set the Thames on fire

Meaning: (chiefly in the negative,idiomatic)Toachievesomethingamazingbut to anearly-impossibledegree; to do something whichbringsgreatpublicacclaim.Synonym:set the world on fire1817(date written), [Jane Austen],Persuasion; published inNorthanger Abbey: And Persuasion.[…], volume(please specify |volume=III or IV), London:John Murray,[…], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818),→OCLC:The baronet will neverset the Thames on fire, but there seems no harm in him.1884,WS Gilbert, ‘Princess Ida’,The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, Oxford University Press, published1996, page491:They intend to send a wire / To the moon — to the moon; / And they'llset the Thames on fire/ Very soon — very soon1925,GK Chesterton, “The Ultimate Ultimatum of the League of the Long Bow”, inThe Collected Works, Ignatius Press, published2005, page402:Do you remember when you jumped into the water after the flowers? I fancy it was then you reallyset the Thames on fire.1985,Tom Waits, “Anywhere I Lay My Head”:My head is spinning round / my heart is in my shoes, yeah / I went andset the Thames on fire, oh / now I must come back down.

Examples:

EN: I set the Thames on fire
ES: Le prendí fuego al Támesis.
EN: Solve this case before we set the Thames on fire!
ES: Resuélvelo antes de que incendiemos algo.
EN: See also set the Thames on fire.
HI: अग्नि में समाहित सती को भी देखा है
EN: except that he does not set the Thames on fire.
HI: उसको पाना तो मुक्क़दर की लकीरों में नहीं,
HI: पर उसे तो देवदास से बिना छुए ही
EN: Hilarion: And they'll set the Thames on fire
HI: "चिरागों को यूँ ही जलाया करेंगे
HI: दोनोः यार जलने वालों को जलाएंगे
EN: She was going to set the Thames on fire.
HI: वह बर्तनों को आग में पकाने लगा था।
EN: set the Thames on fire--which those Gentlemen indignantly denied, protesting
HI: आग लगे उस जवानी को जिसमे - Devotional Quotes
EN: 04. never set the Thames on fire
HI: मोम को कभी भी आग में न डालें
EN: He was not going to set the Thames on fire with poetry or anything else.
HI: उन्हें कवि-सम्मेलन वाले छोड़ते ही नहीं थे.
EN: never set the Thames on fire
HI: मोम को कभी भी आग में न डालें
EN: lowering sun set the Thames on fire.
HI: आग आँधियों को आयी अब लेकर है,
EN: He thinks he will set the Thames on fire.
TE: చంద్రబాబు అగ్నికుల క్షత్రియులను తరిమికొడతా అన్నారు.
EN: of observation that will set the Thames on fire!
TE: టాలీవుడ్ నిర్మాతలపై కన్నడ నిర్మాతల ఫైర్. . కారణమేంటంటే!

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 ).