pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

English

Etymology 1

Verb

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

Alternative form of pull someone's bacon out of the fire
- 2006 Oct. 9, Jacob Heilbrunn, "‘Work Hard, Study ... and Keep Out of Politics!’" (book review), New York Times (retrieved 23 Oct 2011):
  By now, however, it's unlikely that even this faithful retainer can once more pull Bush's chestnuts out of the fire.

Etymology 2

A reference to The Monkey and the Cat.

Verb

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

To do another person's difficult work.

Translations

do someone's difficult work

Catalan: treure les castanyes del foc
French: tirer les marrons du feu (fr)

German: die Kastanien aus dem Feuer holen, aus der Klemme helfen, aus der Patsche helfen
Spanish: sacar las castañas del fuego

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.