in the doldrums
at a low level of activity
TRANSLATION
in the doldrums = in der Flaute (z.B. die Wirtschaft) in the doldrums = unglücklich, deprimiert (z.B. Person, Laune) --- GOOGLE INDEX in the doldrums: approximately 33,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The UK economy will remain stuck IN THE DOLDRUMS with an export-led recovery unlikely to emerge until 2011, a forecaster says.
(BBC News)
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Dutch football IN THE DOLDRUMS
(ESPN - News Headline)
(BBC News)
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Dutch football IN THE DOLDRUMS
(ESPN - News Headline)
Did you
know?
in the doldrums
noun phrase
- unsuccessful or showing no activity or development
- sad and with no energy or enthusiasm
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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In the 19th century the word doldrum meant a dull or sluggish person, which likely derived from dull (dol) and by patterning the ending after the word "tantrum" (a fit of bad temper).
Sailors then adopted doldrum and the phrase "in the doldrums" to describe sailing ships that were becalmed and not making progress. The Doldrums was subsequently used as a nautical term for what meteorologists now call the "equatorial trough," which is a continuous strip of low pressure that lies between the high-pressure areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
This area is known for the light and variable nature of its winds and is also referred to as the "equatorial calms."
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SYNONYMS
(inactive)
inert, languid, listless, stagnant, sluggish
(depressed)
down, in a funk, bummed out, blue, in the dumps
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"A good time to invest in stocks is when the markets are in the doldrums."
noun phrase
- unsuccessful or showing no activity or development
- sad and with no energy or enthusiasm
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
In the 19th century the word doldrum meant a dull or sluggish person, which likely derived from dull (dol) and by patterning the ending after the word "tantrum" (a fit of bad temper).
Sailors then adopted doldrum and the phrase "in the doldrums" to describe sailing ships that were becalmed and not making progress. The Doldrums was subsequently used as a nautical term for what meteorologists now call the "equatorial trough," which is a continuous strip of low pressure that lies between the high-pressure areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
This area is known for the light and variable nature of its winds and is also referred to as the "equatorial calms."
---
SYNONYMS
(inactive)
inert, languid, listless, stagnant, sluggish
(depressed)
down, in a funk, bummed out, blue, in the dumps
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"A good time to invest in stocks is when the markets are in the doldrums."
