see the dark side of the moon
To do or experience something exceedingly difficult or rare.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He had to see the dark side of the moon to finish the project.”
“After working in the disaster zone for months, the volunteers truly saw the dark side of the moon.”
“To win the championship against such a legendary team, the young athletes had to see the dark side of the moon and push beyond their physical limits.”
“Few explorers have ventured far enough into the uncharted wilderness to see the dark side of the moon and return with their sanity intact.”
The phrase rests upon a colloquial application of the word dark to denote that which is unseen, rather than that which lacks illumination. In the latter sense, the moon possesses no dark side, as both hemispheres receive an equal measure of sunlight. It is therefore quite impossible to see the dark side if one requires the surface to be unlit.
It is equally impossible to see the far side of the moon from Earth, as the geography remains perpetually turned away from the observer. The idiom persists despite the astronomical reality that the unseen side is frequently as bright as the visible one.
- 01
ask for the moon
To claim or desire something that one cannot have.
- 02
blue moon
A long time.
- 03
bright side
A consoling aspect of a difficult situation.
- 04
butter one's bread on both sides
To profit from two things at the same time, especially when those things seem contradictory or incompatible.
- 05
dark cloud
A situation or future event that causes worry, problems or unhappiness, likened to such a cloud overhead in the sky.
- 06
dark horse
Someone who possesses talents or favorable characteristics that are not known or expected by others.
- 07
err on the side of
To behave in a manner which favours or which is biased toward.
- 08
err on the side of caution
To act in the least risky manner in a situation in which one is uncertain about the consequences.
Last updated August 10, 2026