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Difficulty - Adding Complexity

Dive into English idioms that relate to adding complexity, like "muddy the waters" and "fly in the ointment".

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English idioms related to Difficulty
to [cook] {one's} goose

to prevent someone from achieving success by destroying their plans

Ex: The leaked email cooked his goose before the interview. 
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to [give] {sb} enough rope to hang {oneself}

to give someone an opportunity to act freely with the intention of hurting them

Ex: The manager gave him enough rope to hang himself by letting him explain the missing money. 
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to [play] hard to get

to not easily give a person something that they need or want from one

Ex: The supplier played hard to get before agreeing to the discount. 
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to [queer] {one's} pitch

to prevent someone from achieving what they want by creating problems for them

Ex: The late complaint queered his pitch just before the vote. 
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to [rain] on {one's} parade

to ruin what someone has planned or not allow them enjoy something

Ex: I don't want to rain on your parade, but the venue just cancelled. 
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to [throw] a (monkey|) wrench (into|in) the works

to slow down a plan or activity or prevent it from going on

Ex: The sudden rule change threw a wrench into the works. 
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to [tie] {oneself} (up|) (in|into) knots

to do something that makes oneself overly worried or confused

Ex: Don't tie yourself up in knots over one small mistake. 
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to [upset|overturn] the apple cart

to cause problems, often by ruining or interrupting something that was planned

Ex: The last-minute venue change upset the apple cart. 
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to [muddy] the (waters|issue)

to complicate a simple situation

Ex: The new explanation only muddied the waters. 
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to [put] the kibosh on {sth}

to make an attempt to prevent something from continuing or happening

Ex: The new rule put the kibosh on our weekend plans. 
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to [knock] the (wind|breath|stuffing) out of {sb}

to do something, particularly something others do not expect, in order to make them feel less confident or important

Ex: The harsh review knocked the wind out of her. 
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to [cast] a (shadow|cloud) (over|on) {sth}

to create a sense of negativity and hopelessness regarding a particular thing or situation

Ex: The scandal cast a shadow over the whole campaign. 
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fly in the ointment

a person or thing that ruins an otherwise positive or enjoyable situation

Ex: The hotel was beautiful, but the noisy road outside was the fly in the ointment. 
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to [put] a damper on {sth}

to lessen or decrease the enjoyment, strength, or activity of something

Ex: The rain put a damper on the picnic. 
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to [take] the gilt off the gingerbread

to cause something to be less enjoyable as it could be

Ex: The extra fees took the gilt off the gingerbread. 
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