walk on eggshells

English

Etymology

1800's Old English usage, probably from the imagery that eggshells are easily broken.

Verb

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

to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: please add this translation if you can Catalan: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 伴君如伴虎 (zh) Czech: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: pitää kuin kukkaa kämmenellä (fi) French: please add this translation if you can German: please add this translation if you can 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: please add this translation if you can Portuguese: please add this translation if you can Russian: please add this translation if you can Serbian: ходати по јајима (sr) Spanish: camina sobre cascarones de huevo (es) pl. Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

to handle sensitive matters delicately

Arabic: please add this translation if you can Armenian: please add this translation if you can Catalan: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 如履薄冰 (zh) Czech: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: käsitellä silkkihansikkain (fi) French: please add this translation if you can German: please add this translation if you can 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: please add this translation if you can Portuguese: please add this translation if you can Russian: please add this translation if you can Serbian: ходати по јајима (sr) Spanish: please add this translation if you can Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

• German: sich auf Eierschalen bewegen (de)

See also

• (walking) on thin ice