to keep one's pants on
- idiom
- Informal
- You're gonna have to figure out a way to keep your pants on.
- just keep your pants on
Examples
-
During the meeting, the manager told everyone to keep one's pants on until the results were finalized.
-
Just keep your pants on, Mook.
-
But actually keep your pants on for real.
-
No matter what the director and art director say, he can keep his pants on.
Academic text (2007) -
Keep your pants on, all right?
-
Try to keep your pants on, Ralph.
Fiction book (1990) -
Annoyed, the older detective said, "Keep your pants on out there."
Fiction book (1993) -
Keep your pants on, Sarge.
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Please keep one's pants on; we'll get to your questions soon.
-
He was getting anxious about the delay, but I reminded him to keep one's pants on.
Synonyms
Stay calm and be patient
Stay calm and do not become angry or upset
Stay calm and do not get angry or impatient
Antonyms
How Patient
- Informal
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal combination of 'keep' + 'one's' + 'pants' + 'on' yields 'continue wearing trousers', which does not transparently convey 'remain calm or patient.' This is an informal idiom whose meaning is unpredictable from the parts and is unlikely to be inferred by a B1 learner even if they know each constituent word.
Etymology
The idiom keep one's pants on may come from a funny image: if someone is very excited they might act wildly, so telling them to keep their pants on is like telling them to stay put and not do something silly. That's why it now means 'remain calm and patient'.