to walk the line
5
6.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
mantener el equilibrio
- Politicians often have to walk the line between satisfying their constituents and making tough decisions.
- trying to walk the line
- walk the line carefully
- walk the line constantly
But there's a notion that some of these shapers really walk the line between sort of madness and genius.
- But there's a notion that some of these shapers really walk the line between sort of madness and genius.
- So find a way to walk the line of being passionate while also not, you know, being a Dick head basically.
- You know, he, it's like he walks the line, you know, where he knows he can't physically touch them otherwise he's in trouble.
- The more you do it and the more you, you, you, you, you walk the line.
Examples
-
They walked the line between fact and fiction, and in doing so lightened the load of the truth.
Fiction book (2001) -
I think Strike Debt and maybe OWS in general are trying to walk the line between charity and radicalism.
Blog text (6) -
See, I tried to walk the line.
-
I've been walking the line
-
You walk the line, afraid to give the littlest offense.
-
We just can't afford to pay more taxes, and we walk the line every month with our bills.
Blog text (27) -
You constantly had to walk the line between obscurity and overexposure.
Fiction book (1994) -
But there's a notion that some of these shapers really walk the line between sort of madness and genius.
-
Saul Griffith's career to now has walked the line between the whimsical and the practical.
Academic text (2009) -
In her new role, she needs to walk the line between being a friend and a leader to her team.
Antonyms
How Balanced
- Informal
5
6.8
363
2.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The image of literally walking along a line maps fairly directly onto the idea of staying within bounds or balancing between extremes, so a learner who knows 'walk' and 'line' can often infer the general sense. However, the expression is metaphorical and conventionally used with specific pragmatic nuances (e.g. 'walk a fine line'/'walk the line between X and Y'), which may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Walk the line comes from the image of a tightrope performer who must walk along a thin line and stay very steady so they do not fall. That's why it now means 'to keep a careful balance between different things'.