🗓️ Idiom: A Divided House (n)
💬 Meaning
- A group of people that have different opinions
- A situation where people within the same group are not agreeing or are fighting
🧠 Example Sentences
- The project failed because the leadership team was a divided house.
- We can’t make any progress as long as we’re a divided house on this issue.
- A divided house won’t survive the pressure of this deadline.
🏛️ Origin
This phrase comes from the biblical saying, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” which became popular in modern English after Abraham Lincoln used it in a speech in 1858. It means that conflict within a group will lead to failure or collapse.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The board members all had different goals, creating ____________________.
Answer
a divided house
2. Choose the correct meaning:
What does “a divided house” refer to?
a) A building split into two offices
b) A group with internal disagreements
c) A team that works remotely
Answer
b) A group with internal disagreements
3. Change the sentence using “a divided house”:
“The team had many arguments and couldn’t agree on strategy.”
Answer
The team was a divided house and couldn’t agree on strategy.
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