when push comes to shove

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Phrase

when push comes to shove

1. (figuratively, idiomatic) When the pressure is on; when the situation is critical or urgent; when the time has come for action, even if it is difficult.

   He is not a particularly talented builder, but when push comes to shove, he can usually get the job done.

   • 1982 December 18, David France, “Protests Drive Klan Rally Out Of Washington”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 22, page 1:

     While most chose at that time either to disband or to join the APC rally several blocks north in McPherson Park, several hundred mostly young DC-area blacks and a sizable number of militant Palestinians continued to demand their right to confront the Klan. Push somehow came to shove and the face-off began. Several hours of street fighting followed.

   • 2020 May 20, Andrew Haines talks to Stefanie Foster, “Repurpose rail for the 2020s”, in Rail, page 35:

     "We've demonstrated that when push comes to shove, we can be really fast, we can be agile, we can do things more slickly.

Translations

when the pressure is on

• Arabic: عندما يجدّ الجدّ
• Czech: když dojde na lámání chleba
• Danish: når det kommer til stykket (da)
• Dutch: als puntje bij paaltje komt (nl)
• Finnish: kun on pakko; tosipaikan tullen
• German: wenn es ernst wird; wenn es hart auf hart kommt
• Greek: όταν τα πράγματα φτάνουν στο απροχώρητο (ótan ta prágmata ftánoun sto aprochórito)
• Indonesian: pada saat-saat genting
• Italian: quando si viene al dunque, quando il gioco si fa duro
• Japanese: いざとなると (iza to naru to); いざとなったら (ja) (iza to nattara)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: når det kommer til stykket (no)

• Polish: kiedy przychodzi co do czego
• Russian: когда́ как сле́дует прижмёт (kogdá kak slédujet prižmjót)
• Spanish: cuando las papas queman, a la hora de la verdad, cuando llegue el momento, cuando llega la hora de la verdad, cuando las cosas se ponen difíciles, cuando las cosas se pongan feas, cuando el empuje viene a empeller
• Swedish: när det kommer till kritan (sv)

See also

• in a pinch
• nut-cutting time
• when the chips are down
• when the gloves come off