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> Like an old woman who is cautious about coughing and breaking wind. Among elderly women, it seems, coughing sometimes produces the unwanted effect of breaking wind. The idiom may be applied to any action that might produce an undesirable side effect, such as a hasty decision at a political meeting. As a caution, it suggests the need for leaders to consider all the consequences. |
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> I build it and you destroy it? May be applied to a person who feels his aims or projects are being destroyed by the actions of another. |
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> Puffed out like a puffer fish. A boastful person is like a puffer fish, full of air and not edible, hence not worthy of note. |
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> Like eating a forked taro corm. Taro (Colocasia esculenta) generally grows like a single fat carrot. Some corms, however, develop one or more points or forks. The image conveyed by this idiom is that of a man beset by many tasks, trying to decide among them. |
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> You're like the stork which flies with its legs dangling. You leave unfinished business behind and split. |