whip hand | Idiomator

Meaning: The hand in which ahorseriderholds the whip.; (idiomatic)Anadvantageover another; thedominantposition.1876, Anthony Trollope,The Prime Minister‎[1], page271:Of course I was a fool. My father has thewhip handof me, because he has money and I have none, and it was simply kicking against the pricks to speak as I did.1895, L. A. Waddell,The Buddhism of Tibet, page152:Even the purest of all the Lamaist sects—the Ge-lug-pa—are thorough-paced devil-worshippers, and value Buddhism chiefly because it gives them thewhip-handover the devils.1920,Agatha Christie,The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published1954, page 6:Mrs. Cavendish, however, was a lady who liked to make her own plans, and expected other people to fall in with them, and in this case she certainly had thewhip hand, namely: the purse strings.2014, Phillip Inman,As UK economy recovers, employers remain reluctant to increase wages, The Guardian:Few workers are unionised, and in the UK's increasingly flexible labour market, where it is almost impossible to quit a job and claim unemployment benefits, where zero hour contracts are still a feature and where self-employment is on the rise, employers have thewhip hand.

Examples:

EN: Buy it quickly. I want to get the whip hand over that gentleman at the earliest possible moment.
ES: Si se abre la puerta desde fuera, empuja su catre.
EN: He knew your mother worshiped both of you boys, and, by sending one away to school and always threatening to send the other, it gave him the whip hand, and made her life unbearable.
ES: Sabía que su madre adoraba a sus dos hijos, ...y enviando a uno a la escuela y amenazando siempre con enviar al otro él tenía la sartén por el mango.
EN: Whoever holds the gorge holds the whip hand.
ES: - Quien controle el desfiladero controla todo.
EN: They won't want to lose the whip hand they've got over somebody.
ES: No querrán renunciar al control que ejercen sobre otros.
EN: I had the whip hand, and he knew it.
ES: Llevaba las de ganar, y él lo sabía.
EN: You have the whip hand.
ES: Usted tiene el control.
EN: And always remember, they've got the whip hand.
ES: Recordad: Ellos mandan.
ES: Recordad: Ellos mandan.
EN: Do you know what I'd do if I had the whip hand?
ES: ¿Sabes qué haría si mandase?
EN: I rub that in, don't you worry, sir. I hold the whip hand.
ES: Oh, yo me encargo, no se preocupe, señor, Aquí mando yo.
EN: The employers have the whip hand.
ES: Los patrones son quienes tienen el cuchillo por el mango.
EN: It's quite obvious who's got the whip hand in that relationship.
ES: Está claro quién lleva la voz cantante.
EN: Now I have the whip hand over you, for you cannot give her back.
ES: Ahora yo tengo ventaja sobre usted ya que no la puede devolver.
EN: Sheriff Charlie was the whip hand for old Judge Tibbs who pretty much owned this county back then.
ES: El sheriff Wade era el látigo del juez Tibbs, que entonces prácticamente era el dueño del condado.
EN: We'll make it all right. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" by Bob Dylan 'In 15 or 20 years' time, 'the black man will have the whip hand over the white man.
ES: ¡Lo haremos bien! 'Dentro de 15 o 20 años, el hombre negro dominará al hombre blanco.
EN: 'In this country, in 15 or 20 years' time, 'the black man will have the whip hand over the white man.
ES: En este país, en 15 o 20 años, el hombre negro tendrá la sartén por el mango sobre el hombre blanco.

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