Meaning: To be polite to one’s enemies even if they say bad things about you.

Examples:

The candidate decided to take the high road and not run any negative TV ads.

When people insult her she usually takes the high road. Usually.

It’s not easy to take the high road, but people will respect you more when you do.

Pop Quiz:

Which idiom is the opposite of take the high road?

A.  Fight fire with fire

B.  Take an eye for an eye

C.  Give someone a taste of their own medicine

To see the correct answer, click on “Continue reading”:

The correct answer is A, B, and C. All three of these idioms are the opposite of being polite to one’s enemies: they instead mean you try to get revenge or do something bad to someone when they’ve hurt you.