a cold day in Hell »
An event that will never happen.
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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.
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a lie has no legs »
You can't get away with a lie, the truth will always come out.
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a new broom sweeps clean »
New management will often make radical changes.
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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!
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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.
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about to »
Indicates something that will happen very soon; indicates that something is imminent.
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across the board »
A racing bet where one bets that the same competitor will place in first, second and third.
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against the grain »
Unwillingly, reluctantly. It went much against the grain with him, i.e. it was much against his inclination, or against his pluck.
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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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all things come to those who wait »
(dated) A patient seeker will be satisfied in due time; patience is a virtue.
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April showers bring May flowers »
April, traditionally a rainy period, gives way to May, when flowers will bloom because of the water provided to them by the April rains.By extension, that a period of discomfort can provide the basis for a period of happiness.
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at will »
At one's preference; as one sees fit.
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bad blood »
Feelings of hostility or ill will.
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bank night »
An event where patrons are enticed to buy entry tickets into some venue, for example a movie theater, with the anticipation that they will be entered into a drawing to win an amount of money if their ticket is drawn and they are on-site at the time of the winning.
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