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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ace up one's sleeve »
A surprise advantage of which others are not aware.
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against all odds »
Despite seemingly insurmountable opposition or probability.
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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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all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy »
Too much focus on one's career is often viewed unfavorably.Too much hard work and not enough leisure time can be unhealthy.
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back up »
As a security measure.
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bank on »
To be sure of something. To depend on it.
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baptism by fire »
A rite of passage through the survival or success of a crisis.
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be of two minds »
To be undecided or unsure; to equivocate; to have multiple opinions.
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beam up »
To be teleported over a long distance by means of a specific imaginary technology, specifically from the surface of a planet to an orbiting starship.
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beer and skittles »
Something pleasurable.
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behind closed doors »
Public disclosure.
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better an egg today than a hen tomorrow »
It is better to have a sure thing now than a possibility of more later.
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blow off »
To vent, usually, to reduce pressure in a container.
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blue moon »
Something absurd.
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