Bed of roses

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Grammarist

Bed of roses is an idiom that has been in use at least since the 1500s. We will examine the meaning of the expression a bed of roses, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.

Something that is described as a bed of roses is not difficult. It is pleasant or luxurious or is an easy option. Synonyms for a bed of roses that may be found in a thesaurus are comfortable, pleasant, effortless, agreeable, luxurious. Often, the idiom a bed of roses is expressed in the negative, as in describing something as not a bed of roses. The expression a bed of roses came into use as an idiom in the 1500s. The phrase a bed of roses to describe a flowerbed planted with roses may be found as early as the 1200s. One of the oldest and most famous known uses of the phrase a bed of roses as an idiom written by Christopher Marlowe in his poem, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, published several years after his death in 1593: “And I will make thee beds of roses, And a thousand fragrant posies, A cap of flowers, and a kirtle, Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle…”

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Examples

Within that remortgage space however, all is not a bed of roses, and in particular the continued use of ‘fees-free legal’ services to borrowers is, quite frankly, in so many cases nothing short of a disgrace. (The Financial Reporter)

New Zealand’s longest married couple say life hasn’t been a bed of roses – but tolerance and sacrifice has seen them through.  (The Sunday Star Times)

“I’m not going to paint your life as a bed of roses, sweetheart, because it hasn’t been,” the urban seer divines. (The Guardian)

Powell’s life, complete with barbs from U.S. President Donald Trump, is not always a bed of roses. (Reuters)

Speaking to the media at Tirumala after darshan of Lord Venkateswara, she said Rama Rao’s life was not a bed of roses, he suffered a lot in his early life and struggled hard to become an actor and to reach the position of the most popular matinee idol.  (The Hans India)