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Glite Dictionary
to untangle this mess

to untangle this mess

1 5.5
To make a confusing or difficult situation clear
  • idiom
translation icon : desenredar este lío
  • We need to begin to untangle this mess and.

Examples

  • Although one four-year term is not forever, with the amount of unilateral power being claimed and ceded to the executive, it will be very hard to untangle this mess.

    Blog text (7)

  • Can you help me untangle this mess of cables under my desk?

  • You have researchers p 212 who can untangle this mess at the top?

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Now, apparently, since being in office for only 6 months or so, Obama has not fixed everything to the status quo and is slowly trying to untangle this mess; lots of folks are screaming like gut-shot monkeys.

    Blog text (25)

  • The committee met to discuss how to untangle this mess of conflicting opinions.

  • It will take a lot of effort to untangle this mess after the miscommunication.

Synonyms

to sort out
vsto untangle this mess
222 2.7

To find and fix a problem or confusion

is a colloquial way to ask someone to fix a messy complex problem
to straighten out
vsto untangle this mess
167 3.4

To solve a problem or make a misunderstanding clear

is the more informal plea to deal with a messy confusing situation
to unravel
vsto untangle this mess
75 4.4

To find out what really happened in a confusing situation

is more of a direct request to fix a complex messy situation
to untangle
vsto untangle this mess
12 4.9

To free someone from a difficult or confusing situation

is the idiomatic request form used to ask someone to resolve a messy situation
to disentangle
vsto untangle this mess
3 5.8

To free a person or thing from a difficult situation

is the informal idiomatic way to ask for resolving that complication
to unsnarl
vsto untangle this mess
1 7.6

To free something from a tangle, like knots in rope or wire

is a casual request form asking someone to clear a messy situation
to unshit the mess
vsto untangle this mess
  • Offensive
9.9

To fix a serious problem left behind in a project or system

is the polite idiomatic request used to ask for resolving such trouble

Antonyms

to complicate
101 4.1

To make something harder to understand or do

How Resolved

fix
76 1.0
to untangle this mess
1 5.5
to sort out
222 2.7
to tidy up
  • Informal
32 1.5

Surface Forms

untangle this mess infinitive
untangled this mess past
untangled this mess past participle
untangling this mess present participle
untangles this mess third person singular

Morphology

untangle + this + mess

The sense 'to resolve a complicated or confusing situation' is directly derivable from combining 'untangle' (disentangle) with 'mess' (a state of disorder); the action of untangling applied to a mess maps transparently onto fixing a problem. This metaphorical composition is common across languages and follows a straightforward English verb + noun pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would understand it.

Etymology

The phrase untangle this mess may come from the simple image of knotted ropes or tangled headphones that you must patiently pull apart. To untangle literally means to free knots, so the phrase now means 'to sort out' a confused or mixed-up mess.