Idiom
all things to all people
Meaning
Someone or something that entirely satisfies the expectations of everyone, no matter how diverse and conflicting those expectations may be.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“You cannot be all things to all people.”
“This new restaurant menu tries to be all things to all people.”
“The politician tried to be all things to all people, but his vague promises eventually disappointed both sides.”
“The new smartphone app fails because it tries to be all things to all people instead of focusing on one specific group of users.”
“A leader who attempts to be all things to all people often finds that by trying to please everyone, they ultimately satisfy no one at all.”
Examples
simple
“You cannot be all things to all people.”
“This new restaurant menu tries to be all things to all people.”
contextual
“The politician tried to be all things to all people, but his vague promises eventually disappointed both sides.”
“The new smartphone app fails because it tries to be all things to all people instead of focusing on one specific group of users.”
complex
“A leader who attempts to be all things to all people often finds that by trying to please everyone, they ultimately satisfy no one at all.”
Origin
From the King James Version of the Holy Bible, specifically 1 Corinthians 9:22, in which the apostle writes of his attempts to accommodate himself to various audiences: "To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." The phrasing entered the general lexicon as a description of versatile, if sometimes inconsistent, social or political adaptation.
Key words
Related idioms
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