house of cards - idiom meaning?

Question

What is the meaning of "house of cards" idiom?

Answer 1

 

house of cards - Examples:

1)  I remember them folding like a house of cards on the debt ceiling, and they'll fold on this too.
2)  We have built a house of cards which is going to crash now.
3)  Some people have equated our economy and financial system to a house of cards.
4)  As a result, the whole Marxist system falls like a house of cards. It requires perfectible humans. There aren't any.
5)  El Nose then went off half cocked building a house of cards based on murky reasoning and confused deductions.
6)  A single failure can bring the entire system down like a house of cards.
7)  I've heard the U.S. financial system is a house of cards, too. One kind of debt props up another kind of debt.
8)  Google's not a real company. It's a house of cards.
9)  In some senses consumer capitalism is a house of cards, held together in a fragile way by immense effort.
10)  It's like a house of cards. One thing goes wrong, and the whole thing falls apart.
11)  It is like a house of cards. If you pull the " resurrection " card out from the bottom Christianity collapses.
12)  I was strong enough to do this, but it was just a house of cards I built to make it through that time.
13)  Our country is a house of cards and it is only a matter of months-years before it all comes crashing down.
14)  It is a house of cards setup.
15)  It's our own fault for building up those " economies " on a house of cards.
16)  They need to be opaque because their authority was always a house of cards and their power derived from that never being seen to be the case.
17)  I appreciate your passionate belief that physics interpretations are built on a house of cards.
18)  Take away one part, the rest falls apart completely, like a house of cards.
19)  It was a house of cards. We found that everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
20)  The sharemarkets are built high on a house of cards. A reality check will bring them down.
 
 
 

Answer 2

house of cards - Gerund Form:

No gerund form for "house of cards".
 

Answer 3

house of cards - Usage:

 
formal<-------------X--|--------------->informal
 

Answer 4

Idiom Scenario 2:

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Two friends are talking ...

Friend 1: So, how are we going to manage to organize Jane's surprise birthday party?
Friend 2: We need to divide the duties. John can bring the cake. Susan can decorate the apartment after Jane leaves for work. Eddie can bring the snacks. Fran can text everyone with the time. Greg can arrange for the drinks. You can take care of the music.
Friend 1: Sounds like a lot of things could go wrong. If just one person doesn't do what they are supposed to do, the plan falls like a house of cards and the party will be terrible.
Friend 2: Any suggestions?

Answer 5

Idiom Scenario 1:

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Two colleagues are talking ...

Colleague 1: Have you got that zoning bylaw changed yet?
Colleague 2: Not yet but I am working on a plan.
Colleague 1: Yes?
Colleague 2: If thirty homeowners in the neighbourhood sign a petition and five out of seven city counsellors vote in favour and the Heritage Department declaring the building a historical site, then there is a chance that the Zoning Commission will change the bylaw.
Colleague 1: Sounds like a house of cards. Too many "ifs".

Answer 6

Idiom Definition:

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"house of cards"

an organization or plan that is very weak and can easily be destroyed

 
Synonyms: chiffon, cut-rate, decrepit, defective, delicate, diaphanous, feeble, fragile, frail, gauzy, gossamer, inadequate, infirm, insubstantial, meager, papery, rickety, rinky-dink, shaky, shallow, sheer, slapdash, sleazy, slight, superficial, tacky, transparent, unsound, unsubstantial, weak, wobbly