answersLogoWhite

0

Think about cutting off your nose - it would hurt like heck and be really ugly and you couldn't breathe well afterwards. This idiom refers to doing something that ends up being worse for you than it was for the person you were trying to punish by doing it.

User Avatar

Wiki User

7y ago

What else can I help you with?

Related Questions

Which is correct Cut off your nose despite your face or Cut off your nose to spite your face?

'to spite'


What does the idiom itchy nose mean?

It is not an idiom, it means your nose is itching.


What does Dont' cut off your nose to spite your face mean?

It means that you do something in anger that will only hurt you


Kiss the nose off your face wtf does it mean?

I guess its an idiom and i don't know anything El's


What is an example of an idiom in 'To Kill a Mockingbird chapter 21?

An example of an idiom in "To Kill a Mockingbird" chapter 21 is "cut off your nose to spite your face." This idiom means taking actions that harm oneself in order to punish or seek revenge on others. In the chapter, Atticus uses this idiom to explain why it would be foolish for Bob Ewell to challenge him.


Cut of your nose to spite your face?

"Cutting off the nose to spite the face" is an expression used to describe a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem: "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face" is a warning against pursuing revenge in a way that would damage oneself more than the object of one's anger.


What does the idiom turn your nose up mean?

say no to it


What does inspitation mean?

It's actually two words, the proposition "in" and the word "spite". Spite is a motivation for doing mean or cruel or hurtful things, and often boils down to a kind of mean-spirited revenge. "To cut off your nose to spite your face" is an expression meaning that sometimes doing harm to another does greater harm to yourself. The "spite your face" part, means that you think you are doing something mean to your face by cutting off your nose. Spite is often the feeling we have when we say, "I'll show him!". It sometimes takes the form of wilful and peevish disobedience as a kind of revenge. It is this meaning that comes across in the phrase "in spite of". E.g. "My dad told me not to go to the party, but in spite of what he said, I went anyway." By extension, it can mean wilful and peevish disobedience to the common-sense dictates of reality. E.g. "In spite of the pouring rain, I determined to go tenting." The word "despite", which obviously comes from the same root, means exactly the same thing.


Where does the saying don't cut off your nose to spite your face come from?

The idiom means that you should not do something that affects you badly just to get even with someone. It may have come from legends of pious women disfiguring themselves in order to protect their virginity. One example is a Mother Superior who had all of the nuns in her convent cut off their noses to make themselves physically unattractive to Viking raiders, who might be intent on raping them. Instead, the Vikings became angered and burned down the convent.


Is your nose is running an idiom?

An idiom is a phrase that makes no sense unless you know the definition. Can a nose actually run somewhere? No, so this is an idiom.


Is that's as plain as the nose on ones face an idiom?

No, when you see "as ___ as___" you are looking at a simile. Just remember AS = A Simile


What does the idiom don't stick your nose in people's business mean?

Don't interfare to what u are less concern of.