the feathers fly
- idiom
- Informal
:
se arma un lío
- Every family reunion, someone brings up politics and the feathers fly.
Examples
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When management announced the layoffs, the feathers flew during the staff meeting.
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When the debate started, the feathers flew.
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Tensions were high, and you could tell the feathers were about to fly.
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Whenever they discuss politics, the feathers fly.
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Every family reunion, someone brings up politics and the feathers fly.
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When management announced the layoffs, the feathers flew during the staff meeting.
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Whenever they discuss politics, the feathers fly.
Synonyms
18
7.7
A time of strong political or social disorder
1
9.9
A noisy argument or fight that makes a place loud and confused
Says an angry argument is likely to happen
Antonyms
How Heated
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase creates a vivid literal image (feathers flying after a disturbance) that can cue learners to a sense of chaos or a scuffle, so some inferencing from the constituents is possible. However, the specific conventionalized meaning 'heated arguments or tempers flaring' is a metaphorical extension and not fully predictable without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The feathers fly comes from the image of birds fighting or of pillows bursting, when feathers scatter everywhere. Those flying feathers make people think of a sudden, messy fight, so the phrase means a situation that becomes 'chaotic' or full of 'heated' arguments.