a golden key can open any door »
Sufficient money can accomplish anything.
|
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.
|
a miss is as good as a mile »
A failure remains a failure, regardless of how close to success one has actually come.
|
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 rolling stone gathers no moss »
A person who never settles in one place will never be successful.A person who does not keep active will grow mouldy.
|
a stopped clock is right twice a day »
A normally unreliable person or instrument can occasionally provide correct information, even if only by accident.
|
abide by »
To accept a decision or law and act in accordance with it; to conform to; to acquiesce; as, to abide by an award.
|
accident of birth »
Reference to the fact that various benefits or detriments to the life of a person arise from the circumstances into which that person was born, these being entirely beyond his control.
|
accident waiting to happen »
A thing or situation which is almost certain to eventually lead to an accident.
|
according to »
According to him, every person was to be bought. - Thomas Babington Macaulay.
|
according to »
According to the directions, the glue takes 24 hours to dry.
|
according to »
Based on what is said or stated.
|
according to »
In a manner conforming or corresponding to; in proportion.
|
according to »
Our zeal should be according to knowledge. - Thomas Sprat.
|
according to Hoyle »
In strict accordance with the rules, especially of card games; in the proper or expected manner.
|
| New: We also know Zip Codes FYI! |
