Meaning of 'Make bets in a burning house'

What does the saying 'Make bets in a burning house' mean?

Idiom: Make bets in a burning house

Meaning:

If people are making bets in a burning house, they are engaged in futile activity while serious problems around them are getting worse.

Country: American English | Subject Area: Gambling | Usage Type: Both or All Words Used

Contributor: Richard Flynn

Similar Idioms

• Make ends meet
• Make a monkey of someone
• Make an enquiry
• Make a request
• Hedge your bets
• Make no bones about it
• Make headway
• You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
• Make a pitch
• You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink
• Bring the house down
• Make hay
• Make a killing
• Make a song and dance
• Make out like a bandit
• Make your flesh crawl
• On the house
• Get on like a house on fire
• Make a meal
• Burning question
• Make money hand over fist
• On the make
• Good fences make good neighbours
• All bets are off
• House of cards
• Make a pig's ear
• Make a virtue out of necessity
• If you are given lemons make lemonade
• Make or break
• Make it snappy
• Make a rod for your own back
• Make tracks
• Ears are burning
• Make a good fist
• It takes all kinds to make a world
• Make a hames of something
• Make a mountain out of a molehill
• Make waves
• Make a mint
• Make your blood boil
• You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
• Good walls make good neighbours
• Make your hair stand on end
• Make a better fist
• Make yourself scarce
• Many hands make light work
• One swallow does not make a summer
• Don't throw bricks when you live in a glass house
• Empty vessels make the most noise
• Make a clean breast
• Make my day
• Make your toes curl
• Make you spit
• Make your day
• Make the grade