below the belt
9
6.7
- idiom
- /bɪˈloʊ ðə bɛlt/
- Informal
:
bajo
- That's a little bit below the belt, isn't it?
- hitting below the belt
- really below the belt
- blow below the belt
And that game, what I said was below the belt.
- And that game, what I said was below the belt.
- Now, again, even if that's not physically, verbally, they they'll say something that goes way below the belt, all right, And words can stick.
Examples
-
"Did you have to hit him below the belt?"
Fiction book (1992) -
"You're really hitting below the belt."
Fiction book (1991) -
That was a little below the belt, huh?
-
Get 'em any way, hit 'em below the belt.
-
That was below the belt, that was...
-
Some of you are going to hit below the belt and say, "Well, you were stupid!"
Blog text (22) -
I think the comment about anyone disagreeing having lower standards was a little below the belt too.
Blog text (20) -
That's hitting below the belt.
-
That's below the belt.
Fiction book (1992) -
His comments about her personal life were definitely below the belt.
Synonyms
7
4.9
Behaving unfairly or rudely during a game
Mean and unfair in a way that hurts others
Antonyms
16
3.0
Honest behavior that treats everyone the same and follows the rules in sport or competition
How Hurtful
89
5.8
522
2.7
- Informal
9
6.7
- Offensive
261
4.0
5
4.9
354
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
below + the + belt
The phrase literally evokes a physical location 'below the belt' (below the belt) which B1 learners who know the words can picture, but the extension to 'unfair, cruel, or unsporting' depends on knowledge of the boxing metaphor (hitting below the belt = illegal/unsporting). This figurative mapping is somewhat inferable from the parts but not fully predictable without exposure or cultural/pragmatic knowledge, so it is partially transparent.
Etymology
The idiom below the belt comes from boxing. In the sport, hitting someone below the belt is against the rules and feels like a cheap, personal attack, so the phrase now means 'unfair' or 'cruel'.