See desperate times call for desperate measures in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "This phrase likely originates with a saying of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, which appears in his Aphorisms: \"For extreme diseases, extreme methods of cure, as to restriction, are most suitable.\"http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/aphorisms.1.i.html. A similar phrase occurs in Erasmus's Latin adage \"Malo nodo, malus quærendus cuneus\" (from his 1500 book Adagia, which was first published in English in 1545).http://books.google.com/books?id=VX_Cf4e_66IC&pg=PA73&dq=erasmus+adagia+%22malo+nodo%22&hl=en&ei=nMAFTdu5LISglAfk89CzCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=erasmus%20adagia%20%22malo%20nodo%22&f=false\nAnother similar Latin saying, \"extremis malis extrema remedia,\" appears in print as early as 1596.http://books.google.com/books?id=fCVDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA9&dq=%22extremis+malis%22&hl=en&ei=wscFTeWqB8H_lgf2xJz_CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22extremis%20malis%22&f=false",
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"glosses": [
"In adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected under other circumstances may become the best choice."
],
"id": "en-desperate_times_call_for_desperate_measures-en-proverb-Ydy6Fr2n",
"links": [
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"adverse"
]
],
"related": [
{
"word": "necessity knows no law"
},
{
"word": "last-ditch"
},
{
"word": "last resort"
},
{
"word": "last gasp"
},
{
"word": "in extremis"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "desperate times require desperate measures"
},
{
"word": "drastic times call for drastic measures"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "fēicháng shíqí xūyào fēicháng shǒuduàn",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "非常時期需要非常手段 /非常时期需要非常手段"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "lit., \"extreme diseases require extreme medicine\"",
"roman": "zhòngzhèng xū xià měng yào",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "重症需下猛藥 /重症需下猛药"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "desperate tider kræver desperate handlinger"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "nood breekt wet"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "nood breekt wetten"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "hätä keinot keksii"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "aux grands maux les grands remèdes"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "außergewöhnliche Umstände erfordern außergewöhnliche Maßnahmen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"tags": [
"informal"
],
"word": "in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "szükség törvényt bont"
},
{
"code": "id",
"lang": "Indonesian",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "masa-masa sulit melahirkan keputusan-keputusan sulit"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "a mali estremi, estremi rimedi"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "extremis malis extrema remedia"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "desperate tider krever desperate tiltak"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "tonący brzytwy się chwyta"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "a grandes males, grandes remedios"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "nöden har ingen lag"
},
{
"code": "tl",
"lang": "Tagalog",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "ang taong nagigipit, sa patalim kumakapit"
}
]
}
],
"word": "desperate times call for desperate measures"
}
{
"etymology_text": "This phrase likely originates with a saying of the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, which appears in his Aphorisms: \"For extreme diseases, extreme methods of cure, as to restriction, are most suitable.\"http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/aphorisms.1.i.html. A similar phrase occurs in Erasmus's Latin adage \"Malo nodo, malus quærendus cuneus\" (from his 1500 book Adagia, which was first published in English in 1545).http://books.google.com/books?id=VX_Cf4e_66IC&pg=PA73&dq=erasmus+adagia+%22malo+nodo%22&hl=en&ei=nMAFTdu5LISglAfk89CzCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=erasmus%20adagia%20%22malo%20nodo%22&f=false\nAnother similar Latin saying, \"extremis malis extrema remedia,\" appears in print as early as 1596.http://books.google.com/books?id=fCVDAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA9&dq=%22extremis+malis%22&hl=en&ei=wscFTeWqB8H_lgf2xJz_CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22extremis%20malis%22&f=false",
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"word": "necessity knows no law"
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"word": "last-ditch"
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"word": "last resort"
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"word": "last gasp"
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"In adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected under other circumstances may become the best choice."
],
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"word": "desperate times require desperate measures"
},
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"word": "drastic times call for drastic measures"
}
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "fēicháng shíqí xūyào fēicháng shǒuduàn",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "非常時期需要非常手段 /非常时期需要非常手段"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "lit., \"extreme diseases require extreme medicine\"",
"roman": "zhòngzhèng xū xià měng yào",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "重症需下猛藥 /重症需下猛药"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "desperate tider kræver desperate handlinger"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "nood breekt wet"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "nood breekt wetten"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "hätä keinot keksii"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "aux grands maux les grands remèdes"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "außergewöhnliche Umstände erfordern außergewöhnliche Maßnahmen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"tags": [
"informal"
],
"word": "in der Not frisst der Teufel Fliegen"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "szükség törvényt bont"
},
{
"code": "id",
"lang": "Indonesian",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "masa-masa sulit melahirkan keputusan-keputusan sulit"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "a mali estremi, estremi rimedi"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "extremis malis extrema remedia"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "desperate tider krever desperate tiltak"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "tonący brzytwy się chwyta"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "a grandes males, grandes remedios"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "nöden har ingen lag"
},
{
"code": "tl",
"lang": "Tagalog",
"sense": "in adverse circumstances, actions that might have been rejected may become the best choice",
"word": "ang taong nagigipit, sa patalim kumakapit"
}
],
"word": "desperate times call for desperate measures"
}
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (eaedd02 and 8fbd9e8). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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