a poacher turned gamekeeper



a poacher turned gamekeeper

  (British)
someone whose job seems to involve working against the person who is now doing the job which they did before
Usage notes: A poacher illegally kills and steals animals on someone else's land, and a gamekeeper's job is to stop this from happening.
He used to be the the union rep but now he's in management - a case of poacher turned gamekeeper.
See also: gamekeeper, poacher, turn

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
ŽIvko-Croatian, Serbian
ByssheBISHEnglish (Rare)
ClevelandKLEEV-ləndEnglish
Haley['heili]
ÁStrÍ&Eth;R-Ancient Scandinavian
Leonardole-o-NAHR-do (Italian, Spanish), lee-ə-NAHR-do (English)Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, History