step up to the plate
to take responsibility and act
TRANSLATION
step up to the plate = sich der Herausforderung stellen, Verantwortung übernehmen, etwas in die Hand nehmen --- GOOGLE INDEX step up to the plate: approximately 7,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The U.S. is the only meaningful counterweight to China's growing global influence, but given the blunt reality of America's challenging fiscal position, other countries will have to STEP UP TO THE PLATE and contribute, U.K. Secretary of Defence Philip Hammond said.
(CNBC)
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Social networking websites which do not STEP UP TO THE PLATE and tackle online abuse should be boycotted, the prime minister has said.
(BBC News)
(CNBC)
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Social networking websites which do not STEP UP TO THE PLATE and tackle online abuse should be boycotted, the prime minister has said.
(BBC News)
Did you
know?
step up to the plate
idiom
- to take responsibility for doing something
(Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms)
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The expression "step up to the plate" stems from baseball, an American sport that can appear complicated to the uninitiated. The basic concept is for the team on the field to pitch (throw) the ball to the batter (a player on the opposing team) who attempts to hit the ball somewhere in the field.
The place where the batter stands and tries to hit the pitched ball is called "home plate," a flat five-sided piece of hard rubber or other material that serves to define the area over which the pitcher must throw the ball.
Thus "stepping up to the plate," as in taking one's position at home plate when batting, has become a metaphor for taking responsibility for something or getting the job done.
The long list of idioms that trace back to baseball also includes:
- to throw someone a curveball = to surprise someone or to do something unexpected (He threw me a curve with his answer)
- heavy hitter = a powerful or commanding person (They brought some heavy hitters to the negotiations)
- hit or miss = to either succeed or fail (That could be a hit or miss strategy)
- right off the bat = without delay, from the start (Right off the bat it was clear that we were going to have a long and heated discussion)
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SYNONYMS
accept the challenge, be accountable, gird one's loins, man up, step up, take charge
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We have to step up to the plate, if we want this problem solved."
idiom
- to take responsibility for doing something
(Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms)
---
The expression "step up to the plate" stems from baseball, an American sport that can appear complicated to the uninitiated. The basic concept is for the team on the field to pitch (throw) the ball to the batter (a player on the opposing team) who attempts to hit the ball somewhere in the field.
The place where the batter stands and tries to hit the pitched ball is called "home plate," a flat five-sided piece of hard rubber or other material that serves to define the area over which the pitcher must throw the ball.
Thus "stepping up to the plate," as in taking one's position at home plate when batting, has become a metaphor for taking responsibility for something or getting the job done.
The long list of idioms that trace back to baseball also includes:
- to throw someone a curveball = to surprise someone or to do something unexpected (He threw me a curve with his answer)
- heavy hitter = a powerful or commanding person (They brought some heavy hitters to the negotiations)
- hit or miss = to either succeed or fail (That could be a hit or miss strategy)
- right off the bat = without delay, from the start (Right off the bat it was clear that we were going to have a long and heated discussion)
---
SYNONYMS
accept the challenge, be accountable, gird one's loins, man up, step up, take charge
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We have to step up to the plate, if we want this problem solved."
