a picture paints a thousand words »
A visualisation is a better description than a verbal description.1971, David Gates (of Bread), If, from Manna album:If a picture paints a thousand wordsThen why can't I paint you;The words will never showThe you I've come to know.1989, Alan Kay, quoted in K?o-tung Huang, Timothy D. Huang, Introduction to Chinese, Japanese and Korean Computing, World Scientific, ISBN 9971506645, p. 9:Most human beings, no matter how familiar they are with abstract symbols, respond to voice and images better than written language. In other words, A picture paints a thousand words.2006, Paul Shakespeare, Building a Dune Buggy: The Essential Manual, ISBN 1904788734, p. 52:See accompanying diagram: a picture paints a thousand words, and all that!
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a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down »
An otherwise unpleasant situation can be pleasant when a pleasant aspect is deliberately introduced.1999, Eli Yassif, The Hebrew Folktale: History, Genre, Meaning, Indiana University Press, ISBN 0253335833, page 372,One is known as the "sweetening parable," that is to say a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Thus, when the aim is to preach to the people, to guide them along the "bitter," arduous path of upholding burdensome precepts and prohibitions, a tale can lighten the load, make the "medicine" easier "to swallow."2001, Maureen Reagan, First Father, First Daughter: A Memoir, Little, Brown, ISBN 0316736368, page 319,It put some fun into the tedious business of preparing for a presidential debate. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, right?2004, John Hoover, How to Work for an Idiot: Survive & Thrive... Without Killing Your Boss, Career Press, ISBN 1564147045, page 11,If a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, a barrel of laughs can wash down the big pills you might need to swallow.
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abstract nonsense »
Details which involve diagram chasing.
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any press is good press »
Being mentioned in the media is beneficial to the subject because it gets publicity.
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at a moment's notice »
Immediately; instantaneously; without need of warning.
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at once »
Immediately; now; right away.
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blow chunks »
To suffer from explosive diarrhea.
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but seriously folks »
Directs attention to immediately preceding failed attempt at humor.
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catch-as-catch-can »
A. 1681, John Fryer, Richard Chiswell, Robert Roberts, Robert White, A New Account of East-India and Persia, in Eight Letters, Being Nine Years Travels, Begun 1672 and Finished 1681.
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charity mugger »
A person employed by a charity, or by an intermediary fundraising agency employed by the charity, who stands in the street and invites passersby to set up standing orders or direct debits to make regular donations to the charity.
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cutie pie »
A small hand-held radiation meter.
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diamond in the rough »
A person whose goodness or other positive qualities are hidden by a harsh or unremarkable surface appearance.
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diamond in the rough »
An uncut diamond.
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diamonds are a girl's best friend »
A statement that suggests, while love is a luxury, material wealth (particularly jewellery) is more valuable in the long run.
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don't drive faster than your guardian angel can fly »
Driving (a vehicle) very fast is a dangerous act.
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down the road, not across the street »
Along the radial artery rather than across the wrist from side to side.
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drive-by media »
Media professionals who "spray" a bunch of repetitive misstatements, mistaken and misinterpreted news reports to cause excitement and confusion. They then figuratively "drive off" leaving the cleanup of their mess and hysteria to others, to correct and properly explain and interpret.
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drop back »
Of a quarterback or other player in the backfield, to take a number of steps back from the line of scrimmage immediately after the snap or hike of the ball, to avoid defenders.
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eat up »
To accept or believe entirely, immediately, and without questioning.
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every silver lining has a cloud »
Every good situation has the potential to turn bad.2007, Diab A. Shetayh, Actuality : The Reality RequiemA great partnership isn't a self-maintaining entity. Perseverance and persistence make it thrive. For every silver lining has a cloud. Ignorance of this reality is not an option.
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flutter in the dovecote »
I further argued that the principal cause for the political deadlock that persisted for thirty years after the guns fell silent was Israeli intransigence rather than Arab intransigence. The appearance of the first wave of revisionist studies excited a great deal of interest and controversy in the media and more than a flutter in the academic dovecote. — Israel Confronts Its Past.
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from the get-go »
From the very beginning; from the outset; immediately upon starting.
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from the word go »
From the very beginning; from the outset; immediately upon starting.
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go between »
an intermediary
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grey area »
An area intermediate between two mutually exclusive states or categories where the border between the two is fuzzy.
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gut feeling »
An instinct or intuition; an immediate or basic feeling or reaction without a logical rationale.
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here and now »
immediately
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high ground »
A location which is at a relatively high elevation, especially in comparison to the immediate surrounding area.
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hit the ground running »
To begin an activity immediately and with full commitment.
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in the limelight »
In the focus of attention, especially from the media.
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in the twinkling of an eye »
Immediately; instantaneously.
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into thin air »
Immediately and inexplicably out of sight.
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jump at the chance »
To immediately accept an offer.
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like water off a duck's back »
Without immediate or lasting effects.
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lion »
A large cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa, India and formerly to much of Europe. The term may apply to the species as a whole, to individuals, or to male individuals. It also applies to related species like mountain lions.
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look-in »
A quick short pass to a receiver running diagonally toward the center of the field.
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mess of pottage »
Something of trivial value, especially of immediate value.
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nice guy »
An adult male who seeks sexual attraction and romantic intimacy, but only finds cordial friendship and platonic love.
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off the bat »
From the start; immediately; right away.
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on sight »
Immediately when sighted.
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on the back burner »
Not immediate; inactive; receiving less than full or regular attention.
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on the double »
Rapidly or immediately.
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one-night stand »
A single sexual encounter between two individuals, where at least one of the parties has no immediate intention or expectation of establishing a longer-term sexual or romantic relationship. As the phrase implies, the relationship lasts for only one night.
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out of the box »
Immediately, without intervention from the customer.
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play second fiddle »
To play a subsidiary or subordinate role to someone or something else.
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right away »
Very soon; quickly; immediately.
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second banana »
A comedian who plays a secondary or supporting role, especially as straight man and traditionally in vaudeville or burlesque theatre.
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second banana »
A person who serves in a supporting, secondary, or subsidiary capacity; an assistant.
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shell out »
To use a program's "shell escape" function to execute an unrelated command or to invoke a subsidiary, interactive shell.
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shroud »
See also Wikipedia article on Shroud.
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stand up »
To stand immediately behind the wicket so as to catch balls from a slow or spin bowler, and to attempt to stump the batsman.
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straight away »
Very soon; quickly; immediately.
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straight man »
A member of a team of comic performers who plays a supporting role by helping to set up jokes and punch lines through engaging in preparatory dialog with the principal comedian; a foil who plays such a role in theatrical comedy.
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straight out of the chute »
Something done immediately, or "from the beginning". Taken from rodeo routine: the bucking bronco, or bull, or the calf for the calf-roping contest is kept in a narrow pen, a chute, until it is released and dashes out to its fate.
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take it easy »
Immediately calm yourself down; your state of panic does not help.
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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 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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timing is everything »
Consideration of other events can greatly influence some desired outcome (such as an audience laughing to a comedian's joke).Telling the old joke about a butt-crack was not a good idea, just as the plumber arrived, Bob.You know what they say: "timing is everything." I'm sure we can find another plumber before the house floods.
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today we are all »
March 11, 2004: Denis MacShane, Guardian Unlimited.
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top banana »
The principal comedian in a vaudeville or burlesque show.
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tout de suite »
Immediately, right away.
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turn back »
No turn a dial anticlockwise or adjust a clock or other meter to an earlier time or reading.
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walk the line »
To maintain an intermediate position between contrasting choices, opinions, etc..
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yak shaving »
Any apparently useless activity which, by allowing you to overcome intermediate difficulties, allows you to solve a larger problem.
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