cry wolf
to call for help when it is not needed
TRANSLATION
cry wolf = blinden Alarm schlagen, falschen Alarm geben --- GOOGLE INDEX cry wolf: approximately 1,500,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Those who might be tempted to complain about the cost of the government's preparations for a possible flu pandemic would be misguided. This is not a case of CRYING WOLF.
(The London Independent)
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With some critics arguing that authorities are in danger of CRYING WOLF, officials on both sides of the Atlantic have tried to explain the reasons for the series of urgent terror warnings.
(Insight on the News)
(The London Independent)
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With some critics arguing that authorities are in danger of CRYING WOLF, officials on both sides of the Atlantic have tried to explain the reasons for the series of urgent terror warnings.
(Insight on the News)
Did you
know?
cry wolf
idiom
- raise repeated false alarms, so that a real cry for help is ignored
(Compact Oxford English Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
The expression "cry wolf" stems from one of Aesop's Fables called The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf (or The Boy Who Cried Wolf). The story's protagonist is a young, bored shepherd boy who entertains himself by calling out wolf. The nearby villagers rush to his rescue, only to discover that the warnings are false alarms. One day, the boy is actually confronted by a wolf. This time the villagers ignore his pleas for help and the wolf devours the sheep (in some versions, the wolf feasts on the young boy or simply mocks him).
The moral at the end of the fable is:
"Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed. The liar will lie once, twice, and then perish when he tells the truth."
The WOLF is also found in some other common English idioms:
keep the wolf from the door - to have enough money to be able to buy food
throw someone to the wolves - to sacrifice someone in order to avoid trouble for oneself
a wolf in sheep’s clothing - a person who appears friendly but is really hostile (refers to the Book Of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 15: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves)
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"Many people thought that green politicians were just crying wolf about global warming, nowadays this position is gaining more acceptance."
idiom
- raise repeated false alarms, so that a real cry for help is ignored
(Compact Oxford English Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
The expression "cry wolf" stems from one of Aesop's Fables called The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf (or The Boy Who Cried Wolf). The story's protagonist is a young, bored shepherd boy who entertains himself by calling out wolf. The nearby villagers rush to his rescue, only to discover that the warnings are false alarms. One day, the boy is actually confronted by a wolf. This time the villagers ignore his pleas for help and the wolf devours the sheep (in some versions, the wolf feasts on the young boy or simply mocks him).
The moral at the end of the fable is:
"Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed. The liar will lie once, twice, and then perish when he tells the truth."
The WOLF is also found in some other common English idioms:
keep the wolf from the door - to have enough money to be able to buy food
throw someone to the wolves - to sacrifice someone in order to avoid trouble for oneself
a wolf in sheep’s clothing - a person who appears friendly but is really hostile (refers to the Book Of Matthew, chapter 7, verse 15: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves)
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"Many people thought that green politicians were just crying wolf about global warming, nowadays this position is gaining more acceptance."
