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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age before beauty »
A phrase said to allow older people to go before younger ones.
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air out »
To expose to air; to leave open or spread out, as to allow odor or moisture to dissipate.
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all hollow »
Common misspelling of all hallow.
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allow for »
To take into account when making plans.
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blind »
A covering for a window to keep out light. The covering may be made of cloth or of narrow slats that can block light or allow it to pass.
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buzz up »
To allow entrance into a building from a higher floor by triggering an electronic lock.
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circle the wagons »
To draw a wagon train into a circle to allow the wagons to provide cover when under attack.
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divide and conquer »
A combination of political, military and economic strategies that aim to gain and maintain power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy.(computing) Applied to various algorithms, such as quicksort, that solve a problem by splitting it recursively into smaller problems until all of the remaining problems are trivial.(as imperative, proverb) In order to rule securely, don't allow alliances of your enemies.
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do justice »
To really allow to be apprehended in its full scope.
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fall on one's sword »
To commit suicide by allowing one’s body to drop onto the point of one’s sword..
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finders keepers »
The doctrine that whoever finds something is allowed to keep it
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gallows humor »
Comedy that makes light of death or other very serious matters.
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get away with »
To do something which is prohibited, forbidden or generally not allowed, and not be punished for the action.
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give 'em enough rope »
Allow one to function unhindered, or without further overbearing oversight.
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| BTW, Why won't you become an editor? |
