to bring your own hide to market
- idiom
- Informal
- She succeeded because she was willing to bring her own hide to market and take risks.
Examples
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Many entrepreneurs learn to bring their own hide to market instead of waiting for help.
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In this competitive field, you have to bring your own hide to market if you want to get ahead.
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You need to bring your own hide to market if you want to succeed.
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Don't bring your own hide to market!
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To thrive in this industry, you must bring your own hide to market and face challenges on your own.
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Successful freelancers often bring their own hide to market, as they can't always rely on others for support.
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If you want to succeed in this competitive environment, you need to bring your own hide to market every time.
Synonyms
To do something without help from other people
Look after yourself without help from others
Antonyms
How Independent
- Informal
- Informal
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
bring + your + own + hide + to + market
A B1 learner who knows the words would most likely interpret this literally (bringing an animal hide to a market) and would not predict the figurative sense of being self-reliant or prepared to face risks. The idiomatic, metaphorical use of 'hide' for oneself and the proverb-like construction are language-/culture-specific and not transparently compositional or cross-linguistically obvious.
Etymology
Bring your own hide to market may come from old markets where people sold animal skins; you had to take your own hide to sell and could not expect help from others. So the picture of carrying your own goods into the market explains why the phrase means 'to be self-reliant and ready to face risks'.