B2idiomfoodIELTS-friendly
rub salt in the wound
USUK
to make a bad situation even worse for someone who is already upset
British English also says 'rub salt into the wound'; 'in' is more frequent in books (0.030 vs 0.0086). Often 'to rub salt in the wound' as a sentence opener.
In context
We lost the final, and to rub salt in the wound, our best player got injured.
Don't rub salt in the wound by posting photos of the party he missed.
More idioms about food
- a bad appleone bad person who has a bad effect on the rest of a group
- a couch potatoa person who spends a lot of time sitting and watching TV instead of being active
- a different kettle of fisha completely different situation from the one just mentioned
- a finger in every pieinvolved in many different activities, often to get power
- a meal ticketa person or thing that someone uses as a source of money or support