Idiom
serve two masters
Meaning
To take orders from two superiors or two conflicting parties.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“It is hard to serve two masters at the same time.”
“The manager struggled to serve two masters when the CEO and the board members gave him conflicting instructions.”
“The diplomat found it impossible to serve two masters, as the interests of his home country and his host nation were fundamentally opposed.”
Examples
simple
“It is hard to serve two masters at the same time.”
contextual
“The manager struggled to serve two masters when the CEO and the board members gave him conflicting instructions.”
complex
“The diplomat found it impossible to serve two masters, as the interests of his home country and his host nation were fundamentally opposed.”
Origin
From Matthew 6:24 in the Bible.
Key words
Related idioms
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