Idiom
grow a pair
Meaning
To be brave; to show some courage, especially in a situation in which one has so far failed to do so.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“You need to grow a pair and tell him the truth.”
“He was afraid to ask for a raise, but his friend told him it was time to grow a pair.”
“Despite his long history of hesitation, he finally decided to grow a pair and confront the board about their unfair policies.”
Examples
simple
“You need to grow a pair and tell him the truth.”
contextual
“He was afraid to ask for a raise, but his friend told him it was time to grow a pair.”
complex
“Despite his long history of hesitation, he finally decided to grow a pair and confront the board about their unfair policies.”
Origin
Derived as a clipping of the more anatomical injunction to grow a pair of balls. The truncated form preserves the imperative while omitting the specific nouns, relying on the listener to mentally supply the missing biological equipment.
Key words
Related idioms
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