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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agree to disagree »
To tolerate each other's opinion and stop arguing; to acknowledge that an agreement will not be reached.
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an apple a day »
Healthy eating and living using traditional temperate-zone fresh foods.
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at the end of one's tether »
At the limit of one’s patience; frustrated or annoyed..
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back office »
The IT and infrastructure support services for a company, separate from the public face of the business.
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bear out »
To corroborate, prove, or confirm; to demonstrate; to provide evidence for.
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beefed out »
Muscular, often in an exaggerated way.
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big mouth »
The mouth of someone who talks too much, especially by making exaggerated claims or by inappropriately revealing information.
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big up »
To proclaim or exaggerate the importance of.
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bite someone's head off »
To severely berate someone.
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blanket term »
A word or phrase that is used to describe multiple groups of related things. The degree of relation may vary. Blanket terms often trade specificity for ease-of-use; in other words, a blanket term by itself gives little detail about the things that it describes or the relationships between them, but is easy to say and remember. Blanket terms often originate as slang, and eventually become integrated into the general vocabulary.
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blot out »
To make something undecipherable; to obliterate.
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booze can »
A nightclub or bar, especially one which operates illegally or is otherwise disreputable.
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box-office bomb »
A motion picture that generates relatively low revenue at the box office, especially that which is less than the budget for the motion picture.
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break out »
To separate from a bundle.
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break up »
To break or separate into pieces; to disintegrate or come apart.
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break up »
To break or separate into pieces.
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break up »
To stop a fight; to separate people who are fighting.
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break wind »
To flatulate; fart; to expel gases generated during digestion through the anus.
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bring forth »
To create, generate, bring into existence.
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bump and grind »
A sexually suggestive dance involving exaggerated hip movements, especially a striptease dance.
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burn rubber »
To accelerate so rapidly from standstill that it leaves a mark of burnt rubber on the road from the tire.
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bust chops »
To nag; to berate or hound in an effort to elicit action.
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camel through the eye of a needle »
Hyperbole to illustrate that something is almost impossible to do or to happen.
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carry a tune »
To produce music, especially to sing, with accurate pitch.
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case in point »
An example that illustrates a point.
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cash cow »
A product, service, or enterprise that generates ongoing, high net free cash flows.
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chew somebody out »
To berate; to shout at someone.
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chew the scenery »
To display excessive emotion or to act in an exaggerated manner while performing; to be melodramatic; to be flamboyant.
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cold shoulder »
A deliberate act of disrespect; a slight or snub.
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come the acid »
To exaggerate.
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cook up »
To manufacture; to falsify; to devise an elaborate lie.
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cotton to »
To like; approve of, accept, or tolerate.
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cross paths »
To be, by chance, in the same physical place at the same time, as a result of two completely separate journeys.
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cross the aisle »
To vote, unite, or otherwise co-operate with members of another political party in order to achieve governmental or political action.
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crush out »
To force out or separate by pressure.
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curate's egg »
A thing which has good and bad parts.
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dead end »
A path or strategy that goes nowhere or is blocked on one end.
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desperate times call for desperate measures »
In adverse circumstances actions that might have been rejected under other circumstances may become the best choice.
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desperate times require desperate measures »
Alternative form of desperate times call for desperate measures.
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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 out »
to redecorate; to adorn
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do up »
To redecorate a room etc.
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do-or-die »
Requiring a determined or desperate effort to avoid the consequences of failure.
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drama queen »
Any exaggeratedly dramatic person.
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draw the line »
To set a boundary, rule, or limit, especially on what one will tolerate.
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dress up »
To decorate; to prettify.
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drum up »
To generate or encourage; to campaign for.
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dry out »
To have excess water evaporate or be otherwise removed.
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dusty miller »
A formulaic phrase for a miller, related to the dust generated in the milling process.
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fed up »
Frustrated, annoyed, tired .
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federal case »
Any over-exaggerated ordeal.
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filter down »
Of a liquid; to move slowly down to lower substrate levels.
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fire on all cylinders »
To operate as effectively as possible.
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first rate »
Superb, exceptional; of the best sort; very high quality.
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first things first »
Deal with matters of highest priority first; deal with matters in logical sequence.1922, H. G. Wells, The Secret Places of the Heart, ch.4,"First things first," said Sir Richmond. If we set about getting fuel sanely, if we do it as the deliberate, co-operative act of the whole species, then it follows that we shall look very closely into the use that is being made of it.1999, Frank Pellegrini, "House Republicans Quell Mutiny Over Tax Bounty," Time, 23 Jul.,Judging by the polls
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friend with benefits »
A friendship with no reserves when it comes to the release of shared sexual tension thus leading to sexual fraternization.
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game plan »
Any strategy devised to reach a given objective.
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garbage in, garbage out »
(computing, information technology) If input data is not complete, accurate, and timely, then the resulting output is unreliable and of no useful value.1963, Raymond Crowley, "Robot Tax Collector Seeks Indications of 'Fudging'," Times Daily (Alabama, USA), 1 April (retrieved 26 July 2010):Officials explained that the quality of the computer's work depends on the quality of the data fed into it. Neil Hoke, administrative assistant to Stewart, quoted an adage of computer men: "Garbage in, garbage out."2008, Roger K. Lewis, "'In Architectural Design, Brains and Talent Trump the Best Software," Washington Post, 19 July (retrieved 26 July 2010):The old caveat "GIGO"
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get on somebody's case »
To lecture, berate, or complain to somebody, especially to find fault or criticize.
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get someone's back up »
To annoy a person either deliberately or inadvertently.
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give as good as one gets »
To behave toward others in a manner resembling or commensurate with their behavior towards oneself, especially in a situation where one is insulted or otherwise ill-treated.
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give somebody what-for »
To admonish or berate; to speak angrily at somebody.
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go along with »
To comply with something, even if reluctantly; to accept or tolerate.
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go by the board »
To be superseded, rejected, or obliterated; to pass by with little consequence; to amount to nothing.
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go down the pan »
To fail or degenerate rapidly.
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go down the tubes »
To fail or degenerate rapidly.
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go downhill »
To worsen or degenerate.
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go to pot »
To decline or deteriorate.
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go to seed »
To deteriorate; to decline into an unkempt or debased condition.
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go to the dogs »
To decline or deteriorate.
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going rate »
The current standard or usual price, rate, or salary for something.
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grate »
A horizontal metal grille through which water, ash, or small objects can fall, while larger objects cannot.
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gravy train »
An occupation or any lucrative endeavor that generates considerable income whilst requiring little effort and carrying little risk.
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guilt trip »
A feeling of shame or embarrassment, especially if self-indulgent, unwarranted, exaggerated or felt over a significant period of time.
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gun it »
To accelerate or speed up quickly or suddenly.
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half a mind »
A moderate inclination.
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have had it up to here »
To have become very frustrated or angry; to have reached the limit of one's patience or forbearance.
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hem and haw »
To discuss, deliberate, or contemplate rather than taking action.
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hot lunch »
A sexual act in which a pouch of clingfilm or similar material filled with faeces is placed in one of the participants' mouth and subsequently penetrated by the second participant.
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house cooling party »
A party to celebrate when a person decides to leave a house or flat, and sometimes to help prepare the space for the incoming residents.
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in cold blood »
In a ruthless and unfeeling manner; premeditated and deliberate.
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jack up »
To raise, increase, or accelerate; often said of prices, fees, or rates. See also jack up the price.
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keep a weather eye open »
To be alert; to concentrate on a matter in hand.
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knuckle under »
To yield or cooperate when pressured or forced to do so.
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lay rubber »
To accelerate so rapidly from standstill that it leaves a mark of burnt rubber on the road from the tire.
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lead »
A thin strip of type metal, used to separate lines of type in printing.
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letters after one's name »
A list of abbreviations, separated by commas, representing the academic qualifications and civil or military honours achieved by a person.
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lock up »
To imprison or incarcerate someone.
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make a mountain out of a molehill »
To treat a problem as greater than it is; to blow something out of proportion; to exaggerate the importance of something trivial.
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make a virtue of necessity »
To make the best of a difficult situation; to recast or portray an action or situation in which one has no alternatives as an action or situation which was deliberately chosen on its merits.
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make the welkin ring »
By extension of , to celebrate or revel.
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mull over »
To think deeply about something; to ponder, deliberate or ruminate.
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mutton dressed as lamb »
A mature woman dressed in a style more suited to a young woman, especially if a deliberate attempt to appear young.
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nine day wonder »
Something that generates interest for a limited time and is then abandoned.
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nuts and bolts »
The basic, inner workings of something; the fundamentals or basics; that which makes something operate, on a basic level.
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off the mark »
Inaccurate; not correct or appropriate.
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on acid »
Exaggerated, bizarre or unpredictable.
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on purpose »
Purposefully; with intention; deliberately.
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on sufferance »
Unwillingly agreed to or barely tolerated.
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on the clock »
Remunerated per unit of time.
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on the clock »
Working at one's job; occupied in some manner during one's hours of remunerated employment.
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on the loose »
Not incarcerated or in captivity; not under control.
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one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind »
A cliché used to exaggerate an accomplishment or milestone..
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ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny »
(biology, social sciences, art, philosophy) The physical, cultural, moral, or intellectual development of each individual passes through stages similar to the developmental stages of that individual's species, society, or civilization.1905, J. A. Harris, "The Importance of Investigations of Seedling Stages," Science, New Series, vol. 22, no. 554, p. 186:With reference to seedling stages the statement that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny must be made with great reserve.1961, M. E. Wolfgang, "Pioneers in Criminology: Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)," The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, vol. 52, no. 4, p. 367:Haeckel maintained that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, and this idea was incorporated by Lombroso into his parallelism between the criminal and the child.2002, B. S. Jackson, "Models in Legal History: The Case of Biblical Law," Journal of Law and Religion, vol. 18, no. 1, p. 11:For even if we accept that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny," those responsible for the drafting of ancient legal documents were not children, and are hardly to be endowed with some form of infantile mentality.
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paint the town red »
To party or celebrate in a rowdy, wild manner, especially in a public place.
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park the car in Harvard Yard »
A sentence used to illustrate that the Boston accent is non-rhotic; typically pronounced "pahk the cah in Hahvad Yahd".
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pass through »
To infiltrate.
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pelt of the dog »
An immoderate, excessive quantity of alcohol drunk the morning after whilst suffering withdrawal symptoms or a hangover, which goes beyond alleviating the complaint to causing drunkenness; cf. hair of the dog.
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pick up speed »
accelerate
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play ball »
To work together; to cooperate.
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play fast and loose »
To be recklessly inaccurate, inappropriate, or otherwise ignoring guidelines and conventions.
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prawn cocktail offensive »
A strategy of the Labour Party in winning over important people in the world of finance.
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prove out »
To demonstrate the feasibility of.
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pull one's finger out »
To stop wasting time in preliminaries, and concentrate on the important task.
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put one's foot down »
To make a car go faster, accelerate.
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put someone's back up »
To annoy someone deliberately.
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put something into perspective »
To compare with something similar to give a clearer, more accurate idea.
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put up with »
To tolerate, suffer through, or allow, esp. something annoying.
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put words in somebody's mouth »
To attribute to somebody something he or she did not say; to claim inaccurately that somebody said or intended something.
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rag the puck »
To retain possession of the puck by skillful skating and stickhandling without attempting to score, as a deliberate tactic intended to use up time.
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raise the flag and see who salutes »
It generates, usually as a preliminary step.
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read somebody the riot act »
To scold or berate somebody; to reprimand.
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ride roughshod over »
To act in a bullying or inconsiderate manner; to display disregard towards someone or something.
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right as rain »
Correct; factually accurate.
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rip off »
To charge an exorbitant or unfair rate.
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ropable »
Upset; irate.
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rumor campaign »
A method of persuasion in which damaging rumors or innuendo are deliberately spread concerning a person or other target, while the source of the rumors tries to avoid detection.
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run off »
To operate by a particular energy source.
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run on »
To operate with a particular energy source.
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run on fumes »
By extension, to operate with few resources or little money.
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run on fumes »
To operate a vehicle that is low on fuel.
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say goodbye »
To separate from someone.
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screen out »
To use a screen, grate, sieve or similar means to separate large from small objects or particles.
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separate the wheat from the chaff »
To select only that which is of value.
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set aside »
To separate and reserve something for a specific purpose.
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shoot one's mouth off »
To make reckless or exaggerated statements.
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shoot oneself in the foot »
To deliberately sabotage an activity in order to avoid obligation, though it causes personal suffering. Origins in first world war trench warfare.
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show off »
To exhibit; to demonstrate one's skill, talent, etc. for its own sake.
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singing soprano »
Castrated or injured in the testicles.
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sit still »
To accept, tolerate, or acquiesce.
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skeleton crew »
The minimum number of personnel needed to operate and maintain an item at its most simple operating requirements, such as a ship or business, during an emergency or shut down, and at the same time, to keep vital functions operating.
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slow down »
Decelerate.
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slow up »
To slow, slow down, decelerate.
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snake oil »
Any product with exaggerated marketing but questionable or unverifiable quality.
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soapbox »
A crate for packing soap, or, by extension, any inexpensive crude platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it, especially when used for speeches.
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song and dance »
An excessively elaborate story or excuse used to justify something.
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sort out »
To organise or separate into groups, as a collection of items, so as to make tidy.
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sort out »
To separate from the remainder of a group; often construed with from.
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speed up »
To accelerate, to increase speed.
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spit the dummy »
To a situation childishly, in an angry or frustrated manner.
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split up »
Separate, disassociate, cause to come apart.
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stand for »
To tolerate.
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start up »
To begin to operate.
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step up »
To increase speed or rate.
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step up »
accelerate
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stop the lights »
An interjection expressing exasperation or incredulity. or to illustrate the humour in a situation.
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stretch the truth »
To exaggerate, often to the point where the truth is obscured or lost.
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strike through »
Partly obliterate text by drawing a continuous line through the centre thereof, usually to indicate the deletion of an error or obsolete information.
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swim with sharks »
To operate among dangerous people.
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swing for the fences »
To act in a way that might generate a very good result, but which also has a large chance of failing.
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take out of context »
To interpret something in a manner in which it was not intended to be understood, often deliberately.
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take sitting down »
To tolerate, accept, or acquiesce; to take no action.
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take to task »
To lecture, berate, admonish, or hold somebody accountable for his or her actions.
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talk out one's ass »
To speak authoritatively on a subject which one actually knows little about; to exaggerate.
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tall tale »
A greatly exaggerated, fantastic story.
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tell off »
To speak to someone rudely, disrespectfully or angrily; to berate; to unleash one's fury verbally towards someone.
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the end of one's rope »
At the limit of one’s patience, when one is so frustrated or annoyed that one can no longer take it..
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think of England »
To tolerate or endure bad sex. Used in conjunction with "I just lie on my back and.." "I just go through the motions and..." etc.
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think tank »
A group of which performs research and develops reports and recommendations on topics relating to strategic planning or public policy, and which is usually funded by corporations, interest groups, or government.
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third rate »
inferior
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throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick »
Try the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful.2001, And still no one is shouting stop. read in The Kingdom archives at [1] on 02 Nov 06,Many team managers are of the philosophy that if you throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick. They believe that team preparation is all about physical fitness. They run the players into the ground and they believe they will be "flying on the day".2001, Robert McCrum, Let them eat cake, in The Observer 16 Dec 01, read on Guardian Unlimited site at [2] on 02 Nov 06,Australian publishing boomed and in the past 10 years the country's literary culture has undergone a mini golden age, capped by Carey's triumph at the 2001 Booker Prize. As one Australian arts administrator said to me many years ago: 'Listen, mate, if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.'2001, Chris Collin, Re: 2-cp speys on The Strathspey Server mailing list archive at [3] on 02 Nov 06,I am finding that "if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick". It doesn't always work of course (especially on the nights when the class is mostly the beginners), but the class seems to thrive on the challange.2005, Ray Craft (poster on The right scale blog), Fitzhooie and his Burden, read at [4] on 02 Nov 06,Prosecutors everywhere have bad habits of overcharging lots of cases, knowing that if the throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick.2005, Sean Kelleher, Spike Milligan: His part in our downfall in Business 07 Aug 05, read at [5] on 02 Nov 06,As long as there is negligible regulation and enforcement anyone can actually try and do the job...Weak regulation allows the industry to build strategies on full time recruitment. The theory goes: throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.c2005, Everything You've Learned About Marketing Is Wrong, read on LINC Performance website at [6] on 02 Nov 06,They have the money to continue to believe in the repetition side of the equation. You throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick. But it still isn
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throw shapes »
To act tough or put up a front. For example, to threaten a person by making "karate chops" at them, without actually doing harm or knowing karate.
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time and material »
A form of contractual compensation involving payment for materials used and at agreed rates for the those involved in performing the services.
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turn a blind eye »
To ignore or deliberately overlook, especially with respect to something unpleasant or improper.
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two can play that game »
The tactics and/or strategies of an enemy can be used against him.
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wall off »
To separate with a wall.
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wear out »
To deteriorate or become unusable or ineffective due to continued use, exposure, or strain.
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whisper campaign »
A method of persuasion in which damaging rumors or innuendo are deliberately spread concerning a person or other target, while the source of the rumors tries to avoid detection.
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white lie »
A deliberate, untrue statement which does no harm or is intended to produce a favorable result.
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whomp up »
To incite or generate.
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wide of the mark »
Inaccurate.
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zero in on »
To concentrate or focus one's attention on at task.
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