on thin ice
20
6.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
estar en la cuerda floja
- If you keep breaking the rules at work, you're on thin ice with your boss.
- skate on thin ice
- tread on thin ice
- walk on thin ice
He was a little bit like he was always on thin ice with NASA, but.
- He was a little bit like he was always on thin ice with NASA, but.
- And it's always, David, you did a good job, but you were on thin ice.
- Very, very, it's like when you're on probation, you tend to you tend to follow the law because you know you're on you're on thin ice.
Examples
-
You are on thin ice, pal!
-
You're on thin ice, Larry.
-
We are all on thin ice.
-
I was on thin ice already.
-
I felt as though I were walking on thin ice.
Fiction book (1992) -
My patience with these people was already on thin ice before the election.
Blog text (11) -
I am already on thin ice with Gardner.
-
Honey, you're already on thin ice.
-
Think about what you're going to say, Ed; we are on thin ice.
Fiction book (1998) -
You're on thin ice.
Synonyms
230
4.8
At risk of being lost or harmed because of how something turns out
1
7.8
A situation that could easily end well or badly
Behaving in a way that is risky or near the limit of what is allowed
Antonyms
How Risky
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase evokes the literal image of standing on ice that might break, so the danger/consequence is directly inferable from 'on' + 'thin' + 'ice'. This spatial/metaphorical mapping is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will very likely grasp the figurative meaning.
Etymology
On thin ice may come from the image of someone walking on very thin ice that can break. If the ice breaks you fall into cold water, so the phrase now means being 'at risk' of trouble or punishment.