It has left supermarket shelves bare, and fears are growing for the elderly who are having to walk away empty-handed.”


 Photo credit: Tim Dennell (Creative Commons)