a into g »
Ass into gear.
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a leopard cannot change its spots »
One cannot change one's own nature.1597, William Shakespeare, Richard II Act i, Scene 1 (First Folio):King. Lyons make Leopards tame.Mowbray. Yea but not change his ?pots.1611, King James Version of the Bible, Jeremiah 13:23:Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?1820, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe Chapter 32:End now all unkindness. Let us put the Jew to ransom, since the leopard will not change his spots, and a Jew he will continue to be.1918, Johnston McCulley, Thubway Tham's Inthane Moment:The leopard cannot change his spots, old boy.
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a penny saved is a penny earned »
A maxim for thrift that says that money not spent may be spent later, or may earn interest in the meantime
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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 watched pot never boils »
A process appears to go more slowly if one waits for it rather than engaging in other activities.
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absence makes the heart grow fonder »
When someone or something is faraway, you realise how much you love (or miss) them or it.
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ad fontes »
Go to the sources: An expression emphasizing the importance of conducting fundamental research and of consulting primary sources.
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admiral of the blue »
A landlord or publican wearing a blue apron, as was formerly the custom among men of that vocation.
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after one's own heart »
Of a person: having the same ideas, opinions or behaviour as oneself.
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against the grain »
To sand or plane a piece of wood parallel or nearly parallel to the fibers such that splinters forming ahead of the tool originate below the cutting surface.
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ahead of one's time »
Showing characteristics of changes yet to be; present in one's work before later advances in the field; coming earlier than could be generally accepted.
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all but »
nearly; except that
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all cats are grey in the dark »
In the dark, physical appearance is unimportant.
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all clear »
permission to proceed
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all ears »
Awaiting an explanation.
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