paint a rosy picture
English edit
Verb edit
paint a rosy picture (third-person singular simple present paints a rosy picture, present participle painting a rosy picture, simple past and past participle painted a rosy picture)
- (idiomatic) To describe a situation or prospective set of events in an upbeat, optimistic manner.
- 1948 January 12, “Russia: Tombstones & Wolf Traps”, in Time, retrieved 23 August 2020:
- Censored dispatches painted a rosy picture of Soviet plenty, but uncensored reports told a different story […] [with] Soviet bureaucracy malfunctioning as usual.
- 2007 June 15, David Litterick, “Goldman is hit by sub-prime problems”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 23 August 2020:
- The company did paint a rosy picture of its investment banking division, booking record revenues of $1.7bn and saying its backlog of work stood at record levels.
- 2009 February 9, Nicholas Kulish, Helene Cooper, “Holbrooke Says Afghan War 'Tougher Than Iraq'”, in New York Times, retrieved 23 August 2020:
- Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of the United States Central Command, did not paint a rosy picture of the situation in Afghanistan. […] He said needs included not only ground forces but also an array of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, military police officers, special operations, cargo and attack helicopters and more.
Translations edit
to describe a situation or prospective set of events in an upbeat, optimistic manner
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