wouldn't hurt a fly
Verb
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Verb
- (idiomatic) Has a very gentle nature.
- 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XI
- Talking of being eaten by dogs, there's a dachshund at Brinkley who when you first meet him will give you the impression that he plans to convert you into a light snack between his regular meals. Pay no attention. It's all eyewash. [...] He wouldn't hurt a fly, but he has to put up a front because his name's Poppet. One can readily appreciate that when a dog hears himself addressed day in and day out as Poppet, he feels he must throw his weight about. His self-respect demands it.
- 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XI
- wouldn't harm a fly
- French: ne pas faire de mal à une mouche
- German: keiner Fliege etwas zuleide tun können
- Italian: non fare male a una mosca
- Russian: му́хи не оби́дит
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002