add insult to injury

English

Alternative forms

• heap insult on injury

Etymology

This was derived from the fables of Phaedrus in the first century AD. The story was of a bald man who swats at a fly which has just bitten him on the head, but instead hits himself on the head. The fly comments, "You wished to kill me for a touch. What will you do to yourself since you have added insult to injury". The actual wording appears in English from the middle of the 18th century. This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

Verb

add insult to injury

1. (idiomatic) To further a loss with mockery or indignity; to worsen an unfavourable situation

   As if the hostile takeover weren't enough, to add insult to injury they scrapped ninety percent of our products and replaced them with their own.

Usage notes

• This expression permits little variation, except for heap insult on injury.

Derived terms

• insult to injury

Translations

to further a loss with mockery or indignity

• Bengali: kata ghaye nuner chite
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 雪上加霜 (cmn) (xuě shàng jiā shuāng)

• Danish: føje spot til skade (da)
• Finnish: pahentaa asiaa entisestään
• Hebrew: להוסיף חטא על פשע (lit. "add sin to a crime"), הרצחת וגם ירשת ("to murder and then inherit)

• Icelandic: bæta gráu ofan á svart (is), gera vont verra (is), bæta móðgun við meingjörð (is), blammera (is)
• Italian: oltre il danno la beffa (it)
• Japanese: 傷口に塩を塗る (ja) (kizuguchi-ni shio-o nuru)
• Romanian: a răsuci cuțitul în rană (ro)
• Russian: сыпать соль на рану (ru) (sýpat' sol' na ránu)
• Sicilian: nuttata persa e figghia fìmmina

See also

• beat a dead horse
• rub salt in the wound
• kick someone when they are down
• twist the knife