come hell or high water

English

In reference to the dangers of hell and stormy seas.

(idiomatic) Regardless of the hardships.
The pioneers were determined to build a community in the wilderness come hell or high water.
- 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 1:
  Her crew knew that deep in her heart beat engines fit and able to push her blunt old nose ahead at a sweet fourteen knots, come Hell or high water.

Only used in the subjunctive mood (in anticipation of some intended action).

regardless of the hardships — see also come what may,‎ rain or shine,‎ no matter what

Danish: med djævelens vold og magt (literally “by the devil's violence and might”), koste hvad det være (literally “cost what it may”)
Dutch: wat er zich ook voordoet
Finnish: kävi miten kävi
French: coûte que coûte (fr), à tout prix (fr), quoi qu’il arrive
German: koste es was es wolle
Hungarian: tűzön-vízen át, ha esik, ha fúj
Italian: cascasse il cielo, cascasse il mondo, succeda quel che succeda
Japanese: 雨が降ろうと槍が降ろうと (literally “whether rain falls or spears fall”), 雨が降ろうが槍が降ろうが
Polish: no equivalent term in Polish, but see choćby się waliło i paliło, żeby się waliło i paliło
Portuguese: faça chuva ou faça sol
Russian: во что́ бы то ни ста́ло (ru) (vo štó by to ni stálo)

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.