Rest/sit on your laurels In english explanation

The meaning, explanation, definition and origin of the idiom/phrase "rest/sit on your laurels", English Idiom Dictionary ( also found in Vietnamese )

author Tommy Tran calendar 2021-02-05 11:02

Meaning of Rest/sit on your laurels

Rest/sit on your laurels verb phrase

To be satisfied with what you have achieved in the past and stop making an effort to achieve anything else

Sooner or later, that company will go bankrupt if they keep sitting on their laurels.

It's time for you to start working again. You've rested on your laurels for too long.

If you rest on your laurels, you will fall behind others.

Other phrases about:

lose (one's) spirit

To lose one's vigour, vitality, hope, or determination

Lackadaisical
Lazy; lack of effort and spirit
sit on (one's) ass

Used to say that someone is not working or producing anything

go to (one's) head

1. To make someone arrogant, especially because of fame or success
2. To make someone feel dizzy or tipsy

Idle people have the least leisure

People who take a long time to do their task ultimately have less free time.

Grammar and Usage of Rest/sit on your laurels

Verb Forms

  • rests/sits on your laurels
  • rested/sat on your laurels
  • resting/sitting on your laurels

The verb "rest/sit" should be conjugated according to its tense.

Origin of Rest/sit on your laurels

Laurel wreath. (Image Source: Freepik)

This phrase originated from ancient Greece, where laurel wreaths were symbols of victory and status.

The Greek God Apollo had an association with laurel due to the myth of Apollo's love for the nymph Daphne, who turned into a Bay tree just as Apollo approached her. Undeterred, Apollo embraced the tree, cut off a branch to wear as a wreath, and declared the plant sacred.

Their belief in the myth caused the Greeks to present laurel wreaths to winners in the Pythian Games, which were held at Delphi in honor of Apollo every four years from the 6th century BC.

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to look like a drowned rat

To be very wet

Example:

Because of forgetting bringing an umbrella, I look like a drowned rat when it rains.

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