We have idioms for virtually every topic. There has to be an idiom or a witty saying that addresses every situation the human race has seen.
‘Risk it for the biscuit’ is not a complex idiom, unlike most idioms in the English language. Its diction gives its meaning out, being almost literal.
We all know what it means to ‘Risk’ something. We also know what a ‘Biscuit’ is and what it represents here.
‘Risk it for the biscuit’ is the act of taking a huge risk with the hope of making some profit from it. There are several other idioms that have to do with risks and ‘biscuits’. This article presents 20 of them.
20 Similar Phrases to “Risk it for the Biscuit”
- Bite the biscuit.
- Whatever it takes.
- Risk fuels innovation
- Put one’s life on the line.
- Rise and grind
- Don’t get high of your own supply
- Worth the risk
- You snooze, you lose.
- Keep one’s head above the water.
- Go all in.
- Play it safe
- A leap in the dark.
- Caught with hands in the cookie jar.
- Take a calculated risk
- Work one’s fingers to the bone
- Watch one’s step.
- Live from hand to mouth
- All bets are off.
- Break the bank
- Toss one’s cookies
Bite the biscuit
Asides from the fact that this phrase mentions ‘biscuit’, it doesn’t have any similarity to ‘Risk it for the biscuit’.
This is one of the many English idioms whose meanings are hard to guess. For some idioms, you can only tell what they mean from their origin. This idiom means the same as another very popular idiom; ‘Bite the dust’.
While ‘Bite the dust’ has two meanings, ‘Bite the biscuit’ shares the grimmer interpretation. It refers to death.
When you say a person bit the biscuit, it means he or she is dead. ‘Bite the dust’ often means the same but it may also just refer to downfall or failure.
Whatever it takes
This is a common phrase. It is not an idiom, considering how literal it is. This is a statement we often make when we are desperate for something. It has nearly the same meaning as ‘Risk it for the biscuit’.
Saying you will do whatever it takes implies that you are ready to take risks and do virtually anything to get what you want.
‘Risk it for the biscuit’ usually means taking a huge risk for survival reasons. The two are similar but ‘whatever it takes’ can refer to any reason.
You may be doing whatever it takes for the sake of someone else. You may be taking risks for reasons other than feeding and survival.
Risk fuels innovation
While this statement can be considered an idiom, it may just be a witty saying. Just so you know, witty sayings may always sound nice but are not always right so you just may disagree with some of them.
‘Risk fuels innovation’ implies that taking risks can lead to the creation of new ideas. It indirectly supports the idea of taking risks.
It not only supports but also encourages the idea of taking many risks. You may be averse to what it suggests but it just may be correct.
To elucidate further, when risks are taken, there is a chance that a person’s uncertainty is rectified, even if the risk doesn’t turn out as expected.
Some steps are considered risks because there is little knowledge of how something works and what the outcome will be.
When the step is taken, you eventually learn of the outcome and you know whether to take the same step again or take another.
After taking several risky steps, you should learn the possible outcomes and, this way, you can create new ideas that will possibly give you your desired result.
Put one’s life on the line
This is another popular idiom whose meaning you may already know. When something is put or laid on the line, it is gambled with.
It is gambled with, in the sense that one stands the risk of losing it and a chance of achieving something else.
When you gamble, you have to stake a bet. Whatever you stake is on the line. If you lose the gamble, then you lose whatever you stake.
The same applies in the case of this idiom. When a person’s life is on the line, then he or she stands the risk of losing his or her life.
This idiom implies that a person is risking his or her life in hopes of achieving something else.
Rise and grind
This doesn’t have much to do with ‘risk it for the biscuit’. It doesn’t have to do with risks and gambles.
‘Rise and grind’ is like ‘Rise and shine’. It is a form of a good morning greeting. It doesn’t only tell a person to wake up but also admonishes him or her to get to work.
To grind is to work for survival. Everyone has to rise and grind but some people still need encouragement at times.
Don’t get high on your own supply
This idiom is more like a piece of good advice. It originated from drug dealing. We all know what it means to get ‘high’.
When a person is high, he or she is intoxicated by alcohol or hard drugs. Therefore, this idiom is a piece of advice to a drug seller or trafficker.
It simply means the dealer should not get high on the drugs he or she should be selling.
It takes more than a bit of alcohol and hard drug to get high so this idiom is meant to discourage gluttony. It doesn’t refer to drug dealers alone but we can tell that it originated from that sector.
This idiom implies that a seller should never put self-indulgence ahead of serving customers. This is good advice for virtually every business.
Worth the risk
Here is another idiom that has to do with risks. However, it has more to do with the reason behind a risk than the actual risk taken. People don’t take risks for the fun of it. That would be insane.
When a person considers taking a risk, he or she must have something in mind; something to gain. The reward is usually what justifies the risk.
A risk never makes sense if the reward doesn’t make sense. Before a risk is considered to be worth taking, the expected reward has to be weighed against the possible consequence.
When you say something is worth the risk, you are implying that it is valuable enough for you to lose something else for. This is usually relative.
When you know the reward of taking a step, you can’t say it is worth the risk if you don’t know the risk yet.
A reward is only worth the risk if the expected success grants you the fulfillment that trumps the consequences of failure.
You snooze, you lose
This sounds like a phrase from a fun game. It is another very good piece of advice you may want to keep in mind.
We all know what ‘snooze’ means. This word can refer to a short sleep. It may also refer to a short pause or postponement.
The word is most commonly known as that button on your alarm clock which allows you to shift the ‘time up’ a bit further (by five minutes or a bit more).
You only click the snooze button when the time is already up but you want to take some more time.
The time you intended to get up or do whatever you planned is already up but you are choosing to stay back for a few more minutes. This is where this idiom originates from.
This idiom simply implies that one can lose so much by letting opportunities pass by. Immediately the alarm clock tells you time is up, there is no need to ‘snooze’. You get up and get it done.
It means we all should take our chances as they come.
Keep one’s head above the water
What do you think it means to keep your head above the water? It definitely doesn’t feel much comfortable to keep your head under water. This is a slightly popular idiom so you may already know what it means.
Picture yourself or a random person cast in the middle of a sea. The person can be making impulsive or controlled moves with his or her hand to avoid drowning.
As long as his or her head is above the water, the person still stands a chance. The person can’t drown with her head above water. The person also has an easy chance of being found and assisted quickly with head above water.
This idiom is often used in the financial sector but it simply means staying strong and managing when in any kind of bad situation, not necessarily financial.
For example, a business can be indebted but keep its head above the water by refusing to go bankrupt.
Go all in
This is another gambling term you must have heard of. This has to do with very high risks also.
In a game, people stake what they have to get what their opponents are staking. When a player loses, he or she has to give up what has been staked and probably stake something else. Going all in is one of the biggest risks a gambler can put in a game.
Going all in implies that the gambler is staking all in his or her possession. Sometimes, it just refers to everything the gambler has brought to the game (and not actually all of his or her possession).
Play it safe
We can consider this an antonym of ‘risk it for the biscuit’. This is related to risks but against the idea.
‘Play it safe’ can fit into several situations but they all have to do with remaining on the safe side and knowing oneself is safe.
When you play it safe, then you are not taking any risk, be it financial or not.
A leap in the dark
Here is the direct opposite of ‘play it safe’. A leap in the dark is not a way of playing it safe. When you leap into the dark, you don’t know what you may stumble upon. You also don’t know if there is a pothole waiting.
A leap in the dark refers to any step one may take without knowing the outcome. The person is taking a risk without knowing what the consequence of disappointment may be.
Caught with hands in the cookie jar
This idiom is self-explanatory. You can have your hands in a cookie jar and be seen. That should not be a problem unless your hands shouldn’t be in there. In other words, the person is stealing.
This idiom implies that a person is caught stealing or doing something illegal.
Take a calculated risk
This idiom is the near opposite of going all in. When you go all in, you are putting your last card at stake in a gamble.
However, when you take a calculated risk, you are sure of how much you want to lose and you are already prepared.
This often seems less of a risk since you are only staking an amount that may not really affect you.
Work one’s fingers to the bone
This idiom doesn’t have to do with risks but it has to do with hustling and survival. When a person works his of her fingers to the bone, then he or she works hard for long hours.
Watch one’s step
This is the direct opposite of taking a leap in the dark. By watching your step, you are playing it safe and making sure you know where your next step leads you.
How do you watch your step when it’s dark?
Live from hand to mouth
This has more to do with hustling and survival. When a person or family lives from hand to mouth, it means they are poor and they feed on what they make.
It implies that the proceeds of their hard-work is necessarily spent on feeding.
All bets are off
This idiom refers to a situation where ‘risks’ are unreasonable. This doesn’t mean one can’t take a risk though. He or she can still leap in the dark.
When ‘all bets are off’, then the outcome of a situation is highly unpredictable.
Break the bank
This has to do with a person’s finances. When something breaks the bank, then it costs more than a person can afford.
When you say something won’t break the bank, then it implies that it is expensive but affordable.
Toss one’s cookies
This unpopular idiom is one whose meaning you definitely can’t guess. Tossing one’s cookies simply means throwing up.