to be an ostrich
- idiom
:
hacerse el avestruz
- Ignoring the complaints from the staff, he decided to be an ostrich and carry on as if everything was fine.
Examples
-
When faced with the budget cuts, the manager chose to be an ostrich instead of addressing the issue.
-
You might suppose that the producer of such a calorie and cholesterol bomb would be an ostrich.
Academic text (1993) -
The mayor's quick to have her picture taken when a new store opens, but when there are problems and emergencies, she is an ostrich with her head in the ground!
Blog text (2) -
Rather than tackle the ongoing issues in the project, she preferred to be an ostrich and hope they would disappear.
Synonyms
69
4.7
To ignore something wrong on purpose instead of reporting it
41
5.4
Choose to ignore something wrong
8
7.7
To hide a problem instead of dealing with it openly
5
5.6
To act as if you do not see something to avoid making someone feel embarrassed
5
7.7
To ignore a problem instead of dealing with it
To ignore or hide problems instead of dealing with them
Antonyms
- Informal
19
4.5
Accept and deal with unpleasant results or criticism for something you did
How Avoidant
41
5.4
∞
1.0
69
4.7
61
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase rests on an animal metaphor: understanding it requires knowing the idiomatic sense of 'ostrich' as someone who ignores unpleasant realities rather than just the literal bird. Because this cultural/metaphorical link is not automatically recoverable from the words for most B1 learners without prior exposure, the expression is partially but not fully predictable.
Etymology
Be an ostrich comes from a common picture of the bird: people imagine the ostrich hiding with its head in the sand so it does not see danger. So saying someone be an ostrich means they 'ignore problems' or 'refuse to face' them.