English Idiom: Steal someone’s thunder

Have you ever come up with a good idea only for someone else to bring it to the boss and take credit for it? If you have, then someone has stolen your thunder.

This means they did something before you could do it and then took the accolades or praise for it. In other words, you did all of the heavy lifting, and they took all the credit

As an example imagine you’ve been working with a partner on a research project for many years.

The project has finally ended and together the both of you have finished and submitted the paper for publication.

At long last, your paper is published. You get your hands on a copy only to be extremely shocked and disappointed. Your name is not on the document.

Your partner left your name off, and they did it on purpose.

They stole your thunder. Your partner has received a bonus for the findings, and now they are doing the TV interviews while you’re sitting at home talking to your lawyer.

It is not very nice to steal someone’s thunder, but it happens every day, especially if money is involved.