pick up the pieces

Language: en

Meaning: (idiomatic,intransitive)To restore one'slife(or a given situation etc.) to a normal state, after acalamity,shocketc.1957January 14, “Roberts' Rules of Order”, inTime Magazine:Picking up the piecesafter the Suez disaster, the British found themselves getting used to the idea that they are not as big a power as they thought they were.2011February 3, Randeep Ramesh,The Guardian:"Cutting administrators is a huge mistake, and will only mean other staff such as nurses have topick up the pieces."2023July 26, Christian Wolmar, “Closing ticket offices to lead to 'catch-22' for passengers”, inRAIL, number988, page43:This is a scorched earth policy, leaving Labour - which has made the right noises, but not loudly enough - with the job ofpicking up the pieces. Given the incoherence of the plans, the best hope is that the public outcry - even theDaily Telegraphis against them - delays them enough for a new government to rescue most of the ticket offices from closure, but this is no way to run a railway.

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