"Take yourself in hand" idiom

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.
Is the idiom "take yourself in hand" old-fashioned? I could only find one example in an online Russian English dictionary.

"Quickly I took myself in hand and, with a glance at the weather, decided on a short walk."

 

[emsr2d2]

It's not natural for me. Perhaps it's a direct Russian to English translation.

 

[Rachel Adams]

It's not natural for me. Perhaps it's a direct Russian to English translation.

What idiom would you use as a native speaker? I will try to write an example to provide more context. "She found it hard to take the news that she was sick, but she ....an English idiom added ... to deal with it."
But "take the news" is natural, isn't it?

 

[emsr2d2]

What idiom would you use as a native speaker? I will try to write an example to provide more context.

"She found it hard to take the news that she was sick, but she [an English idiom added] to deal with it."

But "take the news" is natural, isn't it?

We do use "take the news" in sentences such as yours.

Sam - The doctor told my mother she was terminally ill.
Helen - Oh, that's awful. How did she take it?
Sam - Not well.

In your example sentence, you could say something like "... she steeled herself to deal with it".

 

[Rachel Adams]

We do use "take the news" in sentences such as yours.

Sam - The doctor told my mother she was terminally ill.
Helen - Oh, that's awful. How did she take it?
Sam - Not well.

In your example sentence, you could say something like "... she steeled herself to deal with it".

I remembered the idiom I was going to use. It is "to pull yourself together."

 

[GoesStation]

I remembered the idiom I was going to use. It is "to pull yourself together."

That's used commonly, but only to address someone who's not emotionally under control.

 

[Rachel Adams]

That's used commonly, but only to address someone who's not emotionally under control.

Generally or at hearing the news?

 

[Tarheel]

We don't have a specific saying for every occasion.

 

[Rachel Adams]

We don't have a specific saying for every occasion.

Does it work in my sentence?:shock:

 

[Tarheel]

I guess you mean:

... she pulled herself together.

But that wouldn't be my first choice. Perhaps:

She calmed herself down.

(You are in the habit of making things too complicated.)

 

[GoesStation]

Generally or at hearing the news?

Either one.

 

[Rover_KE]

Where did you encounter this dated idiom? It's rarely used in modern English and is best avoided as you may be misunderstood.

take oneself in hand — to hold oneself in check, to control one's feelings, not to get angry, to be reserved, to be self contained. …

(enacademic.com)

 

[Rachel Adams]

Where did you encounter this dated idiom? It's rarely used in modern English and is best avoided as you may be misunderstood.


(enacademic.com)

In an online Russian-English dictionary. Academic.ru
https://idioms_ex.enacademic.com/2974/take_oneself_in_hand

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I've never heard it!

 

[emsr2d2]

I would understand it but it's not used in BrE to refer to oneself these days. I've heard people say that they're going to take someone else in hand (meaning to exert some kind of control over them).