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.
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albatross »
Any of various large seabirds of the family Diomedeidae ranging widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific and having a hooked beak and long narrow wings.
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all cats are gray at night »
Variant of all cats are grey in the dark.
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all cats are gray in the dark »
Variant of all cats are grey in the dark.
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all cats are grey at night »
Variant of all cats are grey in the dark.
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arsy varsey »
Tumbling upside down; head over heels.
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barrel »
The quantity which constitutes a full barrel. This varies for different articles and also in different places for the same article, being regulated by custom or by law. A barrel of wine is 31 1/2 gallons; a barrel of flour is 196 pounds; of beer 31 gallons; of ale 32 gallons; of crude oil 42 gallons.
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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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bright-line rule »
A clearly defined rule or standard, comprised of objective factors, which leaves little or no room for varying interpretation.
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bunny hop »
A dance from the big band era, a variation of the conga.
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carry one's own weight »
A variant of carry one's weight.
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common or garden variety »
Ordinary, standard. Nothing special.
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cut a swath »
Variant form of cut a wide swath.
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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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don't shit where you eat »
(idiomatic, vulgar) One should not cause trouble in a place, group, or situation in which one regularly finds oneself.1998 April 14, Nelson Navarro, "Ever faithful, ever true," Manila Standard (Philippines) (retrieved 12 Aug. 2011):The guiding principle is Don't shit where you eat. Office romances are always destructive of morale and objectivity.2003 Oct. 8, Jonathan Valania, "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Pussy," Philadelphia Weekly (retrieved 12 Aug. 2011):Limbaugh was scheduled to deliver the keynote speech at the NAB convention in, of all places, Philadelphia, thus violating the cardinal law of the animal kingdom: Don't shit where you eat.2006 Sept. 19, Michael Musto, "NY Mirror," Village Voice (retrieved 12 Aug. 2011):Mitchell refused to indulge in on-set romances with either gender. "You don't shit where you eat," he told me, plainly.
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| BTW, Why won't you become an editor? |
