on a silver platter
5
5.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
en bandeja de plata
- I find myself and my family in a country that wants everything handed to them on a silver platter.
- handed to him on a silver platter
It was, it's right here on a silver platter.
- It was, it's right here on a silver platter.
- And it's like, but then you just serve up on a silver platter something that's so objectively stupid.
Examples
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If opportunity does not present itself to you on a silver platter, then go out and grab it yourself.
Blog text (29) -
Given these issues, you could say the Democratic Party practically handed the election to Republicans on a silver platter.
Blog text (34) -
I am giving you a Senate seat on a silver platter.
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It very much looks like we were handed that buying opportunity on a silver platter this past week.
Blog text (27) -
Many folks come into truck driving believing that everything should just be handed to them on a silver platter without having to prove themselves in any way.
Blog text (29) -
This isn't someone coming to you with your future on a silver platter saying you're the chosen one.
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She received the promotion on a silver platter, as her boss wanted to reward her hard work.
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After working tirelessly for months, he was finally offered his dream job on a silver platter.
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The opportunity to travel abroad came to her on a silver platter when her company offered to pay for everything.
Synonyms
1
5.1
To get something very easily without having to work for it
How Easy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal words evoke an image of being handed something on a fancy dish, so a learner who knows 'silver' and 'platter' can plausibly infer that something is being given to them ready-made and with ease. However, the meaning 'receive something very easily or without effort' is a conventionalized metaphorical extension rather than a fully compositional sense, so it is not entirely predictable without some cultural or idiomatic knowledge.
Etymology
The idiom on a silver platter comes from the picture of a shiny silver platter being held out with food ready to eat. When something is given that way, everything is handed to you and you do not have to try, so it means 'very easily' or 'without effort'.