ad fontes »
Go to the sources: An expression emphasizing the importance of conducting fundamental research and of consulting primary sources.
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break rank »
To march or charge out of the designated order in a military unit.
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bridge »
A song contained within another song, often demarcated by meter, key, or melody.
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carry the message to Garcia »
To perform a requisite task despite obstacles.
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carry the message to Garcia »
To perform a requisite task without having been informed specifically by what method to do so.
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che sara sara »
Used to express a personal philosophy of fatalism1892 March 17, Cigarette,
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come the acid »
To make oneself unpleasant, especially by sarcasm.
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couldn't happen to a nicer »
Sarcastically asserts that those in question thoroughly deserve their fate.
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crown jewels »
The jewelry that accompany the office of rulership in a monarchy. I.e., crown, scepter, signet ring, etc.
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crowned heads »
monarchs
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deliver the message to Garcia »
...grasp the demands and exactions of business life. He learns that the main thing to do is to "deliver the message to Garcia"....
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deliver the message to Garcia »
...heaves in a deep breath, gathers himself as though he's crossed a continent to deliver the message to Garcia.
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deliver the message to Garcia »
Alternative form of carry the message to Garcia.
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deliver the message to Garcia »
Programmers are consistently dehumanized because so many do indeed deliver the message to Garcia only to be at best ignored.
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deliver the message to Garcia »
What we need is people who get the job done, no matter how. We don't want pickers who'll only learn if we use their preferred learning method. Have you read "A Message to Garcia" ? That's what we need today - young people who can deliver the message to Garcia.
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divvy up »
To divide or parcel out.
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economical with the truth »
Not telling the whole truth, especially in order to present a false image of a situation; untruthful; lying. Often used with sarcasm or satire.
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feed a cold, starve a fever »
Eating more will cure the common cold, and eating less will cure a fever.1887, J. H. Whelan, "The Treatment of Colds.", The Practitioner, vol. 38, pg. 180:"Feed a cold, starve a fever." There is a deal of wisdom in the first part of this advice. A person with a catarrh should take an abundance of light nutritious food, and some light wine, but avoid spirits, and above all tobacco.1968, Katinka Loeser, The Archers at Home, publ. Atheneum, New York, pg. 60:I have a cold. 'Feed a cold, starve a fever.' You certainly know that.2009, Shelly Reuben, Tabula Rasa, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ISBN 015101079X, pg. 60:They say feed a cold, starve a fever, but they don't tell you what to do when you got both, so I figured scrambled eggs, tea, and toast.
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few and far between »
Rare and scarce.
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fishing expedition »
A non-specific search for information, especially incriminating information.
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food chain »
A hierarchy.
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four score and seven years ago »
As an opener, a sometimes sarcastic indicator to indicate a past event being mentioned is particularly important.
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garbage in, garbage out »
(computing, information technology) If input data is not complete, accurate, and timely, then the resulting output is unreliable and of no useful value.1963, Raymond Crowley, "Robot Tax Collector Seeks Indications of 'Fudging'," Times Daily (Alabama, USA), 1 April (retrieved 26 July 2010):Officials explained that the quality of the computer's work depends on the quality of the data fed into it. Neil Hoke, administrative assistant to Stewart, quoted an adage of computer men: "Garbage in, garbage out."2008, Roger K. Lewis, "'In Architectural Design, Brains and Talent Trump the Best Software," Washington Post, 19 July (retrieved 26 July 2010):The old caveat "GIGO"
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get a room »
A jocular or sarcastic expression commanding a couple to stop displaying affection in public, and to rent a hotel or motel room to continue amorous activities in private.
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get one's marching orders »
To be dismissed disgracefully.
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keep an eye out »
To watch for, look for, or search for.
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king »
A male monarch; member of a royal family who is the supreme ruler of his nation.
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knacker's yard »
That area of a slaughterhouse where carcasses unfit for human consumption are rendered down to produce useful materials such as glue.
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lapsed academic »
A person formerly employed as a professor or researcher in a university or other institution of higher education, especially one who no longer attempts to remain current in his or her former academic field.
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leave no stone unturned »
To search thoroughly for something, looking in every conceivable place.
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legwork »
Work, especially research or preparation, that involves significant walking, travel, or similar effort.
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less is more »
That which is less complicated is often better understood and more appreciated than what is more complicated; simplicity is preferable to complexity; brevity in communication is more effective than verbosity.1855, Robert Browning, "Men and Women":Well, less is more, Lucrezia: I am judged.1954, "'Less Is More'," Time, 14 Jun.:The essence of Mies's architectural philosophy is in his famous and sometimes derided phrase, "Less is more." This means, he says, having "the greatest effect with the least means."2007, Gia Kourlas, "Dance Review: An Ordered World Defined With Soothing Spareness," New York Times, 3 Mar. (retrieved 22 Oct. 2008):The program, which features two premieres
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lock up »
To imprison or incarcerate someone.
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look for »
To search; to seek.
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mad as a March hare »
Crazy, demented.
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make oneself scarce »
To leave or depart, or to avoid or stay away.
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march to the beat of a different drum »
To do things in one's own way regardless of societal norms and expectations.
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mark time »
Marching in place; not going anywhere.
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monkey on one's back »
An addiction, especially to narcotic drugs.
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noarch »
Short for "no architecture". It is a term used mainly in package management systems to mark packages which are architecture independent. Such packages usually contain graphics, documentation or similar data that can be used on any architecture.
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on the loose »
Not incarcerated or in captivity; not under control.
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paper »
A written document that reports scientific or academic research and is usually subjected to peer review before publication in a scientific journal or in the proceedings of a scientific or academic meeting .
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parcel out »
To divide into portions or chunks; to ration.
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part and parcel »
An integral or essential piece; that which must be done or accepted as part of something else.
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peachy keen »
Extremely good, exactly right; all right. Often used in the negative or with an ironic or sarcastic connotation to mean the opposite.
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proverbs come in pairs »
Alternative form of proverbs run in pairs.1979, Irving Howe, John Hollander, David Bromwich, Literature as Experience: An Anthology, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, ISBN 0155511130, page 325:Sometimes proverbs come in pairs, the first one providing the context, the second, the revision.
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run down »
To find something or someone after searching for a long time.
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snipe hunt »
A prank in which a gullible victim is sent off on a fruitless search for a nonexistent item.
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steal a march »
To start early.
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steal a march on »
To get ahead of someone or something by starting earlier.
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stir-crazy »
Of a prisoner, mentally unbalanced due to prolonged incarceration.
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sugarcoated »
Coated with sugar.
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sugarcoated »
Made superficially more attractive. This often implies the reality has faults that are being hidden.
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thanks a bunch »
A mildly sarcastic thank you.
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thanks a bunch »
An unsarcastic thank you.
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think tank »
A group of which performs research and develops reports and recommendations on topics relating to strategic planning or public policy, and which is usually funded by corporations, interest groups, or government.
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those who will not when they may, when they will they shall have nay »
(archaic) One should take immediate advantage of an opportunity that may not be available later.
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throw dirt enough, and some will stick »
If enough allegations are made about someone or something, then even if they are all untrue, people's opinion of the person or thing will be diminished.1759, John Wesley, letter to John Downes, Rector of St. Michael's, Wood Street, read at Wesley Center Online at [1] on 14 Oct 06.I hope...that you are ignorant of the whole affair, and are so bold only because you are blind...And blind enough; so that you blunder on through thick and thin, bespattering all that come in your way, according to the old, laudable maxim, 'Throw dirt enough, and some will stick.'1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays, read at fullbooks.com on 14 Oct 06,But whatever harm a spiteful tongue could do them, he took care should be done. Only throw dirt enough, and some will stick.1864, John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Penguin Classics (1994), p. 10,Archbishop Whately used to say
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throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick »
Try the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful.2001, And still no one is shouting stop. read in The Kingdom archives at [1] on 02 Nov 06,Many team managers are of the philosophy that if you throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick. They believe that team preparation is all about physical fitness. They run the players into the ground and they believe they will be "flying on the day".2001, Robert McCrum, Let them eat cake, in The Observer 16 Dec 01, read on Guardian Unlimited site at [2] on 02 Nov 06,Australian publishing boomed and in the past 10 years the country's literary culture has undergone a mini golden age, capped by Carey's triumph at the 2001 Booker Prize. As one Australian arts administrator said to me many years ago: 'Listen, mate, if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.'2001, Chris Collin, Re: 2-cp speys on The Strathspey Server mailing list archive at [3] on 02 Nov 06,I am finding that "if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick". It doesn't always work of course (especially on the nights when the class is mostly the beginners), but the class seems to thrive on the challange.2005, Ray Craft (poster on The right scale blog), Fitzhooie and his Burden, read at [4] on 02 Nov 06,Prosecutors everywhere have bad habits of overcharging lots of cases, knowing that if the throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick.2005, Sean Kelleher, Spike Milligan: His part in our downfall in Business 07 Aug 05, read at [5] on 02 Nov 06,As long as there is negligible regulation and enforcement anyone can actually try and do the job...Weak regulation allows the industry to build strategies on full time recruitment. The theory goes: throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.c2005, Everything You've Learned About Marketing Is Wrong, read on LINC Performance website at [6] on 02 Nov 06,They have the money to continue to believe in the repetition side of the equation. You throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick. But it still isn
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today we are all »
March 11, 2004: Denis MacShane, Guardian Unlimited.
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touch%C3%A9 »
An acknowledgement of the success, appropriateness or superiority of an argument, sometimes used sarcastically to mock one's opponent's absurd logic.
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track down »
To hunt for or locate; to search for; to find.
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untar »
To extract a tar archive.
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wade through »
To do a boring, repetitive research task.
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wild-goose chase »
A futile search, a fruitless errand; a useless and often lengthy pursuit.
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yellow press »
Newspapers which publish sensationalist articles rather than well researched and sober journalism.
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yes to death »
To agree with someone, often sarcastically.
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zero in on »
To successfully narrow down a search.
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