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WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE definition: when all the easy answers to a problem have not worked, and something else must be tried: . Learn more.
If something can be done if push comes to shove, it can be done if the situation becomes so bad that you have to do it: If push comes to shove, we can always sell the car. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Essential or necessary. basically.
Jan 10, 2011 · A few years later: the earliest OED reference for the exact phrase is from a 1898 newspaper in Georgia: “When ‘push comes to shove’ will editors of the Yellow Kid organs enlist?”. Earliest reference at all is from 1873 in United Methodist Free Churches’ Mag.
- According to this site , this term comes from rugby, where, after an infraction of rules, forwards from each team face off and push against one an...
- I'm not sure about this rugby scrum origin theory. I found a snippet of a 1981 William Safire column in New York Times Magazine article that in...
- Answers.com also cites the rugby reference. It also notes the other meaning of the phrase as in "They supposedly support equality, but when push...
- Push is just a push, and things have escalated to a shove now. It now means business. Escalate to get the thing accomplished.
- Well my understanding of the phrase has always been this: Pushing and shoving is a way of referring to fighting, particular little man-to-man argum...
- The earliest instance of the idiom I found is from Central Valley project of California: Hearings . United States. Congress. House. Committee on F...
- In one of the Discworld books, Terry Pratchett alludes to the origin of this word as being midwifery (I think it's Nanny Ogg who has the relevant l...
- I suspect it might have its origins in the 16th and early 17th century English, during the English Civil War. The phrase that comes to mimd is a de...
Fig. when things get a little pressed; when the situation gets more active or intense. When push comes to shove, you know I'll be on your side. If push comes to shove at the meeting, the front office can back you up with some statistics. See also: come, push, shove, to.
5 days ago · if push comes to shove. when or if matters are ultimately confronted or resolved; when or if a problem must be faced; in a crucial situation. If push comes to shove, the government will impose quotas on imports. See full dictionary entry for push.
When push comes to shove is an idiom that describes the moment when a situation requires more effort to get a result. It’s when a little push turns into a hard shove. Picture being gently nudged to make a choice but being given a stronger shove when you hesitate.
The idiom “when push comes to shove” is a common expression used in English language. It refers to a situation where someone has no other choice but to act decisively and forcefully. The phrase implies that when faced with difficult circumstances, one must take action or risk losing everything.
