To Poison the Well (Idioms)

---

– Manuscript –

Welcome to English in a Minute!

Some people get their drinking water from a well. So, adding poison to it would be a terrible thing to do. But what does the idiom “to poison the well” mean?

To Poison the Well

Speaker A: My old roommate opened a new restaurant – Pat’s Perfect Pizza Palace.
Speaker B: Oh my gosh! I’m having my birthday party there!
Speaker A: Bad idea. Pat was an awful roommate. So, I’m sure his restaurant will be awful too.
Speaker B: Dan, don’t poison the well! It’s my birthday!

If you “poison the well”, you try to negatively influence how someone feels about something or someone. It often involves trying to damage someone’s reputation.

And that’s English in a Minute!

---

*This article has been edited and reprinted from VOA Learning English with permission from Voice of America (VOA) for use in English language materials.