# set the Thames on fire

> English word · Verb

## Definitions
1. To achieve something amazing but to a nearly-impossible degree; to do something which brings great public acclaim.

## Etymology
Unknown. Suggested to derive from a misconstrual of temse (“sieve”): thus, to work so vigorously as to heat a sieve by friction. Alternatively, a reference to lightning strikes which sometimes occurred along the Thames, occasionally setting trees on fire or causing death in unusual manner. Otherwise simply by hyperbole, from the improbability of setting a river on fire (although the image might sound like a familiar reference to the Great London fire of 1666).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/set-the-thames-on-fire