easy does it
8
6.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
tranquilo
- My uncle sprayed stones on the turns and weaved a little across the road, and now and then my aunt said, "Easy does it, Luther," under her breath.
- Easy does it, said
- Hey, easy does it
- Easy does it, now
Easy does it, easy does it, easy does it?
- Easy does it, easy does it, easy does it?
Examples
-
" Easy does it, partner."
Fiction book (1990) -
When carrying the fragile box, he reminded everyone, easy does it, so we don't drop it.
-
Nice and easy does it.
Academic text (2004) -
"Easy does it, boys," he said.
Fiction book (2001) -
"Easy does it," she said.
Fiction book (1996) -
"Easy does it," my aunt said.
Fiction book (1994) -
Easy does it, cousin.
Fiction book (1996) -
Easy does it, Jeffrey.
Fiction book (1997) -
Take your time while driving; remember, easy does it to avoid any accidents.
-
As she climbed the ladder, she whispered, easy does it, to herself for encouragement.
Synonyms
979
1.0
Take care to avoid danger or getting hurt
42
3.4
Choose a careful option to avoid risks
9
5.6
To act carefully to avoid hurting feelings or making mistakes
6
3.9
Act carefully to avoid mistakes, danger, or upsetting others
Antonyms
How Careful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'easy' directly conveys 'gentle/slow' and 'does it' can be interpreted as a directive to perform the action, so the overall sense 'proceed carefully/gently' is partly derivable from the constituents. However, the fixed idiomatic word order and pragmatic advisory force are not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase easy does it comes from people moving heavy or fragile things and telling helpers to be gentle, like lowering a vase slowly so it won't break. So today we say easy does it to tell someone 'go slowly and be careful'.