set the Thames on fire en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Unknown. Suggested to derive from a misconstrual of temse (“sieve”): thus, to work so vigorously as to heat a sieve by friction. Alternatively, a reference to lightning strikes which sometimes occurred along the Thames, occasionally setting trees on fire or causing death in unusual manner. Otherwise simply by hyperbole, from the improbability of setting a river on fire (although the image might sound like a familiar reference to the Great London fire of 1666).
Meanings
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(idiomatic, in the negative) To achieve something amazing but to a nearly-impossible degree; to do something which brings great public acclaim.
The baronet will never set the Thames on fire, but there seems no harm in him.
1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC:Do you remember when you jumped into the water after the flowers? I fancy it was then you really set the Thames on fire.
1925, GK Chesterton, “The Ultimate Ultimatum of the League of the Long Bow”, in The Collected Works, Ignatius Press, published 2005, page 402:They intend to send a wire / To the moon — to the moon; / And they'll set the Thames on fire / Very soon — very soon
1884, WS Gilbert, ‘Princess Ida’, The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, Oxford University Press, published 1996, page 491:My head is spinning round / my heart is in my shoes, yeah / I went and set the Thames on fire, oh / now I must come back down.
1985, Tom Waits, “Anywhere I Lay My Head”:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| setting the Thames on fire | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| sets the Thames on fire | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| set the Thames on fire | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| set the Thames on fire | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Synonyms
Translations (16)
it far faville (to achieve something amazing) · pt meter uma lança em África (to achieve something amazing) · ru дотяну́ться до звёзд (to achieve something amazing) · hi अनोखा काम करना (to achieve something amazing) · cmn 惊人之举 (to achieve something amazing) · vi long trời lở đất (to achieve something amazing) · vi thành công rực rỡ (to achieve something amazing) · de die Welt aus den Angeln heben (to achieve something amazing) · it vendere ghiaccio agli eschimesi (to achieve something amazing) · hy հրաշք գործել (to achieve something amazing) · fr casser trois pattes à un canard (to achieve something amazing) · ru вы́думать по́рох (to achieve something amazing) · es encender la pradera (to achieve something amazing) · cmn 引起轰动 (to achieve something amazing) · ru доста́ть луну с неба (to achieve something amazing) · vi kinh thiên động địa (to achieve something amazing)