he stole my thunder


he "took the wind out of my sails"

TRANSLATION

steal s/o's thunder = jmdm. den Wind aus den Segeln nehmen; jmdm. zuvorkommen

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

"...the National Front had tried to reassert national pride at a time when no other party was doing so, and that once Margaret Thatcher got into her stride, she STOLE THEIR THUNDER."

(Guardian Unlimited - April 23rd, 2002)

Did you
know?

Did you know?

This interesting phrase is over 300 years old.

John Dennis, a seventeenth century playwright and critic, invented a new method of simulating the sound of thunder in the theatre and used it in his own unsuccessful play Appius and Virginia. The play closed after a short run, but he later attended a performance of Macbeth by a rival company and discovered they had stolen his thunder effect. He furiously exclaimed: "Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!"

Note also the similar phrase/meaning:

to steal a march on someone = jemandem zuvorkommen

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