Leaning Tower of Pisa
1
5.5
- idiom
- /ˈlinɪŋ ˈtaʊər əv ˈpizə/
- Informal
:
Torre Inclinada de Pisa
- His business plan is like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Examples
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The company's safety record made investors see it as a Leaning Tower of Pisa rather than a secure investment.
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The project feels like a Leaning Tower of Pisa waiting to collapse.
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After months of delays, the entire merger looked like a Leaning Tower of Pisa ready to collapse.
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Analysts warned that the municipal plan is a Leaning Tower of Pisa, likely to topple under stress.
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His plan to start a business seemed as unstable as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
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With its outdated technology and poor management, the company felt like a Leaning Tower of Pisa ready to collapse.
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Her confidence was as shaky as the Leaning Tower of Pisa after receiving that harsh criticism.
Antonyms
How Unstable
Surface Forms
Morphology
The figurative sense 'unstable, precarious' is directly motivated by the literal image of a tower that is leaning, so the combination of 'leaning' + 'tower' gives a clear semantic cue. However, because this is a culturally specific reference to a named landmark (Pisa) and relies on familiarity with that monument to trigger the idiomatic comparison, it is not fully predictable for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Leaning Tower of Pisa as a saying comes from the real tower's visible tilt. If people call a plan a Leaning Tower of Pisa, they mean it looks shaky and 'likely to fail'.