wouldn't shout if a shark bit him
- idiom
- UK
:
no gritaría ni aunque lo mordiera un tiburón
- She is so calm; she wouldn't shout if a shark bit her!
Examples
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People say our manager wouldn't shout if a shark bit him, he's so calm under pressure.
-
No matter what happens at work, he wouldn't shout if a shark bit him.
-
Even during the emergency, she wouldn't shout if a shark bit him, staying perfectly composed.
-
He wouldn't shout if a shark bit him during the meeting.
-
Even during the emergency, she wouldn't shout if a shark bit him, staying perfectly composed.
-
People say our manager wouldn't shout if a shark bit him, he's so calm under pressure.
-
No matter what happens at work, he wouldn't shout if a shark bit him.
Synonyms
15
5.0
Calm and not easily upset, like a quiet lake
11
4.4
Not showing strong feelings
2
8.1
Not easily upset or worried, even in difficult situations
1
6.8
Calm and not showing strong or out of control feelings in a stressful situation
Being very calm and not showing fear in a stressful situation
Antonyms
How Calm
- UK
9
7.4
1
4.3
735
1.0
∞
1.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
wouldn't + shout + if + a + shark + bite + him
The meaning is directly inferable from the literal constituents and a simple pragmatic inference: if someone 'wouldn't shout' even in the extreme event of a 'shark' 'biting' them, they must be unusually calm or unflappable. This is a hyperbolic conditional built compositionally rather than an idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows the words and basic conditional logic should grasp the intended meaning.
Etymology
The saying wouldn't shout if a shark bit him paints a clear picture: imagine someone so calm that even if a shark bit them, they wouldn't shout. That's why the phrase means 'extremely calm or unexcitable'.