sick man of Europe - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
A calque of a phrase coined by Czar Nicholas I, Romanov, of the Empire of Russia: больно́й челове́к Европы (bolʹnój čelovék Jevropy). This name for the Turkish Ottoman Empire refers to the sickly state of the Ottoman state in the 19th century.
- (archaic, politics) Ottoman Empire.
- (politics) Any European country undergoing economic difficulty.
2022 November 27, William Keegan, “Brexit has made Britain the sick man of Europe again”, in The Guardian[1]:
Yes, we were known as the “sick man of Europe” until we joined the European Union and – guess what – we have left the EU and have regained that dubious status.
Ottoman Empire
- Danish: Europas syge mand c
- Dutch: zieke man van Europa m
- Finnish: Euroopan sairas mies
- French: homme malade de l’Europe m
- German: kranker Mann am Bosporus m
- Greek: μεγάλος ασθενής m (megálos asthenís)
- Japanese: ヨーロッパの病人 (yōroppa no byōnin)
- Korean: 유럽의 환자 (yureobui hwanja)
- Norwegian: Europas syke mann
- Polish: chory człowiek Europy m
- Portuguese: homem doente da Europa m
- Russian: больно́й челове́к Евро́пы m (bolʹnój čelovék Jevrópy)
- Serbo-Croatian: болесник Еуропе m (bolesnik Europe)
- Spanish: hombre enfermo de Europa m
- Swedish: Europas sjuke man c
- Turkish: Avrupa'nın hasta adamı
- Uyghur: ياۋروپا كېسەل كۆرپىسى (yawropa kësel körpisi)
any European country undergoing economic difficulty