blown to smithereens
to be completely destroyed
TRANSLATION
blown to smithereens = in Stücke zerschlagen, komplett zerstört --- GOOGLE INDEX blown to smithereens: approximately 200,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
We could blow this planet to SMITHEREENS – that’s not necessarily a sign of greatness or advancement.
(Salon magazine)
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Even though the case against fiscal policy has been BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS, there is little impulse in the United States or Europe to change course.
(The Guardian)
(Salon magazine)
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Even though the case against fiscal policy has been BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS, there is little impulse in the United States or Europe to change course.
(The Guardian)
Did you
know?
blow to smithereens
idiom
- to explode someone or something into tiny pieces
- (fig.) to destroy an idea or plan by exposing its faults
(American Heritage Dictionary)
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Smithereens is a noun that means a lot of very small broken pieces. It's normally used in expressions such as "blown to smithereens" to indicate that something has been completely destroyed. Apart from blown, this phrase is commonly used with other verbs such as smashed, bombed, blasted and broken.
As for the origin of the word smithereens (always plural), on the coast of southeast Ireland is a harbour town called Skibbereen. Running wild with our imagination, we could envision ships out on the Atlantic being "blown to Skibbereen." This romantic theory has been blown to smithereens meanwhile.
Contrary to what one might think, smithereens also has nothing to do with name Smith or the term smith (as in blacksmith). Instead, it apparently stems from the Gaelic word smiodar, or tiny fragments. As the theory goes, because "een" is a common diminutive ending in Irish, as in colleen (girl) - that is, Caile (country woman) + een - then smiodar + een would give us smithereen.
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SYNONYMS
blown to bits, blown to pieces, demolished, pulverized, shattered, totalled, wrecked
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Bad weather blew our weekend plans to smithereens!"
idiom
- to explode someone or something into tiny pieces
- (fig.) to destroy an idea or plan by exposing its faults
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
Smithereens is a noun that means a lot of very small broken pieces. It's normally used in expressions such as "blown to smithereens" to indicate that something has been completely destroyed. Apart from blown, this phrase is commonly used with other verbs such as smashed, bombed, blasted and broken.
As for the origin of the word smithereens (always plural), on the coast of southeast Ireland is a harbour town called Skibbereen. Running wild with our imagination, we could envision ships out on the Atlantic being "blown to Skibbereen." This romantic theory has been blown to smithereens meanwhile.
Contrary to what one might think, smithereens also has nothing to do with name Smith or the term smith (as in blacksmith). Instead, it apparently stems from the Gaelic word smiodar, or tiny fragments. As the theory goes, because "een" is a common diminutive ending in Irish, as in colleen (girl) - that is, Caile (country woman) + een - then smiodar + een would give us smithereen.
---
SYNONYMS
blown to bits, blown to pieces, demolished, pulverized, shattered, totalled, wrecked
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Bad weather blew our weekend plans to smithereens!"
