make bricks without straw
make bricks without straw
try to accomplish something without proper or adequate material, equipment or information
The allusion here is to Exodus 5 : 6 – 19 where without straw meant without having straw provided as the Israelites were required to gather straw for themselves in order to make the bricks required by their Egyptian taskmasters. A misinterpretation has led to the current sense.
Related Idioms and Phrases :
a breed apart
a kind of person or thing that is very different from the norm
a dying breed
A kind of person that is slowly disappearing.
a brick short of a load
(of a person) stupid – informal
This is one of a number of humorous variations on the theme of someone not possessing their proper share of brains or intelligence
come down like a ton of bricks
exert crushing weight, force or authority against someone - informal
come up against a brick wall = hit a brick wall
encounter an insuperable problem or obstacle while trying to do something.
make bricks without straw :
Idioms Index – Previous Page
