push comes to shove
3
7.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
cuando las cosas se ponen difíciles
- She knows that when push comes to shove, she can always count on her friends to help her.
And it if push comes to shove, they can back off of some of that to stimulate growth.
- And it if push comes to shove, they can back off of some of that to stimulate growth.
- One wants to, when push comes to shove, be on the side of the underdog, of people who are marginalized, of people who are oppressed.
- Doing those other things are great, but they're not a replacement for getting himself in order to where with push come to shove he could take care of himself.
- And then at a certain amount, like eventually push comes to shove and, and it, and there's a gap because they didn't get it.
- And the answer is, is that when I when push came to shove, I almost lost a whole string of beads and it wasn't that much time invested.
- So when push came to shove, the CFO got the presidency and the CFO said to my dad, bye, bye, and that he was fired.
- They presumably if push comes to shove, it's better to have somebody who's handy with their fists, somebody who's not.
- So when push comes to shove and she sees that bit of information, it can't be very long because she's rather busy with the rest of this floor.
Examples
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When push comes to shove, they'll just march straight over you.
Blog text (18) -
That thing that asks so much of you just like Stanford, but when push comes to shove, it lights a fire in your heart.
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And when when push comes to shove, health really is all about energy in and energy out.
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I mean, just when push comes to shove, I think we're going to pay the interest on our debt, but who knows, could be wrong.
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But when push comes to shove, they will not help out.
Blog text (26) -
But I, I think that if push came to shove, we'd see pretty much the same thing we see from him on Ukraine.
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But I mean, I think when push comes to shove, Joel and I agree on what he's just said.
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One wants to, when push comes to shove, be on the side of the underdog, of people who are marginalized, of people who are oppressed.
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But when push came to shove, that is, when trust no longer paid, Roman forces looted the treasures of Corinth and leveled the city.
Blog text (26) -
Development theorists and practitioners talk about "private sector-led development," but when push comes to shove and the money is allocated, the temptation is always to fund pressing social service delivery projects or photogenic or politically connected causes.
Blog text (26)
Synonyms
3
7.4
When things become very difficult and you must act
An urgent problem that needs quick action
Antonyms
How Urgent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'push' and 'shove' both denote force and the sequence 'comes to' suggests escalation, so there is a recognizable metaphor of increasing pressure that hints at a critical turning point. However, the precise pragmatic meaning ('when things become critical / decisive action is needed') is not fully derivable from the literal words and is conventionalized, so a B1 learner who simply knows the constituents would likely only partially infer the sense and would benefit from exposure.
Etymology
Push comes to shove creates a simple image: when a small push turns into a harder shove in a crowd or argument, the situation has become serious. That's why the phrase means 'a situation becomes serious and you must act'.