| Idiom | Pour Oil on Troubled Waters |
|---|---|
| Example | My brothers were having a terrible fight in the car, but my mother poured oil on troubled waters by saying they were both right. |
| Meaning | to calm an angry quarrel; to have a soothing effect through tact or skill in dealing with people |
| Origin | As early as a.d. 731 this expression referred to the belief that if you poured oil on rough, stormy ocean waves, it would calm them. Now it means to smooth over a stormy or disturbed situation of any kind on land or sea. |
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