fan the flames | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)Tointensifyorworsenan alreadydifficultsituation.2002, Scott Hunt,The Future of Peace: On the Front Lines with the World's Great Peacemakers, HarperCollins, published2004,→ISBN,page207:In simple terms, both superpowers poured gasoline on the fire andfanned the flames, hoping that out of the ashes would arise a region committed either to democracy or to Soviet-style communism.2007, Barbara Cartland,A Dream Come True‎[1], M-Y Books Distribution, published2007,→ISBN:Far from putting a distance between them, his absence was onlyfanning the flamesof her affection.2010, Calvin F. Exoo,The Pen and the Sword: Press, War, and Terror in the 21st Century, SAGE Publications, Inc., published2010,→ISBN,page40:They worried, too, that such a war would onlyfan the flamesof the Islamic world's animosity toward the United States, producing "a further cycle of terrorist attacks, American casualties and escalation"[…]2012, Sarah Boslaugh, “Atlanta, Georgia”, in Wilbur R. Miller, editor,The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia, Sage Publications, Inc.,→ISBN,page74:Atlanta newspapersfanned the flamesof racial hatred by carrying stories of lynchings and calling for a renewed Ku Klux Klan to “control” blacks.2012, Steve Faktor,Econovation: The Red, White, and Blue Pill for Arousing Innovation‎[2], John Wiley & Sons, Inc., published2012,→ISBN:What I don't see happening is the governmentfanning the flamesof competition.

Examples:

EN: Agents of certain foreign governments sometimes try to enter it by stealth, hoping to fan the flames of revolution.
ES: Cuánto lo siento. Agentes de ciertos gobiernos extranjeros a veces intentan introducirse para atizar el fuego de la revolución.
EN: Merlin, fan the flames!
ES: ¡Merlín, avivad el fuego!
EN: And all these loud clothes and jungle rhythms... only serve to fan the flames...
ES: Y toda esa ropa llamativa y esos ritmos selváticos... sólo encienden la llama...
EN: I only hope that this will fan the flames of his hate-- might inspire him to action.
ES: Espero que esto te enfurezca. Y eso lo hace actuar.
EN: It'll get hotter for him if the Gauls continue to fan the flames of revolt.
ES: Se pondrá más caliente para él si los galos continúan avivando las llamas de la revuelta.
EN: - And you trying to fan the flames with Richie Aprile?
ES: - ¿Y tú que quieres avivar la llama con Richie Aprile?
EN: In March 1962, Sybil Burton left Italy for England - although the move only served to fan the flames.
ES: En marzo de 1962, Sybil Burton dejó Italia. Pero esto sólo logró reavivar el fuego.
EN: It would only fan the flames.
ES: Solo avivaría las llamas.
EN: You'll fan the flames!
ES: ¡Avivarás las llamas!
EN: What's more... it will fan the flames of Jin-Yi's passion for her art.
ES: Lo que es más... echará leña al fuego a la pasión de Jin-Yi por su arte.
EN: Look, fan the flames.
ES: Aviva las llamas.
EN: Bremer will fan the flames.
ES: Bremer echará leña al fuego.
EN: I don't want to, like, fan the flames, you know.
ES: No quiero avivar las llamas, ya sabes.
EN: Imagine a god whose sole mission is to propagate terror to incite eternal war and fan the flames of hate.
ES: Imagina un dios cuya única misión es propagar el terror para incitar la guerra eterna y avivar las llamas del odio.
EN: They do nothing but fan the flames of hatred for us.
ES: No hacen más que aumentar las llamas del odio hacia nosotros.

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