to play in the traffic

9.1

Tell someone angrily to do something dangerous to stop them complaining

idiom

Slang

: jugar en el tráfico

Whenever my brother pesters me, I jokingly say he should play in the traffic.

Examples

She laughed when her friend suggested he should just play in the traffic instead of complaining.
When his constant whining became too much, I quipped that he should just play in the traffic.
He was whining so much that I almost told him to play in the traffic.
Don't play in the traffic!
Why would you play in the traffic like that?
He was complaining so much that I jokingly told him to play in the traffic.
After hearing her endless grumbling, I suggested she should play in the traffic as a joke.

Synonyms

come on

vsto play in the traffic

Informal

∞ 5.4

Say it to show disbelief, irritation, or to urge someone

uses humour to tell someone to stop complaining or act dangerously

for heaven's sake

vsto play in the traffic

Informal

45 7.6

People say it to show impatience or anger

is a playful or sharp command that suggests risky or silly action

for Pete's sake

vsto play in the traffic

Informal

21 9.0

Shows someone is annoyed, impatient, or in a hurry when spoken

uses humour to tell someone to stop complaining rather than mild scolding

for goodness' sake

vsto play in the traffic

Informal

10 7.6

Say it when you are annoyed to ask someone to do or stop something

is a joking or sharp order that suggests doing something silly or risky

for chrissakes

vsto play in the traffic

Offensive

9 9.9

To show strong frustration and make a request sound urgent

uses humour to tell someone to stop complaining or act dangerously

Antonyms

cautious

210 2.9

Careful to avoid risk or mistakes

Surface Forms

play in the traffic infinitive

played in the traffic past

played in the traffic past participle

playing in the traffic present participle

plays in the traffic third person singular

Morphology

play + in + the + traffic

The literal sense ('to play in traffic') is directly built from 'play' + 'in' + 'the' + 'traffic' and evokes a risky action, so learners can infer a warning about dangerous behavior. However, the documented pragmatic/idiomatic use (a humorous or dismissive retort meaning 'stop complaining' or telling someone to do something dangerous) is not fully predictable from the constituents and depends on discourse/pragmatic knowledge.

Etymology

Play in the traffic comes from the image of someone stepping into a busy road and getting hurt. Because that image is so strong, people say it jokingly or angrily to tell someone 'to stop complaining' or to tell them to do something silly or dangerous.