Home > Reference > Idioms > T > Throw your toys out of the pram

Idiom: Throw your toys out of the pram

What does 'Throw your toys out of the pram' mean?

To make an angry protest against a relatively minor problem, in the process embarrassing the protester. The analogy is with a baby who throws toys out of the pram in order to get their parent to pay attention to them. The implication in the idiom is that the protester is acting like a baby.

Category: General
Contributed By: David Boothroyd

Idioms similar to 'Throw your toys out of the pram'

Throw someone a line
Throw someone in at the deep end
Not trust someone further than you can throw them
Throw a sickie
Throw the book at someone
Stone's throw
Throw your weight around
Throw a spanner in the works

Idiom eBooks from UsingEnglish.com

Buy our lists of British English, American English and Animal idioms in PDF format. They're perfect to use offline for reference or for use in class!