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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beat one's head against a stone wall »
To waste effort on a futile project.
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bouncing off the walls »
Moving hyperactively.
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brick wall »
An obstacle.
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climb the walls »
To behave in a distressed or frantic manner; to feel very agitated.
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climbing the walls »
Present participle of climb the walls.
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cry for help »
In her second year at the school Alexis stopped doing her homework and would often scribble on walls. Her teachers wondered whether this was a cry for help, or if she was simply misbehaving.
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drive one up the wall »
To make a person very angry or bored; to infuriate.
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fly on the wall »
A quiet, non-participating, or unseen observer; an eavesdropper or witness.
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fourth wall »
The boundary between the fiction and the audience.
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fourth wall »
The imaginary invisible wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play.
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go down the wrong way »
To swallow food or drink so that it goes down the wrong tube in one's throat and makes one cough or for a short period lose one's breath or choke.
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go to the wall »
To make an all-out effort.
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handwriting on the wall »
Alternative form of writing on the wall. A divine prediction or sentence to fate.
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have one's back to the wall »
To have no other options remaining.
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off-the-wall »
Greatly inappropriate.
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off-the-wall »
Wildly unconventional; bizarre; absurd.
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one swallow does not a summer make »
One sighting or instance of an event does not necessarily indicate a trend.
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one swallow does not make a summer »
A sign is not proof
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one swallow doesn't make a summer »
One sighting or instance of an event does not necessarily indicate a trend.
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one two »
wall pass
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paper »
Wallpaper.
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piss money up the wall »
To waste money, normally through ineptness in business.
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pissing contest »
A boys' prankish competition to determine who can urinate the furthest up a wall.
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soft sawder »
"How the old boy swallowed my soft sawder and Brummagem notes!" —Tom Taylor, The Ticket-of-Leave Man.
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swallow one's pride »
To set aside one's feelings of pride and adopt a more humble or appropriate stance.
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swallow up »
To completely enclose or envelop.
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take down »
To remove something from a wall or similar vertical surface to which it is fixed.
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throw enough mud at the wall and 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.2005, Mike Busson (poster on UKScreen forum) Re: Voiceovers!, read at [1] on 02 Nov 06,In terms of places to send your URL or CD's, there's no easy answer. It really is a case of throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick.2005, "forwardone" (administrator posting on the HYIPForum), re: Alertpay phishing email, read at [2] on 02 Nov 06,I also think that sometimes they send out phishing e-mails in the hope that it`ll hit people who do have an account with a particular organization. You know, throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick theory.2006, Rob Manuel, How to be funny, read in Comedy Soup on the BBC website at [3] on 02 Nov 06,Throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick. Be prolific and don't be afraid to make stuff that's rubbish. If you keep trying eventually you'll get there.2006, Rex Pierce, Re: [303rd-Talk] D Day read on 303rd Bomb Group Talk Forum at [4] on 02 Nov 06,Believe the planners worked on the principle of "throw enough mud at the wall, and some of it will stick".If enough (perhaps false or reckless) accusations are made against someone, his reputation will suffer, whether or not this is deserved2006, "money" (poster on eTalk Money), Some thoughts about compact surfing, read at [5] on 02 Nov 06,Word of advice NVUS time to distance yourself from LuukH as quickly as possible and dish some dirt, otherwise well the saying goes - throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick.
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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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totus porcus »
Completely; unreservedly: swallowed the official version totus porcus.
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up the wall »
Crazy, mad.
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up the walls »
Very busy, swamped.
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wall in »
To enclose by surrounding with walls.
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wall off »
To separate with a wall.
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wall to wall carpets »
floor coverings
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wall up »
To seal with a wall.
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walls have ears »
There is a risk of being heard, so pay attention to what you say.
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wash down »
To help to swallow by drinking a liquid, after eating something, or taking a pill.
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whitewash »
A lime and water mixture for painting walls and fences bright white.
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