His command is cast in stone..

Shakaal’s every command was cast in stone for his gang members and he would feed those who digressed to hungry crocodiles.

It’s not something cast in stone but it is amply clear that to be successful you need good spoken English skills.

The phrase for this post is “cast in stone”. Now what happens when something gets cast or carved in stone – it becomes kind of permanent, unchangeable, unalterable.

Thus, something is said to be cast in stone if it is so permanent and fixed that it cannot be altered. No modifications or adjustments are possible in something that is cast in stone. It denotes a state of inflexible permanency – can be used both in the positive and negative sense.

Let’s take some examples:

1. The honor code of the Italian mafia is cast in stone – no one can break it and those who break the code are given a swift death.
2. The rules aren’t set in stone, they can be modified depending on the situation.
3. We love and respect our Constitution but our forefathers were insightful enough and have ensured that nothing is cast in stone and things can be changed according to the changed circumstances.
4.  The dictator’s commands are cast in stone and anyone who dares to question him is summarily executed.

Similar phrases are set in stone or carved in stone. Hindi equivalent would be पत्थर की लकीर.

Let’s close with some more examples:

1. This is the roadmap for new product development. It’s just a set of ideas really, nothing carved in stone and everything can be changed. What I want is a set of creative ideas so that we may be proud of our creation.
2. The Manager presented the product plan as if it were cast in stone and then asked us for creative ideas. Everyone was confused. If everything has been already decided, what is the point of exchanging ideas and if not then why do we call it the Final Product Roadmap.