to skate on thin ice
1
6.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
jugar con fuego
- You're skating on thin ice already, young man, so I wouldn't push my luck.
Examples
-
If you keep making jokes about your boss, you're skating on thin ice at work.
-
He realized he was skating on thin ice by criticizing the project's direction publicly.
-
You are skating on thin ice, girl.
-
I skate on thin ice.
Fiction book (1993) -
You're skating on thin ice.
-
You're skating on thin ice as it is.
-
You're skating on thin ice.
Fiction book (1997) -
He was skating on thin ice.
Fiction book (2001) -
Just in case you were wondering whether Saunders was skating on thin ice.
Blog text (25) -
All the other means of positional adjustment are skating on thin ice.
Blog text (1)
Synonyms
22
5.8
To take a big risk that can cause harm
7
7.3
Do something without worrying about the risks
2
3.0
To do something that might lead to harm or loss
1
7.3
To do something risky without knowing what will happen
To be in a very dangerous situation where a small mistake causes big harm
To act in a risky way without thinking about the bad results
Antonyms
How Risky
- Informal
22
5.8
- Informal
9
7.3
- Informal
1
6.8
56
3.2
91
3.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal image of skating on ice that is thin directly conveys danger and risk: combining 'skate' + 'on' + 'thin' + 'ice' yields an immediately interpretable scenario of precarious action. This metaphorical extension is straightforward for a B1 learner who knows the constituent words, so the idiom's meaning 'to take a risk' is directly derivable from its parts.
Etymology
The idiom skate on thin ice comes from the image of someone skating on thin ice, which could crack under them. Because the ice might break and they could fall through, the phrase means 'to take a risk' or 'to behave in a way that could cause trouble'.