🗓️ Idiom: Sell Sand to the Arabs (V)
💬 Meaning
- To be extremely good at selling. Even selling something to someone who has no need for it.
- Used to describe someone who is very skilled at convincing others.
🧠 Example Sentences
- Our top salesperson could sell sand to the Arabs—she never comes back without a deal.
- You must be confident and convincing if you want to sell sand to the Arabs in this industry.
- His pitch was so good, he basically sold sand to the Arabs during that product demo.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom plays on the idea of selling something to someone who already has a lot of it—in this case, sand to people living in the desert. It shows how skilled or persuasive someone must be to do that. It’s similar in meaning to “sell ice to Eskimos.”
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Our sales manager is so persuasive she could __________ —no wonder she always wins the biggest clients.
Answer
sell sand to the Arabs
2. Choose the correct meaning:
What does “sell sand to the Arabs” mean?
a) To start a business in the desert
b) To be extremely good at persuading someone
c) To make a quick sale
Answer
b) To be extremely good at persuading someone
3. Change the sentence using “sell sand to Arabs”:
“She sells to every customer that comes into the shop.”
Answer
She could sell sand to the Arabs.
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