
Drive a coach and horses through something
Visual Imagery
Imagine literally driving a large vehicle through a structure. It's about creating big, obvious disruptions.
The new evidence completely drove a coach and horses through the old theory.
Not Literal
It's a figure of speech, not about driving. It means to ruin or disrupt something with force.
The whistleblower's report drove a coach and horses through the company's reputation.
British Origins
This phrase is chiefly British English, so it might be unfamiliar in American or other varieties of English.
He drove a coach and horses through convention by wearing jeans to the formal dinner.
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