go toe-to-toe with

[nuni]

Dear All,

Can you help me with the meaning of this idiom: 'go toe-to-toe with' in this sentence: So looking back, it's impossible to separate the decision to buy Dow Jones from the decision to go toe-to-toe with CNBC.

Thank you for your help~

[Nannou]

Originally Posted by nuni

Dear All,

Can you help me with the meaning of this idiom: 'go toe-to-toe with' in this sentence: So looking back, it's impossible to separate the decision to buy Dow Jones from the decision to go toe-to-toe with CNBC.

Thank you for your help~

toe-to-toe: to be in direct opposition to
I hope that this could help you

[pyoung]

Originally Posted by nuni

Dear All,

Can you help me with the meaning of this idiom: 'go toe-to-toe with' in this sentence: So looking back, it's impossible to separate the decision to buy Dow Jones from the decision to go toe-to-toe with CNBC.

Thank you for your help~

Dear nuni:

To go toe-to-toe with someone means to engage them in some kind of combat (physical, verbal, political, intellectual).

For example, a recent headline from the Christian Science Monitor says:
'Police Go Toe-to-toe with Anticorruption Agency.

If we read the article, we learn that, 'Indonesian protesters rallied Tuesday against the arrest of two senior anticorruption officials. Many say police fabricated charges to stymie the increasingly effective agency.'

So, going toe-to-toe here includes the anticorruption agency threatening corrupt elements of the police, and the police responding by arresting members of the agency.

I hope this is helpful,

Petra

[soutter]

It is a boxing metaphor and is similar to head to head.

[obad]

Thanks all