fiddle while Rome burns

verb

Etymology

From the ancient rumour that the Roman emperor Nero played a lyre during the Great Fire of Rome (AD 64).

Definitions

  1. To neglect helping when one’s time is needed most

    To neglect helping when one’s time is needed most; to ignore the major problem at hand (whilst doing something less important); to be idle, inactive, or uninterested in a time of great need.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for fiddle while Rome burns. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA