Walk On Eggshells - Wiktionary

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• 1 English Toggle English subsection
  • 1.1 Etymology
  • 1.2 Pronunciation
  • 1.3 Verb
    • 1.3.1 Translations
  • 1.4 See also
  • 1.5 References

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• Discussion

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English

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Etymology

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1800s usage, probably from the imagery that eggshells are easily broken when stepped upon.

Pronunciation

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• (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌwɔːk ɒn ˈɛɡʃɛlz/
• (General American) IPA(key): /ˌwɔk ɑn ˈɛɡʃɛlz/, /ˌwɑk-/, /-ɔn-/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

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walk on eggshells (third-person singular simple present walks on eggshells, present participle walking on eggshells, simple past and past participle walked on eggshells)

1. (idiomatic) To be overly careful in dealing with a person or situation because they get angry or offended very easily; to try very hard not to upset someone or something.
2. (idiomatic) To be careful and sensitive, in handling very sensitive matters.

Translations

[edit] to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: վարվել շրջահայաց կերպով (varvel šrǰahayacʻ kerpov), գործել մեծագույն զգուշությամբ (gorcel mecaguyn zgušutʻyamb) Bulgarian: действам внимателно (dejstvam vnimatelno) Catalan: anar amb peus de plom Chinese: Mandarin: 伴君如伴虎 (bàn jūn rú bàn hǔ) (for superiors only), 謹慎行事, 谨慎行事 (jǐnshèn xíngshì) Czech: please add this translation if you can Danish: gå på æggeskaller Dutch: op eieren lopen Finnish: pitää kuin kukkaa kämmenellä French: marcher sur des œufs (fr), prendre des pincettes Galician: ir cos pés de la German: einen Eiertanz vollführen (idiom) Hebrew: הלך על ביצים Hindi: please add this translation if you can Italian: camminare sulle uova, andare coi piedi di piombo Japanese: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Polish: obchodzić się jak z jajkiem (pl) Portuguese: pisar em ovos (pt) (Brazil) Russian: ходи́ть на цы́почках (ru) (xodítʹ na cýpočkax), ходи́ть на цы́рлах (xodítʹ na cýrlax), ходи́ть по яи́чной скорлупе́ (xodítʹ po jaíčnoj skorlupé), ходи́ть по я́йцам (xodítʹ po jájcam) Serbo-Croatian: ходати по јајима Spanish: andar entre algodones, proceder entre algodones Ukrainian: носитися, як курка з яйцем (nosytysja, jak kurka z jajcem), бігати, як курка з яйцем (bihaty, jak kurka z jajcem) Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

to handle sensitive matters delicately

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: լինել նուրբ նկատառում պահանջող դրության մեջ (linel nurb nkataṙum pahanǰoġ drutʻyan meǰ) Catalan: anar amb peus de plom Chinese: Mandarin: 如履薄冰 (zh) (rú lǚ bó bīng) Czech: please add this translation if you can Dutch: op eieren lopen Finnish: käsitellä silkkihansikkain French: prendre des pincettes, prendre des gants (fr), mettre des gants (fr) German: wie ein rohes Ei behandeln (idiom) Hindi: please add this translation if you can Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Polish: obchodzić się jak z jajkiem (pl) Portuguese: pisar em ovos (pt) (Brazil) Russian: ходи́ть на цы́почках (ru) (xodítʹ na cýpočkax), ходи́ть по я́йцам (xodítʹ po jájcam) Serbo-Croatian: ходати по јајима Spanish: andar entre algodones, proceder entre algodones Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

See also

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• (walking) on thin ice
• pussyfoot
• tiptoe through a minefield
• tread lightly

References

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• “walk on eggshells”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

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