throw a spanner in the works
to prevent something from succeeding
TRANSLATION
throw a spanner in the works = Sand ins Getriebe streuen --- GOOGLE INDEX throw a spanner in the works: approximately 600,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Terri Orchard, a spokeswoman for the protest said the action was designed to "stop the flow of oil to London" and PUT A SPANNER IN THE WORKS.
(BBC News)
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But Indian energy company Lanco Infratech, which bought Mr Stowe's nearby Griffin Coal mines late last year for $830 million, THREW A SPANNER IN THE WORKS last month by suddenly seeking to renegotiate its coal-supply contracts with Bluewaters.
(The Australian)
(BBC News)
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But Indian energy company Lanco Infratech, which bought Mr Stowe's nearby Griffin Coal mines late last year for $830 million, THREW A SPANNER IN THE WORKS last month by suddenly seeking to renegotiate its coal-supply contracts with Bluewaters.
(The Australian)
Did you
know?
throw a spanner in the works
idiom
- to do something that prevents a plan or activity from succeeding
(Cambridge Idioms Dictionary)
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In 1965, Beatles legend John Lennon published a nonsense book called "A Spaniard in the Works". On the front cover, Lennon can be seen wearing a matador's cape and hat and holding a spanner (a metal tool with a shaped end, used to turn nuts and bolts). The title of the book is a play on the expression "spanner in the works."
One of the first recorded usages of the phrase was in P. G. Wodehouse's 1934 novel Right Ho, Jeeves: "He should have had sense enough to see that he was throwing a spanner into the works."
The expression stems from the idea of literally throwing a spanner into a works (a synonym for machine), which of course would stop it from working and more than likely destroy all the gears. Our American cousins, because they call a spanner a "wrench", like to say that someone "threw a wrench in the works".
Another variation is to "throw a monkey wrench in the works". A monkey wrench is an adjustable spanner and no one seems to know why it is referred to as such. Perhaps because with a little imagination, the top end of the wrench might be construed as a monkey's head. But that would really take someone with a vivid imagination, like John Lennon…
NOTE:
Please don't mix-up the English spanner, with the German der Spanner = voyeur, peeper, peeping Tom.
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We wanted the welcome drinks outside, but the weather threw a spanner in the works."
idiom
- to do something that prevents a plan or activity from succeeding
(Cambridge Idioms Dictionary)
---
In 1965, Beatles legend John Lennon published a nonsense book called "A Spaniard in the Works". On the front cover, Lennon can be seen wearing a matador's cape and hat and holding a spanner (a metal tool with a shaped end, used to turn nuts and bolts). The title of the book is a play on the expression "spanner in the works."
One of the first recorded usages of the phrase was in P. G. Wodehouse's 1934 novel Right Ho, Jeeves: "He should have had sense enough to see that he was throwing a spanner into the works."
The expression stems from the idea of literally throwing a spanner into a works (a synonym for machine), which of course would stop it from working and more than likely destroy all the gears. Our American cousins, because they call a spanner a "wrench", like to say that someone "threw a wrench in the works".
Another variation is to "throw a monkey wrench in the works". A monkey wrench is an adjustable spanner and no one seems to know why it is referred to as such. Perhaps because with a little imagination, the top end of the wrench might be construed as a monkey's head. But that would really take someone with a vivid imagination, like John Lennon…
NOTE:
Please don't mix-up the English spanner, with the German der Spanner = voyeur, peeper, peeping Tom.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We wanted the welcome drinks outside, but the weather threw a spanner in the works."
