Please stop watching me, you are cramping my style.
cramp someone's style
idiomTo restrict someone's free action or expression.
Origin
first recorded 19th c.In 1819, Charles Lamb wrote in a letter to Wordsworth: “I will never write another letter with alternate inks. You cannot imagine how it cramps the flow of the style.” Lamb’s letters were published in book form in 1837 and saw several editions and reprints. The letter was also included in volume 7 of the 12-volume book The Life and Works of Charles Lamb, thus appearing again in print at the beginning of the 20th century. It was again included in volume 6 of The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, which was first published in 1905. It is possible that the idiomatic use, which dates from the early 1900s, originated with this passage by Lamb.
I love my parents, but they really cramp my style when they visit me at college.
The strict dress code at the office often cramps the style of employees who prefer to express their individuality through their clothing.
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another nail in someone's coffin
An event that increases the likelihood of or causes further failure.
- 02
answer someone's prayers
To be or do exactly what someone has been wishing or asking for.
- 03
answer to someone's prayers
Exactly what someone has been wishing or asking for.
- 04
apple of someone's eye
The object of somebody's affections; a person (or sometimes a thing) that someone strongly prefers; a favorite, a loved one.
- 05
bane of someone's existence
Someone or something that poses a significant problem to someone.
- 06
bash someone's face in
To beat someone violently.
- 07
bash someone's head
To beat up someone violently.
- 08
be someone's to lose
To be anticipated to be won by someone.