at loggerheads

English

WOTD – 24 January 2010

Etymology

Origin uncertain; possibly from the use of a loggerhead (“metal tool consisting of a long rod with a bulbous end”) as a weapon during a fight.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /æt ˈlɒɡəhɛdz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /æt ˈlɔɡɚˌhɛdz/, /ˈlɑ-/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: at log‧ger‧heads

Prepositional phrase

at loggerheads

1. (figuratively) Unable to agree; opposing.

   We were really at loggerheads about what to do with the money we found on the side of the road; she said we should turn it in, I said we should keep it.

Translations

unable to agree; opposing

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 分歧 (zh) (fēnqí), 不和 (zh) (bùhé)

• Finnish: napit vastakkain, tukkanuottasilla
• French: comme chien et chat (fr) (literally “like a cat and dog”), diamétralement opposés
• German: auf Kriegsfuß, in den Haaren

• Icelandic: elda grátt silfur
• Italian: ai ferri corti
• Maori: pōngurunguru
• Russian: в ссо́ре (v ssóre), несогла́сный (ru) (nesoglásnyj), как ко́шка с соба́кой (ru) (kak kóška s sobákoj, literally “like a cat and dog”), на ножа́х (na nožáx)
• Spanish: de pique, a la greña

See also

• at sixes and sevens