a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush »
It is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than a mere potential of a greater one.
|
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!
|
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.
|
at first »
Initially; at the start.
|
back-to-back »
Identical or similar and sequential.
|
baptism by fire »
A change in initial attitude or ideals through a traumatic situation.
|
be-all and end-all »
Something considered to be of the utmost importance; something essential or ultimate.
|
big gun »
Someone who is powerful or influential most often in plural form.
|
bleeding edge »
Something very current, or modern where there may actually be a hazard or risk in using it, such as with potentially unstable software. The term relates to a sword.
|
borne out »
Substantiated.
|
break ground »
To initiate a new venture, or to advance beyond previous achievements.
|
break new ground »
By extension, to initiate a new venture.
|
bury the lead »
To begin a story with details of secondary importance to the reader while postponing more essential points or facts.
|
bury the lede »
To begin a story with details of secondary importance to the reader while postponing more essential points or facts.
|
busted flush »
A potential flush which ultimately was not filled.
|
busted flush »
Anything which ends up worthless despite great potential.
|
caucus race »
The competitive process in which a political party selects their candidate, esp. presidential; a primary election via caucus.
|
clean someone's clock »
To defeat decisively, in a physical fight or other competition or negotiation.
|
court martial »
military trial
|
cozy up »
With "to", to ingratiate oneself .
|
curveball »
An unexpected turn of events initiated by an opponent or chance.
|
damn with faint praise »
To provide praise that is so minimal or inconsequential as to actually amount to criticism.
|
don't be penny wise and pound foolish »
Don't be careful when it comes to spending small amounts of money, but careless when spending much larger amounts.Don't focus on minutiae and lose sight of the big picture; don't obsess over tiny inconsequential efficiencies while glaring inefficiencies are going on elsewhere.
|
drain the swamp when up to one's neck in alligators »
(idiomatic) When performing a long and complex task, and when you've gotten utterly immersed in secondary and tertiary unexpected tangential subtasks, it's easy to lose sight of the initial objective. This sort of distraction can be particularly problematic if the all-consuming subtask or sub-subtask is not, after all, particularly vital to the original, primary goal, but ends up sucking up time and resources (out of all proportion to its actual importance) only because it seems so urgent.
|
even handed »
impartial
|
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.
|
fencepost problem »
In computer programming, a problem dealing with how to treat the initial or boundary values of a discrete problem.
|
full-fledged »
Having full qualification, credentials or preparation; entire; real.
|
get one's foot in the door »
To initiate contact or a relationship; to gain access, especially to an entry-level job.
|
give away the store »
To transact, trade, or negotiate badly, by paying, providing, or conceding too much to the other party.
|
grass roots »
The essential foundation or source of something.
|
half-baked »
Partially cooked by heating in an oven.
|
has-been »
A formerly popular or influential person whose popularity or effectiveness has peaked and is now in decline. Typically said of professionals or celebrities whose primary success is behind them.
|
hedge one's bets »
To place bets with a third party in order to offset potential losses.
|
hold forth »
Talk at great length; expatiate; harangue.
|
in the running »
Of a candidate, potential or likely; worthy of consideration.
|
it takes all kinds to make a world »
Diversity is essential: the world would be incomplete if everyone were alike.He irons his clothes how?! That's crazy! Well, I guess it takes all kinds.
|
jump the queue »
To desire preferential treatment, undue influence; impatient.
|
king »
A powerful or influential person.
|
knowledge is power »
With knowledge and/or education, one's potential or ability to succeed in the pursuit of his objectives will certainly increase.
|
larger-than-life »
Very imposing, renowned, or impressively influential.
|
lay open »
In Japan and South Korea, to publish a patent for initial public review, prior to the formal application for registration.
|
lead time »
The amount of time between the initiation of some process and its completion, e.g. the time required to manufacture or procure a product; the time required before something can be provided or delivered.
|
lone gunman »
An individual person who acts on his or her own initiative, without partners, especially one who has sole responsibility for doing something questionable, confidential, or iniquitous.
|
meaty »
Substantial.
|
music to one's ear »
Some unexpected good news; a favorable outcome after some initial confusion or delay.
|
no smoke without fire »
Indicative of the fact that gossip or accusations are often substantiated by fact.
|
nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat »
The idea/proposed action is inconsequential to the current situation.
|
not have a leg to stand on »
To lack support, as in an argument, debate, or negotiation.
|
of sorts »
Resembling; similar to; in a way; partial or not entire; somewhat.
|
on the make »
Actively seeking an opportunity for self-advancement; eager to ingratiate oneself to others in order to secure some advantage.
|
one thousand »
Used in a common chronometric counting scheme, in which each iteration is sequentially numbered and supposed to be approximately one second in length.
|
part and parcel »
An integral or essential piece; that which must be done or accepted as part of something else.
|
pencil-neck »
An insubstantial person; a weakling.
|
pencil-necked »
Insubstantial; weak.
|
pencilneck »
An insubstantial person; a weakling.
|
poster child »
One who is a prototypical or quintessential example of something.
|
put down »
To pay an initial amount of money on a large purchase.
|
root cause »
An initiating cause of a chain of events which leads to an outcome or effect of interest.
|
rumor mill »
A group or network of persons who originate or promulgate gossip and other unsubstantiated claims.
|
set off »
To begin; to cause; to initiate.
|
shoot off at the mouth »
Don't let [presidential press secretary Ron] Ziegler shoot off at the mouth without our knowledge.
|
short strokes »
Bare essentials.
|
skate on thin ice »
In a risky, potentially dangerous or delicate situation.
|
slippery slope »
A chain of events that, once initiated, cannot be halted; especially one in which the final outcome is undesirable or precarious.
|
smart chance »
A substantial quantity of something.
|
smooth operator »
A person who accomplishes tasks with efficiency and grace, especially one with verbal skills who is persuasive in interpersonal relationships, negotiation, etc.
|
soapbox »
Especially when only tangentially relevant to an ongoing discussion.
|
sort of »
Approximately; in a way; partially; not quite; somewhat.
|
spark off »
To initiate something by providing the necessary conditions.
|
split hairs »
Tedious details; minutiae.
|
step up to the plate »
To initiate action; to assume a responsibility.
|
stickhandle »
To deal capably and swiftly with a situation, especially in a manner which deflects potential problems.
|
sticking point »
A disputed issue or state of affairs that causes an interruption or outright impasse in progress towards some goal or resolution, especially in negotiation or argumentation.
|
strip down »
To remove inessentials from.
|
take someone's point »
To grasp the essential meaning of what a person is saying.
|
take upon »
To take charge of an item of business, or an obligation, as a personal initiative.
|
talk down »
To negotiate a lower price.
|
talk turkey »
To talk or negotiate plainly, frankly, or seriously.
|
that's the way life is »
That is the way things happenCertain things cannot be changed, helped or improved; struggle and objection are pointless.1935, Louis Bromfield, The Man Who Had Everything [1], page 279:That's the way life is, and there's no use trying to go against it.1979, Jay Edward Abrams, A Theology of Christian Counseling: More Than Redemption [2], ISBN 0310511011, page 45:There are no standards, no values; that's the way life is. Learn to accept it and slide with it. Stop fighting it.2002, B. Eugene Ellison, Rings of the Templars, ISBN 059524050X, page 337:Shit happens; that's the way life is. In fact, I want you to take an additional thousand for your efforts.
|
there are plenty more fish in the sea »
There are many more potential opportunities available.
|
there are plenty of fish in the sea »
There are many more potential opportunities available.
|
toss-upness »
The quality of being a toss-up, usually used in reference to a toss-up state in American presidential elections.
|
under one's hat »
Concealed; confidential; secret.
|
when you're up to your neck in alligators, it's easy to forget that the initial objective was to drain the swamp »
Only because it seems so urgent.
|
worth the risk »
The benefit of the success is more valuable than the problems caused by the potential loss.
|
| Search from any page on the Web with Abbreviations.com AutoSearch. It's free! |
[