count one's blessings en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) To focus one's attention on the circumstances of one's life which are pleasant or fortunate, especially with the intention of diverting one's thoughts from serious or disagreeable matters.
The other out-of-town Dons patiently listened, perhaps counting their blessings that each had a city all to himself.
2006, Mark Winegardner, The Godfather's Revenge, →ISBN, page 175:Of course if she begins to preach, and to tell me to count my blessings, I shall send her away.
1915, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 3, in Pollyanna Grows Up, The Page Company:Rupert Murdoch isn't somebody to sit back and count his blessings.
1995 May 22, Richard Lacayo et al., “Bart Simpson Calling”, in Time:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| counted one's blessings | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| counted one's blessings | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| counting one's blessings | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| counts one's blessings | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Relateds
look on the bright side · the glass half-full
Translations (10)
pl but see ciesz się tym, co masz (count one's blessings) · de otherwise one can say den Blick auf die guten Seiten des Lebens richten (count one's blessings) · fi keskittyä asioiden hyviin puoliin (count one's blessings) · fr voir le bon côté des choses (count one's blessings) · de sich zufrieden geben (count one's blessings) · de no exact idiomatic equivalent (count one's blessings) · de but see sich glücklich schätzen (count one's blessings) · nb telle sine velsignelser (count one's blessings) · de sich daran freuen, was man hat (count one's blessings) · cmn 知足 (count one's blessings)