Idiom
whistle past the graveyard
Meaning
To attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation; to proceed with a task, ignoring an upcoming hazard, hoping for a good outcome.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He whistles past the graveyard, ignoring the fact that his company is failing.”
“The manager knows the project is doomed, but he whistles past the graveyard and continues to assign new tasks to the team.”
“Despite the mounting evidence of an impending economic collapse, the investors continued to whistle past the graveyard, convinced that their portfolios remained entirely insulated from the coming storm.”
Examples
simple
“He whistles past the graveyard, ignoring the fact that his company is failing.”
contextual
“The manager knows the project is doomed, but he whistles past the graveyard and continues to assign new tasks to the team.”
complex
“Despite the mounting evidence of an impending economic collapse, the investors continued to whistle past the graveyard, convinced that their portfolios remained entirely insulated from the coming storm.”
Key words
Related idioms
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