grasp the nettle | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)To actboldly, especially when there are short-termadverseconsequences.1886February 22, “London's Recent Rioting”, inNew York Times, retrieved 18 Aug. 2010, page 5:Hence it was that a few dozen policemen, resolutelygrasping the nettle, had no difficulty in handling it.1951April 30, “From Today's Times”, inOttawa Citizen, Canada, retrieved 18 Aug. 2010, page 2:President Truman, when at last hegrasped the nettleand dismissed MacArthur, knew well enough the outcry that would follow.1993September, “Seeking an identity”, inGuildford Gazette, number 3, page 8:For a number of years a group of brethren of the Craig Yr Hesg Lodge, meeting in Pontypridd, had discussed the possibility of forming a new Lodge. This year they decided tograsp the nettle.2007May 24, “Brown's Britain: taking the nuclear option”, intelegraph.co.uk, retrieved 18 Aug. 2010:That Tony Blair should wait until the dying days of his premiership beforegrasping the nettleof nuclear expansion has proved dangerously neglectful.2020May 6, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: One chance for a new order”, inRail, page 3:We must be bold. We mustgrasp the nettleand make the most of this opportunity.

Examples:

EN: I'll grasp the nettle! I don't care if it stings me!
ES: ¡Cogeré al toro por los cuernos aunque se los arranque!
EN: I'll grasp the nettle!
ES: ¡Tranquila! ¡Por los cuernos!
EN: 'If our torment is to end, if liberty is to be restored, 'we must grasp the nettle, even though it makes our hand bleed.
ES: Si nuestro tormento debe cesar, si la libertad tiene que volver, debemos coger el toro por los cuernos, a costa de sufrir.
EN: If our torment is to end, if liberty is to be restored, we must grasp the nettle, even though it makes our hand bleed.
ES: Si el tormento debe acabar y rescatar nuestra libertad, debemos arrebatarle el látigo a nuestros opresores, aunque nuestras manos sangren.
EN: I think you'd do better to grasp the nettle.
ES: Será mejor ir al grano.
EN: But he knew he had no time to celebrate, he had to grasp the nettle.
ES: Pero sabía que no tenía tiempo para celebraciones, tenía que abordar el problema.
EN: Come on, Mark, you've got to grasp the nettle, mate.
ES: Venga, Mark, coge el toro por los cuernos
EN: We're looking for someone with imagination, someone willing to grasp the nettle.
ES: Estamos buscando alguien con imaginación, alguien dispuesta a captar la cosa.
EN: We have to grasp the nettle.
ES: - Hay que atacar el problema.
EN: 'Didn't grasp the nettle, obviously.
ES: No cogí el toro por los cuernos.
EN: I did grasp the nettle, I didn't just look at it and think, "God, I wish I was there."
ES: Y me sentía como pez fuera del agua, porque no sabía francés.
EN: You need to stop hiding and grasp the nettle.
ES: Debes dejar de esconderte y agarrar al toro por las astas.
EN: It means that he has the perseverance to grasp the nettle.
ES: significa que el tiene la perseverancia para agarrar la ortiga.
EN: Now it's up to the clubs to take a positive attitude and grasp the nettle . . .
HI: अब तो दांव खेलना होगा . . . .
HI: अब नजरें चुराने का वक्त आ गया है. . .
HI: फिलहाल रुख़ करते हैँ मैच की और. . .
HI: पर अब मुस्कान को तमीज़ चाहिए और आंसूओं. . .
EN: some of them still don't grasp the nettle.
HI: अब भी पेट न इनका भरता॥

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).