to make like a tree and leave
- idiom
- Informal
:
hacer como un árbol y salir
- As soon as the meeting ended, he decided to make like a tree and leave.
Examples
-
It was getting awkward, so I figured I'd make like a tree and leave.
-
Why don't you just make like a tree and leave?
-
When the drama started, she thought it best to make like a tree and leave.
-
It's time to make like a tree and leave!
-
Feeling uncomfortable at the party, I decided to make like a tree and leave.
-
When the lecture became boring, I thought it was time to make like a tree and leave.
-
As the rain began to pour, everyone started to make like a tree and leave.
Synonyms
78
2.0
Leave a place suddenly, often to avoid someone or something
37
8.1
Tell someone to leave in a rude way
2
2.5
Leave a place quickly because you are in a hurry
1
9.9
To leave a place quickly because you do not want to be there
1
7.9
To leave a place quickly, often without saying goodbye
To leave quickly in a playful way
To leave a place suddenly, usually to go somewhere else
To run away quickly, usually because you are afraid
Antonyms
How Fast
69
2.3
273
3.2
- Informal
∞
1.0
32
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
make + like + a + tree + and + leave
The parts are partially compositional: 'make like' can be interpreted as 'act like' and 'leave' has its ordinary meaning 'depart', so a learner who knows the words could plausibly infer an instruction to go away. However, the expression is a playful pun (leaf/leave) and relies on a colloquial 'make like X and Y' joking pattern and pragmatic inference, so the full idiomatic force and humor are not fully predictable from the constituents alone.
Etymology
Make like a tree and leave is a funny word joke that uses the words 'leaf' and 'leave'; it tells someone to make like a tree and leave, because 'leave' sounds like 'leaf'. So the phrase is a playful way to say 'leave quickly'.