English is full of phrases that add a figurative side to the language. Throughout the history of the language, these sayings have evolved and become more popular. If you truly want to understand English and sound like a native speaker it’s important to understand some of these sayings.
There are many ways of saying “adding insult to injury” today which is why it’s so popular. Regardless of how you say it, you’re essentially telling someone that they shouldn’t become angry, anxious, or upset about something. In other words, they shouldn’t “get bent out of shape about it.”
Meaning of the Phrase
When you take a lot of English phrases literally they don’t make sense. These phrases are what’s known as idioms. They’re meant to be taken figuratively but their literal meaning may still be relevant in another context or these meanings were relevant in the past. While some of these idioms are challenging to understand, others are relatively easy to figure out.
Literal Meaning of the Phrase
When you take the phrase “adding insult to injury” literally it means that you’ve received a personal injury (whether mental, emotional, or physical) that’s then been compounded because you were also insulted. For instance, if two people get into a car accident and the passenger receives a physical injury, to “add insult to injury” the driver may claim that the accident was the passenger’s fault. Here there were two incidents: a physical one (the car accident) and a mental one that wasn’t related to the time or place (the driver claiming that the passenger caused the accident).
Figurative Meaning of the Phrase
Now that you know what this phrase means when it’s taken literally, it’s important to consider what it means when it’s taken figuratively especially since this is how the phrase is meant to be taken the majority of the time. When you say that something “added insult to injury” you’re saying something rude to someone who’s already experienced some type of misfortune. Obviously, this will only make the situation worse. Therefore when you use this phrase you’re saying that you’ve taken a bad situation and worsened it. You may also be saying that you’ve hurt someone’s feelings after something bad happened to them. For instance, if someone is late to work because they got into a minor car accident and when they get to work they find that they ripped their pants in the accident you could say that this “added insult to injury.” While there isn’t a literal insult here, you can still use this expression to compound the first incident’s effect.
Related Idioms
There are a few other phrases with similar meanings to “adding insult to injury.” You may have heard of them before. They include:
- “Adding fuel to the fire” means that something is making a conflict or tense situation between two people worse.
- “A slap in the face” means that you’ve been rejected or offended by something or someone unexpectedly.
- To “rub salt in the wound” means that something is making an injury feel worse.
- To “twist the knife” means that someone has deliberately said or done something to make a difficult situation worse thereby increasing a person’s anger, distress, or irritation.
Synonyms
When you’re looking for a simpler way to say the phrase “adding insult to injury” you can use one of the following synonyms:
- aggravate
- exacerbate
- heighten
- provoke
- worsen
- aggravate
- exacerbate
- heighten
- provoke
Antonyms
Of course, there may also come a time when you want to say the exact opposite of “adding insult to injury.” When that time comes you could use one of these antonyms:
- better
- boost
- brush up
- enhance
- help
- improve
- make better
- perk up
- polish up
- raise
- refine
- revamp
- tweak
- upgrade
Origin of the Phrase
Understanding this phrase is great but where did it come from? You may be surprised to learn that the origins of “adding insult to injury” are quite old. In fact, this phrase can be traced all the way back to Phaedrus – a Roman writer who lived around 15 B.C. to A.D. 50. At one point he translated one of Aesop’s fables entitled “The Bald Man and the Fly.”
In this story, there’s a bald man who gets bitten on his head by a fly. While trying to swat the fly away he misses it and hits himself in the head really hard. This causes the fly to laugh and say, “You wanted to avenge the prick of a tiny little insect with death. What will you do to yourself, who have added insult to injury?” To which the man replied that he felt fine about himself because he knew he didn’t intend to cause any harm. The man said, “you shameful animal of a scorned race, who delighted to drink human blood, I would choose to be rid of you even with a greater inconvenience to myself.”
Some people say that this phrase may be even older than this. They may be correct considering that many writers didn’t include this exact translation. In fact, it wasn’t until around the 1800s that it appeared in print. Of course, you must also consider the fact that the fly was injured and the man was insulted which means something completely different than how this phrase is used today. However, we do find the phrase used with its modern meaning in 1747 when Edward Moore wrote “The Foundling.”
Regardless of how this phrase first originated we do see that throughout the decades it’s come to mean that someone has become upset about something. In fact, by the mid-1950s we see it being used in its current form. Unfortunately, we can also find it being used in a homophobic (specifically anti-gay) manner in many places throughout history but especially in regards to petitions that are anti-gay in nature.
Usage of the Phrase
The phrase “adding insult to injury” is one that you can use in a lot of different types of situations. While you can still choose to use its literal meaning today, most people opt to use its figurative meaning instead. You may want to refrain from using this phrase in proper conversation because of this. Fortunately, if you do slip up and use this phrase in one of these conversations most people will understand what you mean and feel bad for the person you’re talking about.
Seemingly many writers have used this phrase throughout history. This is something we see dating as far back as Aesop’s Fables and as current as various news headlines that we read today. Clearly, this is an idiom that we need to have knowledge of and understanding for today especially if we want to have full command of the English language.
Example Sentences
Now that you have a much more thorough understanding of the phrase “adding insult to injury,” you may want to start using it in some of your conversations and writing today. Here are a few examples of sentences that’ll help you get started:
- Not only did the company reject his job application but to add insult to injury they also refused to pay for any of his expenses for traveling to his interview.
- Since I was stuck in traffic I was already late for work. To add insult to injury the police also stopped me for a broken turn signal.
- Not only did the bathroom flood but to add insult to injury the kitchen faucet also started leaking.
- Not only did they lose the match but to add insult to injury one of their players also broke their hand.
- The club didn’t just stop the team from playing but they also took away their equipment. That just adds insult to injury.
- They found themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere then to add insult to injury it started raining.
- His brothers sold off all his property then to add insult to injury they refused to give him any of the proceeds.
- Only 200 people were in attendance then to add insult to injury the floodlights wouldn’t work during the second half.
- The bank refused to refund my money then to add insult to injury they also charged me for sending me the letter stating this.
- Anyone who’s over 65-years-old not only gets fewer benefits but to add insult to injury they also pay more taxes.
English Idioms
Conclusion
You’ll find idioms being used in every language throughout the world today. While this makes these languages somewhat confusing when you’re just learning them, it also livens them up a bit.
For instance, if you want to say that something “adds insult to injury” someone may think that this is a mouthful. This is probably because they’re taking the phrase for its literal meaning which is that you’ve received a physical injury that’s been compounded by an insult. However, when you take this phrase figuratively you see that it’s really just a spicy way of saying that something rude has been said to someone who’s just been injured. Regardless of the origins of this phrase, it’s fun to use it figuratively in many different places today.
Shawn Manaher is the founder and CEO of The Content Authority. He’s one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. You don’t even want to know what he calls pancakes.