Meaning of boiling frog | Babel Free

Definitions

A person who, or thing which, is in a gradually worsening situation without any realization of the peril until it is too late.

attributive, idiomatic, often

Examples

“Environmental pollution and the overconsumption of nonreplenishable resources is the boiling frog syndrome of the 21st century.”

“You can guess what the politicians said back then, too. "Don't worry," I'll bet they claimed, "tax rates will never rise!" It's the Boiling Frog Syndrome all over again.”

“The greatest challenge to an accurate current self-image (that is, seeing yourself as others see you and in a way consistent with your other internal states, beliefs, emotions, and so forth) is the boiling frog syndrome. Several factors contribute to this syndrome. First, people around you may not let you see a change. They may not give you feedback or information about how they see it. Also, they may be victims of the boiling frog syndrome themselves, adjusting their perception daily.”

“The boiling frog syndrome portrays how people react to change. Dramatic sudden changes instigate resistance and even anger in many individuals. Conversely, people do well at adjusting to slow change that occurs over a long period of time.”

“DotCloud was a "boiling frog." That's how [Solomon] Hykes and early investor Peter Fenton of Benchmark now describe dotCloud as it struggled in 2012. Put a frog in water and gradually heat it, the folk legend goes, and the frog won't notice that it's being cooked until it's too late.”

“Look at Facebook: Every company moved their brand presence to Facebook, sending out messages for their customers to receive. Now, you have to pay to send out your messages to people who chose to follow you. [You’ve become] a boiling frog.”

“The World Health Organisation’s latest data on air pollution proves there are more boiling frogs in India than anywhere else. People in 14 Indian cities are breathing the world’s most toxic air. Yet, like the metaphorical frogs who boil to death slowly without being aware of the danger, they are completely oblivious to the tragic fate that awaits them.”

“Some people have described Theresa May’s approach to the hard Brexiters in her cabinet as boiling frogs: raising the temperature of the water so gradually that [David] Davis, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Liam Fox don’t realise they are being cooked.”

“Our attractiveness as a location for investment is diminished. Unfortunately the pain is a boiling frog, as we can never know the investment and growth opportunities we will forsake.”

CEFR level