Idioms – Disagreement

Hey guys!

Everybody knows the importance of learning some idioms and colloquial expressions, especially when you live in a foreign country. We always learn a lot of them by communicating with native speakers or watching movies and series. In this section, you learn some idioms and expressions to communicate in a more natural way when speaking English in a foreign country.

Here are a few Idioms related to the topic Disagreement.

* agree to differ / agree to disagree – If two people agree to differ, they accept that they have different opinions about something and stop trying to persuade each other that they are right. (concordar em discordar / aceitar opiniões diferentes)

If you can’t see things my way we will just have to agree to disagree because I won’t change my mind either.

* at each other’s throats – arguing. (discutindo)

The couple are constantly at each other’s throats, always arguing about something or other.

* a battle of wills – a situation in which two people disagree, and each refuses to change their ideas or what they want. (uma batalha de vontades)

It was a battle of wills between the father and the daughter.

* a bone of contention – something that two or more people argue about strongly over a long period of time. (o pomo da discórdia)

This is not the only bone of contention between them.

* clear the air – resolve tensions. (desanuviar, agradar, contentar)

After our dreadful argument the day before, he telephoned me to apologise and to clear the air, after which I felt much happier.

 * cross swords – to have an argument with someone. (discutir com alguém)

He repeatedly crossed swords with his dad when he was a teenager.

* fight like cat and dog – to have angry arguments all the time. (brigar como cão e gato)

As kids we used to fight like cat and dog.

* give someone a piece of your mind – to tell someone why you are angry with that person. (ele/ela vai me ouvir ou eu vou lhe dizer umas poucas e boas)

If he doesn’t do what I’m telling him to do, I’ll give him a piece of my mind!

* have a bone to pick with someone – something that you say when you want to talk to someone about something they have done that has annoyed you. (ter contas para acertar com alguém)

I have a bone to pick with John since he insulted me at our party.

* on someone’s blacklist – If someone is on a blacklist, they are seen by others as being one of a number of people who cannot be trusted or who have done something wrong. (estar na lista negra de alguém)

As they left us alone without giving us any reasonable explanation, they are on our blacklist now.

* jump down someone’s throat – to react angrily to something that someone says or does. (voar no pescoço de alguém)

I made the mildest of criticisms and he jumped down my throat.

* kiss and make up – to become friends again after an argument or fight. (dar um beijo e fazer as pazes)

I apologized and so we kissed and made up.

* not see eye to eye –  when you don’t agree with someone about something. (discordar / não falar a mesma língua)

We argue about a lot of stuff because we don’t see eye to eye most of the times.

* a shouting match –  an argument that involves people shouting at each other because they have very strong opinions. (uma competição para ver quem fala mais alto)

The meeting soon degenerated into a shouting match.

I hope you learned some new idioms today, see you next time!