English

Verb

set the Thames on fire

1. (idiomatic) To achieve something amazing; to do something which brings great public acclaim.
   • 1816, Jane Austen, Persuasion, Borders Classics 2007, p. 27:

     The baronet will never set the Thames on fire, but there seems no harm in him.

   • 1884, WS Gilbert, ‘Princess Ida’, The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, Oxford University Press 1996, p. 491:

     They intend to send a wire / To the moon — to the moon; / And they'll set the Thames on fire / Very soon — very soon

   • 1925, GK Chesterton, ‘The Ultimate Ultimatum of the League of the Long Bow’, The Collected Works, Ignatius Press 2005, p. 402:

     Do you remember when you jumped into the water after the flowers? I fancy it was then you really set the Thames on fire.

   • 1985, Tom Waits, ‘Anywhere I Lay My Head’:

     My head is spinning round / my heart is in my shoes, yeah / I went and set the Thames on fire, oh / now I must come back down.

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