upset the applecart
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(Redirected from upset someone's applecart)
English
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[edit]upset the applecart (third-person singular simple present upsets the applecart, present participle upsetting the applecart, simple past and past participle upset the applecart)
- (idiomatic) To disorganize or spoil something, especially an established arrangement or plan.
- Synonyms: cook someone's goose, drive a coach and horses through; see also Thesaurus:spoil, Thesaurus:put a damper on
- 1900, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 22, in A Millionaire of Yesterday[1]:
- “There are three reasons,” Trent answered. “First, he may find his way to England and upset the applecart; […] ”
- 1922, William Somerset Maugham, Caesar's Wife, act 3, page 136:
- She told me herself just now that the worst was over. And those confounded people must go and upset the applecart.
- 1979 December 10, “Business: Putting Brakes on a Bailout”, in Time[2], archived from the original on 2012-02-10:
- Last week the Senate Banking Committee upset the carefully stacked apple cart when it voted 10 to 5 not to approve the Administration's bill.