Francophonie· medium
tirer à hue et à dia
“to pull to hue and to dia (old carters' calls)”
Meaning
to work against each other instead of together
Explanation
Like two carters shouting opposite commands at the same team of horses, each side pulls its own way and nothing moves forward.
Example
Les deux ministres tirent à hue et à dia, et le projet n'avance pas.
The two ministers are pulling in opposite directions, and the project isn't going anywhere.
Origin
Hue and dia were the traditional shouts carters used to steer their horses right or left. Hue is recorded from at least 1680. When a team pulled towards both commands at once, nothing moved, hence the figurative sense.
Source
More like this
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- noyer le poissonto deliberately make an issue unclear
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