stink on ice
- idiom
- Informal
- The team's performance in the final game was a stink on ice, leading to their early exit from the tournament.
Examples
-
After the project fell apart and no one met their deadlines, it was clear that the presentation was a stink on ice.
-
They stink on ice.
-
- You stink on ice, rat boy.
-
Everyone agreed that the movie was a stink on ice; it had poor acting and a weak plot.
Synonyms
2
9.9
A very bad or disappointing quality
1
8.1
A thing that is very bad or unpleasant
1
9.9
Something that is very bad or poor quality
Antonyms
How Bad
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'stink' already signals that something is very bad, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely infer a negative evaluation. However, the addition of 'on ice' does not transparently indicate intensification to 'a complete failure' and the overall phrase is informal/idiomatic and relatively rare, so the exact sense cannot be reliably derived without prior exposure.
Etymology
The noun stink on ice comes from a strong picture: imagine a bad smell (stink) sitting on clear, shiny ice so it cannot hide and everyone notices it. That's why the phrase means 'a complete failure' or something very bad.