Phrases.com »

Phrases related to: bitter

Yee yee! We've found 16 phrases and idioms matching bitter.

Sort:RelevancyA - Z
a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go downAn otherwise unpleasant situation can be pleasant when a pleasant aspect is deliberately introduced.1999, Eli Yassif, The Hebrew Folktale: History, Genre, Meaning, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0253335833, page 372,One is known as the "sweetening parable," that is to say a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Thus, when the aim is to preach to the people, to guide them along the "bitter," arduous path of upholding burdensome precepts and prohibitions, a tale can lighten the load, make the "medicine" easier "to swallow."2001, Maureen Reagan, First Father, First Daughter: A Memoir, Little, Brown, ISBN 0316736368, page 319,It put some fun into the tedious business of preparing for a presidential debate. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, right?2004, John Hoover, How to Work for an Idiot: Survive & Thrive... Without Killing Your Boss, Career Press, ISBN 1564147045, page 11,If a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, a barrel of laughs can wash down the big pills you might need to swallow.Rate it:

(4.00 / 5 votes)
bitter endThat part of an anchor cable which is abaft the bitts and thus remains onboard when a ship is riding at anchor.Rate it:

(4.00 / 1 vote)
bitter endThe end of a long and difficult process.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
bitter pillSomething unpleasant that must be accepted or endured.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
bitter pill to swallowUsed other than as an idiom: see bitter pill, swallow.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
bitter pill to swallowSomething unpleasant that must be accepted or endured.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
bitter sweetWhen something is Good and Bad; Positive with negative.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
boire un bouillon (lit.)To swallow water (when swimming); To swallow a bitter pill; To lose a lot of money.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
face offEither an actual or a figurative face to face confrontation, especially a bitter one.Rate it:

(4.00 / 2 votes)
faire avaler des couleuvres à quelqu'unTo say very humiliating things to a man who, on account of his inferior position, is obliged to put up with them; To make any one swallow a bitter pill.Rate it:

(1.00 / 1 vote)
Green with EnvyTo get resentful, bitter or envious with someone, Getting jealous and invidiousRate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
out on the tilesI've had a pint of bitter and now I'm feeling better and I'm out on the tiles." Led Zeppelin in their song "Out on the tiles", 1970.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
sugarcoat a bitter pillAlternative form of sugarcoat the pillRate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
swallow a bitter pillTo accept or endure an unpleasant situation.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
take the bitter with the sweetTo accept positive things with negative things.Rate it:

(2.00 / 1 vote)
Take the Bitter with the SweetAccepting bad things along with the good onesRate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)

We need you!

Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

Alternative searches for bitter:

Quiz

Are you a phrases master?

»
_____ don't lose that number.
A Ricky
B Billy
C Bobby
D Robby