<0> <1> A (and) about time (too) [Disj](informal) and this is sth that ought to have happened some time ago, is long overdue (in the opinion of the speaker); not before time (qv)o John has been promoved, and about time considering all the years he has been with the company and all the hard work he has put in.□' The book you ordered is now in stock.'' About time, too, if I may say so. Do you realize I' ve been waiting six months for it?'o end position. above all (else) [Disj/A (PrepP)] especially;most importantly(in addition to all the matters already mentioned or implied) o Above all, he is blessed with a gift rare in any company and rarest of all in a British one—a naturally romantic stage presence. OBS□He longed above all else to see his wife and family again. □ In choosing the curtains for a room you should con-sider the material from the point of view of tex-ture, its weight, its pattern — but its colour above all. □ Disj in Above all, I know, believe,him to be fair, cf first example; front, middle or end position. above etc par (value) [A (PrepP)] (com-merce) at a price which is higher than etc the original, or face, value V: purchase, sell, dispose of. O: stock, share; equities, gilts. prep: above,△at, below o On the first day of trading in the new issue, interest was keen and at one point the price moved up to 30p above par value. □ This year it has been possible to purchase the stock at a price below par on the market and as a consequence the company will be cancelling£23,514 3 per cent debenture stock on January 1next. T above one's station [Comp/A (PrepP)](behaving, acting etc in the opinion of other people) in a superior way that one's social level does not entitle one to V: get, go; have, get,ideas; educate sb o ... a lad in the village, a deceitful smooth-tongued boy who'd got above his station. ASA □ (letter) This has curious echoes of something we have not heard for many years, viz. that the workers should not be educated above their station. Lo In a close-knit community such as a village there is an established hierarchy: a farm labourer's wife is seldom allowed to get ideas above her station.□ formerly used by some members of the upper classes of those thought to be inferior to them— see second example. ◇ △ get above oneself(Vol 1). accidents can happen (saying) (however careful one is) it is possible that sth unforeseen,and possibly damaging, may occur in the future over which one has no control o The story was not yet complete. Just as in real life accidents could happen; a character (ie a person in a story) might take control. OMIHo Don't commit yourself to completing the book this year——accidents can happen, you know. O stress pat-tern ' accidents ' can ' happen. ◇ △ next entry. accidents will happen (saying) when some mishap has occurred (eg sth has been broken, sth has been spilt) show forbearance to the per-son who caused it, or excuse oneself if one has caused it, by saying these words o Stop going on so about that broken jug. Accidents will hap-pen, you know. o The young waiter was obviously unnerved by such distinguished guests and slopped the first bowl of soup over the pop star's dress. ' Accidents will happen,' I murmured to my companion, ' even in three-star restaurants.'o stress pattern , accidents will ' happen. ◇ △previous entry. accidents etc will happen in the best-regulated families etc(saying) mishaps will unfortunately happen whatever precautions are taken to prevent them S: ac-cidents, △ it, these things. modal: will, can,seem to. o: families; schools, hospitals, offices□ (source) Accidents will occur in the best-regulated families, and in families not regulated they may be expected with confidence.and must be borne with philosophy. DAVID COP-PERFIELD (C DICKENS 1812-70) □ ' How does a kid like him get into the drug scene?'' Don't ask me.It seems to happen in the best-reguisted families, nowadays.'o They called it a computer error and accidents, we know, can happen in the best-regulated systems. according to sb [A (PrepP)] as has been said.written etc by sb o Today's text is taken from theGospel according to Si Matthew. oAccording to his uncle the boy is a good-for-nothing lay-about. according to sth [A (PrepP)] in relation to.corresponding to, sth (some criterion, sth al-ready existing, etc); in accordance with sth(qv)o: size, shape; cost, value; specifications, in-structions o Please arrange the books mecord-ing to size.□(advertisement) Salary scale £5500——£8500 according to qualifications and ex-perience.□ The client complained that the builder had not carried out the work according to the architect's instructions. o We must be prepared to modify our investment plans according to any new circumstances that may arise. according to/ by one's lights [A (PrepP)]applying, observing, one's own (perhaps limited and narrow) standards of morality,religion, behaviour etc V: live, act; behave,manage things o Her parents had, escording to their lights, maintained their respective stan-dards of value. She had let hers down. PWo They were open-hearted, and, though austere, their lives were lived justly according to their exact-ing lights. LWK □ Look here, Parkinson. I'm going to do some plain speaking. By our own lights, we' ve played this game pretty clean so far. TBC according to plan [A (PrepP)] exactly.precisely, as has previously been planned, ar-ranged, expected etc $/O: operation, task;transfer of power; take-over; it, everything,nothing. V: go, happen; accomplish, carry out,perform, sth o If all goes according to plan he will graduate next year. o What a morning I' ve 1 <2> aches and pains—— after all had' Nothing, but absolutely nothing. has gone according to plan. □ A part of me felt a great tenderness for her —— she was as trustful as a baby— but the most important part of me was continuing the operation according to plmay.RATT aches and pains[n + n non-rev] considerable fatigue esp in the muscles, or joints, all over one's body V: be all, be full of, suffer, feel o My body was present to me in a variety of achis and pains which made the external world almost in-visible. UTN o He had become like an old man.continually complaining and full of imaginary aches and pains. an/ one's Achilles' heel [Comp/O (NP)] a weakness, or fault, in sb or sth which may not be apparent, or known, to anybody but which if discovered can be used to damage, or destroy,him or it (from the legend of the Greek hero with an unprotected place on his heel which eventually caused his death) V: be, become;have, expose, find, reveal o A social climber can ill afford an Achilles heel, and this particular weakness on Hutchins' part would probably be disastrous to him sooner or later. HDo Indeed he himself describes ' emotional ambiguity' as a characteristic of his music. And therein, it seems to me, lies at once the source of its attractiveness and its Achilles' heel. OBS D Achilles with or without apostrophe. the acid test a thorough, crucial test, or trial,of sb's ability or the truth or viability of sth(from a chemical test using nitric acid to discover the gold content of egjewellery)V: be,become; apply: put sth to, subject sth to, submit(sth) to; stand, withstand o The acid test of an officer who aspires to high command is his ability to grasp quickly the essentials of a military problem. MFMo Its carbon count provides the acid test for the degree of antiquity claimed for un urchaeological find. an acquired taste[Comp(NP)] a liking for, or appreciation of, sth (eg unusual food, art)which does not come naturally to one, but can only be the result of constant use of, or ex-posure to, it $: snails, squid; beer, rum; abstract painting, jazz. V:△be; become o A taste for the work of any original artist is an acquired teste.AHo For the rest, I can believe that the author would be an acquired teste if you could only put up with his actual writing long enough to acquire it. SC□ Most people dislike beer when they first try it, but it soon becomes an acquired teste. across the board [Comp/A(PrepP)](esp com-merce) affecting everybody, or everything,without exception(esp of changes in prices or incomes in a group) $: cut, increase, offer. V:be, go; operate, be introduced o If the Govern-ment accepts this argument, it will mean rises in steel prices of 13.4 per cent across the board,yielding an extra£13.4m in a full year. To Some efforts have been made of late to bring syllabuses and examinations up to date. Any attempt to cut down on external graded credentials must, how-ever, go right access the board, or it will fail. oEach insurance agent can tell you about his own company's policies. For across-the-board comparative advice, it is still best to go to an insurance broker. St D attrib use an across-the-board increase. act the fool/ the giddy goat act in such a way as to amuse, and perhaps annoy, others:behave irresponsibly□Of course, if you will act the giddy goat in front of all your friends you must expect them to treat you accordingly. They may not take you seriously when you want them to. □ He doesn't mind acting the fool if it gets him out of doing some work.□ Please stop acting the fool with those golf clubs; if you break them your father will be furious. (an) act of God(esp law, insurance)a natural catastrophe such as a flood, earthquake, vol-canic eruption which causes destruction o... in-sured against all loss or damage including those occasioned by act of God. □ Some act of God——a typhoon perhaps, or the storm that had ac-companied his own arrival—— had banked sand inside the lagoon. LF act the part/ role(of sb)[V+0] pretend, by one's actions, to be a certain (kind of) person;assume a role, or character, for a time; behave in a certain way, that is perhaps untypical of oneself and overdramatic o: the stern father,the irate husband; the jilted wife, the cast-off mistress □ HUTCHINS: If you have taken a job as a chauffeur I shall have to remind you to behave like a chauffeur. LUMLEY: Of course, you' re a believer in acting the part, aren't you? HDo He found it hard to act the role of the genial host that night. O variant act (the part of) the stern father. action/ panic stations (military) a state of readiness, with everybody in his right position,that is adopted, ordered, before the start of a battle (esp a naval one); a general preparation and readiness for a particular event V: take; be at; go to; order sb to o When unidentified aircraft are spotted on the radar screens the ship is ordered to action stations as a precautionary measure. o The twins were turnbling and strug-gling to get upright—— to get to action stations,as it were. DF o When the staff heard that an inspector was in the school it was panic stations all round. □ often as a command; panic used in non-military contexts, usu facetiously. active sérvice[O/o (NP)] (military) involve-ment in actual fighting in a war etc as part of one's duty (as opposed to being in the reserves,having a desk job, etc); (fig) in use V: see,request; avoid, escape; be on, go on o We regret to inform you that your son has been reported missing while on active;érvicm overseas with his regiment. o Granny's old teapot still sees active service, after all these years. after aH' in the end after everything that has gone before D Searched the whole house and garden, he did—— and found it in his own pocket after all. □Though they cut him down by two hundred dollars he got his round figure after all.óMIHO usu end position. ◇△ at last. after alt² [Disj] contrary to, in spite of, every-thing that has gone before, what one has said,done etc, what one expected or hoped;nevertheless o Perhaps, after all, I will have a beer. QA□ Then Fergus doesn't know after all!DCoII was only a daughter after all. When they showed the creature to her, she turned her head away. WI O usu end, but occas front, position.after alị³[Disj] what is more important, or relevant, considering the circumstances; what 2 <3> after all one's efforts etc—— the age of miracles is not past should be realized, or remembered; when all is said and done (qv)o And what about Jimmy?After all, he's your husband. LBAo Who after all wants crude sewage and industrial effluent lap-ping at his door? It is nevertheless an accurate description of 16,000 miles of British rivers. DPM□Of course they' re not home from school vet! It's only three o' clock, after all o usu front, but occas end, position. after all one's efforts etc in spite of the trouble (that one has taken) o: one's efforts,work; the trouble/ fuss (that); the demands(that)□ After all my efforts to prepare the meal nobody wanted to eat it. □ After all the demands for action not one person could be found to take on the responsibility of organizing the protest. o He surrounds himself with guide books from the library and buys all the touring maps he can find. And after all that, he now says perhaps we should go to Cornwall as usual. after a fashion [A (PrepP)](be able to do sth)in a rudimentary, not very skilful, way (esp of skills that are usu acquired through training and practice)V:(can) paint(landscapes), skate.dance(a tango), tie knots o He's not very clever with his hands. He can mend a puncture on his bike after a fashion, but if anything else goes wrong his Dad has to deal with it.□He plays the violin after a fashion, but nobody in their right mind would pay to listen to him. O usu end position. ◇ △ next entry. after one's/ its fashion in one's/ its own par-ticular, different, or perhaps limited, way o He wanted to meet our bosses——I may say that after his fashion he was quite a big shot (ie important) himself. SMLo It was an imposing building after its fashion, but neither old enough nor beautiful enough to attract the tour-ists. ofront orend position.△previous entry.after hours [A (PrepP)] after the normal, or(legally) permitted, period of time for doing sth has finished V: open, remain open; serve sb oLook, you know as well as I do that I'd lose my licence if I served you drink after hours, oAfter-hours drinking is common in some country districts. □ Though interest in the new share issue had been high during the day, few after-hours dealings were reported. 口 attrib use after-hours drinking, dealings. against one's/ sb's better judgement[Comp/A (Prep P)] despite one's/ sb's opinion of what would be a better course of action or more suitable (esp because of undue pressure or per-suasion) V: be, go; act; persuade, influence.force, sb a I hope you realize that I'm acting against my better judgement in allowing you to get engaged before you' re eighteen. □ If you are going to persuade Mr Skipton, against his better judgement, to lead you to the bas fonds(= the underworld), I shall really have to ac-company you, if only to see that you come to no harm. USo The line of least resistance, backed up by cloudy visions of gain, had brought him here,rather against both his better judgenment and his conscience. ILIH against the/ one's grain [Comp/A (PrepP)]in a way that is forced, or unnatural and con-trary to one's personality or inclinations V: be,go: work; force, compel, sb□ All right for you.I have to work against the grain. You know the sort of thing. damned uncomfortable and no special virtue in it. HAA□ Her will was forcing her nature against its grain. PW ◇ △ go against the grain (Vol l). against the/ all (the) odds[A(Prep P)] des-pite strong opposition, some kind of disadvan-tage, etc; with little, or nothing, acting in one`s favour V: win, succeed; fight (on), carry on.det: the, all(the). adj: heavy,increasing□ Piggy sought in his mind for words to convey his passionate willingness to carry the conch against all odds. LF□They fought on against heavy odds and finally broke through the en-circling forces.□Ageinst all odds he succeeded in regaining the camp before his strength gave out.□ det or adj used, not both. against/ with the tide (of sb/ sth) [A(PrepP)](move, act) in a direction, way, that is opposite to/ the same as that of most other people V: flow、 fight (against); go, swim, flow(with)□ There was a stampede for the doors; she found herself borne with the tide of sweating.struggling humanity out of the hall and on to the pavement. □ He knew he would be unlikely to succeed in swimming against the tide(of public opinion) in this controversial issue. against the time etc(when) [A (PrepP)](formal) in anticipation of, and as a provision for, some event that is expected to occur in the future V: save, prepare sth; arm oneself. n: time,day (when); one's/ sb's return; a rainy day □This I fancy is what I have chiefly to record this evening against the day when my work will be done and perhaps no place left in my memory for... KLT□ We have now 14 cwt of potatoes in store against the hard winter and enough bric-à-brac to stock the entire Portobello Road for a month against our old age. NSo The old habit of saving a little something against a rainy day has almost entirely disappeared as people see the value of such saving continuously eroded by inflation. against one's/ sb's will/ inclination [A(PrepP)] contrary to one`s/ sb`s desires or wishesV:(be forced, force sb to) act, marry; sign sth oBut then the endless evenings of summer came and I was happy almos ! against my will. LLDR□A Company may be prevented from expanding in a certain area, but it is an entirely different matter to get them to start up in another area against their will. SC the age of chivalry is (not) dead (saying)the formal, and perhaps exaggerated, cour-tesies, such as those shown by a man to a woman in former times, have been or are being ignored (or observed) o She and I took one quick look at each other and from then on the age of chivalry was dead. I knew that she wouldn't hesitate to cheat, lie, bully and black-mail. LBA□ Rather grumpily he gave up his seat to her. 'I am glad to see, young man, she said as she settled herself with all her packages around her, ' that the age of chivalry is not quite deed among the younger generation.'o often used as(facetious) comment on an act, situation etc where one might normally expect some cour-tesy to be required. the age of miracles is not past(saying) sth good can happen, or has happened, that seems inexplicable, or is of a kind that might once 3 <4> an agonizing reappraisal (of sth)—— an Aladdin's cave have been considered to be the work of God oFeeling that the age of miracies was not past.I staggered into the hut with the heavy, heaving sacks, and then went in search of Jacquie and Ian to tell them the good news and get them to help me unpack the birds. DF o The day that any politician stands up and tells us the real truth about our economic situation —— on that day only will I believe that the s ge of miracles is not past. □ usu as (facetious) comment on an unex pected but pleasurable event, a complete reversal of a situation to one's advantage etc. an agonizing reappraisal (of sth)[Comp/O (NP)] (cliché) (a reconsideration leading to)a change in one's attitude, belief or opinion(about sth) that is difficult, or distressing, to make V: there be; make, bring(about), compel,force. o: the scheme, project, campaign o They(the space feats) have been so successful that they have been taken for granted, and the death of the Russians is a grim reminder of the hazards of space travel. Their fate will certainly bring an agonizing reappraisel of manned space flights.SC□ This means that I'm going to be able to put this Elixir straight into full production, straight on the world market! We must tell the Ministry.It alters our whole timetable. An agonizing——wonderfully agonizing reappraisal of the entireCopperthwaite Project! THH agree to differallow each other to have differ-ing opinions about sth or things in general, esp in order to avoid (further) argument o‘The sincere pursuit of truth can never be a Press stunt. Mr . Wagget,' the topographer insisted.' That is where I'm afraid you and I must agree to differ, said Wagget loftily. RMo' You don't actually like me overmuch, do you, Moriarty?"He laughed, ‘Let’ s say we agree to differ.’ TToS usu pl (we, they, you and l) and referring to the two people etc whose opinions differ.beg to differ. ahead of/ in advance of one's time[Comp/A(PrepP)] further advanced in knowledge, out-look etc than one's contemporaries, to the ex-tent that one is unlikely to be accepted, or recognized, except by following generations; be ahead/ ahead of (Vol 1)(qv) V: be, come; be born o Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks and draw-ings show him to have had a scientific imagina-tion and technological ingenuity well shond of his time. o I always say your grandfather was born ahead of his time. He would have been a far happier man in today's more liberal-minded society. ◇△ next entry. ahead of time/ schedule [Comp/A (PrepP)]in advance of an arranged, or particular, timeV: be, come; arrive, depart, be produced o 'Ihave an appointment for 10.30.’ he told the recep-tionist.'I'm a little ahead of time, I know, butI thought it would be better to wait here rather than walk about in the rain.’ a The new section of the motorway was completed in just over eight-een months, nearly two months aload of sched-uie. ◇ △ previous entry. aid and abet [v + v non-rev] (legal) act as an accomplice in some criminal activity; help, en-courage sb to do sth undesirable, antisocial,foolish etc O: him, her, us, them; the prisoner to escape, the accused in concealing the crime o... and her devious husband, adding and abet- ting her, thought out new variations on the theme of burglary and blackmailing. DC a He was brought to trial on a trumped-up charge of mid-ing and abetting.□ You seem to assume that I'm going to aid and abet you in fooling about with this contraption and going against your father's wishes. HDo I have consulted him and he con-fesses he cannot explain it (the error in dating)to himself. It was 'a clerical error of the mind'—— which I must perforce plead guilty to siding and abetting! RT o aiding and abetting often used without O, as in second example; siding and abetting often preceded by charge sb with,accuse sb of, arrest sb for—— these verbs often in passive eg be charged with, be arrested for. the almo tc of the exorcise the real reason for, the underlying purpose behind, some act or series of acts that may appear pointless or un-clear (from the military practice of holding training exercises with a particular purpose) n:aim, △ object, point, purpose o 'I wish I knew the aim of this particular exorcis,’ and he launched into an account of some incident that had happened in the ward that day. THHo She has fun and she makes us enjoy it too. And that, Itake it, is the point of the whole exercise. OBS□ 'I can't see why you waste your time going to those evening classes on art appreciation.'' The object of the exdircise,I'd have you know, is to improve my mind—— and precious little help Iget from you!’ air/ parade one's knowledge [V + 0 pess]show, demonstrate, the (great) amount of knowledge that one has on a subject or subjects,often in a boastful and superior way o Why don't you go in for one of those TV quizzes? It' ll give you a chance to air all that useless know-ledge you' ve been cluttering your brain up with over the years! o The author seldom misses an opportunity to parade his browledge; we are meant to be impressed, but for every fact he gets right there are half a dozen he gets wrong. air one's views etc[V + O pass] make one's opinions known, in either speech or writing(the implication sometimes being that the recipients may not like, or want, such opinions)O: views,▲ opinions; prejudices, ideas o He finished by saying that the purpose of the meeting was to air our views, and to give him ideas which he could think over. MFM o Is our particular personality inherited or shapedb y our environment? A distin-guished but often controversial author alrs his views on the subject of personality. STo And who asked you to air your opiniona? The nearest you' ve been to France is the end of Brighton Pier,so I doubt if anyone will be interested in your opinion of the French character. airs and process[n + n non-rev] affected manners intended to give an impression of fastidious refinement (but producing an op-posite effect on the observer) V: give oneself; be full of o She's kind-hearted enough once you get behind all her airs and gracer. a I don't think much of her son----he's so conceited, and as full of airs and graces as a young lord. □ (NONCE)The Contessa, the Renaia who had billions of lire, a castle here, a villa there, a grand apart-ment in Milan, was a pal, me alrs, only gracés.YWT D always pl. an Aladdin's cave [Comp/O (NP)] a place, a <5> alarm and despondency— all boys etc together source, of riches and wealth of a material kind or (fig) of purely aesthetic value, which has to be, or has been, discovered and made used of(from the treasure cave in the story ' Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp’) V: be, find sth;discover, reveal o It is hard to believe it can be so difficult to make a home among the terraces of Glasgow's beautiful West End housing———veritable Aladdin's cave of architectural treasure when you look below the grime. SC o /was taking Susan not as Susan, but as a Grade Alovely, as the daughter of a factory-owner, as the means of obtaining the key to the AInddin's cave of my ambitions. RATT alarm and despondency [n + n non-rev]acute fear and hopelessness felt in the face of sth that is happening, or is expected to happen V:cause, create, spread (among) o So I shall drive into Inverness tomorrow and try to get rid of what we used to call alarm and despondency in the war. RMo My purpose in trying to spread as much alarry and despondency as I can is twofold. In the first place, it is a service to the cause of historical truth. NS □ Wonderful im-promptu songs Dylan (Thomas) used to make up. I can remember one which described the im-pact of a vampire on Swansea Town Council, to the alarmand despondency of all concerned. Lalarms and excursions[n+ n non-rev] bust-le and disorganized activity of a noisy kind(from a stage direction alarums and excursions used in former times to indicate the noise of battle etc off-stage) o Having anticipated all sorts of alarums and excursions in the auditorium of the Coliseum... Lo He wouldn't like staying with us. He's not used to alarms and excursions, and you know the chaotic way we live. □ almost always used facetiously, esp with archaic form alarums. alive and kicking/ well [adj + adj non-rev](informal) (still) living, in good health, and active V: be (very much); find sb o In the next kennel was Spot with her newly born puppies. all of them alive and kicking. o' Is your grandfather still alive?’ Alive and kicking, I'm glad to say.'□ Korky the Cat is alive and well and still dig-ging in dustbins on the front page of ' The Dandy'(a children's comic). OBS alive to sth[Comp(AdjP)] completely aware of(the bad effect of sth, the implication of sth) V:△be; appear; make sb. o: the danger, risk; the seriousness of the situation; the opportunity,the possibility o The view of some owners (of trawlers) was that the blockade had served its purpose in making the Government alive to the difficulties caused by low-cost imported fish. To' But you may lose all your money if the venture fails!''I'm fully alive to that possibility, thank you. but I' ve decided to take the risk.' all agog[Comp(AdjP)] eager and full of excited anticipation $: he, they, we, I; the crowd, the children. V:△be, seem; leave sb. A: for him (to appear), for the results (to come through); to see him o I was all agog to see again the three-mile long beach of Traigh Swish on whose glitter-ing white sands... RM o The children were all agog for the show to begin and for Santa Claus to appear.□ They hung about, looking down the street, returned into the bookshop, and then came out again and waited all aged. UTN all along [A] (informal) continuously during the whole of a period of time (and esp in con-texts of deception, secrecy, or simple forgetful-ness); all the time² (qv) V: doubt, suspect,mistrust, sb; know, be sure of, sth o ' But, dar-ling, the whole thing's been my own silly stupid fault.'' Yours? Nonsense. Nikki! I'm to blame all along.'DILo There has been slightly too much criticism of this project to be comfortable, all along. NM□ Her employer said he had suspected the girl of pilfering all along. O usu end, but occas front, position; ambiguity in last example— either she was pilfering all the time or(more probably) he had suspected all the time.all along the line etc[A (PrepP)] in every way; at every point; in every aspect(of a matter,situation etc) o: line, △ road, way o These newer family magazines are making the older ones fight for existence all along the line because they are their direct competitors and successors. ULo Alexander let me run this private war in my own way. We gave him success all along the road and he was content to leave well alone. MFMo Probably the average child is not very much affected (ie by educational ` stream-ing'), but clearly the child marked 'C' loses all along the way. OBS all anyhow [A (AdvP)] (informal) carelessly;untidily: any old how(qv)V: do, leave, arrange,fix, sth o She rushes off to college and leaves her room all anyhow.□Give me a minute or two--I can't go into the drawing-room with my hair all anyhow. o He stuffed the papers all anyhow into his folder. O usu end position. all at once' [A (PrepP)] everybody or every-thing together, at the same time, quickly a It would be easier for the waiters if you didn't come in all at once∫or your lunch.□If you gave me a bigger basket I could bring the apples all at once.□She couldn't tell them much about the accident.' Everything just seemed to happen all at once,'she sạid. o front, middle or end position. allatonce²[A(PrepP)] suddenly and unexpect-edly; all of a sudden(qv)□Allatonce she found herself telling them everything about the evening.WI oI found myself all at once on the brink of panic. DOPa All at once, with the diminishing of the pain in his eye, the cold and exhaustion came back. PM o front, middle or end position.at one (fell) swoop. all being well [Disj] if everything happens as expected; if nothing goes wrong o I eventually temporized, and agreed, all being well, to return to Pakistan for three or four months annually for the next three years. SDo' See you next Wednes-day, my dear,' he said, taking his hat and looking round the ward, sharply, at each of the grannies in turn. ' All being well, ' she said. MMD variant if all is/ was well. all the best(informal) may everything go well□ All the best to you, my dear, and to the lucky man.□He lifted his whisky.' All the best. boys.'RATT o Goodbye then, and all the best ti ll nextChristmas.□I'd like to conclude my remarks by wishing Mr Wilk ins on all the very best on his retirement and by saying that all our thoughts go with him. □ often used as conclusion of letter;often polite, friendly remark with little mean-ing; also used with wish sb. all boysetc together[Comp(NP)](informal) 5 <6> all but----all in all members of a closely-knit group, sharing com-mon interests together, perhaps secretively and to the exclusion of other people eg of the op-posite sex, of different ages, etc V:△be; remain.n: boys, girls; friends, palso The men sat up late exchanging memories of the happy days when they had been all boys together. □ There's no need to get all steamed up over a few harmless jokes. I thought we were all boys together here.o ' Well Mr Miller,' she said in her all-boys-and-girls-together voice.' You remember what you said this morning?’ TToI didn’ t know, untilI asked Robert later, that it was the caretaker(Robert called him the‘concierge’, to show that we were all comopolitses together). CON o boys and girls may be literal in meaning or, more commonly, refer humorously or deprecatingly to adults; attrib use an all-boys-and-girls-together voice. all but'{A (PrepP)] all those persons or things referred to, with the exception of(one or more of them); all except o: one, two (of the people);one flower, one of the flowers; the slowest, the least able(students)□ A// but three of the girls passed their first-year examinations.□ Although its trunk had been stiffened with cement to stop its splitting and falling, all but one of its branches had withered and died. DC o The maximum of cooperation should be achieved to avoid all but the minimum of disturbance in international payments. sc all but²[A] almost; very nearly, but not quite□The lower wing-tip dipped and all but touched the water as the engines idled and finally splut-tered out. BMo... a swathe of convolvulus, the flowers growing so thickly they all but obscured the leaves. DF□ He turns and passes the table which has given Pacho, a rich man, all b urt apo-plexy. BMo He himself was all but bankrupt and couldn't help us. o' Was the patient dead when the doctor arrived?'' Allbut.'o modifies v, adj or n.all cats are gray in the dark (saying) dif-ferences between persons, animals, or things of a certain kind, are indistinguishable in the dark,or in other obscuring circumstances; any dif-ferences which exist no longer matter o Having lost my sense of smell, if I didn't see what I was eating I could only guess at it by the texture. It was not unlike all cats being grey in the dark.□ A libertine of the most cynical kind, he even affected not to remember whether a certain woman had been his mistress or not, saying that all cats were grey in the dark anyway. a His persecution mania is such that he suspects every-body. In his state of mind, all cats are grey and pose an equal threat. all clear (military signal) (the place is) free of danger now that enemy aircraft have gone, an attack has ended, etc;(fig)(the place is) clear of people, free of obstacles o All clear, now.They' ve just left in their car so there shouldn't be anybody in the house. One of his few memories of the war was sitting in dark and dank air-raid shelters waiting for the wail of sirens to sound theAll-clear. □ With both the unions and manage-ment actively in support, the Government may now feel it has the all-clear to tackle the problems facing British industry. O when not used as signal, may occur with give, get, sound.△ the coast is clear. all day and every day [n + n non-rev] con-tinuously; without ceasing; during the whole of one day and for a number of days afterwards oI worked all day and every day in my office caravan. MFMo We had glorious weather for our cruise, sunshine all day and every day.口I won-dered what he did, all day and every day. 'Ispend a lot of time writing at the moment. And,'he added, grinning quite sweetly. T follow a gentleman's pursuits. 'ST all the days of one's life[A (NP)] (formal)for as long as one will live, or has lived a(source) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. PSALMS XXIII6oThey had known only oppression and bitter poverty all the days of their lives, o Looking at the cheering audience in front of him, he knew that, old as he was, he would treasure this mo-ment of triumph all the days of his remaining life. all dressed up and/ with nowhere to go(catchphrase) wearing one's best clothes for a special occasion, but not actually having such a destination(eg because of a change in plans);(fig) obviously prepared for an event which has not taken place o' This is little Coral, Mr Red-fern,' she said.' Poor little dear, she doesn't seem to have anyone to love her. All dressed up and nowhere to go, eh dear?’ HAA□ We went to the opera last night, but only because Helen's party had to be cancelled at the last minute and we couldn't bear to be all dressed up with nowhere to go. o usu facetious. all ears/ eyes [Comp(NP)] attentive(by listen-ing or looking closely) V:△ be; seem, become□ ‘So nothing happened?’‘No we just mooched about all Sunday, killing time. There was just one thing though.' Isabel suddenly became all ours.PW □ Mrs Crawley, all ears as a good hostess should be, was pleased that her party had such good results. WDM□ Now children,I want you to be all eyes and ears for the first part of the lesson and then we' ll have questions afterwards.all important [Comp(NP)](be a matter) of the greatest importance, urgency, necessity etc V:▲ be, become; make sb/ sth a If the baby swal-lows a large object which obstructs breathing,speed of action is all important. Do not hesitate to lift him by the heels and thump him soundly on the back.□ There was at the centre of every' new'religion that I examined a very solid chunk ofShintoism or Buddhism or both —— an gif-important continuity. L o attrib use an pii-important meeting. all in all'[Disj](after) assessing everything(that has happened); after summing up the whole situation (and mentally comparing the good with the bad); all things considered (qv) V:taking it, considering it; taken, considered □AIIin all the battle had achieved what I had wanted.MFM o Aff in all, he had probably been a soft-hearted old thing, despite his brittle bones and acid pen. PPo All in all and all added up, this would lead you to believe that food is being taken very seriously indeed. Lo usu front position. all in alP[Comp (NP)] the main object of sb's love and devotion, to the exclusion ofeverything and everybody V: △ be; become, make sb/ sth o The daughter who had been her all in off had 6 <7> all is fair in love and war--all one needs left home; all she could look forward to were her fleeting visits, the occasional letter and telephone conversation. a.,. the urge to make the beloved happy, to do him good, to be all in all to him. Pw all is fair in love and war(saying) everything wrong, unethical etc that is done can be ex-cused, because the normal rules of society do not apply in situations of personal conflict or of emotional involvement o I'm sorry for poor Bill,Elsie, but I love you, and all's fair in love and war. RM□ Alas! I accepted that all was fair in love and war as far as primary things went, but if I could show a bit of decency in secondary ones.so much the better, I thought. SPL all is gas and gaiters (saying) everything is fine; the situation, or state of affairs, is ideal o(source—— spoken by a mad old man, a comic character in the novel) I see her now! My love,my live, my pride, my peerless beauty. She is come at last—— at last—— and all is gos and gaiters! NICHOLAS NICKLEBY(C DICKENS1872-70)□ The sun was shining. All sorts of trees were showing signs of life. The birds, in classic phrase,were a-hollering and a-bellering. All was gwi and gaiters. WDM□ Do what Uncle Charles ad-vises, and all will be gos and gaiters. RATT all is (not) lost there is no/ still some chance of recovery, success etc o Despite the defeat suf-fered by his army, the President could not be persuaded that all was lost and that his only hope was to negotiate with the rebels. □ But all was not necessarily lost. As I said, Desmond was a tough chap and he was determined to get as many of the gang as he could. DS□AII isn't lost yet. Though the judgement went against you here, you can still take your case on appeal to a higher court. all is not gold that glitters(saying)(a warn-ing that) sth/ sb may not be so good, valuable,admirable etc as it/ he appears to be on the sur-face; beauty is but/ only skin deep (qv) o(source) All that glisters is not gold ;/ Often have you heard that told. MERCHANT OF VENICE117o We should not deter our younger scientists from going overseas to the United States or elsewhere. They will gain valuable experience,and perhaps learn that all is not gold that glitters. To Don't be taken in by his stories about all the famous people he knows. Remember that all is not gold that glitters.口 glisters is archaic. all is (not) well (with sb) the general position, or situation, is (un) satisfactory o It has taken a little time to recover from the ac-cident but I'm glad to say that all is now well andI' ll be back at work next week. o I was beginning to suspect that all was not well with them, asI hadn't hadareply to my last two letters.□ There is a widespread feeling that all is not well with the disarmament talks. all kinds/ sorts ofsb/ sth many different var-ieties of people, things etc; all manner of sb/ sth(qv) o Everybody's been most sympathetic. All kinds of people have come up to me in the street and congratulated me on my stand against the Coun-cil.□ The new delicatessen caters for all kinds of tastes, provided, that is, you have enough money to indulge them. □(football) His speed and his beautifully placed crosses to the goal-mouth are creating all sorts of problems for the defence. o' And what will you be doing during the school holidays?' ' Oh, all sorts of things—— swimming. playing football, watching telly—— who knows!”all the King's horses and all the King's men can't/ couldn't do sth (saying) no-body, no group, however clever, powerful, in-fluential etc, is/ was able to do sth o(source) All the King's horses and all the King's men/Couldn't put Humpty together again. HUMPTY.DUMPTY (nursery rhyme)□If you haven't got a degree or diploma in engineering I doubt whether all the King's horses and all the King' s mom could get you a job with that particular firm.□The Black Cloud is on its way and neither you nor all the King's horses nor all the King's man,nor the King himself can stop it. TBC all manner of sb/ sth(formal) many different varieties of people/ things etc; all kinds/ sorts of sb/ sth(qv)□ All manner of people went to the protest meeting, from housewives to old age pen-sioners, from stockbrokèr s to bricklayers.□ And the foundations of the wall of the city were gar-nished with all mariner of precious stones. HAHo She turns the radio through all summer of sta-tions and back again until she finds some very loud dance music. R all men are created equa i all people have equal rights and are entitled to equal opportun-ity (the implication is not that all people are of equal merit and ability) o (source) We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by theirCreator with certain inalienable rights...AMERICAN DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE(1776)□ Much of this argument(against selective education based on intelligence tests) arises from a very praiseworthy desire to give all child-ren an equal chance, and to act on the principle that all men are created equal. Unfortunately the facts make it quite certain that all men are not created equal, and that heredity clearly discriminates between the bright and the dull.SNP D second example departs from original meaning of expression. all the more reason[Comp/O(NP)]a reason,justification or incentive stronger than othersV: it/ there be, appear, seem; have(got). A: for expecting a favourable outcome, for remaining firm, for telling the truth;(for sb) to act now, to insist on one's rights □ But if anything bad is going to happen, that's all the more regson for being as happy as I can, while I can. PEO'I haven't seen her for some time.'' So I gather. I hoped that would be all the more reason for your being glad to see her on this occasion.'EMo' It's taken you.a long time to make up your mind,' commentedLouie, laughing. ' All the more reason to act quickly now,' said Isobel. HAA□ Seeing the lack of common purpose among the Opposition Par-ties, the Government has all the more reason for being confident that it will be able to carry out its major reforms in the next two years. all one neads(ironic) what one does not want or need is is the thing or person specified; what will make one's difficulties, disappointments,inconvenience, discomfort worse, or complete,is that thing or person Comp: this, that; a visit from Aunt Edith, a power cut o Someone has offered Kena greyhound pup. That's all need.his wife objects. ' Nine up (in a high-rise block)with three kids under my feet, and now a bloody 7 <8> all of a dither etc—— all right great dog. ’ sc o Well, nobody could have had more trouble in getting from A to B. All wo needed now was to find that the hotel had no record of a booking and couldn't put us up. o variant that/ this is all i need used as exasperated comment on events. all of a dither etc[Comp(PrepP)] (informal)very confused and undecided (esp mentally) V:△ be, become, feel, get. n: dither, △ flutter,tremble o I don't think he' ll last long in that job.He gets all of a dither the moment there is the slightest suggestion of pressure. a She was trying to walk haughty like, but she was still all of a tremble. EM o I don't mind telling you, nurse,that I felt all of a flutter when they told me that that nice young doctor was going to examine me today. all of one hour etc[Comp/A (NP)] fully one hour, or such other precise period of time stated, during which sth happens V: be; last,take, live (somewhere). o: one hour, △ five days, three weeks, a month, ten years o It took the factory all of four months to clear the back-log of orders that had accumulated during the strike. o' Hi!' she said. ' Long time no see.'' Must be all of eight hours.'' Seems like a long time,'she said. TTo' He seems to know a lot aboutBrazil. I suppose he must have lived there some time?’‘Yes, all of a your—— which ofco urse makes him an expert on the country.'o usu indicates that the time spent on sth is long or too long or,ironically, not long enough. ail of one metre etc[Comp/O(NP)] fully one metre tall or long, or such other precise measurement (of size, area, quantity, weight etc) given V: be, look, seem; measure, contain,total. o: five feet; △ four kilos, ten stone; five kilometres, ten miles; one hectare, five acres;£5000; a thousand people o ' Why didn't you complain?''I wasn't going to start an argument with him. He was all of six foot and must have been a couple of stone heavier than me. "a The paddock was all of throo acros and it was sometimes difficult to catch the pony.□ Some of these seamstresses who work at home put in a forty-five hour week and for that they are paid all of the prounds. O usu indicates that measure-ment is (unexpectedly) large or, ironically, not large enough. all of a piece(with sth) [Comp(PrepP)] con-sistent (with sth); typical (of sth) V:△ be, ap-pear, seem; make sth o MRS PARADOCK: You should have led him on by pretending to think it was 1868. MR PARADOCK: It was all of a piece with his asking me to form a government. ARTo' Goodness isn't all of sp ice,' he said, ' any more than badness.'ASAo Everything I have written is related to everything else and its originator. Such as it is, it is all of a piece. AHo His bit of success had been good for him; he carried the weight of one who is, for the first time, all of a piece. NMall of a sudden[A(AdvP)] suddenly and unex-pectedly (and perhaps in circumstances that appear suspicious to the observer); all at once²(qv) a Alt of a mudden a November meteorite scorched its way across the sky. NMo Why are you so interested in Philip all of a suddon?EHOW o And what do you know about this all of a saddon? Ro front or end position.◇▲at one(fell) swoop. 8 all or nothing [n+ n non-rev] everything or nothing, with no half measures (esp of a total commitment to sth, a course of action, etc) DThe Museum wasn't interested in acquiring single items of the collection; it would buy all or nothing. aI'm not going to share you with any-body, you' ve got to give me all or nothing. o He is working sixteen hours a day just now, but it has always been all or nothing with him, as you know. ◇ △go the whole hog. all over (sb/ sth) [A (AdvP/PrepP)] on/ in every part(of sb/ sth); everywhere(on/ in sb/ sth)o: oneself, one's body; the chair, floor; the town, area, place o Sand had been blown all over everything in the tent. o I make her wash herself every day all over and if she won't I do it for her. PW o She was covered all over with a strange rash. o Posters plugging the new cigarette scream from hoardings all over theMidlands. a cf with third example She had a strange rash all over her body. all right' [Disj (AdjP)] (informal) certainly;without a doubt a He's a bright child all right,you must be very proud of him. o Yes, the con-signment has arrived all right, but several of the crates have been damaged in transit. o She pretended to be very busy looking at the shop-windows, but she saw me all right. o It's him all right, but if you hadn't pointed him out I would never have recognized him without his beard. o follows n,v, adj or adv; often used to prepare for some reservation, as in last example. all right²[Disj (AdjP)] (informal) I note what you say;I acknowledge what you say;I accept what you say o 'I' ll be home rather late tonight.'' All right. Have yougot your key with you, as I' ll probably be in bed?' o ' Don't you think we'd better have another meeting this time next week?”Oh, all right, though I'm not sure everybody' ll be able to get to it.' a ' But you were wrong,weren't you?'' All right, all right, so I was wrong! Can't you change the subject?'o attitude and tone of speaker can vary from simple politeness, to a certain amount of unwilling-ness, to a high degree of exasperation and anger. att right³[Comp (AdjP)] (informal) physically,or mentally, well; safe, content, happy etc V:△.be, seem, appear, look o He held her closely and reiterated, ' You' ll be all right while I'm away?'DC □ The doctor said I'd be s# right again in a couple of weeks. o She looked all right when Isaw her in hospital two days ago. all right[Comp (AdjP)] (informal) in good or-der; working properly; safe; undamaged; satis-factory and acceptable $: car, cleaner, drill;room, garden. V: △ be, seem, appear, look,feel, sound o We' ve given your car a full service.sir, and put in new brake linings. I think every thing should be all right now. a The safe appeared to be all right, but the thieves had ransacked the rest of the room. o It's all a# right. I' ve managed to get a seat on the afternoon flight so I should be able to get to the meeting. o I can't hear anything wrong with that record. It sounds all right to me.all right[Comp (AdjP)](informal) tolerable;acceptable; without conspicuous faults;adequate; without obvious drawbacks(sometimes in an implied contrast to other better or worse people or things)$: food, bed, <9> accommodation, surroundings. V:△be; seem,appear □ ' It will be one more obligation I have to this horrible family of mine.' ' I think your Aun!is rather a pet,' Nurse Ellen said mildly.' Oh, yes,she's all right.'DC□Oh, how dare she! I clothe my own children. Sarah's dresses are perfectly all right. DC □ Yes, that's all right so far as it goes. But remember that we can only read about a hundred words a minute, whereas we' re hoping to translate at least a hundred times faster than that. TBC□‘Did you enjoy the concert?’ Oh, it was all right in its way; but it wouldn't have done for the Royal Festival Hall. " all right[ Comp(AdjP)](informal) convenient;suitable; reasonable; not forbidden or wrong等:it. .. do that, it... if he does that. V:△be, app-ear; make sth. o‘Will it be all right,’ asked his secretary, if I have a little longer for lunch and make it up later?' o The cathedral doors were open so they thought it would be all right to go in. all right by/ with sb[Comp(AdjP)](informal)acceptable, not objected to (so far as it concerns sb, but not necessarily sb else) $: it; this, that;doing sth; whatever you do. V: △ be, seem;make sth o 'I' ll be a little late this evening, John.'' That's all right by me, as I' ve got some work to do.’□ They' re not her lips./ But they' re such temp-ting lips/ That I'm so glad you' re free./ And it's all right, it's all right with me. CPORTER all right for sb [Comp(AdjP)](informal) suit-able for, acceptable to, sb V: △ be, seem, ap-pearo That sort of bike may be all right for little kids, but now I'm twelve I want a proper racing model.□ All these petrol price-rises are all right.for you salesmen with your company cars and mileage allowances, but what about me? I soon won't be able to afford to run a car at all. aWorking in a nine-to-five office job is all right for some, but it wouldn't suit me at all. all right on the night/ day(informal) satis-factory, well done, when the time comes(esp of a dramatic performance or public event which is being rehearsed, planned etc and which is not going well) V:△be; go, turn out □ I'm sorry. Idon't quite know my lines yet, but I' ll be all right on the night, don't you worry. o ' Far too quick-ly' was the opinion of all the organizers of Coron-ation celebrations, for it is but human to take up the attitude that it will be all right on the day.WDM□ esp with it will, and used as confident prediction. all roads lead to Rome (saying) whatever ways, means or methods one chooses, any one or all of them will achieve eventually the same objective (as in ancient and medieval timesRome was considered the political, cultural and religious centre of the European world) o In other words, the starting point is quite irrelevant;as all roads lead to Rom●, so a person's thoughts and associations tend to lead towards his personal troubles, desires and wishes of the present moment. SNPo The religious ferment set in motion by the Oxford Movement and epi-tomized by the conversion of Newman and others to the Catholic Church might be said to reinforce the saying that all roads, sooner or later, head toRome. o Rome, as in second example, is now often used to signify Roman Catholic Church.all the same [Comp (AdjP)] (have) the same, all right—— all talk (and no action) usu undesirable, characteristics $: men,women; students, shopkeepers. V:△be, seem;find sb to be a ' Men!' she said.' They' re all the same! Lazy, useless, faithless good-for-nothings!’ o Don't talk to me about shopkeepers!They' re all the same---cheat you as soon as look at you! all/ just the same [Conj](informal) neverthe-less; at the same time²(qv); mark/ mind you(qv)□ Nicky was impossible to manage unless he trusted one. All the summ. Prissie must be told not to pa mper him. DCo‘Well, she has a young man, you know.'' All the same,I think she might like to join our Women's Institute.'PWo Pissar-ro, though he disliked the way Whistler puffed himself up, called him' an artist just the same',and he always kept an eye open for his work. NSo front, middle or end position. all the same(to sb) a matter of indifference,of little importance, cr interest, (to sb) A:whether you go or stay; if you decide to leave.V: △be; make sth o I dragged you out of the gutter once. If you want to go back there it's all the sam e to me. TOHa As long as there's a golf course nearby, it's all the sniore to Henry where we go for our holiday.□ Complain to the boss if you like, but it' ll be all the same in the end.□ Iʃit's all the same to you, I'd prefer to go shopping by myself. all set [Comp (AdjP)] positioned, ready and prepared (to do sth, for some activity, etc)S: he,she, they; everything. V:△be, feel, get, look.seem. A: to go, to leave, to sign (a document),to buy a house; for a fine old time, for a big argument o ' All set, Mr Carter?' The Navigat-ing Officer switched on a fuel line, and poised his right hand above a key. ' All set. sir.'TST a I had thought I was all set to get married. SML o !thought your invitation said it was an all-fish evening. My goodness,I was all set for oysters.clam chowder, lobsters, the lot. BM o may be used to check, or confirm, readiness to start, as in first example. all square(with sb) [Comp (AdjP)] an equal amount of eg points etc in a game or com-petition;(by repayment etc) clear of any debt or obligation. S: he, they,I, we; the team(s). V:△be; remain; make sth. o At half-time the teams were all square with two goals each.□ If I give you back the £5 you lent me, less a couple of pounds for the cigarettes and wine you borrowed on Saturday, will that make us all square?□I' ve just returned his loan, so I'm allsquare with him at last. all and sundry [n+ n non-rev] all the people indiscriminately, whoever they may be (eg who are present on a particular occasion, who may or may not have a proper interest in the matter)o This made Isabel nervous, whereas Harold had declared to all and sundry that it was exactly what he had expected. PWo Finally I must men-tion the constant advice I was given by all and sundry about how I should fight the battle. MFMI scrubbed and swabbed the last yard of the hall-way and opened wide the heavy oak street door,now visible to all and sundry. L all talk (and no action) [Comp (NP)](infor-mal) full of ideas, schemes, proposals etc for doing sth but never getting any further than talking about them; a matter of conversation, 9 <10> all things considered—— all too briefly etc discussion etc for future action but not ever accomplished; exaggerated, attention-seeking claims, opinions etcs: he, they, we, it; this, that.V:△be, seem; find sb o ' That man Brown said to me he would be coming back with a camera team to make a film about our village.'‘Don’ t take any notice of him, that fellow's miltalk and no action.'o' James surprised me last night when he spoke of giving up his job to do volunteer relief work overseas.' ' Oh, that was all talk. He in-dulges in these flights of fancy from time to time.’all things considered [Disj](after) consider-ing, thinking over, every aspect of a problem,situation etc; if everything(that has happened,etc) is taken into account; all in all' (qv) o l would, all things considered, have preferred to retrieve the book and been without the informa-tion. UTN□ Weren't you a bit harsh with the boy,all things considered?oAllthingsconsidered the quarterly trading figures can be interpreted as indicating an improvement in the balance of payments. o front, middle or end position. all things to all men [Comp (NP)](saying)(adopt, modify, one's behaviour, one's actions etc) in a way one thinks will be acceptable to the person, or persons, one is with (either in a genuine attempt to please or just to be ingratiat-ing)V:△be, become; attempt, seek, try, to be□(source) To the weak became I as weak, thatI might gain the weak; I am made all things to all mem, that I might by all means save some. tCOR IX 22□ Mirroring the confusion of the nation they now lead, there are some loyal to the past;some devotees of Marx, Mao or even Marcuse;still more who seek to be all things to all men.NSoShe was allthings to all me m and spent most of her life being so, because the men outnumbered the girls at Ford by four to one. RFW o am-biguous play on expression in last example,suggesting sexual availability. all this end heaven too (saying) not only does the Christian believer have a blessed and happy life on earth but he will also gain the final reward of heaven after his death;(fig) not only are the previously mentioned advantages avail-able but also sth else that is even more valuable or important o A beautiful, devoted wife; two intelligent, healthy children; a well-paid,interesting job: all this and heavon too—— he's just inherited a villa on the French Riviera. o(NONCE) One is genuinely in touch with things deep in the working of the mind, with the primitive, with sacred mythical time. AN this,and science too! The intellectual bases of social anthropology were laid by Herbert Spencer. NSall thumbs[Comp(NP)] clumsy, or awkward,in handling things (either as a permanent characteristic or on a particular occasion);(fig)tactless and insensitive in handling other peopleV:△ be, become; seem o When I was a kid, Iwas all thumbs; while the others followed those intricate instructions for modelling aeroplanes with absolute precision, my struts were always askew, my dihedrals drooped. Lo I'm sorry, Iseem all therms this morning. I don't seem able to type one short letter correctly. I think I' ve got a bout of ' flu coming on. a 'I have a mind and feelings that are all fingertips……’‘And Josie’ s feelings —— what about them?’'AN thembs.’EGD 10 all the time'[A (NP)] continuously and regularly, without ceasing V: appear, emerge,develop; vanish, decay o New stars are forming all the time; they emerge in clusters from tur-bulent clouds of gas. NSo But she was not in that state verging on hysteria all the time. DC all the time²[A(NP)] continuously during one whole period of time (esp in contexts of decep-tion, or forgetfulness); all along (qv) V: mis-lead, deceive, humbug, sb; pilfer, remove, sth oIt wasn't stolen by the burglar, you know. Saun-ders had it all the time. The night the burglar came, he saw his opportunity and hid it. DC oIthink they' re just stringing us along. They ob-viously have no intention of accepting our proposals, as all the time they' ve been negotiat-ing secretly with our rivals. O usu end, but occas front position; esp with perfect tenses. all the time(that)[Conj] throughout a period of time (during which sth else is happening);while; for as long as cl:(that)I was speaking,Ispoke;(that) he was ill;(that) these events were taking place a Our neighbour watered the gar-den for us all the time that we were away. a Acrowd of anti-nuclear protesters kept up a con-tinual barrage of heckling all the time the Minis-ter was speaking.□ Why must you fidget all the time I'm talking to you? o v in subordinate clause (which is usu placed at end) often past continuous; that usu omitted. all to the good [Comp (AdjP)] of a kind that can bring nothing but advantage or improve-ment $: change, development; it... that he's agreed to talk V:△be; seem, appear o It is all to the good that the (Conservative) party is to pay greater heed to the voice of youth. SC□Harry had married slightly above him, both socially,which may or may not be all to the good, and financially, which is beyond all doubt beneficent.SML o I agree there may be a few more visitors than usual, but that's all to the good from the point of view of people here. RM O △ be to the bad/ good. all together/ told [A] when all the items men-tioned are, or have been, counted and totalled;in all(qv)□ All the real work of the property was done with horses; all together we had about eighty on the place. RFWo I had fourpence a day for my food (I suppose I cost my hard-pressed father less than five shillings a week, all told).SD all too brief etc[Comp (AdjP)] much briefer etc than one considers desirable or suitable V:▲ be, seem, appear. adj: brief, short; familiar,natural, obvious; dreadful, grim; ready, willing,eager, anxious; likely o Finally, an all-too-bnief mention of the untiring efforts of the Com-mittee to make the evening a success. □ Readers who are all too familiar with popular articles on anthropology may be interested to learn that some recent investigations have involved a com-pletely novel approach. PL o She was all too prone to see herself as a case,a moral instance,neatly divided into pros and cons. Pwo attrib use,an all-too-brief mention, usu hyphenated. all too briefly etc[A (AdvP)] much more briefly etc than one would have liked, than one considers desirable or suitable V: disappear,move on; end, wind up. adv: briefly, quickly;soon, late; clearly, obviously; eagerly, reluc- <11> all very fine/ well (for sb)— along/ on the lines (of sth) tantly; often o He then dealt with the problems facing the firm in the coming months—— all too briefly in my opinion —— before going on to discuss the quarterly sales figures. □ I shall be leaving you all too soon.□AII too often, girls leave school and shut themselves into a tiny office prison, with stale air and staler ideas, because they just do not know what they want out of a job.Lo I congratulate myself on my good fortune; all too easily she might have been the usual sort of landlady, smelling of washing-soda and baking-powder. RATT all very fine/ well (for sb) [Comp (AdjP)](informal) reasonable, or understandable, in theory(as it concerns sb) but not reasonable, or understandable, in other circumstances or to another individual $: it, that; attitude, behav-iour; course of action, V:△be; seem; sound. o:him, her, us, them(to do sth); others, the major-ity. 口' And when I' ve done that, I' ll compare my results with your observations of those other planets.’‘That’ s all very fine,’ said theAstronomer Royal, ' but how do you propose to do all this in a couple of days?’ TBC□ The doctor told her to avoid worry and get a lot more rest.' All very fine for some, ' she thought, ' but look at me——a widow with four young children.’ a It was all very well for Flaubert to complain in1870 of the incorrigible barbarism of the human race. But in 1939 it was as difficult to feel superior to the mass of mankind as it was imposs-ible to remain aloof from it. AH o Dieting is all very well, but it has to be done with a good knowledge of food values.□AII very well for you to laugh! It's not you that has to clear up the mess. D but-cl or its equivalent usu present,introducing the ' reality'. all well and good [Comp (AdjP)] (informal)satisfactory (the implication usu being that other things are not satisfactory)V:△be, seem□(Fiorella gives up her job and stays at home)All well and good! In spite of a few well-meaning jokes from the family, this seems a thoroughly sensible solution to the problem. ARG□I know my sons are in steady jobs and happily married, That's all well and good, but I had hoped they'd be more ambitious for themselves.all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)(saying) if there is too much concentration on working and not enough time for relaxation or other interests, the worker will become bored and the quality of his work will deterio-rate o The boy is too wrapped up in his books. All work and no play isn't good for anyone. □ Try to see the last of the current World Cinema series. 'L' Atalante' (Friday, BBC 2). It should be a way to relax and stop Jack being a dullboy.RTo(NONCE) ' Americans ociety no longer has any viable concept of work': but the trouble is that the youth revolution hasn't such a concept either. All play and no work makes Jack a dumb jerk. Lo often adapted, as shown. all the year round [A (NP)] continuously throughout a complete year(esp irrespective of seasons or other natural or man-made divisions in the year)□(advertisement) Buy a deep-freeze and enjoy fresh strawberries and other garden produce all the year round, in season and out of season.□(advertisement) All you need is ' LegMake-up' which gives legs that golden glamour in a moment—— and all the year round. Ho He had never settled down into a rut like so many people of his age, and he believed that he owed much of his liveliness to the train journeys which he made all the year round. TCM all's well that ends well (saying) the whole matter、 affair etc has had a satisfactory out-come despite earlier difficulties o (source—title of a play by Shakespeare) All's well that ends well.□I'm sorry you had such difficulty in finding us, but all's well that ends well and now we can enjoy ourselves. one's / the allotted span (formal) seventy years, as the normal or likely length of a per-son's life o She is a Londoner born and bred and,for a woman some years past the allotted span, of a truly remarkable vigour and alertness. RMo If three score and ten years is my allotted spout.then I have to look at any time that's left to me as being in the nature of a bonus. an all-time high/ low[O/o (NP)] the highest/lowest point in a scale of measurement, better/worse than any observed or recorded before $;(rate, quantity of) production; (share price)index; (one's) morale; (the figures for) crime;moral/ educational standards. V: hit, reach; be at;(high) rise to;(low) fall to, plunge to o The year ended with the news that UK automobile production reached my off - time high in No-vember. U$□(reader's letter) The BBC usually excels in its holiday programmes, but this Christ-mas I really think it has hit a new high. RTo As far as the CID is concerned, morale is at an all-time low. □ English poetry has reached an all-time low in the past decade or two, but it's not as bad as this anthology paints it. Lo I hate the in-fighting within the party. My heart was in its boots at the time of the Common Market row; it was an all-time low for me. OBS口 variant a new high/ low. along/ on familiar etc lines [A (PrepP)] in a way that is familiar etc$: debate, discussion,argument; group, party. V: run, proceed, be conducted; work, divide. adj: familiar, expec-ted, the same, similar; different; unusual; demo-cratic o Luckily the Diamond Research Lab inJo' burg had been working along the syme lines, and they'd invented ways of ' labelling'diamonds. DS□ So far his argument had run on familiar lines but then he turned his attention to the Party Leader and started to attack his policies. a The members of the committee were sharply divided — the divisions being along ideological lines rather than being based on any objective consideration of the facts before them.□Pavlov considered these differences to be due to innate properties of the central nervous system.His explanation ran along the following lines .. SNP□ There are many methods of producing hypnosis; perhaps the most common is something along these lines...◇ ▲ next entry. along/ on the lines (of sth) [A (PrepP)] in the style of sth; in the way that V: make, con-struct, fashion, sth o I' ve been thinking of making a dress something along the lines of what you are wearing now. Would you mind? □Dave was to type the letter when he had drafted it along the lines we had agreed upon. UTNoThis world, too, cares much for recognizable suc-cess, but does not distribute it along the lines on 11 <12> (the) alpha and omega— and how! which he has been trained to win. UL O may modi-fy a preceding n. ◇ △ previous entry. (the) alpha and omega[n + n non-rev] the first or beginning and the last or end of sth, thus incorporating the most important features and often the whole aspect of it (from the names of the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet)V: △ be, remain; make sth o (source) I amAlphe and Omega, the beginning and the end-ing, sa ith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. REVELATION18□Adherence to the objectives of the Fourth Plan remains the alpha and omega of French economic and financial policy. To There is no-thing like one's first, or one's last, camp. Others may be more beautiful, but those at the beginning and end have a unique quality all their own. They are Alpha and Omega and they give, rather than take from one. LWK o(television) This has been an alpha-and-omega week's viewing; every programme seemed to be either the first of a new series or the last of an old one. Lo unusual attrib use, an alpha-and-omega week's viewing, in last example. always supposing (that) [Conj] if a poss-ible, or likely, specified condition is met o The cloud may have an appreciable heat of its own,and this might compensate us for the loss of sun-light, always supposing—— as I keep saying——that we do find ourselves in the cloud! TBCo ThenI will do a teacher training course—— always supposing I get my degree, of course. ancient/pæst history[Comp(NP)] sth, esp in a person's past, that is no longer the case, or is without significance or relevance to the present matter (and best forgotten)$: one's (misspent)youth; first marriage, early love affairs; it, that.V:△ be, become; make sth o It was all over,Oxford, the students, the Principal, the animals and Mother's friends. It was all the past. It was all ancient history. Ho' And Tom is engaged toStella.'' To Stella! I thought it was her cousin he was keen on!'' Oh, that's anclent history—— he's been going out with Stella for more than a year now.'o I know my name's not Larsen, because Ichanged it after I quarrelled with my old man.But that's pusc history; never mind that now. PE□ ancient used facetiously here. ancient and honourable [adj + adj non-rev](formal) having been in existence a long time and therefore respectable because of its age n:custom, practice, tradition o ' Mr President,gentlemen, began the speaker, ' in rising to address this ancient and howwable society l must confess to a certain nervousness.'o It was an ancient and homourable tradition of his office that each new Mayor should receive his insignia from his predecessor at a ceremony held in the town square. o The meal proceeded according to the ancient and homourable custom of grabbing what one could for oneself. O usu in attrib position with following n; facetious use in last example. ancient and modern[adj + adj non-rev] both old and new n: songs; styles; attitudes o(book title) Hymns Ancient and Modern for use in the services of the Church. □ For music, we used to borrow songs, mostly from musical comedies,ancient and modern, but I fancy I could write as good or better songs myself. To Because of the 12 various extensions built on from time to time the so-called castle is a jumble of ancient and modern (styles) and totally without architec-tural distinction. o often placed after n, as in second example. and all also; too; included; in addition o Duncan had stepped backwards over the gunwale of his boat and fallen, camera and all, into the IndianOcean. LWKo(advertisement) Corns come away cleanly, roots and all, after only a few simple applications of Freezone. Wlo' Please, Miss,I' ve finished that one,' said Doreen. ' So have I,' saidSylvia. ‘And copied from one another as usual. Isuppose, mistakes and all.'' No, Miss,' they said.TT o ' The Browns,' she said, looking up from her letter, ' have invited themselves here next weekend.' ' What! Children and all?'o modifies a preceding n. and all that(informal) and other similar things(esp when a full list could be tedious, when the speaker assumes that the listener knows what is implied, or when being diffident, dismissive or belittling); next entry (qv) o It is commonly thought that some magazines—— for example,those predominantly read by working-class women and usually spoken of as ' Peg's Paper and all that' - - - provide little other than un-diluted fantasy and sensation. UL o Ah, but he's known her all his life. Childhood sweethearts and all that. EHOWa TONY: Why am I on to oldMike?I like him. I always have. He's the salt of the earth and all that. EHOW o They know I'm nearly always there and they can come and talk to me if they' ve got any problems eway that andI like to be able to do their jobs. ST o often derogatory; variant and that as in last example usu associated with working-class speakers. and all that j az; etc(informal) and other similar things (esp when a full list would be tedious, when its speaker assumes that the lis-tener knows what is implied, or when being diffident, dismissive or belittling); previous entry(qv)n: jazz;△ rubbish, nonsense, tripe;stuff, kind, sort of thing;(taboo), crap o ' In a way, what is dramatic is the same as what is news.(' Man bites dog' and all that fazz). SCoThe headmaster delivered his usual Speech-Day tripe—— honour of the school, devotion to hard work, a healthy mind in a healthy body and all that crap.□If you came to work here, you would be expected to show some initiative—— dealing with routine correspondence on your own,answering the telephone, making bookings and reservations and all that sort of things. and a half [A(AdjP)](informal) of more than usual size, importance, worth etc o Nini was indeed a predicament —— in Robert's idiom, a predicament and a half. SML a You' ve got to admire her. She's a woman and a hall to be able to cope with that awful husband and bring up four children. o My goodness, that's a cabbage and a half! How do you get them to grow that size? □ modifies a preceding n. and howl (informal) yes, indeed; I agree strongly; you can say that again(qv)o' He's the fastest of the racing drivers we get on this circuit—— good-looking bloke too.'' And howi' agreed his daughter fervently. o‘Want a lift, mate?’asked the lorry driver. ' And how/ This ruck-sack's killing me.'o ' He's a rich man all right.' <13> and I don't know what (all)— answer/ obey the call (of duty) And how! Do you know, he gets more for one of those TV shows than you or I earn in a year.'o stress pattern , and ' how!. and I don't know what (all) (informal) and also any number of different things of a type already mentioned (that I cannot remember,describe or be bothered to mention)o... chaps with beards and silk scarves marching to and fro with their banners and petitions and I don't know what all and showing off. TGLY o There are boxes of old letters and rags and tins of paint and I don't know what all in the cupboard under the stairs. o We used to go from Delhi toKalka in our own private (railway) coach, which was absolutely slap-up. It had a private bath-room. a great double bedroom, and I don't know what. Father always used to change for dinner in it. L and one knows it(informal) one is very much aware of a fact, or truth, just previously stated o / wish you'd stop trying to cheer me up with that kind of talk. Alan's not coming back, and you know it. oOhyes, Rathbone's completely in our hands— we can expose him at any time and he knows it. TCBo The upshot was that the police wouldn't have him at any price and Show knowA. NS and no mistake/ error (informal) there can be no doubt about it o If you' re in the London telephone book, you' re in town, and if not, you live in the provinces. Well, we were in the provinces, and me error. CON o Well, precious,that' sa pretty stirring outfit you' re wearing, and w mistate. Never realized how much I adore polo sweaters until this instant. TGLY o I was properly scared and no mistake when the bull began to move towards me. 口 stress pattern and' no mistake; usu end position. and so on/ forth and other things of the same kind as have been already mentioned (without wishing to go into further detail) o' What were you talking about so long with Mrs Green?'' Oh,just about the children, and the school, and their hobbies and so forth.'o ' You still call me MrsGaye. You don't call my husband Mr Gaye orSquadron Leader.' 'I suppose it's because I' ve known him longer, working with him and so on.' DCo He went on about the need to work harder, moderate wage demands, invest more together (non-rev) to reinforce impression of redundant detail, as in last example. and that's a fact (informal) what has been previously stated is true (however extraordin-ary or unbelievable it may appear) o However many gallons you say you put in this morning, the tank is empty now, and that's a fact. a I don't know who he is or where he came from and that"s a fact. o It was just that when I came to the point — well, I hadn't the courage and that's the face. EM O the instead of a as in the last example is unusual; usu end position. and that's factl and that is the truth (as an emphatic addition to some statement regarding one's determination to do or not to do sth)oIwouldn't trust him further than I saw him——and that's fact/ o I have no intention of trying to smuggle your camera through the customs,and that's fact/ o I'm not buying tomatoes al75p a pound, and that's fectl and then some (informal) to an even greater degree (than sth else stated or implied) o TheBattle for Moscow'(BBC 1), third in the series on the Second World War , had all the faults of the first two programmes and then soroom. LoShe's as attractive as Marilyn Monroe一 and they some! o end position; stress pattern and' then some. the angel of dearth (the forewaming or heralding of) approaching death, personified oSome of the patients kept looking expectantly and fearfully at the entrance to the ward when-ever anyone was heard approaching, as if watch-ing for the Angel of Death. MMoGEORGE: Well,did you go to the doctor's? RUTH: Yes. GEORGE:Well——(laughing)—— don't stand there with the angel of desti e on your shoulder—— what did he say? EGD an angel of light [Comp(NP)] sb who is cheer-ful, good and kind to others V:△ be, appear,find sb□ Such a self-centred old man! If his wife wasn't the suvel of Hight she is, she'd have left him long ago.□ Send Mary to us for as long as you like; we' re both so fond of her, and she's an em gel of Nak t in the house. an angel of mercy [Comp (NP)] sb who helps people who are in need, or who are suffering in some way V:△be, appear, find sb o She exemp-ted the nurses. They had been lovely, everything they always said nurses were, regular angels of money, so kind and gentle with Stanley and so sympathetic with her. TSMP an angry young man (cliché) a young man,esp an intellectual, who objects to the moral,social, political etc attitudes of his time (and tries to change them by means of public protest or action, through his writings, etc) o ThePrime Minister said that in his youth, if the term had been invented then, he would have been classed as my energy young meam. OBS□ Between these assignments he was on the personal ForeignOffice staff of Edward Heath during our first frustrated negotiations to join the EEC. Heath called him his angry young mar. OBS □ first used in late 1950s of a group of young British writers (esp of John Osborne and his play` Look Back in Anger', though the expression does not appear in it). another cup of te d (informal) sb/ sth quite different from the person(s)/ things(s) previous-ly mentioned; a (very) different kettle of fish(qv) V: △ be; find sth, regard sth as o I don't object to giving you a helping hand now and then,as I' ve said before; but being made use of like this is another cup of tea. o He had met several of his room-mate's relatives and not much liked them, but this girl was another cup of tea al-together. o Even if you read French easily, you' ll find it's another cup of tea to make conversa-lion in French. enswer/ obey the cell(of duty) respond as a matter of conscience, patriotic feeling,religious belief, etc to a demand made of one(either by people in authority or as a result of one's own convictions) □ I would like to speak10 you today about the soldier —— about the fighting men who came from all parts of the Em-pire to myswer the call of durty. MFM o While still a student he felt he had been called to theMission Field. The time had now come to 13 <14> the answer is in the affirmative/ negative---enybody's guess answer that call. o now thought rather solemn or pompous; sometimes used allusively, as in second example. the answer is in the affirmative/nepative (catchphrase) the answer is‘yes’/' no' o We' ve applied to the Regional DistrictCouncil for planning permission. If the answer is in the affirmative we can start work within the month. SCo Her instructions had been to go to the hotel and ask if she had left a cardigan behind. The answer having been the negative, Marcus appeared and immediately swept her out on to the river bank for a drink.TCBo esp facetious. the answer is a lemon(catchphrase) the reply, or response, to sth is rejection; the result of sth is barren, futile o ' What did the boss say when you asked him for a rise?'' The answer, my dear, was a lemon—— not unexpected, but it was worth a try.’□ It's pretty depressing to produce a quality article like this, spend thousands of dol-lars on sales promotion, only to find that the public's amswer is a lomow. O wry comment on rejection, failure etc; now rather dated. answer pat answer immediately (though not necessarily correctly or truthfully) o So Ianswered up like a felon fighting for his freedom,and I angurered pat, because I was telling the truth, which is sometimes a help. PPo‘How,’ Iasked myself,' can Myrtle love me and not want to read my books? How can a woman separate the artist from the man?’ The designers came pget.Women not only can: they do. SPLO variant the answer came pat. the answer to a maiden's prayer [Comp(NP)} a man who is a particularly suitable part-ner because of his good looks, wealth, social standing, etc;(fig) sb or sth that is particularly desirable and right (for a purpose) V: △ be,seem; find, think, sb o Georgina pointedly and formally introduced her nephew. ‘If you’ re any-thing like your uncle, you' re the another to e madden's prayer, ' said Marianta. ARG o An unexpected legacy, a win on the pools, or some such answer to e maded's prayer, was the only thing that could save him from bankruptcy now.o(NONCE) The more permissive we become as a nation, the less permissive we expect our rulers to be. Fortunately, the first of the Windsors (ieQueen Victoria) was the answa r to a www's prayer. L any day [A(NP)](informal) whenever possible;whenever a choice can be made or stated; every time(qv)□ Youcan keep your expense accounts,company cars, overseas travel—— give me my country cottage and my books an y day. o' Fish?'‘No, thanks; I’ d rather have sausages an y day.’o used esp when one wishes to indicate one's strong preference for sth; usu end position;often with would rather/ sooner (do sth); stress pattern ' any day. any day (of the week) [A (NP)] (informal)whenever one wants and without any difficulty o Don't think they wouldn't fire you on my say so. We can get a dozen better than you an y day of the week. AITC□ Belfounder hasn't anything on us legally. As for young Donoghue, we can buy him any day of the week. UTNa He thinks he's a good golfer, but my kid brother could beat him any day. O stress pattern ' any day (of the week); 14 usu end position; usu with can/ could (do sth).any and every [det+ det non-rev] all different kinds of(people, things etc), taken together and without discrimination (esp in a dismissive or derogatory way) o He is a bit stand-offish, Iadmit, but do you blame him for refusing to meet any and every reporter who wants to interview him? □ Should a child be allowed to watch any and every programme that comes his way, or should his parents control his viewing? o The brother is a modern Churchman, which means, asI can see, an attachment to every and every belief save the dogmas of his own life religion. ASA口 of the prons anyone and everyone, anything and everything, anywhere and everywhere. any man's money [Comp (NP)] available,eager, to do anything provided there is (finan-cial etc) gain in it v: △ be; seem o Thus (to a man of Harold's type) barmaids were brassy,blatant, hard-voiced, impudent, vulgar, venal and above all, loose; they were any man's money.PWo He showed no allegiance to the Party and made no secret of being my man's moonay. (at) any moment [A (PrepP/NP)] very soon;any time etc now (qv) o The U-boat may be hanging round to pick up a survivor or two. She may surface at any moment. PM□ Everything was nightmarish, even Prissie's charming, con-cerned face that seemed strangely as if it might be distorted into something entirely different any moment. DC o But she was at home, with the children likely to come in at any moment, and everyone being so kind, she felt that the least she could do was to keep bright and cheerful. DC Dusu used with at. any old how [A] (informal) carelessly;untidily; all anyhow(qv)V: do, leave, arrange,fix, set, sth a I spend hours checking my piston rings to get the gaps right, and then I have tomess them up just because I haven't got a proper ring expander. Just have to stide the bastards on over the pistons any old how. HDo ' Look,' I said to the carpenter.' if I was content to have my shelves put up any old how,I'd have done the job myself instead of paying you to do it.’ any old place/ where[A (NP)] (informal)anywhere V: find, call in a I don't mind where we go for our holidays. You choose — may old place will do for me as long as there's plenty of sun and food and wine. a Put it down any old where for the time being. I' ll put it away later.any old time [A (NP)] (informal) at any timeV: come, call in o Just drop in to see us my old time. o He seems to think he can come to work any old time and sit and drink coffee and read the newspaper while we' re slaving away. o' When shall I bring your lawn-mower back?’ ‘Oh. any old ting will do.’ any time etc now [A(NP)] very soon;(at) any moment (qv) n: time, △ moment; second,minute, hour, day, week, month o He's approaching sixty-three, so it's very likely he' ll be asked to retire any tiang my. o They' ll be starting any minute new. oAn y hour now, the flood should begin to abate, a I shall be rescued any day now. I must not worry,I have water and food and intelligence and shelter. PM/ anybody's guess [Comp(NP)] (informal) not(certain; not known V:△be; remain; second o The stranger will ask where it is all going to lead and <15> the answer is anybody's guess. OBS□What goes on in the mind of a year-old child is anybody's guess. anything but [A(AdvP)] the very opposite of,entirely different from (sth previously or subsequently mentioned); certainly not □Going about without a hat in Japan may have given my naturally anything but sallow skin a tinge of the local complexion. AHo Huxley is anything but optimistic for the future of either man or plant on this planet. SC o I expected a rather smooth starchy affair at yesterday's Royal wedding. It was anything but. DMa I tried to get Johnny to take an afternoon nap like his baby sister. No such luck' He did anything but sleep. O front position. ◇ △ have etc everything but(sth); noth-ing but sth/ do sth. anything for a quiet life (informal) be prepared to do sth, to adapt one's behaviour, to make concessions, etc in order to preserve calm,to avoid argument or other unpleasantness etc.but without necessarily being persuaded that it is the right thing to do □ 'I'm quite willing to do as I say—— just bring them (a class of school-children) down into the Hall with mine, and you can hover about among the back row. ' Any-thing for a quiet life,' she said TT D' Be a pal.Come on, now, don't leave me in the lurch.'' All right, all right. Get behind the wheel and I' ll push.Anything for a quiet life. ’ HD o usu no v present, but cf He' ll/ He'd do anything for a quiet life. anything goes no (strict) standards of con-duct, or morals, apply or are forced;(almost)anything can be done or attempted o The attempted kidnapping broke through a psycho-logical and emotional barrier. Anything goes after that. I can never remember a time when the powerful and the high-born have been subjected to so many humiliations. OBS o It's a situation which makes cqnventional fictional realism bizarrely unreal—— all creation is creation from a void, so anything goes, everything can be fitted in, helter-skelter. NS anything up to [A (AdvP)] (in a scale of measurement of time, quantity, weight etc)from any (low) point to another (higher point specified) without wishing to be precise but establishing nevertheless the top limit o It will take us anything up to four months to complete the job. □ Estimates varied but there must have been anything up to five thousand people at the rally. an apology for sth an inferior kind of sth;a less satisfactory substitute for sth o Perhaps it was the grey morning, with the daylight no more than an apology for the departing night. DC□He lost half of his savings when he backed that miserable apology for a horse. a In my opinion,it's the feeblest apology for a marriage l ever saw. How long do you think that girl is going to stick to you? AITC an apple for the teacher an attempt at ingra-tiating oneself with, or bribing, sb in higher authority o ' Here's an offer from Mr Stephens to arrange cost price transport for all our away matches.’' That's probably an apple for the teacher, and best not accepted. If we do decide to put his son in the team we don't want anybody to say it was favouritism.' anything but—— armed to the teeth an/ the apple of discord (sb or sth that is)a cause of dispute, argument or rivalry;a bone of contention (qv) (from the Greek myth of a golden apple which was to be given to the most beautiful of three goddesses) o The girls had got on well together until the apple of discord in the person of a handsome young apprentice arrived in their midst. □His lawyer tried to persuade him to make a more equitable disposal of his property. ' What you have here,' he said, ' is not so much a will as an apple of discord.' the apple of sb's eye[Comp(NP)] sb who is the main object of sb's love, devotion, attention etc V:△be, become; regard sb as□ I sacrificed everything to make you happy and safe. I won't talk about your father, but you, you were the apple of my eye. DPM□ Far less gregarious, and without political ambition, as a salesman Slater was the apple of Donald Stokes's eye. NS are we down-hearted? (Nol)(dated catch-phrase) we refuse to allow matters (eg the present unfavourable situation, esp in wartime)to make us depressed, dispirited etc o Are we down-hearted? Nol/ Then let your voices sing/and let the music ring... OLD MUSIC HALL SONG□ They' ll be there in the darkness somewhere where she (a ship) sank, asking each other if they' re down-hearted. PMo The defeated can-didate sprang to the front of the platform, ' Com-rades, are we downhearted?’ A thousand throats roared back the answer: ' Nol'o rhetori-cal question, always expecting answer No. aren't etc we all everyone is etc; who isn't etc?V: aren't, △ don't, haven't □ CHILDREN(sing-ing): All she wants is gold and silver. all she wants is a fine young man. HAVA: Don't we all.HSG o ' Blood pressure's looking healthier now.'Benkin reported. ' All he needs now is a good night's sleep. ' Don't we all, muttered SisterWallis, who had been on duty in the theatre since the first operation 14 hours earlier. TVTo‘She has had, and is having, many difficulties to contend with, of a personal nature.'' Haven't we all?'TTo semi-exclamatory comment on condition,activity, desire etc previously mentioned,followed by a question-mark, exclamation-mark, or full stop. argue the toss [V + 0 pass] disagree about sth; discuss a matter of dispute o A letter was sent to the then Minister for Industry. It did not argue the toss over his ruling. It simply asked for a meeting with him to discuss the matter. NS□ Time is pressing. If we delay while the toss is being argued in London and Washington, the operation will never be launched in July. MFMaHe thought we might have shown less of his face.Maybe he was right. Anyway,I ergued the to a bit and finally he said keep it in. PP arm in arm[A(NP)] with one arm of one per-son bent at the elbow and linked with the similarly bent arm of the person who walks beside her/ him V: go, march, stroll, walk;(be)linked o ' John and Mary had quite a quarrel this evening.' Well they must have made it up.because I' ve just seen them going down the road arm in arm.'a The police claimed the students had been proceeding along the pavement singing and shouting, arm in arm and six abreast. armed to the teeth [Comp (AdjP)] fully equipped with things to fight with (eg guns, 15 <16> around/ round the clock----(as) big/ round as saucers knives etc); (fig) fully provided with what is(thought to be) necessary for some task, pur-pose etc V: △ be, look; find sb o The PalestinePolice Force was armed to the teeth and a large part of it organised in the form of mobile columns with armoured cars. MFMoHe was waiting for us with a rope and an axe in one hand, a bulging knapsack on his back. ' For goodness sake!' Isaid, “How do you think you' re going to do a three-mile climb, armed to the teeth like that?'o The negotiators were in a belligerent mood.They came to the conference table armed to the teeth with statistics on cash-flow analyses and directors' emoluments. around/ round the clock [A (PrepP)] con-tinuously; throughout the whole of a twenty-four hour period V: work, play, perform. adv mod: all, right o They worked around the clock and over the entire weekend to get the export order ready for dispatch on the Monday.□I have never seen such feasting, feeding, drink-ing and toasting—— at dances, weddings, recep-tions. It went on round the clock on every day.of the five I was there. Lo They will succeed; and the bombing will go on, every day and all around the clock. MFM口 attrib use round-the-clock bombing raids. are over tip [A(NP)](taboo) with one's feet going up and over one's head and one's behind following in a somersault; head over heels(qv);(fig)(be made) mentally confused or upset (by some event, personal attack etc) V: fall, go, go flying, land; send, turn, sb o If you happen to trip/ And go arse over tip/ Like Horatius, into the Tiber... MFMo But the word solicitor fairly turned her, as Granny Barnacle recounted next day, arse over tip. MM o.. got his punt-pole stuck in the mud, he did, and went gracver tip into the river. art etc for art's etc sak@ art etc with no other motive and no other result than the prac-tice and enjoyment of it n: art, knowledge,destruction, change, power o Ironically, the man(Tolstoy) who was one day to turn his back on art, rejecting it, stood up now as the champion of art for art's sake— to the dismay of all those who believed that the first duty of a writer was commitment to social reform. OBS o Thus the myth that politicians are honest servants of the public good is accompanied by its counterpart— that they are cynical seekers after power for power's sake. Lo Vialence for the sake of violence has also been increasing much more quickly than other types of crime. Lo Oh you,you' re just a natural glutton. You eat for the sek· of eating. o(stage direction) He is talking for the sake of the only half listening to what he is saying. LBA D variants art etc for the sake of art etc, argue etc for argument's etc sake, talk etc for the sake of it. art s and crafts [n+ n non-rev] artistic and semi-artistic activities such as painting pictures,making pottery, carving wood, spinning and sewing etc(with emphasis on individual and traditional skills and non-machine-made creativity)o The villagers no longer carry on the arts and crafts practised by their grandfathers.□ There is one really good Arts and Crafts shop in the town, where everything is authentic and beautifully designed; all the others are full of factory-made junk to catch the eye of the tour-ists. o(NONCE) In England she had gone all arty and crefty and picked up with a chap calledLaurence Hilton who worked for the BBC and put on plays for the Third Programme. RFWo(NONCE) He never allowed a note of home made-ness or arty-craftiness lo get into the flat. HAA□ nonce adj + adj and n compound forms as in last two examples are derogatory(cfarty-crafty);arts and crafts also the name of a British move-ment dedicated to ideals of traditional skills etc. es artful etc as a wagon-load etc of monkeys very artful etc, but not malicious or really wicked V: △ be, seem; find, think, sb.adj: artful, △ clever, crafty, cunning,mischievous. n: wagon-load, △cart-load, bar-rel o I can't leave my youngest son alone in the house for a moment. He's as crafty as a barrel of monkeys and gets up to any number of tricks and then appears all innocence when you return.□ Clever as sin, though he could be all wide-eyed and naive when he chose: not that you can tell with a man, artful as a wégon-load of mon-keys. as bad etc as ever [Comp (AdjP)] bad etc to the same degree as before (even though some change for the better, or the worse, may have been expected); every bit as bad etc(as)(qv)V:▲ be, look, seem. adj: bad, corrupt, weak,devious; lively, cheerful o No, doctor, in spite of the treatment, the pain is as bad as over. o Al-though he had become frailer and a little deaf, the old man's mind was us lively as ever. e& badly etc as over[A (AdvP)] badly etc to the same degree as before (even though some change for the better, or the worse, may have been expected); every bit as badly etc(as)(qv)V: behave, walk, react. adv: badly, painfully,weakly, crookedly, well, smoothly o It's a fine little car. I know it looks old and rusty but the engine runs we well as over, even with seventy-five thousand miles on the clock. o He was limp-ing as badly as ev er when I last saw him. as bald as a coot [Comp(AdjP)] completely bald (from the water-bird which has a white patch on its head above the beak) V: △ be,look, appear o All the men in our family have been as build se coats by the time they reached forty. as best one can [A(AdjP)] not perfectly but as well as possible in view of disability, inability or adverse circumstances V: · struggle, protest;resolve, settle, sth. modal: can, could, may,might o They could even hear her sobbing. Alittle pride came back. She hushed herself and looked at her watch as best she could. ARG□If his last arrow was spent he still struggled as best he could. LWK g I think we'd better have a full meeting, and I' ll explain the situation es best l can to everybody. (as) big/ round as* mucers[Comp/A(AdjP)](with one's eyes) wide open and staring fixedly at sb or sth, eg in surprise, curiosity etc V: be,become; grow o He was facing me and walking backwards, and I could see his eyes growing as round assucers. UTNoGradually mothers and children started coming into the famine relief centre, the mothers thin andemaciated, the child-ren with swollen bellies and eyes as big as sub-cers.□ variant with/ having eyes as big assaucers. 16 <17> as big etc as they come—(as) changeable as a weathercock as big etc as they come [Comp (AdjP)] of a size etc that is not likely to be exceeded; (as)clever etc as they make ` em/ them(qv)V:△be;reckon, consider, sb to be□ If he did really catch a 20 lh salmon, he was lucky; that's about as big as they come in this river.□ He' sa very shrewd and able man, and if you want a competent administrator I expect he's es good as they come. NM as birds etc go [Disj] according to, or in com-parison with, the average quality, size, charac-teristics etc of birds etc n: birds, cats; houses,schools o Certainly, as birds go, the oven-bird appears to have more than his fair share of per-sonality and charm. DFo The nearby reconstruc-ted Roman village where, our driver assured us,Hercules had lived, was not much as tourist attractions go. DSa We are really quite an old family as families go. There was a castle more or less where this house is now, in the thirteen hundreds. WDM□My Hairy Frog was, as frogs go, quite large. BBo n in headphrase may be countable or uncountable; front, middle or end position. (as) black as coal etc[Comp (AdjP)] very dark, black or dirty $; face, hands. V: △ be,look, turn. n: coal, △soot, the ace of spades oLook at your hands, boy, they' re as black me coal — you can't come to the table like that. oWhat have you been doing down in that cave?Your face and clothes are black as the ace of spades! □ adj compound coal-black. as black as ink etc[Comp(AdjP)] very dark,so that one cannot see clearly $; sky, tunnel,room. V:△be, become; grow. n: ink,△night,pitch, the Pit o The sky had grown black as ink— we would have to find shelter before the storm broke. □ He rushed out of the shelter into the open. It was pitch black, unrelieved even by star-light. TBC □ They moved cautiously from the entrance to the tunnel, already having to feel their way with their hands. Ahead it was as black as the Pit. □ adj compounds ink black,pitch black, pit black. (not) as black as it is painted [Comp(AdjP)] better than it, he etc is reputed to be;better than sb else says or judges it, him etc to be V:△be; find sth □ Conditions in our geriatric wards may leave a lot to be desired but they are not as black as they are painted.□ ' Idon't envy you your new boss, he's pretty tough, I'm told.'' Oh, I don't know. Is he really me block as he's painted?’ o' It wasn't an ideal holiday,' said her husband, ' but not quite ms black as you seem intent on painting it.'o neg, interr, conditional;active form of paint in last example. (as) blind as a bat [Comp (AdjP)] unable to see, or read, very easily (but usu not completely blind); (fig) unable to see, or perceive, sth that is obvious to other people V: △ be, become;find sb o I'm sorry, I can't read it. I'm as blind as a be t without my glasses. o 'I can't find the newspaper anywhere.’‘Blind as a bat as usual!There it is, by the telephone.'□ All I can say is.if you don't see that she comes here just to meetJohnny, then you must be blinder than a bat. (as) bold as brass[Comp/A .(AdjP)] im-pudent; aggressive; defiant; in a shameless, in-solent, manner V: be; come in, return, deny sth,accuse sb a There she stood, denying everything as bold as brew著, in spite of all the evidence against her. o' Fancy him insulting you in your own house like that! Never mind, you' ve seen the last of him.''I doubt it. He' ll be back again, bold as brass, if it suits him.’ (as) bold/ brave me s a lion [Comp (AdjP)]courageous, without fear, esp uncharacteristic-ally so in times of danger etc V:△be, become;find, make, sb o Puny though he looked, he was as braw asa lion, as all the playground bullies came to learn.□ He might have behaved timidly in life; in the book he would be bold as a lion. PW◇(as) timid as a mouse etc. (as) bright as a button [Comp (AdjP)] very clever and quick-witted V: △ be, seem; find sb□ Be careful what you say in front of the boy.He 's my bright button and can ask the most awkward questions. (as) broad as it's long[Comp(AdjP)](infor-mal) offer little or no clear advantage between two or more things whichever one is chosen,both being equally satisfactory or unsatisfac-tory; be six of one and/ to half a dozen of the other(qv)$: it; whether we go or stay. V:△be,seem o The plane fare is much dearer of course,but then you save on overnight accommodation and meals. Financially it's as broades it's long;it really comes down to which way you prefer to travel.□ Well, on the figures alone, whether we invest in Germany or France is about as broad as it's long. (as) brown as a berry [Comp (AdjP)] very brown (skin), esp from the sun or constant ex-posure to the weather V:△be, become, look oHow quickly suntan disappears! You wouldn't think the twins were brown as berries only a month ago. o A little old woman with a wrinkled face as brown as sberry told us our fortunes for ten pence. (as) busy as a bee [Comp (AdjP)] very busy and occupied, doing many things, esp in a pleasurable or satisfying way V: △ be, keep oMy wife never has time to get bored. She's busyss& bee from morning to night.□' Isn't this the programme the children like watching?'' Yes,but they' re upstairs, buy as bees making pup-peis. so I'm not going to draw their attention to it!' as the cam may be[A] as facts or circum-stances direct, or are applicable o Third stage:the assignation is made---at the water-side or elsewhere, es the cow man y be. EM a I' ll be at work until five, in the pub till seven, and at home after that— so contact me later at one of those places with e cwim my by. O does not occur in front position. as chance will/ would have it[Disj] by coin-cidence (the implication not necessarily being that the occurrence, coincidence etc referred to is specially lucky, unlucky or significant); as it happens/ happened (qv); as (good/ ill) luck would have it (qv); by chance(qv); by accident(qv) D I'm going to London myself tomorrow night as chance will have it, so maybe we can travel together. o I was there when the blind went down, throwing a ball for a little white dog me chance would have it. KLT O by design; on pur-pose. (as) changeable a suverthercock [Comp(AdịP)] having moods that alter rapidly, 17 <18> (as) cheap as dirt----(as) cold as ice etc opinions that vary from one moment to another, etc V:△be, become; find sbo If you' re going to London, go—— and if you' re not, stay at home. I can't make any plans with you es changeable as a westhercock.□One moment he's accusing the Party of pandering to the Right,the next he's talking about some sinister com-munist conspiracy, and a day later he wants a tougher policy towards the Unions. He's more changeable than e wéathercock! o variant more changeable than a weathercock. ◇ as steady as a rock. (as) cheap as dirt [Comp/A (AdjP)] very cheap; surprisingly cheap; very vulgar V: be;buy, sell, get, be going(ie be on sale) o It's odd how people will pay exorbitant prices for forced rhubarb in February and turn up their noses at it in July when it's as cheap as dirt.□ They got an old lawn-mower dirt-cheep at a local auction. oA friend of mine bought one for £350. Dirt-cheap at the price, he said, but I thought he was a sucker. o adj compound dirt-cheap. (as) clean as a new pin [Comp/A (AdjP)]very clean indeed, with no trace of dirt or dust.S: house, room, clothes; he, it, they. V: be,make, keep sth; end up o Jim's mam (=mother) was a big woman,a Tartar,a real six-footer who kept her house as clean es enew pin.LLDR o You' re such a scruffy little beast——I' ll bet some respectable little Madam from Pinner or Guildford gobbles you up in six months. She' ll marry you, send you out to work, and you' ll end up & clean&& www.plm.LBA (as) clean a*a whistle[Comp (AdjP)] very clean or bare; empty, without anything left s:house, room; bone(s). V:△be; leave, pick, sth o Vultures had been at the carcase and had left the skeleton clean e$ & whistio, o The feed-pipe's as clean as a whistle, so I'm afraid, if the oil is not getting through to the burner, the valve must be faulty. (as) clear as a bell [Comp/A (AdjP)] clearly and easily heard; having a very pure sound, like a bell$: sound, voice; words, song. V: be; hear sth, carry, ring out o She has the voice of a nat-ural singer, effortless and clean as a bell. □ She has what you might call a carrying voice. It rings out across the room me class a ball. Conversa-tion stops and heads turn towards her. (as) clear as crystal [Comp (AdjP)] very clear, that can be seen through or to the bot-tom; (fig) obvious; that can be understood easily without further explanation; next entry(qv) $: water, stream; explanation, argument;it. V; △ be, become; make sth o The river ran ss clear as crystal and if you watched closely you could now and then catch a glimpse of a trout hoverıng over the pebbles on the bottom. o WeConservatives have never made too much of these issues(unemployment and prices). Let me make it crystal clear: all things being equal, I would prefer a lower level of unemployment. NSo adj compound crystal-clear. (as) clear as day/ deylight[Comp (AdjP)]very clear and light, as though day; (fig) ob-vious; that can be understood easily without further explanation; previous entry (qv) S:night, moonlight; statement, argument;it... why he's there. V:△ be, become; make sth o He switched on the floodlights and what had been impenetrable darkness became suddenly as clear& day.□ It had been, when I read it, only a vaguely pregnant piece of nonsense. Now it was all as clear & day, as evident as Euclid. DOP□You know, really, it's as clear as daylight(why he hasn't come). Pyle knows I smoke a few pipes before bed, and he doesn't want to disturb me.QA (as) clear as mud [Comp (AdjP)] (informal)not apparent, understood, or clearly explainedS: explanation, instructions. V: △ be, seem,become o ALEX: No matter how high you jump you always return to earth. Never lose sight of it.or you might come down with a bump. Is that quite clear?PETER: Clear as mud. DPMo Yes, he gave me directions how to get there. They were about as clear as mud though. I wish I'd asked him to draw a rough sketch-map. o(NONCE) But could I? It was all as clear as a murd-spattered windscreen. o facetious comment made when sth is not clear. (as) clever/ smart g/ paint [Comp (AdjP)](informal) quick-witted; able at one's work,studies etc; cunning V:△ be; think, find, sb□Mary, as clever as paint and much admired in academic circles, was clearly destined for a brilliant career. o He's as smart as paint, that boy, and the best apprentice I ever had——Inever had to show or tell him anything more than once. as thick as two short planks. (as) clever as sin [Comp (AdjP)] (informal,derogatory) sharp-witted; cunning V: △ be,seem; find sb o Don't trust him an inch—— he's as clever as sin and has never yet shown the slightest sign of having a conscience. (as) clever etc as they make ' em/ them[Comp(AdjP)](informal) very clever etc; as big etc as they come(qv)V:△be, look. adj: clever,wise; miserable, awkward o The whole family is like that. Clover ms they make them, but can't help boasting of it. TCB□He' sa cautious old bird.but as wis & they make ' em. ASA o ' Good morning, Moriarty,’ said Hopalong, and he looked about as miserable as they make ' em,and he hadn't even started work. TT as closé musicon oyster [Comp(AdjP)] uncom-municative; secretive V:△be, become, remain;find sb o But we must be as close as oysters over Popsy. We don't want that fellow Prew starting non-stop patrols there. RM o You can never get to know George well; he's as close as an oyster about everything. even matters of no particular concern. (as) cold as charity [Comp (AdjP)] (sth is)very cold;(sb is) very unresponsive; next entry(qv) $: the weather; it, he, they, you. V:△ be,remain; find sth/ sb o They say it's too early for snow to lie, but outside it's as cold as charity.RFW□I like our new doctor; the last one was very efficient, but as cold as charity. (as) cold asice etc[Comp(AdjP)](sth is) very cold; (sb is) very unresponsive; previous entry(qv) $: the weather, it; soup, tea, coffee; he,they, you. V: △ be, turn, feel. n: ice, △ an iceberg;a stone □ Th e central heating had been switched off and the room was us cold as ice . oYou won't melt Sally's heart—— it's as cold me an lookory. o Your soup will soon be strong-cold if you don't hurry up and drink it. D adj com-pound ice-/ stone-cold. 18 <19> (as) common as dirt/ muck----(as) drunk as a lord/ newt (as) common as dirt/ muck [Comp (AdjP)]so numerous, or plentiful, as to be little prized;vulgar; plebeian; coarse V:△be; find, think, sb o I wouldn't say white healther was e s common as dirt round here: there's quite a lot if you know where to look for it.□ Flashy and vulgar. Com-mon as dirt. But she's got money. I expect that's what he's after. PE□ They think they' re Mr andMrs Big since they got that big win on the pools.but they' re a common## muck and always will be. (as) cool as a cucumber [Comp (AdjP)]controlled; not disconcerted or upset (esp in circumstances where the opposite might be ex-pected)V:△be, stay; find sb o I thought there would have been protestations and tears when Itold her I wanted to move out of the flat, but no.she stayed as coolness cucumber.□I know now it would have been better to have shut the doors and windows and gone to ring the Fire Brigade instead of running about with pails of water, but it's not everybody who can keep as cool as a cucumber in an emergency.□(NONCE) ' Yes, you must take everything. ' said Magdalen. I' ll pay for the taxi if you like.' Now she was as cool as a lettuce. UTN as coolly etc as you like/ as anything [A(AdvP)] very coolly etc adv: coolly, sharply,boldly, savagely o When I scolded the child for tormenting the kitten, he answered me back coolly as you like, ' Go away, it's not your cat and you' re not my mummy.'a He' sa really classy darts player. I' ve seen him score three bull's-eyes one after another as effortlessly as anything.a The barman was very affable, but he can be as rude as you like at times. D also, though less frequently, with adj as in last example. (as) cross etc as a bear with s sore head[Comp (AdjP)] very bad-tempered; next entry(qv)V:△be, sound; find sb. mdj: cross,△surly,grumpy, irritable o We'd better hurry ——George will be as cross eve bear with & sore head if we keep him waiting. (as) cross as two sticks[Comp(AdjP)] very bad-tempered; previous entry(qv) V: △ be,sound; find sb o Uncle Colin was to take the three children out in the punt so long as they got back in time for Jessica to have a rest before lunch, or she'd be as cross as two sticks by tea time. WDM□ Wait till later in the day to ask your father about this; he's always ev cross as two sticks till he's had his breakfast and read his newspaper. as the crow flies {A}(distance) calculated in a straight line from one point to another,without allowing for detours, ascents and des-cents, windings of roads or rivers D When we stopped, we were not far away from ChesterfieldMews, Robert's old slum. Not far from it as the crowflies, that is, but... CONo' Just how far are you from your nearest neighbour out there?"' About a mile as the crow flies, but three miles up-river by boat and seven miles round by road.’□(NONCE) He could see the jeep snaking round the hairpin bends that multiplied the crow-flight distance tenfold. ARGO used after expression of distance, as shown. (as) cunning as a fox [Comp (AdjP)] sly and scheming, esp in plotting for one's own advan-tage or in escaping the consequences of wrong- doing V:△be, seem; find sb□ There is a good deal of crooked dealing in the property business but the people involved in it are as cunning as foxés and know how to keep just on the right side of the law. (as) dead as the dodo [Comp(AdjP)] no lon-ger in existence; very much out of date $; time,age, world; custom; idea, belief. V:△be, seem□ Even the briefest glance at Bruce's life reveals.the great gulf that divides us from the privileged classes of eighteenth century England. He belongs to a world that seems to us now as dead es the dodo. BN□The days when the only oppor-lu nity for a ' nice girl' to meet a young man was in her parents' drawing-room, or that of a family friend, are as dead as the doodo. (as) dead as a doornsh [Comp (AdjP)] dead without hope of resuscitation; (fig) without vitality or importance V: △ be, seem o I know when he talks to me and I look into his army mug(= face) that I'm alive and he's dead. He's as dead as a doornali. LLDR o Her father was a puritanical old tyrant, but though he has been dead as a doornail for two years, she still acts as if any simple pleasure she allows herself is a kind of sin.□ The biblical view of the creation of the world has been as dead as a doornall for over a century. (as) dead as mutton[Comp (AdjP)] dull;uninteresting; difficult to arouse or stimulate 8:he, they, you; place; idea. V: △ be, seem; find sb/ sth □ Look, Dufton's awful. It stinks. Liter-ally. It's dead is mutton. Warley's alive. I felt that from the first moment I set foot in the place.RATTo occas used literally of a dead person, but only by someone deliberately intending to be coarse or callous. (as) deafass a post[Comp(AdjP)] completely,or extremely, deaf V: △ be, turn, go o A man going on eighty marrying a girl of twenty-four.Absolutely digusting. And he's as desfass posst.MM □ ' Fine old gentleman he is. Can be as doaf as a post when it suits him,’ which Mr Adams appeared to find a praiseworthy and enviable characteristic. WDM (as) deep g&a well[Comp (AdjP)] difficult to assess or understand, because he/ she keeps his/her thoughts, plans etc to himself/ herself V:△be, find sb o 'I never knew Harold could handle a boat!' ' There's a lot we don't know aboutHarold. He's as deep as a well.'o rare. (as) different as chalk from/ and chees●[Comp (AdjP)] totally unalike V:△be, find sb/sth o The two brothers resembled each other physically, but were as different in their natures as chalk from ch●●s●, a Attending a cookery class once a week, and running your own house are as different as chalk and choose, my girl,as you' ll very soon find out. ◇ (as) like as two peas/ peas in a pod. (as) drunk as a lord/ new t [Comp (AdjP)]very drunk;(as) pissed as a newt(qv);(as) tight as a tick (qv)V:△be, seem; find sb□ No doubt about it, Pop thought, Charley was as drunk as anewt. It reminded him of the time they had first met and how Mariette had had to lend him pyjamas and put him to bed. BFAD They went off down the road together half an hour ago, singing and swaying, drunk as lords. O (as) sober as a judge. 19 <20> (as) dry as a bone-----(as) flat me a pancake (as) dry es a bone[Comp (AdjP)] with no moisture (left) s: wall, floor; earth, ground;wood; clothes; he, you, they. V:△be, feel, stay o No,I don't need to change, this cape keeps me as dry as a bone in all weathers, o There's no damp in this cellar. Feel the walls, they' re dry as a bone. o often used when dryness is a desirable condition; adj compound bone-dry. (as) dry as dust [Comp(AdjP)] very dry, liable to crumble;(fig) very tedious and uninteresting$: cake; earth, soil, powder; book, lecture,programme, subject. V:△be, taste; find sth □How long have you had this cake in the cup-board? It's as dry as dust, and tastes stale too.□ I can't plant those seedlings till we get some rain: the soil is as dry as dust. □ How different children's schoolbooks are now from the dry-me=dust grammars and manuals of fifty years ago!o usu used when dryness is an undesirable con-dition; adj compound dry-as-dust. (as) dry as paper [Comp (AdjP)] uncomfort-ably, or unhealthily, dry $: skin, mouth. V: △be, look; find sth o His skin looked as dry as paper, and there were harsh lines ruled from his nostrils to the corners of his mouth. RATT oBecause I couldn't breathe properly through my nose at that time, I used to wake up at night with my mouth and throat # $ dry as paper. O rare. (as) dull as ditch-wator[Comp(AdjP)] very uninteresting, dreary, boring S: he, she, it, they;evening, party, holiday; book, film V: △ be,sound; find stho The Andersons are very hospit-able and mean to be kind, but, really, an evening spent with them is as dull as ditch· Water. oBestseller or not, the book sounds as dull mis ditch-water lo me. (as) easy/ simple as ABC etc[Comp(AdjP)] very easy to do or understand V:△ be,seem; find sth. o:ABC,△(eating) pie, kiss your hand, falling off a log/ horse o 'I hardly think,'Dorothy said, that we need quite such an elemen-tary approach.'' But you do! You let me do it my way, and it will be lovely and all as easy as ple.’US o First lessons in any subject are usually de-signed to make you think the whole course is going to be wasy ass ABC. o Why not assemble the kit yourself? It's as easy as falling off a log.as far a s o ne cen se●[Disj] in one's judge-ment; to the extent that one can judge o As far as I camp see, a war within the next ten years is.inevitable. o We don't know of course what the cost of living may be in five years' time, but as far as I can see, we' ll be able to live comfortably enough on our pensions. o usu front position. 8$ far me sb/ sth is concerned [Disj] in the way, or to the degree, that sb/ sth matters, is involved or is affected o As fer as I'm concer-ned there isn't a shadow of a doubt but that this cloud is travelling towards us. TBCo Don't bring me into the argument. As for as I'm concerned,the boy can go to London if he likes. □ ' If your book has sold out why don't they reprint it?''I'm afraid that as far as that is concerned the decision is the publishers'.'a As for me money is concerned I'm in the hands of my bank manager.□ usu front position. es far== sb/ sth goes[Disj] used to denote, or to imply,a degree of limitation, incompleteness or inadequacy in sb/ sth o It is an excellent text-book as far as it goes, but it doesn't include any- 20 thing to interest the advanced student. o You' re too hard on her; she's quite a nice girl as far as she goes and you can't expect everybody to be both an intellectual giant and a tremendous wit.□ often in phrase be all right as far as it goers.as fast as one's legs can carry one [A(AdvP)] as fast as possible V: run, get away,dash off. model: can, could, will, would oPeople may believe, for instance, that they could fight demons. In truth they would not try if they met one. They would certainly run as fast ev their Jeg s would carry them. NDNo Stop nag-ging at the child to hurry up! He's going as fast as his legs can carry him already. o He had said he was too tired to cut the grass that evening, but when he heard there were free drinks going in the village pub he rushed off as fast as his legs could carry hise. o frequently used, as in last example, to indicate willingness or eagerness to go somewhere. (as) fat as butter/a young thrush [Comp(AdjP)] plump, usu in a pleasant, healthy-looking way V: △ be, get D There is one poor little runt in the litter as usual, but the other four puppies are as fat as butter and obviously thriv-ing. o' Your little boy is a bit wasted from his long fever,' the doctor said, ' but we' ll soon have him as fat es a young thrush again.'o first form much more usual. ◇ (as) thin as a rake/ lath; △next entry. (as) fat as a pig [Comp (AdjP)](derogatory)grossly overweight V: △ be, get o I' ll have to stop all these between-meals snacks. I'm getting as fat as a pig. a You can't miss him— he's red in the face, fat as a pig, and will be wearing a yellow panama hal. ◇ (as) thin as a rake/ lath; △previous entry. (as) fit sea fiddle/ flem [Comp(AdjP)] heal-thy; active; in good physical condition V:△be,become o I' ll tell your parents that you' re me fit as a flee and having the time of your life. RFWoWhat with all the walking, climbing, swimming,etc. it was a much more strenuous holiday thanI'm accustomed to. But I must admit I' ve come back fit as a fiddle. (as) flant as& board[Comp(AdjP)] absolutely flat (the implication usu being that some round-ness or unevenness would be desirable) $: face,chest; landscape. V:△be, become o The top of the new small-car range is as first as a board—— quite a contrast with what we have become used to. Go Her breasts were not merely small:her whole chest was as first as a board. (as) flat as a fluke/ flounder [Comp(AdjP)]very flat, like the fish referred to V: △ be, go,fall o The souffié was a bitter disappointment.No sooner had I taken it out of the oven than ir collapsed and in three seconds was as flat as a fluke. I rarer than previous or next entries. (as) fint as a pencake[Comp (AdjP)] very flat; completely flattened;(fig) without interest,being a disappointment or anti-climax $: cake,tyre; landscape; voice; surprise, celebration;joke. V: △ be, come out, turn out; fall o Why didn't you look where you were sitting? You' ve squashed my hat es flet g u n pancake. a The whole terrain was fist as a pancake, not a rise or hollow, or even a tree, to relieve its monotonous aspect. o It was supposed to have been a gathering of celebrities, but as most of <21> as for sb/ sth---(as) happy etc as the day is long them sent notes of regret for their absence, the whole affair fell fistes& pancake. as for sb/ sth [A(PrepP)] with reference to sb/sth; coming to the subject of sb/ sth a The men there all looked as though they distrusted him,and as for the women, they were all intent on showing their contempt for this rather odd creature. LBA o I enjoy reading Dickens, and some of Thackeray, bul as for Sir Walter Scott— you could make a bonfire of all his novels as far as I'm concerned. a You will certainly qualify for a grant to cover the three-year course at aBritish University. But as for your chances of obtaining a further grant to study abroad. I'm afraid they' re rather slim.□Take your elbows off the table, you two boys, and me for you, Anna,stop sucking your fork and get on with your dinner. o introduces a second, or subsequent,item of description or discussion, comparing,contrasting or simply adding; often used, as in second example, as a signal that sth dismissive is going to follow; stress pattern as for' you etc. (as) free as (the) air/a bird [Comp(AdjP)]without ties, duties, obligations etc V: △ be,feel, remain o It's all very well for a bachelor likeJim to travel the world over, picking up interest-ing jobs. but a family man can't be as free as air to follow his fancy.□ Bring the child down to me for a fortnight. I have a huge old garden where he can be as free s q a bird and perfectly safe.□' As far as I'm concerned,' she said to her fiancé.' you' re as free as the air. If you' ve decided you don't want to marry me, just say so.' (as) fresh&& admisy[Comp(AdjP)] vigorous,lively V: △ be, look, feel o It was six in the morning, dawn was breaking, but Nick sill felt as fresh as a daisy, ready to dance, drink and talk for hours longer. (as) fresh as a rose (Comp (AdjP)) very attractive in a fresh, clean way V: △be, look;find sb o She's beautiful, yes, really beautiful.fresh ase rose on the day of the battle or what-ever that poem is, and a truly sweet-natured child. RATT (es) gay as a lark [Comp (AdjP)] merry,carefree and untroubled (the implication sometimes being that to be so is unexpected or unsuitable in view of the circumstances) V: △be, seem, feel a / was sure he would have a hang-over after last night's party, but not Jim—— up early and away to work gay ea ferk. o You can hardly expect Louise to be as gay my e le ak with her boyfriend away in India and her thinking she's going to fail her exams as well. (as) gentle as a lamb [Comp (AdjP)] very gentle, careful not to hurt or harm v: △ be,seem o He was a big rough-looking fellow but gentle as a lamb, even when he'd had a few drinks. as God is my witness[Disj][ swear, I vow,solemnly; truthfully; honestly; before God (qv)D 'I gave the baby the medicine, your Honour,sobbed the girl, T' ve never denied it. But as God is my witness,I meant no harm.'o' You' re pull-ing my leg!''I'm not. As God is my witness,that's exactly what she said.' (as) good as gold [Comp (AdjP)] very well-behaved V:△be, seem, remain o I tell you, my children are em good as gold, Hava even came back to look after me when her mother died; she's just like a little mother. HSGo' Can I come round tonight? I' ll be a good as gold. Can I?' Yeah,Mr Big Heart-Throb, she thought to herself, as good as gold as long as it suits you and not a second longer. TGLY (as) good as new [Comp (AdjP)] in as good a condition as when it was new; showing little sign of wear or use $:(second-hand) television,table, carpet; watch, radio, typewriter. V:△be,look; make sth o If you care to spend £20 on replacement parts for your washing-machine l can make it as good as now. a He had been lucky enough to pick up a sofa at the auction which was as good as new and cost him under£50. ◇ △ make sth look/ seem like new. & good etc as the next (one) [Comp(AdjP)] just as satisfactory as another thing of the same kind s: car, washing-machine;government, (political) party. V:△ be, look;find sth. adj: good, bad; useful, useless; interest-ing, boring o If you have always thought one electric cooker was as good as the next one then it is time you visited our showroom. oI don't know why you' re bothering with all those brochures. No package holiday's any better than n the next. O variant no/ not any better etc than the next (one). as good stces the next man [Comp(AdjP)]equally as good, virtuous, able to do sth, as most people are (the implication often being that one is better etc than most people)W:△be,seem, find sb. adj: able, good, clever, honest,intelligent o The British forces would show, and did show, that when it came to mobile battle they were just as good as the sport means. MFMo I'm as homest as the next man. I hope, but I see no reason why I should give my hard-earned cash away to the tax man.□ He doesm't keep his pro-mises any better than the next margin. O variant no/ not any better etc than the next man. (as) good as a play [Comp (AdjP)] amusing;interesting; lively $: scene, episode; quarrel, ar-gument. V:△ be, find sth o I wish you had been in the shop this morning when the boss was trying to give Liz the sack and she wouldn't take it. It was as good as s play. es good as one's word [Comp(AdjP)] com-pietely reliable, trustworthy V:△be, find sb□Mrs Turner had been as good as her word in response to Mrs Paxon's appeal and had taken up her temporary abode at the Mitre. WDM o If he said he would lend you the deposit for a house,he will. Uncle Fred has always been as good as his word. ◇ △sb's word is (as good as) his/ her bond. (as) gr øen as grass [Comp (AdjP)] naive;inexperienced; immature; easily deceived $;girl, boy, young man/ woman, youth. V:△ be;find sb o She was for green as grows when she was sixteen but the other girls in the typing pool taught her the ways of their world.□Of course I' ll find my way about town all right! I'm not as green as games, just because I come from the country. O less common variant as green as a cabbage/a leek. (as) happy etc as the day is long [Comp(AdjP)j very happy etc(esp as a continuous state)V:△be, seem, stay. adj: happy,△cheer-ful, contented, merry o If I didn't have you to worry about, I could be as happy as the day is 21 <22> (as) happy as a king etc---as if/ though one's life depended on/ upon it long. o There was I standing on a chair, singing away, marry as the day is long. TOH (as) happy asaking etc[Comp(AdjP)] com-pletely, or extremely, happy V:△be, become,seem. o: a king, △ a sandboy, Larry o He wasn't a man who enjoyed social occasions, and did not even get on very well with his own family;but in his laboratory he was a happy as a king.oI gave him fifty pence for himself, and a basket of strawberries for his mother, and he ran off home, happy as Larry. o' Where is Grandpa, do you know?'' Up in the meadow with the children.He's as happy as asndboy helping them to fly their kites.’ o (NONCE) Leave the poor sweetie alone. She's as happy as a sandgirl, dear. It's years since she's been able to wash the nappies out like this. HAA (as) hard as flint [Comp(AdjP)] unforgiving,unsympathetic in temperament, character 8:boss, teacher; look, face. V:△be, look; find sb□ He said he was frightfully sorry, but he had forgotten the number of baskets. She gave him a look as hard as flint and her mouth opened and shut like a spring trap. DBM (as) hard as iron/ rock [Comp (AdjP)] very firm, strong, unyielding;(as) hard as(a) stone(qv) $: muscles; ground, earth; cake, scone;glue. V:△be, feel; find sth o Mike was a nipper compared to me, but underneath the scruffy draughtboard jersey he wore were muscles as hard as iron. LLDR o The great timbers of LaBelle Helene, darkened now by smoke. wormed in places, looking rotten on the surface, but hard in the core, hard as iron. ARG o Some of these modern contact adhesives set as hard as rock, so you must get the pieces that you are joining in position at the first try. (as) hard meanis [Comp (AdjP)] tough; with great physical stamina;(fig) selfish, ruthless in one's declings with others V: △ be, look; find sb o Although he seemed thin and undersized compared with his cousins, he was really as hard as nulls and didn't fall ill half as often as they did.□ She's ignorant, but she's as hard as mails and pretty sly. Don't you let her in on your private life! ASA (as) hard as steel [Comp (AdjP)] physically strong and with mental or moral firmness (esp in circumstances where such qualities are desir-able)$: soldier, leader; army. V:△be, become;make sb o An army must be as hard as steel in battle and can be made so; but, like steel, it reaches its finest quality only after much preparation. MFM o General discipline and academic achievement improved greatly under the headmastership of Mr Gray,a man as hard es steel, but very just. (as) hard as (a) stone[Comp (AdjP)] very firm;(as) hard as iron/ rock(qv);(fig) heartless;unfeeling $c ground, earth; heart; he, you, they.V:△be, become; find sth o I can't do any dig-ging today, the ground's as hard as stone after last night's frost. o One would need to have a heart as hard as e stone not to be moved by his pitiable plight. (88) heavya s lead [Comp(AdjP)] very heavy;oppressive in weight or colour S: suitcase, box;arms, legs; heart; sky. V:△be, feel, look; find sth o When he woke the following morning his throat felt sore and swollen and his limbs heavy as lead. o It was with a heart heavier than lead that she saw him depart. a The sea was sullen and the sky heavy as lead. The storm would break any time now. ◇ (as) light as a feather. (as) helpless as a (new-born) bab· etc[Comp (AdjP)] not able to defend, or fend for;oneself V:△be, feel; find sb. n: babe,△ baby,child o There I was, locked in his grasp, get help-less#& anew-born babe.□ You' re lucky to have a husband who can look after himself. Mine is as helpless is a child in the house—I don't think he could make himself a cup of tea. ◇ ▲ a babe in arms. (as) hoars· is an(old) crow[Comp(AdjP)]very hoarse $: voice, throat; speaker, singer. V:△be, sound o My voice is getting as hoerse me an old crow with this constant reading. TBC oYou know your throat is not quite better yet. If you go out in this fog, you' ll make yourself me hag/## ###* www again. (as) honest as the day is long [Comp(AdjP)] very honest V:▲ be, find sb o It's easy to say I should have doubled her story, but you ask anyone you like; they'd all say that she's me honest as the day is long. (as) hungry as a hunter[Comp(AdjP)] with one's appetite well sharpened, eg by exercise or postponement of a customary meal-time, but not seriously hungry or semi-starved from lack of food V: △ be, feel; make sb o We'd better have supper a little earlier tonight. The boys will be as hungry as hunters after their bike ride. oIn the sitting-room Pop had poured out aDragon's Blood for himself and one for MrCharlton, who felt he really needed it. He was as hungry as a Awner too. DBM as if/ though to do sth [A] in way that in-dicates an intention to do sth, esp when the action mentioned is not actually carried out oHe was so annoyed at not getting his own way,that in answer to any alternative proposal he just shrugged his shoulders as though to disclaim any further interest or responsibility in the matter. □ I lifted the beer glass as if to strike it against the table. RATT o He made (ie a move-ment) as# to leave the room but, thinking better of it, returned to comfort the weeping girl. a She.went as if to snatch the letter from him, and probably would have succeeded had he not been prepared for just such a move on her part.口 often made a # to..., went milito.... as if/ though it mattered etcl it certainly doesn't matter; I certainly don't care; he cer-tainly does know; etc cl: it mattered/ matters; Icared; he didn't know; you could o lasked him where that was, and he named a pretty ritzy part of Hampstead, near the Heath. As if I couldn't have guessed/CONo If Ronnie were here I'd get him to fill it in for me. As if they didn't know how many tunes I was at work this year. Forms!CSWBo ' That was Mr Davis on the telephone to say he couldn't attend the meeting tonight.' As if anybody cared/'o used to deny or assert emphatically that sth is the case, a positive ex-pression being used to deny and a negative one to assert(As) f they didn't knowl = ‘Certainly they knew!’) as if/ though one's life depended on/upon it [A] in such a way as to indicate that one is doing it with the utmost energy, con- 22 <23> as if/ though one owned the place——(as) lean as an alley cat centration, devotion V: play; hammer, work(away); search; eat o The market people stop cheering and laughing and go back to work as if their lives depended on it. DPM□ She has been on her hands and knees all morning, weeding the flower-beds as if her life depended on it. o end position. as if/ though one owned the place [A] in a presumptuous, or domineering, way V: come in, go about; talk o ' How dare you come in here as if you owned the place!' she called out in her high, grating voice. ' What do you want? I can't see anyone now.' AITC o He's only a summer visitor, but he goes about telling the locals what they should and shouldn't do, as if he owned the place. □ end position. as if/ though sth were/ was not enough[Con'] in addition to sth, or doing sth, which in itself would appear to be sufficient in the cir-cumstances o ... and a heavy fragrance of gar-denias that overwhelmed in a cloud of intoxica-tion as she came and sat at his side. As if this were not enough, she had brought with her the bluebells and the rose campion, arranged in an orange and crimson jar. DSM□As if scalding her arm wasn't enough, she went and broke her ankle the very next day. o His father gave him£200 to make a fresh start elsewhere, as if it were not enough to have paid off all his debts for him. □ front, middle or end position. as if/ like there were/ was no tomorrow[A (AdvP)] (informal) very energetically; fast:freely (with the implication of slight desper-ation)□(headline) Why people are spending as if there were no tomorrow. □ The last time Isaw her was in this Chinese restaurant where she was downing vast quantities of food like there was no tomorrow. (as) innocent as a (new-born) babe etc[Comp (AdjP)] completely innocent, either of having done sth, or in one's nature V: △ be,look, sound. n: babe, △ baby, child o There were a lot of unpleasant innuendos in the com-edian's patter, but Alice, being as innocent as a new-born babe, didn't understand hulf of it. uYou just won't see him around for two or three days sometimes, but he' ll come out of it looking as innocent as a baby. AITCO variant as inno.cent as a babe unborn. as it happens/ happened [Disj] by coin-cidence; by chance (qv); as chance will/ would have it (qv); as (good/ ill) luck would have it(qv); by accident (qv) a Don't worry about having to ask for a loan. As it happens. I' ve just been left a legacy by an old cousin of mine.э The junior had gone back to the school that evening.as it happened, in order to check the stores. uYou can't park here. Didn't you see the notice saving ' Emplovees Only? ' Thank you, hu t I am the District Manager. as it happens. '口 often used in rather pompous, petulant or aggressive manner, to contradict another person's (im-pudent etc) assumptions. ◇ by design; on purDose. as it is/ was[A] already: as the situation is was at the time of speaking (the implication often that any additional action or change in the situation would probably make things worse rather than better)o ' Look, Parkinson, he said.There's no need to go on gabbling about this until we know more about it. The Prime Minister suspects I'm off my head as it is.'TBC□And don't throw your things about— this place is untidy enough as it is. TOH o The pilot must have done a good job, and they were lucky not to have been killed. As it was, one of the wings, and the under-carriage and the propeller, had been smashed. DSo front or end position. as it were [Disj] to speak figuratively; so to speak (qv) o The twins were tumbling and struggling to get upright— to get to action sta-tions as it were. DF□ He felt himself shivering as if in the midst of all this horror, his body was,it were, jogging at his elbow, asserting its claim to a little consideration, trying to get him to put on an overcoat. HD o middle or end position.◇△ as one/ you might say. (as) keen as mustard [Comp (AdjP)] very enthusiastic and active V: △ be, become; find,make, sb o This clansman James Donaldson is keen as mustard on the Monster. He under-stands absolutely why I object to the notion that the Monster has left Loch Ness. RM□ He's just the boy to be our next Troop Leader→-& keen es mustard and very popular with the others. (as) large/ big as a cabbage [Comp (AdjP)]very large S: lettuce, weed; blossom, flower.rose. V:△be, grow o Here were hats with pink roses as large as cabbages. DCo This must be a good year for hydrangeas. All the bushes have heads on them # s big # s cabbages. (as) large as life[Comp(AdjP)] seen, pictured in the imagination, or exhibiting oneself, as one undoubtedly is V:△be, seem, look o' You must he crazy. Your uncle doesn't go to nightclubs.'' But I saw him myself in a disco as large as life.dancing with a girl half his age.'oI can't believe.sometimes, that granny is dead. If I close my eyesI can just see her knitting away in that old arm-chair as large as life, with her specs half-way down her nose . o usu in apposition to a n rather than as a Comp; variant (facetious) as large as life and twice as natural. ◇ △ larger than life. (as) a/ one's last resort(as) a resource, ex-pedient, means of help, etc; (only to be used)when all else fails; in the last resort' (qv) V: be:keep, use, leave, appeal to, fall back on sth□/f justice, then, must be seen to waddle at its measured pace in the formal investigations, what about a little informal mud-slinging? How about publicity? ' Publicity is a last resort,' I was told.OBS The place seemed to be impregnable. There might have been a way of entering from the rail-way side. But I left this as a last resort; for although I am not frightened of motor cars I am rather nervous of trains. UTN□ I discovered that ul l grassland squirrels made straight for the trees when pursued, and only chose holes in the ground.or hollow logs. as a last resort. BB□ The opera-lion is occasionally successful but so expensive as well as uncertain that it should be restricted to last resort attempts at reconciliation. OBS o attrib use a last resort attempt.◇△in the last resort²; the last ditch. (as) lean as an alley cat [Comp(AdjP)] with very little fresh on one's bones(the implication usu being that the person is hardy) V: △ be.become, grow o Most of the tourist party spent the afternoon lying on their beds with the shades drawn, but Jim, who was as leanes on alley cat. 23 <24> (as) light as air——a matter of form suffered much less than the others from the heat and humidity. (as) light as air [Comp (AdjP)] carefree;untroubled; possibly superficial $: tone, mood;he, you, they, we. V: △be, feel □ For the first week or two after sitting my final examinationsI felt light me wiv, but of course I soon had to face the problem of finding a job. o 'I doubt if my husband and I will still be living together by next summer,' she remarked in a tone as light ssair. Istared at her, not knowing whether to take her seriously or not. (as) light as a feather [Comp (AdjP)] very light in weight V: △be, feel, weigh □' Can you manage to carry her? '' Oh, she's as light as a feather.’ TGLY□I don’ t know why you persist in wearing those old oilskins for fishing, when you can get nylon jackets that are waterproof, wind-proof, and light as e feather. D always sing,even when talking of objects in pl, as in second example. ◇ (as) heavy as lead. (as) light as thistledown [Comp (AdjP)]very light in weight and gentle in movement S:movement; fingers; breeze. V:△ be, feel o To his delight and relief the dentist's touch was, if not quite as light as thistledown, at least sen-sitive, and certainly far from the brutal assault he had feared. (as) like/ likely as not [Disj (AdjP)] in all probability; with an even chance of occurring or not occurring o She had left the breech out of the port Oerlikon (gun), and, as like as not,without her help the rating wouldn't be able to put it together again. RFWo Come now to the average wife's impression. Likely as not, ' picnic' for her means three hours of cutting, buttering, boiling,packing, and getting the family equipped. a The headmaster could make no promises, of course,but he did say the boy was as likely as not to win a scholarship.□as likely as not also used as Comp after he. (as) like as two peas/ peas in a pod [Comp(AdjP)} very similar in appearance, but not necessarily indistinguishable; very alike V: △be, seem o We haven't met before, but I'm sure you must he Alec Brown's brother from NewZealand; you' re as like as two peess. o An ex-pert could probably tell which was the original and which the copy, but to the layman's eye the three vases were as likes possin@ pod.◇(as)different as chalk from/ and choose. (as) lively as a cricket [Comp (AdjP)] bright,cheerful and active V:△ be, remain; find sb oMy darling daughter awoke, Hvely as acricket,just three hours after we'd gone to bed. WIO Some men are old at sixty-five, others are still as lively8 8 crickets in their nineties. as/ so long as [Conj] provided that o I don't mind where we go so long as there's sun, sand and sea. o' Can I take the dog for a run?'' Yes, as long as you' re back before dark.'I The farmers'answer is that as long as we take something like90 per cent of our butter and cheese from abroad we cannot hope to produce our own butter and cheese economically. sc as long es one's arm[Comp(AdjP)] very long$: list, schedule, itinerary, column of figures. V:△be, seem o... and wrote out a shopping list as long as her arm. AITCa Since they' ll only be here for half a day, there's no point in planning an itinerary as long as your arm. D often modifies a preceding n, as shown. as(good/ ill) luck would have it [Disj] for-tunately, or unfortunately; as chance will/would have it (qv): as it happens/ happened(qv); by chance(qv); by accident (qv) o As IIIluck would have it he was on holiday at that time, and it came as a blow to Sir Percy to read in one of the newspapers that BrigadierRademeyer was very critical of his activities. DS□ Soon after three o' clock one of the occasional mortar bombs came over. As fuck would have it a steward was bringing him a cup of tea, and this man was killed instantaneously. RFW o He had just the qualifications we wanted, and as luck would have it we happened to have a vacancy. o when no adj is used, then context gives meaning. by design; on purpose. (as) read is a hatter/a March here[Comp(AdjP)] abnormal in behaviour(ranging from mere eccentricity, recklessness, folly, irrespon-sibility etc to near-madness and insanity itself);(as) nutty as a fruit-cake (qv) V:△ be, seem;think sb□ Strangely, although Mr Benberg was only an ineffectual dreamer, and Mrs Benberg seemed at times as med as a hatter, they had managed to give her the help she had looked for in vain from her mother. AITCo I think you' re as ma d as e March hare, and I don't want to see you any more, so please don't ring up, or write and thank me for this. RFW o the Mad Hatter is a character in the book‘Alice in Wonderland’;mad as a March hare is derived from the strange behaviour of hares occas observed in March,and usu describes unorthodox and unpredict-able behaviour of a flamboyant kind. as one makes one's bed, so one must lie on it(saying) one must suffer the consequences of one's own actions, of the arrangements one has made for one's life or work o' Well,' his mother explained to ours about a month after they'd got married, ' he's made his bed and he can lie on it, even though it turns out to be a bed of nettles.'LLDRo But I did hear from Robin that she had a sort of stroke after Christmas. Of course, sha's made her bed and she's get to lie on it. ASA a(NONCE) We are not sent on this earth for pleasure alone. You have lain on your bed and now you' ll have to make it. SC o often adapted, as shown; stress pattern es one , makes one's bed, so one must ' lie on it. as a matter of fact [Disj] the fact is that; and that is a fact; to tell you the truth (qv)o AseSighter of fact, if you stop eating altogether for a day or two and drink only plain water, you will be surprised at how well you feel. TO o As e matter of fact I doubt if a Tory government could act any differently as things stand, what-ever they might wish. HAAo' What would you like for dinner?’ Just a boiled egg will do, thanks. I'm almost too tired to eat, as a matt er of fact.'o used to reinforce a statement, often either im-plying that listener or reader might not believe it, might be surprised to hear it, etc, or to strengthen contradiction of sth already said or suggested; front or end position. ess matter of form [A (PrepP)] in a way that is not essential but is either correct procedure or the courteous thing to do o It was time new arrangements were drawn up, and Bevill and 24 <25> Rose undertook, as a matter of form, to getMartin's views. NM □ Although her retirement does not entitle her to attend the dinner, I feel strongly that, as a matter of form, she should receive an invitation. o front or end position. (as) meek as a lamb [Comp (AdjP)] humble;not resisting or answering back; like a lamb(qv) V: △ be, look, sound □ If he'd thought Iwould sit there meek as a lamb while he abused my family, he must have got a real surprise. □ It was thought he might have resisted arrest, but in the event he accompanied the officers to thePolice Station, 8s s neek $ a lamb. as one/ you might say [Disj] a comment attached, often semi-apologetically, to a state-ment when the speaker himself does not wish to identify himself fully with its content, its im-plications or its form, or when he thinks his listener may not wish to do so o Johnny isn't much of a fighter in the boardroom — a bit afraid, as one might say. a' You don't see much of v our brother, eh? Haven't quarrelled or any-thing, have you?” Nothing like that. it's just that.well, nowadays we move in different circles as you might say ' o front, middle or end position. ◇ △ as it were; so to speak. (as) miserable as sin [Comp (AdjP)] very unhappy V: △ be, look, sound o We saw him.walking down the yard, carrying a suitcase and two paper hundles. looking as miserable as sin and wearing the good suit he'd got married in to save it getting creased in the case. LLDR□I'm not letting Peter go to his grandparents unless his cousins are going too. He would he as miserable es sin withou l company of his own age. as much as one's life is worth [Comp(AdjP)] involving danger to one`s life; very dan-gerous; involving oneself in trouble or un-pleasantness $: it.. not to go, it... to arrive late.V: △be; think sth o I'm glad your father was persuaded not to go fishing. It would have been as muchashis life was worth to have taken the bout out on a night like this. a Some poor fellows are so dominated by their wives that it's as much as their lives are worth to get home hulf an hour late. of promised I'd get this done by five o' clock.and it' ll be as much as my life is worth if Idon't. as much as to say [A] as if to say; in a way that is equivalent to saying o Wormold made a little gesture as much as to say, 'I haven't the nerve. Help me.’ oMIH o All the time he was boasting about his adventures, Celia was guzing ul him with her big round eyes as much e $ to say" What a wonderful, man you are" as near as dammit/ kiss your hand [A(AdjP)](informal) very nearly; almost but not quite o Kirkcaldy, they say, was the birthplace i or s ne ar as dammit) of the gentleman who founded ' The Scotsman', one John Ritchie. SC□I only hope the Germans are capable of making bloody fools of themselves like this. Or anyone else who gets as far. I tell you we' ve gon ea r as kiss your hand. NMol as new is dammit missed my train again this morning. I shall really have to get up earlier. as near ((to) sth/(to) doing sth) as makes no difference etc [Comp (AdjP)] so close (to sth/ to doing sth) that any differences are unimportant V:△be, come,n: difference. (as) meek as a lamb— as of right △ matter, odds □ ' Now Cobb, Stevenson here.tells me that you know about this already. " AndStevenson was we ne ar crying as makes no dif-feronce. TT o... Harry, whose shape came as near es makes no matter to a globe. SMLo She was as mear thirty ex makes no odds the year war broke out. WOM (as) nervous&sa cat/ kitten [Comp(AdjP)]apprehensive; easily startled; ready to take fright V:△ be, become, feel; find sb□ ' Some of the patients can be pretty difficult at first, es-pecially in the New Town. They think it's assert-ing the rights of citizenship to be rude to the doctor.'' Well,I might tell you I was as nervous as a kitten when I started.' DIL□ I don't mind being in the house alone in the daytime, but after dark I'm as nervous as a cat. ◇△like a cat on hot bricks. (as) nutty as a fruit-cake [Comp (AdjP)](informal) abnormal in behaviour (ranging from mere eccentricity, recklessness, folly, ir-responsibility etc to near-madness and insanity);(as) mad as a hatter a March hare(qv)V:△be,seem a I'm staying in the house of my AuntGrizelda, who is 87 years old, has 3 pet monkeys,eats only fish and oats, is nutty as a fruit-cake— but she's a most delightful companion. a The characters in Don Sleeve's new comedy series' Filthy Showers' ure all nuttier than fruit-cakes.□ Ben's we al fruit-cake turning down that offer for his bike. O variant a fruit cake. (as) obstinate/ stubborn as a mule [Comp(AdjP)] difficult to persuade, or force, into doing or thinking anything different from what he does or thinks now V:△be, become; find sb□ But this is the odd thing, though he's impulsive he's obstinate 8$ e mule. PW o But he wouldn't see it . Obstimete as a mule over that,he was. TST。 When interested, his powers of con-centration were those of a hurning-glass. but his trains of thought, as obstinate and as surefooted as mules, seemed often to lead him far from the place where he was. AH as of now[A] starting now(from this moment.day etc) and from now on o There was the world, and somewhere in it was Pepinu without anyone to turn to. Well, she had, as of now. She had me. CONo 'I heard on the radio this evening that National Insurance Contrihutions are going up by 13p.' As of now?' No, from July 14th.□ esp in official or semi-official contexts, or humorously in imitation of this; front, middle or end position. as of old [A] in the old, familiar way; as used to be, and still is, the case a Otherwise all was peace, and on the quay the blue-clad hotel porter fussed forward as of old for our packs and coats.SDo I could see that as of old their house was a port of call for all the lonely and the lost of the district.□ Your Uncle James was at the wedding.flirting with all the good-looking girls, as of old.□front, middle or end position. as of right[A] by(legal) entitlement; as sb who is(legally) entitled to sth o One third of the totul estate comes to you as of right, you know,whether your husband has left a will or not. u' Come along, Elspeth, let's have some tea,' saidAlec. She sat down as of right behind the teapol.Harold sat down too, but Ale c remained stand-ing. pw o front, middle or end position. 25 <26> as often as not----(as) pleased as Punch as often as not [A(AdvP)] about as many times as not o The baboon ' overlords' have been described as highly aggressive within their groups. Infact, as oftenes not, the animals that were attacked evaded the aggressor by feats of rock-climbing which he did not emulate. NS o' You' re always up until after midnight, and it's not good for you.'' That's not true, really it isn't!As often as not, I'm in bed by eleven.' (as) old as the hills [Comp (AdjP)] ancient;very old; not new; not young; dating from far back in history$: custom, practice; joke, story;suit, coat. V:△be, look o Many of the customs and rituals of this tribe were as old as the hills they dwelt among. o' And anyway.' Rose added,'I look as old as the hills.'ASA o ' Is that a new dress you' re wearing?'' Good heavens, no. It's as old & the hills—— you must have seen me in it dozens of times.’ (as) old as Methuselah [Comp (AdjP)] very old(from GENESISV27);(derogatory) of an older age group than the speaker V:△ be, look o' MrPhillips is still alive, but living with his daughter's family now.'' Well, you do surprise me! He must be es old ss Methuselah— he was a grey-bearded old man when I was a boy.□ He said he didn't want to go on a coach-tour with a lot of fuddy-duddies all as old as Methuseish. (as) old as time [Comp (AdjP)] ancient; very old; dating from far back in history; not new or young 8: area, locality; village, settlement; rite,custom. V:△be, look □ Geologically speaking,most of the earth's surface is comparatively new,but here and there, rock formations old as time have been exposed by the action of long vanished glaciers or by natural erosion. o There are very few sins that aren't as old as time. HAA as one enchanted etc[A(AdvP)](formal) in the manner of sb who is under a magic spell which has deprived him of his normal faculties and functions V:△be, appear, stand. adj: en-chanted, △ bewitched, possessed, deprived of her/ his senses o I heard no sound after the door closed, and for some time I stood as eme bewitched in the middle of the room. UTNoAs one enchanted she wandered aimlessly through the house, picking things up, laying them down again. gazing vacantly about her. as one man [Comp/A (PrepP)] acting unanimously; in unison; precisely alike S:group, members, workers; company, club,team; children; they(= men or women). V: be;stand, rise, drop, stop, walk out, advance, run,think, feel o As one man, the Bafut Beagles dropped their spears and fled. BB□ Th ere were some differences of opinion about hours of work,but on the need for a rise in pay they were as one man. o(NONCE) The Company, Bs one womey,were stunned by this speech. WDM 口 facetious nonce use in last example; occas variant as one. as one man etc to another [A] in a way that acknowledges or assumes equality with, or similarity between, oneself and another n: man,woman; teenager, parent, old age pensioner;worker, teacher o' Evening classes, ' he would say, ' are the foundation of social democracy.'She smiled es one intellectusal to another. ASA□The boy was pleased that his uncle had spoken to him as one man to muother, instead of adopt-ing the patronising or authoritative tone he 26 resented in so many of his elders. (as) pale as death[Comp(AdjP)] very pale on account of illness, shock, fright etc;(as) white as chalk/a sheet (qv) V:△be, go, turn □ She suddenly went as paleas desth and I thought she was going to faint.□ His face pale as death, and his lips trembling, he stammered out the dreadful news. (as) patient as Job[Comp (AdjP)] very pa-tient, tolerant, either in the performance of laborious tasks or in the endurance of pain,provocation, opposition etc V: △be, remain;find sb o He's so impossibly long-winded. You need to be as patient as Job to listen to him without making some excuse to leave. as per usual [A (AdvP)](informal) as sb usu-ally or habitually does; as sth usually is or hap-pens; as usual etc(qv)o He went back in at the door, and Kathie had finished and poured theirs,and Dusty and Chadwick were hardly able to wait. And they sat down, as per usual, andHopalong smiled over. TTo That lazy little mon-key has gone to school and left her bed unmade again, as per usual. o facetious, and rather dated. (as) pissed as a new t [Comp(AdjP)](taboo)very drunk;(as) drunk as a lord/ newt(qv);(as)tight as a tick (qv)V:△be, look, find sb□ After six whiskies Harry was finding it difficult to stay on his feet.' You' re as pissed as a newt.' Ted muttered. 'I'd better get you to a taxi.' a (as)sober as a judge. (as) piain as the nos on your face[Comp(AdjP)] obvious (though with the implication that the person addressed may not know it) 8:it... that he's got measles, it... that she's after your job. V:△be, look o' What's the matter with Dave recently? He hardly ever answers when he's spoken to.' ' Good lord—— it's as plain as the nose on your face: he's in love!' (as) plain as a pikestaff' [Comp (AdjP)]clearly visible; obvious; easy to discern or un-derstand $: it; reason, significance, implica-tion(s). V: △ be; make sth □ But there's a big' Private Road—— No Entry' notice as plain as a pikestaff. You couldn't possibly avoid seeing it.□Ma said of course she got it (= understood).It was as pial n as a pikestaff. BFA (as) plain as a pikestaff[Comp (AdjP)]plain in appearance; not beautiful or handsome$: sister, boyfriend. V: △ be, look; find sb oLooks are something given to us at birth. I'm not any more to blame for my looks than if I were as plain as a pikestaff. WI□ He's es piain as a pikestaff, poor boy, and keenly aware of it. ◇(as) pretty as a picture; △(as) ugly as sin. (as) pleased etc& anything [Comp(AdjP)](informal) as pleased etc as it is possible to beV:△be, look, sound. adj: happy, pleased; sad,worried; annoyed, surprised; good, bad (ie in behaviour); careful o She would be as pleased as anything if you wrote to her.□ Keep out of the boss's way if you can---he's es cross= == my-thing this morning. a I knew that Mary was going to give me cigars for Christmas, but Ipretended to be as surprised as anything. oIpromise to carry them as carefully as anything.o [A (AdvP)] in last example. (as) pleased as Punch [Comp(AdjP)] elated or delighted on account of sth; like a dog with <27> (as) poor as a church mouse—(as) right as a trivet two tails (qv)V:△ be, look, sound o He claims not to care what the critics say, but actually he's as pleased as Punch when one of his books is well received. □ We shall look such fools, ' theCommander said. They are going to be as pleased as Punch in the Naval Intelligence.OMIHo You' re looking as pleased as Punch this morning. Is there any special reason for it? (as) poor as a church mouse [Comp(Ad'P)] having. or earning, barely enough money for one's needs V: △ be, look; leave sb□ Miss Pilchester was as poor as a church mouse:(her brother) the Brigadier hadn't had u new suit for twenty years and generally wore socks that didn't match. BFA □ Being poor as church mice is all very well when you' re young,hut Sam is nearly thirty now and ought to be looking for a better job. □ also pl, as in last example. ◇ (as) rich as Croesus. (as) pretty as a picture [Comp (Adj P)] very pretty. pleasing to the eye (but not strikingly beautiful or impressive) S: girl, woman; cot-tage, village. V:△ be, look; think sb o Pretty as a picture, she was. And such a happy child.P1: □Th e tiny cottage with its leaded windows and thutched roof was as pretty as a picture. □You' re looking as pretty as a picture. Granny.in your nice new blouse— and you' ve had your hair done too!◇(as) plain as a pikestaff²;(as) ugly as sin. (as) proud as Lucifer [Comp (AdjP)] very proud, arrogant, independent; never willing to accept advice or help v: △be, become; find sb o} ou can't help people who won't admit they need help. He 's a % proud as Lucifer and would ruther starve than take a penny from anyone.□Even if he knows now that he was wrong to quar-rel with his son, he's proud as Lucifer and could never unhend enough to try to patch things up again. o rather rare. (as) proud as a peacock [Comp(AdjP)] self-important; openly pleased and proud (of, or on account of, sth);(as) vain as a peacock (qv)V:△be, become: find sb o Just look at him strut-ting about in his Mayoral robes, proud as a peacock'a When I finally secured a small part in a television play my mother was as proud as a peacock and told all the neighbours about it.(as) pure as the driven snow [Comp(AdjP)] innocent; chaste S: girl; motives.thoughts. V:△ be. look; think sb □ My rela-tions with Mrs Aisgill are pure as the driven snow. RATT□I' ve tried to tell him what kind of a girl she is, but he's convinced that she's purer the m the driven snow. (as) quick as lightning etc [Comp/A(AdjP)] very swift, sudden or deft V: be; answer.o: lightning. △ thought. a flash □I didn't mean to let the dog out, but he shot past me, & quick as lightning, when I opened the door to the post-man. a He's the best left wing we' ve ever had in the team. quick as lightning and with excellent anticipation. o ' What other moral problem is there in this age?’' Being loyal to one's friends und hehaving properly to women, ' I answered quick as a flash. UTN□Quick as thought, she pulled the child out of harm's way, and the lorry crashed into the very spot where he had been standing. O used to describe movement, action etc: [A (AdvP)] in last two examples. (as) quiet/ silent as the grave/ tomb[Comp(AdjP)](sth is) very still, noiseless;(sb is)(esp with silent) not speaking, or not disclosing some particular information V: △ be, seem;find sth/ sb□ It's only on the surface, you know.Underneath all is quiet es the grave. Not a sound. Eoldo miss the children. The house seems es silent as the tomb without them. (as) quiet as a mouse[Comp(AdjP)] quiet and self-effacing by nature; specially quiet for a purpose V: △ be, keep o 'I didn't hear you drive up. How long have you been in?'' Got him to drop me at the corner. Quiet as a mousg coming in.'TGLYo Bob's sister seems rather shy.as quiet as a mous●, I only saw her when she was serving drinks. O used to describe people. (as) red as a turkey-cock [Comp (AdjP)]flushed with anger or embarrassment (from a turkey-cock`s comb and wattles, which become more conspicuously red when it is excited or angered) V: △ be, grow, turn, go; flush o TheSergeant-Major, his face & red as a turkey-cock, was abusing the squad at the top of his voice.□I felt myself turning as red as a turkey-cock when the teacher praised my essay and read it to the class. O ef one's face is as red as fire, one's cheeks are on fire, which usu refer only to feelings of shame or embarrassment. (as) regular me clockwork [Comp (AdjP)]occurring at set times in a way that can be depended upon V:△be; find sb□ The landlady was sent out for a two-hour walk with the dog, no matter what the weather; whereupon the niece and the respectable-looking middle-aged man promptly went upstairs. ' He's as regular es clockwork, Myrtle whispered. SPL o She told the doctor that she always woke up feeling fine:but just around eleven, as regular esclockwork,this dreadful headache started. □ Every single tea-break she says, ' For this relief, much thanks.'Ten times a week, ## regular # s clockwork! It gets on your nerves. 口 {A (AdvP)] in last two examples; variant with clockwork regularity. (as) rich as Croesus [Comp (AdjP)] very wealthy (from the name of a king of Lydia in ancient times) V:△be, become, grow o From.what he says,' Cosmo observed, ' our friendQuerini is as rich me Croessus, but dependent upon his father.'US□ Royde wants to charter a yacht to hunt this monster and I thought it was a deal right up your street. You don't want to soak (== grossly overcharge) him, because al-though he's as rich at Croessus he hates being soaked. Charge him the top price you'd charge anybody else. RM◇(as) poor as a church mouse.(as) right as rain [Comp (AdjP)] in good health, or in one's normal state of health; quite satisfactory; as it should be $; he, she, they, we;everything. V:△ be, look, feel o All you want is rest and fresh air and good food and you' ll be## right as rain. DBMo' Her headaches are not as bad as that,' said Harold.' Tomorrow she' ll be as right as rain.’ As right as rain?’ said Irma doubtfully. ' It's a thing we say in England,' saidHarold in a rather lofty manner. PWa Cheer up.your wife will be back in a week or two and everything will be right &s rain again. (as) right as a t rivet [Comp (AdjP)] in good health; properly adjusted or repaired; in good working order V:△be, look, feel o A month or 27 <28> …… ……(as) sound as a bell so in plaster and then a little massage and therapy, and we' ll have your ankle and you as right as a trivet. o' Right as # trivet now, ' said the mechanic as he crawled out from under the car. 'I' ve replaced your silencer.' 数学 a rule [A (PrepP)] almost always, but not invariably; the general rule(qv)o He frequently changed his address and had all his mail sent to a post-office box;g%m rule, it was picked up and brought to him by a messenger. TO□It's lucky for you I'm still up. I'm in bed by eleven o' clock me a rule. □ We don't as a rule give credit to cus-tomers. but are willing to make an exception in your case. □ front, middle or end position; ex-pression refers to custom, habit, or likelihood;compulsory or rigid rules of behaviour or action are better described as carried out ac-cording to rule. (as) safe as houses [Comp (AdjP)] secure;not dangerous; not likely to be a cause of mishap or loss $: bridge, path; investment; it.V:△be, feel, look, seem o With Susan here we feel as safeas houses. The children dote on her.PWo' Do you think that wooden bridge will take our weight?’’ Of course—— it’ s sa fe as hourses;the farmer takes his cows over it every morning.”□ He wasn't the type to take risks in hope of a quick profit; anything his money was invested in was sure to be as safe as hows●●. (88) sharp as a needle[Comp(AdjP)] quick-witted; having plenty of perception V: △ be,become; find sb o One doesn't need to be as sherp as e needle to see that that story doesn't fit the facts. o Young though he was, the child was as sharp as a needle and sensed the disharmony between his parents in spite of the fact that they never quarrelled in front of him. (as) sick as a dog [Comp (AdjP)] vomiting a great deal; (fig) deeply concerned or depressed(often because of a lost opportunity) V: △ be.feel o / had felt some nausea all day and went to bed early, but I was up three times in the night.#8 sick a dog. a I saw an ad in the paper for just the car I'm looking for. I was sick as a dog when they told me it had just been sold. (as) smooth && a baby's bottom [Comp(AdjP)] (informal) soft and smooth to the touch, or in appearance $: skin, hands; fabric;wood. V:△be, feel a'I'm getting flabby lying here in bed, ' he grumbled, ' and look at my hands—— Samooth is a baby's bottom. What kind of hands are these for a working man to have? (as) smooth as a billiard-ball/ pebble[Comp (AdjP)] very smooth $: head; porcelain;surface. V:△ be, feel o I walked slowly round the tree, searching the trunk for any foot - or handholds on the bark which would enable Peter to climb to the top, but the bark was a% mooth88 e biHiard ball. BB □ ' Perhaps one side comes away.'I said. But there was no sign of any special fastening. The whole thing was as smooth as a pebble. UTNo There are bald heads in plenty to be seen, but his was uncommon in that it was as smooth and round as abiHard-ball, all over. Dused esp of curved or rounded surfaces. ◇next entry. (as) smooth as a billiard-table/ glass[Comp(AdjP)] very smooth$; lawn, field, road,floor. V:△be, look, feel o It can take years of careful cutting and rolling to get a lawn es smooth as a billiard-table. o The road was smooth as glass and the tyres didn't grip at all once I started to skid. □ used esp of flat surfaces.◇△ previous entry. (as) smooth as a mill-pond [Comp(AdjP)]very smooth and calm S: sea, water, lake. V:△be, look o When we set out from the harbour. the sea was me s mooth as a mill-pond, but within half an hour the waves were a metre high. (as) smooth & velvet [Comp (AdjP)] soft to the touch, ear or taste, or in appearance s;cloth, material; skin; tone, voice; brandy. V:△be, feel, sound, taste o I don't like that woman.She's always making sarcastic remarks in a tone as smooth as vehret. □ You'd better be careful with that malt whisky. It goes down ## mnoth es velvet, but it's very potent.□ Try our velvet-smooth plum brandy! □ [A (AdjP)] in second example; adj compound velvet-smooth. (as) snug as a bug in a rug [Comp (AdjP)]very comfortable V:△be, feel, look o I must dry some seaweed and line this crevice. I could be gs snug as a bug in a rug. PMo Warmth, to be@$ mug as a bug in a rug', is of the first impor-tance. UL o There's a nice little pension and a cottage on the estate coming to him when he retires. He' ll be snugger than a bug in a rug there. (as) sober&& ajudg·[Comp(AdjP)] not at all drunk; serious; solemn; not in high spirits V;△be, look, sound o HELEN: You' re drunk. PETER:I'm sober as ajudge. TOHo It's ironic, when you think of how often he could have been picked up.by the police for drunken driving, that he should have met with his first accident when he was me sober 88 a judge. □ They' re an odd pair of friends. Sylvia always bubbling over with non-sense and Polly as sober is a judge. ◇ (as)drunk as a lord/ newt; (as) pissed as a newt; (as)tight as a tick. (as) solemn es em ow l [Comp (AdjP)] very serious, solemn, earnest etc$: expression, face;he, she, you. V:△be, look, appear; find sb o He felt more like laughing at the child's escapade than scolding him, but, solemn ge anowl, he got through the necessary reprimand. □ ' But I'm serious underneath it all, you see.'' Yes, you look it. Solemn as an owl, that's you.' 'I didn't say that, I said serious. I mean every word I say.'TGLY 口 often used jokingly or teasingly. ▷ △(as) wise as an owl. as soon as look st sb[A(AdvP)] very readily□ If he starts any of his nonsense with my daugh-ters, boss's son or no boss's son. I' ll kick him out of the house as soon as look at him. o 'I' ll not deceive you, Mrs Brown,' the officer said. ' The girl is a good worker but if you were to leave money or valuables lying about she'd steal them gs second me look at you.’ oused to express readi-ness to take action about, or in defiance of, sb/sth; often preceded by a clause containing future or conditional v. (as) sound as a bell [Comp (AdjP)] in good condition physically $: heart, lungs; engine,motor; he, you, it. V: △ be, feel, remain oThirty-nine today, sound as a ball, apart from my old weakness. KLTo' Well, you have nothing to worry about,' said the doctor after concluding his examination. ' Heart and lungs me sound as a bell.'o used in sing, even with pl. 28 <29> (es) sour as vinegar/a crab [Comp (AdIP)]very sour in taste; (fig) very bad-tempered.sharp-tongued, unfriendly $: wine; fruit; he,she, you, they. V: △ be, sound; find sth sb oDon 't eat those oranges vet - they' re not ripe undes sourasvinggar.□What's the matter with old Mrs Botley? She used to be so cheerful and friendly . Now whenever I pass her in the street allI get is a look bes sour as a crab. D expression with vinegar used only in literal sense . 乊 (as)sweet as honey as the spirit takes/ moves one[A] accord-ing to one's inclination or eagerness (to do sth)and at a time or times of one's choice V: work.speak, write. conj: as, when, if o They (=beings from outer space) ambled as the spirit took them. through shops and banks and offices and homes, without a care for the raging oc-cupants. TST□' Doesn't your husband work in the garden at all?'' Oh yes. he does sometimes. hut only when the spirit moves him.'o4sked if he set himself daily periods of work. Ian said that he know many novelists who did, but he himself preferred to write as the spirit took him. (as) steady as a rock [Comp(Ad;P)] firm; re-liable;(fig) loyal $; stepping-stone. ladder. he.she, they . V: △ be, feel, look o ' Is that stile sufe” Steady e% a rock. You couldn't make it wobble if you tried.'o He would be a good chap to have around one in an emergency. I thought-- - as steady as a rock. He'd never get into u flap. c. Some of the tribes had changed loyalties several times. hut the Warani had remained steady as a rock in their allegiance to their old allies. I ' s as changeable as a weathercock. (as) stiff as a poker [Comp (AdjP)] rigid in posture, carriage, or manner V: △ be, keep.stand o The old lady was sitting upright in her< hair stiff as spoker, unlike the younger mem-hers of ner family. aI think he feels quite friendly lowards people. but he ' s as stiff es a poker in company- - can ' t relax at all. □ adj compound poker-stiff. (as) stiff/ straight as a ramrod {Comp(AdyP)] rigid in posture or carriage $: back; he.she, they. V:△be, keep, stand □She sat there on the edge of her chair. her back as stiff as a ramrod the whole evening. □ The captured general maintained his dignity to the end, walk-ing prod-straight to his execution. D adj compound ramrod-stiff/-straIght. (as) still as death [Comp (AdIP)] without sound or movement $; everything; place; night;hc. she. they. V: 小 be, keep, go, stand □ Just before the thunder broke, everything suddenly went a st ill as death: not a leaf rustled. not a bird sang o I never knew such a sound sleeper'Once his head touches the pillow, he just lies there息s still as death ti ll he's wakened. (as) still as the grave[Comp(AdjP)] without sound or movement S: everything: place. V:△be, remain, lie o There's no use peering through the letter-box. The place is exstill as the grave.They must have forgotten we were coming. (as) still && & statue [Comp (AdjP)] not moving, or speaking, esp for a particular reason or purpose V:△be, keep, stand o When I was at school, if the headmaster came into the room.w c ul l had to rise and stand as still as statues until he left . a/f you both creep down to the reeds (as) sour as vinegar/a crab—— as such and then keep still as status, maybe the moor-hen will come back with her chicks and you can see them close up. (as) straight as her& rrow [Comp/A (Adv/AdjP)] in a straight line, path, or direction S:line, path, road, route. V: be; go, run, drive, fly.throw o You won't get lost if you keep to the track. It's as straight des kin arrow and goes right through the middle of the wood to the other side . □ She has a mind that flies straight es en arrow to the crux of any problem . □He drove the had been made in the sand. (as) straight as a die [Comp/A (Adv/AdjP)]in a straight line, path, or direction; (fig)honest, not ambiguous S: line, path, road,route; he, she, you, they. V: be; go, run, drive,fly, throw o A flagged path has to be laid straight ss a die to look well; a stretch of crazy paving is easier for an amateur to manage. oWell Barrett,' said Mr Collins, ' what do you know about this?’ The boy looked round at their face's. and then at Mr Collins. ' Nothing. Sir,' he said, straight as a die,' Would you tell me if you did?’ said Mr Collins ' No. Sir,' he said. TTo If there's any fiddling of the books going on in this office, it must he one of the new people. Jenkins has been with me eighteen years and I know he's (as) strong as a horse/ an ox [Comp(AdjP)]having great muscular strength, able to do heavy physical work V:△be, become; make sb o Physically she had always been broad-shouldered and athletic, and lugging loaded drums and belts and canisters of ammunition about all day made her as strong as a horse.RFW□ She Nesstrong as a horse Got my con-stitution! " He never would admit that Jenny was in anything but the rudest of health. AITC oHARRY I can't move my left hand very well. Lost its grip or something.... RONNIE (grippingHarry`s hand in a shake) Strong es an ox.You' re a sham, Harry boy. CSWBO strong as an ox generally used of men only. ◇ (as) weak as water¹. as such' considered alone; not including any-thing that is, or may be, associated with sb/ sth□ Another condition which exerts a profound in-fluence on learning as such is that of being motivated. Without an intention to learn, little worthnhile learning occurs. MFF□ She had no-thing against public houses @# such.PW□Such intellectual work as I have ever accomplished has always left me with a sense of having achieved nothing, but whether this is because of the nature of intellectual work me much, or whether it is because I am no good. I have never been able to decide. UTN O modifies a preceding n. &such²[A(PrepP)] in that particular capacity,manner, form, or function o Headquarters 21Army Group had been formed our of G. H. Q.Home Forces and as such had been in existence for nearly four years. MFM o It was odd howHarold proved himself a past-master of intrigue.Yet intrigue was only his instrument: he didn't think of it as such, he thought of it as the means whereby he could... PW o The word ' artist' , up there, has a special meaning. It means someone who works in one of the pottery factories putting the designs on crocks. As such, they get sacked 29 <30> (as) sure as death etc—& su sual etc just as easily as anybody else when times are bad.CON (as) sure as death etc[Comp/A (AdjP)] cer-tain to happen; inevitable; absolutely predict-able V: be; happen, fall apart. n: death,△fate,(informal) he ll o With all these clouds gathering it's as sure as death to rain before morning. RM□ You' ll be found out, sure as fate, if you try a silly piece of trickery like that. o A retribution sure as fate will overtake him for his evil deeds. (as) sure ws opgs is eggs [Disj (AdjP)] (in-formal) quite certainly o If there's another gale like the one we had last week, we' ll lose a lot more trees, sure as gggs is @母母g. □ If he goes on driving like that, as sure as ggs is eggs he' ll end up in hospital.□front or end position; strict-ly ungrammatical but used jocularly by educated speakers. (as) sure/ true as I'm sitting/ standing here[Disj (AdjP)] without any doubt (said esp of the certainty, or truth, of sth which has al-ready occurred or is predicted) o You might think she could never have been so unkind, but these were her exact words to me, as trade as I'm sitting her@.o If you don't clean your room this morning, you' re not going to the youth club,surge as I'm standing here. o variant as sure/true as you' re sitting/ standing there. (as) sure as (God made) little apples[Disj(AdjP)](informal) quite certainly口'I seem to remember reading somewhere recently about the influx of new blood into the Profession.'"" The Schoolmaster",' said Charles, ' sure as little apples.'TT o If they appoint Smithson manager there' ll be trouble with the staff a88488ss God made little apples. o front or end position. (as) sweet as honey [Comp (AdjP)] very sweet in taste;(fig) very pleasant in speech,behaviour etc(often. with the implication of insincerity) $: peach; coffee; he, she, they;words. V:△be, sound, become o I can't drink this tea. It's as sweet as honey. o Grow these honey-sweet melons in your own garden! oShe's the kind of woman who' ll be sweet as honey to your face and as malicious as hell behind your back. a If you don't like the Browns then don't visit them. If you go on being sweeter than honey every time they telephone, of course they' ll keep inviting you. a adj compound honey-sweet. ◇ (as) sour as vineger/a crab. (as) thick ●●thieves[Comp(AdjP)] spending much time in each other's company and having common interests V:△be, become, remain oJO: What were you talking about to that old mare downstairs? GEOFF:I was giving her the rent. Igot my gran l yesterday. JO: You' re as thick as thieves, you two. TOHoI never came across such a closely-knit family before. They' re as thick me thieves, down to the last second cousin. (as) thick as two short planks [Comp(AdjP)](informal) very stupid V: △ be, seem □It's hopeless trying to explain anything to him—— he' ll never understand it, he's as thick as two short planks. ◇ as clever/ smart as paint. (as) thin a s a rake/ lath [Comp (AdjP)] very thin S: he, she, you, they; body, frame. V:△be,look, become o He was is thin as marke in spite of his enormous appetite. o I was shocked at his appearance----so grey-faced, and thin as a lath. He used to be such a powerful-looking fellow. o◇as fat as butter/a young thrush; as fat as a pig. & things stand/ stood [Disj] in view of, or taking into consideration, a certain set of cir-cumstances or some particular situation o Idoubt if a Tory government could act any dif-ferently as things stand, whatever they might.wish. HAAoIt would have been nice to have visited all these interesting places when we were young-er. But as things stood then, there was no chance of it. o As things stand with me at the moment, I simply can't find time for voluntary work. o front, middle or end position. (as) tight es a tick [Comp(AdjP)](informal)very drunk;(as) drunk as a lord/ newt(qv);(as)pissed as a newt(qv) V:△be, become, sound o You'd better keep an eye on Barbara—— she's fast becoming as tight as a tick, and when she gets like that anything can happen. ◇(as) sober as a judge. (as) timid as mouse etc[Comp (AdjP)]timid to the point of fear of other people; very shy; lacking in courage$; he, she, they. V:△be,look; find sb. n: mouse,△rabbit, hare o It's no use expecting Arthur to stand up for himself: he's astimid as e manuso. Somebody else will have to protect his interests. ◇(as) bold/ brave as a lion.(as) touchy etcms hell[Comp(AdjP)](infor-mal) very over-sensitive etc V:△ be, seem; find sb. adj: touchy, bad-tempered, angry, grumpy;mean, stingy; tight, uncomfortable o In the water they (= floating mines) seem to be safe unless they are borne down by a ship. But out of water, on a solid foundation, they are as touchy es hell. ARG o These new shoes of mine are go tight as hell. I wonder if I could have them stretched? □ adj usu conveys strong neg feelings on part of speaker. (as) tough as leather/ an old boot [Comp(AdjP)] very difficult to chew and swallow;physically hardy; able to withstand abuse, criti-cism etc$: meat; he, she, you, they. V: △ be,seem; find sth/ sb o I wish I'd asked for chicken salad. This steak is as tough as laother. o Dave is not a nervous wreck, but is tough as an old boot. UTNo ' The professor's plans for reorganiz-ing the department didn't meet with pruch approval, poor man.’' Don't waste your sym-pathy. He's taughs as old boots; he won't let their remarks hurt him.'o also pl as tough as old boots. (as) true as steel [Comp (AdjP)] very loyal,dependable V:▲ be; find sb o The captain said he would rather attempt the relief of the fort with twenty men he knew to be as t rag was see d than with a hundred of their ally's mercenaries. o Ihave asked a great deal of my wife in the way of hardships and sacrifice in order to further my ambitions, but she has been as trug me st eel to me throughout and has never complained. (as) ugly sin[Comp(AdjP)] exceptionally ugly V:△ be; find sb/ sth o The house stands by a river in a very beautiful place, though the house itself is as ugly as sín—— rather like a Scotch castle gone wrong. RFWaUglyee sin themselves,the two stepsisters hated Cinderella for her beauty. ◇(as) pretty as a picture; △(as) plain as a pikestaff. as usual etc[A (AdvP)] as sb usually, or 30 <31> habitually, acts; as sth usually is, or happens; in a way that is expected, because it has happened often before; as per usual (qv) adv: usual, △ever, always o As always, John is only interest-ed in how to turn the situation to his own advan-tage. □As ever, the train got in just too late for me to catch the early bus.□Complete accord. as usual. is reported by the Western Foreign Minis-ters, whose meeting in Washington was purt of the extensive preparations for next month 's sum-mil conference. SCo It was difficult for him to appreciate, in his pain and distress, that not only in other homes, but in his muan also, life must go on gs usual. (as) vain as a peacock [Comp (A. djP)] very vain; (as) proud as a peacock (qv) V: △ be,seem; find sb o His wife was a much less pleasant person than he was, over-dressed and as vain &s a peacock.□peahen not used with reference to women. (as) warm as toast [Comp (AdjP)] comfort-ably warm $: room, house; it; he, she, they. V:△bc. feel; find sth□' Yes, let 's all sit down, saidIsabel, if Daddy's thoroughly thawed out. ' Oh,I'm es warmas toast,' said Harold. PWa' You should he wearing gloves in this weather. '' I never nced them. Feel my fingers—— they' re warm as toast.'a The central heating is off, I'm afraid.hul come into the kitchen. It's as warm es toast in here with the oven on. as we have seen·[Disj] as has already been shown, demonstrated or proved oAs we have seen, the earthquakes in the world are confined to fuirly definite zones, and it is only in these regions that severe damage will be done, NSoIf,as we have sum, conducted water will not naturally rise above the level of its own source,what methods do we use to enable the occupant of a dwelling above that level to turn on his bath water?o pron we is essential part of expression. (as) weak as water' [Comp (AdjP)] very weak $; beer; arms, legs; he, she, they. V:△ be. feel, taste □ The doctor told me the infection had completely cleared up, but not to feel surprised if I felt as weak as water for the next month or so. □Well if you can't drink whisky, have a glass of this beer. It's as work as water: even u child could drink it. O also, esp of tea, as weak as/ like dish-water; also, with reference to people, as weak as a kitten. ◇ (as) strong as a horse/ an ox (as) weak as water²[Comp (AdjP)](fig) very weak; inadequate; deficient S: character、 per- sonality; he, she, they; argument, case. V:△be, prove a He would have worked for his exams all May u nd June if his friends had left him alone. l nfortunately they didn't , and he is we ak as water when it comes to saying no to a friend. a The staff didn' t want the proposed changes in office routine, but the arguments they tried to put forward against them were as weak ms water. (as) welcome as (the) flowers in May/ spring [Comp (AdjP)] very welcome S: friend. guest, visitor; he, you, she, they; money. cheque, wage-rise. V: △ be; find sb/ sth □ The small legucy was as welcome as flowers in spring, coming just when they were faced with an enormous bill for dry-rot repairs. as well (as sb/ sth) [Conj] too; also; in con-junction with sb sth specified; in addition (to sth) (qv); over and above (qv)o 'I thought you (as) vain a peacock— as and when said you wanted fruit-juice?'' So I do, but I want soup as well.'o When we asked them to stay for the weekend we didn't realise they would be bringing a couple of dogs as well. □ He had to carry a light sleeping-bag and ground sheet as well as a blanket. ARG□ The attitudes of the USand Russia seem to have been determined by their desire to avoid conflict e & well as by their reluc-tance to offend France. SC□ The modernisation of the transport system could prove a rich invest-ment in Highland recovery, lowering freight costs for the inhabitants, as well as providing easier access for visitors. SC□As well as being a terrible gossip,I think she actually tells lies too.□ as well occurs almost always in end position.as well as occurs almost always in middle position, though it can occur in front position.(just) as well (that) [Comp (AdjP)] for-tunate, more convenient, etc(that)$: it... thatI'd come prepared; that; your arrival. V:△ be;prove; turn out o Perhaps, on thinking back, it is as well I had no idea that ahead of me lay the most dramatic and frightening years of my life.TOoIt was just as well I had taken my umbrella with me, though the weather had looked settled enough when I set out. o Actually, I have very little food in the house, so it 's just as well that you' re not hungry. o He hadn't come in his car.which was just is well, Jane thought, since he'd be forced to cutch the last bus home instead of keeping them all up half the night. o` Poor old granny, she has no idea how ill she is. ' Just as well, surely, the nurse said gently.口 can be used(always with just) without following that-clause as end comment to sth already specified or described. as well etc as the next man/ person [A(AdvP)] in a way that is equally as good as the way other people do it (often with the implica-tion that it is even better)V: speak, write, do (a job); play(music, cricket etc). adj: well, clearly,carefully, honestly; (no/ not any) better/ worse(than) o I can drive a car as well as the next man , lei me tell you!o She said that normally she could bear pain espationtly as the next person..hu r that this particular attack was as much as she could endure. & well sb may/ might (do) as may, or mIght. be expected of sb in the circumstances.mentioned a Our passenger gave no signs of nerves or apprehensiveness, as well she might have done. BM a ' Peter is feeling very miserable and ashamed of himself.'' As well he may, after ul l the trouble he has caused!'a stress pattern as well sb ' may/' might (do); usu functions as em-phatic comment on some previous statement.as well do sth (as do sth else) (ironic) it is just as unreasonable, unprofitable to do sth (as it is to do sth else)□As well get Maureen to help you as get u cat to help a rat-she's as lazy und as selfish as a pig. □ Do you think there' ll ever he an International agreement to bun nuclear arms? ’’ As well expect the two greur powers to set up a joint World Peuce Fund!'>△it/ that is just as well; may/ might (just) as well do sth. as and when [conj + conj non-rev] used to indicate both the manner and time of doing sth(esp in semi-official jargon, when either as or when would be enough and preferable) □ Until 31 <32> (as) white as chalk/a sheet---at all costs he recovers, Mrs Jones, just let your little boy ear#s and when he likes. o A small committee will be constituted whose sole duty will be to deal with applications for relief is and when they arise.(as) white as chalk/a sheet [Comp(AdjP)]very pale in appearance as a result of illness.fear, shock etc;(as) pale as death(qv)$; he, she.you, they; face, hands, complexion. V: △ be.go, turn o I' ve never seen anyone looking as ill as Geoffrey. His face was my kit e as chalk when he arrived home from work this evening. oNo wonder some bridegrooms looked as whiteBs a sheet on their wedding-day. SML □ It was dreadful to see him lying there white sx a shoot and in such pain. o Mary has just come in with a face as white as a sheet to say there's been an accident at the corner of the lane. (as) white as snow[Comp(AdjP)] very white$: cloud; blossom、 petal; hair, beard; dress,sheet. V:△be, go, turn o The sheets were rough but as white as snow. o I scarcely knew him when we met again. His hair had gone as white es snow.□Th e ground was as white as snow with petals that had drifted down from the apple trees. O adj compound snow-white. as a whole considered with reference to all its parts; at large (qv) o For the populace e$ &whole the sound advice would appear to be the old, old one—— moderation in all things, includ-ing animal fats. To It is, however, in the interests.of Scotland as a whole that our economy should be better balanced and that the volume of em-ployment should be increased. SC □ These molecules begin to appear when the local gas density is 100 times greater than that of the cloud8% & whole. NSD modifies a preceding n. ◇on the whole. (as) wise as an owl [Comp (AdjP)] (ironic)very wise V:△be, look, seem o The child picked up the spectacles and put them on. ' Now you look es wise as an owl, ' said his father affectionate-ly. □ Although the technical details of the drainage scheme were far beyond their grasp, theCity Councillors sat looking as wise as owis,every now and then nodding their heads as if in acknowledgement of a point taken. ◇ Δ(as)solemn as an owl. (as) wise is Solomon[Comp (AdjP)] very wise (in the sense of having good judgement rather than much learning or knowledge) V:△be, become, prove o In some of the divorce cases you read about nowadays, one would need to be as wise as Solomon to know which party was the more at fault. o He made the wrong choice of career, we now know; but he couldn't have known it then, not if he had been wiser than Solomom.□ variant need/ display the wisdom of Solomon. (as) yellow as a gainea {Comp (AdjP)] clear-ly yellow in colour (because affected by illness or climatic conditions)$; skin; he, she, they. V:△be, turn, go o I say, it's high time you got a.tonic, you' re wi fellow as a guidem. USa He used to be a fine fresh-looking fellow, but after fifteen years of West Africa he came home yellows as a guinwe and thin as a match-stick. as yet[A] up to the present time, or time of speaking, or point reached in a narrative; so far(qv) o From this sketchy outline it will be ap-parent that, was you, we know very little indeed about the fundamental mechanisms of virus in- 32 fection. NSa As yet he had consumed but a pint and a half and was still rational. BMo The only conclusion the unbiased observer can come to must be that there does exist a small number of people who obtain knowledge by means es yot unknown to science. SNPo always used negative-ly or depreciatingly; cf As yet we have had no/very few applications with Already/ to date/ up to now, we have had over a hundred applications,and He had shown no/ little interest in music yet with Already/ by this time he was keenly interested in music; esp before past participles used as adj eg as yet unknown/ untried/unprepared etc. as you were (catchphrase) return to your for-mer position(from a command used originally in drilling soldiers);(fig) cancel any instruction.whether given by mistake or not a Robin mumb-led now. He would have given anything to be a small boy once more who, by saying 'I take back what I said' or ' As you were', could erase a whole conversation. ASAo'I used to look forward to the time when my children would marry and leave home. Now I have three grandchildren to look after nine months of the year.' ' As you were, in fact!' ' That's right!' o also used in everyday situations where speaker wishes to correct something he has said, or to suggest that a present situation is very similar to an earlier one. ask me another (catchphrase) in quiz games signifies that the contestant has answered suc-cessfully so far and is asking for a harder ques-tion in order to increase his score; means in ordinary conversation 'I don't know,'‘Who can tell?"□ ' Isn't Tom thinking of getting mar-ried?' ' Ask me another. He's had two or three different girl friends recently.'o' Well, David has got his orders from the doctor, but will he keep to them?’‘You can ask me another, but it's a poor look-out for him if he doesn't.' o always used as response to direct question. assult and battery [n + n non-rev] (legal)wilful physical damage to a person, whether this is slight or serious o We retreated into the streets of Rome (ie a filmset mock-up), which were already invaded by a small number of com-batants who were, however, more concerned with mutual # esault and battery than with the possibility of escape. UTNo Thar's ridiculous! He can't bring a charge of a result and battery for one slight poke in the ribs! at all [A (AdvP)] in any way; to some degree DWere you at all surprised to hear that Sarah had decided to become a nun?□ If you' re at all wor-ried, get in touch with me immediately.□ Will you be visiting Venice at all when you go abroad next summer? at all costs [A (PrepP)] regardless of effort.trouble, expense, concessions etc; whatever else one/ sb does o The Germans will fight hard to keep us from the Ruhr, and to keep the war static.Atall costs they must stop the war from becom-ing mobile. MFMoBut in so far as we are animals.our business is at all costs to survive. DOPo TheRight and Left Wings of the Labour Party are now united by little more than the leaders' desire to avoid a split at all costs. o front, middle or end position; frequently used with must and expressions of obligation; stress pattern at all <33> at all events— at a/ one (singie) blow costs. at all events [Conj (PrepP)] however that may be; in any case; whatever (else) happens oNeither Parsons nor old Watley could—— per-haps I should say would—— give anything like a precise account of what Robert had said. At all events, it must have been quite an oration. CON□Certainly—— or should the affirmative reply to that question be certainly not? At all events, Iwill come with you immediately. EM o front,middle or end position; stress pattern at ' all events. at all hours (of the day/ night) [A (PrepP)]at any time during the day/ night (esp with the implication that this is an unsuitable time)□It's bad enough having her come back from the club at all hours without sitting up after she gets home. PE□ The main entrance was open all night,hu l very brightly lit, as I knew from having passed it by at all hours when going to Dave's flat. UTNo Why, my sister, she couldn't hear to hear a door creak. Her husband had to go round with an oil-can at all hours of the night. AITC□I used to go dancing till all hours, but I really need a good night's sleep now--I must be get-ting old' o stress pattern at all hours(of the day/night); variant till all hours (of the night). at all times [A (PrepP)] always; on all occasions adj: polite, obliging, friendly; impar-tial, neutral; vigilant, ready, prepared □ Don't strike back or curse back if abused; show your-self friendly and courteous at all times; sit straight and always face the counter. OBS□ He was the best kind of teacher, firm yet relaxed,exacting yet ready with encouragement and at all times strictly impartial with his favours. Dfront, middle or end position; stress pattern at all times. at any moment [A (PrepP)] at any (chosen)point or points within a whole range or scale of time adj: one, given, particular, single o... as a result of developments in modern aids to nuviga-tion - - - - which enable an aircraft's position at any moment to be known accurately. NSC□ I' ll see if I can find him for you, but he's out a lot and it's very difficult to know where he is study given moment. at any price [A (PrepP)] at whatever cost in money, honour, happiness etc o My despair hegun to give way to exasperation and I felt coming upon me that nervous impulse to act at any price which so soon overtakes me in periods of frustration. UTN a I'm enjoying myself here.bul we ' ll go home now if that's what you want.Peace at any price. I always say. o stress pat-tern at any price; phrase peace at any price is used either seriously or jokingly. at any rate [Disj (PrepP)] whether for this, or another, reason; this much, if no more, being true: at least²(qv)o l suspected Sadie of having been a little sweet on me at one time; at any rate she nu s always rather unpleasant in the old days about my being fond of Anna. o There was a silence as the implication of these remarks dawn-ed on the meeting, or at any rate on some of the scientists. IBCoOn one theory, they(the craters)are due to meteoric impact: on another, they are due to volcanic action of some type. Atany rate.uctivity on the Moon now is negligible. NS□front. middle or end position; stress pattern at ' any rate. ◇ △ at that/ this rate. at sb's behest [A (PrepP)] (formal) in obedi-ence to sb's command, or in compliance with sb`s request (often with the implication of un-willingness); at sb's bidding (qv) □ Guy. no doubt at Prissie's behest, came in after dinner that evening. DC□'I'm here as the headteacher's secretary, she said, ' not to run errands at any-body's behest.' at best/ worst [Disj (PrepP)] taking the most/least favourable view; choosing the most/ least hopeful possibility o The British people also wanted real success; for too long they had seen disaster or at best only partial success. MFMoWhen she wanted to talk about her work, he would change the subject, or at best listen condescendingly, as if she were a child telling of school excitements. AITCoI don't think this cake will he as good as the last one I baked for you, but it' ll be eatable at worst. □ At best the army is regrouping, and at worst the advance continues by stealth behind a smooth front of official state-ments.□I tried to be open-minded about the rock concert, but the music was at best loud and at worst tuneless. o front, middle or end position.at the best of times [A (PrepP)] even when conditions are most favourable; (informal) at any time, and especially now/ then a Life on aChinese river barge was, at the best of times.uncomfortable and monotonous. BMo He was at the best of times a temperamental man and sometimes, after drink, ran about with carving knives. BFA□I can never resist owls at the best of times, but these two babies were quite ador-able. BBa ' Good afternoon,' said Florrie.' What can I do for you?'—— which was a silly enough question at the best of times, and he showed through the doors on account (= because) tea was on the go ( = was being made). TT o front.middle or end position. at sb's bidding[A (PrepP)](formal) in obedi-ence to sb's command, or in compliance with sb's request (often with the implication of un-willingness); at sb's behest (qv)□ 'I don't think your parents like me, ' I said.' Bob's obeying their orders. She withdrew her hand from mine.' That's a beautifuly thing to say. As if they were all-powerful tyrants and Bob danced at their bid-ding. RATTo Remember,I only invited the boy on holiday at your bidding. I expect you to devote some of your time to entertaining him, not leave it all to me.□ With an air of authority, as if every jug and bottle in the place existed to do his bidding, the landlord gave Harold his drink.pw o variant (in a more continuous sense of being obedient or subservient to another) do sb's bidding. at a/ one(single) blow [A(PrepP)] by means of one action or effort; at one(fell) swoop(qv)□ Flies were crawling all over the windows, but with a tightly folded wad of newspaper he was soon disposing of them, six or seven at a blow.□ She could have managed each of her misfor.lunes separately, hu t coming as they did at a single blow, they caused a severe nervous collapse from which she never fully recovered.□I'm afraid your teeth will all have to com, out,the dentist said.'I might as well take them : ll out now and get it over at one blow, don you think?’ 33 <34> at bottom— at the· xpense of sb/ sth at bottom [Disj (PrepP)] fundamentally, es-sentially, whether this is apparent or not; at heart(qv)o The working-classes are at bottom in excellent health —— so the pastoral descrip-tions run—— in better health than other classes;rough and unpolished perhaps, but diamonds nevertheless. ULo She never seemed to resent her sister's popularity, but I daresay that she was sometimes a little jealous at bottom. a What look like generous hire-purchase terms are at bottom encouragement to the customer to spend to his last penny. o front, middle or end position. at close quarters [A(PrepP)] very near; with no or very little distance intervening V: see, ob-serve、 sb/ sth; meet, encounter, sb o I, for my part, was astonished to see a popular writer at close quierters. AH a Now that it was at close quarters, but in the shadow,I could see that the offending object was smaller than a football, but much the same shape. DFo Seen at close quer-ters she looked even more formidable. RATT Ofrom afar. at clos· rang[A(PrepP)] at, or from,a point near to where sb/ sth is, esp to the extent that this influences how sb may observe, aim at,reach, etc sb/ sth else □ At close range a candle can create the most magical lights and contrast-ing shadows. HAHo His camera was a cheap one and didn't take good photographs at classe range. □ People who watch programmes about murder and violence wouldn't find such things entertaining at clos= range. at cross purposes [Comp/A (PrepP)] having different or opposing aims, desires etc, esp to the extent that this interferes with plans or situations where cooperation is important; mis-leading and/ or misunderstanding each other V:be, appear, find sb; talk o A meeting between theCity Council and the Local Residents isn't likely to settle anything. They' re at cross purposes before they start. o Some young people don't ask their parents for advice. However, John did, and was dismayed to find them at cross pusposés concerning his future career. o Let's see if we are not arguing at cross purposes. Is it the system of voting itself you condemn, or merely the ways in which it can be abused or misused? at one's (own) discretion [A (PrepP)] not according to some rule, but as one personally judges to be right, necessary, or suitable o... which is not the same thing as manufacturing our own nuclear weapons and, in theory at least,being able to use them at our own discration.SC□I have made out a programme of events forSports Day, Mr Simpson, but do feel free to make any alterations at your own discretion.□ As the police officers prepared to surround the house, the Superintendent told them to act at their discretion but to avoid the use office-arms if possible. o middle or end position. at the double[A(PrepP)] very quickly(origin-ally military)V: walk, run, march□'I' ll go.' said the CSM (= Company Sergeant-Major), and was up and away at the double. TTo Almost at the double, the little party dashed from stone to stone, missing none in the circuit. SDo I called for a member of the staff, who came running at the double carrying a hurricane lantern. BB at the drop ofahat [A(PrepP)] for little or no reason; with the least encouragement o What's done can't be undone, no use crying over spilt milk, two wrongs don't make a right, and all the other old saws that spring to my mind at the drop of a hat. AITCo They faced each other, one gaunt, unkempt, trousered, ready to scratch or bite at the drop of a het, the other sleek,feminine. HD□(NONCE) There are other advan-tages to Fibre-glass Crown——a whole list of them. At the drop of a himt, we will tell you all about them. NS □ (NONCE) Personally, I would much rather not be treated to the spectacle of a gallstone popping out of some unfortunate's bile duct at the drop of e surgeon's knWe. SC at one's easi(Comp/A (PrepP)] comfortable/comfortably; at a leisured rate of action etc V:be, look; do, take, sth o ' Why should I have to do all the fetching and carrying, while you sit there at your case?’ she complained. o The dinner had been a particularly good one and they were both much at their ees a as they drew up to the blazing fire. TBCoI'm quite fond of travelling,as long as I can do it at my assi. I nstead of attending the meeting, he was talking his●●●,lying in the sun in the park. o variant take one's ease. at one's elbow [Comp/A (PrepP)] very near one; within arm's reach V: be; need, have, sth o' Can you read Gaelic?'' Yes, with a dictionary at my elbow!'oI' ve put up bookshelves before, you know——I don't need somebody at my elbow telling me what to do.□ often fig use and with reference to unwanted advice, assistance etc. at the eleventh hour [A(PrepP)] almost, but not quite, too late to do sth, to take part in sth,for sth to be averted, etc; at the last minute(qv)(for source see MATTHEW XX 1-12) o We were in despair offinding an accompanist to replace JackStevens who had fallen ill; but at the eleventh howr, just as we were thinking of cancelling the performance, we remembered Alice Lyall o His teeth were in a dreadful state, but it is wonderful what, even at the eleventh hour, modern den-tistry can do. D What happened at the last reor-ganisation in 1929, when the concept of district councils unexpectedly triumphed, suggests that it would be unwise to rule out completely the pros-pect of eleventh-hour changes. SC □ attrib use an eleventh-hour decision; variant leave sth till/until the eleventh hour. at every turn [A (PrepP)] whatever one does;wherever one goes; constantly V: find, meet,encounter, sb/ sth o He had been trying to get his book finished all that year, but had been thwarted at overy turn. o'/ haven't seen you for months.'she laughed,' and now I seem to be meeting you at every turn!’ at one's (own)/ sb's expens. [A (PrepP)]paying for sth oneself/ allowing sb else to pay;with sb else paying V: live, feed, travel; be brought up o I did, however, dislike the dim light, and on the second day provided. sit my own expense, a more powerful electric bulb.UTNo He ate at other people's●xp@特殊@ as much as possible. HAA o Harold had been to Bath on business and was travelling first-class at the firm's expense. PW o From childhood he had been fed, clothed and educated at the expense of various relatives. ◇▲ next entry. at the ●xpers@ of sb/ sth [A (Prep)] involv. 34 <35> ing the ridicule of sb else; involving a cut, loss or reduction made somewhere else o Can you keep your good humour if others laugh at you in a friendly way and make witty remarks at your expense? WI□ Now the Chancellor wants to en-courage fixed capital investment at the expense of consumer spending. SCo We might say thatHamlet was a highly introverted person, prob-ably with strong neurotic tendencies——a person liable to lose himself in abstract trains of thought at the express of contact with reality. SNP◇previous entry at (its/ one's) face value [Disj/A (PrepP)] at(its/ one's) nominal, supposed or apparent value (often with the implication that this may not be the real worth) V: accept, take, sth □Certain phenomena having been reported consist-ently for thousands of years, certain obvious problems are being raised. At face value they seem to contradict certain widely held beliefs; yet it seems difficult to dismiss these phemonena as being simply due to chance, to misconception, or to fraudulence. SNP□ He always accepted at face value any friendly gesture that was offered to him. HAA□ His contemporaries had soon formed the habit of accepting him at his face value,listening almost respectfully when he read papers to literary societies. HDo'I want to sell my car.What do you suppose it's worth?'' Atface value.about £200, and you aren't likely to get much more, however good its condition.'o accept sth/sh at its/ one's face value occurs frequently,implying trusting attitude or, in neg, the op-posite. at first [A(PrepP)] at, or in, the beginning; to begin with, at the time of sth starting, or of starting sth o Diabetes is symptomless at first.NS o The earth was formed about two thousand million years ago, along with the rest of the solar system. At first the surface was frozen. TO□Ididn't like the work at first, but after I got to understand it and made friends with the other girls, I came to love it. o front, middle or end position; often followed by another statement which may begin with then, later, afterwards,etc. at the first attempt [A(PrepP)] the first time one tries det: first, second, third; last, final o He struggled to speak. At the third attempt his vocal chords vibrated slightly, and a hoarse whis-per came out. HDo Not many people can solve this puzzle at the first attempt.□front, middle or end position. at first biush[A (PrepP)] after a superficial inspection; when first encountered; when first brought to one's notice; next entry(qv); at first sight (qv) o It might appear at first blush that the provision of free secondary education for all has failed to justify the hopes and efforts which have been expended upon it. SC'o At first blush the cliff seemed unscalable, though we had heard the islanders used to climh it in search of sea-birds’ eggs. o somewhat dated — next entry and at first sight more common. at first glance [A (PrepP)] when first looked at, when not yet scrutinised or carefully con-sidered; previous entry(qv); at first sight(qv)□At first glance one would be pardoned for mis-tuking a hyra x for an ordinary member of the great group of rodents. BB □ It does not seem, at (its/ one's) face value— at sb's hands therefore, that the content of the suggestion is as important as one might have thought at first glance. SNPo front, middle or end position; at first look never used. at first light [A (PrepP)] at dawn □ One must remember to wake at first light in order to diddle the savages—— and he did not know how quickly sleep came and hurled him down a dark interior slope. LFo Let's pack our gear into the car tonight, and then we can start off at first light and have clear roads—— for the first half of our journey at any rate. at first sight [A(PrepP)] when first seen: when first considered; at first blush (qv); at first glance (qv) o He produced a huge silver case containing what looked at first sight like small cheap cigars. HD□ So far we have been con-sidering what would appear at first sight to be a simple case of dynastic assassination. But the matter is a little more complicated than that. EMo front, middle or end position. ◇ △ on sight at the foot of one's/ the bed [A(PrepP)] in、on or near the bed at the end farthest away from the occupant's head □ Shall I put your hot-water bottle at the foot of your bed, or in the middle?□ On Christmas Eve the children hang their stockings at the foot of the bed. □ ‘Ghosts’’' Actually, I believe there's only one. A little man in a brown coat who stands at the foot of her bed and says nothing.'DCo never used to mean under the bed. at full speed [A(PrepP)] at the maximum rate of movement, or progress, appropriate to sb/sth $: car, bus, tank, plane; electric saw, drill;engine. V: go, run, drive, work, revolve o They were away at full speed down the river in a couple of minutes. RFWo My car can just touch100 mph at full speed.□ Though I was running at full speed, I could not overtake him. □ with v of motion at full speed preferred to at top speed(qv). at a glance [A(PrepP)] with one quick look V:know, see, tell, realize, sth o You could see at a glance that something had happened to upset her . o I' ve been in this business so long I can tell at a glance whether an object d' art is genuine or a clever imitation. o usu preceded by can ol could. at a (rough/ wild) guess [Disj (PrepP)](by)making a guess o ' At a wild guess. said Mr RHorsfall Turner, town clerk of Scarborough, it could cost £500,000,000 to clean up all Britain's rivers.'DM□' How old do you think he is?' ' Forty to forty-five at a guess, but certainly under fifty. 'a He thought that at a rough guses there would still be about a hundred gallons of oil in the tank.□I may be lucky enough to pass the test. at a guess. I got more than half the answers right.o used esp when estimating approximate num-bers, costs, amounts; cf last example and I was lucky to have passed the test, as I got more than half the answers right by guessing. at sb' shands[A(PrepP)] from sb; through the action or agency of sb(almost always with the implication that sb has been unjust, cruel etc)V: endure, undergo, suffer, sth o I have been subjected to too many insults at his hands to accept favours from him now. □ Imagine a child suffering such cruelties at the hands of his own parents! 35 <36> at heart—— at long last at heart [A (PrepP)] in one`s real nature, whe-ther this is apparent or not; at bottom(qv)o l am sick and tired of the silly theory that all men are really just little boys at heart. TO□ If Raul had taken off at midnight, he would refuel just before dawn in Santiago, where the ground-staff were friendly, everyone within the Oriente province being rebels at heart. OMIH□At heart she still preferred her former way of life. □ I'm not, at heart, as indifferent to criticism as I often pretend to be. □ front, middle or end position.at sb's heels [A (PrepP)] following close behind sb o I threaded my way through the crowd with the dog at my hoeis. UTNo Ready for anything, and especially anything unwelcome.Charles entered Mr Frush's conference room at the heals of Froulish. HD at home [Comp/A (PrepP)] in one's own present, or former, dwelling place; in one's own country, not abroad V: be, stay, find sb; de-velop, increase o At home there had been a pear tree outside her bedroom window. DC□SARAH:Hymie's all right. He's got a business. His child-ren are married and he stays at home all the time. CSWB□ If boom conditions are allowed to develop at home, price stability will be endan-gered. SC □ Sales since October, both at home and abroad, show a marked increase. T at large generally; as a unit; as a whole (qv)□That humanity at large will ever be able to dis-pense with artificial Paradises seems very unlike-ly. DOP□ Too wrapped up in his indignation to notice that Ned was there, he simply addressed the company at large. TC o ' Opportunity to do just what?'' Why, to dig in and find some facts and reveal them to the country at large, criedDogson. HD a usu modifies a preceding n. at laset[A (PrepP)] at the end of a period of time;after a long time of waiting, wishing or striving for sb/ sth; at length¹ (qv) o I leaned for a long time, looking into the mirror of the Pont Neuʃ.At last I began to want my breakfast. UTNo And through all that time she had clung to one fantasy— that, aged and broken, at last in need, he might one day return to her. CWR o You' ve got here at last, thank goodness! I was beginning to be afraid you might have had an accident. o She looked for her purse in her handbag, then in her basket and all her pockets, and finally in the car,where at last she found it. O front, middle, or end position; cannot be replaced by next entry(qv), in the end (qv); cf lastly or finally used to introduce final item of a sequence or to introduce a further and last statement about sth with last example. at the last [A (PrepP)] in, during, the final period of sth o Ah, but you never saw him at the last. He was so patient and grateful—— not at all what he used to be. a At first, he was enraged at her neglect of Kay, her utter selfishness; and then he was overcome with pity for her disintegration,her utter panic. At the last, however, it was physical nausea that gripped him. ASA o often used of last period of sb`s life. at the last minute[A(PrepP)] almost, but not quite, too late to do sth, to take part in sth, for sth to be averted etc; at the eleventh hour(qv)o I' ll not expect you then, but if you find at the last minute that you' re free after all, just turn up. o The dinner's ready except for a few lagr- 36 minute things like the parsley sauce, so I' ll just run upstairs and change. o She's known for three weeks that her essay had to be handed in tomor-row, but' she will leave things till the lest minute, and then do them in a mad rush. Dattrib use some last-minute shopping; variant leave sth till/ until the last minute. at least' [A (PrepP)] to the(full) amount of, if not more; to the extent of, if not more o During my holiday I' ll spend at least a week in Dorset.□I shouted after him. It's not all that dangerous.It won't be high and dry for another fifteen minutes at least.'ARGo British farmers, proud of their efficiency, feel strongly that they should be treated at le ast as liberally as farmers on theContinent.□I must at least go and say goodbye to the rajah before events sweep me out of his life for ever. TO□ There is little doubt that some at le ast of the professional military would be pleased if war broke out. sco placed before or after the word or phrase modified. ◇ at (the)most. at least² [Disj (PrepP)] whether for this, or another, reason; this much, if no more, being true; at any rate (qv)oJIMMY: Oh,I'm not say-ing that it mustn't be hell for them a lot of the time. But, at least, they do seem to have a cause.LBA□ This addition to the range of inducements offered by the Ministry of Commerce at least illustrates the ingenuity of the Government's ef-forts to widen the province's industrial base. SCoThe soup wasn't very goodbut at legget it was hot.and we were too cold and hungry to complain. aJohn is going to give up smoking. At least so he said last night.□ The boy is not very clever at his lessons; but he tries, at least. o front, middle or end position. at one's leisure[A(PrepP)] without hurrying;with no time limit imposed on getting sth finished V: visit, survey, observe, sth; finish,complete, sth □ She would have preferred the children to go ahead and leave her to follow on at her leisure. o Plastering is not a job you can do at your leisure; you can't allow your trowel to rest for a minute. at length'[A(PrepP)] after a long time of wait-ing, wishing or striving for sb/ sth; eventually; at last (qv) a When at fength the day broke it found the travellers still weary and dispirited. oItried for years to find a sponsor for my invention but at fength I became discouraged and aban-doned the thing. o front position. at length² fully; in great detail V: speak, talk,write; explain, deal with, go into, sth. adj: some,great, considerable, inordinate o When I sent her ' The Case is Altered' she wrote to me at length with an appreciation of character and incident that seemed as genuine as it was detailed. AH o Robin talked at great length ofJohn's misconduct in the Pelican affair. ASA oThe fourteenth chapter of the Handbook deals at some length with the special conditions and problems of motorway driving. at long last [A(PrepP)] after a particularly long time of waiting, wishing or striving for sb/sth o It was part of her artistic development that she was getting away from naval subjects now; at long level, perhaps, the preoccupation with her service life was beginning to fade. RFW o ... he would merely bring in a rival for promotion to <37> at long/ short range---at one (fell) swoop W's vacancy when W (at long last) retires PLo front, middle or end position. at long/ short range[A(PrepP)] at, or from,a point distant from/ near to sb/ sth else V:shoot, kill; hit, strike; view, observe. O: prey.quarry; target; scene, prospect o He could kill a stug at a longer range than anyone else I knew.u Cuba can't afford to start making H-bombs,but have they found something equally effective at short range and cheap? OMiH□“Who is thisYork Harding?' ' He's the man you are looking for. Vigot . He killed Pyle— — et long range.’ QA□ In a family crisis it's often a good idea to seek outside advice. It can be difficult to judge the situation correctly at shortrange, you may need an objective view. at the moment [A(PrepP)] now; at the present time; at present (qv); just now² (qv) o At the moment the Council for Nature is considering the idea of sending around tutors who will, if asked, keep a professional eye on the best field work of the best amateur societies. NS□ It is in fact only by importing foreign capital into this country that we are munaging to balance our accounts at the moment OBS□' Hullo, Mary,this is David speaking. Is your father in?'' Not at the moment,I'm afraid , but if you ring again in an hour or so, he should be home by then. 'o front, middle or end position; applies to the present conceived as either a short or long span of time: variant (considered by some to be clumsy and pompous) at this moment in time.◇△ in future, in the future; in the past. at the moment/ time of speaking etc[A(PrepP)] now; then o: speaking, writing, report-ing, posting o What is two thousand pesos? At the moment of writing, about eight pounds fourteen shillings. BMo He regretted that at the moment of speaking it was not known whetherGovernment support for the scheme would be forthcoming o We have still not received any paymen i at the time of posting, but if you have sent us your cheque within the last two days.please disregard this reminder. □ used when giving information, stating a fact, etc, esp to safeguard oneself from having seemed to make a false statement should something occur very soon afterwards which invalidates it. at a moment's notice [A (PrepP)] im-mediately on being asked to do sth, or immedi-ately it seems necessary or important to do it:at short notice (qv) V: report, return, depart.prepare, produce, sth o It was uncertain how long the engine-room repairs would take, so the passengers were advised either to stay on board or be ready to rejoin the ship at a moment's notice.□ You might have phoned to say you were bringing friends with you. I can't produce dinner for six people at a moment's notice. a I want you to keep these tablets in your pocket, because you may need to take one at a moment's notice.any time you feel a pain (' oming on. at (the) most [A (PrepP)] in an amount not greater than, or to a degree or extent not more than, sth specified (the implication usu being the likelihood of being less than this); at the outside (qv) o Your brother is not taller than Iam, he's about one metre seventy, or sevenly-two at the most.□I' ll only be away for u week at the most- - probably only four or five days. I At most the drug may be effective as a palliative, it cannot cure, o placed before or after word or pl modified; the two forms are fairly interchange-able, but at the most tends to be used of num-bered totals, quantities, and at most tends to modify a v or adj. ◇ at least at once' [A (PrepP)] immediately; without delay a I did not look for a bell, but tried the handle at once. UTNo Brigit, her mind free from care, fell asleep at once . DC□ You had better leave at once if you want to catch your train.口usu in end position. atonce²[A(PrepP)] simultaneously; at one and the same time (qv); at the same time'(qv); both at the same time, at any one time □But it wasn't so much a cry as an order; an order delivered in a voice that was at once indulgent hu t firm, bored but implacable. Pw□ The boys had him summed up pretty quickly as being at once a bully and a coward . O The countryside is not quite all dense with the tangle of secondary growth, for only a little of it is cultivated at once, und that little changes in place from year to year nono occurs before or after adj + adj. n + netc(where its use is rather formal), and in end position in the sense ' at any one time'. at one remove (from sb/ sth) [A PrepP)] in not too close a connection (with sb sth) o He hadnowish for a home of his own. and yet always sought lodgings as a paying guest with some family It was as if he preferred to enjoy domes-ticity#t on# remove a He shows an interest in his staff, but it is a well-rehearsed management technique The pleasant façade lets him stay at one remove from the people round him. o usu follows n or v it modifies. at one and the same time [A(PrepP)] simul-taneously; at the same time'(qv); at once²(qv)o You have to learn to watch the traffic ahead and keep your eye on the driving mirror at one and the same time.□She had a compulsive urge to overeat, though at one and the swime time she despised herself for giving way to it.□He said he was heartbroken when Sheila broke off her engagement to him At one and the same time.however, he had been seeing another woman.□used for joining phrases, clauses, or forming link with an immediately preceding sentence. at one(o' clock) sharp[A(PrepP)] at exactly the specified time o The room hehind him is heavily gurrisoned by tea-chests, cases, valises.packages all in full marching order. The old man should have been at the flat at seven sharp with his lorry. EMo' ll you come at10.20sharp.answered the receptionist. ' Mr Wood may be able to fit you in between appointments.'□ The train came in sharpat noon. for once ? If you' re not here sharp at five o' clock, you' ll have to get your own tea ready. o sharp usu takes end position, but of last two examples. at one/a sitting[A (PrepP)] during the course of one meeting; in one period of activity V:finish, complete, deal with, sth; read, eat, sth □All members of the Committee agreed that they would prefer to stay on a little longer and finish their business at one sitting □ II's quite a short hook, you could easily read it at a sitting.□She asked me to knit her a sweater, quite casually, as if it was something I could do at one sitting. at one (fell) swoop [A(PrepP)] by means of 37 <38> at one time or another—— et a run etc one action or effort; at a/ one(single) blow(qv)□(source) ROSS: Your castle is surprised; your wife and babes/ Savagely slaughtered. MACDUFF:What! all my pretty chickens and their dam,/ At one fell swoop? MACBETH IV 3 □ At one fell swoop, the earthquake had left him without family, home, or means of livelihood. oI'm going10 try to weed the whole garden at one fell swoop, because I don't really want to spend another weekend at it.□ You have to be a fool to turn down the chance of earning ten thousand pounds in prize money, or even twenty thousand,at one swoop. ◇△all at once², all of a sudden.at one time or another[A (PrepP)] on an occasion or on different occasions in the past,the precise time or date of which is not recalled,not given or not known o The irrational guilt which they felt for her distress could in some degree be expiated by the panic that, at one time or another, they all experienced from her erratic driving. HAA□ He has indeed st one or another time argued both for and against most of the big changes in Turkey over the past thirty years. OBSo variant at one or another time. ◇ △ (at) some time or other. at the outset (of sth) [A (PrepP)] in the beginning period (of sth); when sb/ sth is about to start, or has just started o That pleasant glow would fade when the time came to work, but he was always bad at believing this et the outset.TGLY □ He was fond of the girl after his own fashion, but told her frankly that he did not want to be burdened with a wife and family at the very outset of this carwer. ◇ △(right) from the start etc. at the outside [A (PrepP)] at the highest est-imation, or reckoning, of a possible number or amount of time, money, materials etc; at (the)most (qv) V: earn, own; yield, produce, sth oYou know you'd enjoy it. That's what' ll be your undoing, not just the offers. I give you two years at the outside. TGLYo I don't suppose he earns more than £5000 a year at the outside. at one's own risk [A (PrepP)] with the consequences of any possible misfortune to be borne by oneself V: go climbing, flying, swim-ming; enter, leave o 'I daresay I shall find it an ordeal. But I am going through with it, Mr Skip-ton, because Imust.'' Then, Miss Merlin,' he said quietly, ' it shall be st your own risk.'USo Inex-perienced climbers who attempt these mountains should remember that they are not doing so at their own risk only, but at the risk of those who may be called out to rescue them. at one's peril [A(PrepP)] at the risk of serious danger or of incurring severe penalties V: go out, venture out; fly, go sailing o ' You' ll go on smoking at your perif,' the doctor told my hus-band, but he was wasting his time. a I told them they would be taking that old boat out at their peril.□They can attack us if they like. But if they do so it will be at their perill.□ cf in peril (of sth)where people are already in a state of danger. at a pinch [A (PrepP)] if necessary, but with some difficulty V:(can) do, manage, sth; afford sth; sleep; put up, feed, sb o I don't claim to be more intelligent than anyone else, and I can un-derstand most things at epinch, but this problem is really beyond me. o I daresay that at a pinch we could afford to run a car, but I'd rather have 38 a little extra spending money. a The tent sleeps four comfortably and five at a pinch. o modified v often preceded by can/ could. at present[A (PrepP)] now; just now; at the present time; at the moment(qv); just now²(qv)o At prosent the nineteen children—— ten boys and nine girls, aged from eleven to fifteen years old—— live in a Victorian stone mansion. TO oThis summer about a quarter of a million boys and girls will be looking for jobs. Finding one at all will become harder in the next few years, but at present the main problem is to find the right one. OBSo'I would like to employ you if I could,'the manager said, ' but we have no vacancies at presignt.’乊▲ in the past; in future; in the future.at a price [A (PrepP)] by paying a (relatively)large amount of money; by expending, or sacrificing,(relatively) much effort, time, com-fort, peace of mind, etc o The policy in many countries is to encourage consumption of the local spirits, so Scottish whisky is only obtain-able at a price. o It was a decision to be taken only at a price: if he left his wife, it would mean leaving his children too.□ His uncle would let him have £5, he supposed, at a price——a ten-minute lecture on how to manage his affairs better. o stress pattern , at a ' price. at the prospect (of sth) [A (PrepP)] in ex-pectation (of sth), whether welcome or not oShe brightened visibly, doubtless at the pros-pect of banter with the greengrocer at the corner store, to say nothing of his neighbour. BMa' How will you like having your in-laws to stay?’ I'm not delighted at the prospect. I must say!'o He set off home, smiling to himself at the prospect of astonishing his family with his good news. at random [A(PrepP)] without aim or purpose.or without making a deliberate choice from a number of possible items or actions V: choose,select, pick out, draw, sth; walk, move; shoot,fire, bomb, sth; distribute sth o He sees each star formed from many blobs of relatively high density travelling of random and at supersonic speed. NS o Then I set off running at random down one of the avenues, looking to left and right.Anna could not be far away. UTN o She turned and smiled at random to the company behind her. ASAo He translates numbers drawn at run-domfrom an urn into symbols which he then tries to transmit to the receiver. SNP at the risk of doing sth [A(PrepP)](do sth)though aware sth unpleasant, undesirable, or dangerous may happen as well, or instead o:hurting his feelings, offending you, losing their friendship/ one's life□Atthe risk of strengthen-ing opposition to his one-man rule, General deGaulle has tried to prevent any attempt at politi-cal sniping through what remains of Parliament.OBS o The men may grumble about their con-ditions of work, but are they prepared to make an open protest at the risk of losing their jobs al-together? o not usu followed by a n but at the risk of one's life is very common. at a run etc[A(PrepP)] moving at the speed of running etc adj: fast, brisk; slow, gentle. n: run;△ walk, stroll, waddle, crawl; gallop, canter.trot o But it was a different Alfred, pale, sweat-ing, trembling, coming at a run toward him. PM□' Right, Jim,' he said, ' we' ll take it at awaddle through the village and avoid drawing attention <39> to ourselves. Once past the beech hedge we can make a run for it.'o The riders crossed the side of the hill at a slow trot.□' If you must drive at a crewl like this, you should be in the nearside lane. Can't you see you' re holding up the traffic?at the same time' [A (PrepP)] not at a dif-ferent time; simultaneously; at once² (qv); at one and the same time(qv)o He gets up at the same time every morning. o It would be easier for me if my family could all have lunch at the same time. □ You can't watch television and do your homework at the same time! at the same time² [Conj (PrepP)] in spite of sth already known or mentioned; nevertheless;however; all/ just the same(qv); mark/ mind you(qv)o I know that before we married you warned me there could never be a divorce. I accepted the risk and I' ve nothing to complain of. At the sèng time time I'm asking for one now. QA o I was deeply moved. Yet at the same time I took the thing with a grain of salt. I had often known myself to be moved in the past, and little had come of it. UTND That evening the two girls wan-dered round with mixed feelings, bemoaning the fate that had landed them into a place which was ten miles from the nearest movie. At the same time, they were forced to realise that the Navy had sent them to one of the most lovely country houses in England. RFW at second hand [A(PrepP)] not directly; not based on personal knowledge or observation V:hear, learn, pick up, obtain, sth o Sensations,feelings, insights, fancies—— all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable. DOP□I am surprised his book about Ireland was ever accepted for publication; it consists mostly of material taken up at second hand from other travel books. oTell your wife you got into a fight last night.She' ll probably get it at second hand from somebody else anyway, and she' ll be all the more angry. at short notice [A (PrepP)] without much warning; without much time to get sth done; at a moment's notice (qv) V: appear, arise, come up o When such questions are placed on the order paper at short notice the extra cost to theColonial Office and the overseas government arising from telegraphic communication is from£10 to£100. To I' ve already said that I'm quite prepared to go somewhere else if it's inconvenient for you to have me at such short notice. EHOW□He had his pipe at the ready in case it should be necessary to put on his don's act at short notice.HD at sight [A(PrepP)] as soon as sb/ sth is seen; on sight (qv) V: read, translate, comprehend,decipher, sth; shoot sb o If one of those renegades came prowling round my house, I'd shoot him at sight and ask questions afterwards.□ We don't need a concert musician for this job.but we do need somebody who can play accom-paniments at sight. O at sight and on sight are sometimes interchangeable, but not in ex-pression be able to read music, make a quick translation, calculation etc at sight. at(the) sight of sb/ sth [A(PrepP)] when, or because, sb/ sth is seen o Nobody said anything.Norreys opened his mouth and then closed it at the sight of Henry's face. WI□ Keep Susan out at the same time—— at that/ this rate of the room just now; she's apt to faint at the sight of blood. o When we drove up to the charming cottage' of the advertisement, my heart sank at the sight of it. o It was not the mother of her girlhood, whose full-rigged majesty had towered above her; even physicallyMrs Knig: Iton had shrunk. At sight of her Isabel felt a rash of pity. Pw at a small's pace [A (PrepP)] very slowly in-deed o Granny prefers to drive by herself. She knows it irritates young people to have to go at a snail's pace. o 'I hear you' re writing a novel.How is it coming along?'' At a small's pace; it's a much harder business than I would have believed.’ at sb's suggestion[A(PrepP)] because sb has suggested, or proposed, sth o Early in 1845Lady Blackford bought the property at the sug-gestion of Sir Robert Peel. WIO' Edward is com-piling an anthology of prose and verse extracts about the dance and dancing. ' At somebody's suggestion? Or is it just an idea of his own?’ at a tender age [A (PrepP)] when one is still quite young o He had been deserted by his mother at e tender age and brought to this country by his grandparents.□Bonnie Langford,at the tender age of 12 has already formulated her views on possible stardom. TVT□ His interest in medieval music started while he was still of tender age and has since developed until he is now a recognized international authority on the subject. o variants at the tender age of 12 etc, of tender age; occas facetious. at that' [A (PrepP)] whereupon; immediately subsequent to that o I wanted you to have a talk with her.' At that his own smile faded. Pwo usu front postition. at that² [A (PrepP)] moreover; too; also; as a surprising, noteworthy, or preposterous addition o ' Pay five pounds for a secondhand trunk!’ she exclaimed. ' And with a handle miss-ing at that,' she added, taking a closer look. oThis seems to me to be full of fallacies, and dan-gerous fallacies at that. OBS□This, he found, was not half so delicious an experience as pinchingMa, who wore nylons and very tight ones at thet.DBM o follows word or phrase it modifies. at that³[A(PrepP)] possibly; now one comes to think about it (esp with statements indicating doubt, conjecture) o CLIFF: He's just an oldPuritan at heart. JIMMY: Perhaps I am, at that.LBA o‘You’ re enlisting for life as a mannequin,’I said. ' You' ll have to spend all your time being.a symbol of conspicuous wealth.' And it occurred to me as I said it that it mightn't be such a bad life at that. UTN o usu follows word or phrase it modifies. at that/ this rate[A(PrepP)] if that/ this is so;according to that/ this way of thinking, reckon-ing, behaving etc; in that case (qv)□'I did say to the baby-sitter that we'd be home in time to put the children to bed.'' We should have left half an hour ago at that rate. Why didn't you say so earlier?’ o We discussed the matter a bit further.and then I told him. ' But at this rate almost everything one says turns out to be a sort of lie. "UTNo ' At this rate,' his father told him, ' you' re going to turn out an even greater disaster than your brother.’ o stress pattern at ' that/' this rate.△ at any rate. 39 <40> at this stage (of sth)— at will at this stage(of sth)[A(PrepP)] at this point in the development of sth, or in the course of a series of events o The first milk teeth may appear at anything from five to eight months from birth,and at this stage the child should be provided with something clean and hard to bite on . □' ButI understood a great deal could be done to relieve arthritis?’ Not at this stage, I'm afraid, apart from analgesics to lessen pain.’ a At this stage of the proceedings I was handed a large coloured reproduction of the well-known self-portrait byCézanne. DOP o stress pattern at this stage. at the (very) thought of(doing) sth/ that[A (PrepP)] when, or because, one thinks of sth,or of the possibility of sth occurring o He had felt a flush of discomfort at the thought of re-visiting the scene of so much folly and embarrass-ment. HDo 'A proper millionaire, they say he is!'She glowed with suppressed excitement at the thought that a man who makes chocolate on a big scale can become rich, and can then fall ill,and that he should have come to ' their' hospital.HD□ Imagine walking along a girder a hundred metres up in the air! I shudder at the very thought of it. O very tends to be added when what one is thinking of is fanciful, extreme,desirable, alarming or improbable as far as speaker is concerned. at a time [A(PrepP)] in sequence; separately $;grain, bean; shred, fragment o I took out my good news of yesterday, and unfolded it slowly,admiring its glittering colour and intricate pat-tern an item # t a time. RATTo They would eat their meagre ration of rice afew grains at a time to make it seem more and last longer.□ Support the patient's head, nurse, and let him have a little brandy and water, just a sip at a time, though. oThey approached the President five at a time to receive their awards. o cf shifting a stone at a time、 shifting one stone at a time、 shifting the stones one at a time. at the time[A(PrepP)] then; when sth specified was/ will be happening o Although nobody realized it at the time, the occasion of the PrimeMinister's visit was very nearly the worst mo-ment in the whole episode of the Black Cloud.TBCoI' ll admit to you now, Jinny, though I held my peace at the time, that it used to quite em-barrass me that in anything you happened to try.you came out top. AITCo You can't rely on seeing the same doctor at each visit. It all depends on which of them is on duty at the time.□ He would read volume after volume of whoever happened to be his favourite author at the time. I only used when accompanied by another statement, usu in different clause of same sentence, which in-dicates time referred to. at a time like this/ that[A(PrepP)] at such a time, esp an important time, or a time unsuit-able for sth specified to take place or be done oI don't think she has any friends. She's talked them all away, except for that sanctimonious sister of hers, and she wouldn't want her at a time like this(ie when her husband was in state of alcoholic delirium). AITC o OK, so you' re angry because Frank swindled you over the car deal, but you were wrong to bring it up again at a time like that. After all, you were both sup-posed to be celebrating Sue's engagement. at times[A (PrepP)] at various times, esp un- 40 predictable or unspecified times o Robert and Igot on each other's nerves at times. AITC □ He gets a bit depressed at times----who wouldn't?—— but on the whole he's adapting very well to the loss of his leg.□Th e van gave a lot of trouble on the way home; at time, it stopped altogether,and James had to get out and tinker with the engine; then it would cough and splutter for a few more miles. o front, middle or end position. at the top of one's voice [A (PrepP)] very loudly indeed V: talk, call, shout, scream, yell,shrick, bawloI'd half expected the theatre to be full of people like Bob and Eva, being deter-minedly witty and theatrical at the top of their voices. RATTo It was left to Jacob and me to go to the rescue of the Beagle who was lashing about in the undergrowth, screaming at the top of his voice. BB□ All that day I was on the telephone,to the news agencies, to the gallery, to people likeJustin Cartridge (who, of course, was bragging st the top of his voic· about having recognizedRobert from the start). CON O pleither at the top of their voices or at the tops of their voices. at top speed [A (PrepP)] very fast; as fast as possible V: pack, remove, study,sth□ She knew something was up the night when, I gave her her bottle and cereal at top speed. WI o There is a more than adequate supply of material designed to be read at top speed, and that speed is useless for most worthwhile reading. UL o Get your materials tidied away, boys, and at top speed.There's another class waiting to come in, o also,used literally of vehicles, machines etc, but whereas one would say What is its top speed?The top speed recorded is... etc, one would tend to prefer at full speed (qv) with a v of motion. at(a) walking pace [A(PrepP)] at the rate of a person walking at normal speed V: go, move,progress; ride, drive o For some miles now the road was well-nigh impassable, deep-rutted and riven, and we crawled at walking pace past dull,harsh fields. BMo It's very difficult to ride a bike steadily at walking puce. o Please don't try to hurry me. I can only climb at a walking pace, orI get quite breathless. at what (a) cost/ price[A(PrepP)](fig) at a very great cost in effort, suffering, sacrifice etcDAt what cost through long days and sleepless nights she had nursed the old man, she alone knew. o They had achieved independence indeed,but at what a price! a These young people wouldn't take their privileges so lightly if they realised at what cost my generation had fought for them. o frequently used in direct or indirect questions or rhetorical exclamations. at will[A(PrepP)] as one wishes; by willing sth;by exercising the power of the mind over matter o The master plan must never be so rigid that theCommander-in-Chief cannot vary it to suit the changing tactical situation; but nobody else may be allowed to change it at will. MFMo Discipline was non-existent. Students roamed about the campus at will, as if there had never been such a thing as a timetable.□ A known characteristic of demons is that they can make themselves minute at will. NDN □ In the course of his practice the doctor had come across several cases where children could faint or be sick at will, o usu end position. <41> attack is the best form of defence----the eyes/ noes have it attack is the best form of defency(say-ing) a paradoxical statement based on military tactics, used also to describe methods of argu-ment, or competitive manoeuvres between people or groups in any sphere of activity oThere is no exact division between defence and attack, and stack may be the best form of defence. AHo Haroldknew that attack was the best form of defence, and made quite a good show of seeming the injured party. PW□The best form of defence being attack he rose from his bed next day and rode down to the beach, where the Customs flag was flying over the hulk, and thePreventive Officers were patrolling. ARG Dvariant the best form of defence being attack. attempt the impossible [V + 0 pass] try to do sth that cannot be done; try to do sth without any expectation of succeeding oFurthermore, he was asked to attempt the im-possible; his Headquarters had to act as aGeneral Headquarters, and at the same time he had to exercise direct command over the fighting and administrative forces allotted to him. MFM□' You' re attempting the impossible if you think you' re going to reform a hardened character like him. ''I can't be sure of that unless I' ve tried, canI?’ an Aunt Sally sb singled out as a target for abuse, criticism, or ridicule (from the name given to an effigy used as a target for aiming at in fun fairs, etc); an object, or idea, deliberately invented in order to attract destructive criti-cism, with the object of leading to constructive thought o The Party were not sorry to have anAunt Sally in the person of the Hon Member forLupton. The more the public concentrated on his faults, the less conspicuous theirs would appear.□More often the enemies are either men of straw,hogus Aunt Sallies such as ' conventional people'; or if the attacks are on real people they usually prove on examination to be a few safe feints. UL avoid sb/ sth like the plagua [V+ O + Apass] have such a strong fear, or dislike, of sb/sth that one habitually avoids contact with him/ it as much as possible o They built these things on top of practically every hill in UpperBurma, put a statue of the Buddha inside, dug a well for his refreshment, and thereafter avoided the place like the plague. ARG D I don't know whether I' ve unintentionally offended her or whether somebody has turned her against me, but she has certainly been avoiding me like the plague for the last six months.□ Self-important idiots such as Elliot should be avoided like the plague. an awful lot {A (NP)](informal) very much;very often; to a great extent o He's playing the piano an awful lot these days. I wonder what's made him take it up again?□I never liked him on awfullot, although I couldn't tell you why. an awful lot (of sb/ sth) (informal) a great number or amount (of sb/ sth) o Now that the fighting has stopped an awful lot of girls will be getting married and leaving the service, and Idon't suppose they will be training any more. RFW□There's going to be an swful lot of lethal stuff coming downward from the top of the atmosphere though — X-rays and ultra-violet light. TBC the awkward age[o(NP)] the period of early adolescence when young people have great dif-ficulty in preparing themselves for adult life,and show it V: be at, be past/ over, get to/ near,go through o Susan would like to come with us.I'm sure, but don't press her too much. She's at the awkward age, and rather self-conscious. oHe's a tall, shambling sort of fellow who looks as if he'd never got past the awkward age.□John-nie, unlike his brothers, was very easy to bring up. He never seemed to have an awkward agoat all. o used of mental, emotional, or physical characteristics. an awkward customer [Comp (NP)] a per-son or animal (rarely a thing) that is difficult and/ or dangerous to deal with or manage V:△be, appear; think, find, sb o I' ll take the matter to the police before I let you do it.''I believe you would.' He seemed pleased about it. 'I really believe you would. You' re an awkward cus-tomer, aren't you?' RATT □ ' There's only one awkward customer on the staff,' he told his successor. 'I won't name her, but you' ll find out for yourself soon enough. 'o A wild cat doesn't seek to attack people but it can be an awkward customer if surprised or cornered. o not used of physical clumsiness. an awkward silence an embarrassed, or em-barrassing, silence between people □ ' You can argue with me but not with my staff. In any case it is too late to change anything—— If you think it is wrong, that can only mean that you have lost confidence in me.' A somewhat awkward silence followed these remarks. MFM o I never knew what to say to him, and he never knew what to say to anybody at all, so that conversation between us was full of awkward silencer. a/ the awkward squad(originally military)a group of new recruits;(fig) any inept, clumsy,or otherwise intractable group o' Mind you, Idon't agree with you about the Barrett boy—good material there. But I mustn't keep you—Isee you have a little swkward squad?’ MrsSouthcott turned, and walked back to the boys.Awkward squed? They' dget awkward equand!TT o‘We want the tents put up quickly before these clouds break,' the Scoutmaster said. ' Get your best boys on the job—— and let the walk-ward squed go off and collect firewood.' o usu of new recruits, pupils, trainees. the eyes/ nogs have it those who are in favour of/ against a proposal are more numerous than those against/ in favour of it o' Will those in favour of the motion raise their right hands,' continued the Chairman. The ayes have it then.' he said, as a forest of hands shot up.□Other raptures might go deeper, but for pure bliss the eyes had it. ' The Ayes have it.' Yes,indeed they have! It was odd how since she had been with Alec words and even puns had come to mean a great deal to her. Pwo used esp of voting aye(= yes) or no by a raising of the hand. 41 <42> B a babe in arms an infant too young to support itself without being held; (fig) an adult who is,or is thought to be, innocent, helpless or lacking in worldly wisdom (often because he/ she is too young) o In the same spirit of refusal to condescend to fellow beings by softening reality for them, Mme Dolto makes it a principle to address not just fourteen-year-olds but very babes in arms in adult and intellectual terms.NS□I am not a babe in grams. I am entitled to go out for a walk by myself if I want to. EM o not baby in arms; ◇ △ (as) helpless as a (new-born)babe etc. babes in the wood innocent and inexperien-ced children or adults, who are victims of cir-cumstances or of unscrupulous people (from the old ballad The Children in the Wood about a boy and a girl left to die in a wood by a wicked uncle) o They looked like a couple of babes in the wood, Brigit thought , with curious wryness.There were even tears in Prissie's cheeks to keep company with Nicky's. DCo They were just two babes in the wood when they got married. They had terribly earnest discussions about love, com-patibility, shared interests. Now look at them!o usu pl; often preceded by (just) a couple of/ two.back and forth [adv + adv non-rev](moving)from one place to another and back again,repeatedly and usu in a regular way; back-ward(s) and forward(s)(qv); to and fro(qv) V:move, swing, wander; convey sth, pass, send sth□ Allergic to seafaring ever since those childhood voyages back and forth between Southampton and the Cape, I detested the confinement, the motion, and the very smell of all ships. AHa The wiper was clicking back and forth with the per-sistence of a metronome. EMo Her mind flashed messages to itself back and forth. MM a Back and forth swung the pendulum (cf Back and forth it swung or: The pendulum swung back and forth) gradually hypnotizing him with its movement.口 usuend position after v of motion,but can have emphatic front position, as in last example. a back number an issue of a periodical, or newspaper, earlier than the current one;(infor-mal) sb who is thought to be no longer impor-tant, influential, modern in his outlook, etc V:be, become; consider, regard sb as; check, con-sult, look up of I spent the morning in the offices of the ' Cork Examiner' in Patrick Street. For four long hours I was deep in back numbers of that cosy old journal. PPa One can't be cut off(the phone) perpetually. I still have my Homes to consider. I am not entirely a back number,Taylor. One must he on the phone. MM□ If I'd heen marrying a girl like that and I'd had to introduce her to a back-number like me, I'd have pretended I'd dropped myself years ago, if you see what I mean. COND not usu hyphenated.the back of beyond [o (NP)] a distant isolated place, far from centres of civilization and social activity; a (similar kind of) place that is thought to be backward, dull and unattrac- 42 tive because of its poor social amenities, etc prep: at, from, in, to □ The excitement and interest aroused by the fortnightly visit of the little mail-boat could hardly be appreciated by anyone who had not himself lived at some time in the back of beyond.□ I just can't understand this craze for buying up derelict cottages at the back of beyond, and cutting oneself off from everything and everyone. a 'I' ll get all the public-ity I want my own way. ' Miss Miller retorted,and that won't be from some twopenny-halfpenny scandal sheet (ie gossipy newspaper)in the back end of nowhere.’ AITC o usu preceded by a prep; variant the back end of nowhere found less frequently than headphrase.back the right/ wrong hors@ support at the beginning(as though betting money on a horse in a race) the person, team, candidate etc that eventually wins/ loses; choose, adopt a scheme,idea, course of action, etc, that in the end succeeds/ fails o He asked cold questions about who had done the work; with the methodicalness of a recording angel, he put down to Drawbell's credit the occasions when he had backed the right horso—— and then turned to the other side of the sheet. NMo The Russians make their mis-takes, cause their antagonisms, back their wrong horse, just as we do. OBS□ Publishers.like other people, have their blind spots and little manias; like other people they reject chances of backing a right horse, and obstinately back wrong ones. AHO occurs most frequently in the form back the wrong horse. a back seat [0/o (NP)] a position of little im-portance, power, or responsibility in the management of affairs; a low position in the order of priority V:(force/ oblige sb to, have to)take, occupy; assign sb/ sth to a I hope nobody minds if I take e back sqat during the discussions, as I'm really only here as an obser-ver.□ After so many years in control he found it difficult to accept that he now had to move to m back sent and let others take charge.□Cutbacks in local government expenditure have meant nur-se ry school and playgroup expansion plans taking (or: being assigned) a back seat in rela-tion to the maintenance of essential public ser-vices. □ usu sing. ◇ △ next entry. a back-suat driver a passenger in a car etc who persists in offering the driver unnecessary or annoying advice or criticism; sb who criticizes, or tries to influence, the decisions,actions etc of others which do not concern him or which (perhaps because of his inferior position) he is unable, or unwilling, to take himself □ Jack's been travelling over this route for the last ten years so do stop telling him what to do. Not everyone can put up with a back-suat driver, you know. a I' ve no use for all these back-seat drivers telling me how to run things without doing a stroke of real work themselves.□ variant back-seat driving. ◇△ previous entry.back to front[A(n + n non-rev)] with the back where the front should be, and vice-versa o <43> That boy's got his pullover on back to front.□The windows on the ground floor had rude words written in the grime outside, which Mrs Roper could read back to front as she sat and rocked the baby. AITC□ In the back-to-front world thatAlice found behind the looking-glass (in LewisCarroll's ' Alice Through the Looking Glass'),the White Queen actually lived in reverse. Lo attrib use a back-to-front world. (the) backroom boys a group of people,engaged in scientific research, etc, who do not become prominent leaders or managers but who provide a vital service for those who do oA firm like this, Professor Carter suggested,would make no use of specialized management techniques, regarded scientists as ' back-room boys' instead of allowing them a say in policy,and had difficulty in recruiting talented people. L□ In the last analysis it's the back-room boys who put a nation in front. To almost always pl;sing form normally be one of the backroom boys, rarely be a backroom boy. backward in coming forward [Comp(AdjP)](informal) hesitant, or reluctant, to as-sert oneself, one's opinions or wishes; shy or retiring V:△be, seem; find sb. A: rather;(not)usually, (not) often, seldom o He was continu-ally being passed over when promotions were made. At the beginning he accepted that it was because he was rather too backward in coming forward, but gradually he developed a feeling of injustice as he saw less able, but more aggressive,people overtaking him. a I expect he was too bashful. Poor old Alec! It's the first time I' ve ever known him to be. He's not usually backward in coming forward. PW □(NONCE) Parliamentary pronouncement reflects the views of infuriated constituents, who are never backward in for-wording (= in coming forward with) their views about the latest outrage on BBC or ITV to their Member. L o often neg. backward(s) and forward(s)[adv + adv non-rev](moving) from one place to another and back again, repeatedly and usu in a regular way; back and forth (qv), to and fro (qv) V:move, travel; pass, transfer, switch, sth o He began to pace backward and forward on the bridge. PMo Then they work the tractor back-words and forwards to stamp the earth in. RFW□ He began to sway backwards and forwards in his chair, feverishly flicking his short fingers.HDo Backwards and forwards they swam (cfBackwards and forwards swam the boys or:They swam backwards and forwards)—— three lengths of the baths in a race. HAA o usu end position after v of motion, but may occupy em-phatic front position, as in last example. bad blood (between A and B) [Comp/0(NP)] ill-feeling, enmity (between sb and sb else) V: there be; cause, create, make(for)o' SoI'm to be an efficiency expert? '' Not quite. Don't like those chaps anyway; there's bad blood wherever they are.’ RATTo There had been bed bloodbetway@ m them for so long that neither was willing to make the first friendly approaches.□The unfair distribution of their father's wealth made for bad blood between the brothers. a bad etc business [Comp (NP)] (informal)an unfortunate, unpleasant, or deplorable event, state of affairs, etc S: it, this, that; death, (the) backroom boys----a bad etc patch disappearance. V:△be; consider sth, think sth.adj: bad, △ shocking, terrible, sad, unfor-tunate o This pilfering from the offices is a bad business; we' ll all be suspecting one another if it goes on much longer. o It' ll be a bad business for everybody here, not just the fishermen, if the river pollution gets any worse.□ That was a ter-rible business down at the chemical works last night. a bad egg/ lot (dated informal) sb who is untrustworthy, wicked (possibly criminally so)etc o Their nephew, who was a real bad egg, got his hands on nearly all the old couple's savings on the pretext that he would buy them a little place in the country.□If I were you, I wouldn't be seen too much with Ken. He's a thoroughly bad lot.o a bad lot(always sing) may refer to a group of people, as in Don't have anything to do with theJohnsons---they' re a bad lot! bad/ good form [Comp (NP)] incorrect/correct social behaviour, esp according toBritish middle - or upper-class standards V:△be; consider sth, think sth (to be)□ 'I remem-ber,' said Dave, ' you once before told me that it was bad form to drink in a pub you didn't know the name of, or to enter a pub without drinking.’UTN o You could go to the reception in your sports jacket but it would be rather bad form. oNo self-respecting book ie likes to admit to doing well. It is considered very bad form in the trade,like driving around in a Rolls Royce, since it tends to discourage punters. ST o In some parts of the world it is considered quite good form to belch after food--it shows proper appreciation.o becoming dated. bad etc luck (on sb)[Comp(NP)](informal)an unfortunate happening (for sb) V: △ be,seem; think sth. adj: bad, △ hard, rotten,rough, tough □ 'I didn't get that job after all.'' Bad luck! (or: What bad luck!) But I suppose you' ll be looking around again?'o ' And you.Harold, you are happy, you are not disappointed because Mrs Eastwood cannot come?"' Well, it was bad luck on her, of course,' said Harold. Pw□ If her husband couldn't get away at that time of year, she thought, well, bad luck on him, but she wasn't going to lose the opportunity of a trip abroad. o 'I' ve lost my wallet!' ' Hard kuck!'o often exclamation, as in last example, otherwise a comment—— either can be said sympathetic-ally or unsympathetically; attrib use a hard-kuck story bad news travels fast (saying) unpleasant facts rapidly become known widely (whereas pleasant facts do not attract so much notice) DBad news, it is said, travels fast. In this country, at the moment, bad news seems to be the only kind of news that travels at all. G o The accident happened at five o’ clock. By half past five everyone in the village knew about it. Bad news travels fact! a bad etc patch a particularly difficult, or awkward, period of one's life (eg in work,money, personal relationships, etc)V: have; hit,strike; go through, run into. adj: bad,△ black,difficult, hard o He went through a very bad patch last year: he lost his job and his wife left him for another man. o He dreaded the repetition of the writer's bad petch when, for three weeks,he had shivered in his bitter attic. USo Don't be 43 <44> bag and baggage-----a bare outline (of sth) too discouraged if the words suddenly dry up. Istruck & couple of difficult patches recently when I thought I was never going to write again.bag and baggag●[A (n + n non-rev)] with all one's/ sb's belongings, often suddenly or secret-ly V: go away, leave; throw sb out, turn sb out o His landlady couldn't tell the police where he might be. All she knew was that he'd left, bag and baggage, without paying his rent. o I can't understand why Ted puls up with a drunken brother-in-law in his house. Most people would have turned him out, bag and baggage, long ago. ◇ Δ lock, stock and barrel; hook, line and sinker. a bag of bones [Comp/O (NP)] (informal) a very thin person or animal, esp one made so by starvation or illness V: be (just), be nothing but;look like □ I'm glad to see you putti ng on weight again. You were just a bag of bones when you came home from hospital. o You' ll get nothing for your horse. Who's going to buy an old bag of bones like that? a bag/ bundle of norves [Comp/o (NP)](in-formal) overwrought, nervous, easily fright-ened, etc(often temporarily because of some pressure, threat etc); a nervous wreck (qv) V:be, become; reduce sb to o ' It's all so calm with you. Do you know what it's doing to me?——I'm being strangled!`' You can't act quicker than the police. If you' re abag of nurves, it's your fault.'YAA□ She's not fit to be a mother; she' ll reduce that child to a bag of nerves with all the scold-ings and slappings he gets. a Ever since the break-in she had become a bundle of nerves, starting at the slightest sound in the house. □ sing use with reference to several people, as in The two of them were a bag of nerves! a baker's dozen thirteen(from a former prac-tice of giving an extra bun, roll etc free to a customer buying a dozen of any one article sold in a bakery) o There were twelve occupants of the Maud Long Medical Ward (aged people.female). The ward sister called them Baker'sDozem, not knowing that this is thirteen, but having only heard the phrase. MMo'I' ve got wit-nesses. 'I said to him.'I can get you a dozen more.or thirteen altogether, if it was a baker's that got robbed. ''I don't want no lies.' he said, not catch-ing on about the baker's dozen. LLDR□ Let us star!, then, with a baker's dozen of introverts.followed by a similar number of extraverts. SNPa banana republic (derogatory)a state that is(considered to be) dependent on primary,agricultural products and that is, therefore,backward economically and politically, and subject to internal disorder o Until recently there was a tendency to dismiss whatever hap-pened, good or bad, in South America as just the sort of thing one would expect of bannane republics: but now such simple and derogatory attitudes no longer hold good. o(NONCE) These projects (in technology) may properly be described as a lunge into the future, undertaken because of psychological pressures, to prove that we (the UK) are not vet banana kingdom. Lo formerly used of some Central and SouthAmerican states. the bane of sb's existence/ life [Comp(NP)] sb. or sth, that causes continual trouble or worry to sb, either badly affecting everything 44 he does or occupying his attention more than he wishes V:△be, become; find sth□ Anne suffers a lot from migraine; it's the bane of her exis-tence, in fact.□ Wet or fine, weeds are the bane of a gardener's life, OBSo I had purchased inAsunción a gigantic mincing machine — this ponderous piece of mechanism was the ba ne of our lives. Even when working properly, it shud-dered and groaned, emitting at intervals a pierc-ing shriek. DFo I'm getting really fed up with her.She's becoming the bane of my life, always on the doorstep, asking favours, borrowing things and complaining about all her neighbours. o bane sing, even when referring to pl people or things. bang etc in the middle (of sth) [A(PrepP)](informal) exactly in the centre(of a space or area, a line of things, etc); suddenly, and per-haps inconveniently, while sth else is happen-ing, while sb else is doing sth, etc V: be, stand,fall; happen, explode, yell. adv: bang,△ right,slap. o: target; road, town; room, carpet; con-versation, work; what I was saying/ doing o Iwish you wouldn't interrupt people bang in the middle of what they' re saying. o You would arrange to have your party right in the middle of my exams!□ (of a proposal to convert an ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth II, into an off-shore casino) Since the continental shelf falls away steeply from the coastline the QE2 would not be able to anchor itself. Not only that, it would be siap in the middle of a general ship-ping line. ST o bang and slap more informal and emphatic than right; variant slap bang in the middle (of sth) more informal and emphatic than headphrase. the bare bones (of sth) the essential, main facts or outline (of some matter or situation)and nothing more; a bare outline (of sth)(qv)V: be; give sb, reveal; get, come, to. o: story,play, plot; matter, situation, the (whole) busi-ness o Such are the bare bangs of the plot. oLeaving aside the ethics of it, and stripping the matter to its bare bones, the plain fact is that no one dares to use the nuclear weapon for fear of mutual suicide, BMa I don't know any more than you about it. My husband just gave me the bare bones—— that Rogers had attacked his wife and the police had to be called in. 口 variant a skeleton outline (of sth). bare of sth[Comp(AdjP)] without, not having,sth that is normally, or at other times, presentV:△be, become; strip sth/ sb. o:(any) covering,protection; flowers, leaves; decoration o With the road to ourselves, bere of other traffic, we sped on fast. BM o In the winter when the trees were b wg of leaves (cf when the trees were bare), it was possible to see the lake on the far side of the park. a In striking contrast with the rest of the house, his study was austerely fur-nished and bes of any ornament. a bare outline(of sth)[Comp/O(NP)]a brief statement of the main facts(of some matter or situation) and nothing more; the bare bones(of sth) (qv) V: be; give sb, state, quote. o: story,play, plot; matter, situation; plan o This is the bare outline of only some of the reactions en-countered in the course of this work. SNPoI don't need all the details now, just give me a bare out-line of your plans.□ These. in bare outline, are <45> a bargain basement/ counter— bay the moon only some of the reactions. o variant in bare out.line. a bargain basement/ counter a serving area in a shop, or large store, where the goods are sold at less than their usual price or where par-ticularly cheap goods are sold o You need to be fairly careful not to be taken in by the bargain counters in some stores. Very often they' re full of shoddy goods that they wouldn't dream of sell-ing normally. a Britain is not the only bargain basgoment of Europe after all . Some of the countries these tourists come from are not as expensive for holiday makers as Brighton orScarborough. G◇ △a bargaining counter. a bargain's a bargain/a promise is a promis·(saying) an agreement, or promise, is binding o ' You' re a fool to miss this chance of a higher salary.' ' Maybe, bul a bargain's a bar-gain . When I took this job I promised to stay for at least three years.'o ' Oh come on, Liz, sit down and relax!' ' I will not; a promise is a promise,remember. You said"a couple of drinks and then straight home'.. a bargaining counter [Comp/O (NP)] a special advantage. a position of strength in negotiations, disputes etc, which one can use to offset. or outweigh, some advantage possessed by the other side. adj: strong. valuable; weak oThe de facto occupation by British and American armies of large parts of the Russian Zone was an important bargaining counter for obtaining satisfaction from the Soviet Government on a number of outstanding questions. MFM□ Com-paratively unproductive groups - - pensioners,the chronic sick, students in training—— have no bergaining counters. All they can do to push their claims for more money is to make a big enough nuisance of themselves. ◇ ▲ a bargain basement/ counter. sb' sb ark is worse than his bite(saying) sb is not so dangerous, bad-tempered, aggressive etc as he gives the appearance of being (esp when one compares what he says with what he does not do) o All my friends were terrified by my landlady, but I knew her bark was worse than her bite.□ I don't care whether his bark is worse than his bite or not. I'm not working for somebody who deliberately sets out to be rude to everybody.□ There are a number of ' spicy' . off the shoulder' periodicals, or sex-and-bittiness weeklies and monthlies, whose bark is in an illuminating way much worse than their bite.UL O in last example (sing expression referring to pl things) implication is that the periodicals are not as sexy as they appear, to be or would like to be thought. a batting average (cricket) the average num-ber of runs scored by a batsman in a season or in a series of matches;(fig) sb`s record of attain-ment over a series of tests or experiments; sb`s successes, compared with his failures, over a period of time, in his work, etc□ Turner finished the season as he had started, with a splendid score of 110 which put him at the top of the batting averages (ie the printed tables showing the position of various batsmen).□ Where a number of judges made predictions as to the ' officer'quality and future career of young officer can-didates, some people had a batting everage of correct predictions very much in excess of that of their colleagues, while others were quite unusu-ally incompetent. SNP o stress pattern a batting average. the battle of the bulge (facetious) the struggle to keep one's weight down and esp to reduce the size of one's waistline and stomach in middle age (from the unofficial name given to the Ardennes campaign(Dec-Jan 1944-5) in the Second World War, when German forces attempted a breakthrough and almost suc-ceeded) o At a rolund five feet six inches and sixteen stone, Jim is now winning the battle of the buige as a weighi-watcher. RT a battle of wits [Comp/o (NP)]'a contest in which the intelligence, ingenuity etc of one per-son, or party, is pitted against that of another,either verbally or tactically; the cut and thrust(of sth)(qv); the thrust and parry(qv) V: be...(between); engage in, join in o The Russian war of nerves, or battle of wits, was looked on not as a bluff but as an indication that hostilities would break out at any moment. MFMo It's the usual battle of wits between the cops and the robbers. DS□ Unless he was careful to whom he spoke. the professor often found himself engaged in this battle of wits over the question of who took the shortest holiday in the year. TCMo also pl battles of wits. a battle royal a strongly contested fight, or dispute, between two or more persons or par-ties (from, originally, a fight in which several combatants were engaged (esp in cock-fighting)) o You'd better attend the Council meeting to-night; we' re expecting a battle royal over the new parking proposals for the town centre. □ The ladies of the staff affiliated them-selves to either the Upper or Lower staffrooms by natural inclination, and throughout my whole term as headmaster a battle royal was waged between them on every conceivable issue.□ If his father really thought Paul was intending to enlist in the Army, it wouldn't be an argument they'd be having, it would be a battle royal. o adj al-ways in end position. a bawling/ slanging match a noisy, angry dispute between two or more people with acc-usations and counter-accusations V: be.(between); start; engage in o Instead of attack-ing one another, Robert and the Bloater began arguing in more or less normal voices. For a mo-ment I thought they were going to start monother bawling match. CON□ (reader's letter) After sitting through the Dimbleby Talk-in on meat prices (12 Jan, BBCI) which gradually degenerated into an ignorant and ill-mannered sianging match, I wondered whether... RT oI' ve never had a real slanging match with a woman before. I told her what I thought of her,and she told me what she thought of me.□ also pl; stress pattern a ' bawling/' slanging match. bay the moon [V + O] want sth that one can-not have; engage in a futile pursuit of sth (as dogs are said to bark(ie bay) at night when they see the (unattainable) moon); cry for the moon(Voll)(qv)o(source)I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon./ Than such a Roman. JULIUSCAESAR IV 3 □ I wouldn't try to shake anyone's belief in an afterlife if it was a comfort to them.but, to me, it is just baying the moon. o You lostSue entirely through your own fault and now 45 <46> be afraid (that)— be built/ made that way she's gone off with someone else. You' re just baying the moon if you expect to get her back now. be afraid (that) be sorry to have to say (sth,which may be a polite objection, refusal, ex-pression of an unwelcome fact, etc) o I'm afraid you' re wrong. The quotation is from Mil-ton, not Shakespeare. oIf you want to catch that train, you' ll have to leave now, I'm afraid. o usu first person, present tense; that usu not present;often end position. be afraid to do sth be reluctant to perform some action through fear of the consequencesInf: to speak, say(a word), open (one's mouth in public), move (a step), go (out), act o She was afraid to open the gate in case the dog attacked her.□ Don't be afraid to tell me if any.thing goes wrong.◇△ be afraid etc of doing sth.be afraid for sb/ sth worry, be concerned, feel anxious, about sb and the danger he may be in,or about the way things may develop o: him,you, them; his safety, the future o Parents,afraid for the safety of their children, have star-ted a campaign for a supervised pedestrian cross-ing at the road junction near the school. a Grow-ing right-wing unrest together with new waves of extreme left-wing terrorism lead many observers to be afraid for the future of parliamentary democracy in the country.◇△ next entry. be afraid etc of sb/ sth be in a state of fear about sb/ sth adj: afraid, △ frightened, ter-rified. o: him, her, them; the authorities; burg-lars; heights, the dark; flying; horses, wasps; the consequences; what may happen; nothing oShe was bitter and arrogant and made life im-possible for daddy. We were all afraid of her.DC o I was eleven or twelve years old before Istopped being frightened of the dark. o He's afraid of nothing and nobody; I' ve seen him take on boys twice his size in the playground. ◇△previous entry. be afraid etcofdoingsth be in a state of fear or worry about sth adj: afraid, △ frightened,terrified. o: getting old, looking silly, making a mistake, losing one's job, hurting oneself/ sb.upsetting sb o She war afraid of falling ill and having to go to hospital again.□It's no use asking him to support you. He's absolutely terrified of offending the bosses. ◇△ be afraid to do sth. be afraid of one's (own) shadow be very timid and easily alarmed, usu without proper cause o MR GREEN: I'm afraid of my mother——and she's scared to death of me. MRSGREEN: Who could blame her? I'm afraid of my shadow.DPM o The Government may have only a slim majority of votes, but that does not explain why it is so ineffectual and so afraid of its own shadow.□ pì be afraid of their own shadow(s). (not) be all beer and skittles (not) be al-ways pleasant and free of trouble, hardship etc$: life, job, marriage; it; everything o Do you think that a life that is all beer and skittles can prove very satisfying in the long run?□ Naturally there were gaieties of sorts, public or private,open or secret; but all was not beer and skittles. AHo Just because it's not on a nine-to-five basis doesn't mean that an actor's job is all beer and skittles. D beer and skittles non-rev.(not) be/ take all day etc(not) take a long time, or too long a time,(to do sth)m; day, △ 46 night, evening, afternoon □ Robert strode angrily towards the door, calling to me over his shoulder, ' Oh, come on—— don't be all night!'CON o Tell me what you want me to get in town then, but don't take all day over it. I have to catch the 9o’ clock train. o‘Can I tell you some-thing, Estelle?’' Not if you' re going to be all night about it.'o ' Are you going to take all day shaving?’ she shouted to him through the bath-room door. o often negimper.◇4(not) have all day. the be-all and end-all(of sth) [n + n non-rev] the main purpose(of sth); all that matters(in sth); the sum total (of sth)(qv) □(source)…… that but this blow/ Might be the be-all and the end-all here,/ But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,/ We'd jump the life to come. MACBETH!7. o Not that sexual desire is the be-all and end-all of Dayak love. It has a part in the history of each romance, but... NDNo The book is flagrant-ly uninformative and is really only useful in preventing one from thinking that the current state of Darwinism is the be-all and end-all of man's knowledge of the origin of the species. SCbe (only) as old as one feels [V + Comp](saying) even if one is not old one can' feel old'(eg tired and weak), and even if one is old one can' feel young' (eg lively and enthusiastic) □Remember what my grandmother, well into her eighties, used to say every morning as she set off for her plunge into the icy Atlantic:‘You’ re only#s old as you feel and I feel forty today!”◇feel one's age. be the bee's knoes [V + Comp] be, in sb's estimation, just what is wanted; be the best per-son, thing, idea etc; be the cat's pyjamas/whiskers(qv)o When it comes to tennis, I don't take Jim's reputation too seriously. He may be the bee's knees at his college, but I don't think there's much competition there. o I'm not flat-tered by Charles's attentions. He clearly thinks he's the bee's knwies around here, but I don't share his opinion. o usu restricted to a fairly trivial context, and/ or used ironically; often in construction sb thinks he is the bee's knege. (not) be etc a blind bit of use etc[V+ O](informal)(not) have any, the slightest effect V……o: be... use; ▲ make... difference;take... notice, pay... attention o And something inside me altered as well—— though I tried to tell myself that all was just the same and that Kathy's leaving me wouldn't make a blind bit of dif-forerce. LLDRo Now it's not ablind bit of use your protesting to the committee. o You'd think when that sort of thing(= a physical assault)happened in the middle of the West End a hun-dred people would be around in a jiffy but no one took a blind bit of notice. JFTRD But even if she(an officer in the Women's Section of theLabour Party) follows this advice, and goes to the Labour Women's Conference with a resolution and gets it passed, is the Labour Party at the real conference or in Parliament going to pay a blind bit of attention? NS o usu neg, or interr with neg implication. be built/ made that way(informal) have it in one's nature or constitution to be or do sth o l always like to have things tidy about me. I sup-pose I'm just bolt that way. a My sister can make herself agreeable and pleasant to people <47> (not) be born yesterday— be a dab atc hand at sth she doesn't like in the least, but I'm not built that way. □ Jı m was never one for loving speeches and flowers on your birthday and so on.He isn' made that way, but you couldn't get a hetter husband, all the same. a You mustn't blume her for being nervous if that's the way she's made. I often neg. (not) be born yesterday be sb who is (not)likely to be deceived or taken advantage of,(not) be so toolish or stupid □Born yesterday?Joe You' re joking he's the craftiest devil around!"a The spivis a more positive figure,a sorr of inverted go-getter', a casher in' on disorder.For those who occur among working-class people(some of) the favourite phrases are . im in the know' ' I wasn't born yesterday. ' I know my way around.'ULa Of course I didn't let on to the copper that I'd helped the bloke to hang himself.I wasn't born yesterday, nor the day before yesterday either LLDRo Were you born yeeter-day? Fancy giving a knife-grinder a pound note for a 20p job and expecting him to come back later with the change! a He told you that? He must have thought you were born yesterday. Oneg, interr, or neg by implication; past tenses only. be by way of being sth (informal) be con-sidered to be, or have pretensions to being, the thing stated, be a sort of, a kind of, sth o (Acertain book) had to do with early smoking habits and materials, on which Old Archie was evidently by way of being an expert. TGLY oShe 's very fond of visiting art galleries and is by way of being un artist herself. □ ' What's that curious object? ' It's by way of being a parsley chopper, but either it's badly designed, or else Idon 't know how to work it properly.' be the case(that)(formal) be a fact (that), be true(that)$: this,△such, it □ It is claimed that this is your handwriting. If this is the casse, there will he serious consequences. □Is it the case that all our actions are determined by our sexual drives? a It might have been thought that theWestern Christian influence would have been very great in this troubled scene. But such was not the cbse. BN be a case in point be a particular example, or instance, of sth already stated in general terms□ People over the years have changed their minds about the Common Market, and Mr JohnStonehouse is asse in point. NSo Those who go only to the festival concerts with big names uilached sometimes miss a deal of excitement. Acase in point was last night's appearance of a young piano trio from America. G 乊 Δ next entry. be a case of sth be what is required, or un-avoidable. given the circumstances o: helping oneself, making do; do or die; all hands on deck o The implications of my defeat had never really struck me before. It wasn't just a c#se of muddling through and losing every battle but the last in true British fashion. BMo ' Three of our friends are helping to coach Brian with his maths,but he 's not making much progress. '' Maybe it's a cas@ of too many cooks spoiling the broth. "oBEATiE: I can't bear sick men. They smell.JIMMY Ole (= old) Stan's alright—— do anythin'(= anything) for you. BEATIE: I couldn't look after one you know. JIMMY : Case of heven'(= having) to sometimes. R C often used to introduce all, or part, of saying that sums up the situation or shows course to be followed; be a cese of having to often used of situation where one has no choice but to act in given way ◇△previous entry. be the cat's pyjamas/ whiskers [V + Compj (dated informai) be, in sb`s estimation,just what is wanted; be the best person, thing.idea etc; be the bee's knees(qv)□I was very lazy when I was a young actor. I really thought I was the cat's pyjamus. TVT□ There were thousands of buses in England; let them (ie the govern-ment) give me some and release me from this static role so that I could practise a mobile counter-attack. The Prime Minister thought that this was the cat's whiskers. MFMO usu restric-ted to a fairly tnvial context, and/ or used iron-ically, often in the construction sb thinks he is the cat's pyjarnes/ whiskers. be caught/ takens hort[V + Comp] suddenly need to empty one's bowels or bladder o ' Now people seem to use anywhere(as a WC). Evennear the shelters and the platform. You Littluns, when you re getting fruit , if you' re taken short - the assembly roared. 'I said if you' re taken short you keep away from the fruit. That's dirty.'LFbe caviar(e) to the general be sth suited to specialized tastes or responses; be sth not appreciated, liked understood or known to the majority of people (general here= ` people in general’)□The play,I remember pleased not the million, I was caviare to the general. HAMLET112o I learned to play the sitar, after a fashion,at a time when, over here, Indian classical music was still caviare to the general. o(NONCE) MrMacintvre has written a sharp, racy book packed--overpacked?--with Irish wit and style about the Dublin arms trial of last year, The result is perceptive entertainment, but, I suspect,Irish coffee(black coffee with Irish whisky and topped with cream) to the general. L be cruel to be kind (saying) do or say sth painful but necessary to sb, so that greater good may come from it□ Only you can help. Be cruel to be kind. Break his idol completely. Tell him now that he is not ready for a life and a friendship so far outside his achievements. HAAo‘I’ m only being cruel to be kind, ' the physiotherapist said, If I don't keep you at these exercises now,you' ll lose the use of your shoulder muscles entirely.'o often with you have to/ must. be/ mean curtains (for sb) [V + Comp](in-formal) be/ lead to the end of(esp) sb's life a If you met one (ie a German Messerschmitt aeroplane) in a Typhoon or a Spitfire it was likely to be curtmins unless you had a great numerical advantage. RFWa And be careful how you drive. If you run into anything big in that cockleshell of a car, it' ll mean curtains for you,my lad. be a dab etc hand at sth [V + Comp](infor-mal) be skilfuì at, experienced in, sth/ doing sth det: quite a, not much of a, no. adj: dab, great:old (= experienced); poor( = bad) o: finding excuses, making pancakes; photography, in-sinuation□' The door key was in it (a lost hand-bag).'' That's distinctly awkward. UnfortunatelyI'm not a great hand at picking locks.’ TBS□One course in Early Classical Greek Vase Paintings 47 <48> be damned etc---be the done thing attracted enormous support one year, but only because word got around that the Spartans had been dab hands at pornography. OBS□ The kids won't get to make a monkey out of me. I'm on old hand at baby-sitting. a He was obviously annoyed and was no hand at concealing it. CON□ ' Peter was never much of a hand at letter-writing, " his mother said, looking at the three lines scribbled on half a sheet of paper, and he's getting worse as he grows older. be damned etc(informal) sb, or sth, men-tioned or suggested (in an immediately pre-vious statement) is to be defied, rejected, refused,ignored etc. in the opinion of the speaker adj:damned、△ blowed、 darned、 hanged, (taboo)buggered o ' Won't your boss expect you to turn up at the meeting? ”“The boss be buggered! My time's my own outside office hours.'a ' If I were you. I'd clear out of here before you start any more trouble with your Red notions. '' Red notions be damned! " he shouted, 'I' ve nothing against you men, in the main—'HD ◇ △ (well)I' ll be/I'm damned etc!; I' ll be/I'm damned etc if. be dead against sth [V + Comp] be firmly opposed to (doing) sth o: it, the proposal,drink. selling o And Reith was against all forms of drinking at that time. He used to try and put the pubs here out of bounds. He was dead against it. Lo She would have liked to adopt a baby but her husband was dead against it. oAny responsible lawyer would be deed against an elderly person risking his capital in a private loan . It's my duty to dissuade you if I can. be etc dead right/ wrong [V + Comp] be absolutely correct V: be;△get sth; have (got)sth o I suppose Kenny Macroon is right in advis-ing me not to camp out on Pillay?’‘He’ s dead right,Mr Brownsworth.' RMo'I suppose you' re angry with me?'' You' re dead right I am.'□He' sa good judge of character as a rule, but he was dead wrong about Harry o Your measurements must be dead right because a deviation of even 0.5mm in some part of the blueprint will be so magnified in the working model that it constitutes a serious or dangerous defect. □ Well done—— you' ve got that design dead right now. a Your parents have made an excellent job of renovating that old col-tage they bought last year. They have the whole thing dead right. O be dead wrong not often used. be the death of sb [V + Comp] (informal,facetious) cause sb a great deal of harm, anxiety or worry; be exceptionally funny or ridiculous$: road, steps; job, project; husband o Do me a favour, shave that beard off. Oh, you drive me mad—— you' ll be the death of me—— what a sonI' ve got! DPMa Oh, stop grumbling— filling in a few forms won't be the death of you. o This sent her off again(ie started her laughing again).' Oh you! You' re a holy terror, yes, you are. You' ll be the death of me some day.' uso with will/ would.be a different etc ball-game[V + Comp](informal, esp US) be a different matter, a separate issue, a new subject adj: different,another, whole new o' But if Washington learni the correct lessons from Vietnam, why have they begun interfering in the same way with El Sal-vador?' ' El Salvador? Central America? Don't you see~~ thui's a completely different ball- gæm. be dog tired [V + Comp] be very tired.(esp after work or physical exertion and as a tem-porary condition) D Let him do a little housework if he offers, don't insist that he washes up if he's dog tired. Wio' You' re always so brave,but I can tell you' re very disturbed.' I'm not in the least disturbed. I'm just dog-tired. TGLYo(NONCE) ‘God. I'm tired. I haven't done a thing all day, and I'm as tired as a dog.' He put a cushion under his head, punched it and settled down.AITC 口 dog-tired frequently hyphenated. (not) be sb's doing [V + Comp](not) be sth that sb has done, instigated, been responsible for o ' You want to be Queen of England, you letCatherine lie shut up in Kimbolton Castle where it's said you' re having her poisoned.' ' You lie about Catherine,' she said harshly. ' KimboltonCastle isn't my doing.' WI o ' It won't be the head-cashier's doing if I get this promotion.He's never liked me. o The difficult situation in which he found himself was non e of my doing and I resented having to listen to his complaints.□ You can be damn sure the anonymous donors didn't include our local land-owner, anyway. If the new ambulance had been any of his doing.he'd have wanted to claim credit for it.口 variant be none/ not any of sb's doing. be doing very nicely, thank you (very much) [V + Comp](catchphrase)(as though in answer to a question) functioning, continu-ing or progressing successfully o (rugby) Agroup of worthy sporting gentlemen in Leeds have reformed the club, renamed it New Hunslet,found a new ground, and it's doing very nicely so far this season, thank you very much, albeit in the Second Division of the Rugby League. RT□ Neil Lyall is currently doing very nicely thank you out of flogging a product calledPollen-B to an eager public. NS□ By the middle of the 18th century Gillow and his three sons had taken a lease on premises in Oxford Street whereSelfridges now stands, and for 137 years every-thing went very nicely, thank you. OBS□……a quite unjustified insult to the Royal Family who do not resemble the Mafia, and comprise an aristocracy far from decayed. Our Royal Family are still doing very well, thank you very much.ST o At eleven o' clock he was still sitting there with his pipe lit and drawing very nicely thank you. We seemed to be stuck with him. o usu be doing, but sometimes adapted, as in last three examples. be the done thing [V + Comp] be convention-al or approved behaviour, etiquette, procedure o For most of us it is still the done thing to get married; and this, perhaps surprisingly, in-fluences not only the girl who cannot wait to leave her boring office job, it also influences the intellectuals, the rebels who feel it is their right to question society's traditions. STo' When I was young, their grandmother said, ' it we:n't the done thing for girls to go to dance halls without a partner.□ And marriage? Everyone got married in those days, it seemed the thing to do as soon as you got into uniform. Everyone thought they might be killed the next day. TVTo Sartre, I sup-pose, was the only active European intellectual that one had heard of, and even his philosophy(to those of us eagerly listening to Russell on the 48 <49> be downhill all the way---be giad atc to see the back of sb/ sth wireless) didn't seem the thing, I say all this not merely to show how insular some of us were,but... L o variant be/ seem the thing (to do) be downhill all the way'[V + Comp] be easy and/ or quick progress towards an objective(esp after difficulties are passed) S: it, the rest oMany politicians on both sides of the border (ie between England and Scotland) are already convinced that today's devolution White Paper marks a watershed. From now on they believe it will be downhill all the way for the separatists.Go The police had felt sure all along that GeorgieTaylor was their man. Once they had broken his alibi the rest was downhill all the way. an uphill task etc. be downhill all the way² [V + Comp] be an inevitable process of decline or deterioration S:it □ Between 1900 and 1959 the ConservativeParty had, more often than not, a majority both of seuts and votes in Scotland. In the 1955 elec-tion they polled over 50 per cent and won 36 out of 71 seats; since then it has been downhill al-mosí all the way. Last October they polled less than 25 per cent and returned only 16 MPs. NScAs good us ever I was? No treatment's going to do that for me. Once you get to my age it's downhill all the way. be(just) the drink talking [V + Comp] be a confidence, boast, threat, promise etc made by sb who is drunk, and therefore not necessarily to be believed or relied upon $: it, that □' How on earth are we to live if Johnny gives up his job in the market?' ' He never will, That's just the drink talking. Mary. I' ve heard him threaten that most Saturday nights for nearly twenty years.’□ He had been in a fight in a Liverpool pub, he told his wife, and had pushed a man against some railings. The man had struck his head on a spike and died, and he'd served time for munslaughter. 'I didn't know whether to believe him, ' she said. 'I thought it was the drink talk-ing. ST be drunk in charg● [V + Comp] (legal) be drunk when driving or in charge of a vehicle □At first he drove rather fast and then, suddenly subdued by the immensely incredible notion that he might one day become Master of Fox Hounds,slowed down to a silent crawl. He didn't want anybody to think he was drunk in charge. I)BM□ A man who thinks he is too drunk to drive and pulls into a lavby to sleep it off can still be booked for being drunk in charge.'' That seems a little hard. don't you think?’ o ' Let me carry the whisky, before you drop it.'' Yes, you take it---can't have a man drunk in charge of a bottle of whisky.'o extended uses humorous. be dying for sth/ to do sth [V + Comp](in-formal) be longing for sth to occur, or to possess or experience sth, or for the opportun-ity to do sth o ' James, ' said Sonia. 'I'm sure everyone's dying for a cocktail. HAA □ OnlyTuesday morning, and I'm dying for the weekend already! □ Here you are at last. I' ve been dying for you to come back and hear the wonderful news. □ The remark was lost on Pop who was dying to demonstrate the horn's orchestral variations. DBM ' Have you read this book?' asked Harold. ' No, but I'm dying to.'PWbe the end [V+ Comp](informal) be very bad,annoying, exasperating; be no longer tolerable; be the worst that one can think of; be the (ab-solute) limit (qv) $: friend, wife; behaviour;remark, language. adj: absolute, very, bitter oPhilip asked me if I had another bed I would put into their room. That he should bring her here.God, men are the end . EHOWo' la sked him what the repairs would cost buí I' ve forgotten what he said.' ' Oh, you really are the end!'o I'd seen a dirty house before, but his was the end. a' Then she said. “Of course, we have a higher standard of living to keep up than you.” If that's not the end! What a cheek!" to be exact etc[Disj] more exactly; if you want it (ie sth previously mentioned) defined absolutely exactly adj: exact,△ precise,(strict-ly) accurate □ Short of exterminating the illegal diggers, the only solution was to legalize them.This was done, and early last year--on Febru-ary 6th to be muchct--all prosecutions against diamond diggers and dealers were suspended. DSo' Not bad, ' he said. ' Sixty-two minutes from town.From Highgate to be precis@.’ HD口 front or end position. be (strictly) for the birds [V + Comp](slang) be worthless; be fit only for people who are easily deceived or misled o There was talk of departmental funds being reallocated to theResearch section. That' s strictly for the birds—— not a chance it' ll happen. □ ' You' ll get your reward in heaven.’ 'I don't believe that rubbish.It's for the birds.'a(advertisement) Does your choice of soap embarrass him (ie a man)? As far as he's concerned, the fancy stuff is strictly for the birds. Give him the clean, fresh smell ofWright's Coal Tar soap every time! WOMAN ANDHOME D bird ((slang) = ` young girl`) in last example gives a double meaning. be sb's(own) funeral[V+ Comp](informal)be sb's (own) concern, fault, bad luck, etc;(be)sb's look-out (Voll)(qv) $: it, that. A: if he's late, if she doesn't come, if he gets into debt oThere were always too many passengers for the boat, so that if someone got left behind, it would be, as far as I was concerned, his funeral. NDN□ If he can't join me on the 19th, that's his fune-ral--he can' texpect me to change all myarrange-ments now, just for him.□If they' ve got into debt by splashing out on a house that's far too large for them anyway, it's their own funeral. o stress pattern it's ' his funeral or it's his ' own funeral. be giad etc to see the back of sb/ sth (in-formal) be glad etc to get rid of sb/ sth, to see him/ it for the last time cl: be glad to see. △ be anxious to see, not be sorry to see; hope to see,long to see; hope that one has seen, trust that one has seen, pray that one has seen o Then the rows began. Mrs Collins would rake over her husband's first marriage — She must have been glad to see the back of you.'STo By now I'd hoped to have seen the back of this job. SToAll right, That's your message. Now let's the back of you and your boy-friend as well. HD□‘You’ ll be glad to see the back of the TT(motor-cycle race)?' a reporter asked Gould, as he crouched by the hike. ‘Yep((slang) = yes),’said Gould. ST a I have made it more than clear that by now there were plenty of people anxious to see the back of me. MFM o I shall not be sorry to see the back of 1979. NS 49 <50> be a good chap etc(and do sth)—(not) be one's/ sb's idea of sb/ sth be a good chap etc(and do sth) [V +Comp](informal) would you please be kind and helpful by agreeing to do sth that I would like you to do Comp:a good chap.△a good boy,a good girl, an angel, a darling, a dear,a sport o Would you be a good chap and take one end of the chest of drawers? I can't manage it by myself.□Beanangel, Mary, and run downstairs and get the scissors. You' ll find them on the kitchen table.□Goon, be a sport. There's hardly any damage done to your car so there's no need to report the accident to the police, o friendly.encouraging introduction to request; be a good boy/ girl used by adults to children; certain terms of endearment, like an angel, a dear, a darling used mainly by women. be good/ kind enough to do sth [V +Comp] (formal) be obliging and do what I sug-gest, what I would like you to do, as a favour or service to me; be so good/ kind (as to do sth)(qv)o When you have finished your drink, would you be good enough to accompany me to the top of the hill again?ARGo ' Thank you, we have enough coffee. ' he said in reply to the waiter's query. ' but if you would be good enough to empty the ashtrays?’ a As it was a very cold night.the landlady was kind enough to let me have two extra blankets and a hot-water bottle. Dintroduction to polite request、 usu with will/would you. be good for sb/ sth [V+ Comp] be beneficial to sb/ sth; be effective in relieving or curing an illness or other unpleasant condition S: rest,holiday; drink, meal. A: it. .. to travel widely.it... not... to be on your own too much o Ah.there you are my dear boy,--all alone? Come and talk to me, it's not good for you to be on your own too much. FFEo Alice spends too much time playing with the big boys next door. A friend of her own age would be better for her,I'm sure.□I'm tired of hearing people say ' It's good for the carpet,' when they drop cigarette ash and then proceed to grind it in with the soles of their shoes. □Drink this up hot. It' ll be good for your cough. be good with one's hands [V + Comp] be skilful at practical work; be able to make/ mend articles neatly and/ or artistically □ This man is known to be something of a ' scholar', another is a good ' penman', another is particularly good with his hands, in wood or metal or as a general repairer. UL o There was a lot of banging and clanking and something broke.' Rudy isn't very good with his hands, ’ Beatrice said. OMIH be (all) Greek to sb be sth that sb cannot understand, esp talk or writing that is obscure,allusive or of a very technical nature o ' But since they deepened the drain at PomfretMadrigal in '37 everything has been at sixes and sevens and the Monday country absolutely ruined,' which was Greek to the Mertons, butLady Pomfret evidently understood. WDM□The cleaning women and other manual workers were chosen for their illiteracy, so that if they came on an engineering tool or a formula on a scrap of paper, it would be all Greek to them. L be half the battle be an important, or the decisive, contribution towards achieving sth oBelieving you can make a good recovery is half the battle when you' re ill.□I' ve been adopted as 50 candidate for the constituency, Mabel, and that's already half the battle. Lowdon West is a pretty safe Labour seal.□ Havtng brains is only half the battle. If the boy's not going to use them he might as well have none. O be only half the battle = ' be important or necessary but not enough in itself;S often it, that or doing/ having sth. (not) be happy about sth(not) be satisfied,contented, with sth o He cannot be very happy about this measure, which owes its existence solely to the Government's desire to placate theirRight wing supporters. SCo I'm not too happy about leaving David with a baby-sitter. He's sure to panic if he wakes up and sees a strange face.□Are you quite happy about all these sug-gestions? Anything you'd like to add? o affir-mative statements are less frequent than neg statements and tend to be making assertions, or contradicting doubts or questions. be here to stay [V + Comp] become per-manent, successful, established, accepted $:fashion, commodity; way of thinking;industrial method, administrative procedure □If you' re going to do bed and breakfasts in the holiday season you' ll get plenty of unmarried couples, especially young people. That sort of thing has come to stay whether you approve or not. o The trouser-suit that so effectively com-bines elegance and utility is surely, like the ' little black dress', here to stay. a My wife May learn-ed to drive, then my two farm workers. After 12months I also learned to drive, and we were on the market to stay. Lo Even if the leaders were to come together to persuade Mrs Gandhi that the time had come for her to retire to Geneva, the old openness of the Nehru period seems likely to have gone for good. The draught excluders (=enemies of ' open' government) have come to stay. Go variant have come to stay. be/ get high on sth(informal) be/ become ex-hilarated, intoxicated, stimulated etc under the influence of sth o:LSD, two whiskies; fresh air,good news o There are three separate strands to the story——a group of linguistics experts doing research with children, a tribe of South AmericanIndians getting high on a drug of their own making, and... SCo'I'm sure you could get high on this stuff.’ Dad said as he put his bottle of cough medicine back on the shelf. o The kids' ll settle down. They' re high on fresh air and each other's company— it's always the same the first day of the holidays. to be honest etc [Disj] speaking honestly;saying what I really think adv mod: quite, per-fectly, brutally, absolutely, totally. mdj: honest,△ frank, blunt o We had a pretty difficult relationship, which we both struggled to over-come. It was give and take and I don't know who gave more. I should think, to be quite honmet,Igave more than she did. ST o Why didn't the drivers have the confidence or, to be blunt, the courage to call a strike, like the miners? NSo' Would you not like to come and stay with for a while?'' To be frank, Alice. I wouldn't. I'm too set in my ways now to fit in with other people's.'o front, middle or end position. (not) be one's/ sb's idea of sb/ sth(not) be what one/ sb thinks of as a normal characteristic of, a proper or representative type of, a person/ <51> be in/ out of one's element—— be no great shakes thing o: a good person,a hero;a Prime Minis-ter; bliss, fun, comfort, beauty;a holiday o She makes a lot of money by being a photographer's model—— she's everyone's idea of a pretty girl.UTNo Sitting for hours in a crowded pub full of cigarette smoke may be your idea of a pleasant night out, but it isn't my idea of comfort——these low doorways where you' re always crack-ing your head, and stairs like corkscrews. DCoMIKE : Perhaps you could persuade your mother to go away with you for a holiday somewhere,There's that cottage of mine in Essex. It's empty.rony: I shouldn' t imagine that a cottage in Essex with me is mother's idea of fun at all . EHOW be in/ out of one's element [V + Comp] feel relaxed and interested/ ill at ease and bored oLook at Sophie over there---laughing, smoking,drinking, telling jokes, flirting. Totally in her element! a You should never have taken me along with you. Surely you knew that I'd be right out of my element with all those psychiatrists,psychologists and psychotherapists? ▷ a fish out of water. be like that(informal) be in a particular mood,take up a certain attitude, often an awkward or unco-operative one; be/ get that way (qv) □' Kate's not coming because, she says, she didn't get a proper invitation,'' Well if she wants to be like that, let her stay at home.’□Oh, don’ t be like that, Julie!I was only teasing you!o always used in infor imper; often neg. be the (absolute etc) limit [V + Comp] be sb/ sth that disconcerts, exasperates or offends to a marked or exceptional degree; be the end(qv) adj: absolute,△bloody,(dated) giddy oLOUISE: Where's Clive? PAMELA: Not down yet.LOUISE: Really, you children are the limit. Idon't see why you can't all have breakfast together. FFE□'I think it's the limit, ' the girl laughed.' Here I' ve been in the Wrens three years but no one ever asked if I'd like to go to the party.Daddy comes along at the last minute and walks right in.’ RFWoIsn't it Gaelic at all? Well, aren't you the giddy limit, Father James. And telling everyone in Nottingham that ' Jingalorie' is how you say ' cheerio' in Gaelic. RM be loud in one's praise(of/ for sb/ sth) [V+ Comp] praise, commend sb/ sth very highly,enthusiastically o The minister was loud in his praise for Dan McGarvey, and rightly so, but to most workers in Britain it will be seen as a victory for the rank and file and for the shop stewards.NS□ I think you would like to know that he and his friends were loud in their praise of the ar-rangements on his journey. MFM be a man [V + Comp] behave in a firm,courageous way; have, or show, manly qualities□ Oh, get upstairs to that child! Be a man for once in your life, can't you? EHOW. o' And ifeverI do get married, ' she continued,' It' ll be to a man who is a mew, not a mother's boy like you.'o usu exhortation to sb who is behaving in cowardly fashion, who needs encouragement, etc. be/ take a matter of seconds etc require,occupy a period of time to be measured in seconds etc o: seconds,△minutes, hours, days,weeks, months, years□I could place an order for a similar carpet, madam, but it would be a matter of weeks or even months before you got it.□ Perhaps I was too old, but it took a matter of minutes to wriggle in or out of the cramped little single seater cockpit. RFW be a moment etc[V + Comp] take very little time (to do sth) Comp: moment, △ second,minute;(informal) jiffy, tick o' Where's Andrew gone now? We should be leaving straight away.' He' ll not be two seconds, he's just run upstairs to comb his hair.’ a Now, just sit down, like a good chap. My wife' ll just be a minute making you a cup of tea and then you' ll feel better. o with will + just/ only/ not. be neither here nor there [V + Comp] be of no importance or relevance o We did all we could to make this parish feel that it was part of a larger whole, in fact of the world—— the world to which I myself belonged, though that is neither here nor there. PW o I maintained my view that our dealing should be with Sadie. ThatSadie might still fancy me was neither here nor there. UTN□It is unfortunate that we should use welsh as meaning ' go back on one's obligations'.The fact that the dictionary says the origin of this meaning of the word is unknown is neither here nor there: the thing that matters is that there are many who believe it to have a ' race' connotation.NS be new to the game [V + Comp] be inex-perienced in a game, trade or activity o It was agreed that, since Bernard was new to the game, we would not play poker for money that night. □While we (a forest-fire fighting squad)waited for the helicopter to arrive and take us to the fire, I drowsed off and woke to hear Bob telling one fellow who was new to the game,'—— nothing to it. Don't volunteer for anything,be last in line, and you' ll be all right.'BMo It's easy to see that you' re new to the gemm, Con-stable Jones. If someone can tell you immediately where he was on Tuesday before last between 7and 9 o clock, he's your number one suspect. be no/ not any better than one should/ought to be [V + Comp] be less than average-ly honest, good, trustworthy etc□ Ledderford is a place where to talk about holidays abroad is one of the almost infallible marks of the stuck-up, the high-and-mighty, who are no better than they should be. RATT o She was wrong about her son's marriage, of course, but to an old chapel-going countrywoman of the 1930s the word actress was synonymous with ' no better than she should be'.□(of' Western' films in the1920s) Girls were either ranchers' daughters.whiter than white, or one of an assortment of types, none of whom we' s an y better than she should be. TVT o euphernism often used of prostitute or woman who accepts more or less casual sexual relationships. be no great shakes [V+ Comp] only average-ly or less than averagely good, efficient, suit-able, adequate etc□ The Metropolitan Opera is no great shakes in general, but it has a resource never yet secured for Covent Garden: the service of Karl Böhm in the orchestra pit. SToShe is no great shakes as a field naturalist. She constant-ly sees birds and plants whose names she does not know. NS□Angputa W e: no great shakes as a high altitude Sherpa, but he was a very nice per-son indeed and I got very, very fond of him. OBS□ The first episode of‘Kojak’wé s no great shakes as a plot, but American addicts tell me 51 <52> be no oil painting—— be oneself that the characters grow on you. NS□ I daresay the school was no great shakes educationally,but in its relaxed, almost domestic, atmosphereI gained confidence in myself and the trust of others for the first time. 口 often followed by as+ phrasc. be no oil painting [V + Comp] be a plain or ugly person o If Rosa were like this in twenty-five years, well, it would suit him. He would be no oil painting himself by that time. HDa What's the matter with me? I may not be an oil-painting, but I'm all right in my way. PW be no picnic [V + Comp] not be a pleasant,easy task or experience □ Running a house this size is no picnic these days, believe me. TGLYoMarine archaeology is, after all, no picnic. The diver does not, like the digger on land, spend lazy afternoons excavating with camelhair brushes and toothpicks. OBS□' Was it very uncomfortable— painful?’‘Not so bad as I had feared, but no picnic all the same.' be no(kind of) place etc for sb[V+ Comp]be a place etc by its nature not suited to sb(for reasons of age, youth, sex, temperament, rank,ability etc) n: place, enviroment, house, job.work, life, sight, company, philosophy o The geriatric wards of most general hospitals ere no place for patients that are crippled but not senile. SCo If. however, you don't enjoy organized activities and the almost constant company of your fellow-beings, a holiday camp is no place for you. o' After all, everybody knows that Mars is no place for——' She hesitated. ' Absolutely primitive. No kind of life for any woman.’ TSToI can't understand young people nowadays. Look at your own Harry—— washing-up in a kitchen.That's no kind of job for a boy with his educa-tion. a No wonder he's had nightmares. You' re used to it, but a pig-killing is no sight for a child.be no/ not any respecter of persons[V +Comp] be sb who does not show more regard for one person than for another, and esp is not influenced by considerations of class, wealth,fame, authority etc□(source) Of a truth I per-ceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. ACTSX34-5口If anything, the Forfar people err on the side of not being respecters of persons and very quickly puncture any pomposity. SC o(NONCE)Rugby is not any respecter of personalities and there was more ragging of O' Reilly at the banquet after the game. RT o Miss Hellman is indeed a notable teller-off and throughout her life she shows sc ant respect for persons. ST Ovariant show scant respect for persons. be no room at/ in the inn [V + Comp] there is a lack or refusal of suitable accommodation,shelter or acceptance□(source) And she(Mary)brought forth her firstborn son (Jesus) and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. LUKEH7oOne camera-man who had to sleep outside (no room at the inn) played a little prank next morning. OBSa Edna's father was a sadist, her harassed mother left her alone one night, and she got sent to a remand home because there was no room at the inn. L be no skim off one's nose[V + Comp](slang) be a matter, action etc that does not affect one adversely, does not cause one any 52 upset or loss, does not matter to one a If he's too proud to accept help, let him get on with it. It's no skin off my nos@.□Well,even6p on the rates for a really good Sports' Centre would be no skin off your nose since you don't pay rates anyway. O stress pattern , no skin off one's nose.be nobody's business[V + Comp](informal facetious) be sth, esp excessive or outrageous,best not inquired about, not discussed □ That was his style all right, no mistaking it. The way he used to treat that wife of his wés nobody's business. Lo The house was built to specifica-tion and what the furnishings must have cost is nobody's business. O stress pattern be' nobody's business ◇ △ like nobody's business. be nobody's/ no man's fool [V + Comp] be a wise and/ or astute person; not be easily deceived or exploited by· anyone o When it became clear that the prosecution's case ran on the lines that Angela Davis had been tricked into becoming a pawn of the men around her, the defence emphasised that, whatever Angela Davis might be, she wm; nobody's fool. ST□Don Mof-fat is a former soldier and teacher, patient,reasonable, approachable, nobody's fool. Lo'l didn't expect this.' said Martin.' Didn't you? You must have been working things out,' said Bevill.I thought once more, that in such matters he was no man's fool. NM be not as other men are [V + Comp] be better than many or most people are □(source)The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men ar●, extortioners, unjust, adulterers. LUKE XVIII11o Some wives are so certain that their husbands are not as other men are that they do not sus-pect even what may be going on under their own noses. □ Amid all the problems that beset him,Charles found time to rejoice that he was not asHutchins was, that his soul, stretched as it was on the rack of his ludicrous predicament, was alive. HD be nothing to it [V + Comp] be easy; be simple to do o How were we going to get launched? ' We just run it down the shingle,' said young George nonchalantly, ' and tip it into the surf. Nothing to it, old lad.'STo One of the remarkable things about expert water skiers is the sincerity with which they insist how easy it is. ' There's really nothing to it, James said. 'A sense of balance,a love of speed.’ OBS 口 stress pattern be nothing to it. be/ go off one's food/ oats [V + Comp](in-formal) be without/ lose one's appetite o I'm worried about Keith. He's been off his oats for a week now, feels tired after a long night's sleep and looks as pale as the full moon.□ What do you mean, gone off your food?I cook a three-course meal, and half-way through the soup you sudden-ly tell me you' ve gone off your food! be on saic [V + Comp](esp of specific articles)be available for purchase; be‘for sale’(qv)□There are very few hand-made shoes on sale these days. o As long as horror comics art on sale for a few pence in every other stationer's shop, children will buy them. be oneself act, behave in a way that is natural,or normal, for oneself (esp in contrast to the affected manner etc that one may occas adopt to impress others) o I wish you wouldn't act the <53> sophisticated lady when I bring my friends here,Sheila. You' re far nicer when you' re just being yourself. □ Actors often complain that they can never be themselves. They play so many dif-ferent parts that these can submerge their origi-nal personalities entirely, be oneself again return to one's normal state(after a temporary illness, shock, emotional upset, etc)□Just when I was myself again and victorious, there came a sort of something. ATerror. PM□' He' ll pull through now,' the doctor said, ' but he' ll never be quite himself again in many respects.'o Charles seems to be recovering from the loss of his wife at long last--quite like his old self again and only occasionally a bit silent. O variant be (like) one's old self again.be an open secret[V + Comp] be a fact, state of affairs, etc which is not publicly acknowled-ged or officially made known, but which many people are aware of $: his whereabouts, her origins, his hide-out; it. cl: it... that he's resign-ing, it... that she's remarried o His hide-out, in the same gimcrack modern apartment where the baby has been staying recently, we can open secret in this small ti ght township. NS□ British cars are rarely advertised on television; it is an opera secret that the makers agreed long ago to stay away, for fear of an expensive war of words.OBS o It is an open secret that guns are being imported via Kilkeel, a stronghold of right-wingUnionism, and Ballynahinch, They are brought into Belfast in sand lorries. NS be par for the course(informal) be what one would expect to happen/ expect sb to do A:about; more or less; pretty well o ' There's been another military coup in Fantasia. ' The third this year. Well, I suppose that's about par for the course.’ o ' Sid's already ten minutes late.'' Give him ten more — twenty's par for the course for Sid.’ o par(golf) =‘the number of shots that has been set as a standard for a good player for each individual hole or for all eight-een holes on a particular golf-course'. ◇△under par. be a (dead/ real) ringer for sb/ sth [V +Comp] (slang) be extremely like, be virtually indistinguishable from, sb/ sth specified o: theQueen; my old headmaster; the one I lost oSome of those interviewed, notably the‘false’Eric Morecambe, were not so very like the nota-bilities they claimed to be being constantly mis-taken for, but there was one woman who was me real ringer for the Queen. D Without being rin-gers for their originals, the actors resembled them sufficiently to help the suspension of dis-belief. OBS□ II turned out to be her own of ter all.But when a girl comes in to pawn a diamond bracelet that's e dead ringer for one on the stolen property lists from the police, you have to be suspicious. D ringer = `a horse illegally sub-stituted in a sale, race etc for one of similar appearance’. be/ make sb ripe for sth [V + Comp] be fully ready for sth $: people, masses; school, depart-ment. o: revolution, love, take-over, develop-ment, mischief o The hunger, cold and misery then pervading Germany had reached the point of exasperating the masses and making them ripe for revolution. OBS o The girls are ripe for romance, and when a handsome young musical be oneself again— be tantamount to sth composer moves into the house as a boarder, they all see him as a target for matrimony. TVTbe a sight for sore eyes [V + Comp] be sb/sth one is very glad to see; a feast for the eyes(qv) o ' Look who I' ve brought with me. ' ' Jane!What a sight for sore eyes! I hope you' re to be back among us for a while.’ a And Kathie andMac and Miss Flynn came in, and the kettle was well away (ie was boiling). This is a sight for screen eyes.'TT be sitting pretty [V+ Comp](informal) be in a pleasant, comfortable, enviable situation oOlivia Newton-John was sitting pretty last month with her version of the Bob Dylan song.' IfNot For You' in the Top 20. RToI whiled away the minutes watching three strong men plying their charms around a young bright blonde and she was sitting pretty, proud to be queening it in that masculine stronghold. PP be six of one and/ to half a dozen of the other [V + Comp] be equal merit or weakness in two persons, things, courses of action that one has to choose between; (as) broad as it's long(qv)□(source)I never knows the children.It's just six of one and half-a-doson of the other. THE PIRATE (F MARRYAT 1792-1848) □ I' ve tried both routes and it's six of our and half w doxgin of the other. □ As far as qualifications and references are concerned it's a case of six of one to a half dozen of the other. I wish we had jobs for both of them. O a half dozen occas used instead of the more common half a dozen. be so good/ kind(as to do sth) [V+ Comp](formal) be obliging and do what I suggest,what I would like you to do as a favour or service to me; be good/ kind enough to do sth(qv)o Would you be so kind as to help me open this window?o ' What will you take?' ' Scotch, if you will be so good. ’ ARG O introduces polite request, usu with will/ would you. to be sure [Disj] it is true; certainly o But Iremain optimistic that the Seychelles, the is-lands that time forgot', will never become aCosta Brava or a Miami Beach. They will get more visitors, to be sure, but this will be discern-ing visitors who will appreciate their particular charms. OBS□Tobe sure, it is always possible for(a witness) to say: 'I don't know.' But often he is not prepared to confess his ignorance, MFF Ofront, middle or end position. be sure to do sth'[V + Comp] shall certainly do sth o The children our s to miss their father while he's away. o Prices aren't sure to rise, but it's very probable that they will. be sure to do sth² [V + Comp] do not fail to do sth o You must be sure to come and see us when you get back to New York. AITCoSe sure to lock the door when you leave. I usu imper, or with you must/ are to. be tantamount to sth [V + Comp] be equal to sth in effect or result; be virtually the same as sth o: genius, disobedience, a declaration of war, condoning the crime, taking a bribe oCoburn hopes that when you watch his death-dealing kung fu (= Chinese form of karate)exploits, you might take it as a tribute to Lee's skill in training him. ' Thai man's talent for the martial arts, ' says James Coburn, ' was ten-temount to genius. He was the fastest thing Iever saw.’ TVTa The discussion failed to point out 53 <54> be ten/ two a penny—— be to the bad/ good the insidious influence of team games. Setting one team against another is tantemount to playing at warfare. RT o But then the PrimeMinister likes to deceive even when it is not in his interest to do so (another trait he shares withNixon). It seems, for him, tantamount to a duty. NS□ They all suffered from neglect, in some cases a neglect tantemount to cruelty. be ten/ two a penny [V + Comp] be cheap; be numerous and easily obtainable; be not very valuable, important or interesting o It is a sor-did fact that equal pay (for men and women doing the same job) is bitterly opposed by many of Britain's craft unions, not at the top---where declarations of principle are ten a penny—— but where it really matters, on the shop floor. SToOne of the exceedingly dreary things about life these days is that one can never get any cooks— you'd think with all this unemployment around cooks would be two a penny, but no.STo' Tabby cats are ton a penny. What I'd like is an unusual cat, like a Manx.’‘What! A cat without a tail?' be thankful/ grateful for small mercies be thankful for minor benefits, consolations, or for what, though not good, could be worse modal: must, should, ought to o One ought to be thankfulfor smallmercies. Muted approval of a modest space research programme is at least an advance on the Astronomer Royal's ' space travel is bunk', uttered ex cathedra so very few years ago. NSC□ Among the professionals MissChisholm found very few takers for global solutions (of ecological problems), although many were optimistic about the possibility of in-dividual answers to individual problems. We must, it seems, be thankful for small marcies,at least for the time being. NSo(NONCE) At this time of year columists tend to snatch greedily and gratefully at small morcies like the weather. L be that as it may [Disj] that may, or may not,be true, but is, in any case, irrelevant □ ' None of the previous applicants (knows about Burma),apparently, ' answered the Professor with more than a touch of sourness.' Still, be that as it may—I want a man who knows upper Burma.’ ARG□I rack my memory in vain for its counterpart(ie of your house) in literature. But be that as it may, you will never know what being with you and, indeed, all the Eastwoods has meant to me.PW□CLIVE:I think education is simply the process of being taken by surprise, do you see?STANLEY:Be that mi s it may. CLIVE: You don't see. FFEO△ that is as (it) may be. be/ get that way [V + Comp](informal) take that attitude, esp become angry, sulky, stand-offish, touchy, uncooperative etc; be like that(qv) □ What's he think this place is——a soup kitchen?I don't want your friend and I don't want his cheques.’‘Ah, now, don’ t be that way, MrMazzolini,' Trillie said coaxingly. PE o ' She won't let people help her. We' ve all tried.' ' Oh well, if she wants to be that way, you' ll just have to leave her to it.'o She was very even-tempered,but she never talked about herself. We got on fine, because maybe I'm a bit that way. I never sought to pry into her business, nor she into mine.RFWD stress pattern' be/' get that way. be/ feel that way etc inclined [V + Comp] 54 have the tastes, habits or desire to be, do, enjoy sth specified adv mod: that way, △ so, thus□You see, in a town this size the number of people who take any interest in intellectual pursuits.they' re pretty far and few between. So if you' re that way inclined you tend to keep running across the same crowd. TGLY□ Don't encourage his laziness. He's too much that way inclined already. o... an Opus l of astonishing distinction and individuality, suggesting that Webern could well have rivalled Mahler or Strauss in handling the full orchestra had he felt so inclined. Go often in a clause beginning if/ when/ unless. be thick/ thin on the ground [V + Comp] be numerous/ few; be dense/ sparse a As things are,Londoners are too thick on the ground to live satisfactorily with such space-hungry devices as private cars. NS□Speculators are thick on the ground—— literally speaking. They buy up land,sit on it (ie don't use it) for a month or two and resell for twice what they paid. ST o (TVprogrammes) Everyone is always swearing that they are on the look-out for new talent: you can't blame them if it's thin on the ground. After all,statistically there can be only so much of it. Lbe thick with sth [V + Comp] be densely made up of, be full of, sth $: the air, the atmosphere, the room. o: fog, starch, dust;people; errors; weeds; rumours/ reports of oSome things are better. The London smog—— air so thick with fog and smoke that chest-sufferers could die breathing it, is to all intents and pur-poses a thing of the past. G a Following theGovernment's announcement of economies, the air was thick with rumours of redundancies. o(a museum) The visitors' book is accordingly opened, and found to be thick with entries,mostly collective, and monothematic: '20th Sept——23 pupils of—— courteous attention—— unforget-table morning—’ Idly we add our own names,but without comment. TCM be the thin end of the wedg @ [V + Comp] be the apparently insignificant event, action etc that is in fact the beginning of sth widespread,serious or disastrous, often intentionally so oFor many years, anything more than a mere sug-gestion of rape was rare in the cinema. Over the years it has become less prohibited and probably it was the famous Jame Wyman film of 1948.' Johnny Belinda', which was the thin end of the wedge. TVT o He returned to this country to be greeted by a characteristic attack from MrEnoch Powell, who claimed that the UgandanAsians were just ' the thin and of a very thick wedge' and that as many as a million and a half people from other parts of the world would eventually descend on us. NS o stress pattern be the , thin end of the ' wedge. be threesheets in the wind [V + Comp] be very drunk(a sailing boat with sheets(= ropes)fully loosened on all 3 sails cannot be kept on course)o Go if you like, but if he's three shoots in the wind, as is very likely by now, it won't be any use trying to talk business with him. a stress pattern be , three sheets in the ' wind. be to the bad/ good [V + Comp] be disadvantageous/ advantageous for sb/ sth o Iwas not to take up my appointment till two months ahead, on Sept 1st, which might be to the good as giving me a chance to rub up on my <55> be too bad (that)— be too much like hard work rusty German hut was altogether to the bad financially. SCoIn one way and another the public for the first time became conscious of the EarlyIron Age and the meaning of prehistory. All this was, in our view, to the good. SD ◇ △all to the good. be too bad(that)'[V + Comp] be regrettable,unfortunate(that) S: it, that. adv mod; just. cl:(that) it should rain today, you can't be with us.there`s such talented competition o Whatever dangers threatened him, he could cope with them,and if he couldn't that would be just too bad. PE□(a telephone call from a blackmailer)I' ve been waiting for that parcel(of banknotes) since yes-terday. It's too bad it hasn't come, because now my price has gone up. DC□ My father was over seventy and my mother not much less, and neither of them in the best of health. Too bad that they should have a nuisance of this nature thrust on them. RFW□Tuesday's documentary promises to show me ' The Real Che Guevara'. Too bad that it clashes with ' Casanova' —— another inviting new series on BBC 2. RTo sometimes ironic. be too bad (that)² [V + Comp] be incon-siderate, unjust (that) S: it, that, adv mod: re-ally. cl:(that) he didn't let them know, they' ve left the place so untidy o His mother was terribly disappointed. It was too bad that he didn't turn up after having promised to.□If only two or three boys were responsible for the damage I think it's really too bad they should all be penalized. o' Too bad of me to keep bothering like this.' saidMiss Simpson, darting into the room again, but where did you say I'd find the carbon paper?'o sometimes ironic; variant be too bad of sb to do sth. be too clever by half [V+ Comp](informal)be more clever than wise (the implication being that the person referred to is overreaching him-self, creating difficulties, rousing antagonism,etc) o Under this former backroom boy (lainMacleod) at Tory headquaters—— described, was he not, by Lord Salisbury as too clever by half?— the Conservatives have done very badly at by-elections. To... the sources of religious feeling.and all the elements which rat-racing Western man had cast out in becoming ' single-minded',and too clever by half. OBS a Mark was hardly spoken to for some time by his superiors and, it is said, the iron entered his soul. This ostracisation was put down to snobbery, and the suspicion that Mark was ' too clever by half'.ST be too funny etc for words [V + Comp](informal) be very funny etc adj: funny; silly,awful; handsome; exciting; disgustingo And the scene in the air-raid shelter with pans on their heads was just too funny for words. RTo ' TheSquaw', a ghost story about a black cat's revenge, trapping an American in the Iron Eye maiden at Nuremberg, was thought too ghastly for words' by Edwardian schoolboys, but now seems merely absurd. OBS□ Mrs Hamilton Clipp was now happily engaged in making a running commentary on their fellow travellers. ' Aren't those two little children just too cute for words?’ TCB be etc too good etc to be true [V + Comp]be so good etc that one suspects that there are hidden faults, deficiencies, drawbacks etc V: be; △ seem; sound, look. adj: good, lucky;(facetious) bad, stupid; English, professional,upright o 'Z Cars' was doing something, good or bad, for the ' image' of the police force, trying to be more realistic than ' Dixon of Dock Green'who sometimes seemed too good to be true.RTa ' You can have one of the firm's cars; there's depots at Leeds and Wakefield you' ll be visiting a great deal.'' It's too good to be true. ' I said.trying to look keen and modest and boyish. RATT□ Horham Hall, raspberry pink Tudor in the set-ting sun, looks almost too English to be true.ST □ Once upon a time, the central figures of fiction tended to be too good to be true. WithMr Leslie A Fiedler's book of short stories we have come full circle and the chief characters are simply too nesity to be true. T be too good to last[V + Comp] be very good but not permanent o I (Harold Macmillan)happened to make a speech at Bedford (in the late 1950s) and in the course of it I said, “Most of our people have never had it so good.' Then Iwent on to say, What is beginning to worry some of us is, is it too good to be true? Or perhapsI should say, is it too good to last?' Lo Kate had been consistently friendly all that week--a state of affairs too good to last but at least a welcome change from her usual criticisms and complaints. be too good to miss/ turn down [V +Comp] be too attractive or profitable to reject oDon't want to start making tracks yet awhile.though, do we? This is too good to miss . Look.at it all. TGLYo Many(Iranians) who have opted for the US are starting to come back, bringing their Thunderbirds with them. ' The money was too good to turn down. ' Sons and daughters.however, think otherwise and can't wait to get back to Los Angeles, New York, andWashington. SC be/ prove too hot to handle [V + Comp](informal) be too dangerous to deal with or become involved with o 'I don't defend people in cases that might prove too hot to handie,' he told Barton. 'I'm not an expert in international law.'o The pieces stolen included three early Ger-man and Italian iron clocks—— four of the best-known brass lantern clocks in the world. ' These were top clocks,' says Illyett,' the equivalent ofGainsboroughs or Rembrandts in the world of art. Many of them you would think were too hot to handle.'RT be too little(and) too late[V+ Comp] be not enough and too long delayed o Mr Barber an-nounced that he was pumping some £185 million more of investment money into the economy.‘Too little and too late,’ was Mr Vic Feather’ s reply to this gesture, and he proceeded to lead a mass demonstration of workers against unem-ployment through the streets of London. LoThe Government of India Act was never fully implemented', because the federal scheme incor-porated in it remained a dead letter. In fact,this measure as a whole was too little and too late. L be too much like hard work [V + Comp](informal) be too energetic or troublesome an activity, sport, pastime etc for sb to want to do□ CRAPE: Now answer me this one— Suppose you were born again--PHINEUS I don't know 55 <56> be/ have too much of a good thing— bear stc a charmed life —CRAPE: I do. You wouldn't dare to face it.Oh Lord, it would be far too much like hard work. THHD They could have had as many straw-berries as they wanted if they'd come over and picked them, but I suppose that was too much like hard work. O often facetious. be/ have too much of a good thing [V+Comp] be/ experience an unsuitable or unwel-come excess of a commodity, activity or form of behaviour (the implication usu being that less would be right or acceptable)o If my strong will and indiscipline had gone unchecked, the result might have been even more intolerable than some people have found me. But I have often wondered whether my mother's treatment for me was not a bit too much of a good thing:whether in fact it was a good thing at all. MFM□We'd love to have you and Marian and all the children to stay, but you are literally too much of a good thing, alas. o Pete and Mike decide that if they can't get work, they will start their own business. After a certain amount of bother,they decide that you can have too much of a good thing. TVT be too true[V + Comp] be unfortunately true;be regrettably as described o The Glasgow'Branch hummed and hawed over a small mort-gage on a fine old terrace property. ' Well, you know what building societies are. ' Too true. Aformer London architect said there was little problem about mortgages on old houses down south where it was accepted that faults could be rectified. SCo If you think I'm just being cantan-kerous, listen to ' The Times' critic: ' Saturday sport apart, the repeats of“Die Fledermaus”(BBC2) and" Man Alive"(BBC2) not to men-tion“Pets and Vets”(BBC2) offer the brightest hope in an otherwise dismal day.’ Too true. NS□' Tom said you were an old fool, not to invest in the scheme.'' Well,I'm old, that's only too trug,but he' ll maybe find it's himself that's the fool.'o generally without be, except when used with only as in last example. be top secret[V+ Comp] be highly confiden-tial, privileged (information etc), esp on an international, governmental or military level □A colossal amount of paper was in circulation and everything was Secret or Top Secret. MFMo' May we ask about it?---Unless, of course, it's“top secret’’, ’ she added musingly, with her head on one side, her eyes glinting mischievously.HAHA be touch and go [V + Comp] be a situation in which death, or disaster, failure etc will only be,or has only been, narrowly avoided; nip and tuck(qv)□ My lungs were lacerated. Nine of my ribs were broken. They phoned my wife. Bar-bara, and warned her that it was touch and go.ST□ It had been touch and go. in those days.whether she (a valued servant-companion)would leave the Colstons and settle down with her brother in Conventry while she had the chance.MM□ Minister Macao provides some nifty in-spiration for director Michael Moore and his camera team in this touch-and-go yarn about a deadly cargo of ' Nitro 2' and the efforts to keep it afloat as far as Hong Kong. RT o often followed by a clause introduced by whether;attrib use a touch-and-go yarn; touch and go non-rev. be well etc advised to do sth be wise ete to do sth adv: well, △ better; ill o When BillShankly does decide to go, the board of the day would be well advised to ask him to find his own successor. OBSo Lloyd would probably be better advised not to play Holding in what would be his first Test match. O o Industry would be ill-advised to sit back now and wait for government guidance or help. NSC be your age (informal) behave as sb of your age and maturity should, and not as though you were much younger (and less experienced,more irresponsible, etc) o For God's sake be your age, Alan, and stop behaving like a teen-ager. RFW□' Tra-la-la' sang George. turning up the radio and seizing his wife by the waist.' There's nothing like a waltz before breakfast.'Oh, be your age, ' she said pulling away from him crossly. o usu direct or indirect command.the beam in one's owney●[O(NP)]a major fault in one's own character, outlook etc, which one disregards while observing or criticizing minor faults in others V:(not) see, notice; ig-nore; remove a(source) And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but per-ceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?LUKE VI41□' Do you make this a habit?' she said.this going round always seeing the good things in people?''I try to—— then they are less likely to see the be am in my own eye.'TTo Mr Char-teris has written an appealing and honest sermon on the text that we should attend to the beam in our own eyes before trying to remove the motes from other people's. T o often associated with the mote in sb's eye(=‘sb’ s minor fault’) as in source quotation and last example. bear the burden and heart of the day [V+0 pass](formal) have the longest and most dif-ficult part of a task to perform (in contrast with others whose share is (considered to be) easier or shorter) $: country, class; section, depart-ment; officer, writer a (source) These last have wrought but one hour, and thou has made them equal unious, which have home the burden and the heat of the day. MATTHEW XX 12o The assumption by some Americans that the Allied victory in World War One was solely due to their eventual last-minute intervention was bitterly resented by those who felt they had born e the burden and hest of the day. a His comments on the present Director-General, however intended,are not likely to enhance the reputation of one who has still to be en the heart and burden of the day. L O burden and heat rev. bear etc a charmed life [V + O] have a per-sonal history of lucky escape from, or avoidance of, accident, injury or death, al-though exposed to such risks V: bear, △ lead,live, have a (source) I bear a chermed life.which must not yield/ To one of woman born.MACBETH V70 To his friends it has long been apparent that Creswell beens a charmed life.Even Creswell, however, has had his moments of adversity. SC□ Errol Flynn swung on ropes and leapt from balconies and rode bareback intoTechnicolour dawns. He rescued a girl and killed his enemy and led a charmed life. QA o Some girls say that men like a secretary with mothering instincts. But if this is what is called for, you would think that secretaries of 40-plus would 56 <57> (not) bear/ stand close examination/ inspection— beat one's breast lead a charmed life in the job market. Lo also pl bear etc charmed lives. (not) bear/ stand close examination/inspection [V+ O] (not) be satisfactory,genuine, as good as appearances might suggest,etc, when carefully examined; stand up (to)²(Vol 1)(qv)S: he, it, they, character, attitude,motive; proposal, plan o 'l think he only does you these favours to make himself liked. ' And does that really matter? Would all our motives stand close inspection?"□ The point made byStephen Hearst— that' in matters of politics we urc democrats, in matters of culture we are élitist authoritarians'— is an interesting statement of his personal viewpoint, but does not bear close examination. RT bear/ carry one's cross [V+ O] suffer, or cope with, a disability, grief, irksome respon-sibility, either as a condition of life or for a period A: bravely, lightly, with courage o (a deferred wedding) ' Still, this isn't the time re-ally, is it?’ And she smiled, and was carrying her cross ever so bravely really. To Poor soul, she has a heavy cross to carry with those young children and her husband out of work. o We should help to bear one another's crosses in-stead of shutting ourselves off from other people's troubles. D variant have a heavy cross to bear/ carry. bear fruit [V + O] show (usu good) results;come to fruition(Vol l)(qv)$: effort, planning,thought o The Gas Council's hitherto rather unrewarding search for natural gas in Britain is soon to bear its first fruit. NSo I' ve tried dozens of ways to make him change his mind, but none of them have borne fruit so far. □Our improved methods and modern machines are already bear-ing fruit in the shape of increased output and better staff relations. a bear garden[Comp(NP)] a place or gather-ing where there is noise and unruly or coarse behaviour (from 16th-17th c places of public amusement where bear-baiting took place) V:△ be, become, appear a I'm glad you didn'!come round to see us last night. Dave had both teams up to the house after the Rugby match and the place was an utter bear garden.□Get on with your work. Remember this is a classroom, noi&bear garden. o not usu pl. bear sb no ill-will [V + IO + O pass] not be hostile to, resent, sb for sth he is, or sth he has done det: no, △(not) any, little □ ' Enemy' is rather a strong word to use. I bear no ill-will toJulius. EMo I bore Bolshaw very little ill-will.I was always interested in his devices for avoiding work. SPL o The customers vote with little reference to the persuasions of the papers, but bear them no ill-will and continue to buy them.They assume that a great deal they read in the papers is phoney. ULo They don't bear their cousins any ill-will, you must understand. bear (sb) no/ not bear (sb) (any) malice[V + IO + O pass] not feel vindictive or spiteful(towards sb)o Mrs Jones called after Dorothy good-naturedly as she angrily withdrew; she(Mrs Jones) did not appear to bear malice. US□ My parents were hard on me as a child, but Ibear them no malice . That was the way they had been brought up themselves. □ Considering that my carelessness was partly responsible for her accident, it is surprising that she bears no malice towards me. □ variant bear no malice(towards sb). (not) bear repeating/ repetition [V + 0](not) be worth repeating, because it is (not)valid, interesting, important etc$: sb's opinion.argument; the joke, matter, it, the whole thing□ It's their timing and the expression on their faces that makes their act so hilarious---the jokes themselves don't bear repetition. a Look.does the argument really bear repecting?You' ve had your say and I' ve had mine, and neither of us is going to convince the other. uThere is so much common sense in his advice that it will bear any amount of repeating. beard the lion/ sb in his den [V + 0 + Apass] visit sb of power, importance etc at his home or place of work in order to attack or challenge him, to obtain a favour, etc(the im.plication being that one is rather afraid but has summoned up enough courage to do so)o: den,room, office □ And I would be late this morning of all mornings. I suppose the Old Mun has been waffling around? I' ll go and board the lion. TToOne of these days somebody will have the courage to beard the manager in his den and tell him what we all think of him.□(NONCE) Each time the principal boy left the stage, Virginia won-dered whether she should get up and go through the pass-door at the side of the stage, and beard her in her dressing room for the promised inter-view. AITC □ bear d the lion may be used alonc,but a more specific n/ pron usu requires in his den. beat the band [V + O] (informal) surpass everybody or everything o My millionaire grandfather left all his money to research into proving that the pyramids in Egypt were builthy visitors from outer space. That really beats the band! ' o Gillian beats the band - - she's now claiming that she's a direct descendant of theQueen of Sheba! ◇A next entry. to beat the band [A] to a high degree; in a way that surpasses everything o What with the noise of the television and the baby howling to beat the band,I gave up the idea of reading the news-paper and went out into the garden. a Don't worry about waking my wife. She can sleep to beet the band, that one. ◇△ previous entry.beat etc one's brains [V + O] puzzle, think very hard, esp in order to solve a problem, find a way of doing sth V: beat,△cudgel, rack□ I' ve been beating my brains all evening, trying to thing of an excuse for not going to Martin's wed-ding. □ He greatly despised crossword puzzles.' People should cudgel their brains to some better purpose,' he often said.□Rack her brains as she would she could think of no way to raise the money.□ After several hours of brain-racking they were still no nearer to a solution. on com-pound brain-racking. beat one's breast [V + O pass] hit one's breast with one's fist(s) as a sign of grief.remorse, despair etc; (fig) (pretend to) express remorse for what one has done; acknowledge one's mistakes etc, esp as a form of public apol-ogy□ She wanted to best her breast and scream but fought down the rising wave of hysteria, oOnce again a dismal ritual has been enacted:public figures have searched their grimy little 57 <58> beat sb/ sth hollow——a/ one's bedside manner consciences in public, breasts have been bestenNS□ For my part I was relieved to find that she never indulges in any breast-besting about her wartime attitudes. OBS D n compound breast-beating. beat sb/ sth hollow [V + 0 + A pass](infor-mal) defeat sb decisively in a game, contest or struggle; be greatly superior to sb/ sth else S:team, side; product, scheme; course o / playedMax at chess last night and best him hollow. oIt's a fine whisky, but I know a blend that beets even this hollow. o 'I think the bed is the most uncomfortable in England— in Barsetshire at any rate.'' It certainly couldn't be more hideous.It beats the state bed at Gatherum Castle hollow.' WDM□ Our boys were beeten hollow by the visiting team. beat it(informal) go away, esp swiftly(because either one's presence is not wanted or one does not want to stay) □ ' Beat it, you kids, ' shouted the shop-keeper.' You' re keeping the proper cuts-tomers away.'o I wasn't going to stay and have her talk to me like that. I got to my feet. ' About time I beat it, after that,’ I said. RFWo‘How do we get out then? " 'I' ve got a plane— only a small one, a four seater. As soon as there's a suitable break I' ll send her over, and then you can beat it.'DFO often imper. beauty and the beast [n + n non-rev] the union of sb who is beautiful with sb who is ugly or in some way repellent (from the title of a fairy tale)□(of the film about the giant gorillaKing Kong, who kidnaps a beautiful woman)……a cunning reworking of the Beauty and theBeast fairy tale. Lo When Marjorie married a man old enough to be her grandfather, everyone behaved as if it were beauty and the best all over again. beauty is but/ only skin deep (saying) the beautiful appearance of sb or sth is not as im-portant, or as durable, as the hidden, or inner,qualities; what looks beautiful on the outside may be ugly beneath; all is not gold that glitters(qv) □ Beauty may be only skin deep as they say, but in my opinion a girl's good qualities are all the more easily appreciated if she is beautiful as well, o Women, more than men, the article continued, were inclined to buy a car for its ap-pearance: but all buyers, it concluded, should remember that, as with women, so with cars:beauty was but skin deep. ◇ fine feathers make fine birds. beauty etc is/ lies in the eye of the beholder (saying) there is no absolute stan-dard for beauty etc, and what one person finds beautiful etc may not to be so to sb else S:beauty; goodness; political/ religious bias; ob-scenity; value for money □ Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what mukes the beholders themselves so unattractive? OBS □ There is no thought of telling the fable of Joseph. Any religious connotations, one suspects, remain firmly in the eye and the ear of the beholder.OBS□ But the play is rather more complex than a simple example of 16th Century Christian wish fulfilment. Anti-semitism may well be in the eye of the beholder. L the beauty of it/ sth the specially good point about sth; the aspect of sth which gives sb a special satisfaction o ' Do you know what I'd do 58 with them (100 miniature whisky bottles) if Iwere you?’ Hasselbacher said. ‘Play checkers.When you take a piece you drink it.'' That's quite an idea. ' ' A natural handicap.' Hasselbacher said. ' That's the beauty of it. The better player has to drink more.’ OMIH a ’ They’ re all good shears,' the salesmane xplained,' but the beauty of this pair is that the blades have a self-sharpening action.’ o ' That's the beauty of having only a small car,’ he said as he manoeuvred it into a minute parking space. o usu occurs as Comp of that is or as S followed by is that. one's beauty sleep [O (NP)] sleep that is begun in the hours before midnight and presumed to be esp restful and beneficial V: get,have, take; lose. det: one's; some, a little oCome now, don't get into a tàntrum. You must get your beauty sleep for the photographer tomorrow. MMo' He'd just like a cup of coffee,and I' ll make it,' said Julie.' You go to bed, Aun-tie. Can't have you losing your beauty sleep.'PE□ ' Now who says one more glass of port? And then we go to bed?'‘Yes, time to get a little beauty sleep, ' Ma said. DBM o stress pattern one's ' beauty sleep. a beauty spot' a place much admired and visited for the sake of the beauty of its natural scenery o The Guide Book lists all the famous beauty spots, but if you look you will find other equally delightful places off the beaten track. oYou must take a walk to Wakely Cove some afternoon. It's our local beauty spot. I stress pattern a ' beauty spot. a beauty spot²a small, dark, natural mark or mole on the face, arm etc which is thought to add charm to a woman's beauty o I used to spend hours trying to scrub off what my mother liked to call my beauty spot. I thought it dis-figured me. Now, I think it's rather an asset. o also pl; stress pattern a ' beauty spot; cf a beauty patch = ' an artificial black patch placed on the face in former times to simulate a beauty spot`. a/ the bed etc to end all beds etc/ to end them all(often facetious) an outstanding, ex-traordinary example of a bed etc n: bed, sports-car, horror-film; lover, bore, gourmet; soprano aria, tragic performance o The room Jacquie and I occupied, though large, was dwarfed by an immense feather bed. It was a bed to end all beds almost as big as a tennis-court and as thick as a bale of hay. DFo But tonight he was senti-mental. Tonight he was the husbandand father to end all husbands and fathers. AITC o Ed-wards has tried his hand at a variety of genres.sometimes with considerable success. ' WildRovers'(a film) seems to find him trying a hand u t the Western to end them all. NS o stress pattern a bed to end ' all beds/ to end them ' all. a/ one's bedside manner the pleasant,reassuring calmness shown by a doctor to a patient who is usu, but not always, in bed (the implication sometimes being that the attitude adopted is overdone and artificial) V: have(got); put on; use o The new doctor has a good bedside manner; at least all the old ladies adore him, I hear.□ There, my dear, in your anxiety to walk, these dreams become very real.' He was now exerting all his bedside morer to take the look of white dismay from her face. DC o <59> Research is your strong point. Isn' tit" T' m very fluttered. was all I mumbled.' No, you' re not.'11: nsley said . He had his best bedside manner fitted on night, and he might have been telling the patient it wasn ' t galloping consumption after all.PP a beef etc baron a wealthy and influential owner, manufacturer or controller of the product or service mentioned; sb of influence in a particular profession n: beef, wool, cotton.tohacco, oil, newspaper, press o Those who dis-like us and call us the wool barons say that we ullink to the mental level of the sheep. RFWo The spirit of John Pierpoint Morgun, American han-her. railway baron u nd book and art fancier.haunts the house and treasures. OBS been and gone and done it/ sth (informal)really, or finally, have done sth that is unexpec-ted, shocking, likely to cause trouble, etc o Sup-pose he had been and gone and fallen into the water all of a sudden? ILIH a Guess whatIommy's been and gone and done, sir!'a Did you really tell her that you can't stund women's mugazines’ I'm afraid you' ve been and gone and done it then - - - she's editor of ' WomenToday? before God(formal)I swear, vow, solemnly; asGod is my witness (qv) a 'I will bring up your son as if he were my own, he told the dying woman. 'I promise you that, before God.'a Iknow what you must have thought at the time,but I went off to find food, water. for all of us. Icouldn't return. Findlay — before God, Icouldn't--I got lost, and then I fell ill myself.ARG before one knows where one is very quickly or suddenly; very soon; next entry(qv)o / lost no time, took my coat from between my teeth, chucked it up to the wall and was sitting astraddle before I know where I was. LLDR□She asked how old Ludovic was. Rising sixteen.said his father, and it would be military service before they knew where they were. WDM before you can say Jack Robinson/knife (informal) very quickly or suddenly:very soon; previous entry(qv) o Let me fetch your newspaper for you. It's no trouble to run down to the shop——I' ll be there and back again before you can say Jack Robinson.□I said he could have the marble egg since he admired it so much, and before you could say knife it was off the shelf and in his pocket---as if he was afraidI might change my mind.□you occas replaced by l, he etc. beg, borrow or steal [v + v + v non-rev]obtain sth by any means possible, except by paying money for it a 'I haven't got a pen, sir.'Well, beg, borrow or steal one, but don't bother me.'□ The book is rather highly priced for the average pocket, bul so well worth reading that is should be begged, borrowed or stolen rather than missed. □(NONCE) Walter Gabriel is a shockingly bad farmer, but somehow he manages to stay cheerful and bags, borrows and generally scrounges his way through life.RI O used with or without O. bag sb's pardon [V + O] apologize for sth one has done or said, or intends to do or say, that inconveniences others, or that is considered rude in polite society o' Would you mind taking a beef etc baron— beginner's luck your hat off, madam, I can't see the stage.'()h./ bag your pardon, I didn't realize.'a ' One of those damn cats.' Nurse Ellen said cheerfully.`3egging your pardon (ie for using the word damn). Mrs Gaye. DC□' But George here agrees with me.' Then George, begging his pardon, is a bloody fool too.'c> △I beg your pardon. beg the question [V + O pass] not deal properly with the matter under discussion,leave it unresolved; not give a full and satisfac-tory explanation, either deliberately or unwit-tingly $: he. you, they; answer, proposition,statement, theory o ' Do you think it's your own fault, or the composer's, that you don't under-stand this music²' 'I'm sure if the composer were here to explain it to me, I might enjoy it more.’' That may well be so, but you are begging my question, aren't you?' o Weirdest of all is a theory which states essentially that the phenomena of hypnosis result from the subject's motive to behave like a hypnotised person, as defined by a hypnotist, and as understood by the subject.' This is perhaps the most question-begging of all, because it leaves unanswered the two crucial questions as to why the subject should want to behave in this fashion and how he manages to do it. SNP□Is any subject barred from poetry? This is a foolish question, but is so often posed that one might as well ask it and get it over.The answer is no, nothing is barred, providing it can be made into a poem. This is the correct way to beg that particular question. NS □ adj com-pound question-begging. beggar(all) description [V + O](formal) be difficult to describe, because of extraordinary beauty, ugliness, oddness etc□(source) For(=as for) her own person, it beggar'd all descrip-tion. ANTHONY AND CLEOPATRAII2o The sunset that evening was of a beauty to beggar all description. a I was accustomed to scenes of misery and squalor but the conditions in which the refugees were forced to live beggared all description. o Her affected accent and ec-centricity of dress combine to produce a comic effect that beggers description. beggars can't be choosers (saying) a per-son who has insufficient money to do exactly what he likes, or who depends on sb else, must be satisfied with what he can get a JO: You won't sleep very well on this couch, Geof. Geo F: It's all right. Beggars can' tbechoosers. TOH□Joseph himself was not so pleased at Waggett's getting a free ride. 'I' ll be turning off some time beforeTrài gh Swish,’ he warned him. ‘Beggars can’ t be choosers, said Waggett with a gracious smile. RM□' Small fortune guaranteed within one month, no risk involved. Write Box 27.' Small fortune! Fantastic!I would have preferred a large one, but beggers can't be choosers, so I took pen in hand. Lo always pl. beginner's luck unusual success at the start of learning to do sth, when one first does sth(the implication often being that the success is pure-ly accidental and temporary) V: have, enjoy; it be. A: just, only, purely, simply o Carter gave a sharp yelp. ' You nearly shot me!' He pulled out a hand clasped round a shattered pipe.Beginner's luck, ' Wormold said, OMIH a You don't know what you' re looking for. But you heard Carmichael's last words and they may sug- 59 <60> behind sb's back---a/ one's bestting sin gest something to you when you get there. Who know's--you may have beginner's luck. TCB□pl form beginners' luck occas found. behind sb's back' [A(PrepP)] while sb's back is turned, so he does not see what one is doing(usu because one does not want him to see) V:signal, make signs, wink; send messages (to each other)o 'I shall go and make an omelette,'said Mrs Pettigrew, and casting her eyes to heaven behind Mrs Anthony's back for Godfrey to see. disappeared into the kitchen. MM□ She was making frantic signs to me behind her hus-band's back to say no more. behind sb's back² [A (PrepP)] while sb is ab-sent and therefore unable to answer, or defend himself; without sb's knowledge or consent V:criticize, carp, gossip; organize sth, fix sth, sell sth o They enjoyed talking about him behind his back, telling stories about his prowess with women, stories that even they might have known were exaggerated. CON o STANLEY: I' ll write tonight. I' ll say--let's see--' Much as I dislike complaining about people behind their backs. Ifeel it is my duty to warn you! 'FFEo It will be a hit of a job arranging it all behind her back, but we should manage. to sb's face; △ go behind sb's back (Vol l). behind closed doors [A (PrepP)] in secret;without the public knowing or being admitted$: committee, council, society; meeting, re-union, discussion. V: meet, gather; hold a meet-ing, take a decision, decide sth; take place, be held o But while the rows over oil are headline news, the fights over coffee tend to take place behind closed doors, sometimes in a distantLatin American or African capital. OBS□ WhileParliament talks about the future of our econ-omy, the vital decisions have already been made behind closed doors. behind the scenes [A (PrepP)] (theatre)behind the main stage, or behind the scenery.where the audience cannot see what is happen-ing:(fig) in private; out of the public's eye; in a concealed and perhaps secretive manner o On the first night there was a great deal of frantic activity and improvisation behind the scenes when it was realised that the costumes had been mislaid.□Of course, there are lots of those great men who' ve got timid mousy little wives behind the scenes. CON (not) believe/ credit (the evidence of)one's ears/ eyes[V + O] be so astonished by what one has heard or seen that one's first reac-tion is one of disbelief o The problem would have been to get them to believe their emrs. Robert to go and have an expensive training as an artist?CONoJO:I saw him again one day, on the street.HELEN: Did you? Jo I couldn't believe my eyes.He was thin, weak-chinned, with a funny turned-up nose. TOHa For a moment they stood staring.unable to believe the evidence of their eyes. It was many months since the Germans had done anything like that. RFWo If we were to credit the exidence of our own ears our darling child had just emitted a string of oaths worthy of u.sergeant-major, o usu with couldn't/ can't. could hardly/ scarcely, not be able/ be unable to. believe it or not [Disj] it may sound odd to you but (I think) it is true o MICK: You know,believe it or not you' ve got a funny kind of resemblance to a bloke I once knew inShoreditch, TCo When I married I was a very young girl. Believe it or not. I'd hardly met anyone outside Bournemouth, o Carlyle wholly resented Jeffrey's refusal to support his applica-tion to be a Professor of—— believe it or not—Astronomy at Edinburgh University. SC believe (that) water can/ will flow uphill(saying) be able to persist in a belief, despite evidence to the contrary □ But I had no faith in its lasting. I could no more believe that it would last than I could believe water would flow uphill. SPL□ You might as well try to make me believe that water will flow uphill as convince me that the President was the victim of his crooked assistants. (not) believe a word (of sth)/(that) [V+O](not) believe, even partly, what sb has said,written, or reported o: it; his speech, statement,excuse, apology; what he says. ct:(that) he says oI can get up from my sick-bed, dress, go out, do the shopping, and nearly kill myself, but you don't believe s word of it! DC o I' ve had no trouble myself from any phone calls. Between ourselves, I think it's all made up. I don't believe a word of what they say. MM o Well, I hope you' re telling the truth this time, but you' ve made it difficult for me to believe a word you say. believe you me [Disj] (informal) you must accept what I say as definite, true; I mean whatI say o ' It's your affair, ' I said. ' It is. Believe you me,' said Sammy, and we left it at that. UTN□ You gave him £20 to get rid of him? You don't get rid of spongers that way, believe you me!He' ll be back for more. a You think too little of that boy, you know. Believe you me, he won't do too badly. bell the cat [V+ 0] do sth which is dangerous to oneself to help or protect others; expose, or make less harmful, the designs or actions of sb thought dangerous to others (from a fable about mice who thought it would be a good idea to hang a bell round a cat's neck but could not find a single mouse willing to do this)□One can imagine the possible repercussions of a full judicial enquiry, but the need for such an enquiry is now' unmistakable. Who will bell the cat? L below/ under one's/ sb's breath[A(PrepP)] in a whisper; in a very low tone,(often so as not to be heard by others) V: complain,grumble, mumble, mutter; repeat sth, say sth oWhat are you muttering there below your breath, Simpson? If you don't agree with whatI' ve been suggesting, kindly speak up and give us all the benefit of your opinion. o I called her the worst names I could think of, repeating them again and again under my breath, but it didn't relieve my feelings very much. RATT DecidedlyMrs Carstairs was in good humour. She was humming a iune under her breath as she tripped to the door. EM. a/ one's bestting sin a typical fault, failing.lack of control, etc;a temptation that one gives in to too easily o He's a fine fellow, apart from his besetting sin - - - he drinks too much. oInterfering in other people's business was her besetting sin. A self-appointed healer, she seemed to imagine that a few wise words from her could set anybody's life in order. a ' The BingoAge' aptly describes one besetting sin of both 60 <61> one's best bib and tucker----the best-laid schemes of mice... major parties in the post-war era: offering quick and easy prizes as vote-catching incentives. o also pl. one's best bib and tucker [n + n non-rev]one's best, or finest, clothes, esp as worn for a special occasion V: be in; don, put on, wear o' What sort of a function is it? Do I have to put on my best bib and tucker?' ' Oh no, it's a very informal affair, people will be coming just as they are. 'a So we all set off in our best bibs and tuckers, as instructed, to visit our prospective' in-law's' and give a good impression of ourselves as a family. one's best friend sb whom one can rely on above all others for help or support; sth(esp a valuable object) that gives one security and in-dependence and is therefore worth possessing det: our, their o‘They always did say a boy's best friend was his mother. didn't they? ' I said nastily. Even while I was sarcastically fending off my mother's instructions, I was automatically obeying them. CON□ Mink-hunting is on the in-crease. Not of the cultivated mink —— after diamonds, a girl's best friend — hut of the financially valueless wild mink. OBS□If you have£5 in one pocket and £5 in the other, v ou are between two of the best friends you will ever have. SCa' Ah, you can't go far withou i money.'she said. ' Your best friend's your pocket.' MMo allusion in second example to catchphrase diamonds are a girl's best friend (qv). the best man wine (accept philosophically that) sb has defeated one in some competition,has succeeded better than oneself. etc.(declare that) the person who proves himself better than everybody else in some competition will gain the prize. reward etc o' Hill you marry me' he repeated. No . Phuong said. “No?” He took the glass wistfully. The best mum wins. Only please don't leave her. Thomas.'QA□ She threw down her racket but then went up to the net to congratulate the new champion. Best ment wing, she said, generously enough,□In choosing the man to fill the job, he said he would play no favourites: it would be strictly a matter of merit and experience with the best man winning. Cnot usu pl. (in) the best of all possible worlds [A(PrepP)](in) a state in which all that one could desire could happen; (under) perfect circum-stances (the strong implication being that this is not the way things actually are, or are likely to be) □ (source) All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. VOLTAIRE(1694-1778)□ It may be true that, if this were the best of all possible worlds, the food surplus in the developed countries would be sufficient to answer the needs of the starving millions elsewhere. the best of British (luck) (to sb) (I wish you) good luck (in some activity)(the implica-tion being that the person addressed will not succeed, or does not deserve to succeed)o' Will you get your blessed van out of the way! I' ve got a train to catch in ten minutes!'' And the best ofBritish to you,' muttered the milkman under his breath. o I don't for a moment think you' ll suc-ceed in raising that much money, but the best ofBritish luck to you, all the same.’ o often introduced by I/ we wish you or And; usu ironic.the best of it the most amusing, or suprising, part of an incident or situation o We all had a good laugh when Grandpa couldn't find his spec-tacles. The best of it was that they were up on his forehead all the time he was looking for them.□ The show's had rave review's--and the best of it is that the entire cast thought the opening night was a complete mess. O usu followed by is was that. the best/ worst of it/ sth is (that) the most/ least advantageous aspect of sth is (that)o: it; teaching, sailing, being a teacher, being overweight, living here □ The best of being a teacher is the long holidays you get. □ The worst of it is that I can't even be sure that they got my cheque. o The best of patterned carpets is that it doesn't matter if your guests spill their drinks over them.□Thet's the worst of being a novelist-we never answer letters. PW o variant that's the best/ worst of sth. the best/ better part of sth[O(NP)] most of sth. leaving very little over V: consume, devour,swallow: contain, hold o He ute the best part of a chicken, and gave the rest to the dog.□ The gourd must have held the best part of a gallon.□ He brought us a bottle of wine and then proceeded to drink the better part of it himself.(for) the best/ better part of an hour etc[A (NP)](during) most of an hour or any other period of time specified V: take; work (for), be away(for) n: hour.△day. evening, week, year o Kingsley studied the papers silently for the best part of an hour. TBCo Agedbetween 12 and18. the entrants have been put through their paces for the best part of a week and judged by a jury of celebrated musicians. RTo He's been away inChina for the best part of k yeer. the best(education etc) that money can buy[Comp/O(NP)] only the very best (object.article etc) that can be bought V: be; get, give,have, offer. n: education, training, jewellery.furniture o They have a beautiful house. full of the best that moneycan buy.□If you had given me the best piece of jewellery money could buy, it wouldn't have pleased me more than this little keepsake. □I'm in a position to give my son.the best education that money can buy, and that's what he's going to get. o (NONCE) MrAdams, who lived in the Old Bank House atEdgewood, said Kate, had got the best television that money could hire and they were all going to look at the Coronation on it. WDMthe best things in life are free(saying)activities etc which cost nothing, or very little,give more pleasure, have more true value, than anything for which one might pay a great deal□ She thought we were mad, getting married when neither of us had two halfpennies to rub together. ' Still,' I said, ' the best things in life are free.’ o(NONCE) Why cook at all when the best things in life according to the telly (ie television commercials) come conveniently processed. so clean and easy to handle, no more dirty pans. L the best-laid schemes of mice and men(gang aft agley) (saying) despite careful planning, or plotting, things often can, or do,go wrong in their actual execution o (source)The best laid schemes o"(= of) mice an"(=and) men/ Gang eft sgloy((Scot) = often go wrong). TO A MOUSE (R BURNS 1759-96)σ(NONCE) 61 <62> bet sb anything/ what he likes (that)— better (to be) safe than sorry All of which shows that I should have held my tongue. The best-laid` Press conferences of mice and men gang aft agley. MFM□ ' ll was maddening to have to cancel the children's outing at the last minute like that. ’ ' It couldn't be helped, so don't let it bother you too much—the best-laid schemes of mice and men, You know!' o often adapted, as in second example.bet sb anything/ what he likes (that) (in-formal) be prepared to assert, confidently predict(that);I(' ll)/ you bet(that)(qv) cl:(that)it won't happen,(that) he won't turn up, (that)she` ll get drunk o I bet you anything you like we won't get an invitation to the wedding. oLOUISE: You'd better be off on your ride before you get into any more trouble. PAMELA: Oh, it's one of those days. I be t you anything the horse breaks its legs. FFEo/ beat Daddy at chess, and he bet me anything that I couldn't. a We bet them what they liked that they'd find them-selves no better off than before. 口 first person Sis often dropped as in Bet you what you like he won't come. φI(' ll) bet. bet one's bottom dollar (on sth/ that)(gambling) stake all the money one has(on sth/that); be very certain (about sth, that sth will happen, etc) o 'I bet you that the day after tomorrow by this time Mommy will be back.’‘What will you bet?’' ll bet my bottom doller.’PW□ He had be t his bottom doliar on an out-sider thinking that he'd been given a sure tip by someone ' in the know', a 'I don't think the shop-keeper meant to cheat us. ' Till bet my bottom dollar he did—— probably thought we were in too much of a hurry to count our change.'o You' re not going out again tonight, my boy. You can bet your bottom doilar on that! better etc all round (for sb) (if) [Comp(AdjP)] preferable in every way (for sb)(if) V:△be; get, prove. adj: better,▲easier, pleasan-.ter. o: everyone, all concerned, the children. cl:if it works, if they leave o Last Autumn I thoughtI should have to give up my business, but things have been better all round since the New Year.o 'I don't really enjoy picnics any more.' said grandmother. ' It would be musicr all round for you if I stayed at home, because then I could look after the baby and you could do something really interesting with the older ones.'a It'd be better all round if you'd take that thing off your eyes,Mr Lamb, and get on with your work. CON better bad now than worse later(saying)it is better to endure, or deal with, sth painful or unpleasant immediately, if by not doing so the situation will only get worse and even more difficult to handle o'I ought to have chucked you out before you said a word.'' You couldn't have,any more than you can now. Too painful.’ She said in a muffled voice:' Better bad now their worse later. ’ TGLY a‘Better bad now than worse later, the surveyor told him.' If we hadn't discovered this patch of dry rot now, you'd have had a bill for hundreds of pounds in a year or two. the better the day the better the deed(saying) it is sometimes right to do sth, to work,on a Sunday(which is traditionally regarded, inChristian belief, as a day of rest) □ (partial source) If it(a sheep) fall into a pit on the Sab-bath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 62 Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath day. Matthew XII11-12o'I may be old-fashioned,dear, but I don't like to see the washing hung out on a Sunday. '' But. Granny, this is the only dayI'm free to come over and help you and, anyway.as people say, the better the day the better the deed. ' o usu offered as an excuse, justification etc. better (off) dead [Comp (AdjP)] being dead would be preferable to being alive (because one's life is miserable, painful, useless, or occas.antisocial, destructive etc) V: △ be, think sb oThey (the gulls) told him, with their close approach and flapping hover, that he was far better dead, floating in the sea like a burst ham-mock, PMo Why should our good taxpayers'money be spent supporting brutes who would be better dead?’ o He sat alone, thinking. His wife had left him, he'd lost his job— he'd be better off dead. one's/ the better half (informal, facetious)one's wife/ husband o ' All alone?' she asked,looking surprised. ' Where's the better half?Working late, ' Jane replied. ' he' ll come along later.’ o So we meet this fellow in the pub and he invites us, me and my better half, that is, round to his place. better late than never(saying)(offer, be of-fered, sometimes ironically) an excuse or apol-ogy for one's lateness;(accept, point out to sb.that) success in some matter, however long it has taken to come or however small it is, is better than none at all o Come along in. I'm sorry you had such a bad journey, but better late than never.□ In fact, I had been given very near-ly all that I had been asking for since August.Better late than never. MFM o 'I expect you think I'm too old for a holiday on my own?”‘Not at all, better late the m never, I always say.' better luck next time (saying) may you suc-ceed on some future occasion V: wish sb; have;hope for o ' So the party was dismal. Never mind!Better luck next time!'' It wasn't the party that was wrong. It was me.'HAHAo I just wrote and said I was sorry he had not passed his exam and wished him better luck next time.□ Never mind!Perhaps you' ll have better luck next time. o often verbless clause; used esp to console or encourage sb who has just failed to do sth, win sth, etc. one's/ sb's better nature the more honour-able, self-denying, or virtuous aspect of one's/sb's character V: appeal to; make, try, respond to, an appeal to o I may have to punish Sam for bullying, but I' ll try to appeal to his better nature first. o A cruel and slighting answer hovered on my tongue, but then my better nature re-asserted itself and I made some non-committal remark. □ also pl their better natures.better(to be) safe than sorry(saying)(it is)wiser to be over-cautious and take proper care than to be rash and unthinking(and so do sth foolish that harms one, that one regrets later;etc) o Patrick said ' Christ, someone's shooting at us, ' and threw himself down full length on the muddy verge. Jenny laughed. He gave her a glare, then smiled reluctantly. ‘Better to be safe than sorry, he said. TGLY o‘You could easily have overtaken the lorry just now.'' Better safe than sorry, ' the driver replied. ' Just let me <63> the better to see atc— beyond(all) measure use my own judgement, will you? □ often introduced by It is; used to excuse or justify one's actions or decisions. the better to see etc in order to sec etc betterV: see. hear, supervise, explain, appreciate o /remember being perched on my father's shoulders the better to see over the heads of the crowd.. At this point David took off his shoes the better to avoid being overheard and carry-ing them in his hand, tip-toed past the half-open kitchen door into the darkness of the garden .□Ihad learned a little Russian the better to pursue my scientific researches, and this knowledge was now up stand me in good stead. o usu end position. better/ worsestill[Conj(AdvP)](there is) sth better that one can do than what has been previously suggested/(it is, would be) much worse if one decided to do sth other than what has been suggested o Why don't we all go out to the pub? Better still, why doesn't Jimmy pop round to the off-licence and bring something back here?□I think you ought to go cautiously with him, it's no use storming in and demanding a rise. Worses till would be to criticize his hand-ling of your staff. better that way [Comp(AdjP)] more suitable.desirable than any other S: arrangement, sys-tem; it; things. V: △ be, seem; go; work o He thought She(Beatrice) will go back by the next plane, life will be the same as before, and, of course, it was better that way; his life belonged to Milly OMIHo' He is ridiculously generous with both his money and his time.'' Better that way than the other extreme.’ a Fifty years ago ordin-ary people didn't know so much about medical matters and about what might be wrong with them, and I often wonder whether it wasn't better that way. between the devil and the deep blue sea[Comp/A (PrepP)] (saying) (be faced) with a choice of alternative situations or courses of action, neither of which is welcome or desirableV: be, find oneself; be caught o His enemy was close behind him, and the bridge over the ravine was rotten and swaying. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, he hesitated. oWe' ll have to put our hands in our pockets to pay his passage home or else have him sponging on us here indefinitely. Talk of being batweon the devil and the deep blue sea! □ (NONCE) MrsThatcher now stands between the devil and the deep wet((UK slang) here = liberal Con-servative) sèm. LO A next entry. between Scylla and Charybdis [Comp/A(PrepP)] (formal)(be) threatened by two dan-gers, the avoidance of one increasing the likelihood of harm from the other (from aGreek myth about a narrow sea passage bet-ween a rock and a whirlpool, each inhabited by a monster) V: be; be caught.(try to) steer o He would have preferred to be on good terms with both his wife and his mother, but the effort of pleasing one without offending the other was like steering between Scylle and Charybdis. oSomewhere between the Scylla of too formal a courtesi and the Charybdis of over-familiarity hes the technique of putting people at their ease.c rather rare. φ previous entry. between one's teeth [A(Prep P)] with one's teeth tightly closed, clenched(as a sign of anger、pain, or other strong emotion) V: say, speak;mutter; force out, spit out o ' Look, Baxter, he said between his testh. ' You and your honest work. You ' re the sort of person who' ll keep this factory down in the mud, turning out cheap trash ' CONo MYRA (has an impulse to make a maternal protective gesture, suppresses it at the last moment. Says quietly, but between her testh): All the same get out of those clothes.EHOWo He managed an apology of sorts, mutter-ing a few perfunctory excuses butween his teeth. (in) between times/ whiles [A (PrepP)] in the intervals between events (which are stated or implied) U (The central heating boiler) gets made up in the morning, and last thing at night,and in between times nobody goes there. RFWu Films, thcatres, concerts, everything she had once dreamed of doing she now did. And bet-won whiles, for Alec was writing hard, she visited old friends. Pw o usu front position;stress pattern (in) be' tween times/ whiles. betwixt and between[prep + prep non-rev]neither one nor the other of two things men-tioned but having some characteristics of each o' Are you glad or sorry your husband hasn't been posted abroad?'' Sort of betwixt and bet-won, really.'o I could enjoy life in either the town or the country, but there are no advantages that I can see in living in a betwixt and bet-ween district like this. a She had served the family for years in a capacity something bet-wixt and between housekeeper and benevolent tyrant. beyond belief(to a degree) too difficult or impossible to believe, or too wonderful or too dreadful for the mind to grasp. V: be, seem □The huts they lived in were sordid and filthy beyond belief.□ Imagine these Pyramids being built by physical labour alone! It's almost beyond belief. □ The sunset last night was of a beauty beyond belief. □ often modifies a preceding adj or n. beyond a certain point [A (PrepP)] as soon as, once, a particular stage, or moment in time.has been reached and passed o Publicity may help to break down the barrier, but beyond a certain point it is impossible to dramatise ad-ministration. SC □ He allowed his staff a fair amount of latitude but beyond a certain point he would put his foot down as firmly as the next man.□ There are drugs which slow the progress of the disease in its earlier stages but beyond a certain point (cf once a certain point is reached) they become ineffective. □ variant once a certain point is reached. beyond(ali) measure{A(PrepP)](formal) to an unusual degree (often excessively, im-moderately) V: esteem sth, prize sth, value sth;covet sth o Since our arrival in Africa I had talked about it incessantly. until even the staff knew that Idiurus kivuensis was the name of a beef((pidgin English) = animal) that I prized beyond all measure. BB□It's natural for parents to love their children, and Richard's nice enough.buthis father dotes on himbeyondallmeasure. n' Your husband tells me you' re a devotee of HenryJames? ' He exaggerates - - - I do admire his writing but not beyond measure. He can be very 63 <64> beyond one's wildest dreams/ hopes---the big stick tedious.’ beyond one's wildest dreams/ hopes[Comp/A(Prep P)](in a way that is) very much greater than one expected, than one could poss-ibly expect, etc V: be, lie; succeed□ And so ended a remarkably successful visit —— successful beyond my wildest dreams. MFMo The PrimeMinister said, ' Today, I am amazed at the changes that have come about. They are beyond my wildest hopes.'OBS bid fair to do sth(formal) seem likely to hap-pen, to do sth good or bad o It bids fair to be a nice day.□ Our scheme for building a new com-munity centre bids fair to succeed.□ For a while he bade fair to become a drunkard like his father, but his marriage seems to have steadied him. 口 irregular past tense bade and pp bidden;when phrase is in past tense there is usu a following clause showing that the thing expec-ted did not finally happen, as in last example.bid sb goodbye[V + i0+ 0] say goodbye(to sb); take formal leave of sbo We have just called in to bid you goodbye and to thank you for all you have done to make our holiday so pleasant.□ I tipped him £10 for his trouble and bid him goodbye. o Have you bidden the children goodbye yet?o irregular past tense bade or bid,and pp bidden. bide one's time[V + O] patiently, wisely await a suitable time or opportunity (for sth one intends to do or say) □ Harold had some-thing on his mind; he looked slightly portentous.Harold did not always spill the beans at once; he would bide his time and adopt a sphinx-like air.PWo 'A bit of hoeing today,' he said. She made no immediate objection, for she must bide her time. Not that Henry was touch y or difficult about his angina. MMo'I don't think you should let the house go for £75,000, ' the agent said. ' If you' re prepared to bide your time I'm sure Icould get you a higher offer. the big battalions the powerful, influential,wealthy etc groups of a community, among na-tions, etc, who are able to dominate less power-ful groups, minorities etc V: side with; bring up;face o Working-class people mistrust the leaders of the big battalions, but usually with a humorous scepticism towards them and their pretensions. ULo Between the big battalions of organised labour and organised capital, there are56 million people, all of whom are consumers,who feel they are being squeezed and who have no real voice at all. OBS o In the competition for customers, time and money is on the side of the bigbatallions of chain stores and supermarkets.o often preceded by on the side of, as in last example. Big Brother(a personification of) the forces of a bureaucratic and totalitarian state (which direct, control, interfere with, every aspect of one's, or society's, life) □ (source) The poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall.' BigBrother is watching you', the caption beneath it ran.1984(G ORWELL 1903-50)□ The way things are,Big Brother won't be keeping an eye on us via television. He' ll more likely be organizing us to pedal the bicycles to power the machines to get the television going. NSo(NONCE)‘Terribly strict country still,' Angela Snow said. Big mother is watching you and all that.'BFA a big bug(slang, derogatory) sb of importance□I daresay the Mayor and a few other big bugs from London will be present at the opening cere-mony. □ There's the station-master in his frock-coat and top-hat. There must be a big bug get-ting off the train here.□ stress patterna big bug.a big cheese(slang, derogatory) sb who is, or believes he is, a very important person, the most important person in a group, company etc oHere comes the big cheese himself. Have we got the red carpet out? □ He thinks he's the big cheese, but in fact he's only one of the maggots!□ no t usu pl. big deal(1) (slang) ironic exclamation suggest-ing that sth is not very impressive or interesting(though it may be represented as such)□“When you' ve washed the dishes, made the beds, and prepared the vegetables for dinner. I' ll give you50p.’ ‘Oh thank you! Big deall’ a There was Iwith a whole free weekend in front of me, no wife,no children —— in a boarding house that described itself as a hotel but had no bar. Big deal. a big fish in a little pond [Comp (NP)] sb whose importance and influence are great only in a restricted situation or small community V:△be; prefer to be, would rather be a ' She'd be more usefully employed in a proper hospital.'' She couldn't be“Matron” in one of them, and she's the kind that would rather be a big fish in a little pond than a little fish in a big one.’ o(Bob) had lived in London and hadn't enjoyed it.‘Got damned tired of it,’ he said.’ Don't like being a little fish in ab ig pond. ’ RATT口 variants a big fish in a big pond, a little/ small fish in a big pond.a big hit[Comp/O (NP)] (informal) a popular success S: player, performer; fashion, play,song, film. V: be; make, score oJIMMY: Thought of the title for a new song today. Thought you'd like it. If I can slip in a religious angle, it should be a big hit. LBAa Come along and do some of those cònjuring tricks at our next social. You'd be a big hit. □ It seems a very silly play to read now, yet it was quite a big hit in the West End forty years ago. □ also pl. a big name (informal) sb who has gained the approval of the public (eg as a commentator,entertainer, sportsman, writer etc) and is well known for his work o ' Startime' and ' Showtime'(the seaside theatre entertainments) do not go in for big names. Their purpose, rather, is to ap-peal to people's fondness, on holiday as everywhere, for regularity and routine. STo The pre-war and post-war eras in jazz development were dominated by a small group of big-name bands such as Armstrong's, Ellington's, andBasie's, o attrib use a big-næmə band, artist,singer. a big shot(informal) sb who is, or claims to be,a person of importance and influence (eg in some organization etc, and often in criminal circles)o The one really big shot among us was the one big shot no longer. CONo Nicky, pale-.faced and tense, was relishing his power. He was the tough, the big shot, who gave orders with the crack of a whip. PEo also pl; stress pattern a big shot. the big stick [0/o (NP)] superior force or power (eg of authority, military strength,economic sanctions, etc) V: carry; use, wield 64 <65> big talk/ words—a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (against sb/ sth); favour(the use of), threaten sb with o (source) Speak softly and carry a big stick. SPEFCH 1901 (T ROOSEVELT 1858-1919)□ TheUnited States Government's recent action in cul-ting off aid to Ceylon smelt of the use of the big stick against a smaller country. To Thus, during the Nixon era, interventions such as the terror bombing of Cambodia had to be conducted by stealth and deception. Now Gerald Ford waves his big stick openly. NS big talk/ words boastful claims, promises.intentions etc which sb makes in order to im-press others but which are not likely to be true,to be carried out, etc o You may have yer ' ead(= your head) full of fine ideas, you may be able to live on air and big talk--but the rest of us ' ave(= have) to pay our way—— and pay it with money! HDoI' ve heard a lot of big talk from her about other members of her family that never came to anything. □ They are cheerfully cagey towards both the leaders of the big battalions and their big words: ‘Ah'm (= I’ m) not buying that,’ they say. ULo big words rare. the big time (informal) the top level of some sphere of activity, esp one that gives one a lot of publicity, eg the world of entertainment, or the wealth, success and fame that go with it V:be in; make; get(sb) into o This isn't an occasion for bread and cheese. We' re in the big times now.We' re all going for lunch. CON□ He was a fairly versatile actor who always gave a sound perfor-mance, but he knew he would never make the big time.□Before trying for the Big Time,I started out doing the rounds of the sticks(= provincial)shows. Lo When it comes to keeping all the ex-citement of big time sport in close-up you need something more than pictures. You need sports-writers you can rely on. To o attrib use a big-time writer, politician; stress pattern the ' big time. ◇(the) small time. the Big Top the large tent for the(main) per-formance of a circus o The monkeys are in a side-show. They don't bring them into the BigTop. o My mind had become a trapeze, swinging emptily under the Big Top, for any passing acrobat to seize and twirl on for a few seconds.CON o usu capital letters but occas lower case.bigger and better [Comp(adj + adj non-rev)](sth) larger and more useful etc(than sth else that it replaces etc); (sb) more important,cleverer (than sb else)□ St Valentine's Day star-ted the card game (ie the sending of lovers'greeting cards)—— back in the 15th century. NowValentines are bigger and better each year. WI□ When I was a child we never had very much of anything. So I always tried to do everything bigger and better than everyone else. SC o(letter) We have carried major reports which have given reporters opportunities to write at a length and with a depth and individuality which they ure often denied on newspapers with more restricted space. Here, at last, bigger does mean better. L o in second example expression is used, rather unusually, as an A. the bigger etc the better the degree by, or to which, sth is big etc, by that much it is better(more desirable, tolerable etc) adj: big, tall,great, small, more, less, young, old, rich, hard,soft, sweet, powerful, long, short o T think we' re in for a lot of rain. '‘The more the better,' said the farmer looking at his parched crops. D . After all, inflation is itself another product of growth economics. ’ The bigger the better' may well have been a 19th-century truth,but now it has become a 20th-century myth, in my opinion.' Lo ' How old do you have to be(to train as a fashion model)?' ' The general rule is the younger the better.’ Ho Stores say cheques are more trouble, but it is largely their own cumber-some procedures that are to blame. I'd have thought the less cash handled the better from a security point of view. OBS□ Tony Benn says:' Iexpect questions and answer them as they come up. The harder the interviewers press, the more I like it. 'TVT bill and coo [v+ v non-rev] show mutual affec-tion by words and gesture, often in an overdone and obvious manner (from the behaviour of amorous doves which rub their beaks together and coo gently)□Th e following Saturday nightClough got together with Parkinson (on a TVprogramme): the two professional Yorkshire lads billed and cooed at each other and Clough was as cute as a canary. SI o I don't mean romance in the way you mean, Dinah. Not romance in the silly Peg's Paper, moon-June,billing and cooing sense—— or nonsense. Lo We don't wish to indulge in the sort of domestic bill-ing and cooing that fellows like Roberts go in for, with their wives playing University politics.ASA D-ing form of v is commonly used. bind/ tiesb hand and foot [V + 0 + A pass]tie sb's hands together and feet together;(fig)take away or restrict sb's freedom of action oThey bound him hand andfoot and placedagag in his mouth. o A trader who becomes an authorized distributor of a product may soon find that he has agreed to conditions of sale that bind him hand and foot to the manufacturer. oHaving your mother to stay here will be worse than having an infant in the house. I' ll be tied hand and foot! I' ll go mad! ◇ △ tie sb's hands.the birds and the bees [n + n non-rev] (a euphemistic reference to) matters relating to procreation or sex in general V: tell sb about;know about; find out about o Whatever its disadvantages, sex education in the schools is an advance upon the process by which children used to find out about the birds and the boes from their embarrassed parents.□Joan's getting to be a big girl now. I suppose it's time you had a talk with her about the birds and the begs. the bird has flown sb who is being sought, or pursued, has gone away, has escaped o ' All right,' said the old man, ' but forty per cent is all you get, and if there's going to be any arguing you' ll find the bird has flown when you get here.’ US□ Police hurried to the address supplied by their informant, only to learn that their bird had flown less than an hour before.□ Harry was so drunk after last night's Rally, we had to put him to bed in our spare room. But when we got up this morning, the bird had flown. O perfect tenses only; used esp of sb who may be a criminal. a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush(saying) it is better to be content with sth one has, or can be sure of, than risk having nothing at all by trying to get sth more or sth else o He had one quite reasonable offer for the 65 <66> a bird of passage——a bit thick manuscript, but turned it down. Then he could find no takers at all. He learnt with a vengeance that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.□' Are you going to take the job at the HighSchool or wait and see if the University will offer you one?” I' ll settle for the bird in the hand, Ithink.' a bird of passage a migratory bird which spends different seasons in different parts of the world; (fig) sb who travels from place to place without staying long in any one of them,without settling down, etco The island had been used by many generations of birds of passage,as they made the long journey south each year in search of warmer weather.□ Three months' stay had proved me not to be a bird of passage, like every past pallid-skinned visitor. NDNo' Who is this Professor Wylie you' ve been talking about?'' An archiveologist, an odd bird of passage who turns up here every three or four years or so.’ birds of a feather (flock together) (say-ing) people of the same sort (will be found together; like attracts/ calls to like (qv)o 'I can't understand why Liz wants to spend most of her evenings in that disco.’‘Well, birds of a feather flock together, as you know--I' ve always said your picture of her as basically a home-loving cocoa-drinking wife and mother is wildly wrong.'□' Have you noticed that Bill's starting to behave like Reg did, just before he cracked up?'' Yes Ihave. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if they didn't turn out to be birds of a feather.'o often derogatory. a bird's-eye view (of sth) [O (NP)] a view seen from a higher position looking down as though one were a bird; (fig) an overall sum-mary;a quick examination V: get, have, obtain;give; show. o: landscape, town; matter, situa-tion, subject of I had not realized how very inden-ted the coastline was until I had a bird's-eye view of it in my first trip in a glider. □ In my opening lecture I propose to give you a bird's-eye view of 18th Century French literature. In subsequent lectures we will explore various as-pects of it in greater depth.□(NONCE)(Fellini's film, ‘His Woman’) is by no means a Fellini-eye view of felony—— not, to coin a phrase, on your dolce vita. To in last example not on your dolce vita (a travesty of Italian usage) =‘not on your sweet life'(qv). one's birthday suit [0 (NP)] (facetious)(having) no clothing on at all; naked (ie as in one's unclothed state at birth) V: be in, wear;find sb in o Here's a snapshot of me at six months old, wearing my birthday suit. o l thought I had been given a private bathroom, soI was more than disconcerted when somebody walked in and found me in my birthday suit. Dalso pl. bit by bit' [A (n + n)] each piece (of a whole thing) at a time; one bit, or piece, after another o The only way to tackle one of these plastic model kits is to assemble it bit by bit, following the instructions carefully.□Bit by bit a complete picture was built up of the murderer's movements up to the moment of the crime. o usu in front or end position. bit by bit²[A(n + n)]a little at a time; slowly,or gradually; little by little o If I had nothing else to do I could get this garden in order in a couple 66 of weeks. As it is, doing it bit by bit, it may take me the whole summer.□ Your boy is not stupid,Mrs Brown. He does not learn easily but he gets there bit by bit. □ Bit by bit. feeling cautiously for holds and trying not to panic, he hauled him-self out of the crevasse. o usu in front or end position. a bit much [Comp (AdjP)] (informal) unwel-come, excessive, unreasonable etc(in the opinion of the speaker); a bit thick (qv) S: it,that; everything; situation, sb's behaviour. V:△be, become, seem; be getting □ Myrtle's voice came to me with reproach. ' You don't sound very enthusiastic!' There is only one phrase for ex-pressing what I felt. It was a bit much. SPL□Isaid, ‘Ssh!’ and added, ‘It’ s Jake Donaghue.’' This is a bit much!' said Hugo. 'I was asleep.'UTNo'I'm not one to interfere with people enjoy-ing themselves, ' she said to her neighbours, ' but really the noise is getting a bit much.’ ab it of all right [Comp(NP)](dated slang) sth that is very pleasant to do, watch, eat, have done, etc; very attractive o' Well, that was a bit of all right, he said, crumpling up his napkin and throwing it on the empty plate. □ First prize: a fortnight's holiday for two in one of Paris's luxury hotels—— now that should be a bit of all right, shouldn't it, Kate? o ' What's she like?'' The daughter? Bit of all right, from her pic-tures. 'AiTCo when expression describes person,as in last example, it is used to refer to women only. a bit of a coward etc[Comp (NP)] rather cowardly etc V:△be, seem, appear. o: coward;ass, fool, idiot, nuisance; weakling;(taboo) bas-tard, sod((taboo) = nasty, unreasonable per-son)□ 'I' ma bit of a coward about pain, ' he told the dentist. ' Could I have an injection before you start?” o (of the Wombles, a children's TVprogramme) Then there is young Bungo who is a bit of a know-all and his friend Orinoco——who is lazy and greedy but perhaps the most lovable Womble. RT o used to refer to some personal quality or type of behaviour that is not very positive or good, but not to any marked degree. a bit of a nuisance etc[Comp (NP)] sth that irritates one mildly $: it; working on Saturdays,missing the train; to have to work; delay, inef-ficiency. V:△be, become; get. o: nuisance,△problem; mess, shambles; (siang) bind (ie sth that hampers or bothers one) o It' ll be a bit of a nuisance carrying our bags around with us, but if we put them in the Left Luggage Office we may have to queue up for ages to get them out again.□ ' How did the school concert go?' ' A bit of a shambles, actually; but we got through the programme without any major disaster.’ o I must admit. I wouldn't want to be ugly. The physical thing can be a bit of a bind(ie being beautiful has its problems) but it is good because it gets you work (in the theatre). TVT a bit thick [Comp (AdjP)] (informal) unfair;unreasonable; more than one can, or wishes to.tolerate etc;a bit much (qv)$: it, that, this; his behaviour. V:△be, seem; come (it); find sth oI moaned about it being a bit thick sending me out so early to run five miles on an empty stomach. LLDR□ This is a bit thick. I can't have you trailing me all over London. AITCoI cannot <67> bite the dust—— black and blue say I was pleased. I felt like saying: ' That's a big thick, or ' Come off it, Tom. 'SPLo Fifty pounds a week for this house is coming it a bit thick, isn't it?□(f(ubit) thick =(people who are) stupid,not very clever, as in He never seems to under-stand what you' re saying— sometimes I wonder if he's not really a bit thick. bite the dust [V + 0] (informal) fall from onc's horse to the ground; (fig) die; cease to function; suffer a defeat; come to an end oSome of these Old Westerns seem to be com-posed of nothing more than a succession of red-skin( = American Indians) biting the dust as they circle round the covered wagons and their heroic defenders.□(film review) From now on he relishes revenge, inviting muggers to come at him. Again audiences in America and elsewhere have been breaking into applause as another mugger bites the dust. NS□CLIFF: A Fellow ofAll Souls seems to have bitten the dust, so theEditor declares that this correspondence is now closed. LBA□Since 1955, no less than nine nation-al newspapers have biten the dust. NS a bite to eat [O (NP)] some food, often just in small quantity and eaten hurriedly V: get, have;grab, snatch; give sb, spare sb. prep: without□There was hardly time to do more than snatch a quick bite to eat before going out to the airport.□ There was no buffet car on the train, and Ihadn't had a bite to eat all day. a It would therefore be very disturbing to do work for others without recompense. If the idea that one did so were to spread, one would soon find oneself without abite to eat, or without a roof over one's head. NDN□ often neg, implying that one can-not afford food, one had (had) no time to eat,etc. bite the hand that feeds one(saying) insult,injure, be unfriendly towards, sb to whom one ought to feel grateful and loyal o And we are astonished that Mr Mackay, who in the past enjoyed our hospitality, should turn around and bite the hands that fed him by lending himself to the exploitation of a chimera. RMo(NONCE).But patronage and encouragement of writers and artists do not necessarily make those who exert them liked or respected. Their hands are liable to become deeply indented with scars caused by bites from those they have fed. AHo He was a neutral figure in all the quarrels between the students and the authorities. This ambivalent ât-titude to the hand that was feeding him was extended to his colleagues(on the college staff).Lo(NONCE) Ministers and officials in Saigon are more restrained about biting the hand that passed the ammunition. They have notentirely given up hope of persuading Congress to restore at least 300 million dollars to this year's military aid budget of 700 million. L bite one's lip[V + O] draw in or grip one's lip or lips between the teeth, to restrain oneself from saying sth, uttering a cry of pain, sobbing etc o ' You watch your language, or I' ll have you in the office.' Joe bit his lip and said no more for a while . AITCo At the thought of Fergus hurrying.home to an invalid wife, Brigit bit her lip and iurned her head on the pillow. DC o Rohert's cheek glowed red in the firelight. He bit his lip and there was a distinct pause before he turned to look at his father. EM o also pl bite their lips. the bitar bit sb who seeks to cheat, or take advantage of, another finds that his intended victim has got the better of him o The secretary of an Anglo-Irish literary society thought the most practical way for me to get the informationI wanted would be for me to lecture to her Society and could she book me for the evening of Salur-day, the 30th? ' The biter seems to have been biften, ' Miss Arnold said in pleasure. PP□ He thinks he is fooling the buyer's lawyers in his negotiations for the sale of his land; but I told him he had better take care it didn't turn out to be a case of the brite r bit. □ bit an old form of pp bitten: often preceded by it is/ was a case of. bits and bobs [n + n non-rev] (informal) a collection of miscellaneous objects, of various unrelated pieces of information, etc; next entry(qv); odds and bobs/ sods (qv); odds and ends(qv)□ And he felt in his pockets and pulled out all that was inside, throwing the handful of bits and bobs on the table, fag((slang) = cigarette)packet and peppermints, a pawn ticket, an old comb, and a few coppers. LLDRo In the body of its text a magazine in the newer style is superfici-ally like the old; it is made up of bits-and-bobs of information; short articles on figures in his-tory, Teddy Boys, curiosities from many lands.UL o usu not hyphenated. bits and pieces [n + n non-rev]a collection of small articles, objects, abstract ideas, etc(that may be all different or separate or form part of a larger whole); previous entry(qv); odds and bobs/ sods (qv); odds and ends(qv) o ASTON: Istarted to collect wood, for my shed and all those bits and pieces that I thought might come in handy for the flat. TC o ' The rations---' She laughed.' Don't worry about that, honey. It won't be a banquet anyway, just bits and pieces.RATT□ But picking bits and pieces out of this programme does not help to give an idea of its richness, too rich perhaps to digest at one sitting.L o In everyday life, we often, as it were, fit together recalled bits and pieces (ie from the memory) in a patchy mosaic and fill out the gaps by inference. MFM□RONNIE: We carry bits and pieces of each other, like shrapnel from a war.Ada's strong like you, Sarah, strong! I'm charm-ing, like my father, and weak. ITAJ a bitter pill (for sb) to swallow [Comp(NP)] sth that is difficult to accept and distress-ing to bear $: defeat, rebuff, disappointment;closure, shut-down. V:△be; find sth; make sth□ This is a bitter pill that we (Scottish railway-men) are swillowing. T o Mr Edmunds had served his constituency well for upwards of twenty years, and his unexpected defeat at the last election must have been a bitter pill for him to swallow. o If Dennis had fallen in love with a beautiful talented girl I could at least have understood it. It was his deserting me for a com-mon empty-headed little thing like Evelyn that has made it such a bitter pill to swallow. black and blue [Comp (adj + adj non-rev)]marked with a large number of bruises on the body,(either because of an accident or a beat-ing)V:△be; beat sb□ I don't think I' ll go to the reception. My arm is still black and blue and l haven't got a suitable long-sleeved dress. o ' OhGod,' I said miserably, ' what did you do it for?Damn you to hell, I'd like to beat you black and 67 <68> (a) black comedy—(in) black and white blue. ’ RATTo(an Austrian girl with an imper-fect command of English is speaking) And Ihave one or two bruises, what you say in English— blue and black. PW (a) black comedy(theatre)(the style of) play in which comic elements are combined with more tragic, macabre, or absurdly evil ones,with the latter on the whole predominating; a situation, an event, with a mixture of farcical and tragic elements□ I'm told it was the French who first introduced black comedies into the theatre, what with Genet and the rest. They' ve got a lot to answer for. a It was all a black comedy on an international scale, with the na-wardly expressing grave concern for the welfare of the Sioux while in-wardly praying that they would vanish from the face of the earth. OBS a black day (for sb) [Comp (NP)] a day, or some less specific point of time, when sth sad or disastrous happens (to sb) V: △ be, become,turn into. o: him, her, me, them; workers; na-tion, stock exchange a If your superiors take the same hopeless attitude as you do, Eliot, it will be ablack day for this country. NMoTheblackest day I can remember was in the great storm of '52when three of our boats went down together. a'Iwish you would leave me alone,' Fred protested querulously. ' I t would be a biack day for you ifI did,' the nurse answered without resentment. black(en) sb's eye (for him) [V + O pass](threaten to) hit sb in the eye and so make it black and bruised; punish or assault sb o This job on the drill was a dead loss, and he was going to black Frank's eye for him some day, but he would stick to fi until he found something better.AITC□ The young fool got both eyes blackened when he picked a quarrel with a man in the pub.◇△ have etc a black eye. the black hole of Calcutta a dark, un-pleasantly hot and stuffy building or place, with few amenities etc(from an incident in India in1756 when a large number of English prisoners were crowded into a small room overnight where many of them died)opETER: Upset? I'm not upset. I just want to get the hell out of this black hole of Calcutte. TOHo‘What is it like down there?' shouted Pete from the upper cave.' Like the black hole of Caicutte, but a lot wetter, came the reply. o(NONCE) PAMELA: Stay with us. Clive's telling me a story. CLIVE: Yes, it's going to be brilliant! All Gothic darkness and calamities. It's called the ' Black Hele of EestSuffolk’. FFE black etc is beautiful (catchphrase) one's blackness etc is something to be proud of; black etc is a good thing to be adj: black, big, small,fat o (The slogan) ' Black is Beautiful' was comprehensive as an ego-booster, a defiant coun.terblast to the sort of social pressures that filled' Ehony' with ads for hair-straighteners and skin-lighteners: it remains as demonstrably silly and divisive a generalization as, say, ‘white is beautiful.'NSo South Africa's Supreme Court has lifted a ban on T-shirts bearing the words` black is besutiful'. The Court ruled yesterday that there was no substance in the (PublicationControl) Board's charge that the words black is beautiful' could be prejudicial to good order and the safety of the state. SCo There's no doubl that for the American owner-driver big is beautiful. ST o Fran Fullenwider (the name is genuine) is the one and only 60-hipped 172-stone model girl in London. Positively the fattest, and you can say as much as you like, because Fran says fat is beautiful. RT a black look [O (NP)]a look of strong dislike,disapproval, resentment etc V: give sb, cast... at sb; get, attract, draw o She cast a black look at the box in the corner of the room and observed that she would not spend the night in a house with a yarara (a poisonous snake). even if she were paid to do so. DF□ I saw his wife giving him black look when he brought out the second bottle of whisky.□ also plasing et several black looks. a black mood [0/o (NP)] a fit of depression,bad temper, etc, usu temporary, though per-haps recurring V: have; be in, suffer from a This isn't the time to ask the boss a favour. He's been in a black mood ever since the Board Meeting this morning.□ Yes, the psychoanalyst has helped her a lot, but she still has those block moods from time to time when she doesn't care about anybody or anything. o often used with be in/have one of one's, have/ suffer from when ex-pression used in pl. the black sheep (of the family) that mem-ber(of a family or other group) who is thought to be a disgrace to other members of it (because he is a criminal,a wastrel or because he does not measure up to their imposed standards) o We know where she has come from (a selfish, cun-ning and often ruthless New Orleans family, with its black sheep and its white wolves) and what she has become: a New York lady intellectual,one of those tough babes. ST o Now every profession has of course got its black sheep. If the evidence is available against them, you can be absolutely certain that the professional tribunals will be down on them like a ton of bricks. L a black spot a place or area where unpleasant and unwanted things occur regularly and without much chance of improvement eg epidemics, crime, traffic accidents, unemploy-ment etc o Northern Ireland's competitive position has been weakened by the Local Unem-ployment Bill, which is the Government's chosen instrument for steering industries to black spots in Scotland and England. SCo Overcrowding in some of our mental hospitals together with un-suitable grouping of patients still make con-ditions in the wards the one black spot in an otherwise good record. o Drive with Care! Ac-cident Bleck Spot!□ stress pattern a' black spot.(in) black and white' [n + n non-rev] not coloured; having no other colours than black and white o Professor Calvin Hall, who has collected records of many thousands of dreams,tells us that about two-thirds of all dreams are in black and white. HAH o The older ones(magazines) still use black-and-white draw-ings in an unsophisticated style. ULo Most of the councillors were there, and practically all theTown Hall staff, unfamiliar I n the black-and-white of evening suits. RATT o attrib use a black-and-white drawing, photograph, film. (in) black and white²[n+ n non-rev](consi-der moral etc matters only in terms of) absolute wrong or right, without recognizing any more subtle variations V: see, view, think. O: every- 68 <69> blacken sb's character/ name--(a) blind fury/ rage thing, things, events; people □ MONTY: But she has one fault. For her the world is black and white. If you' re not white, you must be black.She can't see shades in a character. She can't see people in the round. CSWB□ As children we were taught always to tell the truth and never to tell lies. But now we do not see these things in quite such black and white terms. blacken sb's character/ name [V + O pass]make sb's character (through idle gossip etc)seem worse than it really is a Some of the press reports amount to an attempt to blacken the character of someone who is still a highly res-pected public figure. a Then their names were blackened in sensational media coverage.◇Δnext entry. blacken the picture [V + O pass] describe sb or sth as being worse than he or it is oSometimes Wormold felt a tinge of jealousy towards Paul and he tried to blacken the pic-ture.' He gets through a bottle of whisky a day,'he said. OMIHo Trust your father to blacken the picture! You mustn't worry about me, Penny.The doctor says I shall be all right again in a month or two. △previous entry. blame the other fellow [V + O pass] evade responsibility for a fault, neglect of duty, etc, by shifting it on to another person□ Unfortunately it is a common human failing to blame the other fellow when something is not done that everyone agrees ought to be done. SC□Face up to the fact that you simply aren't capable of handling the business, will you, and stop blaming the other fellow. O the other fellow(always sing) does not refer to a particular, identifiable, person. blaze a trail[V+ 0 pass] be a pioneer, lead the way, in a field of research, or study, or in doing sth new and untried (from the original (US)practice of indicating a way through a forest etc by cutting marks on trees) □ Antiseptic treat-ments have been greatly refined and improved since Lister's day, but it was he who blazed the trail with his use of the carbolic acid spray during surgical operations. □ By its enlightened prison system Sweden had blazed a trail which a num-her of other European countries gradually began to follow. a He's a sound enough physicist andI'm glad to have him in my laboratories but Ican't see any trails being blazed by him. He's more likely to follow than to lead.□ ncompound a trail-blazer; adj compound trail-blazing. bleed sb white [V + 0 + Comp pass] take away(almost) everything sb possesses, often by drastic, unfair, or deceptive means (esp of money, but also of physical or emotional resources) O: him, her, you, them; taxpayer.customer; nation, company o He thought, 'I bet he's regretting the termination of his income.They' ve all bled poor Lisa white.'--The poel was, in fact, in a state of excitement. Lisa's death had filled him with thrilling awe. MM□ He bled them white with his demands for more and still more money. □For the whole movement to have come to the aid of a union which was being bled white by the practice of the Lump (contract labour outside a Union-controlled wage-paying system, esp in the building trade) would have hindered growth in a key sector of the economy.NS bless sb's heart an expression of admiration, affection, close attachment,etc□'I can't get the children off to sleep at all tonight,' their mother complained .' Bless their little hearts,' said their grandfather, they' ll be too excited about going to the seaside tomorrow.'□(early 20th C actor-manager) Martin Harvey might depend year after year on his bread-and-butter jobs, his ' OnlyWay' and his ' Treshams', but the little man—bless his heart! - - - did at least try. OBS o' Terence,' he said, ' is batriving at the bar. It suits him to the ground Bless his little Kensington heart.'HAA o bless sometimes used to make an ironic comment, as in last example. (God) bless my soul(1)(formal) an interjec-tion expressing astonishment or surprise(about sth that has happened, been said, etc) o ' God bless my soul! Fancy finding you here, of all places!o'I don't understand what keeps you tick-ing, Charles,' said the Admiral. ' God bless my soul, even as a mad young lieutenant I wouldn't have done it.'ARGoI had told the boys they could give their friends some beer, but bless my soul if they hadn't drunk every drop in the house. (God) bless you! an interjection made when sb else sneezes o ' I think I'm getting a cold,' he complained. And as if to prove his point he start-ed sneezing violently. ' God bless youl' she said automatically. (God) bless you may God reward you for your kindness; thank you o' Well, I can spare fifty pence.’‘God bless you, sir.’ the old man said, ' at least I can get something to eat with that.'□ Bless you, my dear; it's most kind of you to offer to help. a blessing in disguise [Comp (NP)] sth that seems unwelcome or unfortunate when it hap-pens but which eventually proves to be for-tunate, advantageous V:△be, seem o We have heard of blessings in disguise, but surely a novel one is the revelation that the injury sus-tained by D. J. Whyle when playing in last Satur-day's ' extra rugby trial' at Murrayfield may have started his complete recovery. SC□Mary nearly broke her heart when Chris lost interest in her.but now she sees the way he treats the girl he went with, she realises it was a blessing in disguis.◇△a mixed blessing. ablind alley [Comp/o(NP)]a street, usu short,closed at one end; a cul-de-sac;(fig) sth which one embarks on that may look promising but which (eventually) has no satisfactory result or outcome;a dead end (qv) V: be, turn out to be;find oneself in, turn into o He took the next turning to the left as he had been told, but found himself in a blind alley. □ This expensive bucolic setting had offered nothing more than an escape down e blind alley and it had taken a crack-brained mechanic, a nymphomaniac, and a deranged careerist to show him that. HD□ But remember, when you' re fully qualified you' ll earn three times as much as him and have a fair amount of job satisfaction while he ' ll be going from one blind-alley job to another. O also pl;attrib use a blind-alley job. blind drunk [Comp (AdjP)] (informal) ex-tremely drunk; blind to the world (qv)V:△be,get, become □ His one idea of a good night out is to get blind drunk. (a) blind fury/ rage a state of fury or rage so violent that it prevents consideration of other 69 <70> the blind leading the blind—— one's blood runs cold matters, obscures one's judgement, makes one lose one's self-control, etc o Then he swore at her outside (the house). He swore so hard that all the village heard, and heard with relish, for such performances en liven the evening air but seldom.It was more than blind rage which led the hus-band to swear outside as well as in. NDNo The kitten spat and scratched in blind fury as Iworked to free her from the rabbit trap. the blind leading the blind (saying) (the situation in which) people without adequate knowledge or experience attempt to direct or guide others like themselves, with the consequence that neither group can help the other or be helped a (source) Let them alone:they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. MATTHEW XV14□ The staff of the Archaeo-logical Department are insufficiently trained by precept and experience—— indeed as regards the students and junior members it is a case of the blind leading the blind, and the quality of the department is likely to deteriorate progressively.SD o usu functions as comment or assessment(often preceded by be a case of). a blind spot' {Comp/O (NP)] a small area of the retina of the eye which is insensitive to light and which may prevent sb from seeing sth for a short period of time; an area of vision which is obscured because sth blocks it V:(there) be;have, cross o Someone threw a paper pellet at me, but, just as I put up my hand to catch it, it must have crossed my blind spot and it hit me right on the nose. □ The car's pretty old and the back window's rather small and there are two blind spots because of that. I find I have to use the wing-mirrors rather a lot. a blind spot² [Comp/O (NP)] a failure in oneself or sb to understand or accept sth, to exercise one's judgement normally (because of a lack of knowledge,a particular prejudice, etc)V: be; have, discover□ And it is always interest-ing to notice that publishers, like other people.have their blind spots and little manias. AHo If everybody admires Chagall's paintings so much then I suppose it must be a blind spot of my own that makes me find them so unattractive. □ The truth about Louise is that she uses people and when she's finished with them throws them away like old clothes. But you' ll never convince Peter of that---he has a blind spot as far as she's concerned. blind to sth [Comp (AdjP)] unaware of, fail to see or consider(sth that is clear, evident etc) V:△ be, appear, seem; become. o: (one's/ sb's)faults; what is going on; everything around one.o The little dark man hailed a taxi that was conveniently cruising past and which had been singularly blind to the hails of an agitated woman with parcels a moment or two previously.TCB□ The General's refusal to convene Parlia-ment is a clear warning that his contempt for' politicians' who are blind to the higher interests of France is as strong now as it was in 1945. OBS□ The Cardinal enables us to see the RomanCatholic Church through the eyes of one who knows her well and loves her dearly but is not blind to her faults. SC ◇ deaf to sth. blind to the world [Comp (AdjP)](informal)extremely drunk; blind drunk (qv) v: △ be, 70 become, appear □ He may be a nice enough fellow when he's sober. But on the two occasionsI have met him he was blind to the world and a perfect nuisance. □' Now, hold on a minute, MrsBrown,' he said into the telephone, ' we' re not responsible for your husband's condition. He was blind to the world when he got here.'n of go on ablinder = `(intend to) get very drunk', as in I' ll bet the team will go on a blinder tonight, with it being the end of the season and them winning the cup and all. blink the fact (that) [V + O pass] ignore the truth of sth; decide or pretend not to notice sth□ There is no blinking the fact that junior secondary education has so far failed to develop as a going concern. SC□ The awkwardness about finishing a novel lies in blinking the fact that though the story is ended the characters are still alive. SPLo Our business is on the decline and we can't blink the fact any longer. There just isn't the demand for quality goods there used to be. oIn the docks dispute, the fact can't be blinked that here are two lots of workers trying to do each other out of a job, o usu neg. a blood bath [Comp/o (NP)] a scene, an occasion, of much slaughter and bloodshed V:be, end up as; develop into o It was generally considered that the invasion would be a blood bath, with fearful casualties;I assured them that the invasion would not be so. MFMo(of a prison riot) Then come the army of rifle-bearing troopers, a blood-bath during which some 40men were killed. NS □ occas pl. one's blood boils one feels extremely angry,resentful (about sth that has happened, that sb has done)□ At the very thought of Robert War-beck and all that he stood for. the Chancellor's blood boiled in his veins, so that it was an un-reasonably flushed and angry man that alighted from his car at the end of the journey. EM o' It never cools me down when I drive through Glen-coe,' the Macdonald Chieftain declared. ' You know my blood always boils when I drive through Glencoe.’ RM□ Out of range, he looked back at her, bewildered, angry, his blood boll-ing with resentment. LLDR blood is thicker than water(saying) family or kinship ties are very strong and, despite disagreements or differences,(should) unite in-dividual members of a family o' Are you sure he's your boy? Why didn't you recognize him before?’ 'I wasn't too proud of him—— wanted to forget him— but blood is thicker than water.’DBM o STONE: And why didn't Lottie come?BESSIE: What can you expect? Lottie's husband is a school-teacher and, apart from being Commu-nists, I think they are also vegetarian. STONE:That explains it; blood is thicker thour water.HSG one's blood runs cold be filled with horror and/ or fear (because of an extraordinary, per-haps supernatural, event, a terrible crime, an accident that has happened, etc) o The wayAlice talks of that old man makes my blood run cold. And Mr Barker, too, when he could still speak. Brutal he was. ASA□ Was he ashamed of his mother? Didn't he think she was respectable enough to be seen by his young woman? Didn't he like to bring her back to his own home—— you should have heard the way she said ' home': it <71> blood and thunder—— the blow falls made my blood run cold LLDR □ often preceded by (be enough to) make. blood and thunder[n+n non-rev](facetious)violent and melodramatic action, incidents etc in a story, play, film etc□ ! suppose, for most people, German cinema really means the cinema of the Twenties and the early Thirties-wild chuaroscuro, full of devils, full of mystery. full of blood and thunder. Lo Yet to read this, his eighteenth novel, alongside a handful of others, is to wonder at Mr MucLean's emmence among the scribes of blood and thunder. SCo Just forget thut blood and thunderstuff, will you?I'm sorry to be so lacking in melodrama but honestly your ancestors were probably painted larger than life.DC □ attrib use that blood and thunder stuff. a bloodless revolution a change of govern-ment that takes place without civil war or other bloodshed; any social change in values, cus-toms, morals etc which comes about gradually and without serious disturbance o It is often said that there are no working-classes in England now, that a ' bloodless revolution' has taken place which has so reduced social differences that already most of us inhabit u n ulmost flat plain.the plain of the lower middle - to middle-classes.ULOA bloodless revolution in the distribution of wealth is taking place in Britain . □ also pl. a bloodless victory [Comp/O(NP)]a victory gained without warfare, or without injury or other harm to either winner or loser in a fight,dıspute etc V: be; win, secure, achieve o (two men are playing draughts using miniature whisky bottles as the‘pieces’) It was obvious that he was torn in two between the desire to win and the desire to keep his head. Now that his opponent had a king, he would no longer play for abloodless victory, for the king had freedom of movement. OMIH□ The mayor got his own way in the end and the rents of the Council houses were raised. It wouldn't be anentirely bloodless vic-tory though, he had stirred up a good deal of bad feeling. o also pl. a bloody fool (informal) sb who is stupid, or ignorant, has acted foolishly etc(in the opinion of the speaker) o What can you expect of uCouncil consisting half of scoundrels and hulf of bloody fools—— all just asking to be led by the nose?□SAM:I tell you, Mr Segal, that's what I' ve missed. MRSEGAL What? Fruit? SAM Oh, don't be such a bloody fool, of course not. I mean going places, seeing people. HSG□I was just get-ting the policeman nicely talked round into let-ting us drive off when that BF Higgins started to wave a five-pound note at him.□ often used as a direct term of abuse, as in You bloody fool!What made you switch the electricity on while Iwas still fixing the bulb?; abbreviated form BF.a bloody shovel (facetious) the calling of sth by its proper (or perhaps coarse) name (by analogy with' call a spade a spade' (qv)) o The writer said that he didn't believe in calling a spade a spade when it was really a bloody shovel(ie since most labourers probably refer to it in this way). aGEORGE: Farther left you go, the worse the munners seem to get. RUTH: Well! The house is still fairly ringing with the bloody shovels of your opinions. EGDO in last example the sugges-tion is that Ruth is tired of George's bluntly expressed opinions. blot one's copybook [V+ O pass] do sth that spoils one's (previous) good record or reputa-tion o One of the security branches had some evidence that there might have been a leakage(of information). ' We don't want to blot our copybook. ' said Captain Smith. ' Nothing very serious has got out, has it?"NM□ Though it has blotted its copybook al ittle of late, the weather so far this year has been quite extraordinarily docile SCoI' ve always been interested in racing.When I was eight I blotted my copybook ir-revocably with the Geography mistress when she asked what was the Gulf Stream. Up shot my hand: ' Bay Colt by Hyperion, out of Tideway,I rattled off. ' second in the Derby.'ST o also pl blot our copybooks. a biot on sb's/ the *scutchson [Comp/0(NP)] (formal) sb who, or sth which, brings dishonour or discredit upon a family or other group V: be; leave, acknowledge o Her family were less concerned about the human problem ofLeila's illegitimate baby than about having to acknowledge a blot on their escutcheon. uYou have not only disgraced yourselves u nd your families, the headmaster said in his usual pom-pous style, but your conduct is a blot on the escutcheon of this ancient and honourable school. ' o escutcheon = 'a shield, plaque, or badge bearing a coat of arms'. a blot on the landscape'a construction, an ugly building, a rubbish dump, etc that spoils natural or urban scenery; an eyesore o It's a wonderful view, but those electric pylons are rather a blot on the landscape, aren't they?oTo most people the vast development taking place around Si Paul's Cathedral and further east in the City are a succession of blots on s hitherto small-scale and charming landscape. a blot on the landscape² sb who, or sth which, spoils an otherwise satisfactory situa-tion, is an unwelcome addition or contrast (that one would like to remove); the fly in the ont-ment (qv) o We' re a very happy crowd in our office. The boss himself is a bit of a blot on the landscape but, luckily, we don't see much of him, o Life has been just about perfect since we moved here. In fact the only blot on the land-scape is this little bit of local jealousy we' ve just been talking about. o also p l a couple of biots on the landscap@. blow by blow [A] (describe an event) as it occurred in every detail (as in a boxing match or game, but esp when reporting a discussion,an argument etc that has taken place elsewhere,at another time) V: describe, give, tell, relate,sth o I tend to prefer cricket commentators who report a match blow by blow to those who spend their time philosophizing about what happened on the same ground five years ago. o In the hun-dred days before Hitler's rise to power, of whichMessrs Manvell and Fraenkel give a blow-by-blow account, Goering played a leading role. sc□' Who told you about that?'' Oh, Anne gave us.a blow-by-blow account. In front of Jenny' Christ, what a bitch that woman is. ' TGLY o common attrib use a blow-by-blow account.description, etc. the blow falls sth catastrophic, disastrous or unwelcome happens, either quite unexpectedly or in the way one has feared o You really must 71 <72> blow the gaff— sb's/ the blue-eyed boy take some financial precautions now. Then when the blow fells you' ll have something in reserve.□ When this was completed, we would travel down the river to Asunción. That was our plan,but then the blow fell. ' Paula says that there's a revolution in Asunción.’ DF o Now that the blow has fallen and her husband has started divorce proceedings she is actually much less miserable than she was. blow the gaff [V + O pass](informal) let out a secret; inform against sb; expose a scheme or plot; spill the beans(qv); let the cat out of the bag(Vol I)(qv)o‘Well,’ said Martin, turning to the grandparents. ' since young Tommy has blown the gaff I might as well admit we' ll be emigrating to Australia in February or March. "□ T' ll do that girl over ((slang) = assault her).when I get out, ' he swore to his cell-mate.' They could never have got a conviction if she hadn't blown the gaff.'o It is high time the gaff was blown on all this mind-enhancing rubbish that is attributed to the use of marihuana. blow hot and cold vacillate in one's opinions,loyalties etc according to mood or circum-stance; refuse, or seem unable, to commit oneself to a positive course of action o You' re a fool Dick. While you blow hot and cold about whether you want to get married or not, the girl will be off with somebody else. a I am never quite sure what the word ' volatile' means but it meansI change, and I blow hot and cold—— surely. LoHe blows hot one minute and cold the next; Inever know where I am with him. blow sb a kiss[V+ 10+0] press one's fingers to one's lips and then either extend the hand or pretend to blow the kiss toward sb □ ' If you'd seen that much of me once, you wouldn't have stayed in that chair for very long.' 'I'm sure l wouldn't.' She blew me a kiss. RATTo People on the platform were waving handkerchiefs and blowing kisses to their friends as the train steamed out. o You'd better just blow Daddy a kiss tonight, in case he gives you his cold. blow one's/ sb's mind [V + O pass] (infor-mal) give sb. receive, an extreme sensation of pleasure, excitement or shock (eg from taking hallucinatory drugs, or from some extraordin-ary experience)o In the 1960s in America it was almost part of conventional behaviour to take a trip(ie use LSD etc) and blow your mind.□The first time I got into it (an Aston Martin DB6sports car) I couldn't see above the steering wheel, but all those gauges really blew my mind.OBS o You' re going to the Blackpool (GeorgeFormby) Appreciation Society Conference? It's an amazing event, you' ll never forget it. It' ll blow your mind. RT o also pl; adj compound mind-blowing. blow one's own trumpet [V + 0] praise oneself; boast about oneself, one's achieve-ments o One of the Town Councillors usually uttended our prize-givings and had to be asked to say a few words. Most of them took this as an opportunity to blow their own trumpets for anything up to ten minutes.□I don't like to blow my own trumpet, but I must say the sales con-ference would have been utter chaos if I hadn't been there to organize it. □ Actors are good at trumpet-blowing and the temptation increases as their popularity grows and their reputations 72 are made. L o (NONCE) Say good-morning.Remember the interviewer is a human being, not a god. Speak about yourself. Here's one place where you must toot your own horn. H o n compound trumpet-blowing. blow sb/ sth sky-high[V+ O + A pass] make sth explode violently upwards; (fig) destroy,shatter, sth; completely disprove sth; complete-ly disrupt or expose hopes, illusions; explode a myth (qv) O: him, her, me, us, them; amm-unit ion dump, troop-carrier; theory; prospect,plan □ Good God! That boy's left a full can of petrol in the kitchen again! We' ll all be blown sky-high one of these days. o It helps also to chat, reason, present compromises, explain the cause of a problem, especially if the explanation blows a commonly held myth sky-high. RToApublican giving evidence at the trial of a Glasgow,councillor and former magistrate who is charged with corruption said that the police wired up his public house(to record a conversation) but that the former magistrate called earlier than expect-ed, and all the arrangements were blown sky-high. T blow one's top [V + O](informal) express one's anger against, one's dislike of, one's alarm about, sb or sth in a forceful,unrestrained way; do one's nut (qv)a I ran to my father, waving the magazine and shouting,' This is my home, look.' Dad fairly blew his top.He told me not to be so silly; that it was a building called a temple, in a country called Egypt and that I had never been there. OBS □ Sh e is par-ticularly good at contrasting the Anglo-Saxon and Latin ways of life; usually it is her Anglo-Saxons who blow their tops, while hot-bloodedLatins slyly keep their cool. L. a blue film etc a film etc which contains ob-scene material, has explicit reference to, or portrayal of, sexual acts n: film,△movie; joke,humour o In an odd sort of way, the wheel has come full circle in the film industry. The cinemas were sold as bingo halls, and now the bingo halls are becoming cinema clubs, which normally means they show blue films. a Charlie's fine as a stand-up comedian in a working man's club-----but frankly his jokes are a bit too blue for theBBC. ab lue fit [O/o(NP)](informal)(show) extreme annoyance, alarm or irritation (about sth) V:have, take; throw, fall into □ It's a good job the boy was safely back before his mother heard of his escapades. She'd have taken abluefk if she'd known he was out in the boat alone. a / can remember the time when a judge would have been horrified almost into a blue fit if he had been asked to exercise discretion in favour of a petitioner whose conduct had been that of the person in this case. STo I' ll have to write out my exercise again. The teacher will have sbluefit if Ihand it in like this. o usu with will/ would have. sb's/ the blue-eyed boy [Comp/O (NP)] a favourite; sb whom another presumes to be in-capable of doing wrong, to be the embodiment of perfection V: be, become; have o She was a good mother to us all but there was no blinking the fact that George was her blue-eyed boy.□'Iknow you' re the blue-eyed boy round here'grumbled the works foreman, ' but you don't take me in.'□ Big organizations have their blue-eyed <73> blunt the edge of sth----a boon companion boys too, destined for the top jobs and carefully groomed to fill them.□ usu confined to male sex.blunt the edge of sth [V + O pass] cause sth to be felt less keenly (by taking appropriate action); take the edge off (Vol l) (qv) O: sb's appetite, hunger;anger,disappointment;pleasure o I' ll just have a cup of tea and nothing else . If we' re going out to dinner I don't want to blunt the edge of my appetite.□It might blunt the edge of his disappointment at not winning the scholarship, if you were to let him know that the examiners all commented very favourably on his papers. □ Time would no doubt blunt the edge of her grief, but not make it any less real.board and lodging [n + n non-rev] food and accommodation, usu paid for, provided by boarding houses, private houses, etc o TheProbation Officer got Andrew a job in the paper-mills and arranged board and lodging for him in a Working Boys' Hostel. □ I discovered an in-credibly charitable arrangement whereby I could get free board and lodging in exchange for being a guinea pig in a cold-cure experiment.UINOcf the simple v board:I boarded in a small hotel/ She makes money from boarding summer visitors. Bob's your uncle(informal)(once sth is done,arranged satisfactorily) everything is or will be all right, nothing more will need to be done oSAM This is how we get them married(he whis-pers to David, who laughs). DAVID: And once they' re married, Bob's your uncle. HSG o It's quite simple, really. Turn this knob to the right,then this other knob to the right, press the red button, switch on—— and Bob's your uncle. Dusu second of two clauses, often introduced by and; stress pattern , Bob's your uncle. a body blow[Comp/O (NP)] sth which affects one or one's plans badly, severely etc;a stroke of bad luck; bad news; adverse criticism V: be;deal... to sb/ sth, deliver... to sb/ sth; inflict...on sb/ sth o He has had a good many ups and downs in his life but his wife's leaving him was a body blow. a Withdrawal of the Government cattle subsidy would deal a body blow to the islands' economy. o 'I mean do you intend to marry her?”‘Oh, you' re asking about my inten-tions,' said Sammy. ' That's a body blow! You ought to have brought your shotgun! '(ie for‘a shotgun wedding`) UTN o also pl; originally a hard punch to the body in boxing; stress pat-tern a ' body blow. body and soul [A(n + n non-rev)] completely;with all one's energies, devotion etc V: be sb's,belong to sb. own sb; devote oneself to sb/ sth;throw oneself into sth o He had flung himself into the project body and souland if the town did not have the beginnings of a Community Centre by next Spring it would not be his fault.□ Don't take a job in that firm: they think they own their employees body and soul. O usu in end position.◇△ keep body and soul together(Vol l). a bogey man sb who, because of his apparently mysterious or unknown abilities, is capable of striking fear into one (and esp, in former times,an imaginary person used by parents etc to frighten children into behaving well)□ She had covered under the blankets hiding from the bogey man who, her elder brothers assured her,would come and get her if she so much as poked her nose out. □ Th e head-hunters are the bogey men of the Land Dayaks. Little children who wander far from their mother's backs are warned that they lie in wait for them. NDNo The villain(in magazine stories) inviting an adulterous relationship seems to be found interesting because he makes a shocking attack on what is felt to count greatly. He is akind of bogey-man rather than a disguised hero, UL O stress pattern a bogey man; cf make a bogey of sth =‘allow oneself to be more frightened by sth than is necessary or rational’. a bold/ brave front [O/o (NP)] courage,cheerfulness(perhaps exaggerated) in what one says or does in order to hide one's true feelings;a brave show (of sth)²(qv); put a bold/ brave/good face on (Vol l)(qv)V: show, display, put on o Don't be too humble. Demand a rise in salary — you' re much more likely to get it if you put on a bold front.□ Myrtle did not flinch.When we met at the railway station on Saturday afternoon she was showing a brave front. SPLoShe had talked gaily about adventure, but she hadn't liked it very much when it really came.And now she'd got to go back to it all. Because she was employed by Mr Dakin and she had to earn her pay and show a brave front! TCB a bolt from the blue[Comp/o(NP)]a sudden and unexpected event, esp one of an unpleasant or catastrophic nature (as a thunderbolt from a blue sky would be) V: be, seem (like); come like/ as a Jesse can still hardly believe David is in business with him. ' It was a bolt from the blue when he came down from Cambridge and said he'd like to come in the firm with me.'RTo Well,your resignation has certainly come as a bolt from the blue, Watkins. I was counting on you staying with the firm for at least another three years.□ also pla couple of bolts from the blue.◇△ be out of the blue (Vol 1); come out of the blue (Vol 1). bone idle [Comp (AdjP)] idle, lazy, as an incur-able fault V: △ be, become, seem o .. forty-year-old clockwatchers, who were more bone idle than I could have imagined. SML□ The boy has a good enough brain but he's bone idle and won't study. o If you weren't so bone idle you could save over £100a year by looking after the garden yourself. a bone of contention a cause of dispute or disagreement between persons or parties (ie like a bone over which two dogs may fight); an/the apple of discord(qv)□A third bone of con-tention is the U. S. refusal to supply arms and the pressure put on other countries to refuse likewise.SC□ I don't think it' sa good idea at all to give the boys a motor-bike between them. If they' ve got to share it' ll just be abone of contention.口 also pl two such born s of contention. a boon and a blessing [n + n non-rev] (for-mal) sth very welcome and much appreciated □I let myself in switch ed on the light, took up the vacuum flask and out gurgled the bitter coffeeMrs Burton had left those hours before, a boon and ablessing to midnight men. PP□(early 19th c advertisement for pen nibs) The Pickwick, theOwl, and the Waverley pen/ They come as m boon and a blessing to men! a boon companion a congenial acquaintance,esp sb who regularly joins in one's leisure 73 <74> born and bred (in/ to sth)— bow and scrape activities, pleasurable pursuits, hobbies etc □Such satisfaction as he got from his relationship.with Alec was not personal; like many married.men Harold did not have men friends; he had acquaintances and boon companions. PW□ Acommon interest in angling and the amenities of the hotel bar had made boon companions of the two men for the period of their holiday. D often pl and usu referring to men rather than women.◇△ a bosom friend/ pal. born and bred (in/ to sth) [v + v non-rev]born, reared and educated (in a specified place,in a specified manner, for a specified purpose,etc)o:(in) the country, Yorkshire; (to) the life of a farmer, the life of a fisherman o A word about Mrs Lucy Odd. She is a Londoner born and bred, and for a woman some years past the allotted span, of a truly remarkable vigour and alertness. RMoBEATTIE : Think of it! An English girl born and bred and I couldn't talk the lan-guage—— except for to buy food and clothes. RoI might have wished that I had been borr and bred in such a place, where everybody knew or knew about one another and felt their roots en-twined. AHo ' It's necessary, and so is emptying bloody dustbins, ' cried the educated man, ' but there are some classes of society that are born and bred to it and ours isn't.' HDo placed after n it modifies. born to command/ rule [Comp (AdjP)] des-tined to command/ rule; of such a nature that one inevitably tends to command/ rule V:△ be,seem, regard oneself as o The English milord was obviously a most masterful person. A man clearly born to command. BFA□ The Conser-vative Party is about power. It regards itself as the party born to rule and will swallow almost endless reversals of policy or pragmatic decisions to remain in power. NS born in the gutter born in poverty, of beggar-ly or obscure parentage a Born in the gutter and surviving first by good luck and then by his own cunning, Emilio at sixteen was a ripe recruit for any of the gangster mob then prevalent in the city. o 'I' ve hardly had to teach you anything.'' My mother did that,' the girl replied somewhat.shortly. 'I wasn't born in the gutter you know.'o cf rise from the gutter, die in the gutter. born in/ to the purple born of royal, or very aristocratic, parents (and thus be a privileged member of society) o From a very early age thePrince was aware that he was born in the purple and was very conscious of his elevated state.□From the way he talks and behaves you'd think he was born to the purple or something.Whereas the truth is his parents are ordinary middle class, living in the stockbroker belt inSurrey. born under a lucky star[Comp(AdjP)] suc-cessful and happy, either for the whole of one's life or on one occasion when one has a stroke of luck V:▲be, appear, seem; must have been o That's how it goes, son; if you haven't been born under a lucky star you just have to work all the harder to get what you want. a' Did the driver survive?'' Survive! He was hardly scratch-ed. He must have been born under a lucky star when you see what happened to the lorry cab.' born with a silver spoon in one's mouth born of wealthy parents; born the heir to a for - tune, or comfortable living, etc o The son of aTexas oil millionaire, young Elmer was certainly born with a silver spoon in his mouth. □ The son minister, born in Zululand with not a silver spoon but a Box-Brownie (a type of camera) in his mouth, as I once teased him, he had been obsessed by cameras all his life.LWK o also pl born with silver spoons in their mouths. born within the sound of Bow bells born in the district of London round Bow Church,Cheapside, and hence a true Cockney □ But I'm a true Cockney myself. Yes, born within the sound of Bow Bells. Where do you come from? RM borrowed time a period of time which one would not normally expect to have at one's disposal, which one gains and continues to have only by chance or good fortune V: live on; be a case of; have a Johnson had been self-employed for eight years, and never paid a penny in income tax. But he was living on borrowed time; sooner or later the day of reckoning would come.□ He was 30 when the doctors gave him two years to live. Since then he has had eight years of borrowed time and made the most of every one of them. a bosom friend/ pal a close and dear friend with whom one spends as much time as circum-stances allow o Jenny and Tina were bosom friends as girls and are still very fond of each other, □ On the face of it, they seemed an ill-assorted pair to be such bosom friends.□ He's not the sort I would choose for a bosom pml, but he's so witty you can't help enjoying his com-pany.□ often pl referring to two friends; applied equally to men and women. ◇△a boon compa-nion. a bottle party a party where the host provides the accommodation and perhaps music and some food, and the guests provide the drink,each bringing a bottle of wine, spirits, or beer□ Julie explained her occasional absences from the flat by saying she was staying with an aunt,and Isabel accepted this just as she accepted the bottle parties that from time to time assembled in Julie's bed-sitting room. PW o stress pattern a bottle party. one's bottom drawer a girl or young woman's collection of clothes, linen etc,towards her marriage (though she may start collecting these things without an actual mar-riage in view)□' Six pounds,' I said.' That's very good money, Mavis. You' ll be able to save for your bottom drawer.' ' You' ve got to find the chap first, she said. RATT o I got some lovely towels at the sale, mum. I can't make up my mind whether to start using them or put them in my bottom drawer. one's bounden duty (formal) an absolute,pressing, compelling duty;(in) duty bound to do sth(qv)o It's not a case of whether you want to give evidence or not. If you overheard a crimi-nal conversation it's your bounden durty to report it to the police.□ You will hear men boast of being good fathers to their children as if that were some special merit and not their bounden duty. □ bounden not used in any other current phrase. . bo w and scrape [v + v non-rev] (facetious) 74 <75> behave in a servile manner; be over-polite or obscquous o A waiter approached us and with much bowing and scraping led us to a table in the dining-room. RATTa Promotion never meant su much to me that I was willing to bow and scrape for 1 1 o The reception was all very pleusant, ever: body chutting and laughing and enjoying themselves until the Lord-Lieutenant appeared and then you never saw such bow-ing and scraping as went on' o often the - ing forms function as nouns; scrape refers to a backward movement of one foot when bowing.(play) Box and Cox [n + n non-rev] (two people who) keep failing to meet, to be in one place at the same time; alternate in one`s use of a house, room etc or in providing a service etc(from a story - also the theme of a short Gil-hert and Sullwan opera - - - of two lodgers named Box and Cox who shared the same room unknown to each other, one occupying it by day. the other by night) □ I keep hoping thatMichaeland Ian will get their home leaves at the sumer time but it has been a case of Box and Cox with them ever since they were posted ahroad . oSpring has been playing Box and Cox with win ter for months past. The winter aconites have got mixed up with the snowdrops and the crocuses and look like being overtaken by the daffodils.SC U cf use as compound v, as in We have only one spare bed, hu r James and George have beenBoxing and Coxing for years, so there's been no problem. box sb's ear(s) [V + O pass] hit sb about the ear(s)、 or side(s) of the head、 with one`s hands or fists. esp as a punishment or expression of anger o I was rescued at last by a gracious lady. - the sixteen-year-old junior-teacher — who boxed a few eers and dried my face and led me off to The Infants (classroom). CWRa ' He' ll be waiting round the back to give you a kiss in the dark.’'I' ll box his ours for him if he tries.'o vanant give sb a box on the ear. ◇ ⚠ give sb etc a thick ear. (the) box office (theatre, cinema) the office,with a serving counter, from which tickets for a performance are sold;(fig) the popular attrac-tion、 success or failure of a particular show,performance, performer etc judged in commer-cial terms (ie the number of tickets sold, the number of people who come etc) □ By the time the box office opened at 10 am there was a queue right around the block. The morning reviews had turned the play into an overnight success. c Phuntasi films evidently decided that human beings were bad box office and started on their series of animal pictures. UTNo He is not the figure in the theatre world that he used to be, but he is still pretty good box office. □ For thirty years we looked at ' Spectacular, Stunning.Stupendous!' blazing across a cinema front and wondered if the film was worth seeing. Nowadays the box office adjectives are more likely to be' Decadent, Daring, Disturbing!'o cf modifiers good/ bad box office =‘successful, unsuccess-ful’; attrib use box-office appeal, contributions,sales, (a) box-office success; stress pattern good/ bad ' box office. the boys in blue (facetious) the civil police force o (of legal advice centres) How do you manage, as a human being, between clients who (play) Box and Cox—— the (top) brass call the police ' pigs' and your professional peers who regard them as upright boys in blue?SToAnd she does not hide her admiration for the professors and for the level of intelligence of the pupils any more than she does her loathing forPhiladelphia's police chief and for Chicago's boys in blue. ST boys will be boys(saying)(offer as an excuse for the fact that) young boys, and also sometimes grown men, will occas act in a childish, non-adult way o I know it's annoying to have our orchards robbed like this, but boys will be boys and apple-stealing is really just part of their life at this time of year. □ ' Just look at them swilling all that beer, and telling dirty jokes!It's enough to make you sick.'' Oh, I don't know,you must let them off the leash a bit now and then and remember that boys will be boys, poor things.' co ther nouns may occasionally replace boys eg girls will be girls, students will be students.sb's braim child an idea, project, plan etc that is sb's original conception and for which, as a rule、 he expects to be given credit to No! This programme is my brain child and I strongly ob-ject to somebody taking over the production of it.□ The irrigation scheme for which the Develop-ment Board take a great deal of credit was, in fact, the brain child of an A merican consulting engineer holidaying in the district seven years previously. brain(s) versus brawn[n+ nrev](the oppo-sition of or possession of) mental intelligence and physical strength o In wartime sacrifices are called for from everyone-from the brains (=the people with high intelligence) as well as the brown(== those who are physically strong).□(cricket) Thomson, formidable brown, nolm uch brain, pulls a shoulder muscle. Alan Knott sof-tens the blow of defeat. Lo(boxing) For once the contest of brain versus brown didn't produce the right result. For all his too obvious lack of skill. Scanion had the strength to break throughLloyd's defences. a brand plucked etc from the burning[Comp (NP)](formal) sth saved at the very last moment; sb rescued from, or persuaded to give up, a wrong or misguided course of life V:plucked. △ saved, snatched o ' How do your hoys get on after they leave Approved School(=a kind of reformatory)?’' Many of them go back to their old ways , I'm afraid, but even a few brands plucked from the burning would justify our work here.'o He was a tireless organiser of musical evenings, amateur dramatics and poetry readings and was inclined to view anybody not much interested in the Arts as a brand to be plucked from the burning. NS the (top) brass the highest-ranking officers.ie generals, admirals etc, in the armed forces oPerhaps the top bress didn't confide in the jour-nalists quite enough: at any rate, the UnitedStates government has, on the whole, had the worst press over the Indo-China war that any government has ever had anywhere. L o With their attendant bress they drove down in style from the Admiralty and had lunch with the Cap-tain of HMS Excellent. RFW o cf associated word a brass-hat, as in , , the appalling rows and intrigues which went on between the ' Frocks'(ieCabinet-ministers wearing frock-coats) and the 75 <76> a brass farthing— break the bank Bress-hats' in those days. MFM abrass farthing [0(NP)]a very small amount of money; our resources; almost nothing;(con-sider) sth, eg an object, sb's feelings etc, as being of very little worth V:(not) have;(not) be worth; (not) care, (not) give o And here's me having to put every brass farthing of my all-owance into getting a few worn-out old parts off the junk heaps. HD□‘Haven’ t you any money at all? '' Not a brass farthing.'s She had already panned the few articles of any value that she possessed. Nothing she had left was worth a brass farthing. □ He doesn't care a brass far-thing what anybody thinks— if he thinks it's worth doing he just goes ahead and does it. o often neg or with neg implication. (a) brave new world(catchphrase)a new era brought about by revolutionary changes,reforms etc in society o (source) How many goodly creatures are there here!/ How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,/ That has such people in't, THE TEMPEST VID In his most famous novel, ' Brave New World', Aldous Huxley warns of the dangers of moral anarchy by depict-ing a repulsive Utopia, in which Platonic har-mony is achieved by scientifically breeding and conditioning a society of human robots. o... manifesting the aspirations and optimisms ofSoviet Socialism and pointing to the brave new world that a classless society, armed with man's new understanding of the universe and his new tools of commanding it, would enjoy. To almost always derogatory in current usage, following the novel by Huxley. a brave show (of sth)' a beautiful, splendid,exhilarating etc spectacle (to watch)o: flowers,bluebells; flags, streamers o You should have a brave show of daffodils next spring after plant-ing all those hundreds of bulbs. c A march-past ofHighland pipes, with kilts swinging and ribbons flying, always makes a brave show. a brave show (of sth)² a courageous pretence (of being unafraid, unworried etc,when usu the opposite is the case); a bold/ brave front(qv); put a bold/ brave/ good face on(Vol1)(qv) V: make, put on. o: confidence, indif-ference; not worrying, not caring (what hap-pens) □ For a while, the child made a brave show of being unaffected by his schoolmate's launts, but in the end he could not hold back his tears. o With a brave show of confidence which he was far from feeling, he led his party along the narrow ledge of rock. the bravest etc of the brave etc one/ some of the bravest etc possible of people adj: brave,poor, pure, rich, mean, mighty, humble, smart.chic, drab, ugly o He's waiting till the boss calms down, and I don't blame him. The bravest of the brave would hesitate to confront the OldMan in his present mood. a I' ve seen him on the telly. Poor chap. Answering a lot of silly ques-tions from the poorest of the poor. They won't thank· him for it. ASA□ Who is she to criticize others? She's got in and out of a few beds in her time, though to hear her talk you'd think she was the purest of the pure. □ only with adjs that form their superlative in-(i) est. bread and butter' [n + n non-rev] slices of bread spread with butter (esp as part of an ordinary English meal eg breakfast or tea) □ 76 Finally, stuffed with ham, cake, bread and butter, and pints of dark tea, they moved from the table. HD□ After that I cut bread and butter and then washed up the mugs and saucepans and cleaned the kitchen. UTN bread and butter²[n + n non-rev] one's ordin-ary means of livelihood, esp at a very basic level and without any extras V: be(one's); earn one'sO TERRY: Do you back horses? JACK: Do we? Do we! JERRY: They' re our bread and butter, kid.YAA □ The ' different matters' which concern students (in Sweden) today are bread-and-butter ones—— jobs and the Government loans they live on. OBS□' Dear Pyle', I wrote and was tempted for the only time to write ' Dear Alden'(his Christian name). for after all this was a bread-and-butter letter of some importance and it differed little from other bread-and-butter letters in containing a falsehood. QA o attrib use bread and butter matters, and esp a bread and butter letter = 'a letter written as a conventional way of thanking sb for hospitality or some other kindness'. bread and butter³[n + n non-rev] simple and wholesome; without extraordinary features or frills□I wish often that I could have fixed my life at that moment—— the car rolling smoothly down the narrow street, that wonderful bread-and-butter smell coming from the open spaces nearby— and inside the car the masculinity of steel and oil and warm leather. RATT o ' She always seemed a bit insipid to me, Bob said.' strictly the bread and butter Miss.'RATT o in this sense,only used attrib. bread and circuses [n + n non-rev] the necessities of life and the provision of amuse-ments, esp as a recipe for keeping the mass of the people contented with their government o(source - - - translated from Latin) Only two things limit their (the Roman people's) anxious longing - - bread and the games of the circus.JUVENAL60-130AD□' The Bingo age' and ' playing politics with the economy' . The former aptly describes one besetting sin of both major parties in the post-war era, the offering of bigger and better bread and circuss as vote-catching in-centives. To(NONCE) In a society of Mr Cros-land's choosing, the significance of education is that it serves in part as a job-qualification, in part as a distraction—— part bread. part circur. L bread and water[n+ nnon-rev] the minimum diet, ration, on which life can be sustained, esp considered as a form of punishment(for a child,prisoner) V: put sb on; be, live, on o The prisoner claimed that the kitchen orderly had tripped over his foot by accident, but the Gover-nor gave him ten days on bread and water all the same. □I' ve a good mind to spank your b - h' mm— well, come downstairs you little minx, and make up your mind to breed and water this week. DCo We couldn't possibly afford a holiday like that! Why, we'd have to live on bread and water the rest of the year. break the bank [V + O](gambling) win so much money that one's winnings cannot be paid; (fig) be more than one can afford S:gambler, punters; spending; week-end, party o(partial source) You can see them sigh and wish to die./ You can see them wink the other eye/ At the man who broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. <77> SONG (F GILBERT 1850-1903)□ I'm afraid we' ll be staying in Britain this year. A European holiday would just about break the bank. break a case[V + O pass] find out who com-mitted a crime etc, collect enough evidence to get sb convicted of a crime etc on which the police, military intelligence etc have been work-ing$: policeman, detective, investigator □ After the war he was tempted into MI5 and had been one of the team which eventually broke theFuchs cass. DSo It was rather vainglorious of me to think that a private investigator could break a ce se that the police had seemingly had to give up, but I was determined to try. o ' The case is about to break, ' pleaded the inspector.' Just give me another week on it, sir,'o cf the structuresWe are about to break the case/ The ese is about to break. break cover [V + O] come out of, or be forced to flee from, a place of concealment S: animal;rabbit, fox; enemy o Once the fire has been lit and piled with green leaves, it generally takes about three minutes before the smoke percolates to every part and the animals start to break cover. BBa The others, waiting on the grass, sawJack and Ralph unharmed and broke cover into the sunlight. They forgot the beast in the excite-ment of exploration. Lf o And suddenly the dog began to whimper. It broke cover and made for the service-door. OMIH break one's duck [V + O] (cricket) score one's first run or runs; open one's score; (fig)have a first success in some matter, in relation to sb, etc, esp after trying for some time o After ten minutes' play Gower broke his duck with a splendidly-hit four to the boundary, a He could hardly believe he had broken his duck at last.that he was to have a short story published in a reputable magazine. o At such times Patrick would decide that there was still hope of Graham breaking his duck with the women if he could contrive to use the smile on them with reasonable frequency. TGLY break and enter [v + v non-rev] force one`s way into a house, premises etc by illegal means such as breaking a window, lock, door etc(in order to steal something) o It's a treat being a long-distance runner, out in the world by yourself with not a soul to make you bad-tempered or tell you what to do or that there's a shop to break and enter a bit back from the next street. LLDR□ The courts call what he does ' breaking and entering in reality it usually means pushing in a poorly-bolted back door and taking a few pounds set aside for the milkman. OBS□ usu in-ing form without O, as in he was held by the police on a charge of breaking and entering. break even (commerce) have, show, neither a profit nor a loss in some business transaction or sale o Some of the older coalfields like Durham,South Wales and Scotland are losing money. If they were told they must at least break even,how could this be achieved? DMa Whatever its performance, the state factory is bound to stay in business because its main job will be to provide employmenl, not to break even. To The product is starting to sell well but the initial launching costs are high and we are unlikely to reach break-even point until the end of the year. o attrib use (the, break-even point = ` the point break a case----break the ice beyond which further sales or income will result in a profit` break one's/ sb's fall [V+ O pass] soften the impact of one's/ sb's fall o Grandpa lost his foot-ing on the stairs today. I was. in front of him soI managed to break his fall. □ Then I found myself falling. There was a kind of exhilaration about it: I imagined a mattress below me to break my fall, to bounce away from, higher and higher into the sky. There was only the pavement.the cold stone. RATT o Mary came off her horse yesterday. but her fall was broken by a pile of hay nearby. break one's fast' [V + O] (formal) have breakfast□ We broke our fast(ie we breakfast-ed) in an early morning cafe on crunchy bread rings and butter, goats'-milk cheese and ex-cellent coffee. BM break one's fast²[V+ O] eat after a consider-able period of time without food (because one has deliberately not eaten or has been prevent-ed from eating) □ Does the prisoner understand that if he cannot be persuaded to break his fast,he will be forcibly fed? break fresh/ new ground [V + O pass] be a pioneer in some branch of knowledge; work at,try, sth new and different either in itself, or in relation to what one has done before o Pon-derous and abstruse, his book breaks no new ground, but nevertheless merits attention for the way it traverses familiar terrain. NS o In the recording field he has just broken new ground,too, with the issue of his first stereophonic LP.RT o No fresh ground has been broken by this most recent study. break one's/ sb's heart [V + O pass](cause to) feel considerable grief, mental anguish,disappointment etc(esp in matters of love and personal relationships, business affairs, etc);weep inconsolably o MONTY: She' ll break her little heart when she hears he's going to Spain.CSWB□I don't know what's wrong with Mary and she won't tell me. But she's been upstairs crying fit to break her heart all afternoon. a The fellow's a pest. I wouldn't break my heart(cf It wouldn't break my heart) if I never saw him again. □ She was so young and innocent that it nearly broke my heart; in a queer but pleasur-able way it actually hurt me to look at her. RATT□ 'I' ve been kept pretty hard at work this morn-ing, I can tell you.'' You' re breaking my heart!Isn't that what they pay you for?'o can be ironic.as in third and fifth examples; also pl it would break their hearts; adj compounds broken.hearted, heart-breaking. break the ic● [V + O pass] do or say sth to remove or reduce social awkwardness or ten-sion, esp at a first meeting, or at the start of a party etc o Virginia felt that if he did not come now, and meet Spencer, and have dinner as one of the family, the ice might never be brokem.AITCo Such generators were often used to break the ice at parties by making all the molecules in the hostess's undergarments leap simultaneously one foot to the left. HHGG□' Nice to see you,boys,' he said quite quietly. Ned and I murmured the usual formula, and the ice was just breaking up nicely when Ned, the fool, couldn't resist ad-ding. ‘Haven’ t seen much of you lately.’ CON口unusual intransitive construction with particle 77 <78> break one's journey— break sb's spirit up in last example. break one's journey [V + O pass] in the course of a journey, make a stop sufficiently long to enable one to shop, pay a visit, have a rest, etc o He would have caught an express, but had discovered that if he travelled by a slower.train he could change trains at Stotwell, and break his journey for long enough to visit theOak Lounge. HDo We could drive from Glasgow to Portsmouth on the Thursday, but I'd rather we left the day before and broke our journey somewhere just north of London. break one's neck (doing sth/ to do sth)[V + O pass] try one's utmost, act recklessly (to do sth); take a great deal of trouble(to do or get sth) □ If so many women think they are the big-gest hargain a man can ever get and think they are hard done-by, then why do they practically break their necks to get married? DMo Now that the American party has produced this bomb,you' re thinking it's obviously unreasonable for our people to break their necks trying to save a couple of months. NM o You' re not exactly breaking your neck to get me that book from the library, are you? ◇△(at) break-neck speed.break the news (to sb/ about sth) [V + 0pass](be the first to) inform sb of sth (generally sth unwelcome or exciting) □ I had a letter this morning telling me I' ve failed my exam. That's bad enough, but I don't know how I' ll break the news 10 Dad. oI had a wonderful surprise this morning. Ann and David rang up from NewZealand to break the news that they' re having a hahr. break no bones[V + O pass] not injure oneself or sb else in spite of a (possibly) serious fall,accident etc(the implication is not necessarily that actual bones could have been broken) oNo. I don't expect to enjoy myself on the school outing If I can get the children there and back again without any of them breaking any bonesI shull he thankful. □ And he bundled out into the corridor and nearly knocked over a man just passing. Oh,I'm having quite a little chapter of accidents.’ In the words of the classics,’ said the man, ' no bones broken.' TT o ' No bonis broken, I hope?' said Tommy's father, as the small boy came in, glowing from his first riding lesson. o often non-finite, as in last two exam-ples. break the peace[V + O](legal) cause a dis-turbance, as an offence for which one can be arrested and punished o He was very noisy and abusive. and alarmed the other customers. The proprielor was very forbearing in not sending for the police and having him charged with breaking the peace. o ' lf you break the pe ace in this way again, you' ll go to prison, said the magistrate. oThat argument in the pub last night got badly out of hand. Max has been charged with causing #breach of the peace and has to appear in court tomorrow. D variant a breach of the peace used only in legal context. ◇ keep the peace. break the rules[V + O pass] infringe, not keep to, the rules or regulations by which a game is played, a school or club is run, etc; do sth that runs counter to accepted behaviour o ' I don't want to play snakes and ladders with Billy any more, the child replied. ‘He keeps breaking the rules, and making up new ones.'o Your boy 78 knows the school rules as well as I do myself----he's just one of those who think that rules are made to be broken. □ As a diplomat he breaks every rule in the book but is immensely popular everywhere he goes. □ variant, rules are made to be broken, is sometimes used as an excuse, or as an encouragement to others, not to observe them. break the silence' [V + O pass] interrupt a natural or normally continuous period of silence $: cry(of a bird),(the sound of) running feet, (an odd) noise; nothing a We were com-fortably dozing off in our deck-chairs when a piercing shriek broke the afternoon sileruce. BNothing broke the silence of the night but an occasional seabird's call.□ Suddenly the silence was broken by a single shot. break the silence²[V + O pass](try to) end an awkward or embarrassed silence between two or more people, by starting a conversation etcS: he, she,I, you, we, they; host, hostess o / left him to break the silence. Our steps remained the only noise, until he remarked, as though casu-ally: ‘Walter Luke didn't say much tonight, did he?'NM□ This knowledge was the trouble. We all knew too much. It was Randall who broke the silence, CON o After what seemed an eternity.the silence was broken by our host's son fa-cetiously remarking' Well! Lots of weather we' ve been having lately!" break the sound etc barrier [V+ O pass] go faster than the speed of sound; similarly, cross any other specified point or obstacle n: sound,heat, space, speed; pain, (social) class o WhenConcorde was tested over the west coast, the sonic hoom created as it broke the sound by-rier affected a swathe of country fi fty miles wide.□ What was Dr Roger Bannister's exact time when he broke the four-minute-mile barrier atOxford in 1954? TOo In the stratified society of a Jané Austen novel the class barriers are never broken with impunity. Wealth is not a prerequisite, but to be of good family is. break the speed-limit [V + O pass] exceed the maximum speed allowed by law oPolicemen nowadays seem more interested in where you' re parking than in whether you' re breaking the speed-limft. □ You must realize that the speed-limit is there for a reason. It is no r there to be broken! break the spell[V + O pass] destroy an in-fatuation, fascination, illusory experience, etc by a return to reality□ I had seen photographs of women that streamlined their shapes and made them look so alluring that you knew it was all a trick, that once the spell was broken, and they moved, you would see that they were just ordin-ary, if pretty, women. CONo Then it was over, and she turned and vanished leaving the spell un-broken, and an incredulous murmur rising after her. WIoI wish something could break the spell that binds her to that worthless fellow. break sb's spirit [V + O pass] destroy,suppress, sb's desire for independence, his right to decide for himself, his sense of pride, delight in life, etc o The life of convicts in nineteenth-century Australia was one of hard labour, heat,disease, and poor food, with the threat of the lash or the gallows if they showed rebellion 一enough to break even the proudest man's spirit. <79> □ I'm not surprised Featherstone's a widower:any woman's spirit would be broken by life with that old miser! (a) breaking point the place or time at which sth, which is subject to considerable pressure,strain, or stretching, breaks or is likely to break;(fig) a similar moment when sb loses, or is about to lose, his courage, patience, control of his temper, etc V: be at, be near to, reach o Some of these special nylon mountaineering ropes have a breaking point considerably higher than those of the old type. o The reaction to this news was too much for a nervous system which must have been already strung to breaking point. EM o Iwarn you that my patience is at breaking point.I won't stand for much more of this behaviour.□(stage directions) (Alison carries on with her ironing. This is routine, but she is getting close to breaking point, all the same.) LBA (at) break-neck speed [A (PrepP)] with the greatest speed that one can manage, often dan-gerously fast S: drive, move, dash along o He flung himself into the car and drove off at break-neck speed to fetch the doctor.□(the announce-ment of the Prix Goncourt) All bookshops which have any intellectual pretensions clear their best windows and stand ready to welcome in the winner as it arrives with the break-neck speed of a stop-press edition. UTN ◇ △ break one 's neck (doing sth/ to do sth). a breath of fresh air [Comp/O (NP)] an op-portunity for breathing in or from the open air.(eg by leaving a stuffy enclosed house or room,by opening a window, etc);(fig)(sb or sth that makes) a refreshing and welcome change V: be、seem like; want, get o Nonsense! One can 't stay shut up in here for ever. I want a breath of fresh air. EMo Graham had stopped the car, saying that it was a fine night and what about a breath of fresh air?TGLY□ Amid the clamour of the oil lobby and other interested parties, this (the refusal by 60 per cent of Detroit constituents to accept a tax cut for themselves) came like a breath of fresh air. To note that the title of the novel‘A Breath of French Air’(one of the sources used in the compilation of this diction-ary) is a play on this expression. the breath of life signs of breathing in a per-son's body as an indication that he is still alive,surviving etc; (fig) sth that invigorates one,gives(new) meaning to one`s life or actions □Actually Nora would have stayed chained to her husband's bedside, had it kept the breath of life in him a second longer. NMo ' Doesn't your hus-band get tired of being so much in the public eye?"' Oh no, on the contrary; it's the breath of life to him.'o In this fiery demagogue. opposition to all established order had become the very breath of life. a breath of wind(any indication or sign of)a light amount of wind, a little breeze o Not a breath of wind rose to stir the dense fog which had settled over the snow-bound countryside. EM□ ' Lovely day, isn't it?'' Yes, too hot, almost. We could do with a breath of wind.'o It was a likely-looking lake, but wet-fly fishing is hopeless in a dead calm. Had there been even a breath of wind to ruffle the surface, we might have had some luck.□A breath of wind stirred the sails—a welcome change after being stuck two (a) breaking point— bridle one's tongue miles offshore all afternoon in a dead calm. o often neg or implied neg, as in examples. breathe fire and slaughter etc[V + O]threaten to destroy and kill sb, to punish, to take reprisals etc; (facetious) become angry.make a great deal of fuss, and perhaps intend to take some positive action O: fire and slaughter,△fire and brimstone, fire and venom口(source)And Saul, yet breathing out threpermings and siaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest. ACTS IX I D This was the mouth of the cannon, which seldom breathes forth anything but threatening and siaughter,made to speak the language of affection and sor-row of parting friends. Lo Some kids had got in and mucked up the Labs. The Head's breathing fire and slaughter, but he hasn't found the culp-rits yet.□(fishermen`s rights) Rampant Scottish peers have emerged from their glens breathing fire and brimstone. The 20-odd Tory MPs with fishing constituencies are looking distinctly un-happy. SC□ His fortunes were closely linked with a legendary figure called Moses Idwal Valentine.now dead, who dominated the Manchester police force and breethed fire and venom. ST breathe one's last[V + O] die, or be about to die □ Her condition worsened during the night and towards midday the following day she breathed her last.□ When you come to breathe your last, you may be sorry to have this cruelty on your conscience. I euphemism. breathe etc a sigh of relief [V + O pass]inhale or exhale a breath of air, perhaps aud-ibly, as an indication of one's relief after a mo-ment, or situation, of some danger etc V:breathe, △ give, heave, prep: with o Brigit breathed a sigh of deep relief as she heardNicky shrilly making some explanation, and then the rapid patter of feet approaching the door. DC□ A sigh of relief arose from the crowd as the fireman reappeared with the child in his arms and prepared to descend. □The leaves of the gallant thorn trees looked as if they were about to crum-ble to ashes, and greeted the sunset with a sigh of relief that was echoed in our own exhausted senses. LWKo Windbags and bigots who heaved a sigh of relief when Tom Driberg left the House of Commons had better get back under cover again. NS o variant a sigh of relief arose. bricks and mortar [n + n non-rev] a house or houses, buildings in general, esp as a physical,concrete reality or as objects with a value suit-able for the investment of money o This place has a mellowness about it, although the new town is only about forty years old, proving that bricks and mortar alone do not make a city. BMo On the left, half-hidden by pines, there was the big-gest house I'd seen in Warley. It was a physical extension of Jack, at least fifty thousand pounds'worth of bricks and mortar stating his superior-ity over me as a suitor. RATT o People always used to tell me: put your money in bricks and mortar, there's nothing safer. So I bought my house. TVT bridle one's tongue [V + O pass] restrain oneself from speaking too frankly, too rudely,etc; watch/ mind one's tongue (qv) o ' It is a relief to be able to talk plainly. My wife tells me that its lack is, well, one of my faults,’ She smiled. ' And I am told that, given a year or so,I 79 <80> bright and early—a Bronx cheer am to be cured of it— taught to bridle my ton-gue. ' TT o His language is appallingly coarse sometimes. He might at least try to bridle his tongue in front of the children. o also pl; often as to-inf after another v as in try, learn, seem unable, be asked, to bridle one's tongue. bright and early [A (adj + adj non-rev)] early in the morning, before most people have got up from bed V: be up, get up; emerge, start work o‘Yes, it's true. I heard it on the 7 o' clock news.’' Goodness, you must have been up bright and early this morning!" o There's no sense in my getting up bright and early if you' re going to sleep half the morning. the bright lights(the glamour of) city life; big cities thought of as centres of entertainment and opportunities for enjoyment o' Well, a week tonight and it' ll be back to the bright lights. '' Don't talk of it,' he groaned. 'I wish Icould stay here for ever.’ o I’ ve never really been lured by the proverbial bright lights. Acting never really struck me as all that glamorous. OBSa bright spark [Comp(NP)](informal)a lively and intelligent person, esp one who is young and expected to do well, ega child, pupil, junior member of a profession, etc V:△be, regard sb as, think sb to be o ' She's a bright spark, that littlest one of George's, isn't she?'' Yes, she's a lively child.'o I heard a Conservative Member— and one who would undoubtedly consider himself among the brighter sparks of the back benches—— give it as his settled opinion thatHeath's chances of gaining the necessary major-ity first time round were three to one on. NS□ Tell them they' ve got to do the sum themselves, as an initiative test, and some bright spark' ll usually save your face by coming up with the answer.□frequently used ironically, esp with some, as in last example. bring sb (bad/ good) luck [V + 10 + 0] be the cause of sb having a special, almost super-naturalorsuperstitious,advantage/disadvantage o I wish we had never left our old home. This house has brought us nothing but bad krc k ever since we moved into it. o AuntAnnabel had found a black kitten, plump and playful, and if no owner turned up perhaps Brid-get would like it. It would bring her luck. DCoThe stalls were full of charms and bracelets that,if you listened to the salesman, would bring good luck to everybody who bought them. oThey say that breaking a mirror brings one seven years' bad luck, and I started mine in two seconds flat by cutting my finger on one of the pieces. □ bring sb luck = ‘bring sb good luck’.broach the subject etc[V + 0 pass]introduce a topic, suggestion, request etc for the first time O: subject, matter; idea, topic; the question(of an increase in salary, our marriage)o Now, he knew, was the time to broach the matter. The only question was, should he give her the present before or afterwards?o It was no use making for the door because I still had to broach the subject of her taking a job inAmerica. SPL a ' Are your parents quite willing that you should study in London?’‘I haven’ t broached the subject with them yet.'o often followed by (of sth) to/ with sb; often used when one is not confident of a favourable response.(in) broa d daylight [A (PrepP)] (in) the full light of day;(fig)(do sth in) daylight or public conditions which make it unexpected,outrageous or unsafe o The Eshobi path is bad enough in broad daylight, but by night it is a death-trap. BB□/ thought with bitter regret of the time she had been a stranger to me and I wouldn't have cared if she'd walked the streets naked in broad daylight. RATTo Nobody on the site had questioned their authority to move the caravan and they drove off with it in broad daylight.□Ihad intended to be up before the dawn, but whenI awoke it was broa d daylight. broaden etc one's horizons [V + O pass]enlarge the range of one's interests, knowledge,attitudes, activities etc V: broaden, △enlarge,extend. widen o They must spread their wings a little. They must make friends in many places.Nothing widens one's horizons like having friends. PW□ There are too many specialists urg-ing the concert-goer to extend his horizons and widen his perspectives when all they mean is, you must like what I like.’ To Children in stories tend to have drama in their lives which real children are, in general, denied. To this extent, all story-books, whether ' education-oriented' or not, serve to broaden the horizons of young readers. oOne's horizons are inevitably eniarged through contacts with people from other countries. broken/ fractured English imperfect Eng-lish, as spoken by sb to whom it is a foreign language not yet mastered □ (source) KINGHENRY: ' Therefore, queen of all, Katharine,break thy mind to me in broken English, wilt thou have me?’ KATH: ' Dat is as it shall please de roi mon père.'HENRYV,V2□' Who are you?" they asked in French. ' Ah, English,' they murmured and changed gear into broken English. BMo TheBrazilian Alberto Cavalcanti, despite his frac-tured English, made a number of films at Eal-ing. ST a broken home a home, or family back-ground, in which the parents are divorced or separated o Many of the boys who come before the Juvenile Courts are from broken homes, but by no means all of them.□After all the bitterness of the divorce, Lesley had to pull herself together and ensure that her children survived the handi-cap of a broken home. a broken marriage a marriage which has ended in the divorce or separation of the part-ners o He is a man who has always learnt to count the pennies and to risk the pounds. That's why he's not a member of the Country Club——nothing to do with his broken marriage. OMIH□He had thirty years to look back on, he thought bitterly, with nothing to show for them but a ruined career and a broken marriage.口 also pl.a broken reed [Comp/o (NP)] sb or sth likely to fail when his or its strength is tested, usu because of some prior stress or experience V: be;lean on, trust in, be let down by □(source) Lo,thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, onEgypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. ISAIAH XXXVI6o After the scandal he continued to hold high office, but even the most naturally sycophantic of his colleagues avoided close involvement, regarding him as a broken reed. o also pl. a Bronx cheer [O/o (NP)] (esp US) a vulgar sound produced by the air being forced through 80 <81> tight lips; ironic applause, generally in disapproval and intended to be offensive (from the Bronx, a district of New York)V: give, get;greet sb with, respond with o The Chancellor's plea that additional measures to pump extra money into state investment would keep the in-crease in the dole queues lower got the Westmin-ster equivalent of a Bronx cheer from theLabour benches. Go When the referee awarded the title to the winner. the crowd, who disagreed with him to a man, gave him the Bronx cheer.brook no delay etc[V + O] be such as not to allow for any delay etc S: situation, crisis; plan,scheme. O: delay, △ hesitation, inefficiency,interference, vagueness on I thought this over for a week and then decided that I wouldn't wait;Janet Prentice might well be in trouble that would brook no delay. RFWo With satisfaction he noticed himself becoming accepted and integrated into the community of the hospital,finding his place in a society that brooked no vagueness as to questions of society. HD one's brother's/ sb's keeper [Comp (NP)]acknowledge responsibility for sb's conduct or welfare V: △ be, become o (source) And theLord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? GENESIS IV9□ But I'd stopped thinking about Alice and I was walking steadily. I wasn'tAlice's keeper; let George take care of whatever guilt there was to bear. RATTo' Charity begins at home, let me remind you,' she stormed. ' You' re so busy being every Tom, Dick and Harry's keeper, you' ve no time for your own family.'o often neg. (a) brute fact/ necessity (a) fact/ necessity which is harsh and inescapable o ' Brute necessities' , the more pressing hardships of working life, have been greatly lessened. UL o(Mescalin visions) are the stuff of which the mind's antipodes are made. It is a brute fact of experience which, whether we like it or not, we have to accept. HAHo That's nothing to shudder at. Brute necessity has driven men to stranger diets than raw fish, I can tell you. brute force/ strength physical power which is unallied to skill, judgement, intelligence etc oOn the whole, then, strong emotions may prepare us for the primitive type of battle in which brute strength and endurance and speed of flight determine survival. SNPo He couldn't break the rock for all his brute strength, but Jake, who had been a quarryman, picked up his mallet and broke it neatly into four pieces. □ The bout was a classic example of br ute force meeting more than its match in boxing skill and experience. the buck stops here responsibility, or blame,is accepted here, and will not be passed on to sb else o Harry Truman (US President 1945-53)had a sign on his desk reading ' The buck stops here.’ NSa The Armed Forces may curse them(politicians) and try to overawe them and blind them with science and appeal to emotive con-siderations of prestige and morale, but they know very well where the buck stops, and they don't(on the whole) try to cheat. STo Glib talk of the need to summon a five-power conference‘to reach a sensible and humane solution’(to the war in Vietnam) is simply evasive nonsense. The harsh truth is that the buck started here and that brook no delay etc— bully for sb it stops here as well. NS ◇ pass the buck. a bucket shop (derogatory) premises where unauthorised betting or gambling takes place;(fig) an organization dealing in the sale of stocks and shares without the legal sanction of membership of a StockExchange;a travel agency which sells very cheaply esp air tickets obtained by the agency by semi-legal means □That company! Well, Brian may call them stock-brokers but I say the firm's a bucket shop.□ ... the doubtful fucts and figures of the claim-jumper turned administrator——a more bloody cooked-up set of figures I' ve never seen even in a bucket-shop circular. HAA□ The fortunes won and lost in the Australian mineral share market in the late sixties suggest that the gap between the respectable stock-broker and the bucket shop operator maynot be as wide as one may like to suppose.□ also pl; attribus e a bucket(-) shop circular, operator etc. a buffer state/ zone[Comp (NP)] a country,or area, situated between two powerful forces which are likely otherwise to be in conflict V:△be, act as; constitute, represent a It was on the tip of my tongue to say that I didn't want to act.as a buffer state between him and Ned, but Ididn't say it. CON□ A buffer state, should it cease to function as such, may well find itself the battleground of opposing forces. o Recent research in Brazil has highlighted the importance of the mangove swamps as a buffer zone bet-ween the sea or the Amazon and the dense forest.□ also pl. Buggins' turn (informal) the procedure whereby posts are given not to those most cap-able of filling them but to relatively mediocre candidates as a reward for long and undistin-guished service o Nowhere is the principle ofBuggins' turn more firmly established than in the Labour movement —— and the great psychological strength of X's position is that,.having run for the office six times, he's regarded as having earned it. NS□ When the results of the election were known, James, who had been nar-rowly defeated, made no secret of his annoyance at being the victim of Buggins' turn. □ Buggins is an invented name which to English ears is both undistinguished and slightly comic; often preceded by the principle of. bulk large[V + Comp] be a prominent, or the main, item in some context or perspective;(fig)dominate sb's thinking on some subject A: on the horizon; in sb's mind, in sb's thoughts, in the public eye □ Coming back on deck, he was surprised to find that the island so dimly discern-ed an hour ago now bulked larged on the horizon. of think I can guess what bulks largest in your mind at the moment. A comfortable chair and a long cool drink. ILIHo If retirement were not buiking so large on the horizon he might have risked the investment.□ The population ex-plosion is another threat which builds large in the public eye at the moment. bully for sb (informal) a mocking expression of approval or praise; well done! bravo! good for sb(!) (qv) o ' Out of a Hole' gives every intimation that it is the work of the most exciting novelist to come along in years.' Well, bully forPeabody, even though he must have been dead out (ie drunk) to write that. JFTR□'I told him I 81 <82> the burden/ onus of proof— the business end (of sth) had better things to do with my money than help people who can't help themselves.’ Bully for you, I hope you' re pleased with yourself. I dare-say you are.’ o stress pattern bully for ' sb.. the burden/ onus of proof the obligation to prove sth claimed V: be upon, fall upon, lie on;rest with o The rule under which, in criminal prosecutions, the burden of proof lay throughout on the prosecution was approved by the Supreme Soviet and written into the code.OBS □ The onus of proof rests with him. If he cannot make good his claim that you were present, there is no need for you to prove you were not. o usu functions as S of clause. burn one's boats/ bridges (behind one)take some irrevocable step and thereby commit oneself to a course of action; leave oneself with no means of escape □ ALISON:I was cut off from the kind of people I'd always known, my family,my friends, everybody. And I'd burnt my boats.After all those weeks of brawling with Mummy and Daddy about Jimmy, I knew I couldn't ap-peal to them without looking foolish and cheap.LBA□' Perhapsit' sapityyouburnedyourboats.'' That's possible,' said Martin. ' Perhaps it wasn't sensible to invest your future in one man.'NM o(NONCE) So he was really doing it. Putting a match to his boat s and bridges right in front of my eyes. CONo' You' ve sold your house before you' ve got your emigration clearance to go toAustralia?'' Yes, It's the only way I' ll have the courage actually to go—I just had to burn my boats behind me. " burn the candle at both ends exhaust, or make too great a demand on, one's physical or mental resources by overwork or over-indulgence in some activity o It's a bit silly going away on a day-trip after you' ve been on night duty. In this kind of job you can't burn the candle at both ends. o At the end of each termI'd go home to my parents with all the symptoms of someone who has well and truly burnt the candle st bothends: a permanent hangover, not a penny in my pocket, and a desperate need to catch up on lost sleep. burn one's fingers[V + O pass] cause oneself trouble or harm through miscalculation,foolishness etc o I don't like artists in public life.and when the artist is as good at his art and as old a friend as you, I hate it. Not only because you inevitably mess things about, but because I don't like to see you burn your fingers. HAAa I'm not going to interfere with people's private lives any more, even in the most well-meaning way. My fingers have been burnt once too often. o If you' ve never played the stockmarket this is not the time to start, You' re liable to get your fingers burnt.口 variant get one's fingers burnt. burn the midnight oil [V + O] stay awake late into the night, esp to work or study o l expect you' ll be burning the midnight oil for the next week or two, getting ready for your exams. o I doubled whether, even with much burning of the midnight oil, I could assemble the anthology by the deadline suggested. the burning question a question whose ans-wer is hotly debated or on which a great deal depends □ Entry or non-entry into the EuropeanCommon Market was one of the burning ques-tions in British politics in the early 1970s. o It's 82 not whether we can get a good meal at TheApéritif or not, but whether we could pay for it if we did—— that's the burning question. the burnt child dreamds/ fear s the fire(say-ing) one is unwilling to repeat an experience which one has found to be unpleasant; once bitten, twice shy(qv)□ He would be better off getting married again, but I suppose it's a case of the burnt child fearing the fire. His first mar-riage was a disaster.□The boy's had a fright, but it' ll do him no harm. The burnt child drends the fire, so he's not likely to make the same mistake again. bury sb alive [V + O + Comp pass] cover sb totally with earth, rubble etc, though without killing them (after an explosion, cave-in etc);(fig) live in obscure, or confined, circumstances□ TONY: It is the night Mother refers to in her in-imitable way as The Night The Bomb Fell. MIKE:Yes. And your father and your mother were buried alive for hours. EHOWo I couldn't under-stand why a man who had always been so fond of the social scene should suddenly want to bury himself alive in a one-horse village at the back of nowhere. a We don't have the feeling of being buried alive here because so many of our friends come to visit us. D often pass. bury the hatchet [V+ O pass] come to friend-ly or peaceful terms with sb else; make some gesture to signify the end of hostility between two people, groups, sides in an argument o(headline) Bury The Hetchet Serious efforts are now being made by both Bulgaria and Yugos-lavia to put their relations on a better footing. SC□ I had acquainted Hugo with something which he needed to know, and we had exchanged not unfriendly words. But it is possible to break the ice (qv) without burying the hatcher. a Those two are the best of friends now. The hatchet was buried years ago. bury the past[V + O pass] deliberately forget about, cover or break one's connections with,sth or everything that has happened in the past;let bygones be bygones(qv)o But I thought the past was the past. I was too optimistic. You andI are not like the people here—— we have no con-fessional box where we can bury the bad past.OMIHo Well, let's admit there were mistakes on both sides; we' ll bury the past and try to make a fresh start. o With the marriage of their child-ren, the two families could finally look on the past as being buried, and their reconciliation was complete. (the) bush telegraph a mysterious, unof-ficial way of conveying information or rumour□ By the way, I have it by bush telegraph thatDavy, Brian and their pals are proposing to descend upon us for Whitsun. o The company's collapse came as a shock to none of its em-ployees. Even at our obscure provincial depot the bush telegraph had brought the news that all was not well at head office. the business and (of sth) (informal) the part of a tool, instrument, weapon etc with which one performs its particular function o:tin-opener, spade; gun, rifle o We used to have a way of testing whether there was any guts left in a battery. What we did was to lay our longues on the little brass strip at the business end. If there was any juice remaining, then we used to <83> the business in hand by anybody's/ ub's standarde xci u tingling feeling in our tongues. TOLYo And'she avoided answering — this time by fussing ab oui with the window opener, getting it behind the cupboard without breaking any of the bulbs and shades with the business end. TT o Emerg-ing cautiously, but not cautiously enough, from cover, I found myself looking down the busi-noss and of a double-barrelled gun. the business in hand [O/o (NP)] the matter or topic being dealt with or discussed at the time of speaking V: state, summarize; complete;attend to, get down to, get on with, return to oThe proceedings were then opened by Lydia, who briefly stated the business in hand, namely to choose a secretary and treasurerfor the Commit-tee . WDM□ This is neither the time nor the place to exercise your wit, my boy. Kindly settle down,and attend to the business in hand.□Instead of getting on with the business in hand, he worked out a hundred and one futile schemes intended to save time in the end. business is business(saying)(justify oneself in) refusing to be diverted from some business arrangement, or opportunity, on such grounds as friendship, family ties, sentiment, pity etc□The real victim of this crisis should be the neo-colonial myth and its rhetoric. Business is business. NS □ Certainly. I' ll be sorry to see them put out on the street. But business is business, and they haven't paid any rent for two months now. a busman's holiday a holiday, or leisure time, spent in doing the same kind of thing as one does at work □ (a journalist in Ireland) /thought I would make it a busman's holiday and write up my visit to the ' Cork Examiner'(= a paper), so I sat down and in half an hour I had done my piece. PP□I'm not going to let you help with the washing-up. You get enough of that at home without making a busman's holiday of your evening out. but good [A] (informal) very well, efficiently,thoroughly etc o And out of the door, out of it,out of the stale sweet stink, away from the words on the wall which showed the staff were known but good, ‘taped’ as the kitchen (ie kitchen staff) said. TT□' Shall Iget rid of him, boss?'' Yes.you get rid of him but good!' to when used after an imper, as in last example, it carries the threat of punishment in case of failure. but me no buts (saying) do not offer any ob-jections or modifications to what I have said,ordered etc o 'I' ve already seen it, son, ' he said.' Doesn't apply to me.' ' But Mr Collins---'' But me no buts, ' he said.' You just take it round to the others.'TTo These are my orders, and I want you to but me no buts; just get along and do asI say. buy it/ that [V + O] (informal) believe, accept a proposal, explanation, suggestion (the im-plication often being that such a belief or accep-tance is likely to prove misguided)□(Working class people) are cheerfully cagey((informal) =distrustful) towards both the leaders of the big battalions and their big words:‘Ah’ m (= I’ m)not buying that, they say. ULo' And I'm very grateful to you, Ron. I want to give you a nice present.' Ron relented a little. ' All right,' he said,'I' ll buy it. ' HAAo 'I' ll tell him a pigeon flew in at the window and knocked his precious vase never'' And do you really think he' ll buy that?'buy a pigin a poke [V+ O](saying) purchase sth or agree to sth without first having an op-portunity to judge its value or all the relevant facts □' Well I' ll take it now.'' You mustn't buy a pig in a poke.' he said. ' You mightn't like it.'PWo ' This is an entirely new type of appointment and we don't know exactly how it will work.'' So if I accept it,' I replied, ' I am buying a pig in a poke?'o(NONCE) Until the wells are sunk nobody will know for sure whether or not this is bonanza time for the oil industry, but it would be surpris-ing if every poke were opened without there being a fairly plump pig at the bottom of several of them. NS by accident [A (PrepP)] as a result of a chance or a mishap, rather than through a plan or ar-rangement; by chance (qv); as chance will/would have it (qv); as it happens/ happened(qv); as(good/ ill) luck would have it(qv)o You might cut yourself by accident; you wouldn't cut yourself on purpose. a Completely by accident my uncle happened to be booked into the same hotel as I was. ◇ by design; on purpose. by/ from all accounts [Disj (PrepP)] accord-ing to all available information; according to what has been said or reported o My mother's family had been in Africa since the European beginning. By all accounts more restless, bold and adventurous than most, they had always been in the forefront of what we called ' progress'.LWK□ / had never met him; he was clearly a fine soldier. But from all accounts he was complete-ly worn out and needed a rest. MFMo The hotel was, from all accounts, very well run as far as the comfort of the guests was concerned. a front,middle or end position. by all means [Disj/A (PrepP)] of course; cer-tainly; please do □ ' That leaves us just enough time for our little chat before lunch,' returnedRogers equably. ' By all means, Sergeant. Irepeat, I am at your service. 'EMo He sat down again. ' Look, Norah,' he said, 'I' ll come straight to the point if I may.’ By all means.’ TT□ Con-scious now of the pitfalls spread around him,Harold said warily, ' If you think there is anything to be gained by telling me, by all means do.’ pw□ used as way of agreeing to, or strengthening,an invitation, suggestion, instruction etc; not to be confused with by every means, where means=‘methods of achieving an object’. ◇ by no means. by any chance [Disj (PrepP)] perhaps; con-ceivably; possibly o You know Ernie Ollershaw?Not in the game yourself by any chance? Don't get me wrong. I mean the straight ((informal)= legal) side of it. HD D I was wondering if by any chance you could lend me five pounds until the end of next week? o used in wording of a question when the speaker wishes,either from politeness or caution, not to appear to know what answer he will get.◇ △ by chance. by anybody's/ sb's standards [A (PrepP)]according to anybody's/ some particular per-son's scale of values; according to views or tastes which are generally held or held by a particular individual or group o ' Thirly years ago,’ he said, handing the paper back to me.' That's alvi of years judged by maybody's sten- 83 <84> by and by—— by/ in fits and swarts derds. ’ PP□ Internationally famous teams such as Real Madrid are expensive to run by our star. dards, but because of the prestige they have won and the crowds they have shown that heavy expenditure can be financially rewarding. SC. by and by [A] in the near future; after a little time o You' ll be getting married and having a family by and by, and then you' ll understand why parents want to protect their children. oYoung Smith on his first day was sent to the ga lley to try his apprentice hand at peeling the potatoes. By and by the captain came down. SDo' Things are bound to get better by and by.'' Oh yes, I' ve heard that before—— everything will be all right in the sweet by and by'o sometimes used as n, esp the sweet by-and-by, from(source) In the sweet by-and-by/ We shall meet on that beautiful shore. HYMNS (S R BEN-NETT 1836-1898)— expression now normally has ironic overtones. by chance[A(PrepP)] accidentally, fortuitous-ly, unpredictably etc rather than through some plan or arrangement; by accident (qv); as chance will/ would have it (qv); as it happens/happened(qv); as (good/ ill) luck would have it(qv)V: find, discover, notice, sb; come on, come across, meet; happen, come about o He sees each star formed from many blobs of relatively high density travelling at random and at super-sonic speed through the turbulent cloud, converg-ing by chance, coalescing and compressing one another. NS□ Karma is a theosophical belief that nothing happens by chance but forms part of a continuous chain of cause and effect. o 'I didn't try to get off with your girl-friend,' he protested.I just ran into her by chance on the way home from the library.' by design; on purpose;any chance. by common consent[A(PrepP)] as agreed by all concerned; as a result of an unspoken agree-ment, perhaps following custom D Anyone stands a chance of becoming a headman. Ap-pointment is by common consignt, and except by mistake will not be given to a man who seeks government by his own will. NDNoBy common consent the ladies remained in the room after dessert. EM by/ in comparison (with sb/ sth) [Conj(PrepP)] when, if, sb/ sth is compared with sb/sth else o It seems quite a lot of money to me but in comparison with the sums you handle every day it's nothing. o Hughes was a totally un-scrupulous villain. By comparison, his brother,for all his faults, seemed a positive angel. o by comparison often used without with to express contrast, as in last example. by courtesy of sb [A(PrepP)](formal) by the kind permission, or favour, of sb or of some group;(fig) by the agency of sb or sth(the im-plication often being that sth has been given or lent free of charge)□ No less than eighteen of the pictures currently exhibited at the Gallery are there by courtesy of Lady Mercer. a Liquor was paid for at the bar but coffee and soft drinks were served by courtesy of the management. by definition [A(PrepP)](establish that sb or sth has some characteristic) because it is an essential aspect of sb's or sth's identity, func-tion, name or description o For the intellectual is by definition the man for whom, in Goethe's phrase, the word is essentially fruitful.'DOPo'l don't look upon myself as an intellectual. I just teach five hours a day and enjoy myself in the evenings like everyone else.’‘But you’ re a graduate, so you' re an intellectual by definition!'by design [A (PrepP)] intentionally; as planned; on purpose (qv) V: do sth, happen,meet o By some fatality, certainly not by design,this doctrinaire apron(ie a poster pinned to her person) collapsed twice more at the very moment when I happened to be the person nearest to her.AH□ Three times Wilson had been on the spot to thwart his plans. Whether or not this was by design, further interference could not be tolerated. ◇ by accident; by chance. by dint of sth [A(PrepP)] through, as a result of, (doing) sth o: expenditure; application,patience,(hard) work o Many men and women of mediocre capacity used to manufacture an annual novel. By dint of repetition and with luck,many of them made some kind of name for them-selves. AHo The police had now, by dint of per-sistent enquiry over several weeks, obtained enough evidence to convict.□o normally refers to some action which is laborious or tedious. by fair mans or foul [A(adj + adj non-rev)]by any available method, regardless of whether the chosen method is honest or not; by hook or by crook(qv)V: get, win, sth; beat, catch, trap,sb o A foreign agent forgets about codes of honour; by fair news or foul, he is expected to bring home the information. a And if you want a salmon, or a couple of rabbits to take home with you, just say so, and I' ll get them—— by fair means or fowl. o(NONCE) I want that site andI' ve offered him a reasonable price for it. I' ve tried fair mmess, but I won't hesitate to use foul.by far the best etc/(the) best etc by far[Comp (AdjP)](the) best etc to, or by, a great degree V:△be, become, seem. adj:(the) best,△ better; (the) worst, worse; (the) greatest,greater;(the) smallest, smaller o It seemed to me to be by far the best hiding place for a suitcase on the top floor of Coombergana. RFWo Over-spending in the fashion shops is by far their big-ge st temptation. TOo Shanghai's population is greater by far than that of any other Chinese city, outstripping that of Peking by three million.□Of the two poems the young man submitted for the competition, the shorter was by far the better. by the fire(side)/ round the fire [A(PrepP)] beside, or near, the fire used for heat-ing a room;(fig) at home; in domestic comfortV: fall asleep, relax, sit, stay o This was Rosa's father's Sunday afternoon, and he had been spending it as he always did, in his armchair by the fire with the‘News of the World’(a Sunday newspaper) on his knee, fast asleep. HDo He was as completely relaxed as the grey tomcat asleep by the fire with its head on my feet. RATT□Let's not go out tonight. What we need is an evening by our own fireside, just the two of us together.□ It was a really nice, relaxing evening—— the four of us just sat round the fire and chatted. o round the fire used only when a number of people involved as in last example. by/ imfits and starts[A(n + nnon-rev)] spas-modically, irregularly, over a period of time,without any discernible pattern of action V: do 84 <85> by guess and by God— by/ from the look of sb/ sth sth; function, progress; study, talk, work o The other unsolved problem which I had upon my hands was the problem of Mars (a dog), and about this I worried in fits and starts. UTN oHe's been trying to learn Spanish for three years,but I tell him it's no use studying by fits and starts.□ A few seconds later the monkey's eyes would droop once more, her head would start to nod, until eventually, after many fits and Starts and sudden awakenings, her head would sink downwards and rest peacefully on her paws. DFo use without by/ in, as in last example, unusual.by guess and by God [A (n + n non-rev)]through no ability, knowledge, planning of one's own V: achieve, build, do, sth; find one's way; succeed in doing sth o We had no map, andJamieson had damaged the compass in a fall, but by guess and by God we succeeded in making our way through the mist to a spot not far from our destination. o I think this house was built more by guess and by God than anything else.There's hardly a step on the staircase that's the same height as another. by hand [A (PrepP)] by personal messenger,rather than through the official postal service;using one`s hands rather than some form of machinery V: send, deliver, despatch, make, do.sth a If you' re sending that account to old John-son, you'd better get it delivered by hand. He's too fond of claiming that our bills get lost in the post! o Jenny's ballroom dress had over a thousand sequins on it, each of them sewn on by hand.□ We' re trying to preserve the old ways on this farm. We use horses to pull the plough, and milk our cows by hand. □ letters, packages etc to be delivered personally are marked' by hand'.by hook or by crook [A (n + n non-rev)] in whatever way one can, by any available means;by fair means or foul(qv)V: get(hold of); seize,grab; succeed, truimph o And do not worry, my dear Skip, because I will ave ( = have) that pic-ture by' ook(= hook) or bycrook. US□As soon as he heard there was to be an evening party for the impresario, he determined that by hook or by crook he would be present too and get himself introduced. by the hour[A(PrepP)] for hour after hour; for considerable periods at a time o I found myself lying by the hour close to the water, ready to pounce on the new-hooked prizes. BMo Bobby kept all his old comics and sat reading them by the hour. o end position. by intent [A (PrepP)] (informal) quite deliberately, so that one bears full legal or moral blame whether or not one actually suc-ceeds in carrying out one's plan o Yes, you stole the rubies— but I decided to steal them from my employers in the first place. I had already broken faith by intent. ARGa I should say that a man who passed secret documents to the enemy, even though they were false papers plan-ted in the hope that he would pass them on, was still guilty of treason by intent. by itsalf/ oneself'[A (PrepP)] alone; without company; on one`s/ its own'(qv) V: be, go; be situated, stand, adv mod; all, absolutely, com-pletely o ' Why have you followed me? I thoughtI said I wanted to be by myself, she said. PE□My wife hasn't come back with the car yet,I'm beginning to get worried.' ' Did she go by her- self?'a ' Which bottle of wine did you ask me to bring? he shouted from the foot of the stairs.The hock— it's standing all by itself at the far end of the shelf.' by itself/oneself²[A(PrepP)] without help or without anything/ anyone else giving support or power; on one`s/ itsown'(qv)V: work, move; do.lift, make, sth. adv mod; all, absolutely, com-pletely o My room is in the old part of the house.The door opens by itseff if you don't latch it. PWoBaby walked by himself this morning—— all the wayfrom that matto the bookcase.□You' regoing to do yourself an injury some morning. turning that heavy mattress all by yourself! Why can't you ask one of us to give you a hand?□The trouble with these automatic washing machines is that they work happily by themselves for some time hul then suddenly break down. by and large [Disj] taking everything into ac-count; speaking generally; on the whole(qv):oThis is quite a full programme, and by and large surely a sensible one; there is no black magic in ull this, but simply the application of the usual scientific methods. SNP□ He loved me as much as he could love anyone and he was a loving man by and large. ASA □ He may have a cousin who teaches, married a girl in Nottingham and settled there. Bul by and large the family live near and have always lived near; each Christmas Day they all go to tea at Grandma's. UL o non-rev; front,middle or end position. by/ in leaps and bounds [A (n + n non-rev)]at a rapid pace towards higher, larger, faster,better levels or standards S: inflation, popula-tion, prices, scientific knowledge. V: advance,get on, improve, increase, progress□ Publishers are well aware that rumours of possible prosecution of a book on the grounds of obscenity are likely to send the sales up by leaps and bounds. o I thought Johnny was never going to learn to read, but since he got this new teacher he's getting on by leaps and bounds. a TONYGod knows there is material progress. Hundreds of millions of people progressing in leaps and bounds towards a materially-progressive heaven. EHOW by the light of sth [A(PrepP)] in, or with the help of, the light shed by sth V: dress; read, see;study, work. o: the moon, the sun; a candle,a reading lamp o Fuseli got the inspiration for some of his best and wildest pictorial ideas by studying the stalues on Monte Cavallo by the light of the setting sun. HAHoAl night, alone, by the light of his candle, the old man would loving-ly count and recount his miser's hoard. o Rolling ho-o-ome, rolling ho-o-ome| By the light of the silvery moon. STUDENT SONG D variants by day-light, by moonlight. by/ from the look of sb/ sth[A(PrepP)] judg-ing by the appearance of sb/ sth, or from the ap-parent circumstances, surrounding facts, etc o:it, things; the weather; his wife o ' You are a very mystifying young man.' ' Not young. It's you,Professor, who are young by the look of things.OMIH□JO : Is this the wedding group? PETER: My brother's weddıng. JO They only just made it,from the look of his wife. You can tellshe ' sgoing to have a baby. TOHoBy the look of the sky, it's going to rain before the day is over. o David can't be arriving tonight, by the look of it. We' ll wait 85 <86> by means of sth—— by this/ that time another half hour, and then go to bed. by means of sth [A (PrepP)] by using sth or some method; with the help of sth o The general idea is to link up the islands as far as possible with the national road system by moens of a short sea crossing. SC o Two similar sets are used simul-taneously, and communications between the operators are maintained by means of a built-in telephone. NS□Jackson set out to deceive me and only got my agreement by that means. o variant by this/ that means by mistake[A(PrepP)] unintentionally; as the result of misjudgement, carelessness, mishap etc o You can't go on taking tablet after tablet till you' ve taken twenty, by mistake. RFW oWho's going to feed you? Certainly not AuntAnnabel. She would be giving you the cat's meat by mistake. DC. by no means [A (PrepP)] (formal) certainly not; in no way; of course not(qv)□' Am I right in assuming that you too were at Miss Cat-terick's flat on the night in question?' ' By no means.'o It has by no means been proved that' nuclear deterrence' is anything but a basically aggressive and finally disastrous policy. o em-phatic; front or middle position; stress pattern by ' no means. ◇ by all means. by reason of sth [A(PrepP)](formal) because of sth; as a result of sth; on the grounds of sth□ He therefore went up to his study, a room that deserved the name of ' den' more than most, by reerson of its hole-like aspect and the remark-able game y smell coming from the wallpaper.ILIH a Judge Lorne Stewart said that by ression of their refusal to authorise a transfusion the parents were in the legal sense neglecting their child. OBS by return (of post) [A (PrepP)] by the first possible postal delivery after the receipt of a letter, mail-order etc V: fill (an order); get.receive, send,(an answer); reply, respond, write o For a stamped, addressed envelope you could get by return a free sample of custard powder.face powder or flea powder. PPo What cheek! She takes three weeks to acknowledge our invitation and now she wants an answer by return of post!by right of sth [A (PrepP)] on the basis of a right or legal entitlement o: birth, conquest,inheritance; possession, tenure o Warbeck's claims to the English crown by right of birth led to his execution for high treason. o If you and your father before you have pastured cows on this strip of land for fifty years, then I think these two acres are yours by right of tenure. o ' It's all right. Bill,' he said jokingly, T fancied your wife myself, once upon a time, but she's yours by right of conquest now.'ウ △ next entry. by rights [A(PrepP)] according to what should be happening (and, by implication, is not); as would be expected by sb who knew all the facts in the case V: ought to be, should be (doing sth)o Yes, I know I should be in bed by rights. But being in the trade (ie being a doctor) myself, Ithought I could take a few liberties with ward routine. DILo... an aged character who should by rights have been dozing out his days in an olde-worlde almshouse. PP o He took all the credit for making a success of the hotel when, by rights, it should have gone to his wife. ◇ △previous entry. by the same token [Conj(PrepP)] following logically from the same circumstances, or the same argument □ No one can deny that France has as much right to have nuclear weapons asBritain. But, by the same token, every other country can claim the same right. SC by the scruff of one's/ the neck [A(PrepP)] by the loose skin of an animal's neck;(seize or hold sb) by gripping the back of his neck, coat collar etc V: carry, hold, pick up, sb/sth; eject, grab hold, seize o The mother bear has to teach him that blueberries are good to eat. She has little difficulty in doing this; she simply picks him up by the scruff of the neck, carries him to the nearest blueberry bush and dumps him into it.SNP□ And, observing substantial slices of potato adhering to the peel in the bucket, he seizedSmith by the scruff of the neck and kicked him vaguely into the rigging. SD o A second policeman, approaching from the rear, was able to grasp him by the scruff of the neck and the seat of the trousers. o in second sense, always in context of violent or aggressive behaviour. by the skin of one's teeth [A(PrepP)] nar-rowly; by a small margin V: avoid sth, escape;catch a train; pass an examination □ (source)And I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.JOB XIX 20aMYRA: There.(laughing)I' ve done it.Only by the skin of our teeth. EHOWo We had a breakdown on the way and expected to miss the last ferry service; but we caught it by the skin of our teeth.□I made an awful mess of my Maths paper. If I pass, it will only be by the skin of my teeth. □ with, as in source example, not nor-mally used. by some fortunate etc chance/coincidence/ by vshat fortunate etc chance/ coincidence(?) [A (PrepP)] for some reason which one cannot fully explain adj: fortunate, lucky; extraordinary, odd,strange; unfortunate, unhappy a It was a man who had been at college with him,a medical student, but by some odd chance Charles had never learnt his name. HDo I should have missed my connection, but by some fortunete chance the train from Crewe was twelve minutes late. oI thought I was locked out, but by some lucky coincidence I'd forgotten to lock the back door that morning. o Why, it's Williams! By what fortunate chance do we have the doubtful honour of your company? o8y whet unfor-tunate chance he had contracted typhoid fever,he was never to discover. D formal use of relative what in last example; interr use of what in fourth example. by then [A (PrepP)] at a time in the past or the future(when sth else has happened or will have happened); next entry(qv); by the time'(qv)□We didn't manage to get to the shops until the second day of the sales. Wy then, of course. all the best bargains had been sold. □ Phone the family a bit later on. Your father will be home by then and I know he' ll want to have a few words with you. by this/ that time [A (PrepP)] when sth is completed or sb has finished doing sth; next entry(qv); previous entry (qv) o I got out my knitting and Jimmy smoked several cigarettes.By this time Sally had stopped crying. WI ' ll run the car down to the garage and fill her up. By 86 <87> Ly the time—(in) bygone days/ days gone by :为 at time you' ll have read your mail and we can start off . □ this used with reference to past time,that to past future time. by the time' [A (PrepP)] when some process has been completed, or an event has taken place; previous entry(qv); by then(qv) □ Her breakfast tray was obviously prepared by NurseEllen with great care. By the time it came inBrigit was ready for the comfort of food and hot coffee. SCo By the time we got to GoldhawkRoad it was nearly dark. UTNo Not so long ago it used to be thought that if a person was not aSocialist by the time he was 21, he had no heart.o followed by finite clause usu without that. by the time² [A (PrepP) as a result of some action or series of events o By the time she’ d paid her rent, and her electricity bills she had little left from her pension for food. □ Be quiet,you fool! By the time you' ve finished banging about on the bottom of the boat there won't be a fish left on this side of the bay. O followed by finite clause usu without that. by trial and error [A(PrepP)] using a process of adjusting methods, eliminating errors, until the correct answer, method, solution is foundV: discover, demonstrate, prove o Teachers in every field of psycho-physical skill, from seeing10 tennis from tightrope walking to prayer, have discovered, by trial and error, the conditions of optimum functioning within their special fields.OOP□(trying to please a lover) Then, by trial and error, she had discovered the personality he liked---or so she thought; but was she really his creation?PW□Trialanderror calculations of this kind are particulary suited to an electronic com-puter, which can work out the amount of earth-shifting necessary for three miles of road in an hour——a tremendous saving in time and effort.NSC □ attrib use a trial and error calculation;trial and error non-rev. by turns [A (PrepP)] alternately; turn and turn about c /t was a grey drizzling September morn-ing, muggy and cold by turns. RATT □ She was laughing and crying by turns for the best part of half an hour. by virtue of sth [A(PrepP)](formal) because of sth; by reason of sth; by the authority or influence conferred by sth □ Nor does it mean that this very uniqueness of the individual cannot be studied. He is unique by virtue of his social upbringing, his schooling, his sex, his age, his genetic inheritance and so on. MFF□She selected four(keys) and putting them in the black suede handbag which, perhaps by virtue of her office.she always carried about the house, descended toCharmian's bedroom. MM by the way/ by [Disj (PrepP)] incidentally; in passing(qv)o' He's absolutely demented about me, said Susie. ‘By the way,’ she said, ’ how did you know I wanted a caretaker?'UTNo' By the way, I nearly forgot, Lumley,' she said as he held the door open for me to get out of the car, my husband wants you to meet the 2.45 at the sta-tion.’ HDo‘I won’ t be in next Tuesday evening.by the by, she added, in case you were thinking of calling then. 'o by the by used less frequently than by the way; introduces a topic not im-mediately connected with the preceding topic of discussion. iny/ from the way (that) [A (PrepP)] judging by, from, the behaviour of sb/ sth or some other evidence V: conclude, judge; know, realize; see,tell o She had a bad conscience, though, I could see from the way she avoided my eye. UTNo The petrol gauge didn't work properly but I thought by the way the indicator was jumping about that the tank was nearly empty. by way of sth' [A (PrepP)] by a route which includes a specifically named place; (fig) by following some development or process which involves sth named V: come, get (there), go,travel o But there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen,/ Before we go to Paradise by way of Kensal Green (a London suburb).THE ROLLING ENGLISH ROAD (G K CHESTERTON1874-1936)o I can easily come home by way of thePost Office and get your stamps.□Of the writers who matter today, all must go to Wyndham's by wé y of Wigan Pier(ie achieve success in the theatre through works of social realism likeGeorge Orwell's‘The Road to Wigan Pier’).DPM o The opponents of comprehensive educa-tion point with some justification to the fact that the high road to success in the sixties was viaOxford and Cambridge by way of a first-rate grammar school. by way of sth²[A(PrepP)] as a kind of sth; as a particular version of sth; in the way of sb/ sth(qv) o: apology, greeting, payment; justifica-tion, holiday; payment; supporting evidence □It looked quite a cosy little domestic picture, but,by way of greeting, he started straight away to grumble about having to have a fire at all. CONoNoel and Colin, by way of a complete change.criticised Mr Justice Stareleigh's ruling inRegina v Stickleback. WDMo But you must have a rest. What are you thinking of doing by way of a holiday this year? by word of mouth[A (PrepP)] as a spoken message, esp as contrasted with other means of communication V: hear (about sth), learn(about sth), get to know(about sth); pass(from one person to another) a The rapid growth of group therapy slimming clubs stems not from massive advertising campaigns, but basically by word of mouth, from women who have lost weight through attending the classes. SC aI'm so pleased you' ve been able to come this evening,and I hope you didn't mind getting your invitation by word of mouth, but I didn't know how to contact you. o Do you mean that it's only a word-of-mouth transaction so far? That there's no written contract? o in attrib use, a word-of-morth transaction, by not included.(in) bygone days/ days gone by[A(PrepP)](in) the past (the reference being to ancient or recent times o t to an earlier period in one's life)□ A girl could be worked like a slave in these hotels for£15a year. But these are bygone days and thank God for it. OBS o (The Islanders)regard law and order as their natural enemies. Of course, they used to be pirates in days gone by.RMo In days gone by it was usual for the other directors to talk inaudibly at board meetings.thus convincing the chairman that he was going deaf. PL a I would not wish to survive all my friends, and become a recluse living on memories of days gone by. RT o front, middle or end position; stress pattern (in) ' bygone days, (in)days gone ' by. 87 <88> C cakes and ale[n+ n non-rev] material com-forts, merry-making etc in contrast to a severe or ascetic style of life. □ Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale? TWELFTH NIGHT II 3o There's no point in arranging a home-coming party for AuntElizabeth. She'd be more likely to appreciate a prayer-meeting than cakes and ale.□ Going in for beauty contests at this level is not all cakes and ale. We' ve got a lot to think about. O often modified by not all as in last example. a calamity Jane(informal) a pessimistic per-son who is always expecting the worst to hap-pen, exaggerates fears, enjoys telling tales of woe, etc o I' ve not been nearly as ill as my aunt made out. She's a real clamity Jang; you' ve only got to catch a bad cold for her to start think-ing of coffins. □ During a very minor outbreak of typhoid fever in Aberdeen a few years ago, there were quite a few Caiemity Janes in other parts of the country who wouldn't accept mail post-marked from there, for fear of infection. o usu,but not necessarily, said of a woman. call sb's bluff [V + O pass] challenge or defy an opponent's supposed power, knowledge etc and thus expose the fact that his claims are a pretence(from the game of poker, where when sb is‘called’ he has to show his hand) o The colonel's temper was beginning to fray. If only.I thought, he had called our buff from the start and told us firmly that he knew the figures but wouldn't say. QAo They thought of me as having definitely chosen a life of cosy provincial mediocrity and, outwardly, I had. I should have gone mad if my bluff had been called and I'd been asked to settle into that position for good.CONoCheek is one of his professions, and here he was exercising it even before opening his mouth.When his buff was finally called, he carried off his resignation with dashing style. STO call their bluff when referring to several people. call it a day (informal) decide or agree to stop(doing sth), either temporarily or for good oWe' ll have one more (drink) and call it a day.Then I' ll wander back and see how they' ve balled up that new front page. PPo'I'm engaged toSusan,'I said.'I'm going to work for her father.But that isn't the reason we' ve got to caHita day.It's impossible for us to love each other in War-ley.'RATTo ' Tell them we' ve called it a day.' saidLuke with fatigue. ' They can see the fireworks about tea time tomorrow.’ NM call it etc what/ which you will etc[V + 0+ Comp](you can) accept a name or descrip-tion already given, or choose another of your own O: it, her, him, them. V: will, △ like,choose o Objectivity, impartiality, neutrality.call it what you will, may have been justified when you thought you were dealing with rival religious factional trouble. RTo 'A hurricane,a typhoon—a storm’(he was describing a violent wind), ' call it what you will,' he barked. LoHe'd known a fellow who had got half a dozen of the lads together (' call ' em what you like —— 88 thieves?') and sent them out to strip tiles from houses that had just been bombed. Lo That was obviously the bit of cant or idealism in Rhodes,call it which you will, that we all need to make us tick. HAA口 in parenthesis to main construc-tion, usu middle or end position. call sb names [V + O + Comp pass] taunt and jeer at sb o ' Is it true, what Billy says, that you punched his nose so hard that it bled?'' Yes, sir.But he was calling me names.'o We had the most ridiculous school uniform you ever saw. No wonder the kids in the street used to call names at us (or: call us names).□ Let the record show that Archbishop Salvidge, Unionist boss inLiverpool, implored Conservative Central Off-ice: ' It is not sufficient to call socialists names;send us arguments.'NS□ To the other village girlsMother (as a girl) was something of a case, yet they were curiously drawn towards her. One gathered that there were also quarrels at times.jealousies, namn●-calling, and tears. CWR o usu said by children quarrelling with each other or being impudent to their elders, and not likely to be used by adults except in deliberate imitation of childish usage; n compound name-calling;variant call names at sb. the call of nature' the urge to go and live in undeveloped, sparsely inhabited regions; the call of the wild etc(qv)□ There was no time of year I didn't hate having to live and work inBirmingham, but it was in the spring that I felt the call of nature most strongly and began, like the citizens in Hardy's poem, to ' dream of the south and west'. the call of nature² the natural desires, in-stincts etc, of the human race or of animals oYou must expect George to start being interested in girls at his age. It's the call of nature. o We don't know how the mature salmon, after years.spent in the ocean, find their way to the river spawning-beds where they were hatched, but some call of nature brings them back there. the call of nature¹ the need to pass water or empty the bowels o' What's the bus sitting here all this time for?’' Don't ask me. I thought when the driver left, it was just to answer the call of nature, but he's been gone a very long time.'o euphemism. the call of the wild etc the compulsion to go and live in, work in, explore, regions that are undeveloped, sparsely inhabited, unspoilt etc;the call of nature'(qv)o: the wild,△the hills,the West, the prairie o Several times my father made an attempt to settle down, but the call of the wild would prove too strong and off he would go again. o Who were these noble pioneers who opened up the first overland routes from the east to California? An adventurer who heard the call of the west in 1846 wrote:‘Among them are some of the viles t outcasts in the country.' sco cf the wilds(= a wild or secluded place) as in a lonely hut in the wilds of Alaska, or come back from t hr wilds to civilization. call the shots [V + O pass] (informal) have <89> call a spade a spade—— can a duck swim? control of a situation; decide, determine, what others do □ The British Prime Minister said theBritish Government had full confidence in theCanadian Government's decisions. Which sur-prised me. Marc thought. I was the one who said the British would never stand by and let Trudeau call the shots. ST call a spa de a spade[V + O + Comp] call sth by its own name and not by a euphemism;describe sth straightforwardly as being what it is, even if this should give offence o There is, of course. a calling a spa de a spade ' arrogance which makes a few working-class people overdo the rougher elements in their speech when with others from a different class. ULa He believes in calling& spade& spade and if he wants to empty his bladder he doesn't ask where he can wash his hands.□I wouldn't live anywhere except London.But I like the Scots. They call a spade a spade.they say what they mean and they have a sense of humour. SC (a/ one's) callow youth a young person/young people in general, with inexperience,immaturity; this stage in life o ' These are noi the opinions you used to express twenty years ago.'I should hope not. I believed a lot of things in my callow youth that I don't believe now.'o I was sorry for Henry, a callow youth from the provinces. I found him rather boring, but there was more to him than my colleagues would allow.□ youth an uncountable n in first example. the calm before the storm a period of unnatural or false calm immediately preceding a storm; an expected outburst of violent activ-ity, passion, disorder etc D There is less activity in the kitchen now, the calm before the storm.A few waitresses wander around, a porter sweeps the floor. TK o The ominous stillness which my father preserved throughout the whole of my halt ing explanation was only too clearly the calm before the storm.□(NONCE) Every time the pain receded he hoped it was going for good,but each recession proved to be no more than me calm before another storm. the camera cannot lie(saying) a photograph gives a true record of events o The camera can-not lie perhaps, but photographic experts can do almost anything now by fading out some parts and superimposing others.□ Who says the cam-era can't lie? You look as if you could be your own grandmother in this photo. can/ could always do sth' be able to do sth whenever one wishes, or as soon as required oFortunately, I can always fall asleep as soon asI go to bed. □ His French was not perfect but he could always make himself understood. Osometimes said sceptically or humorously. can/ could always do sth² have the chance or possibility of doing sth, usu as an alternative to sth else or as a last resort o Short of going down to the village for a quick one at the wine-shop, there was nothing to do until lunch-time. Of course, he could always have a nice read. ILIHoDebbie's friend has backed out of their holiday arrangements. She could always go by herselfI daresay but I don't think she' ll want to do that.□ This looks like the kind of shop that might sell camping gas. I can always ask, anyway. can breathe (easily/ freely) again (infor-mal) feel one's usual self again, relax, when a period of crisis, tension, or special effort, has ended D ' Good news, ' she said. ' Dad' ll be out of hospital in a couple of days. And now that we can all breathe again, what about a cup of tea?'cWe' re right in the middle of the Bed and Break-fast Season, she wrote, but once August is past and we' re able to breathe easily again, we' ll drive over some Sunday to see you. I H e heard the security guard's footsteps receding and breathed freely again. o positive use only; usu with can/ could/ be able to, but occas in simple past tense. can(not) call one's soul etc one's own(not) be free from、 have to suffer, continual interference with one's privacy or indepen-dence modal: can(not), could (not), (not) be able to. O: soul; △ house, time □' And howCousin Emily would have begun arranging every-thing and not let Mr Adams call his soul his own,' said Lady Pomfrel. WDM□ ' No mother ever gets on with her son after he is twenty, ' she said. ‘Not if he has an ounce of spirit and calls his soul his own.'a I might have more success out of doors than in, and now that I have a small patch of earth I can call my own,I'm ready for instruction. RT o ' Living right on the campus,explained the professor, I could never call my time my own. That's why I' ve moved out here.'□ pl They couldn't call their souls their own:usu neg with modal. (no) can do (dated slang) one can('t) do it; it will be (im) possible for one to arrange o 'I'd like to book a table for six this evening, about 7.30.’' Can do. What name, please?'o ' Will you dine with me?’‘Sorry,’ answered Terence. ’ as your dear Elizabeth would say, “No can do”.'HAAcan/ could do no wrong be in such a privileged position, be so much favoured by sb.that anything one does is thought to be right A:in his wife's eyes; as far as his followers are concerned o (source) That the King can do no wrong, is a necessary and fundamental principle of the English constitution. SIR W BLACKSTONE1723-80□ The hero's progress as a concert pianist is dizzy, impeded only by a penchant for causing grievous bodily harm to policeman; for Ruth, he can do no wrong. OBS□' That's news to me. Ithought Chris could do no wrong in your eyes?’I' ve been having second thoughts about him.'aMy mother's so pleased I'm back home again.and bringing wages into the house and all that.believe me, I can do nothing wrong. C variant can do nothing wrong. can do worse than be quite correct or sen-sible in acting in a particular way; can't/couldn't do better than(qv) model: can, could;might. adv mod:a lot, a great deal, much. cl:settle here, marry my niece, model yourself on him o During that long grieving week-end(after the assassination of President Kennedy) many of them expressed their anguish in ways they would try to forget. But politicians can do worse than display their emotions in public. ST□ Bu t an English tourist could do worse than plan his tour among Shakespeare's Italian towns.He won't regret it. OBSo ' It's not a bad buy, is it?"' Well, you' ve got the cash to spare and you might do a lot worse.’ can a duck swim?(informal) yes(said in ans-wer to a question which the speaker thinks is 89 <90> can/ could hardly be described as-----can't/ couldn't do sth for the ! ife of one etc foolish or unnecessary because, from his point of view, it allows only the answer‘yes’) o‘CanI fill your glass again?’‘Can a duck swim?’□‘Ididn't know one could do that with flats, ' saidLydia, rather impressed.' Didn't the landlord ob-ject?’‘Can a duck swim?’ said Aubrey. ‘Gold,my girl, gold did it.'WDMoI had already trudged five miles of dreary moorland road when a lorry-driver pulled up and asked if I wanted a lift. ' Can a duck swim?'I thought to myself.□emphatic.can/ could hardly be described a% cannot/could not be said to be or do sth o Since it (theCommonwealth) is not an organisation with any set and specific purpose, and can indeed hardly be described as an organisation at all, there is a temptation to conclude that it does not amount to much. SC o The job could hardly be described g é offering much opportunity for promotion.□He could hardly be described as young. He's forty if he's a day. D a form of understatement; active construction in You could hardly have described our home as a haven of peace; one can hardly call sb beautiful etc/a child etc used actively or passively, as inYou could hardly call Peggy beautiful and yet she seems to be the centre of attraction everywhere she goes. can have sth for the asking [V + O pass] can have sth/ be available free on request, or if wished for, or very easily O: it, money, help,admittance, fame, love o Why was Pepys never knighted? At any time between 1684 and 1688, at least, Pepys could surely have had it for the asking. NS□Squares of material from old sample books, which can be had for the sking from most large drapery stores, can be joined together to make attractive cushion-covers or even bed-spreads. o Virginia was full of a limitless am-bition, which arose from her vitality and her youthful belief that the world was hers for the asking. AITC o variant be sb's for the asking. ◇△ next entry. can have sth for the catching etc[V + 0pass] can catch etc sth/ be available to be caught etc O: fish, berries, profits, opportunities. Ocatching, picking, grabbing, having, taking(away) □ As long as there is fish for the catch-ing there will be fishermen's families in these islands.□I'm getting rid of this old table. If any of you want it you can have it for the teking sway.□So now I' ll go call the Answering Service and get reassurance that I'm not forgotten by the rich and famous, that there are still contracts in the offing, royalties for the gathering, people for the snubbing, invitations for the turning down. JFTRO variant be (sb's) for the catching etc. ◇ △ previous entry. can/ could ill etc afford to do sth not be justified, because of one's own behaviour or shortcomings, in doing sth; be in no position to do sth adv mod: ill,△ hardly, scarcely. Inf: to criticize, to complain, to say anything o He had been guilty of some pretty shady transactions himself and could ill afford to criticize others for doing the same sort of thing.□' Janet should have let you know if she was going to be late for lunch.' Maybe so, but you can hardly afford to speak. You wander in for meals any old time you like. can etc take a joke [V + O] accept with good 90 humour being the object of teasing, facetions remarks, playful or disconcerting tricks, etc V:can('t) could(n't), (not) be able to; (must/should/ ought to/ will) learn to □ He danced and rode well, and was courteous to ladies; he could take a joke and make one. NS□ Young Womers-ley in the costing department has written a humorous ditty about the sales director to the tune of 'I Who Have Nothing', and believes—quite erroneously— that the sales director can take a jokc. TVT. can/ could well believe it think sth is very likely to be true; be prepared to believe sth even without actual proof o They had always gone through a street where, so it was said (and she could well believe it), a famous mass murderer had done his stuff. TGLY a‘Do you know thatMargaret hasn't once driven over to see her father since he's been ill?'I can well believe it.She always was a heartless girl.'a stress pattern can , well be' lieve it; pron it usu refers to sth al.ready mentioned. can you beat itl (informal) exclamation of consternation, or shocked amusement, about sth that has occurred, or that sb has done oWell, can you beat it! Here's George Wrangle writing to say he's coming up for Easter with his wife, all five of their kids, his Aunt Dorothy, and their Alsatian dog Rasputin. a When I answered the advertisement I found they wanted me to do all the housework and pay for my keep as well.Beat that if you canf o stress pattern , can you' beat it!; variant beat ' that if you can! can you imagine! (informal) an exclamation expressing one's own, or inviting another's, as-tonishment; would you believe it?(qv)o ThenI went to Portugal. My sister was living there and she wanted me to come. I was able to fix up some lectures down there. Portugal! Can you imaginell was delighted. OBS□My uncle says he is going to put a bathroom into the cottage him-self. Can you imaginel He doesn't know the first thing about plumbing. I may express either shocked or pleasurable surprise; stress pattern, can you ' imagine! can't/ couldn't do better than be entirely correct, sensible, well-advised in acting in a par.ticular way cl: read it yourself, consult your teacher, invest your money in property o For this part of the story I can't do better than read from my notes of the case. DS□If you are really interested in finding out more about our local antiquities you couldn't do better than have a chat with the Vicar. can't/ couldn't do sth for the life of one etc(informal) be wholly, totally, unable or un-willing to do sth V: imagine, think, understand,comprehend sth. A: for the life of one, △ for one's life, to save one's life o' There are certain aspects other than material that have to be borne in mind.' Pop said that he couldn't think for the life of him what they were. DBM□She lived by the easy laws of the hedgerow, loved the world, and made no plans, had a quick holy eye for natural wonders and couldn't have kept a neat house for her life. CWRo Mozart really did compose mas-terpieces at a sitting. When the fit was on him he quite literally could not have refrained from composing even to seve his life. STo The Italians have provided most of the cinematic humour to <91> can't do sth for love(n) or money----can't/ couldn't stand/ bear the sight of sb/ sth leak out of the Second World War, though for the life of me I can't recall that they or we had much to laugh at. RT o for the life of one used in front, middle or end position. can't do sth for love (n) or money (infor-mal) be completely without the ability or means to do sth; be quite unwilling to do sth modal:can't, couldn't; won't, wouldn't o The speech therapy has helped Anne a lot. A few weeks ago she couldn't have sounded an 's' for love nor money.□ There is such aglut of strawberries this week that growers can't get rid of them for love or money. o I couldn't spend a night in that house alone, not for love or money.□ There was a time when no American would have chosenLondon as a place to live. Not for love or money, or free hamburgers. TVT. can't/ couldn't do sth for toffee(informal)lack the natural or practical ability needed to do sth o Carlo's my brother, the little one, he can't sing for toffee, though he's the dead spit of me, only not so gay. US□ You think I despise these young fellows because I'm jealous. But it isn't that at all. I can't write for toffed. HAAcan't/ couldn't do sth often etc enough do sth eagerly, lavishly or insatiably V: thank sb. apologize; go there, get away; spend, try,sth. A: often, △ fast, soon, hard o He used to make excuses not to visit there but now he can't go often enough. I wonder what the attraction is?□Th e children had never seen anything like the bluebell wood before. They couldn't pick the flowers fast enough. can't/ couldn't go wrong (informal) be sure to make a success of sth, or not make any mis-takes, not become confused, etc in doing sth oMRS ELLIOTT: Well, he didn't really have much chance to get on. But you will, George,I'm sure.With all your talent, you just can't go wrong.EGD □(advertisement) You cannot go wrong with COLOR-GLO, because your own hair colouring controls and safeguards the final ef-fect. Ho You can't go wrong if you' re advised by me. Auntie Alice is always right. RATT□I took the files away and I settled down to work. It was good solid reading and I couldn't go wrong.The first two articles wrote themselves. PP o in first example you can't go wrong is addressed to a particular person, in second it is a general statement. can't hear oneself think (informal) one is subjected to, irritated or distracted by, too much surrounding noise, esp loud talk, music,or general uproar modal: can't, couldn't; can hardly; not be able to o MRS ELLIOTT (she crosses to lounge and opens door): Do put that telly down a bit, there's good children. We can't hear ourselves think in here. EGD□ Everybody kept talking louder and louder till you couldn't.hear yourself think.□ He was singing ' OnwardChristian Soldiers'. ' Are you having a prayer meeting? ’ Brown asked. 'I can hardly hear myself speak.’ o RATT o variant can't hear oneself speak. can't help oneself be unable to control, or avoid, behaving in an undesirable or unsuitable way modal: can't, couldn't; not be able to oCISSIE : Has your father still got that job?RONNIE:No, he's a store-keeper in a sweet factory now.Look.(Shows her a biscuit tin full of sweets.) Jelly babies. Can't help himself. Doesn't do it on a large scale, mind, just a handful each night.CSWB□It is natural, but mistaken, for an alcohol-ic's relatives to feel that he could help himself if he tried.□ It's no use my promising not to cry whenyougo. Imightn' tbeableto help myself.ウ△ help oneself'. can't help doing sth find it natural to do sth;find it unavoidable to do sth modal: can't,couldn't, not be able to□ I put my arm round her waist—— when anyone looks woebegone I can-not help trying to cheer them up. SPLo Yet she could not help sometimes asking herself: How with all this deceit can I possibly be happy? PW□Given all the changes that are going to come, and the fraying away of exclusively Commonwealth trade links, I can't help wondering where that will leave the Commonwealth. L can't/ couldn't help it/ that' be unable to avoid (doing) sth; be unable to control or change events etc o I'm sorry to be sniffling like this, but I' ve got such a cold I can't help it.□It's a sordid dump of a place. I'm sure nobody would live there if they could help it. □ Yes, she is a stupid girl—— she can't help that, I suppose, but what infuriates me is the way she's always so damned pleased with herself. □ cf stress patterns she can't ' help it, she can't help that. can't/ couldn't help it/that² one is not to be blamed, or held responsible, for sth o They can't sue me for damages. There's a warning no-tice about electric fences at the farm gate. Can Ihelp it if trespassers won't look where they' re going? □' You can't go out now, Kate! We' ve come all the way from Leeds, just to see you!" 'Ican't help that, I'm still going to the theatre.'o often said in unfriendly or aggressive way. can't/ couldn't say be unsure about, or not know, either the answer to a question or about sth specified or understood A: for sure, for cer-tain, at present o' Do you think that a EuropeanSecurity Conference would be a waste of time at the moment?’‘That one can’ t say.’ Lo‘When did you go to this cupboard last?' he asked. 'I really couldn't say for sure, Mr Rogers.'EM□' Did you ask how long the repairs would take?’ ‘Yes, but the foreman wasn't there, and the mechanic couldn't say.' can't/ couldn't stand/ bear the sight of sb/ sth' not like, or be seriously upset(physi-cally or emotionally) by, the actual sight of sb!sth o: blood, tears; him being made a fool of,dirt all over the place o She had always wanted to be a doctor.' Ever since I was eight. I went to school here and didmy O-levels and A-levels. ButI can't stand the sight of blood.'ST□Da d often works from the top ladder himself but he can't bear the sight of other people doing it. □ I can stand the sight of blood all right. Whatgives me the horrors is having to de-louse a patient. □ usu neg or neg implication; front position if contradicting an assumption, as in last exam-ple. can't/ couldn't stand/ bear the sight of sb/sth² find objectionable or intolerable, dis-like very much; hate/ loathe the sight of sb/ sth(qv)□PETER: And don't bring that little fruitcake parcel(description of an acquaintance) either!I can't stand the sight of him. TOH□ Oysters?I can't bear the sight of them. 91 <92> the candid camera—(not) care/ give a damn etc the candid camera a concealed camera to take an unposed photograph or make an un-directed film, esp of people who do not know their actions are being recorded □ Most practi-cal jokes are, for everyone except their perpetrator, tedious and boring and often, like' Candid Camera'(a TV series) embarrassing to the onlooker. SC□At the Gate(cinema) incident-ally, there is a terribly candid-camera record of an 81-year-old American writer. It is called‘Henry Miller Asleep and Awake’. NS□ My real objection to flag days is a disapproval of licensed begging, of extortion by candid camera methods, everyone watching to see whether you buy a flag or try to escape. OBS□ attrib use a candid-camerashot, picture. canvas s the idea etc(that) [V + O pass]introduce or suggest an idea etc for discussion and/ or acceptance O: idea, △ theory, notion,possibility o The idea that the Blue Nile might be blocked or poisoned at its source in Ethiopia as a means of destroying Egypt had been can-vassed in every age. BNo II may be thought unlikely that he has been dead for years though this theary on his absence has been actively chnvgssed. OBS o The idea, campussed in a famous' Times' leader in 1968, that a large part of the observed inequality of wealth is due to the age structure of the population is a long way off the mark. NSo But the possibility that these children might have suffered quite the same fate,regardless of their upbringing, is never even camp-wassed. SNPo often pass; idea etc usu sing, esp when followed by that. cap in hand[A(NP)] (formerly) holding one's cap instead of wearing it, as a sign of respect from sb in the lower classes when speaking to,or being addressed by, a social superior, em-ployer etc;(fig) subserviently, with humility, as sb begging for favours, etc V: go, present oneself; ask, beg, for sth o The taxi-driver, cap in hand, withdrew, and Alec who, as usual, was bareheaded, asked if he might take off his over-coat. PW o All pensions should be at or above subsistence level. Retired workers should not have to go cap in hand to ask for supplementary allowances. a capital offence etc an offence etc legally punishable by death n: offence; △ murder,treason; charge, punishment o Nine out of the13 executed came within the category of capital murder because their crime was committed ' in the course or furtherance of theft.'OBS□ Sheep-stealing was still a capital offence in early 18th century England, although the penalty began to be less often enforced. a captain of industry a prominent leader of an industrial or commercial firm o He was NedRoper, captain of industry, off to London to grace with his presence a party given by his old friend, Mr Robert Lamb, the well-known artist.con口 also pl; often used facetiously. a captive audience an audience with little or no freedom to stay or go away; people or groups who cannot choose whom or what they listen to or watch o ' Isn't the publication of a book a way of trying to manipulate your readers? ’‘They don’ t have to buy or read my books. Bui students are to some extent acaptive audience.’ OBS□(NONCE) He went to a show 92 featuring Blackstone,a famous magician. This.decided Bradbury, was the life for him, and with the aid of a paper moustache he performed shaky tricks in front of an audience of captive relatives. OBS □ occas pl. a captive market a group of consumers with little or no choice where or from whom they buy goods o Nearly all the newly emerged countries are starting their own industrialisation programmes. So we have to start again, and make our goods dominant, and we won't get them out there any more on the basis of any form of captive market. L o occas p1. a card-carrying member etc a fully affiliated and accredited member of an or-ganization (esp of the Communist Party, to which the term was originally confined);a com-mitted supporter of, or believer in, a particular principle or practice n: member,△communist;membership o Green had just become a card-carrying Communist when I first met him in'48, must have been attached to the Party for some years previously.□Or take that daft Child-ren's Charter of the National Council of CivilLiberties (and I speak with sadness as a card-carrying member). Children have a right to be free of religious or political indoctrination, it says. Meaning what? OBS o The CommunistParty, the second largest in Italy after the Chris-tian Democrats, picks up nearly nine million votes, despite the fact that card-carrying mem-bership is only a million and a half, and declin-ing. Lo also pl. ◇ a fellow traveller. a cardinal error etc a fundamental or basic error, sin etc, which is likely to be accompanied,or followed, by other errors, sins etc n: error,△sin; virtue, grace o‘My late husband,’ said MissHopgood's Aunt, always said committees were a cardinal error. Why cardinal. I do not know,but those were his words.'WDMo It's the cardi-nalsin, I think, to let life bore you. HAAoAustria for their part, made the cardinal mistake of dropping Schmied and restoring the famous Wal-ter Zemnan——a goal-keeper previously omitted precisely because he had lost form. ST oMediaeval philosophers named justice, prudence,temperance, and fortitude as the Four CardinalVirtues of natural man, as distinguished from faith, hope, and charity, the theological virtues.(not) care/ give a damn etc(informal) not care at all about, be completely unaffected by(sb/ sth) (often with the implication that one might or should care); couldn't care less(qv) O:a damn; △a tinker's curse/ cuss; two hoots;twopence/ tuppence; a fig,a rap. A: for anyone;about anything; what they think, who gets it.whether they do or not o You don't care, that's all. You don't care e damn how it huris James and Nicholas. HAAo The government we had in those days, when we were the world's richest country, didn't give a damn whether the kids grew up with rickets or not. CONoI don't given tinker's cursin who rules any one of these places so long as every man there is given pa rity of social, economic and cultural opportunity to be himself. Lo The truth of the matter is that I could never really have cered twopence about who won the Tory Party leadership. NSo Why should playwrights give a fig for what ' the public' or MrMonahanor anyoneelse, including myself, wants? <93> RT□ Vanity made you set out after the King, when you didn't care a fig for him. WI care killed the cat (saying) used in exhorta-tions to people to cheer up, take a lighter view of life, etc□(source) What though care killed a cat, thou has t meitle enough in thee to kill care.MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING V I a Never mind what you ought to be doing—— the work will get done sometime. Relax, enjoy yourself! It was care killed the cat, remember? o MRS STONE(suddenly sings): You die if you worry, you die if you don't , so why worry at all? It's only worry that killed the coat, anybody can tell you that.HSG care of used in postal directions to a person not permanently living at, or working at, the address given o I completed the letter to Sadie's solicitor, and asked him to send the typescript to me care of Mrs Tinckham. UTNo You should try writing to him care of the BBC. They' ll probably send the letter on to him. I written abbreviation a caretaker government etc a government or administration which has actually been replaced but which continues to function until its successor is properly organized; an interim administration asked to function temporarily during a change-over n: government △ ad-ministration; arrangement; president o The sudden resignation of Signor Tromboni'sGovernment confirms the profound crisis inItalian politics — even granting that SignorTromboni was selected for the purpose of form-ing a Government of the caretaker sort. the carrot and the stick [n+ n rev](offer) as the hope of reward and the threat of punish-ment a means of making sb try harder o Elaine(a young swimmer) has to be coaxed. She bene-his from the carrot-and-stick approach - Isay, right, give me a couple of top swims and you can go home early. So she thinks she's getting out of work when she's actually putting more into it.RTo' We emphasise to the men that their conduct might secure a place at a government training centre.' He laughed, a triple nervous. ' That's our only carrot ' ns a either part of expression may be used alone, as in last example. carry the can[V+ O](informal)(be manoeuv-red or forced to) accept the blame or respon-sibility (for sth specified or understood); have all the work and worry of sth fall upon oneself(instead of upon another person or group)oMr Waller (replying to the Attorney-General in the Vassall inquiry) said,'I know there was a feeling in the Foreign Office that the ForeignOffice were carrying the can in this particular case.’ SC o Samantha Ryder-Rose is on the(contraceptive) pill, and scatty about a gorgeous man at the office who's had three wives. Needless to say, mummy and daddy hover in the back-ground to carry the can should the pill go down the wrong way. L carry conviction [V + O] be convincing; seem true or authentic 8: speaker; account, argu-ment, lie. det: some, more, less. adj: total, ab-solute o Mr Jack Jones is fond of fulminating against the supposed iniquities of the IndustrialRelations Act, but he would carry more convic-tion if he showed that he was capable of looking after his own cabbage patch, OBS o The grace, care killed the cat—— carry sth too far humanity and plausibility which he manages to inject into a dubious argument make his essays an unfailing delight to read even when, on occasion, they fail to carry complete conviction.L o Don't get so fiery. Truths don't have to be shouted at people in order to carry conviction.o often neg or neg implication; det and adj not used together. carry/ win the day [V + O] be victorious (on the day of battle); (fig) win; overcome the op-position of others o ... left me free to give my personal views on a wide range of subjects, often to the extreme annoyance of my two colleagues in London, especially when they found that my personal views, with which they mostly dis-agreed, often carried the day in the end. MFMo(on nuclear disarmament) ... with some hope that it will command a majority, and perhaps do something to reconcile the multilateralists with the unilateralists who won the day this year. To I must be one of the people that the proposed new compulsory seat-belt law is meant to bring into line. Although I do occasionally ' belt up'--say on a motorway— sloth has usually until now won the day. NS carry/ hold one's liquor [V+ 0] (informal)be able to drink alcohol without becoming drunk, or much affected, physically or mentally o He's the most delightful old rogue, and the quickest and surest way to his heart is to prove to him that you can carry your liquor. BBo Now that grandpa's getting older he can't hold his liquor as he used to, so tell the boys not to keep filling his glass. o She took drink for drink with the rest of them and carried her liquor like a sailor. O often with can/ can't. carry one's point [V + O pass] succeed in persuading others involved to agree with what one says about sth, or suggests should be done.etc o Having carried his point about not over-loading the boat, he got them to settle among themselves what should be left behind. □ Look.Margaret, we' ve all agreed now that it's hopeless to think of going away next week-end. You' ve carried your point, and there's no need to be thinking up fresh arguments every half hour. carry sb shoulder high [V + 0 + A pass]carry sb supported on one's arms and shoulders as a sign of acclaim, enthusiastic approval S:admirers, followers, team-mates. A: through the crowd; from the field o In Leningrad, the scene of his previous triumph and defeat, Lerica.was met by an enthusiastic crowd flying red banners which carried him shoulder high. SToSuch a view was clearly not shared by the dockers, who greeted the release of their colleagues from Pentonville as a triumphant vic-tory, and carried them through the streets shoulder high. L carry sth too far[V + O + A pass] preach and/or act beyond a reasonable or suitable limit; go too etc far (qv) adv mod: too,△ rather; a bit,a shade, a trifle □ One of the attractions of the school is a '6.45 a. m. dip in the Irish Sea every morning'---a prospect which many serving of-ficers may think is carrying image-making a shade too fer. To It's very rude to reject well-meant offers of help. You can carry indepen-dence too fer.□Come on, Bob, give me a serious answer. You' ve carried this teasing fromough. 93 <94> carry weight---(have/ lead) a cat-and-dog life □I don't believe in repressing children myself but it's carrying things a bit far to let them rule their parents. □ Change was all very well but it could be carried too far. TSMP carry weight [V+ O] be important, influen-tial, convincing, effective etc$: director, secret-ary; statement, argument; factor, influence.adj: no, a lot of, some; more, less; a good deal of□ If such representations are to carry weight they will have to avoid bias and be of a high intellectual standard. SC □ She disapproved——disapproved violently —— of what the reviewer had said: it was pernicious rubbish, she knew, and could carry no weight with any thinking person.PW□ But what you do won't carry anything like the same weight. On the Peace Committee, for example, an ex-professor's not much, but aProfessor's just what we need. HAA□Legal penal-ties and moral obligations will inevitably carry less weight than fear of reprisals by violent criminals and their associates among whom they must live when the case is over. ST □ The old girl didn't seem very worn out by the climb; she was like a tough, stringy old chicken. I was blowing a bit, but of course even in those days I was carrying too much weight. CON o in horse-racing, the better horses are handicapped by the addition of weights to their saddle, so that all begin with a more or less equal chance of win-ning—— last example reflects this. case the joint [V + O pass] (slang) inspect premises as carefully as possible, esp with a view to burglary; take a good look at a res-taurant, hotel etc, on some pretext or other before deciding to eat or stay o... care, of the sort with which a burglar studies a house. I think it is called' caking the joint'.□ There was a disco going on in the village hall and Gus went in to case the joint for us. He came out shaking his head.' No bar, and the music's lousy.'o(a shop-lifter)... inspecting the store layout, the alertness of the assistants, the absorption of the other cus-tomers. I was ' cssing the joint' in cold blood,relating to people not as human beings but as obstacles to be surmounted, problems to be sol-ved. sc cash and carry [n+ n non-rev] a trading con-cern (esp a wholesale business supplying retailers) supplying for ` cash down'(qv) goods which must be taken away by the purchasers(because of the saving on accounting and deliv-ery costs, such a concern offers goods at cheaper rates) o Robbs' have been supplying animal feeding-stuff to the whole county for three generations, but since even the small farmers have their own transport now they run their busi-ness on a cash-and-carry basis.□' You'd find it much cheaper to buy a small van and stock your shop from the Cash and Carry.’' But then I'd have to employ somebody to mind the shop whileI was away, and to help me with the loading and unloading.'□attrib use a cash-and-carry store,business. cash down[A] payment of money for goods or services, at time of purchase; (less often) of a gift or loan given □ You won't get a better used car for the price anywhere, the salesman assured him, and don't forget you get 5 per cent discount for cash down.'o Our hypocrisy had gained us nothing—— not even a reliable ally, while theirs 94 had procured arms, supplies, even cash down. cast one's net wide etc[V + O + A pass]cover a wide field of supply, activity, inquiry etc; make sure that no source of obtaining what one wants is overlooked A: wide, △ widely,farther o It's about time you started casting yourmet out a bit wider isn't it? Most people are thinking seriously about husbands at your age.HHo ' This is a tentative list of contributors for the“History”,' he said. 'I wrote to them last night when I got back to London.'' You' ve cast your net wide,’ she said. ASAo The antique dealers are casting their net s farther and farther. The shepherd's wife up the glen was telling me she was offered£50 for a pair of china figures she had on her mantelpiece. o' Bishop's Move' is the sort of middle-brow story that used to be the staple of magazines like ' The Strand'. It's an example too of how widely the editors have cast their net.scφ ▲spread one's net. a casual remark sth said by way of conversa-tion; a passing comment not meant to be the basis of an argument, discussion, or inquiry oHe was as deliberate in his speech as he was in his work, weighing his words momentously, even if they were only going to add up to a cusual remark. AITCo Your uncle is a touchy (= ready to take offence) old devil, isn't he? He has just interpreted a com/ remark of mine, that it was nice walking weather, to mean I was wanting him out of my way.□ also pl. a cat may look at a king(saying) there is no reason why a superior should be protected from certain kinds of behaviour from, or contact with, inferiors □ As the personalizing technique(eg in the popular press) becomes yearly more machine-tooled, we sink further into a dream of an intimate world in which not only may a cat look at a king but a king is really a cat under-neath, and all the great power-figures are HonestJoes at heart. UL a ' Take your drinks into the public bar, if you don't mind, gents,' the landlord said. 'I 'm sure these ladies could do with a little privacy.' ' So what? A cat may look at a king,you know. 'I sometimes said to justify rather insolent behaviour.` the cat's got sb's tongue(informal) said to or about sb, esp a shy child, who does not ans-wer when spoken to, or is silent when he should say somethingo' What is your dolly's name?" the visitor asked, trying another question. The cat's got her tongue, I think,' the mother replied for her. o 'I wanted a ride on the pony too.'‘Well, had the cat got your tongue? Why didn't you say so when it was being offered?' co also interr as in second example. ▷△lose/ find one's tongue. (have/ lead) a cat-and-dog life(lead) a life of frequent or constant quarrelling$; man and wife, brother and sister; partners, colleagues oYou miss a woman when she's been living with you in the same house for six years, no matter what sort of cat-and-dog life you led togetherLLDRo You' re lucky to have children that play so nicely together. My two fight like cat and dog all the time. □ Mike and Pete got on well enough with the rest of the crew but fought like cat and dog with each other on every issue of the day. I variant fight like cat and dog. <95> (ulay) a cat-and-mouse game----catch etc sb's insgination (play) a cat-and-mouse game (keep another person in) a state of suspense and un-certainty, treating him cruelly and kindly by turns o Look!" he said suddenly as if he'd decided to cut short the cert-and-mouse game.From tomorrow morning —— in fact from an hour ago——I'm Managing Director and Editor.in-Chief of this outfit.’ PPo Why didn’ t the train drivers have the confidence or, to be blunt, the courage to call a strike, like the miners? Instead they play a tiresome and irresponsible c#t-and-mouse game which both harasses their travel-ling fellow-workers and drives more and more commuters on to the already chaotic roads. NSoAccidental Death' — an Edgar Wallace mys-tery about a man whose past catches up with him.triggering off a deadly game of cat and mouss.IVT O variant a game of cat and mouse. catch sb's attention [V + O pass] make sb take notice of sb/ sth(often, but not necessarily,with the further implication of arousing sb's interest)□ He was idly turning over the pages of a magazine when an article by a former colleague caught his attention.□ Th e first requisite for an udvertisement is that it should catch people's attention. catch one's breath (V + O] break the rhythm of one's breathing by an involuntary gasp or sharp intake of breath, expressing shock, sur-prise. pain etc; cause one to gasp, cough, choke etc□ He caught his breath for a second and felt a slight pain round the heart as he heard Eric's.voice. HAAa He had seen her dance before, and been exhilarated by her skill, but he had never scen her dance like this. Behind him, Norreys caught his breath, but the King heard nothing.W1a(NONCE)(a child playing with water) You could put your head in it, and open your eyes, and siet the sides of the bucket buckle, and hear your caught breath roar. CWR□ Helen was so beauti-ful that it quite made you catch your breath.IVI a The cold catches your breath as soon as you put your nose out of the door. o The neat whisky caught his breath and some seconds went by before he was able to reply. catch (a) cold [V + 0] become ill with a cold in the head, usu brought on by exposure to cold. wet, or infection o ' Go back to bed.Prissie, said Fergus with a note of protectiveness in his voice. You' ll catch cold.’ DC□ But she wore flimsy shoes in all that snow! No wonder she wrote to us once that she had caught an awful cold and been under the care of two doctors. WI□In fact, several other controlled trials that were just as thorough and that have greater statistical significance and greater relevance to the problem)/ catching cold have been carried out. LD catch a cold usu used of specific instance of such an illness, and catch cold of the exposure, infection etc which leads to it, but countable and un-countable uses of n often interchanged. catch one's death(of cold) [V+O] become semously ill, starting with a cold in the head;cutch a severe cold o CLIVE: He's sitting down under the apple tree. LOUISE: Sitting? In this weather! Without an overcoat? He' ll catch hisHeath. Tell him to come in at once. FFEoDAVIES:I could catch my death of cold, with that draught. Just shut that window and no one's roing to catch any colds. TC □ SEGAL: What on earth are you doing? Sam, get back into bed at once, do you want to catch your death of cold?HSG□ She (blew) her nose extremely hard. This stentorian call startled Pop into saying: ‘You sound as if you' ve caught your death. 'BFA □often used, with will, shall, to predict that sb will catch a cold or to warn him against catch-ing one. catch sb's eye' [V + O pass] look at sb with the special intention of making him look at, or take notice of, one in return; exchange a glance of amusement, sympathy, shared knowledge,etc with sb o Have a double (whisky). Then you don't have to catch the waiter's eye twice. RATT□ He said, This is my first and it looked at one time as though it was going to be my last public appearance. He caught Carter's eye. Carter was frowning. OMIH a 'I think perhaps one oughtn't to,' said Hugo, and he was deadly serious. Then I caught his eye and we both laughed enormously. UTN. catch sb's eye² [V + O pass] happen to be observed by sb; be noticeable by one`s/ its very nature o As I turned, something caught my eye in the wall behind the bookcase. UTN a To the villages around, it was a patch of bare skyline,a baldness among the woods,a wind-scarred plat-form which caught everybody's eye, and was therefore just the place for a gibbet, CWR □' There's only one thing that can put you at the top.' he (a newspaper reporter) said, ' and that's a real out-and-out scoop. Something that really catches the public's@ ye.'HDa Lilian turned out to be a pretty blonde, a little past her prime but,in her eye-catching silk dress, still very attrac-tive. O adj compound eye-catching. catch etc sb's fancy [V + O pass](informal)strike sb as pleasing, desirable (to observe, do,know more of, have, use etc) V: catch,△take.tickle o 'I can always tell the married men.Pause, while he looked round. ' They have that tamed look!' I can only repeat that the remark hadcaught myfancy. It did not catch Myrtle's.SPL o The only thing in the auction sale that caught my fancy was a little French clock. oVictoria took a bath and attended to her face and hair with the meticulous care of a young woman who is shortly to be reunited to a young man who has taken her fancy. TC8□(video tape recor-ders) For£1,000 anyone can own the equipment.take it where they want to and say with it what-ever takes their fancy. Lo The (marriage) alli-unce of the ' Democrat' Roosevelts with their far grander‘Republican’ collaterals was bound to tickle the public's fancy. NS catch fire ignite; start to burn;(fig)(suddenly)become interested or interesting, lively,enthusiastic $: wood, paper; idea, project;broadcast, discussion o We collected sticks to boil our kettle, but they were damp and would not catch fire. □ She was standing far too near the open hearth and her nightdress cought fire. □If the Liberals want the country to catch fire for them they must take up its hopes and grievances and dress them in the force and conviction they deserve. Go After a polite parade of statistics and points of view the programme' caught fire' when it developed into an impassioned debate between personalities. RT catch etc sb's imagination [V + O pass] S5 <96> catch it— cause a ripple (on the surface) rouse the interest, engage the thoughts and feel-ings of esp of a specified group or kind V: catch,△capture, seize, grip, fire o As a design for the world of tomorrow socialism has caught the imagination of the young, although it is, in my view, the wrong answer to the right problem. LoThe period 1919-21 saw a phenomenal rise in trade union membership; the BolshevikRevolution in Russia had seized the imagina-tion of millions of working people, and fierce industrial battles flared as post-war boom lurch-ed back into slump. OBS□(Gordon Banks) And no goalie in modern times has captured the imagination of kids more. TVT o Helen Cress-well wrote ' Lizzie Dripping', the children's series about a day-dreaming girl that caught the imagination of many a young viewer. RT oEuropeanism has failed to catch the Conser-vative imagination because Mr Heath is not,despite all that has been written about him, a particularly imaginative European. NS catch it (informal) get a scolding; be punished;get it (in the neck/ where the chicken gets the chopper) (qv) o She spied, she pried, she crouched, she crept, she pounced— she was a terror. Each morning was a war without declara-tion: no one knew who would catch it next. CWR□ Look at your shirt---all torn! You' ll catch it from your mum, when she sees it! o used mainly with reference to minor misdemeanours at school or home, and in forms with catch rather than caught as in I didn't half catch it from my wife last night for being so late. catch sb napping[V + 0 + Comp pass](infor-mal) find sb out in error; gain an advantage over sb. because he has not been alert to the possibility of this happening o Stevenson would have loved to find any excuse to get me fired, butI was wise to him and wasn't going to be caught napping. o' You caught me napping that time.'he said, surveying the chessboard. ‘You’ ve got me into a hopeless position now. The game's as good as over. catcha packet[V+ O](informal) get into real trouble; suffer severe injury or misfortune;receive a severe reprimand o ' Somebody's catching a packet,’ Poll said and Mr Charlton caught a glimpse of two bare-shouldered girls fighting each other like wild white cats. DBMo' Some fools have taken their boat out,' he said,lowering his binoculars. ' They' ll catcha packet if they try to go round the point.'o He caught a packet from me when he did turn up, He' ll think twice about staying out all night again, without a word of warning.□(demolition) It's a dirty old job. I' ve had my share of nails through my feet from old beams, and a few smashed fingers. ButI' ve never caught a packet, touch wood. ST catch sb red-handed [V + O + Comp pass]discover, capture sb, while he is doing some-thing wrong or committing a crime(originally,from a murderer caught with blood still on his hands); catch in the act(Vol l)(qv)o Virginia caught Helen red-handed, shut the door and leaned against it.' Reading my letters again,Helen?’ AITC□An atmospheric pressure cabinet may cause some burglars to be caught red-handed. for it is connected with the police through a central station, and the burglar unwit-tingly contacts police' when he tampers with the 96 safe. SC□ Over there (the USA) it is vital not to be caught red-handed lying to the people or their representatives, because Establishment ex-cuses about the public interest do not get a sym-pathetic hearing. NS catch/ take sb unawares [V + O + Comp pass] surprise and disconcert sb S: question,cry. shot; appearance, arrival; decision o I wan-ted to wait until I could present my story in a more dramatic way; when caught unewares Iusually tell the truth, and what's duller than that?UTN□' Good-bye, Jim.' ' Good-bye, Doctor.' The use of his first name took Wormold unwww.OMIH □ For once, Martin was taken uwgwares.He was disconcerted to see me. ' Are you all right?’ he asked. NM o Top soloists can be capricious and eccentric in the extreme. A con-ductor has to be very much on his toes if he is not to be caught unswares by an unscheduled speed.change. RT catch/ get a whiff of sth[V+ O] feel, briefly,a smell of sth; (fig) sense sth in a social or emotional atmosphere o: smoke, scent;intrigue, hostility, unpleasantness □ At seven, Imade the mistake of picking her up out of her cot.She coughta whiff of my special party perfume,felt a strange silken-clad body against her. Wi□The interview went better than I thought it would.Sometimes I thought I caught a whiff of hostil-ity in his answers but he behaved very reasonably on the whole. (play) catch-as-catch-can [V + O] (get)what one can how and when one can (the im-plication often being a disregard for moral or ethical rules of behaviour; originally a form of wrestling in which' no holds are barred') o He found he had no need to play catch-es-catch-can for air. He blew deeply and regularly into the tube until the lifebelt rose and strained at his clothing. PMoI whiled away the minutes watch-ing three strong men plying their charms around a young bright blonde, her arms fully occupied with drink and defence. I sat engrossed by this catch-es-catch-camuntil the peace of my even-ing was suddenly shattered. PP□ He complained that I was taking away his customers. It's time he woke up to the fact that it's a case of catch-as-catch-can in this trade. o stress pattern . catch-as-catch-' can. caus@ and effect[n+n non-rev] the action or circumstance producing change, and the change itself which results necessarily from it oEvents moving from another direction also in-stituted a chain ofewses and effects. PE□(TheMetropolitan Police Commissioner said)' During my service, I have seen penal sanctions become less and less punitive, and at the same time have witnessed the gradual growth of violent crime in London.’ But this simple cwuss-and-effect sequence is not a sufficient answer to the problem of rising crime. SCo attrib use a cawsm-and-effect sequence. cause a ripple (on the surface) [V + 0pass] have a noticeable effect; alter; disturb $:event, change, crisis; remark, insult. A: hardly,scarcely; not o The cul cnused hardly a ripple in the foreignexchange market, where it had long been discounted. T o Not one of his insulting remarks caused even a ripple on the surface of her composure. o The lead character combines <97> cause etc a stir—— change/ turn one's coat second-rateness with an abrasive wit and candour that causes a few ripples of outrage amongst the theatre's more staid patrons. Go... an affair which normally might scarcely ceʊs·e ripple but which is a further potential embarrassment to an Australian Government facing an imminentGeneral Election. L o usu neg or neg implica-tion. cause etc astir{V + O pass}(informal) cause lively interest, discussion, controversy among a group, profession, or the general public $:(sud-den) entry, appearance; action, decision. V:cause. △ create, make. adj: considerable,tremendous; something of a; no end of a □ The hypothesis that recent ancestors of Homo sapiens were forced to live as amphibious animals has created a stir among scientists and laymen. NS□ One evening she was able to an-nounce, 'I am going to be married.' The news,understandably, caused no small stir. oResearching the circumstances of the crime for an article, he found that people remembered ' it made quite a stir at the time' and little else that he had not got from old newspaper files. RT□Such revelations of corruption in high places were bound to ceus·e considerable stir. the centre of attraction[Comp(NP)]a place where, or a person to whom, people are drawn(to the comparative neglect of other places available, or of other people in a company) S:△ be, become; make sth o Joe was in his ele-ment, the centre of attraction, congratula-tions, and crude masculine jokes. AITCo Celia pleaded a headache and left the party early. The truth was that she is so used to being the centre of attraction wherever she goes that she could not bear to be outshone. the centre of things [o(NP)] the place where interesting and important activities are going on V: be, live, work, operate. prep: at, in, near□ My half-conscious thought had been, ' It's fat white grubs like him that crawl about at the so-called“centre of things”— and you' re no more real than he is.'CON□ We' ve put a day-bed for father in the lounge. He likes to be in the centre of things and the doctor says it will be better for him, too. □ It is one of those books written by a journalist which gives a first im-pression of the author being present at all the world's trouble-spots at just the right moment. It conveys, possibly a little misleadingly, the sense of being close to the centre of things. SC a chain is(only) as strongas its woakest link(saying) each person or feature in an enter-prise or process must be equally reliable and efficient; a project or process may fail because of a single weakness or fault o A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and so we' re putting the whole point of the trip at risk if we bring the children along. □ On his showing atWembley last Saturday Smithson would seem to be the week link in the chain, and may well lose the British relay-team the Gold Medal they covet. □(NONCE) Written journalism is a funda-mentally lonely profession followed by gregarious people. Television is done in a crowd whose strength is its weakest member. LDvariant the weak(est) link in the chain. a chance acquaintance/ companion a per-son met quite by chance o The boy had been climbing on the rocks with a couple of chance companions, young holiday-makers like him-self, when the accident occurred. □I don't know what made me start confiding in him. He was a chance scquaintenc, after all, someone I'd met on a train journey. chance one's arm/ luck [V+ O] take the risk of receiving a rebuff, being found out to be wrong, suffering a loss or defeat, etc in the hope of gaining sth o 'I don't know the answer.' he said to the quiz master, ' but I' ll chance my arm and make a guess.'o He considered the pros and cons of making the investment for a full week and then decided to chance his arm and hope to get a return for his capital.□ He risked saying, when this (singing) had gone on some time.' You' re a little ray of sunshine these days,' but that made her huffy so he didn't chance his luck. TSMPOpl in would they chemce their arm? a chance encounter/ meeting a meeting that has not been arranged or foreseen o A film began, quite wildly at first. It showed a bicyclist.some woodland scenery, a punctured tyre,chance encounter, a gentleman raising a straw hat. OMIHoIt was during a chance meeting withJeffries at a concert that I first heard of his interest in the research project.□ also pl; chance(=‘happening by chance’) occurs in other, less common, collocations, such as They usually cost upwards of£20, this was achancebergain.chance would be a fine thing(informal) it would be very pleasant, gratifying to get an opportunity to do, experience sth specified, but one is very unlikely to be so lucky(the implica-tion occasionally being that what one wants may be foolish or unsuitable, although enjoy-able)□“Why don’ t you apply for that manage-ment job—— you'd be very good at it.'' Chance would be a fine thing. Everyone knows that it's been promised to Maxwell in the FinanceDepartment.’□‘Enjoy yourself, Anne, but no unsuitable holiday romances with a passionate,dark-haired stranger!’‘Chance would be a fino thing! My mother and aunt are coming with me. I won't even manage a quick visit to a disco.' (the) chances are (that) it is as likely to happen, or to have happened, as not (that)oI'm not going to let you go off on that long drive as you are, with all that drink in you. The chance; we you'd fall asleep at the wheel. PEoI think we may assume that he has good reason for revenge. The chanced are that he was engaged in some sort of underground during the war. ARG□Virginia sighed. 'I wish I knew what he looked like.'' Chances are you never will,' the nurse said, going to the door. AITC o stress pat-tern (the) , chances ' are. one's/ the chances are slim there is a possibility that sth could happen or be done,but it is not very likely V: be, look, appear, seem□ Senator Humphrey collected enough votes inWisconsin to indicate that he need not yet retire from the race, even if his chances are very slim.SC □ The chenees of my marrying again look rather slim. TVT o Even if President Ford had chosen Senator Baker to run with him, the chances of the Republicans capturing the South would have been slim, With Mr Dole the chances are much slimnor. G change/ turn one's coat [V + O] transfer 97 <98> change colour---change/ swap horses (in mid-stream) one's loyalty、 services etc from one country,political party, religious sect, etc to another (al-ways said with the implication (sometimes untrue) that the person concerned has done this, not because his beliefs or principles have altered, but because he finds it expedient or profitable to do so)□ Accusation and counterac-cusation have been laid on pretty thick. So-and-so used to be a communist, so-and-so wants to abolish religious teaching altogether, X has tur-ned his comt and Y is suborning his employees.NSa' The Vicar of Bray' is a well-known English song about an 18th century Anglican clergyman who managed to stay the priest in the same parish for many years by changing his coat with every swing of political or religious opinion. on com-pound a turncoat. change colour [V + O] blush, flush, or grow pale;(esp neg) show(no) emotion in one's face whether accompanied by growing red/ pale or not □ If this young man means nothing to her, as she claims, why did she change colour at the mention of his name? o I saw him suddenly change colour, but before I could reach him he had slipped off his chair on to the floor in a faint.□There was a great scene in the movie where the kid goes to a bar and gets drunk with Mary Max-well, and as he gets drunker she starts changing colour. RT change course[V + O] take a different direc-tion from that in which one has been moving till now $: dog, fox; ship; industry, management oThe fox suddenly changed course through the culvert and up into the spinney, and left the pant-ing hounds snuffling about the banks of the lane.□ It's a winding river that changes course twenty times in as many miles.□The Belgians are changing course smartly leftwards under the banner of workers' control. NS a The view that criticism of South African racial policies should be soft-pedalled could only be justified if there were the slightest chance of a spontaneous change of course. SC□ The river had changed its course (ie made a new bed for itself). □ This information made me changs my course (ie adopt a different plan of action altogether). Osometimes interchangeable with change one's/its course as in fifth and sixth examples; variant a change of course. change and decay [n+ n non-rev] the action of natural or historical processes on oneself,one's surroundings □(source) Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;/ Earth's joys grow dim.its glories pass away;/ Change and decay in all around I see;/O Thou, who changest not, abide with me. ENGLISH HYMNAL 363 □ Autumn, the season of change and decay...□ All around were change, decay, and new life. It was the fictionist rather than the poet in me who took a keen interest in the social revolution going on all round me. AH o ' The Vanishing Hedgerows'(BBC 2) was a different kind of country matter:change and decay in all around he sees---he being Henry Williamson who for many years has farmed as well as written. OBS change the face of sth[V+ O pass] make sth very, or unrecognizably, different o: the world,Britain; child education, surgical practice o The distinct hope of direct talks between PresidentNixon and Chou En-Lai before the end of 1971 98 represented one of the most momentous diplomatic coups of this and many a year. ThePope thought that it might ' change the face of the world'. Lo They worked under good leader-ship, and they changed the face of Britain's cattle——a review of the foreign blood now being introduced to improve our beef herds, by GrahamRose. ST o variant the changing/ changed face of sth. a change for the better/ worse [Comp/O(NP)] an improvement (or the reverse) of sth already existing or that has gone before V: be,seem; show, indicate o Each innovation is as-sumed to be better than its predecessors, simply because it comes after them: any change is e change for the batter so long as it is in chronological succession. ULo Within an hour of receiving the injection the patient's condition had changed for the better.□ Th e provision of an hourly bus service to and from our village has been a change for the worse as far as I am concerned. People now go into town to shop, andI have lost a lot of trade.□ variant change(v) for the better/ worse. change gear [V + O](informal) alter, adjust,one's approach to sb/ sth, or one's way of deal-ing with sb/ sth, as appears suitable or necessary(from the operation of a geared vehicle)□' Who are you?' they asked in French.' Ah, English,'they murmured, and changed gear into brokenEnglish. BMo Teaching so many different age-groups in the course of a day, it often took me quite a few minutes to change gear when a fresh lot came in.□ The new patient was a noisy sleeper with a wide repertoire. Any pause in his rever-berating snores only indicated that he was changing gear into whines, grunts, or even whistles. change hands{V+O} pass from one owner to another $: money, jewels; collection, property o The hotel has changed hands,I believe, sinceI stayed there. It may be better managed now. oThe book had long been out of print but Imanaged to obtain a somewhat tattered copy that looked as if it had changed hands many times. □' How did he get past the gate-keeper without credentials?’‘I expect it would be a matter of money changing hands.’ oAllo ver the world a great demand for diamonds and other precious stones has arisen. They change hands a dozen or more times until finally they disappear and cannot be traced. TCB change/ swap horses(in mid-stream)[V+ Opass] transfer(unexpectedly or awkwardly)one's preference for, or trust in, one person or thing to another; change the policy etc through which sth is to be achieved before the task is completed □(source) I am reminded in this con-nection (his renomination for the Presidency of the US) of a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that it was not best to swap horses when crossing& stream.ABRAHAM LINCOLN 1809-65 o When the‘NewMathematics' syllabus was adopted most schools introduced it at the lower end of the curriculum only, and pupils who had completed two or more years' instruction under the old system were not required to change homes in mid-stream. DAs an ex-Communist seeking affiliation with theScottish National Party, the election caught him <99> a changaig a good - est-& chapter of accidents just as he was shopping horses. SCJ Your style skids from cliché to cliché. Apron strings are outgrown, age-old rivals contend, and horser案are changed in midstream. NS a change is as good as a rest (saying) a change of work or occupation can be just as restorative, refreshing etc as resting o So we' ll all forget work for a few hours and enjoy our-selves. What about it? A change is as good me a resi. A few drinks? DPM□ 'I'm sure you didn't come here for the week-end just to work in my garden. '' Oh, but I enjoy it! And a change is be good as a rest, you know.'a She insisted that she was feeling well enough to go to the party,though I don't think her doctor would have agreed that a change was good ass re in her case a change of face/ front [0(NP)] a change in one's attitude or behaviour towards sb/ sth; a genuine change to a different viewpoint or ob-jective; a change of tactics without a change of objective V: make, execute; order. det: a, the;this; one's o The fact of the matter was that theGovernment, to meet a crisis in its own ranks,made a sudden change of face. MFM□ 'I 'm very much concerned about Mother's being left alone here.* ' Oh! Alan, really!' cried Mrs Craddock.Alan looked bewildered at her change of front.HAA□He(Mr Wilson) was right to realize that,whatever the Prime Minister's aims were in 1967the Leader of the Opposition in 1971 cannot sup-port entry(to the European Common Market)on Mr Heath's terms. The ways, however, in which he has chosen to make this change of front and then to justify it have been devious and divisive. NS□a change of front originally a milit-ary term. a change of heart [O (NP)] a real change in the feelings of a person, group, or nation, esp one which leads to understanding, co-operation and friendliness where there has for-merly been indifference or enmity V: notice;signal; cause, produce□ There is danger of being so pre-occupied with defence that we would miss or discourage a Soviet change of heart that would possibly lead to a settlement. OBSa At the moment, he's pretending to be blissfully unaware of any approaching change of mind or heart.‘Rumours,’ he says, and smiles his angelic smile.Lo Industry's part has been to act more respons-ibly. The changing economic climate as well as public concern have influenced this change of hoarc . G the change of life that period in a woman's life when menstruation (gradually) ceases and she becomes no longer capable of childbearing o TONY: What's the matter? MYRA: Giddy. No.leave me alone. TONY: You' re not still having the change of life are you? EHOWo The somewhat vague symptoms of her disease were erroneously attributed to ' the change', a mistake which many doctors of that time were all too apt to make. o Men too go through a less definable change of life, characterized physically by a redistribution of body weight or hormone im-balance, and psychologically by feelings of inadequacy and lost youth.□ sometimes called simply the change; popularly, and sometimes in fact, asssociated with varying degrees of physi-cal or emotional upset. change the record [V+ 0](informal) used in protests against hearing the same request.remark, complaint etc too often (record = disc for a record-player)o' When I was a boy I didn't do this, I didn't have that!'—I wish Grandpa would change the record occasionally.12' Changs the record, will you?' shouted Anne from the kitchen. ' Do you realize you' ve been whistling the same tune over and over, all the time you' ve been fixing that window?" change one' spots[V + O](try to) be or do sth th * is against one's nature o(source) Cun the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopord his spots? Then may y e also do good, that arc accus-tomed to do evil. JEREMIAH XIII23u Nothing has been said or done since last June to convince the voter that Labour in opposition has changed its spots. NSoI had classed Jean Pierre once and for all. That he should secretly have been changing his spots, secretly improving his style, ennobl-ing his thought, purifying his emotions all this was really too bad. UTN o The leopard has noíreally changed its spots. For all the populist rhetoric, National Front propaganda prefers the real red meat of racialism. NS change the subject [V + O pass] start a dif-ferent topic in the course of a conversation or discussion (perhaps because it is embarrassing,distressing, boring etc) o When she wanted to talk about her work, he would change the sub-ject, or at best listen condescendingly, as if she were a child telling of school excitements. AITCDI changed the subject and leading on from our previous talk I asked him what sort of people the smugglers had been. DSoJO: What day was I born on? HELEN: I don't know. JO: How old was I when your husband threw you out? HELEN: Change the subject. TOH change one's tuna [V + 0] (informal) (be influenced by events or circumstances to) alter one's opinion or attitude; think or speak about sb/ sth in a way pretty much the opposite of how one formerly did; sing a different song/ tune(qv) S: politician, businessman, union leader:rival, competitor o When I was in Germany l saw what the Russians were really like. I was a bit of a Communist before the war, but I soon changed my tune. RATToIn June, Ismail said toCailliand that Bruce was a liar: the climate ofSenner was very bearable. In July when the rains came, he changed his tune. BNo These evening lectures at the works have been a great success.despite all the jeremiads I was treated to when Istarted them. Even some of my dear brother directors have changed their tune, and the union bosses are quite enthusiastic now. ASAchange one's ways [V + 0] lead one`s life differently; form habits suited to a new pattern of life or work □ I'm not against modern methods of teaching at all. It's just that I'm too old to change my ways.□She has her own idea of how a house should be run and you'd never get her to change her ways.□I think we' ll manage to live comfortably enough on my pension. We' ll have to change our ways a bit though, and live more simply. □ often neg or with the suggestion that change is difficult. a chapter of accidents a number of suc-cessive accidents, mishaps, occurring to one person or group or connected with a particular 99 <100> chapter and versa——a child in such/ these matters place or activity a Andy bundled out into the corridor and nearly knocked over a man just passing. ' Oh, I'm sorry, I'm having quite a little chapter of accidents.'TTo' What a chapter of accidents, ' said Anne's mother when the girl had finished explaining how she had come to arr-ive six hours late. □ We' ve had a proper chapter of accidents this morning, the school Matron told the headmistress. 'I' ve just about emptied theFirst Aid box.'o not used of really serious ac-cidents or misfortunes, or ones involving serious injury. chapter and verse [O (NP)](give) the exact source of a text from the Bible, or of any other quotation: (provide) substantiating or authoritative detail V: quote, give; want, expect o I haven't got one of those memories that can quote chapter and verse, but I think I can give you the gist of the passage that you' re asking about. □‘You weren’ t the first young man she’ s slept with. She's notorious for it —— ' And, he,pressing his advantage home, went on to give chapter and verse. RATTa(of a man hanged for a murder of which he may have been innocent)The answer in Hanratty's case is a sadly familiar one to lawyers who practise in the criminal courts. He could not give chapter and verse for his truthful Rhyl alibi, so he tried to concoct himself one in Liverpool. Lo non-rev. charity begins at home(saying) one's first care must be for one's family; one cannot care for others and neglect one's family o Charity and beating begins at home. WIT WITHOUTMONEY(J FLETCHER1579-1625)□To say, in politics,that charity begins at home is often a polite way of saying that the voter is a selfish brute who doesn't give twopence for the under-developed nations. NS□ Before you busy yourself with tell-ing us how to put the rest of the world right, just remember that charity begins at home and get on with the job of putting Britain right. RT chatter like a magpie talk rapidly and ex-citedly, esp about nothing very important oAnd as they (school children) started to get everything ready, chattering like a lot of mag-pies, she turned back to Miss Elliot, TTa/ was looking forward to exchanging news with Mor-ton after all these years, but I could hardly get a word in, because of his chattering magpie of a wife. a The crowd chattered like monkeys the whole time, especially when they recognised per-sonages whose faces they knew from newspapers and news films. AH O often said of individuals who do this habitually; when attention is direc-ted to the behaviour of a group of people,chatter like monkeys/ sparrows also used; variant a chattering magpie. cheap at the price [Comp (AdjP)] so well worth having, or so much desired, that the price(not necessarily in money), however high, does not seem too much $: place; settlement, agree-ment; house, business. V△be, seem, find sth oHe was buying time. He needed time. He wanted to stay in this country. Maybe he thought he'd be the Big White Chief within ten years. Maybe he thought it was cheap at the price. PP□' And I had to lend Colin £5. I don't suppose I' ll ever see it again. " Well, if he keeps out of your way for a while because he can't pay you back, it' ll be cheap at the price.’ o In the end he was driven 100 to confess and face a prison sentence, feeling that to clear his conscience would be cheap st any price. o almost always after be and with reference to sth already stated or understood.cheek by jowl (with sb/ sth) [A] close together, esp side by side V: stand, sit, lie, liveD The other two took no notice of him at all,though they were standing check-by-jowl.RATT□' The Womenfolk' was a programme fromScotland about a group of trawlermen's women in Aberdeen. Once they would have all lived cheek by jowl in the villages of Fittee or Torry.Lo Her locker was always untidy. A hair-con:b would be lying cheek by jowl with a half-eaten apple. □ Caracăs has nowhere to grow but up-wards, and surprising extremes of wealth and poverty are crowded check by jowl. OBS a chequered career/ history [0 (NP)] the life, record, of a person, nation, institution etc characterized by many changes of function and fortune V: have, enjoy, experience o Behind this is a lesson for those who buy cheap Italian shares like La Centrale's. La Centrale has had a chequered history from the time when its electricity undertaking was nationalised in 1963.ST□' When I was working as a zoo-keeper——''A what, did you say?' ' Oh, I' ve had a chequered career. I could tell you a few things more surprising than that.' o The NationalHealth Service after 25 years—— nearly its entire life--has its ailments. Tony Osman looks at the service's chequered history. ST Osometimes, but not necessarily, slightly derogatory, implying instability or inefficiency.chew the cud (of sth) [V + O] chew food regurgitated from the first stomach (of ruminant animals); (fig) recall and consider,reflect upon, sth already said or done o The small sturdy Kerry cattle were chewing the cud within the shelter of the white ring fence. PP oDuring the evening, moodily chewing the cud of these reflections, he gradually convinced him-self of Alec's bona-fides. PW□ Whenever you two get together you do nothing but chew the cud of schoolboy memories. I' ve heard these stories so often I'm bored stiff. chew the fat/ rag [V + O] (informal) discuss sth often but not essentially in a grumbling or argumentative way; have an argument or(near)quarrel with sb over sth; talk casually o After all, I argued, if you take over someone else's wife.the chances are that he won't lose much time in coming round to chew the fat a bit. CONo And then the bloody door had to open and there wasDusty and Chadwick chowing the fat and smoking very nicely thank you. TT a ' The other typists won't like you appointing the new girl to be your private secretary.' ' Oh, it' ll give them something to chew the reg about in their coffee breaks.'o You heard that Victor (held awaiting trial) got moved to Lewisberg? They gave him a television and he lives on steaks and eggs. They tell me the convicts there sit around chewing the fat in a rose garden most of the day. STa child in such/ these matters[Comp(NP)]knowing little about, or still preserving one's childish innocence about, sth already referred to or understood V: △ be, seem, appear o(reader's letter) I am a child in these matters(the money market), but I cannot but observe <101> the child is (the) father of the man---chock-a-block (full) (with sb/ sth) that since the collapse of the negotiations(Brussels) my modest portfolio of ordinary shares has increased in value by 14 per cent. ToSince we all know James is a child in such matters we should have insisted on his taking legal advice about what should be due to him in copyright fees. □ It wasn't the sort of show Ishould have taken my mother to at all. For-tunately, she is rather a child in these matters,and most of the comedians' innuendoes were lost on her. the child is (the) father of the man (say-ing) the influences and experiences of child-hood determine one`s character as an adult o(source) So was it when my life began;/ So is it now I am a man;/ So be it when I shall grow old.../ The child is father of the Man. MYHEART LEAPS UP(W WORDSWORTH 1770-1850)o All educationists agree that the child is the father of the man—— and yet there is a shameful lack of provision, by almost all local Authorities, of Nur-se ry Schools for underprivileged children. child's play [Comp(NP)] sth that is quite easy to do; kid(s’) stuff(qv)(sometimes said to fore-stall or deny any assertion to the contrary)V:△be, seem; make... of sth □ I' ve had audiences of the Pope, I' ve been received by the Queen, I' ve met Elsa Maxwell, but that's child's play to getting hold of you, Professor Middleton. ASAoThe appeal of Transcendental Meditation is that it is child's play, It doesn't demand exercise,discipline or restraint; you needn't give up drink,or meat or sex; you don't have to retreat from the world or believe in God. ST o He has electric shears that make cutting a hedge child's play.(or: that make child's play of cutting a hedge).o‘Isn't it awfully difficult to work those machines?'' Child's play, my dear girl. Let me show you. 'o stress pattern ' child's play. children should be so on and/ but not heard (saying) children should be quiet and respectful in the presence of their elders, speak only when spoken to, etc o ' My grandfather.brought up his children in ways that astonished people. Their whole social life was spent with their parents.’‘I thought the rule was that child-ren were seen and not heard.'' They were con-stantly seen and very, very much heard.’ L oWhilst our forebears may have thought that children should be seen but not heard in the home, nowadays it is more likely that they are neither seen nor heard there; increasingly, it ap-pears that the young seek to avoid the company of their parents. RT□(referring to the average size of a Victorian family) No wonder they said children should be so on and not board. With so many of them it would have been absolute chaos if they'd all been speaking at once. TVTOextreme and dated view of family and school discipline; expression may still be used to rebuke a child whose behaviour is annoying. chill sb's/ the spine etc[V + 0 pass] cause feelings of fear and horror; freeze sb's/ the marrow/ blood O: spine,△marrow, blood o'Acollection of horror stories, ' the blurb went on,guaranteed to chill the spines of the most scep-tical readers.’ o Sensuous, witty, wise —— her qualities need no inventory from me, and she can also chill the marrow with an item like ' TheIntruder’, G o The chemical industry, which is supposed to have bent the Minister's ear with spine-chilling stories about what would happen if……NS□ Wendy— who appears in ' Shadows',the series (TV) of children 's spine-chillers— is far too down-to-earth to take ghosts seriously.TVT□ adjcompound spine-chilling; n compound spine-chiller. a chink/ crack in one's armour a vulnerable point in one's protection from attack, or in one's position in an argument etc; an imperfec-tion or flaw of which others may take advan-tage o As Harold was shutting the door, some-thing on the wash-stand flashed a lipless grin at him— it was Alec's false teeth in a tumbler. Far from being disgusted, Harold was touched by this evidence of imperfection, this chi nk in Alec's armour. PWo ' You were saying how you'd told her she was too much of a do-gooder to do much good.’ I' ll save it till later. One thing though—I think I' ve detected the crack in her shining armour.’ To His (advertising) copy seemed to me to be based on a very nice estimate of the chi nk in the intellectual armour which most' New Statesman' readers and writers wear in order to protect themselves from vulgar, com-mercial appeals. NS a chinless wonder (informal) a type of(young) upper-class Englishman thought of as being both effete and pretentious o I'm tired of watching films that show forelock-tugging Cock-ney privates, dim Scottish stokers, and cluelessWelsh batmen being tally-ho'd by the insidious.condescending, upper-class tones of a chinities wonder officer. RTO Occas pl; attrib use a chin-less wonder type. a chip of/ off the old block [Comp (NP)] a child very like its father in appearance and/ or character (the reference being to a chip struck off a block of wood)V:△be; think, find, sb oEdmund Burke said of the Younger Pitt that he was ' not merely a chip of the old block, but the old block itself'. □ He was privately not at all displeased that one of his hefty daughters should be a chip of the old block. RM□(Congratula-tions and thanks) also to David Dimbleby for his splendid commentary. A real chip off the old block (Richard Dimbleby, his father, was a well-known radio and TV commentator). RT口most often said of a son. chips with everything(catchphrase) symbol of lower-class and unimaginative taste in food or anything else(popularized from the title of a play(1962) by ARNOLD WESKER)□ There used to be a restaurant in Chancery Lane called Chips with Everything'. This was a nice irony, sinceArnold Wesker's play of that name was intended to point up the low expectations of the working class'—— that is to say, most people, the other ranks. Nevertheless‘Chips with Everything’eventually came to be a name for a smart res-taurant. Lo The village restaurant is cheaper.than most (about £5 a head, with wine) and offers a brave selection of local dishes, as well as the more conventional chips-with-everything fare. ST check-a-block (full) (with sb/ sth) [Comp(AdjP)] (informal) filled to capacity (with a number of persons or things) $: cupboard,drawer; room, theatre. V:△ be; fill, pack, sth.o: rubbish, remnants; guests o This started off 101 <102> chocolate box--circumstantial evidence as my cupboard, and now it's chock-a-block full with your books and papers. o If anybody else comes, don't let them in. The place is chock-a-block already. □‘He is an historian.’‘Well,you' ve certainly come to the right place.' Yves was in no way abashed. ' Italy's chock full of history.’ ASA □ My aunt sent me a hamper chock-full of all kinds of goodies. □ Don't fill a pressure lamp chock full or the oil will flood the burner. □ variant chock(-) full (of/ with sb/ sth). chocolate box pleasing in a stereotyped or conventional way (ie pretty rather than beauti-ful, original, or artistic, and likely to make a suitable cover for a box of chocolates) o TheHall of the average Oxbridge College usually displays the portraits of its worthies. There they are straight from the chocolate box, the minis-ters, judges, cardinals and archbishops, benefi-cent tvcoons. NS□ She paints flower pictures that are quite pleasant in a chocolate-box sort of way. □ The mother had a faded chocolate-box prettiness that left me quite unprepared for the outstanding beauty of her daughter. O attrib use u chocolate-box prettiness. chop and change [v + v non-rev] (informal)fluctuate, vary constantly, from one thing to another: keep changing one's opinions, plans,jobs etc o You never know what sort of clothes to put on in the morning, when the weather keeps shopping and changing like this. □ You' ve got your room all different again! You' re a great one for shopping and changing, aren't you? □ He was never content with anything he had written until he had chopped and changed it about twenty times. a You' ll never make any headway at anything, if you keep shopping and chang-ing jobs like this. the/ God's chosen (people) the Jews, esp inOld Testament history, but also as a general term for Jewish people anywhere; those who are‘saved’(with reference to the Christian doctrine of salvation by election or redemp-tion) c (source) But you are a chosen genera-tion,a royal priesthood,a holy nation,a peculiar people. I PETER II9□ The problem then was to establish whether Antichrist had come and who he was. And the tradition could be, as Hill brings out, highly political; Antichrist is a holder of political power who persecutes God's chosen people. NS □ His death-bed was racked with doubts as to whether he was numbered among the choser. the chosen few a relatively small number of persons selected for, or finding themselves in, a position of favour or privilege o (source) For many are called, but few are chosen.MATTHEW XXII 14 口 If all went well the chosen few would be masters of the world and mowing down the many, the snob-ridden aristos, the mighty tycoons and their bourgeois friends. PP□The Professor is giving a dinner-party tonight.but that's just for the chosen few. The rest of us are invited to a wine-and-cheese party nextWednesday. a Fears have been expressed that as higher education comes to be less and less a privilege of the chosen few, we shall be faced with a glut of unemployable graduates. a chosen instrument/ vessel (formal) sb/sth to whom/ which the mission or duty of working out a divine purpose has been entrus- 102 ted; sb/ sth chosen to carry out a special mission□ (source) But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and the children of Israel. ACTSIX15□Whether Smith was a religious maniac genuinely believing himself a chosen instrument, or just a shrewd charlatan,is debatable. □ Northern Ireland's competitive position has been weakened by the Local Em-ployment Bill, which is the Government's chosen instrument for steering industries to black spots in Scotland and England. SC□ Like many others who have the arrogance to see them-selves as chosen vessel s for the regeneration of the world, he was narrow-minded and bigoted in the extreme. chuck it (slang) abandon, give up (a job, a task); stop doing sth more or less immediately;pack it in(Voll)(qv)o ' It's why I took this job— to get out of this country. But it's pretty foul really, having to go off just when I' ve met you,said Edward. 'I' ve half a mind to chuck it.'TCB□Oh, chuck it, will you! I' ve had enough of your grumbling.□I'm feeling a bit tired. I think I' ll chuck it for tonight and go to bed.□ You' re not going to persuade me however much you say, so you might as well chuck it. O in second mean-ing, often used in imper to stop sb whose behaviour is irritating. circumstances alter c&s(saying) one's opinion, judgment, or treatment of sb/ sth may vary according to the circumstances a Recog-nition of the fact that circumstances after cas@s required more flexibility of mind than he possessed. PW o 'I understood your father had always set his face against having a TV set in the house?’ Circumstances alter c#$&; he can't get about now as he used to, and he's glad of it to pass the time.’ circumstances beyond one's control [o(NP)] conditions or events one is not respon-sible for, is powerless to affect, and hence should not be blamed for prep: due to, owing to; as a result of, because of; through o All the aspects of the plan that were within reach of my own hand were worked out and determined.What took longer, of course, was the part which depended on the decisions of others and on cir-cumstances beyond my control. LWK o The contractors pointed out that failure to complete the work by the agreed date had been entirely due to circumstances beyond their control—— the exceptionally severe winter, and strikes in the supply industries. a No reason for postponing the programme was given except the usual un-specified ' owing to circumstances beyond our control'. □ When rain came to ruin the schedule of location filming Roy Boyd took over the Brad-shaw part. Circumstences beyond our control,' explained Avengers executive BrianClemens. ‘Sometimes you can’ t beat the English weather.'TVT o cf not be within one's control, as in We' re hoping the new baby will be a girl, but that's not within our control, of course. circumstantial avidence a number of facts or details that point strongly to a certain con-clusion o No jury likes to convict on circum-stantial evidence alone.□ His experience was that eagles only took interest in the dead lambs.Away back in the fifties he was new to sheep <103> furming but refused to be stampeded into taking action against the eagles on the circumstantial evidence of the time. The event proved the wis-dom of his caution. SCo ' Jack said he wasn't going to be home between the match and the dance.’‘Well, there’ s circumstantial evidence in the bathroom that he was. No stopper on the toothpaste as usual, and two dirty towels flung in the bath.’ o used esp of contributory evidence of this kind which may or may not add up to a presumption of guilt in a court of Law. a city slicker (slang) a smart, fast-dealing,fast-talking person from a city— possibly not entirely honest (esp in implied or stated contrast to an ordinary town or country per-son) □ talking away until the Commander bustled back. ' Now fire off your questions,' he barked, genially enough. ' One at a time, mark you. I'm not one of those city-slickers you' re probably used to.’ PP□It would disturb them no end to set about going to a thing like that(a strip show) in the full knowledge of what they were going to get. I'm talking about the solid citizen,naturally, not city slickers like you and meTGLY o Would he, however, be prepared to say:' We intend to prevent people - - - speculators.property developers, city slickers—— from bor-rowing large sums of money and then repaying them in depreciated currency. 'NS civil disobedience organized non-aggressive refusal to obey the law (often as part of a cam-paign for political reform) o (in NorthernIreland) More seriously, the minority as a whole has now renounced parliamentary politics and opted for direct action, ranging from civil dis-obedience and demonstration to bullets and gelignite. NS Civvy Street (military slang) civilian life in contrast to life in one of the armed forces,whether on active war service or not o SpikeMays. ex-trooper of the Royals and then a sig-nalman, was repatriated from India in 1934 and sent on a telegraphist's course as a preparation for‘Civvy Street’. NS □ You can call it WarService if you like but as a training instructor atCatterick he was in a lot less danger of copping it than plenty of the people in Civvy Street. □Remember when the Groupie (Group Captain)drove his Mercedes into the camp swimming-pool? Remember Coronation night in the Naafi?Remember how dull Civvy Street seemed—and how lonely? TVT 口 sometimes written without capital. s; stress pattern ' Civvy Street. a clarion call a loud rousing call or sound (as of a trumpet); any inspiring summons to, or appeal for, action o I' ll wring that cock's neck.one of these mornings. I can do without a clarion call right under my window at the break of dawn.□At present NATO is in the doldrums. It needs a roll of drums and a clarion call—— to put its house in order while the going is good. MFMoRevolution was in the air when Mary Woll-stonecroft sounded a new clarion call to battle in1792 with her vigorous work 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman'. She urged women to im-prove their minds and their status. L o stress pattern a clarion call. a clash of wills etc a situation in which the views, aims etc of two persons or groups are in conflict with each other o: wills, △ interests; a city slicker----a cleát sneet personalities, temperaments; ideologies 口Secondly, nothing has changed as regards the clash of interests between Britain and France on the agricultural question, and nothing is likely to change for at least a generation. Lo It seems as if, for some people,a classho f wills is insepar-able from sexual excitement. SML o It may be argued that it is not the clash of Protestant andCatholic ideologies as such that has caused the present troubles in Ulster.□ Keith and Brian are bo:h men who tend to dominate whatever scene they find themselves in and there's always a clash of personalities when they meet. class distinction(s) (placing people in) dif-ferent ranks in the social scale, according to birth, economic status and/ or occupation o To isolate the working-classes in this rough way is not to forget the great number of differences, the subtle shades, the class distinctions, within the working-classes themselves. UL □ The new'meritocracy will have class distinctions of its own.□Our pupils come from families in all walks of life: no boy who has been refused admittance here has been the victim of class distinction.the/a classic example (of sth) a long established and widely known instance or il-lustration (often the), a typical or striking in-stance or illustration(often a)□The capacity to retain one's faith and fortitude throughout afftic-tion and adversity, of which Job's is a classic&& maple, is given to few men.□Great truths may seem to have been stumbled on by accident, wit-ness the classic examples of Archimedes' bath-water and Newton's apple, but... a To many of its inhabitants Birmingham is a classic exactr-ple of a city disfigured by planners' blight. RI :Some people can bore you even when they' re talking about a subject that interests you. Mar-garet Thatcher on ' law and order' is a classic example. DM clean forget forget completely, esp sth one should have done or kept in mind that has present relevance o There's a letter came the other day for her from England. I meant to give it to the mail-man and I clean forgot . RFWo' It's nearly nine o clock.' ' Of course it is, I'd clean forgotten. It was talking to you about that fellow Goodrich.' pw o occurs most frequently in first person uses. a clean sheet' [O/o (NP)]a record free of any-thing to one's dishonour or discredit V: have.give sb; start with, begin with □ 'I don't know anything about the man's past history,' he told the Inspector,' but I can give him a clean sheet for the five years he's been working here.'a ' If this lark goes on much longer, he said,' you and me' ll have to get married as well. ' Ma said she thought it wouldn't he a bad idea perhaps—— just as well to start with a clean sheet about these things. DBM a clean sheet²[o(NP)] an opportunity either to do sth for the first time or to start afresh as if for the first time V: start (again) with, begin with, turn to o It's a new appointment in theDepartment so he starts with aclean sheet.□All the wallpaper—— layer and layer of it— and all the paint must go, so that we could start with a clean sheet. SCo The tradition of making lists on the arbitrary basis of the calendar stems from the common human impulse to wrap up the muddle 103 <104> cleanliness is next to godliness— clear of sth of the old year, label it, and turn to l January as if to a clean sheet. cleanliness is next to godliness (saying)to be clean is good religious practice □(source)Slovenliness is no part of religion. Cleanlinest is, indeed, next to godliness. JWESLEY 1703-91□Our grandmother kept both the house and us children in a constant state of spit and polish,quelling our complaints with frequent reminders that cleanliness was next to godlines. o 'l thought Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest?"' Oh well, it's a good chance to wash the.kitchen floor while the children are all out, and cleanliness is next to godliness after all. 'o expression perhaps linked with the purification rituals laid down in Leviticus and the Pauline doctrine of the body as the temple of the HolyGhost and not to be defiled, but not now said very seriously. cleanse the(Augean) stables [V+ O pass]thoroughly reform some section of public life,big business, etc where there has been an accu-mulation of corrupt practice (from one of the twelve labours of Hercules in Greek myth) □The one problem which the government must now tackle is urban decay. And this is first dependent on clearing up hureaucratic communications at local level: a cleansing of the Augeam stables of lethargy, buck-passing and stalling. Lo It had really been an eye-opener to him, he said, to see what went on, when he thought of the distin-guished men who apparently were either too cyni-cal or too flabby to protest. Such a cleansing of the stables as he could see was needed, no won-der the nation was so slack. HAA clear the air [V + O pass] freshen the air or atmosphere;(fig) deal with openly, and poss-ibly dispel, doubt, suspicion, jealousy, grudges between persons or groups o Do you mind if Iopen the windows. just for five minutes, to clear the air?□ In the sultry thundery weather of that week I longed for a real storm to break and clear the air . □(astrologist's forecast) You may have to write a difficult letter to an acquaintance but it should clear the air quite a bit. Wi o This talk did a great deal to clear the air. It was the begin-ning of a friendship between Grigg and myself.MFM a clear case of sth[Comp(NP)] an unmistak-able, easily identifiable, case or instance of(sth,doing sth, or sth having happened) V: △ be,seem; look like. o: murder, arson; discrimina-tion; being victimized o There must have been some doubt as to the manner of his death because the widow was able to draw his Life Insurance money. In a clear cwise of suicide they usually withhold payment.□ Giving Jamieson a place in the school team was a clear case of favouritism---and didn't the boys know it! □ His lawyer thought that Johnson's was a clear enough cess of discrimination on grounds of colour to war-rant taking legal action against the landlord. clear one's/ sb's character [V + O pass]prove or show that one/ sb is innocent, honest,respectable etc, after having been accused of something to the contrary o When the police-sergeant had finished, Julius reiterated his plea to be allowed to go to bed. ' Now that all our characters have been cleared,' he said with a poor attempt at irony,I presume that there is no 104 point in keeping us up any longer.’ EM□My son did not do this horrible thing. and I want you to find out who did. I'm willing to spend every penny.I have to clear his character. o You don't need to try to clear your character with me, my dear.I know you too well to believe malicious gossip of this sort. clear etc one's conscience [V+ O](try to)atone for some real or imagined failure, etc V:clear, △salve, square, ease □ Ned was making him a bit of a sermon, to clear his own con-science for being a business man and making money. CON□ But he was being kind to himself not to me. It was the sort ofkindness which, when there is a gash in a close relationship, one per-forms to @&& one's conscience, to push any intimate responsibility away. NMo At present he has a cause, although it would be cheap and un-fair to imply that he pursues it simply to salve his own over-dermanding conscience. OBS o Iwould not have been able to squarm my con-science if so large a sum had been given to me.simply for doing my duty. MFM □ esp in to-inf constructions after try, manage, be able etc. clear cut [Comp (AdjP)] clearly outlined, dis-tinct, definite and unambiguous V:△be, seem,appear; consider sth as o I consider the problem viewed as above is very simple and clear cut.MFM□ Nearly 500 college students acted as sub-jects in this experiment and the results were clear cut. MFF o It would be better to make a clear-cut decision to retire all employees at 65than to continue the present rather invidious sys-tem of considering each case on its own merits.□But there is no clear-cut division, in my opinion,between what constitutes art and what doesn't,though the opposite extremes are easily enough recognized.□ We cannotal low any of you to leave the building. Our instructions on that point are clear cut. o attrib use a clear-cut decision.separation. clear the decks(for action) [V+ O pass] get ready for any sort of activity, business, by removing anything not essential to it or by per-forming any tasks that are a necessary prepara-tion for it o The morning's session was described as mainly to present facts and clear the decks.To... ordering that all British women and child-ren, and all non-essential British male civilians,were to be evacuated from Palestine at once. The decks were now cleared for action. MFM o If we' re going to dance, some of you can give me a hand to clear the decks. Carry the small stuff into the hall, and shove the rest out of the centre of the room. O clear the decks can also be used of eating every bit of the food laid out on a table for a meal. clear one's/ sb's head restore one's mental faculties; reduce confusion, fatigue, or conges-tion from a cold, etc o I'm not making much progress with this essay. I think I' ll take a little walk to clear my head. □ It's your own fault if you' ve got a hang-over. Still,I' ll make you some coffee. It might clear your head a bit before you go to work. clear of sth [Comp (AdjP)] free or freed from sth; past, beyond, a place, time, stage of progress, life, or work V: △ be, get; rise, soar.o: town, traffic; work, commitments; encum-brances o We had a slow journey north. It took <105> us an hour and a half to get clear of London in the first place.□ He made for the Western High-way by a short cut through suburban roads I did not know, I did not talk to him till we were clear of the houses. RFW□I have a study group to take this afternoon. I should be clear of that, though,by half-past three or four.□I hope I' ve passed in all my subjects. It would be nice to be clear of exams for a while. clear one's throat [V + O pass] cough, or make a slight coughing noise, either to relieve a feeling of congestion, or as a warning or ner-vous preliminary to saying something o He cleared his throat and took a swift but profound sniff at the inhalant to do the same for his nasal passages. TO□Pyle cleared his throat and it was the signal for an approaching intimacy. QA □They scratched their heads, shuffled their feet,glanced helplessly at each other, and then one of themeventually plucked up the courage to speak.' Masa,' he said, having cleared his throat sev-eral times. BB o also pl They cleared their throats. clench one's hands etc[V + O pass] hold both one's hands tightly closed, hold the jaws or teeth rigidly closed, esp indicating aggression, concentration, endurance under strain, nervous tension, etc O: hands, △fists;jaws, teeth o ' Don't clench your hands like that. Just relax, the doctor said.'I'm not going to hurt you'oI can't get anything out of the child about who he is or where he came from. He just stands there with his teeth clenched and refuses to answer.□From the tone of his voice you would have thought him calm enough, but I observed he had his fists clenched till the knuckles shone white. a clever dick (informal) sb who is clever,smart, in a superficial or insolent way, who is always ready to correct others or score over them in some way, esp verbally; a smart a leck(qv)□ DAVID: What's love? How can I recognize it? I never saw any in this house. BESSIE: There he goes again — clever dick. Didn't I give you enough food?HSGo'I used to work stripped to the.waist in Germany, ' I said. ' I nearly went mad with sunburn and I caught cold every time the wind changed.'' Clever Dick,' she said. ' Think yer knows everything doncha(= you think you know everything, don't you)?’ RATT D clever dick often used to reproach sb sarcastically. click one's hoels [V + O] bring the heels of one's boots/ shoes sharply together as part of a military salute or other formal greeting o The chief of police rose to his feet, bowed to us, and then clicked his hoels together with such vigour that one of the constables dropped his rifle. DF□Introductions were accompanied by a consider-able amount of clicking of hools (or: heel-clicking) and kissing of hands, formalities she was unused to in an English drawing-room. click one's tongue [V + O] make a short sharp sound(by drawing the tip of one's tongue sharply away from the teeth-ridge) to indicate disapproval, annoyance with sb/ sth or oneself,impatience etc o ' How do you do?' said Susan.There was an undertone of defiance in her voice,and Briggs clicked his tongue in disapproval as he noted that no ' my lady' followed the form of words. EM□ Gerald sketched to him his doubts clear one's throat—— cloak and dagger over Melpham. Mr Cresset clicked his tongue in a shocked way. ' It would be a terrible thing if that were true.' he said. ASAo' What have I said wrong now?' she wondered, as she heard the examiner click his tongue. the climate of opinion what, in any given period or place, the majority of people think.believe and feel o We tend to forget how much courage, in view of the climate of opinion in his time, Darwin showed in propounding his theory of the Evolution of Species. o Artists and writers.no less than political reformers, have their part to play and often indeed subtly create that change in the climate of opinion which makes reform possible. □ There is a sound tape of this hair-raising affair buried deep in a drawer(in Broad-casting House), never, given the present climate of opinion about language, to be heard.L o Pornography, abortion, contraception, il-legitimacy--and indignation. The frequency with which these factors cropped up and coin-cided in the week's news testified to the continu-ing unease felt in Britain about the moral climate of the Seventies. I o variants the moral,financial, economic etc climate = ` the general at-titude towards, or the general conditions exist-ing in, some section of public life'. climb the wall(s) [V + O] (informal) be distraught, be harassed or exasperated almost beyond endurance or reasonable behaviour; go up the wall(Vol l)(qv)o 'I don't work there.'she answered. ' At least, only this afternoon,because Lucy Hall wanted to go to a wedding;and she's going to start climbing the walls onMonday when she finds how I' ve left things.'PE□ He really is an awful child. He had my wife climbing the wall the last time he stayed here,and you know how good she is with children. oI'd better get along home, or Dad' ll be climbing the wall, wondering what's happened to me. 口 esp in f and continuous tenses. clinch a deal [V + O pass](informal) make a business, or other, agreement final and binding o Many British firms are prepared to undercut one another and other western countries to the extent that may be necessary to clincha deal. T□ You' ll be happy to know I' ve sold her a stone;clinched the deal just before she go! married.HSG o I'm not saying that Robert didn't findJenny attractive, but he didn't marry her for love.I'm sure it was her having the capital to set him up in business that clinched the deal. o pl He clinched a couple of desis; variant that clinches it, is said of sth that confirms a decision already made or nearly made, or of sth that finally settles or proves an argument. clip sb's wings[V+O pass] restrict(the scope of) sb's activities; make it difficult or impossible for sb to realize his ambitions □ She' ll find that having a baby to look after will clip her wings more than she thinks.□Clipping the wings of the Church was a main objective in 16th centuryEngland under the Tudors. □' He thought he'd presented a good thesis, but he didn't get his PhDin the end.’ ' That' ll clip his wings, poorCharles. He was hoping it would get him an ap-pointment to a university teaching job. cloak and dagger [n + n non-rev](stories etc that are) full of intrigue, fighting and adven-ture;(similar situations or behaviour in real life 105 <106> a close call - a close/ narrow shave/ squeak that are) full of possibly contrived—— mystery and intrigue o He writes historical romances of ihe cloak and dagger sort. I don't care for that kind of stuff myself, but I believe they are very popular.□What's more, Ellsberg almost seems to enjoy his notoriety. At the Boston restaurant he insisted, in true cloak and daggers tyle, that his table should be a corner one. RT□If the rifles had really been intended for use by the DefenceForces of the Republic (a very different thing of course, from the Irish Republican Army), then there would have been no need for all the LeCarré-type cloak-and-dagger play in which the business was enwrapped. L o usu attrib use, as shown. a close call [Comp (NP)] (informal) escape from, avoidance of, mishap, danger, embar-rassment etc by a narrow margin; a close/narrow shave/ squeak (qv): a narrow escape(qv):a near miss²(qv)V:△be, seemo In those cold valley cottages, a child could sicken and die in a year, and it was usually the strongest who went. I was not strong; I was simply tough, self-inoculated by all the plagues. But sometimes,when I stop to think about it, I feel it must have been a very close call. CWR□I' ll never ride in a car with Stephen again. We may have got here in one piece, but there were too many close calls for my liking. a close friend etc an intimate friend with whom one has a relationship of trust and affec-tion, with whom—— as opportunity offers—— one is happy to spend one's time n: friend;△friend-ship, relationship o Cornelius (1824-1874) was a close friend of Wagner and Liszt. RT o But their friendship was safely founded on distance— it was always the closest friendships that were most liable to break. OMIH□ Of our four children, Johnny and Peter could never agree and have drifted further apart, hu i the two youngest were, und still are, close friends. close on [adv mod] nearly; almost; pushing forty(qv); rising twenty etc(qv) det(numeral)+ n: fifty men, a dozen chairs, ten years, five miles, twelve pounds, midday o / expected them for lunch but they didn't arrive till close on two o' clock. o Furniture and fillings, I' ll take four hundred or the nearest offer. Rateable value nincity quid. You can reckon water, heating and lighting at close on fifty. CON a Well, I don't know hi r age exactly, but he must he close on seventy.□ Not far to walk to the post-office, you say' It must he close on a mile. close (the/ one's) ranks [V + O pass](mili-tary) adopt a close formation; (fig) combine strongly, whatever one's individual differences,in a group in order to achieve or defend a com-mon purpose $: workers, bosses; Civil Service,Cabinet o The nations of the free world would be well advised to close their ranks and co-operate whole-heartedly and unreservedly. MFM□In the past we have not shirked competition, and if em-plovers and workers close their ranks to meet the challenge the Scottish economy ought to benefit from membership of the Common Mar-ket SC:I'I wonder would you mind uccepting my most sincere apologies for all that I night have ever said? '' You mean we should close the ranks? '' Something like that,' she said. TT□ TheMarquis(a character in a play) regards life as a 106 gigantic spree whose real reward is outwitting fools and outdaring knaves. But inevitably, theMunich establishment closmis ranks, depriving its tormentor of money, mistress and mystique.NS a close etc relation/ relative sb with whom one has a strong etc tie of blood or kinship adj:close, △ near; distant□Close relatives are not always close friends. □Unless you were a mear relation of the patient, the Sister wouldn't con-sider you were entitled to such information. o l have heard that the hedgehog is a distant rela-tion of the domestic pig. O not to be confused with a close/ distant relation(ship) =‘closeness of feeling, interchange, connection between per-sons, facts, conditions', as in There is a close relation(ship) between mental and physical abilities in the child under two. a close$ Besson a period of the year, varying from place to place and from species to species,during which it is illegal to kill or catch certain animals, birds, fish, esp the time during which they are breeding or rearing their young o He recognized the necessity of a class $●●ton during the time of breeding, but he could not help wishing that birds would ' stagger the business,(ie not all breed at the same time). RM o There seems to be no closg séesson for football nowadays. In the old days only schoolboys and village lads played it in the height of summer,oThis (German) chap said: ' It is for us, we are sure. the end of the war.' So I said: ' Well, my dear fellow, the thing to do is to keep as far from the Eastern Zone as possible, because, though we might possibly have a sort of close season.heing sportsmen, for Germans, it's very doubtful if the Russians will.' Lo also used of other sports or activities which are temporarily suspended.a close second [Comp (NP)] almost as suc-cessful, satisfactory etc as the winner or leading item in a competition or contest V:△be, come;run sb/ sth o The river's probably contaminated in some way. Human sewage is the main offen-der, with industrial waste a clos· second. DMoIt seems likely at this stage that Benson will win the Cup for the best all-round competitor. withTait running him a close second. □ In a recent survey it was found that though Britons still drank more tea than any other beverage, coffee now came aclos● second. a close/ narrow shave/ squeak [Comp(NP)] (informal) escape from, avoidance of,mishap, danger. embarrassment etc, by a nar-row margin; a close call (qv); a narrow escape(qv); a near miss² (qv) o When there were mishaps or setbacks or close shaves like theCresset affair of last night, he saw himself as the artist caught up in a web of other people's trick-ery. ASA□ He appears to belong to that genera-tion of ' playboys' who made a habit of getting themselves killed in motor-cars, a fate Max has happily managed to avoid, though there was at least one narrow shave. NS□A very tall thin man with a squint rose from a table near-by.' You said he hud a paunch. '' Not a paunch—— ponch.It's the local dialect for squint. ' It was a very narrow squeak. OMIH o ' Would it not be an additional safeguard,' suggested Dr Botuwink, ' if the British constitution were rationalized to some degree? You have hud a close squarek. like <107> a civige etc thing—a cloud on the horizon/ in the sky William Pi tı before you. The next mun may not be so lucky.’ EM o a close shave and a narrow squeak are the usual collocations. a close etc thing [Comp (NP)] a fine balance between life and death, success or failure, doing or not doing sth, one person and another in competition (though finally determined one way or another, usu fortunately)V:△be, seem.adj: close, △ close-run, near o John and Imanaged to throw ourselves to one side as Barry and the bike crashed past. It was a near thing.TVI a It was going to be a near thing whetherLukeg ot his headship; wasn't that true? So if one could do anything to bring it about, one had to.NM□ To think I might have been married to that woman! It was a close thing once, believe it or not.□The favourite that year(in the Leeds PianoCompetition) was a brilliant Russian namedVladimir Krainov, but Sebastien Risler of France was there too, as was Armenta Adams of theUnited States. Clearly it was going to be a very close thing. RT close/ near to sb's heart [Comp (AdjP)] of deep interest and concern to sb; dear to sb’ s heart (qv) S/O: subject, project; your welfare,the future of the service. V:△be, seem, remain;have, keep, sth o After lunch Joker found an opportunity to talk to I an Carmichael on a sub-ject near to his heart. RM□ They had discussed during the morning a neat plan for flooding a small competitor with orders beyond the power of his commission. It had been a scheme close to everyone's heart, and they had adjourned to theMetropole for drinks in a haze of bonhomie. HAA□ The history of the Scottish regiments is close to the hearts of the Scottish people; almost every family in the land has had a relative serving in the Black Watch, the Gordons, the Argylls, or some other regiment perhaps now disbanded.TVT o ' It's the first time I' ve been in charge of anything on this scale, and I realise that if you don't organise it yourself, it doesn't get done. 'Asentiment close to the hearts of captains everywhere. TVTo‘The welfare of the firm.’ he concluded, ' is something I will always have near to my heart.’ a closed/ sealed book (to sb) [Comp(NP)]a matter about which there is no body of know-ledge, or which sb specified knows nothing about or cannot understand V: △be; find sth□ In a huge area which until now had been &closed book Baker had compiled a mass of original information. BN o SECOND COMEDIAN(continues to stare into the goldfish bowl). The open sea is a closed book to this goldfish. ART◇ an open book. a closed shop (industrial relations) the prac-tice, ruling, or agreement under which only people belonging to a recognized trade union are employed in a factory, workshop, trade or profession o The scheme was therefore the antithesis of restriction, for it prevented the operation of a closed shop policy in the motor industry. To Lord Fulton himself, the outgoing chairman, replying to a member who challenged the Henniker appointment (to the chairmanship of the British Council) with the words‘You seem to be involved in some sort of closed shop',said, changing the metaphor, that there had been a' very broad trawl'. But the question' Who made the trawl?’ remained unanswered. NS closing/ opening time the end/ start of the two statuory periods(GB) when public houses or bars may legally sell or serve alcoholic drinks□ II was nearly closing time, and she began to make sandwiches for lunch. She heard Joe lock and close the front door. She heard him stop in the bar to pour himself another drink, which he brought into the kitchen. AITC□ By now it was about opening time. It seemed useless to start ringing up the night clubs at this hour (for in-formation), so there was nothing to be done but to work Soho (ie go round the Soho pubs). UTN□I don't know how long the zoo stays open at this time of year, but there' ll be a notice at the gates telling you about closing times. 口 applicable also to shops, banks, libraries, museums etc but out of context the meaning above may be assumed. clothed and in one's right mind have oneself organized mentally and physically to start the day's work, to meet others, go about one's business,etc□(source) Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed,and in his right mind: and they were afraid.LUKE VIII 35□I'm a slow starter in the mornings.Come round about 10 o' clock. I should be clothed and in my right mind by then.□' How was Steve to-day?’' Clothed and very much in his right mind; I think he' ll be out of hospital very soon now.' cloud one's brain etc[V + O pass] interfere with, obscure, one's understanding and judge-ment O: brain; △ vision, judgement D In gen-eral, I consider that excessive smoking and drinking tend to cloud the brain, MFM o It was your innate modesty, no doubt, that clouded your vision, and prevented you from seeing that you were the person aimed at by the criminal all the time. EM□It is not easy sometimes to prevent one's moral judgement from being clouded by self-interest.□ pl cloud their brains etc. a cloud no bigger than/ the size of a man's hand a small indication, perhaps not recognized as such, of coming disturbance,trouble, or of widespread change not necessarily disastrous o (source) Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab,Prepare thy chariot and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. I KINGS XVIII44o It was an unpleasant little incident, soon forgotten but recalled afterwards as being the cloud no bigger than a man's hand that might have warned us of the course events would take. oReactionary and repressive regimes are never very prone to take note of clouds the size of a man's hand. They ignore the signs until disaffec-tion becomes too widespread to control. o The reporter reminded me that only three years before I had been listed as an ' undesirable radical campus speaker', The following day a cloud no bigger than a man's hand appeared on my otherwise serene horizon. OBS a cloud on the horizon/ in the sky a threat or indication of trouble to come □ But no industrial picture, however bright, is likely to be without one or two small clouds on than horizon. 107 <108> the coast is clear--cold comfort sc o The Home Office is a particularly treacherous ministry. Everything seems to be going smoothly, there is noi a cloud in the sky.when suddenly there is a case, an issue, a human story in which the newspapers take an interest.NS 口 not/ without a cloud on the horizon/ in the sky is used of a trouble-free prospect. the coast is clear no danger or interference threatens; there is nobody about who might be an obstruction or a nuisance (originally a smuggler's term)□ The coast's clear. I' ve just heard you can go ahead. Have your novel printed.It's OK by the Home Office. SMLoI noticed them peering up and down the far main-passage in the manner of people making sure that the coast was clear. TST□There's such a scramble for the bathroom in the mornings, I think you should stay in bed till I give you a knock. Then you can get up and have your bath when the coast's clear. ◇△all clear. the cobbler should stick to his last (say-ing) people should confine themselves to doing the things they know how to do, are supposed to do, and should not make pronouncements on matters they are ignorant of o Diversifica-tion may be all the rage in the nation's boardrooms but I can't help thinking that there was a good deal to be said for the old saying about the cobbler and his last. NSo That's what comes of the cobbler not sticking to his leSt--see what a mess you' ve got your affairs into by setting yourself up as your own lawyer. o(NONCE) As the husbandry of resources comes back into the picture, and the cobbler returns to his last, and the need to build your own wind-mill becomes ever more obvious, more and more folk in smocks and aprons will doubless be wan-ted to dispense know-how from the studios. Lo less common variant let the cobbler stick to his last. a cock and bull story[O(NP)]a long-winded and complicated story, but especially an extra-vagant and untrue account of events given as an explanation or excuse for sth V: tell; invent,make up a He's been telling some cock-and-bull story to the ' Daily Tale' about seeing the footprints of this imaginary monster on Pillay and hearing it roar. RMo ' This address book business, Kingsley.' said McNeil, ' doesn't seem to apply at all in my case. As far as I' ma ware we never met until a few days ago. Cock and bull storyevidently.'TBC□ There are many variations on the theme of what really took place, many fabrications and much lving by Oppenheimer before he admitted in 1954 to the PersonnelSecurity Board that he had invented a cock and bull story because 'I was an idiot'. NS o also hyphenated; stress pattern a cock and ' bull story.cockan/ one'sæar(s)[V + O pass] erect one's ears; (start to) listen attentively; have one's interest aroused by sth heard o The loudspeaker gave a few snappy barks. Jasmine (a donkey)cocked her eurs and broke through with frenzy leaving Pop on the ground and everybody scat.tered. DBM□A Minister of the Crown is expected to lift his eyes from the written evidence and cock his ear to catch the sounds from the outside world. Lo There's some bird in that tree that I' ve never heard before. When you go for the milk,cock anear in that direction and see if yourecog- ni ze what it is. (the) cock of/o' the walk(the) person in a group who exercises most authority in it, whom the others obey, defer to, are careful to keep on good terms with o He wouldn't want to take a job in Manchester, where he'd be nobody in par-ticular. He's cock of the walk here and that's what he likes.□ She was a bit slower than whenI'd seen her last, as if she'd bumped into a wall during the last ten years through walking in the cock o' the w alk way she always had. LLDR Oattrib use,a cock o' the walk way, manner, not usu pl, or preceded by a. a coffee-table book a handsomely produced and illustrated book that is easy to admire, suit-able for casual study or entertainment, but an unimportant contribution to literature or scholarship o Masses of radiant, somewhat chocolate-boxy, photographs interspersed by an excellent simple text saves this from being just another coffee-table book. SC o ' EdwardHeath: Prime Minister' contains some good il-.lustrations, appears in large print on very good paper and looks as expensive as it is. But except for the purpose of lying unopened on the coffee table. ‘Heath and the Heathmen’ — which is cheap and looks nasty— is much the better buy.Lo Mino Milani's slightly rhetorical account of the world's main civilisations for this junior coffee-table(Coke table?) book drops in a few quotations from original sources. L a co g in the machine [Comp (NP)] sb who plays a necessary but subsidiary or insignificant part in an undertaking, business, administra-tion etc S:△be, become; regard sb as o It was becoming abundantly clear that, unless I made some determined move, I should become a per-manent cog in the machine. SDo' We may be only cogs in the machine, but where would the big shots be without us?'' Rubbish, people like us are easily replaced.' coin money [V + O](informal) earn or gain a lot of money(rather easily); make large profits from very little outlay o With a big house like that full of bed-and-breakfasters every night, the woman must be absolutely coining money. oThomson's Garage gone bankrupt? They' re al-ways so busy I could have sworn they were coin-ing money. a I wouldn't say we were coining money, but business is steady enough and we can afford what we need, o usu inf or continuous tenses. coin a phrase/ word [V + O] invent a new expression, word; put a new twist to a familiar phrase o Sweep these (quotas) away, give theIrish farmer unlimited access to the markets both of Britain and the Six at the prices set inBrussels, and the Irish, to coin a phrase, will make a bomb. L o His affairs are in a very bad way: overdraft at the bank, HP payments fallen hehind, local tradesmen refusing any more credit.You name it, he owes it—— if I may coin a phr&$w. □ forms to coin a phrase, if I may coin a phrase often used as an aside by a speaker or writer introducing a novelty of this kind, and also, in a self-deprecating way, to apologise for using a cliche rather than an original phrase.cold comfort little, or no, comfort or consola-tion o‘Hasselbacher, you’ ve never felt the need of money, have you? But then, you have no child.' 108 <109> ' Before long you will have no child either. ' 'Isuppose not.' The comfort was as cold as the daiquiri (a drink). OMIH□ Scottish ratepayers can expect only ' rough justice' if they appeal against their new assessments. This coid com-fort message, at a time when rateable values are soaring by more than 100 per cent in many cases,was spelled out by several delegates. SC□‘I just told Sheila that if Jim's the philandering type it's as well to find out now and not after they' re mar-ried. "' That may be true, but it's cold comfort to offer the girl at the moment.’ a cold fish [Comp (NP)]a person who is never much moved by emotions of any kind, and is considered to be unattractive for this reason V:△ be, seem; be regarded as o She leads young men on and then she turns prim and proper on them. She's a born teaser, she' ll never change. It wouldn't surprise me if she told Bob (her hus-band) about her young men's antics. They' re cold fishes, both of them. RATTo‘The only point about dropping the second atomic bomb,' saidMartin, his tone neutral, the last edge of feeling dried right out, ‘must have been for purposes of comparison.' As soon as we went inside the can-teen at Barford he made a similar remark, and was immediately denounced by Luke as a cold fish. NM (a) cold fury (a) fury no less strongly felt and no less chilling in effect for its being held in some sort of control o But it was the eyes I no-ticed more than anything else: large, and set at a slight slant in the golden face, they stared up at me with a look of such cold fury that I was thankful the animal's feet were tied. BB□ I could see from the set of his face and the way he gripped the arm of the chair that he was in a cold fury.cold hands and a warm heart (saying) a conventional comment sometimes made with reference to sb's hands being cold o ' Goodness,how cold your hands are,' the nurse said, ' but never mind — that means you have a warm heart.'□' Cold hands and awarm heart. eh?' he said as they shook hands, trying to strike a light-hearted note with his prospective daughter-in-law. a cold snap a sudden, short period of cold weather, either out of season or unusually cold even for the season o The lilac buds were all frosted during that cold snap we had last week.We shan't have any blooms this year. (stone-) cold sober[Comp(AdjP)](informal)completely sober, in the sense that one has either been drinking no alcohol or too little to be affected by it V:△be, become; make sb□ He was smoking a cigar, emblem of the celebration of that night, but he had drunk little and was cold sober. NM□Will you promise me something— now, stone-cold sobor in broad daylight?RATTo(NONCE)I'd like a drink first. I can't go to a show like that stone sober. OMIH the cold war a state of affairs where countries or groups struggle for supremacy by means of propaganda, economic pressures, etc but without declaration of hostility or actual fight-ing o It would distress Yugoslavia if the UnitedStates withdrew her interest in Europe. Arapprochement between America and Russia would weaken Yugoslavia's position. The cold war has not been altogether to Yugoslavia's a cold fish—— Colonel Blimp disadvantage. SC□ Holding a Summit meeting, in fact, is a continuation of the cold war by other means; and so is sabotaging it. BMo We hear a lot nowadays about the cold war, but any trader will tell you that the war between two manufac-turers of the same goods can be quite a hot war.OMIH o Khruschev did more than any American politician to propagate the belief that war was obsolete in the nuclear age. Our people were much more bound by the cold-war party line. NSo attrib use a cold-wer attitude. collapse of stout party (catchphrase) a solid, pompous person is dumbfounded,powerless to say or do anything further after he has been(suddenly) outwitted, proved wrongin an assumption, etc o To many people Victorian wit and humour is summed up by(the magazine).' Punch', when every (cartoon) joke is supposed to end with‘Collapse of Stout party’, though this phrase tends to be as elusive as……R PEAR-SALL 1975o‘An Inspector Calls’ is not nowadays a disturbing play. Perhaps we relish too much the way in which all the Birling(family name) stout parties collapse. Lo(NONCE) When I pressed the prosecution's main witness to confirm my client's story of blamelessness, he said, what he had charitably omitted previously under examina-tion, that after the incident the defendant had been swaying about and reeked of drink.Collapse of slim solicitor. L collar and tie [n + n non-rev] a respectable appearance, or a proper sense of occasion (esp so in the case of men whose jobs would make the wearing of a collar and tie unsuitable or inappropriate during working hours) □ When my father came home from the pits and had his bath, he would always put on collar and tie whether he was going out anywhere or not. □ Afew of the farm-workers, looking rather uncom-fortable in their collars and ties, attended the funeral service. o' You can't go visiting your AuntDoris in hospital without a collar and tio,’ his wife nagged at him. o used esp formerly when casual clothes for men were less common, and used esp of men whose jobs would make the wearing of a collar and tie unsuitable or inappropriate during working hours; attrib use a collar-and-tie job, function etc. collect/ gather one's wits [V + O] make a(fairly rapid) mental adjustment to a change in circumstances, to an unexpected occurrence,shock, surprise etc□ I was tempted to set off again then and there for Holborn Viaduct. But on second thoughts I decided that I had better collect my wits a little before attempting to faceHugo. UTNo I like an early morning cup of tea in bed. It gives me time to gather my wits again.Colonel Blimp the embodiment of most of the undesirable qualities of an elderly reactionary as regards politics, the social scene, military affairs, etc(from a character created by DavidLow, the cartoonist, during the 1930s) o The.fact that the Duke of Kent,a major in command of an armoured-car squadron, accompanied the regiment, did not amuse one Dublin paper, which described the decision to let a member of theRoyal Family go as one worthy of ColonelBlimp at his worst. L o Bertrand Russell was frothing because the bookstall staff wasn't there at 7.30 on a Sunday morning. I didn't dare to ask 109 <110> the colour bar--come it strong him why he had turned suddenly into a spindly,hopping Colonel Blimp. Lo Mr Greene's trouble is that he is behind the times. He imaginesColonel Blimp is still alive, when in fact MrBlimp Jr is angling for a fat, tax-free job inBrussels. NS□ occas pl. the colour bar the exclusion of people from certain social amenities or legal rights because they are coloured or of coloured descent o Al-ready (in the Thirties) with her courage and in-. dependence Nancy Cunard made no bones,whether in the United States or in Europe, about her complete indifference to the colour bar and her partisanship on behalf of those who were suffering most by it. AH□ The unimportance of colour bars in Brazil requires no mystic ex-planation. The Portuguese were too few to pop ulate their vast empire. NS o In ' BasketballGame', a 14-year old black boy meets a white girl neighbour of his own age and class, but this is inNashville, Tennessee, and their calf-love breaks against the colour bar. L come (now) used as a mild expression of reproach, urging sb to be sensible, to talk or behave reasonably o Ah, commo w, darling,don't upset yourself. DC o ' And the place was disgustingly filthy. ’‘Oh, come, Linda, that’ s not quite true——a bit untidy perhaps.'o Come now. be a good girl and eat up your pudding.Daddy's waiting for you. o milder expression than come, come(qv). come alive [V + Comp] become interested or interesting; show animation, purpose; take life²(qv); come to life(Vol l)(qv) $: girl, audience;book, performance o For Stein was the older:she came alive in the 1890's when, at Radcliffe,she studied psychology under William James. G□ To anyone hoping to see this important event come alive through Mr Griffith's dramatic in-sight, the evening (ie TV) was a profound disap-pointment, for all we were given were talking heads. L◇ △ bring to life(Vol l). (not) com@ miss[V+ Comp](not) be unwel-come, unsuitable (ie be very welcome, most suitable) $: wage-increase, better allowance;loyalty, support, courtesy, help o' Wouldn't you like to have a few extra pounds in your pocket every week?’‘It wouldn’ t come amiss.’ o(reader's letter) May one ask why HRH PrincessAnne could not have graced the cover? In her impeccable outfit she would adorn this issue, and a little patriotism would not come emiss. Rt oI was glad to be seated in front of a good fire, and the glass of brandy pressed upon me didn't come miss either. come/ go as one is (informal) pay a visit,attend a function or performance without dressing formally, without taking any special pains about one's appearance D ' But I'm not dressed to go out and meet people. Give me half an hour.'' Now, don't fuss but just come as you are.'o Where are you thinking of going to dinner? I hope it's some place where we can go as we are. If not, I'd rather stay at home and scramble some eggs or something.□ esp in direct invitation come as you are. come clean [V + Comp] state or confess sth fully and frankly A: with you, with his con-stituents; about the facts; on this point a Let's.come clean with you, Lewis. That's a very good 110 reason but it isn 't the real reason, and you both know that as well as I do. NMo Now come clean,Myra. What's really eating you up? You' ve been talking around and around it. EHOWo But if MPs do demand, as they should, a little trust from those of their party workers who toil to put them in office at each election, then the least they can do is to come a little cleaner about themselves.NS come, come expression used to urge sb to be sensible, to talk or behave reasonably, with a stronger suggestion of reproach or rebuke than' come (now)' (qv) o ' Come, come, Miss Jen-kins, be careful what you are saying,' the detec-tive sergeant interposed. ‘You were seen at Edg-baston that morning, you know.' come a cropper (informal) have a severe fall(though not from any great height);(fig) suffer a reversal of fortune; make a mistake with disastrous results o He was performing' stunts'on his bike as boys will, caught his foot in the chain and campe real cropper. o HELEN: Now you' re going to listen to a few home truths, my girl. JO: We' ve had enough home truths. HELEN:All right, you thought you knew it all before,didn't you? But you came& cropper. TOH□ You try too hard, which makes you an insufferable do-gooder, and one of these days you' ll com@ such a lovely cropper—— And do you know what every-body will stand round and do? Cheer. TT come and go' [v + v non-rev] be transitory;come and then go, to be replaced by sb/ sth else,or others of the same kind o For men may come and men may go,/ But I go on for ever. THEBROOK (A TENNYSON 1809-92)□ But there are sad-nesses of growth, moods that come and go with the awakening consciousness of passing time.HAA o Institutions come and go and the Board,like its predecessors, is to go. We venture to believe it will not be the last in the line. NScome and go² [v + v non-rev] arrive and depart, go in and out, etc as part of a pattern of(free) activity; occur intermittently $: visitor.employee; the public; breeze; pain o She was chained to her place. But other people were not;other people could come and go as they pleased;people without home ties could take the longest journeys. PWo Oh,I think we should take the car now Mummy's offered it, and it' ll be so useful with the children. We can just come and go as we please. ILIHo It shares many of the common devices of classical comedy —— the adjoining houses in a street, with creaking doors through which all characters come and go NS o often part of the longer expression be/ feel free to com@ and go as one pleases. come hell or high water [Disj] whatever the opposition or difficulties may be □ Sh e was right of course. I was fuddled. On the third day I just had to sleep, come hell or high water. TSTo If he says he' ll have the 3rdedition on the streets by five o' clock then, come hell or high water, he will. □ He's an extremely brave little man who would gladly go through hell and high water for Walmington-on-Sea's safety. He is also a very good bank manager there. RT O expression means‘even if hell or high water comes’;vaniant go through hell and/ or high water. come it strong (informal) emphasize, exag-gerate, one's speech or behaviour for effect; <111> come one, come all— come what may/ might speak very, or unduly, forcefully about sth adv mod: a bit, too, rather, very o Religion!Religion, in one form or another, has been the cause of most of the trouble in this world.'' Well,that's coming it a bit strong. isn't it?'a You can hardly come it too strong when warning child-ren of traffic dangers nowadays. o(a young golf-er) He dressed in a flamboyant manner and af-fected white golf shoes in an age when that was considered to be coming it a bit strong if you were anything above scratch. SC ◇ draw it mild.come one, come all(informal) anybody that cares to do so can come, take part, etc; it makes no difference how many people come; if one comes, everybody comes o 'A lot of people are going to take objection to your speech, as you' ve outlined it to me.' ' It's intended to be provocative一 come one, come all, I'm ready to take them on.'o 'I wish we could invite just Jack by himself.'Well , it's impossible. You know how the Ander-sons gang together in everything they do. It has to he a case of come one, come all. come to pass (biblical) happen; occur; (for-mal) happen according to, or contrary to, ex-pectation o Many in the country hope that the famous ' amnesty' for journalists in prison, which has been talked about for the last few years, may really come to pass. OBS□ Because this isn't a fairy story but the true story of a man and the company that he made his life's work, not quite everything has yet come to pass. ST come rain, come shine whatever the weather is like; whatever happens; in any case/ event(qv); wet or fine(qv);(in) fair (weather) and/ or foul(qv)oOK then. Come rain, comeshine we all meet here about 9o' clock tomorrow morning.□ Almost every Saturday evening, come rain or shine, snowstorm, blizzard or hail, this intrepid young lady attended open-air political meetings.SNP o (NONCE) Every Thursday, come winter storm and summer sun, he cycled fifteen miles to Cork and fifteen back. PP□ He had a cheerful philosophy of life---not so far too severely test-ed— that enabled him, com e storm or shine,to make the best of things as they were. o‘Now’be sure to meet me at the station.'' Don't worry— come rain or shine, I' ll be there!' o variants come rain or shine, come sun or shower, come storm or shine/ sun. come etc thick and fast[adv + adv non-rev]come etc in large numbers or great quantity V:come、 grow, fall; lay on, pile on, bombard a By midnight on Christmas Eve the snow was falling thick and fast. o The first guests were announ-ced. Thick and fast they came, filling theHampstead double drawing-room. ASA □ There are also many new sorts of paint on the market.Over the last few years, technological advances have come thick and fast. OBS□It is in this first.part of the book that the clichés of both style and situation fall thick and fast. Lo At one stage, as the objections from Mr Stable and Judge Gillis grew thick and fast, even Hain admitted to doubts about dismissing his counsel. NS o LosAngeles, during the 20s and 30s, was arid for sensations, dreams and miracles — and MrsMcPherson faid them on thick and fast. RT (now I) come to think of it now that the person, event etc just mentioned or just about to be mentioned has been thought of or recalled o Did he say anything special?’ I asked.' Now I come to think of it,' said Dave, ' he did.'UTN o They don't like undertakers in Russia.Come to think of it they don't like them anywhere. DPM□ He could never, now he came to think of it, remember having seen a professional window-cleaner at work in a college.HDoMILLY(giggling):I walked out. MYRA: What for this time? MiLLY: But it's always the same reason. Yes, come to think of it, if is. EHOWo almost always first person sing, though sometimes in forms if/ when he/ you come(s) to think of it; front, middle or end position. come true [V + Comp] actually happen as foretold, dreamed, hoped for, etc$: dreams,longings, hopes o Granny Valvona remembered everyone's horoscope all the day, checking up to see the points where it camp true. MM□ And now it had all come true, Anne's childhood longings.The offer off our years in Russia, studying at theMoscow Choreographic School. Wo' You' ve got to make it come true,' he says gently. ' You' ve just got to work and be so determined that it's got to come true, because you believe in it.’ st come unstuck [V + Comp] (informal) meet with a mishap, misfortune, a reverse $; plan,plot; arrangement, projecto He had not felt like somebody for a long time, not since the publisher had written so encouragingly about the book,which had somehow come unstuck since then.and had lain untouched in its drawer for weeks.AITC□ Poor chap. He'd comunstuck. Unfor-tunately for Patterson's story the engine was intact, and when they tested it a few days later with a new propeller, there was nothing wrong with it. DS□ The two front benches at Westmin-ster have been parties to a conspiracy to put off the difficult and dangerous day of choice. What has happened in the last few weeks is that the conspiracy has come minstuck. NS come up roses (informal) happen in the best,most desired, way possible $: everything; plan,experiment; it; life □ For ten years everything in my life seemed to be coming up rosses. Then,suddenly, disaster — job, marriage, health.religious faith, all four began to fail. D often in continuous tenses. come one's way be found, met with, without deliberate intention or effort 8: money, for-tune; chance, offer, proposal; prospect,possibility o Of all the impudent suggestions that ever had come his way, none had astounded him more. TSTo At this point, however,a more novel fortune came our way. A squalid hut-floor.dated by coins to about AD 300, was found to cover the adit(= entrance) of a mineshaft, which must therefore have been ofearlier date. SDo You seem to be afraid that life might pass you by without giving you time to enjoy it to the full and so you are always ready to take advantage of any chances that come your way. WI o His father was a share cropper, tilling other people's land,though he worked at any job that came his way,including a stint at building roads. ST come what may/ might [Conj] in spite of,disregarding, whatever (else) may happen(while doing sth or as the result of doing sth)□Come what night, he would never leave John.ASA o My mother taught us to speak the truth,com @ what may, and so far as my knowledge 111 <112> comic opera—— common grownd goes none of her children have ever done anything which would have caused her shame. MFM□ This glorious sense of having won, come what may,was entirely new to him. HDo The army must be withdrawn; and the best way of achieving this while bringing the contending parties to their senses is to tell them now that in 12 months' time the withdrawal will take place, come what may.NS o front, middle or end position. comic opera(theatre) farce or comedy set in operatic form;(fig) a farcical situation, or the farcical behaviour or appearance of people oWho would have the power to fire this hybrid armament? Those who sat through the comic opera of the Multilateral Force will realise at once that this is where we came in, NSo The assembly consisted largely of sashed and be-medalled men with here and there a comic opors dowager— broad of bosom and resplendent in diamonds and nodding feathers. a A race can be won or lost simply on the speed with which a rider mounts and dismounts his cycle during a race.And this is the sort of skill riders like Atkins work hard at during practice, though it's an exercise which adds a touch of the comic opera to his rigid training routines. TVTD attrib use a comic opera figure, scene. comic relief [0 (NP)] the temporary relief from tension, distress, tedium etc afforded by a comic scene or character in a tragedy or serious play, or film; an amusing incident in real life V:afford, supply, provide o Shakespeare, in his tragedies, often includes a few short scenes where the antics and conversation of jesters, simpletons,or homespun wits provide comic relief. D This theme of the passing of great days is useful to film men, and was well exploited in ' Big Jake' recent-ly in order to pass off the same boring Western material and provide comic rellef. NSo It gives a touch of comic relief to the working day, after all, when you get a really crack-pot customer.Believe it or not, I was once asked for a tin of tartan paint. coming events cast their shadow(s)before(saying) there are often early indica-tions, perhaps unrecognized, offuture events or changes□(source) ' Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore./ And coming events cast their shadows before. LOCHIEL'S WARNING (TCAMP-BELL 1777-1844)口 But it is a truism that poetry can reflect coming events—— and the most momen-tous coming events were acts of violence. AHoLast year Britain exported an English-bred Arab(horse) to Kuwait—— and in October a Kuwait businessman bought Crabbet Park Equitation,the riding school and stables, thus importing a real Arab patronage —— a case, perhaps, of coming events costing their shadow before?OBS D can refer to gloom or depression felt about a known but unwanted event which is soon to happen. coming(s) and going(s) [n + n rev] arr-ival(s) and departure(s); movement(s) in and out o There's been a tremendous amount of coming and going in the flat upstairs all morn-ing. I'm dying to know what's going on up there.□ As the doors opened and shut to the comings and goings of men and women, most of whom smiled at Virginia, she could see the desks and typewriters and filing-cabinets and drawing- 112 boards. AITC□ The window looked down only on the side entrance to a club. He noted the comings and goings of the club porter. MM oAs long as he pays his rent and keeps his room decent, his comings and goings are no business of mine, ' said his landlady firmly, and no more was to be got out of her. D Paragraphs about his goings and comings had leaked into the papers from time to time over the last few years. DSo rev, but usu in order given in headphrase; in a possess construction form is always pl. commit oneself declare or reveal one's opinions, attitudes, feelings, likely courses of action, etc A: to the press; in front of me; about anything; very far o When asked by a press representative whether he thought intervention was justified he managed to talk for a full ten minutes without committing himself one way or the other.□ Some of the people did not answer,some of them answered grudgingly and hurried away, unwilling to commit themselves too far with this stranger. AITC o often neg or with neg implications. common decency the helpful, considerate, or courteous behaviour that would be expected of any reasonable person o Ask any half-dozen working-class people what they understand by religion, and very easily, but not meaninglessly,they will be likely to answer with one of these phrases: ' doing good', ' common decency', ULoI think you might have had the common decency to tell me you wanted to get married.LLDR □ Since Mrs Robson does so much baby-sitting for us out of the goodness of her heart, it would be only common decency to ask her to dinner some evening.□often used to reproach sb for not behaving well, as in constructions it's only common decency to do sth, you might have the common decarncy to do sth. the common good the general welfare; what is best and most advantageous for a country,community, or group as a whole o They are assailed by a mass of abstractions; they are asked to respond to ' the needs of the state', and' the needs of society', to study good citizenship',to have in mind the common good', UL o It was the more difficult as there was no true unity, and no nation was willing to make any sacrifice of sovereignty for the common good. MFM o(penal reform) Yet the hard-liners must be heard, their suggestions must be received as born of a genuine anxiety and a desire for the com-mon good. They still think that brutality pays in dealing with brutal offenders. NS o often in con-struction do sth for the common good. common ground [O (NP)] a basis for shared interests, understanding, objectives etc V: find,discover, establish, have □ Although we think differently and serve different masters, we do have sufficient common ground to be able to talk together. TBC□(Italy,1960) For all the dif-ferences of doctrine which divide the parties of the Right and Left respectively, on practical is-sues each wing of the Christian Democrats tends to find more common ground with other parties than with the opposite wing. SCa‘All right,’ Isaid, relenting. I smiled, I' ll do something about it.’‘What will you do, darling?’ she said looking at me. Reflection was over for her, if not for me.We were on common ground again. SPL <113> the common herd (derogatory) the mass of people in general. esp the working or lower classes, the majority of people in a group o(source) ... when he (Caesar) perceived the common her d was glad he refused the crown.he... offered them his throat to cut. JULIUSCAESAR12o I knew Felicity wouldn't come with us. Catch her consenting to mix with the com-mon herd at anything so vulgar as a fairground show.□' Why one arth study Sanskrit, when there are so many modern languages that could be use-ful to him?'' Oh, that's Steve all over — any-thing to be different from the common herd. common knowledge [Comp (NP)] what everybody(in a community or group) knows or is aware of V: △be, become o It is, of course.common knowledge that a substantial propor-tion of electors are opposed to entry into theEuropean Common Market. SCo Micky's prison record was doubless a matter of common knowledge in the district. PE□ It seems to be fairly common knowledge that you and your particular pals have got some racket that brings you in pretty big money. HDo How do you recon-cile people's undoubted nervousness about air-travel with the common knowledge that statis-tically it's the safest way to go from A to B? the common man the average man, esp one typifying that section of a community not politi-cally, academically or artistically ambitious,but hard-working and sensible and entitled to their rights as contributing members of their society; the man in the street (qv)o From then on has developed, with increasing elaboration, all the well-known cant of ' the common man' ; a grotesque and dangerous flattery, since he is con-ceived as the most common or commonplace man. ULo The popularity of Burns is due to the fact that he wrote to, for, and about the com-mon mm in verses and terms that he could un-derstand.□One general criticism made about theFestival programmes was that they appealed too exclusively to cultivated tastes. There was noth-ing in them for the common morning to share and enjoy. □ While the candidate's wife was explain-ing how he would get fascinated by other people's trains and ring roads', his agent was worrying about his image (' We had quite a problem trying to relate him with the common man'). NS common or garden[adj+ adj non-rev] ordin-ary, not unusual or remarkable(from horticul-tural classifications distinguishing a common flower or plant from rarer members of its species) □ If this monster isn't entirely imagin-ary, it is nothing more extraordinary than a common or garden seal. RMo He leant forward across the table towards that common-or-garden Nottwich face on which he felt he could rely for incredulty, reassurance, the easy humour based in experience. OMIHo Psychiatry doesn't consist of listening to beautiful blondes lying on couches telling you all about their sex life. Before you get to that you have to sweat it out for years with ordinary common-or-garden lunatics. DIL a sometimes hyphenated;usu attrib. the common/ general reader sb who reads for entertainment, interest, or to increase his general knowledge, but who is not qualified to the common herd—— the common touch understand writing of a highly technical or specialised nature o Modern science is centrally mathematical. Having no mathematics, or very little, the common reader' is excluded. Lo The detailed results are comprised in the Meddleton-Snooperage Report(1956) but there is no reason why they should not be presented in a simplified form for the general reader. PL the common etc run (of sb/ sth) the usual,typical, kinds (of person or thing) adj: com-mon, △ general, normal, ordinary. o: people,folk; members, trade unionists, soldiers o I am writing particularly of the majority who take their lives much as they find them; of what some trade union leaders, when they are regretting a lack of interest in their movement, call ' the vast apathetic mass'; of what song-writers call, by way of compliment, just plain folk'; of what the working-classes themselves describe, more soberly, as' the general run of people'. ULo He may be brilliant at his job, but as far as making a success of his personal life is concerned, he's not so different from the ordinary run of mankind.□I enjoyed that book you lent me. I like reading something out of the normal run.□ His teachers say he is an intelligent enough boy but nothing out of the common run. D construction dif-ferent from/ out(side) of the common run,means' not conforming to the general pattern'.common sense natural good sense and intelligent understanding, as distinct from learning, acquired information, etc o I stood there silenced. Of course there were lots of common-sense arguments I could have brought up, but common suggs is self told me that it would be a waste of time. CON□' Please,' he said,' wonder more than half-consciously about this question and tell me your answer.'' Oh,' she said,I think in that case, other people do exist. That's my answer. It's only common summ.' MM oWhat Gielgud gives us is this common sugg and easy goodwill, plus something deeper, larger.NS o His manner had certainly changed, ever so slightly, at the idea of paying her a salary. He clearly preferred people to work for nothing. But that, thought Victoria, was a sign of common senzig、TCB口 attrib use a compam-80R8@ argu-ment. the common touch[O(NP)]a natural ability to adapt oneself to all types and classes of men,to accept, and be accepted by, them on good terms V: have, keep; lack, lose□(source) If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue./ Or walk with Kings—— nor lose the common touch ... IF (R KIPLING 1865-1936) o Celia, of course,prided herself on her ' common touch' , par-ticularly with ' characters' like Mrs Wrigley; inEsher her‘friends’, she was always most empha-tic in stating, were the dustenan, the milkman,and the old woman who dealt in second-hand clothes. HAA o David Frost is the single most important phenomenan of the television age, and the first who has grown up with the Box. He walks with Kings, and keeps the common touch, La Giscard maintains that the idea that he lacks the common touch was something in-vented by the Press and politicians because of his background. STo The fans are ordinary working folk who want to enjoy a night out and get value for money. That's why wrestling will always be 113 <114> the company one keeps— confound the prophets/ critics around—— it has the common touch. TVTthe company one keeps the kind of people one mixes with (the suggestion often is that the company is superior) □ He rails at his inadequacy in such ' complex and sophisticated society’. It is as though the boy from the down-town grocery store never quite felt up to the company he kept. NS □ What made the ex-perience bearable was the company I kept,working for the Long Island daily paper, ' News-day’. NS□ The British girls (gymnasts), visibly awed by the company they were keeping.watched Nadia's astonishing gravity-defying routines with small murmurs of disbelief and, at the end, they stood and applauded her. RT◇d keep bad etc company. comparisons are odious(saying) people or things should be judged on their own merits and not measured against sb/ sth else; it is not always tactful or in good taste to make com-parisons o You will remind me that com-parisons are odious, I dare say, but I am con-vinced that a poorly educated countryman is superior in every way to his city counterpart.□One has a certain scale of values, of course, but when it comes to weighing Dante and Shakes-peare against each other I find that com-parisons are both odious and inapplicable. □Since in this field comperisons, far from being odious, are much in order. I must confess that Ifind Hester Chapman's account (‘Mary II,Queen of England') a subtler and more thought-ful study. ST the compliments of the season greetings of goodwill at Christmas and the New Year V:wish, give, sb; send sth with o(Christmas morn-ing and the host is dangerously ill) ' He did in fact instruct me to ask all the party to see him as soon as they had breakfasted in order to wish them'—— his voice faltered—— the compliments of the géeson, sir.'EM□ ‘I want to give her a present for being so kind, but I don't think she'd like me to.'' Wait another month and send it with the compliments of the swisson. She couldn't take offence at that.’ o (the) compliments of the season (to you)! may be uttered as a greeting. compoundafelony[V+ Opass] in return for a money payment or other consideration, agree not to prosecute sb, bring a charge or inform against him, for a crime he has committed o l had in a sense compounded a felony, and if he were to steal anything again it would go hard with me. But I couldn't have done otherwise: Icould remember the time when I was desperately in need of fifteen shillings myself. RATT □ The police officer explained that he couldn't strike a bargain with Smith not to prosecute: this would be compounding a felony. But if Smith gave him information about his associates, this might be used in mitigation of his sentence. a con(fidance) trick a manoeuvre whereby sb's confidence and trust is obtained in order to deceive, swindle, or otherwise take advantage of him o But we are not so surprised that theChancellor said so little about where the main burden of paying for this increase is to fall. For that represents the first confidence trick. AHoThe TUC wants to set up a special working party—— to hammer out the details. Most of the cabinet still regard this sort of offer as little 114 better than a con trick. NS o also pl; a person who behaves this may be called a confidence trickster, a confidence man,(informal) a conman.(hanging) concentrates the mind won-derfully(saying)(knowledge that one is to be hanged) keeps one thinking of, makes one focus sharply on, that only□(source) Depend upon it,Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonder-fully. SJOHNSON1709-84o There is something that concentrates the mind even more wonder-fully than the project of being hanged in a fort-night; it is the prospect of taking part in ' AnyQuestions?’(a radio programme) in a week's time. What desperate reading of the newspapers!What solemn analysis of the more sober periodi-cals! Lo As during general election transmissions,ITN's frontmen will be Peter Snow and RobertKee. ' If we were to ignore the Common Market completely, people would ask why. The referen-dum concentrates the mind wonderfully, like hanging.’ TVTo The one certainty is that most parents worry too much and too soon. The O-level may be a very bad exam, but it con-centrates the mind wonderfully, and in most subjects a determined spurt in the fifth year will see you through. OBS concert pitch the tuning of musical instru-ments (eg a piano) so that the note A in the treble staff has 440 vibrations to the second;(fig) a high degree of fitness, preparedness, con-centration etc□ Some of their periods were spent in thinking how late it was; and others in watch-ing car-headlamps moving along the main road.It is hard to keep one's concentration up to con-cert pitch in this sort of scene. SPL□ He had screwed himself up to concert pitch for this en-counter and the longer it was delayed the more he feared his confidence would ebb away. confirm one's worst fears [V + O pass]prove/ show that one's fears(that sth undesired would happen) were justified; cause sb's fear to be felt even more strongly o The goose he was now eating might well be part of the same living bird that had wrapped its neck about his legs the previous day. Pop,a moment later, confirmedMr Charlton's worst fear s by laughing uproariously: ' This must be the joker that was under the table yesterday and heard us talking.'DBMD I thought my patient might be too old and weak to survive the operation. My fears, how-ever, were not confirmed and he made an ex-cellent recovery. o The news of a proposed WelshAssembly fell on the old market town of Mold, inClwyd, but lightly. It seemed to be like the con-firmation of a worst fear, and to that extent best dismissed with a shrug. Go variant the con-firmation of one's worst fears. a confirmed bechelor [Comp (NP)] a man who from principle and/ or long-established habits is not likely to marry V:△be, become;make sb o I was then thirty-eight years old and a confirmed bechelor. Women had never interested me and I knew very few; I disliked social life and dinner parties. MFM o confirmed may also be used to describe persons with other strongly entrenched habits, beliefs, as in,a con-firmed drunkard, invalid, atheist. confound the prophets/ critics [V + 0pass] be successful, turn out well, in spite of the <115> confusion reigns—— conventional warfare/ weapons predictions or warnings of others to the con-trary □ Some thought I was to be ticked off for my behaviour at the meeting on the 10th Septem-ber. Buí all prophets were confounded. MrAlexander offered me the appointment of Chair-man of the Western Union Commanders-in-Chief Committee. MFM□ In the event, this small local Festival, confounding the critics, drew many visitors and cleared its expenses without a subsidy from the Arts Council. confusion reigns a situation is characterized by confusion, muddle, disarray, uncertainty etc o (a‘character-reading’ following a person’ s answer to a questionnaire) Money has no impor-tance in your eyes, but one sometimes wonders what you do consider important. Confusion reigns in your behaviour as well as in your ac-counts. WI□ At the reception centre, confusion reigned and no one knew how many more victims of the flood were still to arrive. (make) confusion worse confounded(saying)(be the cause of) worsening of an al-ready existing state of confusion □ (source) Isaw and heard, for such a numerous host/ Flednot in silence through the frighted deep/ With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,/ Confusion worse con-founded. PARADISE LOST II995 (J MILTON 1608-74)□Confusion even worse confounded was the prevailing theme of the Congo saga last week.OBS□ I agree—— the committee's got itself into a bad mess, but we' ll have to give them more time to present their report. To bring in somebody new at this stage would just make confusion worse confounded. one's conscience pricks one one feels guilt or remorse to a greater or lesser degree o He was a quite impossible person to have in the same house as children. All the same, my conscience is pricking me a bit about turning him out.□ As far as all the killing goes, it happened when he.was living within his own primitive culture and he's certain he was right. I'm sure his con-science isn't pricking him at all. RT □ The pricks of conscience must have been bothering her for she came round two days later with a peace-offering of vegetables from her garden. o variant the pricks/ prickings of conscience. consider the lilies saying do not worry and do not strive to provide oneself with material benefits, but trust to providence for what is needed o (source) Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin... even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. MATTHEW VI 28-9. □Instead of men and women playing their fantastic tricks before high heaven, we are asked to con-sider the lilies, to meditate on the unearthly beauty of ' mere things' when isolated from their utilitarian context. HAHo I think Marjorie had made it her philosophy of life to consider the lilies. At any rate, she toiled not, neither did she spin. a consolation priz● [O (NP)] an additional prize given to sb who, though not the winner of a set award or prize is considered to have done well enough to merit some recognition of his efforts V: win, get; offer, give, sb o The brewery combine that ran the slogan competition offered£1000,£500 and £200 as first, second, and third prizes and one hundred consolation prizes of a cask of beer delivered free to the door.□I thought that after coming second in so many of his class subjects, Nick ought to have been given= conso-lation prize at least. conspicuous/ distinguished by one's/ its absence [Comp (AdjP)] more the focus of interest for not being present as expected, than if one/ it were actually there V: △be, become,seem o I turned on Jacob (who had run away when poisonous snakes escaped), 'I noticed that you were conspicuous by your abscence, my noble and heroic creature.'' Yes, sir,' said Jacob.beaming. BB□(Jo is pregnant) HELEN: Where's the loving father? Distinguished by his ab-sence, I suppose. JO: That's right. TOHo The usefulness of a history source book of this sort would be much enhanced by the cross-references which are so conspicuously absent. Osometimes used to comment on the absence of sb/ sth as an observable fact without special sig-nificance; distinguished less usu than con-spicuous; variant conspicuously absent. contain oneself restrain oneself, hold back,from expressing strong feelings modal:can(not), could (not),(not) be able to; have to,must o But at that point Nicky could contain himself no longer. Oblivious of the fact of how he frightened Sarah he began banging on the door and screaming. DC□ ' You' re always trying to sort out people's ideas for them. It's not a very endearing characteristic.’ I know, but hearing such utter drivel I find it hard to contain myself.'a And then you had to be careful how you held him.(a young fox) for he would be so overcome with joy at seeing you again that he could no longer contain himself, and the result-ing stream could drench you if you were not care-ful. DFO in last example, there is a play upon the figurative meaning and the purely physical meaning(=‘urinate’). contemplate/ gate at one's (own) navel[V + 0] engage in a typical Yoga discipline in which concentration is said to lead to union of the soul with the‘universal spirit’(also used, in a more general way, when describing people whose thoughts and interests are too much turn-ed in on themselves) □ He's been reading up about Yoga and now he's trying to practise it.He' ll be up in his room this very minute sitting in the fourth position or contemplating his nwel.□I do like poetry, and modern poetry as well, but not the introspective stuff. Some of these young chaps are so busy contemplating their own navels they don't realise there' sa world going on about them. O esp in continuous tenses. a contradiction in terms [Comp (NP)] the use of two terms in a statement, definition or description that (seem to) contradict each other's meaning V: △be, appear, seem □ In plain clothes among uniforms,a harmless drudge among men of action, I was politely designated,as a contradiction in terms, a ' civilian officer'on the Naval Staff. AH o Touchy CID men said that all this was a contradiction in terms, that detectives couldn't do their job if drinking with an informer could be called associating with known criminals. ST conventional warfare/ weapons weapons or the means of waging war that exclude atomic or hydrogen bombs, lethally poisonous gases or 115 <116> a conversation piece— cops and robbers disease-carrying bacteria o ' Hawthorne, Ibelieve we may be on to something so big that the.H-bomb will become a conventional wearopy.'‘Is that desirable sir?’' Of course it's desirable.Nobody worries about conventional weapons.’OMIH a conversation piece'a painting or drawing showing a pair, or small group, of human figures in a natural scene from daily life— per-haps a little formalized; a scene in real life that strikes one as being like a picture of this kind oAbove the mantelpiece hung a charming little18th century conversation piece by an un-known artist.□Only one rule, none the less rigid for being unspoken: ' no member of the College may ever bid against another. ' If at the preview two students find that they want the same article.a conversation piece on the following lines takes place. BM a conversation piece² any object of an interesting or unusual kind(eg a picture, table-ornament) which often provides a subject of, or stimulus to, conversation o Personally, I think it's the most hideous and complicated ornamentI ever saw, but we always put it at the centre of the table when we' re giving a dinner-party. It makes a useful comversition piece. cook the books[V + O pass](informal) falsify facts or figures in order to make one's financial,or other, affairs seem better than they are oLike a great many people who are very bright in other directions, he lost all his wits when confron-ted with a column of figures. ' Come and testify to my character, darling,' he said.' Joe's practically accused me of cooking the books.'RATTo No sensible observer blames the Minister who on the floor of the Commons suppresses essential facts or even' improves' the record where he feels that national or even Party interests require it. But it is a different thing when in his retirement he con-tinues to cook the books to his own greater glory. NS cook one's/ sb's goos●[V + O pass](infor-mal) spoil or ruin one's own or another's chances of success either in general or in a par-ticular way o His alibi would hold, he thought,unless somebody actually identified him as having been a passenger on the later train. In that case, of course, his goose was cooked. o That fellow Carter thinks he's just going to walk in and take over this whole department, but I' ll find some way of cooking his goose for him, mark my words. o / warned her to check the date her application form should be in, but she always knows best. Well, she's cooked her goose now,because by this time next year she' ll be too old to qualify for a grant. o also pl I' ve cooked their goos●. cool(/) calm and collected [adj + adj non-rev] not fitistered, upset, or in a panic o ThankGod there was somebody there cool and collec-ted enough to give first aid. The boy might easily have bled to death. o If you think Steve's being unfair to you, try to reason with him in a calm and collected way instead of flying into a tem-per. o (advertisement) Always cool and collec-ted—— always crisp and neat, and she's buying herLambretta with the fares she saves by riding to work. TO a And one woman on the board success-fully played the game of sailing against the 116 prevailing wind by simply being cool, calm and collected. OBS. a cool customer' [Comp (NP)] (informal) sb who is impudent or presumptuous in a calm self-assured way V:△be, seem; find sb o ' By the way,I took a packet of cigarettes out of your handbag. I didn't realise I had run short.'' Well,you' re a cool customer. I must say.'o She's a cool customer, Sue. Just rings up and says' Sorry I can't make it to the office to-day. Tell the boss, will you?” a cool customer² [Comp (NP)] (informal) a person who is not nervous or excitable, but will keep his head under the stress of circumstances or his own emotions V: △be, seem; find sb □There are many more wide-famed names, worn.by cool customers with straight eyes and straight lefts(a boxing term) whose delight is the tough assignment and whose only raison d'être is to ferret out murk y truth wherever it lies. RTo At43, Mr Marsh is the youngest chairman BritishRail has ever had and without doubt a cool cus-toner. RT a cool hand on a fevered brow [0 (NP)](facetious) the soothing effect of tender atten-dance and sympathy, esp upon the sick V: lay,place a I had often heard the expression about laying cool hands on fevered brows but I had never until then experienced it. It was most satisfying. DILo Florence Nightingale was a very determined and business-like woman, not just a ministering angel flitting about the wards with her famous lamp in order to lay a cool hand on fevered brows—— though she did that, too. o ' Is that really and truly the impression I give?’ she said. ' It is—— the portable angel of mercy, the cool hand on the fevered brow, the lot.’ TTcool one's hools [V + O] (informal) be kept standing and/ or waiting(usu with some loss of dignity); be prevented from doing sth one wants to do until some time has elapsed o The threat comes from the experienced Pakistani politicians who have been cooling their hoels for the last four and a half years. SCo So you may imagine how unhappy it makes me to have to cool my hools at Newhaven, waiting for the trains to run again. UTN口 often in constructions leave sb to/let sb cool his hotels. ウ ⚠ kick one's heals. cop it (informal) get into trouble; receive a punishment or scolding; catch an illness, be in-volved in an accident, be wounded or killed, etc o' You' ll cop it from old Miss Devenish for not doing your homework,’ his sister said. □ With three of our party down with malaria, we couldn't help wondering who would be the next to cop it.□ Maybe you don't care whether you kill yourself or not, but remember that if you hit something it may be the other fellow that cops it. cops and robbers [n + n non-rev](informal)the law versus criminals, esp as the theme of a film, story, TV series,etc□ These things frighten the small man, but they don't frighten the big ones. It's the usual battle of wits between the copp end the robbers. DS o I used to love the' chase' sequences in the cops-and-robbers silent films of my youth, everybody dashing in and out of doors and windows, up and down stairs and over roof tops at top speed.□ One chapter—— called ' The Battle of Two Civilisations'——puts Irish and English civilisation at each other's <117> corner the market (in sth)--could/ would (cheerfully) murder etc sb throats in a cops-hund-robbers situation. The truth is infinitely more subtle. L o attrib use, a cops-and-robbers film, hyphenated. corner the market (in sth) [V + 0 pass](commerce) buy up, or secure control of the supply of, a commodity in order to obtain a monopoly and (often) push up prices o: corn,oil, tobacco, cocoa o The town was already quite well provided with window-cleaners, who had cornered the really profitable markets. HDo Is it not curious that we should have given anAmerican-owned fi rm such a handsome subsidy,allowed it to corner & small b ui vital market in our aircraft and atomic energy industries, and then sat by while it ran trade unionists into the ground? NS□(quack religions in the USA) Every third street corner in those days had some cosmic huckster buying and selling futures in humanity,cornering the market in optimism, because nothing, we thought, could be worse than the present. NS□' The Prodigal Son' is not great art,but it is good show-biz, and certainly more suc-cessful than ' The Seven Deadly Sins', CoventGarden's bid to corner the same market. L the corridors of power the higher levels of government, administration etc where men(either for reasons of personal ambition, or to further a cause or their convictions) compete and intrigue for power and position (a phrase coined by C P Snow in the 1950s and later used by him as the title of one of his novels)o Among others close to the Duke of Edinburgh, one might mention the photographer Baron, the naturalistPeter Scott, the artist Edward Seago, and two scientists who are also potent in the corridors of power—— Sir Harold Hartley and Lord Zucker-man. OBS □ But in the rare atmosphere of the corridors of medical power which lead to the council rooms of the Royal Colleges, psychia-trists are regarded as long-haired drop-outs who lack the mental discipline and capacity to under-stand real ailments and problems. NS cost sb dear affect sb's health, happiness,prestige etc adversely and seriously $: foolish-ness, rashness, intemperance, cruelty; it... to admit his error o ' In fact he (R A Butler) is a very considerate man and usually observant,'says a friend. ' But when he's preoccupied, he simply doesn't notice things. ' Politically, this absent-mindedness was to cost him dear. ST oMr Gamble's first fight on behalf of his students and their parents has cost him dear.' But I hope,'he told me, that our experience has a lesson to teach.’ RT cost (sb) a fortune etc(informal) cost a large sum of money;(esp) be much more costly than other things of its kind, or cost more than one is willing or able to pay O:a fortune,△a packet,a pretty penny, the earth,a bombo See.Janet, this huge yellow rose wreath here fromMrs Pettigrew. It must have cost her a fortune.MM□ The party was very good and we didn't leave.until very late, so it was a jolly good thing we did take Sally with us or the baby-sitter would have cost a fortune. W1o ' All going to France. For a holiday. Place in Brittany. ' Cost you a pretty penny, won't it?'BFAo ' That's a queer house of yours, Pomfret Towers,' said Mr Adams.' It must have cost a pretty penny to build.'WDMoIt looks as though it must have cost a bomb and intends to sell for one—— that is if £200 for a velvet jacket and jersey trousers is considered explosive. SC. cost sb his life be the cause of sb losing his life, of his death o But remember that one false move could cost Sally her life. If you try to get in touch with anybody while I'm out, you' ll be murdering her yourself. TO □ He made his way apprehensively along the ledge, well aware that one false step would cost him his life. □ Smok-ing, he said, was a filthy habit that had cost many people their lives. □ also cost sb his sight.reputation etc used of anything one would not willingly be without. cost money have to be paid for; not be obtain-able for nothing $: good housing, proper food,decent transport; it... to travel o Even to sleep on the pavement there (in the slums of Calcutta)can cost money: protection money to the goon-das, the thugs who' ll kick a man's brains in while he sleeps if he won't pay up. Lo All I'm saying is that you can't just come up to me and say 'I'm pregnant. Now it's your move' as coolly as that.These things cost money, and I just haven't enough. HDoJO: Why do you wear black shirts?They make you look like a spiv. GEOFF: They do,Jo, but I can't be too particular. Good clothes coat money. TOH the cost of living what it costs a person to maintain life and health at a reasonable stan-da rd having regard to food, clothing, housing and all necessary requirements o And anybody who sees the Common Market coming to our rescue is a wild optimist. The cost of living will go up and up. NSo The trade figures for August showed a bountiful surplus of £87 million, and for once even the cost-of-living index (ie the official statistical measurement) contained some encouragement: last month it rose by less than0. I per cent, which was its lowest increase for12 months. L o attrib use· the cost-of-living index. could go sth(informal) could enjoy sth: would like to have sth(esp to eat or drink) o The kettle's nearly boiling—— could you go a cup of tea?’ a My companion, badly shaken, nodded dumbly and began to shamble off. As I started after him, I remember thinking that I couldn t half go a beetroot roll. SCo'I hope I won't snore so much tonight.' ' I hope so too. I could go a night's peace. could/ would(cheerfully) murder etc sb(informal) an expression of intense anger or exasperation with sb where the possibility of actually killing him is seldom seriously thought of V: murder, △ kill, strangle, throttle, break sb's neck. A: cheerfully, with pleasure; with one's bare hands a By this time the audience was perfectly quiet and every mother would cheer-fully have murdered a child that raised its voice.WDMoI could murder you, you know, when you do this teasing act while I'm trying to be serious.a / could have killed him at times for being so practical when what I wanted from him was a little imagination. AITCo He swore that if ever he caught the fellow that had poisoned his dog he would strangle him with his bare hands. oHeartfelt thanks for a beautiful serial. At timesI could have throttled Emma for her neglect ofCharles (played so lovingly by Tom Conti). RT 117 <118> could swear (that)—— count etc oneself fortunate/ lucky could $ wear (that) feel perfectly sure (that)□ SARAH: I thought Prince dealt the cards.CISSIE : What's the matter with you, Sarah?Hymie dealt them. PRINCE:I could have swornSarah dealt them. CSWB□ There was the slow movement of the last quartet in date, again music one could have sworn one knew in every detail.To I can't find my nail scissors anywhere and yetI could swear that I put them back in the drawer myself not half an hour ago.□I could swear the man at the next table was sitting opposite me in the train. D in past tense, the meaning is that one's certainty has now been proved wrong. couldn't agree more (catchphrase) agree completely with, approve of, an opinion ex-pressed by sb else o ' Liberty's the most sickening claptrap of all,' she was saying.' Liberty to con-script, Liberty to sit back on solid dividends and pour out woolly-minded platitudes.’ ' I couldn't agree more about the woollymindedness,' saidTerence. HAAo 'I'm afraid I' ve been boring you,'he said ' with all this talk about the office.’ And his two listeners, though too polite to say so,couldn't have agreed more. oPEPPER: After all,what happens when a boxer gets knocked out in the ring? He's lost the fight. MRS VINEGAR: Icouldn't agree myord. ART couldn't care less (catchphrase) be utterly indifferent to, unmoved by, a fact or situation,esp one which might be expected to hold one's interest, or affect one's feelings or conduct;(not) care/ give a damn etc(qv) o But even ifChou En Lai cared about Asian reactions, it is possible that his colleagues could not care less and are bent simply on the increase of Chinese might. SC□ Muriel would have liked to stand up for this handsome stranger's chance, but the cun-ning which Cupid injects in female hearts warned her to be cautious. 'I couldn't care less, ' she said severely. RMo(mental nursing) Perhaps the hardest and most discouraging (burden) is a largely justifiable feeling that the outside world.and even the bosses of their own small hospital world, just couldn't care less. NS a counsel of perfection a piece of advice that is difficult, or impossible, to follow because it does not take into account the shortcomings or frailties of human nature o' When you have done all that, you will have sol-ved the problem (of reasonably priced accom-modation for visitors, students etc in London).I reckon that it will take ten years.’ The unfor-tunate thing is that these fierce and indeed rather radical counsels of perfection are unlikely to be followed. NS□ For a fellow who's made such a mix-up of his own life, he's uncommonly full of couts el s of perfection for other people. o(' Woman's Hour' programme note) How to be a Good Mum or Dad: coursels of perfection from those who'd like to be, or have, one! RTcount one's blessings [V + O] realize how much one has to be thankful for, and not grum-ble o SONIA: As you get older, days don't last so long. Tuesdays and Thursdays become one and soon they all roll in together. Still, I mustn't grumble,I mustcount my blessings. DPMo My upbringing as a child had taught me to have resources within myself. I was also taught to count my blessings and this I certainly did.MFM a To Luke it seemed that he had wasted 118 years of his life, and perhaps his health for good,just to have all snatched away within sight of the end. On the other hand, Martin found consider-able comfort for himself and he began to count his blessings. NM□ commonly uttered to urge oneself or others to be grateful for what one has, or they have (in the forms one must/ you should count one's/ your blessings). count one's chickens (before they are hatched) [V +. O] be too comfident too early of one's success in realizing an ambition, ob-taining a result, acquiring possessions, etc oShe's been boasting all over the village about her songoing to Oxford and now he hasn't been given a place. It shows you that you shouldn't count your chickens before they' re hatched. o He had been counting his chickens and borrowing money on the strength of his expectations as his uncle's sole heir. When the old man married his housekeeper, that put him in a proper fix. o(NONCE)I should have known better than to start counting my criminels before they were behind bars. RTO don't count your chickens often uttered as warning not to be prematurely confident. count the cost [V + O] assess what advan-tages and/ or disadvantages there are, were, or may be, in doing sth; decide whether sth is, was,or will be, worth doing o Day trippers (toFrance) plunge at their target with all the ur-gency of commandos in a raid. Their time abroad is precious. They don't stop to count the cost.TO□Dr Doug Smith, the Lions' manager, did his rounds and counted the cost of a victory on the previous afternoon in a bad-tempered, ill-mannered slog against the province of Canter-bury. L□ Riding out, they didn't count the cost;they had one end in view—— to serve their king.PW count the days/ hours [V + 0] know how many days/ hours must go by before some desired event, and count them off one by one until then; look forward to sth with eagerness□MRSELLIOTT: And while he's been in hospital all these weeks, he's known he's got somewhere to come back to. He's known that somebody wants him, anyway, and that's a great deal. To know that someone is counting the days until you come home. EGDa I hope Judy is enjoying theSchool Party as much as she was looking forward to it. She's been counting the hours since she got up this morning. I mainly continuous tenses.count etc oneself fortunate/ lucky [V + 0 + Comp] recognize that one is lucky, concern-ing sth specified or understood V: count, △consider, think, reckon o ' Still, I think Isabel can count herself lucky,' she said quietly, ' to have an opportunity to get away, when so many young mothers are more or less house-bound.’PWo(unemployment in Scotland) Yet thousands of Glaswegians will count themselves lucky if they can afford a day trip to Largs and a plate of ice cream this summer. NS o David (due to be discharged from prison) counts himself par-ticularly fortunate that his family have not abandoned him. RT o Every reporter who has worked any length of time in the courts has been,at one time or another, identified by an eager witness as the accused. Consider yourself lucky if you are identified as a pickpocket—— <119> there are worse crimes. SC□ often followed by that-clause, if-clause or to-inf. count heads [V + O] reckon how many per-sons are present, doing sth, etc; use the calcula-tion, whether precise or not, as a basis for deciding which of two or more opinions,policies etc to favour o Even with a supervisor about, there were so many children in the pool that one could have gone under and never be noticed. I did try to count heads, but the amount of activity going on made it impossible. □ If that is good which meets the wishes of the greatest number, then quantity becomes quality. This kind of undifferentiation can lead to a world in which every kind of activity is finally made mean-ingless by being reduced to counting of heads.UL□ If you were simply to count heads I dare say there would be more people in favour of capital punishment being restored than against it. □ Gormley and Daly (miners' leaders) both wanted to avoid a row in the wages debate and m quick head-count showed that Scargill's £20resolution had only the barest chance of winning.OBS 口 variant (a) counting of heads; n com-pounds a head-count, head-counting. count (the) pennies [V + O](informal) cal-culate costs carefully and minutely; be economical, or, possibly, mean o I' ll marry her.if I have to put her in the family way to do it. I' ll make her daddy give me a damned good job. I' ll never count pennies again. RATT□ ' It's all part of the man's character,' the Chief explained. 'Aman who has always learnt to count the pen-nies and to risk the pounds. 'oMIHo Then, we went to a restaurant off Piccadilly and had dinner. That was very expensive too. I wasn't in· the mood to count the pennies. count sheep [V + 0] try to induce sleep by counting (with one`s eyes closed) imaginary sheep jumping one after another over a stile oBut these were surface thoughts—— hardly more real to her than counting sheep and sometimes deliberately induced to encourage sleep— with which she beguiled the weary hours. PWo 'I often wonder if anybody ever does count sheep jump-ing over a stile to send themselves to sleep. " Well,I do, for one. I find it very effective, too.'o' WasI looking cynical and superior?' he asked. 'I was thinking about sheep. ' What, counting ' em?Trying to put yourself to sleep?’ PE a country cousin a person who lives in the country o Londoners themselves are infrequent visitors to the city's showpieces. If it were not for the tourists and the country cousins, most of these establishments could close their doors. oSome of your smart friends make me feel like a real country cousin. o At this time of year country cousins often ask townees to advise them on shows to see in London. NS □ often pl;a somewhat patronising term implying that such a person is, or would be, at a loss in (superior)urban society and/ or surroundings. a course of action(a planned programme of)activity to achieve some desired end; the pro-cedure adopted to get sth done, effect some change, etc o One's friends find nothing easier than advising a course of action which involves ceasing to go to bed with one's young woman.SPL □ The Chancellor of the Exchequer seems apprehensive that pressure will be brought to count heads—— court death etc bear on the Government to agree to a modest revaluation of sterling as part of the general realignment. He obviously is opposed to such e course of action. SC□(on the Nazi concentra-tion camp, Auschwitz) Each one of us carries in himself the seeds of all possible actions. If sometimes there may be an abyss between two courses of action, at other times it is only a question of degree. L (change) the course of history [V + 0pass] (change) the sequence of events in time that make up the world's history o Throughout the whole course of history empires have flourished only to decay. □ ' This is one of those moments.' Wormold said, ' which might change the course of history. ’ OMIHo He tells us repeatedly that the birth of Christ, and the crea-tion of the Church, was' an event which changed the course of human history,' but denies that it has in any way improved, or was intended to improve, the world. NS the course of justice the procedures and just application of the laws of the land, esp as ad-ministered in courts of law o (source)Though justice be thy plea, consider this./ That in the course of justice, none of us/ Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy... MERCHANTOF VENICE IV I o (criminal intimidation of witnesses) There have recently been a number of disturbing cases in our courts in which witnesses have been so terrified of the possible consequences of telling the truth that the course of justice has been made extremely difficult. SC□ You can't interfere with the course of justice at this stage. Even if you persuaded the plaintiffWatson to drop the charge, the police have ob-tained sufficient independent evidence to bring charges themselves. the course of true love never did run smooth (saying) any love affair will have its troubles. problems, difficulties □ (source) Ah me! for aught that ever I could read,/ Could ever hear by tale or history./ The course of true love never did run smooth MIDSUMMER NIGHT'SDREAMIIo Muriel told herself that somehow she must see Bill and warn him how much the course of true love would be smoothed if he could give her father an assurance that nobody should ever persuade him lo come to the microphone and talk about the monster. RM□Iʃthe course of love runs smoothiy and PrincessAnne can tell the Queen that absence does make the heart grow fonder, friends are saying there will be a betrothal announcement. Lo(NONCE) It's odd that Mr Taylor seems to believe that a labyrinthine maze of argument, speculation and intellectual kleptomania is necessary to establish such homely conclusions. But then the course of true analysis never does run smooth, even for bestsellers. NS court death etc[V + O] behave in a way that invites death, danger etc, or in a way that gives the impression that these are being sought O:death,△disaster, trouble, danger o In a sense.of course, all battles are fantastic, since they are an abrogation of reason, a deliberate courting of death. To He drove faster and more wildly.Courting death, their own and anyone else's,was the one possible chance of escape. HD□ His kindly serious face looked rather anxiously 119 <120> a cover address —— a crashing bore round the harbour, weighing up, it seemed,whether to risk overwhelming Brown with in-formation or to court the danger of leaving him in perplexity on some point. ILIHo I warned her she was courting trouble, staying away from her classes whenever the fancy took her to do something else instead. o variant a courting of death etc. a cover address an address, eg of an agency,one's employers, etc, through which mail will reach the addressee, though not addressed to him at any place of residence o His routes are,first by Russian and Polish ships from the port ofAntwerp, secondly, to cover addresses in Swit-zerland, and thirdly to West Berlin for passage through to the East. DSo It might take some time for the news to reach my brother. All I had was# cover address, care of a bank in Sao Paulo.cover the ground' [V + 0 pass] travel, or range about, over territory det: the; a lot of, a good deal of; more, less a We covered a lot of ground on our tour of Spain. a What with con-tinually slicing or pulling his ball into the rough,my uncle covered about twice as much grownd as the average golfer in going round a course. cover the ground² [V + O pass] deal with a subject, proposed arrangements, etc, complete-ly, less fully, etc det: the;a lot of; more, less, the same o Asked if the course could be shortened to two years, the professor replied that the majority of students would not be able to cover the ground in less than three years. a Mr Macmillan was fresh from his week-end at Rambouillet withPresident de Gaulle. Their talks, although less formal than the others, covered largely the same ground, OBS□ ' We haven't succeeded in covering as much ground as we hoped, today,'the chairman said. o When I started to studyEconomics I didn't realise there was such a lot of ground to be covered. cover a multitude of sins [V + O] compen-sat e for, or serve as a mask for, sins, faults,shortcomings o (source) And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for char-ity shall cover the multitude of sins. IPETER IV8o ' What job does he do?'' Economic Mission,but that covers a multitude of sins.'QAo The girl isn't worth her salary—— she could leave to-morrow and I wouldn't shed a tear. But as far as my partner is concerned, a pretty face covere&multitude of sins. o That shame-faced phrase'I'm just a housewife' covers e greater mul-titude of sins than we care to admit. It enables us to forget, for example, that despite the advent of labour-saving technology, housewifery is still for most women a sentence to hard labour' for life. Ns o can be facetious, as in second example.cover one's tracks [V + 0] continue to leave no evidence of where one has been or what one has been doing o Finn suggested that we should heave (the cage) into the river, but I was against this. We decided eventually to leave it where it was. It wasn't as if we really cared about cover-ing our tracks, or as if this were possible any-way. UTN o Nobody ever knew what Johnson might be up to. It was second nature to him to cover his tracks even when negotiating business that was perfectly legitimate and above board. o(a jockey) He is a grave, dedicated man, like a monk in a grimly penitential order, who covers his trecks with charm and polite jokes. RToCompetitors were invited to produce pumning' Guardian' headlines. I was told the ' Guardian'men themselves went in for this, though they seem to have covered their tracks remarkably well. NS crack a bottle [V + O] open a bottle of wine etc to have a drink; take part in social drinking with another or others o That's wonderful news!I can't think of any better reason for cracking a bottle. Bring your wife round to our place and we' ll have a little celebration together. a Drink brings out the worst in some people but he was as cheery an old sinner as ever cracked a bottle. oIknow an amusing little place, licensed of course,impeccable service, marvellous cabaret. Why don't we nip along there, you and I, and crack a bottle?L crack a joke [V + O pass] tell a funny story;make a humorous remark that causes laughter o In spite of the growing army of hopeless alcoholics, in spite of the hundreds of thousands of persons annually maimed and killed by drun-ken drivers, popular comedians still crack jokes about alcohol and its addicts. DOPoHENRY(irrit-ably): Could a horse be trained to stand still and mark time with its four legs? ADA: Oh. (Pause)The ones I used to fancy(= bet on, in races) all did.(She laughs. Pause) Laugh, Henry, it's not every day I crack a joke. Eo I was not very good at lessons, so some teachers were always getting at me and showing me up in front of everyone. Idefended myself by cracking jokes at their ex-pense. TVT cramp sb's style[V + O](informal) prevent sb from doing sth as freely, or as well, as he might otherwise do a It cremped her style to talk to Alec in this local public place, where they couldn't even use their natural voices, much less endearments. PWo We search them occasionally,both physically search them and also search their cars, and we watch them. And I think this tends to cramp their style. Lo Do you find that having a student-teacher ' observing' in the classroom crasms your style?a Here also there are poten-tial problems with spare parts, fuel nozzles, and so forth. Diversification, the programme seemed to say, is fine in peacetime, but it cramps one's style in war. L acrash course/ programm(O(NP)] an or-ganized course or plan for sth to be learnt/ done at top speed or much more quickly than is usualV: offer, provide, lay on; attend o The Univer-sity offers a crash course in Russian—— from beginners' to Entrance Examination level in one year. a Parliament will be summoned at the earliest possible moment so that e crash programme of financial recovery can be under-taken. To also pl. & crashing bore [Comp(NP)] sb who irritates his listeners with an excess of dull, uninteresting talk; an excessively tedious task, situation etcV: △ be, become, turn into; find sb/ sth o ' All she's concerned with is pushing that dirty politician up the dirty political ladder. Also, she's a crashing bore,' he added. EM o ' It (our relationship) doesn't work any more. '' Is it Lar-rie?’ asked John abruptly. ‘Oh! God, of course not,' said Elvira. ‘He’ s a crashing bore and Iwish he wouldn't come to the office.'ASA o 'I'm 120 <121> create/ make a bad etc impression— crime doesn't pay awfully sorry, old man.' he said, ' but Eva invited some friends up. Personally, I'd rather go out.They' re crashing bores, but there it is. Some other time, eh?’ RATT create/ make a bad etcimpression [V + 0pass] cause people to have a bad etc opinion of sb/ sth, whether this is a true judgment or not adj: bad, △ poor, unfavourable; good, splen-did, favourable o The fears about tving our-selves to the common agricultural policy seem justified. The zeal the Six have displayed in try-ing to complete all their arrangements, including those for fishing, before other countries are ad-mitted, has also created a bad impression. SC□ It remains to be seen how much the pupils learn by Miss Hamilton's methods, but it certainly creates a good impression to see a class busily engaged and looking happy. o Your protégé may be all you say, Andrew, but a rather poor im-pression was created at his interview and Idon't think he' ll get the job. create(bloody) hell/ murder[V + O](infor-mal) make an uproar; cause trouble; be aggressively angry o My, what a temper!I wish you'd have seen her just now. Created bloody murder when she heard there was a chap from the ' Courier' at the stage-door. AITCo The boy's father came up to the school prepared to create bloody murder, but he gradually calmed down as the facts of the case were explained to him. o' Some children are extraordinarily plucky,' the dental surgeon was saying, ' while others start creating murder at the first sight of the drill,'oIf the odd 10 per cent of the population doesn't swear, that's OK with me, but when they start creating hell because the majority of people do swear they are nut cases. RT □ ' There's a chap creating. ’ said the senior and dirtier of the waiters. ' Says he doesn't like the tipple. ' CONaMy wife won't half create when I tell her I'm giving up this job and going back to sea again. o create by itself, as shown in last two examples,has much the same meaning. creature comforts [0 (NP)] those things which man physically needs and enjoys, such as warmth, food, clothing, household amenitiesV: enjoy, love; miss, need o The bath is prepared with much child-like glee. Beatie loves her creature comforts and does with unabashed,almost animal, enthusiasm that which she enjoys.R o No, thank you. I'm far too fond of my creature comforts to go camping. □ Th e Home couldn't have been better run as far as creature comforts were concerned, but too little was done to interest and occupy the minds of the residents.a credibility gap the degree to which one finds it difficult to believe what one is asked to believe o Nell Dunn sets up an unbridgeable credibility gap between herself and her audience with the dire consequence that Maro's further adventures are devoid of all interest and significance. NSo. a talk on Radio 3 about the natural and super-natural interpretations of Biblical events—— and in particular the Resurrection. ‘The credibility gap seems to me to rule out deliberate deceit by the disciples or that the women had gone to the wrong tomb.'L□(the merits of the English sys-tem of criminal justice) There seems to be a terrifying communications gap, and consequent-ly a rapidly widening credibility gap. On one side are ranged the Establishment, authority, the middle class; on the other side, the young, the black, students and the working class. L acredit to sb[Comp(NP)] sb/ sth of which one can be justly proud, esp sb/ sth whose good qualities, excellence etc are, to a greater or less-er degree, the result of one's own efforts; do sb credit (qv) V:△be, appear; become, turn out□SAM: What a lovely daughter you have! She's m credit to you . HSGa The boy is still very young.you must remember. He may mend his ways and turn out a credit to his family yet. □ ' It's not a case of accepting the cheapest tender,' the coun-cillor pointed out.' We want to build a commun-ity centre that' ll be a credit to the place.'a ' It's my wife, really, that looks after the garden.'' Well, it's a credit to her.' creep and crawl [v + v non-rev] behave in a timid, subservient way of here was Bates, doing every odd job that was flung at him, just to keep in the bosses' good books. And what good did all his creeping and crawling do him in the end?□I don't mind accepting a favour if it's freely granted, but I'm damned if I'm going to creep and crawl for one. a You should either stand up to his fits of temper or ignore them. The more you creep and crawl trying to placate him, the more pleasure he gets in taking it out on you. a creeping Jesus (informal, derogatory) a term for the kind of person, esp a professingChristian, to whom non-sympathisers attribute(often with good reason) hypocritical humility,tiresome piety, intrusive evangelism, etc o He had in his service a pious, soft-spoken, tip-toeing unmarried middle-aged Irishman for whom Guy felt much affection, and whom he called Tony to his face and Creeping Jessus behind his back.MM o ' If your despair does not lend you com-passion, then I can only limit its field of devasta-tion.’‘My God!’ cried Hubert, ‘you talk about compassion, you creeping-Josus Karamazov. Iattempted to speak to you directly out of our despairs and desires, and you throw it back in my face.' HAA o attrib use a creeping-JexusKaramazov; in last example, reference is to a character in Dostoyevsky's novel' The BrothersKaramazov'. a creeping paralysis (informal) physical or moral paralysis from a disease that manifests itself slowly and gradually o Eventually, no-thing in this big world can move the ' common man' as a ' common man'. He is infinitely cagey;he puts up so powerful a silent resistance that it can threaten to become a spiritual death, e creeping paralysis of the moral will. ULo In the early years of the following century the move-ment finally succumbed to the creeping paralysis that had set in with the death of its founder. crime doesn't pay (saying)criminal behaviour is not only wrong, but foolish from a practical point of view(ie as one is likely to be found out and punished) o He (the chief of police) was a lank and scowling man, whose polished boots and belt proclaimed his import-ance: he had only recently taken over this posi,and it was obvious that he intended to prove to the inhabitants that crime did not pay. DFo What-ever may be the case in real life,98 per cent of the thousands of crime novels published put across 121 <122> (shed/ weep) crocodile tears---cross sb's path the unmistakable message that crime doesn't pay.□ Last month Mr Feather (a union leader)urged employers to adopt a firm line in resisting unoffcial pressure—— if they do not, he warned,they would be demonstrating that crime pays.SC it pays to do sth. (shed/ weep) crocodile tears [V + O pass](shed) false tears; (express) feigned sorrow(from the moaning, sighing noises attributed to a crocodile that is luring a person towards it to be devoured) o Molly has her father twisted round her little finger. No matter how badly she's behaved she's only got to shed a few crocodile tears and he forgives her. □ This country above all has an obligation to Cyprus not to follow the easy path of greeting President Makarios with a deaf ear and a crocodile tear. NSo Too many vested interests —— which include men who are now weeping crocodile tears over the damageLonrho has done to the capitalist image—— have100 much to lose and too little to gain from radi-cal reform. L crook one's finger' [V + O pass] bend one's finger into the shape of a crook or hook o She perched on the edge of the chair drinking tea with her little finger crooked above the handle of the cup. a The doctor told her to spend a few minutes crooking and uncrooking her fingers, several times a day, in order to keep the arthritic joints as supple as possible. crook one's finger² [V + 0 pass] with the palm upwards crook one's forefinger in sb's direction as a summons or invitation to approach □ He caught sight of Mary Pearson's husband, and beckoned also to him. As Bevill crooked his finger, Pearson gave a relaxed smile and came unconcernedly into the ring. NM□ Across the heads of the other guests I saw Anne crook her finger at me and point to the empty place at her side on the divan. crook one's finger³[V + O] make the slight-est beckoning sign and expect others to react immediately o I love the cool way you assume that I' ve just been sitting here waiting for you to crook your little finger. You take too much for granted. RATT□ He's got delusions of grandeur,that fellow. Thinks he's only got to crook his finger and we' ll all run about to do his bidding.□ You know that, too, don't you? Crook your finger, and they'd come running. Whatever tidy-ing up there was to be done, they'd be glad to do it for you. ST a cross between sth and sth sb/ sth that is neither of two things mentioned, but resembles or contains elements of both (from cross-breeding in animal husbandry, horticulture etc)o And the strange noises she (a monkey) was making sounded like a cross butween abird cry and the friendly greeting of a cat. BBa All this understanding then, this going about like access between St Francis and Thomas More comes to nothing then, when it doesn't happen to be your particular little fad. HAAo A harassed French waitress came to operate a large patent wooden-handled bread-slicer about the size of an old-fashioned sewing-machine: e cross somewhere between a guillotine and a chaff-cutter. BFA□On the first Sunday of each September, Venice stages The Historical Regatta. Imagine a cross between a Coronation and the Boat Race, and 122 you' ll get some idea of the pageantry and excite-ment. TVT cross one's bridges when one comes to them (saying) one should not worry about a problem that may never arise; a future problem, even if inevitable, will be better dealt with later when its nature is more precisely known o I decided to report that conversation about the use of the bomb to Hector Ruse. To him it seemed almost unbelievably academic. I fancy our masters will cross that bridge when they come to it,' he said. NMaIf only one did not have to face a stranger who might regard her as a usurper! She shook herself mentally. Don't cross your bridges prematurely, Sarah Isbister.WI o ' How could you keep up those enormous mortgage payments, though, if you fell ill or lost your job?'' How, indeed. But I don't believe in crossing my bridges before I come to them.’o variants one will cross that bridge when one comes to it, don't cross your bridges before/ until you come to them. cross the Great Divide[V + O](cliché) die o Then I remembered something that Charles had said: ' Zombies (here = conventional suburban types) always“pass away” or“cross the Great Divide” or“go into the sunset”. And they“lose” people like they lose a parcel or a glove.'RATT o divide = ` high mountain range separating two valleys or territories’. cross my heart (and hope to die) (infor-mal) an expression used to emphasize the sin-cerity of a promise or the truth of a statement(cross my heart refers to the sign of the Cross and hope to dia = ‘may I die if this is not true’)o' Now, don't you go telling your parents where we' ve been today, or I' ll knock your head off. ''Iwon't,' replied the younger boy,' cross my heart and hope to die.'o' But—— oh, never mind.' She stroked my hair gently.' But what?'' You' ll thinkI'm silly.' I promise I won't. Cross my heart.'RATT o You' ll maybe not believe me but, cross my heart, she buys chicken livers and fresh cream every day for those two cats of hers. crows sb's mind [V + O] occur to one without being deliberately reasoned out or striven for 8:thought, idea; suspicion; it... that he might know; □ The thought of murder crossed my mind. of course, and I put it out of my head. RFW□ The thought crossed his mind, among other thoughts, that Jean's brain might be undergoing a softening process. MM o The speculative possibilities are endless and every columnist,Congressman, and armchair diplomat is teeming with theories that never crossed his mind a year or a week ago. L o It never crossed his mind that, if she were to deceive Froulish, her unfaith-fulness would take the form of simple quid pro quo prostitution. HD□' Does it never occur to her that she's taking up too much of your time?"' She's so self-centred, it would never cross her mind.'o One of the things I liked most aboutShan' was the way he always said and did what would only cross the minds of others. NS □common use in past simple tense with never. cross sb's path [V + O pass] come into con-tact with sb, in the course of his travels, busi-ness, mode of life, etc o 'I' ll report him to MrHogg down at Divisional Office,' he said. ' He' ll wish he never crossed mypath.' To I know you <123> cross one's/ the Rubicon—— the crux of the matter etc can 't get on with Clark, but you shouldn't let that worry you. You' ll be working in such very dif-ferent departments, there' ll be no need for you to cross his path unless you want to.□I had heard a lot about Barker, and he of me, but up till then our paths had never crossed. D variant our/your/ their paths cross. cross one's/ the Rubicon [V + O pass] take an action, start a process, which is important,and which cannot be reversed; the die is cast(qv)(when, in 49 BC、 Julius Caesar crossed the river Rubicon,a natural boundary between the province he commanded and Italy governed byPompey, he started a civil war)o Persons using the bridge do so at their own risk, the notice said.Superstitiously she had always avoided cross-ing it, as if it was a sort of Rubicon. PW□Offour models in the £900-£1,000 class two are French,one Japanese, and only one British. Such previous bargain buys as the VW Beetle and theMini have crossed their Rubicon into four figures. NS (to) crown it all' [V + O] (to) complete or embellish sth o They gave us a delicious meal and, to crown it all,a very rare old brandy which must have cost a fortune.□It was a very happy.anniversary for mum and dad; all their old friends rallied round, the grandchildren behaved like angels, and to crown it all my brotherGeorge, whom they hadn't seen for eight years,flew over from Canada specially for the occasion.(to) crown it all ²[V+ O](to) surpass, be more important or much worse than(though connec-ted with), what has gone before or has been previously mentioned □ Agriculture and industry were largely at a standstill, Food was scarce and to crown it all there was no central government in being. MFM□ 'I' ve a good mind to throw you out of the house,' his father said.' You' re lazy, dirty, and impudent and now, to crown it all, I find you' re dishonest as well.'oWe hud a perfect week-end with nothing to do but eat and sleep and enjoy the scenery - - - and crowning it all, glorious sunshine. one's crowning glory that which, above all else, gives beauty, distinction or fame to sb/ sth o He considered that Edinburgh was the most beautiful city in Britain and that the New Town was its crowning glory.□ His impersonation ofCharlie Chaplin conveyed little of that art which was the crowning glory of the silent cinema.□Father had all us girls wear our hair long. When we complained, as we frequently did, he would remind us that a woman's crowning glory was her hair.□(saying)a woman's crowning glory is her hair. the crowning success the performance,achievement etc, which, although others are good enough, is the most successful, popular or praiseworthy D Miss Hopgood and Miss Crow-der gave a talk on the Riviera. But the crown-ing success was a talk by Miss Pemberton onHome Cooking for the Coronation, with a practi-cal demonstration. WDM□ In a lifetime of out-standing services to education, Sir Geoffrey has told me that he considers the establishment of this Institution to be his crowning success. a crumb of comfort some small amount of consolation, or alleviation, in an unpleasant or undesired situation a I'm sure that the only crumb of comfort for many readers over the budget is the assumption, ' Oh well, when we' re(the Labour Party) back we' ll repeal it.'NS □Three hours to wait in this God-forsaken hole!"' Let's see if there's a waiting-room open. I' ve got a flask of coffee and a few sandwiches with me.' Well, that 's mu mb of comfort, anyway. 'o also pla few crumbs of comfort; often in con-struction the only/ sole crumb of comfort. crumbs (that fall) from the (rich man's)table things that remain after a rich man has finished, and which a poor person can have(does not refer to charity freely given out of goodwill and at some sacrifice) □ (sources)There was a certain beggar named Lazarus desir-ing to be fed with crumbs from the rich man's table. LUKE XVI 20-1 o Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.MATTHEW XV27o ... the announcement of grants for the improvement of older property in develop-ment areas In reality, of course, these particular crumbs from the rich man's table will amount to no more than the tarting-up of some of the meanest and most miserably laid-out areas of the19th century housing in the country. NS□In Scot-land it is illegal to remove articles from garbage containers put out by householders, but many policemen lurn a blind eye on the poor ' bucket-pickers' rummaging for the crumbs that have fallen from the table.□(reader's letter) At least these programmes prove one thing: that the working man is not prepared to be pushed around and to be content with the crumbs from the rich man's table. RT (when) the crunch comes (informal)(when) it is a time of crisis or confrontation or necessary decision; if/ when it comes to the crunch/ push(Vol 1)(qv) o ' We stayed as long as we could,' he said. ' When the crunch came we were ever so reluctant to pull out, we really were, but there was no alternative.'OBS □ The white knitters insisted that they would not start training Indians as full-fashioned knitters until a' compromise' was accepted: eight Indian jobs would have to be given back to whites. The crunch came at the beginning of the night shift at 10p. m. on Tuesday. NS□The Housing FinanceBill is the most dogmatic piece of legislation in years. Mr Walker is going to find it more difficult than his colleagues did, when the crunch comes, to effect an about-turn. NS the crusading spirit etc the committed enthusiasm with which one tries to advance a project, idea, movement etc n: spirit,△temper,note, mood o At that time there was a crusad-ing spirit in the atmosphere at the Headquar-ters, which took much of its inspiration fromEisenhower. MFMo There is no limit to the capa-city of men to believe what they want to believe.especially if they are leader-writers. Talk to politicians, however, and the tone is different.The crusading note is markedly absent. NS□For Ackerley, like Lawrence, possessed a talent for self-humiliation. It goes with the crusading spirit. NS the crux of the matter etc[Comp (NP)] that part of a situation, problem, argument etc that presents the most difficulty, the solution to which makes other aspects of the situation (etc)easier to deal with V: △ be, become; make sth. 123 <124> cry/ laugh all the way to the bank—a cuckoo in the nest o: matter,△problem; dispute, argument □ ' So the cloud will be hitting the atmosphere during what would generally be the daytime?' ' That's right. And it will not be hitting the atmosphere during the night.'‘And that's the crux of the matter.' continued Weichart. TBCo That, in fact,is the crux of the matter. If we believe in our-selves and our ability, we need not be afraid of economic competition or political integration. L□ But neither Mr Carr nor Mrs Rossi quite comes to grips with the crux of the ergument. L cry/ laugh all the way to the bank (catch-phrase) (cry =) apologize for or pretend to deplore/(laugh =) openly rejoice in the fact that one has, or is making, a lot of money o (refer-ring to source) Some years ago Liberace suc-cessfully sued for libel the ' Daily Mirror'columnist, Cassandra. During the trial, the defendant's counsel was cross-examiningLiberace about various alleged excesses.Liberace, angry, replied that if he was as absurd as counsel was suggesting, then he wished the court to know that he was crying all the way to the bank. The jury laughed, and effectively the case was won. OBS o However carefully they(suppliers of glamorous underwear by mail order) do it they often offend somebody like the religious objectors who write furious letters---' They say I' ll suffer for it in the hereafter.' saysLewis Cligman.' It makes me cry all the way to the bank.' ST □ (a TV chat-show) Parkinson took a pummelling from both his guests—— not that that should stop him laughing all the way to the bank. L cry havoc(and let slip the dogs of war)threaten, incite oneself and others, to wage war mercilessly on sb/ sth; cause disruption and destruction, literally or figuratively (Havock!was an old military command — forbidden since the time of Richard II—— to slaughter in-discriminately and without mercy) □(source)Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge…… shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice cryHavocl’ and let slip the dogs of war. JULIUSCAESARIII IO We are back to the days of robber-baron government. Next year, instead of sending a complaint to the Board of Inland Revenue, Ishall lock my gates, take my shotgun down from the wall, cry ' havoc' and let loose the dogs. NS□ Those who hate bureaucracy must learn to work with bureaucracy to save it from itself, rather than cry havoc in the wilderness. Lo(NONCE)‘In the event of an emergency'! What had given rise to such a phrase? The Emergency of 1914-18, theBoer Emergency, the Hundred Years Emer-gency? Cry havoc, and let loose the dogs of emergency! o often adapted, as shown. cry wolf [V + 0 pass] give or spread a false alarm; be an alarmist by nature though with no intent to deceive(from the fable of the shepherd boy who called' Wolf so often, in order to tease, that his neighbours in the end ignored his genuine call for help)o When the voices, especi-ally those of the Press, really have something important to speak to him (the common man)about, he gives them the old smile and continues to read the funny bits. They have cried ' wolf' top often. ULo The people are told that they are in a more perilous condition than ever in the past.Why on earth should they believe it? Wolf' has 124 been cried time after time. No one is now going to pay any attention until the wolf gobbies him up. NS a crying evil etc[Comp (NP)] sth wrong that demands to be put right, be redressed,abolished etc as V:△ be, become; turn into. n:evil, △ scandal, shame; need, necessity o The great and crying need everywhere was going to be coal. We had 148 mines working, producing40,000 tons a day; not nearly enough. MFM oWilberforce awakened the world's conscience to the iniquity of the slave trade, but it was not until1807 that the Act was passed which put an end to this crying evil. □(from a letter) P. S. It is a crying shame to say I have ever hidden anything from the Income Tax; Mr Pellew would not let me. US □ It's a crying scandal the prices they charge in that hotel, considering the poor service they give.□I said I needed a new coat, last winter,and did without, but it'sæcrying necessity now.o pl crying evils etc. (a voice) crying in the wilderness (sb)preaching a cause, uttering a warning, advising reform, etc in vain and ignored by the public o(source) For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of theLord, make his paths straight. MATTHEW III 3oNevertheless Smith (of the Criminal Investiga-tion Department) is adamant that if he had another kidnapping case tomorrow he would allow no publicity whatsoever. So long as people believe that crime stories sell newspapers, he may well be crying in the wilderner. Lo Mr Herron proposed a bold, but hardly revolutionary,redesigning of the Church's structure. As he recognised, there is an inbuilt resistance to change in the Kirk. But he is not a voice crying in the wilderners. SC a Ever since he published his ' Conditions of Happiness' Mr Rattray Tay-lor's has been a voice crying in the wildernmes.He has continually warned me about the spiritual, intellectual and ecological doom which lies ahead unless we mend our ways of living.thinking and feeling. OBS D also p l voices crying in the wilderness. crystal clear [Comp (AdjP)] plain to under-stand; definite and unambiguous n: situation,position; views, attitude; orders, instructions.V:△be, become; make sth □ The direct result of the meeting in Berlin on the 5th June was to make the Russian position crystal clear. MFMoAll this was happening within days of the announ-ced date——28 July—— when Mr Wilson was com-mitted to making his own views on the CommonMarket crystal clear once and for all. Lo MrHeath and Miss de Haviland, we were solemnly ussured, were ' very old friends'. How ungallant,therefore, of Miss de Haviland to have made it crystal clear, on a radio interview last Monday morning, that the only time she had previously met the Prime Minister was on a transatlantic voyage 10 years ago. NSD often used in con-structions it was crystal clear that…, he made it crystal class that... a cuckoo in the nest [Comp(NP)] an interlo-per; sb who shares in or takes over privileges,tasks that belong to others V: △be, appear,become o Paul Hogarth, himself a notable graphic journalist, describes Houghton as ' an <125> uneasy cuckoo in the Victorian middle-class nest' and represents him as an observer who became all too aware of the ugliness and corrup-tion around him. OBSo The signs are that soon it(the Open University) will be turning out as many graduates per year as four or five of the new universities put together. In other words it will soon cease to be a portent and become an inescapable influence,a fal cuckoo in the most.NS a cultural desert[Comp(NP)]a place or com-munity where there is little or no artistic or academic activity or any interest taken in such pursuits V:△be, become, make sth□ However,she seemed happy with him and had adopted most of his views, including the one that Australia was a cultural desert that no decent person would dream of living in. RFW□ This place is a cultural desert, in the Instilute and out of it. The men talk of nothing but football, promotion, or their cars. □ He makes a point of returning each year to live theatre, but in Glasgow - e cultural desert, he calls it— the halls are gone, so he must work in Edinburgh. RT o Basingstoke is well-known as the all-time entertainment desert with absolutely no recent theatrical tradition. TVTO desert occas has other attrib adjs or nouns, as in last example. a culture vulture (informal, derogatory) a hanger-on` of the arts; a person who attends lectures and concerts, visits art galleries, reads the` best’ books, etc as a matter of duty rather than pleasure, and partly or mostly to increase his own prestige o(review of a play) RichardBenjamin's husband, wine snob, culture vulture and compulsive talker, is a true monster. His whole life is spent in creating a fashionable image to applaud . OBSa Many works of art have been given ' to the nation' by private benefactors, or have been bought by public subscription through organisations like the National Art CollectionFund to save them from the clutches of theAmerican culture vulture'. SC □ pl culture vul-tures. one's cup is full etc one's joy, sorrow, satis-faction etc is complete, one has more joys, sor-rows etc than should rightly be the lot of any one person V: is full. △runs over, overflows o(sources, PSALM 23) .. . my cup shall be full.BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER o ... my cup overflows. SCOTTISH METRICAL PSALMS □ ...my cup runneth over. /BIBLE : AUTHORIZEDVERSION)□ Even my school-teacher (whose heart was of stone) brought me a bagful of sweets and nuts. Finally Jack told me I'd been prayed for in church twice, on successive Sundays. My cup was full. I felt immortal. CWRa Edinburgh's cultural life does tend to be rather stop-go. For three brief weeks the cup is filled to overflow-ing, u t other times—— particularly in the early summer— it can run perilously dry. SC□ Life is just as sweet for swans as it is for us.' he said.' Non that they have been on telly, their cup of happiness must be truly overflowing.'L sb's cup of tea [Comp (NP)](informal) what one likes, is interested in, can do well, etc V:△be, seem, look like o Coombargana is my home and I would not willingly live anywhere else, but architecturally / will admit that the house isn't everybody's cup of two. RFWo This pain can be a cultural desert---curl one's/ the lip(s) increased until the experimenter's research is completed, or until the subject decides that psychological research is not his cup of time. SNP□ Certainly Frank was doing very well for him-self. Import-export was booming, but it wasn't his cup of tea. TOo' You may find this sort of job rather difficult.'' But it's just my cup of tea! It's absolutely made for an unfrocked nurse.’ DIL□Undemanding creatures that they are, ants will eat just about anything, Left-overs, meat, bread,sugar, any dead insect, are their cup of te@ and unts need no coaxing. TVT O usu neg; positive uses are usu emphatic and indicated by the advs just, exactly, absolutely. the cup that cheers (but not insbriates)tea □(source) And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn/ Throws up a streamy column, and the cups/ That cheer but not inebriete wait on each,/ So let us welcome peaceful evening in. THEWINTER EVENING (W COWPER 1731-1800) □ Good,you' ve put the kettle on. The cup that cheers,that's what I like. None of your coffees and cocoas for me.□ ' Thank you,' he said. ' The cup that cheers but not inebristes. But his thoughts strayed longingly to the cosy pub he had just left. cupboard love (informal) (a show of) affec-tion sustained by the thought of what one can get out of a situation for oneself o ' It's only cupboard love that brings the boy round here so often,' the old man said sadly ' He knows I' ll always give him a bit of money when he leaves.'□' But I thought that couple old Mrs Smith rented her basement flat to were absolutely devoted to her.' ' Just cupboard love; they were always coming up to cadge from her→money, food,furniture, anything and everything.' the cure/ remedy is worse than the disasse(saying) the cure is more painful, or does more harm, than what it is supposed to put right □ I tell him that if he'd smoke less he'd cough less but he says the cure would be worse than the disease.□ But the execution of convic-ted terrorists to prevent rescue attempts by their colleagues which may involve the murder of yet more innocent people would have to be carried out immediately to be effective: and this would make nonsense of our judicial processes. Thus the remedy would be worse than the disease.NS□(NONCE) The importance of Sam Brittan is that he is making a sustained attempt to explore the causes of our present discontents, and to sug-gest some remedial which, unlike most of those currently on offer, does not threaten to be wors★thway the dis@sè.ST curiosity killed the cat(saying) an obstruc-tive or teasing answer to a question; a warning to mind one's own business, not interfere, in case harm is done to sb;a reproof for something of this kind already done o ' Didn't you ask him why he 'd stayed out so late?'' Yes, but all he said was" Curiosity killed the car'"' ' o Now boys,remember that curiosity killed the cat; don't go picking up any strange objects on the beach. es-pecially if they' re metal. curl one's/ the lip(s) [V + O pass] make a sneering grimace with one's lip(s) D The later adolescent who first arrives in this egocentric community will find he still goes ' up' to Oxford and ' down' again. His college servant will 125 <126> the curse of Cain---cut one's coat according to one's cloth address him as' sir', the last place on earth where this can be done without the merest curling of the lips. OBS o He was a very narrow-minded pedant, academic rather than scholarly, and far100 ready to curl the lip when such subjects as' modern studies' or ' student rights' came up for discussion.□ Nine hoods((US) = gangsters) run onto the stage. They look as if they had just stolen a mound of hub-caps. Their flat-top hair styles are smothered in grease and their T-shirts are blackened. Some of them flex their muscles at the audience and curl their lips. L o more often in sing form, esp when expression is used to describe an attitude of mind rather than the actual facial gesture. the curse of Cain the lot or fate of sb who has to live a vagabond life, who wanders or is for-ced to move from place to place in a profitless way□ (source) And now art thou(ie Cain) cur-sed... a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. GENESIS IV11-12□ He had fled in panic and now returned to England hoping to clear his name. Whatever happened could be no worse than living under the curse of Cain, in terror and concealment, as he had been. o' And why has he never married? Because he was so madly in love with that absurd mother of his, who clung to him like an octopus. Talk about the curse of Celm,’she went on, though nobody had, ' the curse ofOedipus is ninety thousand times worse.' us a curtain lecture a cautionary or scolding talk given in private by a relative, teacher, close friend, etc(originally a nagging talk from a wife to her husband, in a four-poster bed with the curtains drawn)□ On the following morning my landlady invited me into her sitting-room where she delivered a curtain lectum on the subject of late hours and noisy company. a cushy number etc(informal) a job or situa-tion in life that is pleasant, easy, undermanding and, often, financially comfortable as well n:number,△job, life, billet oMR STONE: The taxi game never changes: too many new boys taking it up; they all think it's a cushy life; they' ll learn soon enough. HSGaI'd like to get out of GeneralPractice. You don't know of any cushy jobs in the Public Health department, do you? □ The impression I came away with was the familiar one of people with a cushy job, who dimly realise that any change must be for the worse.NS□ But it had been the Foreign Office which subsidised his writing. 'I thought it would be e cushy number. When I went to Belgrade as press attaché to the British Embassy, my predecessor, a charming fellow, said I couldn't have picked a nicer spot. He'd written three books in a year.’ RT a custard pie a stage property in simple slap-stick comedy(thrown at people, clapped down on their heads, etc)o Ronald Barker is actually,by training and instinct,a traditional actor ship-wrecked on the wilder shores of farce, Tambur-laine let loose among the custard pies of LightEntertainment. RT o use attrib a ctestard-pie comedy, custard pie entertainment. the customer is always right (saying) it is good policy in trade never to contradict or argue with a customer □ It's mostly older people we deal with—— little old ladies. It's nice to try to please them. Of course you get the other sort 126 and then you just have to put up with it. The customer is always right, isn't she? ST o(inMarks and Spencer stores) The customer might not always be right but she always comes first —— whatever her demands. TVT o TheDemocratic Party openly proclaim that theAmerican people are looking for something to take their minds off their troubles. And since the customer is always right in the land of con-sumer sovereignty, palliatives and exhortations are what they ordered and what they will get. NScut both/ two ways be capable of having opposite or contradictory interpretations,results, effects, etc$: argument; policy,procedure o What you' ve just defined as liberty can cut both ways you know. If A is to be at liberty to do whatever he likes short of harming others, B is equally at liberty to think A is harm-ing himself and to try to stop him. o The speaker argued that the imposing of sanctions could cut more ways than one, weakening our own econ-omy from loss of trade and possibly stiffening resistance in a country that felt it was being gang-ed up on. O variants cut several ways, cut more ways than one. cut one's cables [V + O] (do sth to) sever one's connections with one's family,profession, country etc in an final way; burn one's boats(qv)o There was still time to draw back, he reflected, before he cut his cables.became a ' defector'—— that ugly word which bore so little relation to the strength of his politi-cal convictions. o 'I' ve got to make a success of this job I' ve taken on,' he said,' because I' ve cut my cables as far as getting back into the CivilService is concerned.’ cut the cackle (and come to the hosses)(informal) start business instead of talking about it; say sth frankly instead of going round the subject o I had the feeling, quite new, that Ihad this time c urt the cackle and come straight to one single, stark, wonderful hoss. SMLo The old man dug out his relics of idealist speculation.and talked proudly on, while all they wanted, that night of all nights, was to cut the cack le and hear his intentions about Barford and Luke's scheme. NM□ News items will only win an import-ant place if they can be personalised or there is an increasingly popular ' no-nonsense'. ' cut the cackle' and ' let's face it' approach. UL O hosses=‘horses’. cut a caper [V + O] perform a few springing dancing steps more or less on the spot where one stands, either in the course of a dance, or to express sudden pleasure, exuberance of spirits,etc; (esp pl) behave in an unusual or fantastic manner in order to attract attention □(source)SIR TOBY: What is thy excellence in a galliard(a lively dance), knight? SIR ANDREW: Faith, I can cute caper. TWELFTH NIGHT13o‘How are you feeling, Harold?’'I feel pretty good,' said Harold repressively. ‘Not more than that?’‘Oh, I could dance!' Alec cut a caper on the pavement. PWo' What's got into Robert?' the old lady said sour-ly. ' Bowing people into their seats, kissing the women's hands and cutting capers like a stageFrenchman in a farce.’' I think he's had a bit too much to drink,' said her daughter. cut one's coat according to one's cloth(saying) adapt one's way of life to one's means <127> cut and come again— cut a fine etc figure or other (restricting) circumstances □ AfterWorld War Two, the Americans felt they had no choice other than to accept the active leadership of the West. Their reasoning was that if they did not fill the power vacuum, then the USSR would.In those palmy days the US did not have to cut her political coat to suit her economic cloth.NS□(the buying of rare books and manuscripts)The British are scholarly and timid, cutting their coat to the meance are of their threadbare cloth, devoid not only of money but often of imagination. NS□(NONCE) Don Revie knows he musi cut his cloth according to the way he expects the opposition to play. If he knows they are going to string a line of beefy blokes across the penalty area then Macdonald, for all his ability, is going to be running into a brick wall. TVT o often used with one must, to give advice, warning etc. cut and come again help oneself from, take some of, a large joint of meat, etc, as often as one pleases or as long as it lasts o' Perhaps Ihaven't given some of you enough,' said their host, ' but there's plenty of turkey here for you all to cut and come again as often as you like.'oThis travel book is the ideal present for me. I like a book where I can cut and come again without losing the thread of a story. o(rehearsing an opera) In any case, the soloists share with trained sportsmen and experienced statesmen a variety of cut-and-come again stamina which is dumb-founding for the watching layman. RT o attrib use a big cut-end-com-again cake. cut corners[V+ O pass](informal) go straight across the bend of a road instead of following its curve, or, sometimes, proceed in a straight line over territory served by a winding road, etc;(fig) take a short or quick way of doing sth, or of achieving one's object (often with the im-plication that this is unwise or dangerous, that sth essential is missed out or not properly done)□ There' ll be no cutting corners, you under-stand, just because you are the boss's son. You' ll have to learn the business and get your engineer-ing qualifications like anyone else.□ With really cheap clothes, manufacturers can keep prices down only by cutting corners on both materials and workmanship. OBS□ Each hour-long show can take up to six months to prepare. Were we to scale our ideas down, cut corners and play safe,we would risk corn ing up with that depressing thing-- - the ' special' that looks like an ' ordin-ary' . TVT o He drives himself to a lot of race meetings, a fast. corner-cutting driver in his bigMercedes. TVT on compound (here used attrib)corner-cutting cut a dash [V + O] present a dashing ap-pearance; impress others by one's bearing and dress o She was merry and well-fed and con-fident, serene in the knowledge that she was doing a worth-while job; she could put on her NumberOnes(officer's dress uniform) and doll herself up smartly to go home and cut a desh. RFW aFashion is great fun this Autumn—— you' ll be cutting a military dash in braids, brass buttons and swaggering Guards-type greatcoats. H oFrom this spirited sketch of my great-great-grandfather seated on his phaeton behind a pair of fine horses, I could well imagine him cutting a tremendous dash in Hyde Park's Rotten Row' of a summer morning. cut sb dead refuse to greet or recognize sb that one, in fact, has met or knows o We women play such nonsensical games with men, cutting them deed as a plo y and doing awful things like that.RT□ Oh yes, he did take offence, and very much so. I' ve run into him several times since then and he has simply cut me dead. cut and dried'{adj + adj non-rev] completed in every detail and either already in force, or ready to be put into execution S: plan, agreement.contract, schedule of work a It seems clear at this stage that Britain made a mistake in not getting in at the start when she would have had the opportunity with her partners to shape the treaty in accordance with her interests. It is now cut and dried. SC o ' Well worth it. ' said theAgent. 'A thousand's not high if it helps you liv avoid a crack-up. ' Duncan argued it a bit, on principle, but the Agent had the thing cut and dried. TSTo' You chaps have got to deliver the goods. ' That's bound to happen. It's cut and dried, and nothing can stop it now, said Martin.NM cut and dried² [adj + adj non-rev] formal; in-flexible; predictable; not likely to adapt to change, emotional pressure, etc S: person; at-titude, response; mode of thinking, method of work a Unwillingly he had to consider Alec as a person, not as someone coming under a business heading, not even as a client, for his relations with his clients were also cut and dried: very little personal feeling could, in the nature of things, come into them. PW□ She was a very cut-and-dried little person with a very cut-and-dried way of speaking in short sentences that sounded as if they had been culled from ' How toSpeak English in 100 Easy Lessons'. o attrib use a cut-and-dried person, way of speaking. cut each other's/ one another's throats{V + O} engage in mutally destructive rivalry,esp in commerce o The essence of business is to combine. Suppose I had started on my own?There'd just been two of us cutting · ech other's throats, and neither of us able to expand at all. HD□ For so long as they can rely on us(theBritish) to stay for ever, so long will all parties(inNorthern Ireland) postpone any kind of negotia-tion — and so long will the situation grow hopelessly worse. It may at first seem an irres-ponsible plan to announce that we are ' leaving and letting them cut each other's throats' . NScut one's own throat; cut off one's nose to spite one's face(Voll). cut one's eye-teeth [V + O] reach the stage where one is experienced, has one`s wits about one, knows the ways of the world o She's not such an innocent little piece as you think. Believe me, that girl cut hereye-teeth a long time ago.□ He was happy to have some mature company for a change. Having to spend so much of his time with a gang of inarticulate youths who hadn't cut their eye-teeth yet had been getting him down, o You' ve no idea what you' re talking about. Wait till you' ve cut your eye-teeth before you start advising the boss. o often neg.cut a fine etc figure [V+ O] present a fine etc appearance; give a good etc impression of oneself adj: fine, △ handsome, neat; sorry.ridiculous, an abject o No doubt he'd been look- 127 <128> cut it/ things fine—— cut sb/ sth short ing forward to the wedding. ever since it was announced, as an invaluable chance to cut a figure and do some good public relations work.CONo Why don't you take my place? You'd cut●far finer figure at the head of a procession than me, anyway. o They'd been ducking him in the water. Poor fellow, he cut a sorry figure. □ It was a shame to laugh, but she cut such a ridiculous figure flopping back on to the ice every time she tried to get up that I couldn't help it. D when used without an adj=‘make oneself conspicuous in the hope of being admired’. cut it/ things fine[V + 0 + A] allow only a minimum quantity, esp of time; have barely the required amount of sth or time to do sth adv mod:a bit, rather, too o' Will it be OK if we get to the station ten minutes before the train leaves?’'I think that would be cutting things rather fine. We have to buy our tickets and look for the right platform, you know.'o Oh, here you are at last! You' ve cut it a bit fine, haven't you? We were just about to leave without you. o She's a very economical caterer, but inclined to cut things fine at times. I suppose she un-derestimates students' appetites. cut the(Gordian) knot [V+ 0 pass] by a single decisive action, stroke of inspiration, etc,find the solution to a difficult and complicated situation or problem (from a story of Alexan-der the Great who, faced with the challenge of a knot so cunningly tied that no one had been able to unloose it, simply slashed through it with his sword)o At one stroke he had cut the knot, by-passing all the preliminaries — the manoeuvring for position, the attacking at one point and giving way at another. PWo(NONCE)(a football commentator) His good temper, crisp approach and fairness make him the perfect disentangler of a disputed Notts (= Notting-hamshire) County penalty decision (GordianNotts, as it were), illustrating his points with flashbacks. NS to cut a long story short [Disj] briefly; in brief o To cut a long story short, by the timeDesmond came out (of prison) in October '53,they were firm friends, and Desmond had agreed to look out for a safe market in Europe forSammy's stones. DSo Well, to cut a long story short, just after this flying spout passed close to where I was standing, out of the loch came some-thing I can only describe as a huge horse's head on top of a snaky neck. RMo Tocurt short a long story, the matter was finally settled in accord-ance with the Australian view—— as of course it had to be. MFM□ If only she really would cut a long story short instead of assuring everybody that that's what she was about to do. o accom-panies an account of sth done or proposed when the speaker feels that the full details are not necessary, would be boring, would take longer than there is time for, etc; minor varia-tions occur, as in last two examples. cut loose(from sb/ sth) become, make oneself, independent (of sb/ sth); disassociate oneself (from sb/ sth) o: family, background,associates; tradition, convention, the past oThose boyhos (= fellows, here critics) don't want to chuck away their rule books and cut loose. They like the feeling of power —— the weekly make-or-break piece with their names big 128 under it. JFTRo' Do you remember Dollie at all?'he asked. ' Dollie Stokesay?' Robin blushed in-voluntarily‘Yes, of course,’ he remarked with what he hoped was a casual air. 'I was fourteen or fifteen when you cut loose from her. 'ASA oIt could be frightfully interesting, but one's kept so infernally busy, and, then again, once you' re in on what's happening, it's difficult to cut loos●. HAA cut one's losses [V + 0] close a business,shop etc that is not making money before losses mount any higher; bring any unsatisfactory or unprofitable situation to an end before matters get worse o I said that there seemed to me two possible courses: one, to cut your losses, break up Barford, and distribute the scientists among the American projects: two, to reinvest in Luke.NMD This party is degenerating rapidly into a rabble. I think the best thing you and I can do is to curt our losses and depart. o It's tempting to hang on to shares you once paid a lot of money for, in the hope that they' ll appreciate. But if Iwere you, I'd sell out now and cut my business.cut one's own throat [V + 0] (informal)adopt, or persist in,a course of action (through pride, folly etc) which can only bring harm to oneself; cut off one's nose to spite one's face(Voi 1)(qv)o37 per cent of those covering up to10,000 miles a year were prepared, they said, to abandon car.' The manufacturers have c urt their own throats with unreliable rust-heaps. ’ OBSoDr Banda had to choose between doing business with the white-ruled states of Southern Africa or boycotting them, as African ideology demanded.By adopting the latter course, he would have cut his country's throat. Lo We' ll take over your business and put you in as manager at a fair salary. We can't stop you from trying to go it alone. but if you do you' ll be cutting your own throst. C cut each other's/ one another's throats.(at) cut rates/ prices (commerce) (at)reduced rates, prices, esp at certain seasons, or for a particular class of customer or consumer□ They did the laundry for everyone who stayed there, rather than let it be sent out into the village; they did it at cut rates and of course there were always rows about it. CON□ Old-age pensioners can travel on the town buses and get into the cinema at cut prices in off-peak hours.o It would be very expensive to stay in this hotel for a summer holiday, but they do offer cut rates in the winter months, and for long-term residents too. D attrib use a cut-price holiday,excursion. cut and run [v+ v non-rev] make a quick or sudden escape (from a sailing ship cutting its anchor rope and running before the wind, when hoisting the anchor would be too slow for evasive action)o To cut and run, to walk out,as Elspeth had, was quite unthinkable to Isabel:it was not in the pattern of civilized behaviour.PW o I' ve not met the man. I' ve tried to, but he wouldn't see me. But if you decide to cut and rurs,you'd best do it early before he and his mother have got into the way of you. ASA o Kersey in-vokes‘the old American custom of self-defence’when his son-in-law talks of cutting and run-ning as the best answer to the threats. NScut sb/ sth short[V + 0 + Comp pass] inter-rupt sb when he is speaking; not allow sb to <129> cut-throat competition/ rivalry---damn all finish speaking; interrupt a conversation.lesson etc o l introduced myself again, but he cut me short with a kindly ' of course'. PP □When I consider my behaviour to you just now.believe me. I--- - ' ' That's what I came to see you about said Camilla, cutting him short without ceremony. 'I rather think you owe me an explanation. 'EM o We were cut short at this point by a thunderous knocking at the door. UTN□ ∵ot at all, ' he said. ' Delighted. Well, I'm afraid we must cut our conversation short . The discussion's four minutes overdue.'ASA cut-throat competition/ rivalry (com-merce) intense trade rivalry, in the course of which competitors are prepared to accept short-term sacrifices to secure a longer-term advantage o One doesn't have to look far for instances of cut-throat rivalry among theCommon Market countries. To give just one example, when the firm of Pechiney was hestitating between Hamburg and Dunkirk as the site for a new aluminium plant, Dunkirk clinched the deal by advancing 30 per cent of the capital investment cost. L a cut-throat price (commerce) a low price charged by a shop etc which suggests some sacrifice of profit; a high price bid for materials D the daddy of them all {Comp (NP)](infor-mal) the founder, originator, and often the most successful exponent, of a popular move-ment, school of thought etc; sb who has been successful and engaged in some sphere of activ-ity longer than his associates V:△be; be regard-ed as; look like o Running the ' Meet my next guest' shows of which Americans are so fond, are in the afternoon Mike Douglas, in mid-eveningDavid Frost, or in the hours around midnight when there are three on view, all, of course, at the same time: Johnny Carson - - - the daddy of them all--Dick Cavett and Merv Griffin. LoMeantime a newly-formed, science-based com-pany in California (interestingly, an off-shoot of' Syntex', the daddy of them all) is now con-ducting trials with a uterine contraceptive sys-tem. L o ' Picasso has just celebrated his 90th birthday, hasn't he?'' Yes, and in so many other respects, he's the daddy of them all.' one's daily bread[0(NP)] the food one needs and/ or gets each day; one`s means of subsis-tence generally V: get, give, (not) want, (not)lack: earn, work for a(source) Give us this day our daily brend. MATTHEW VI9□British business is not, as certain people appear to believe, a jun-gle in which the weakest go to the wall, but simply a civilised and harmonious way of earning one's daily bread. RATT□ AII the world knows what a soft and merry life the film reviewer leads, loung-ing back in the morning dark while outside others dig ditches or rob banks for their daily bread.NS the/ one's daily dozen[O (NP)]a few routine exercises practised daily in order to keep oneself fit V: do, perform o Third in our series of basic health requirements: The daily dozen. in short supply o The poster on the window read:5% reduction on all refrigerators, washing-machines and vacuum cleaners. Many other household appliances at cut-throat prices. o Il is no use buying raw commodities at cut-throat prices if the result is to impoverish prospective customers. the cut and thrust (of sth) [n+ n non-rev]the techniques characteristic of political fac-tions, rival business interests, etc; methods of argument or sustained repartee; a battle of wits(qv); thrust and parry (qv) (from sword-play,fencing) o: debate, argument, controversy oHarrison, however, is perhaps too high-minded for the cut and thrust of University politics.OBS o (Meetings of The British MedicalCouncil) Anyone who expects much of the cut and thrust of debate at these affairs is likely to be disappointed. NSa There is far too much emphasis on factual information and too little on the cut-and-thrust of disagreement. l o(football) I think the attacker of 35-plus is also less inclined to throw his entire being into a cut-and-thrust penalty area confrontation. TVT o occas hyphenated; attrib use a cut-and-thrust# pproach. SC □ My husband does his daily dozen every morning as soon as he rises. He says it does him far more good than an extra five minutes in bed.the daily round the common tasks or duties of one's working day o The nurses came on their daily round of washing, changing, combing and prettifying the patients before the matron's in-spection. MMo' And what have you been doing while I was away?''I? Oh nothing. The daily round, you know. Looking after the children,missing you.’ PWoI was as keen to get away as he was. After two summers the Gulf becomes a jail and the daily round something of a drag. BMthe damage is done(saying) it is too late to prevent the occurrence of sth undesirable o /wish you wouldn't make promises on my behalf.Oh, well, the damage is done now, I suppose,and I shall have to send him a cheque.□If we join the EEC(European Economic Community) we shall burn our bridges behind us. The LabourParty Conference should set the scene for one last great effort to prevent the damage being done. NSo When it comes to preventing other people from interfering with their work, legal action can only be taken after the damage has been done. OBS damnall[Comp/O(NP)] nothing at all; none or so little as to be not worth mentioning or con-sidering V: be; get, receive, give a If that's what they do with the money they collect, they' ll get damn all from me the next time they come round for subscriptions.□On the morning of the great day he will be riding down the route of the procession to make sure everything is all right.' Although by that time,' he added needlessly.' there's damn all one can do.'RT□(concerning wage increases) The percentage game played ab- 129 <130> damn and blast (sb/ sth)——a dark horse solutely straight would still have a built-in bias in favour of the better off. That was what VicFeather meant when he snapped: ' What's 40 per cent of damn all?’ at a reporter who challenged him about the iniquity of some groups of low-paid workers who had dared to ask for 40 percent rise.NS o variants (taboo) bugger all, fuck all. damn and blast(sb/ sth)[v+v non-rev] can be used to curse sb/ sth violently; or, esp if the speaker often uses strong language with un-necessary or inappropriate freedom, merely to comment adversely on a situation or occur-rence that annoys or inconveniences him o The engine spluttered and stopped. ' Damn and blast!' my father exclaimed. ' The bloody petrol's run out.'□Oh, damn and blast BennieHyman. What's it got to do with him? ILIHo I' ll have to swallow about a handful of pills to get to sleep, and then I won't wake up if the phone rings,which won't be any good either, damn and blast it. JFTR damn etc it (all) an expletive accompanying a plea, protest, argument, accusation etc V:damn, △ dash, hang o‘But damn it all,’ saidWeichart, ' the Cloud must speed up as it falls through the sun's gravitational field.'TBC□ But dash it,I am not a babe in arms. I am entitled to go out for a walk by myself if I want to. EMo' You might let me finish what I'm saying, damn it.'' But you told me yourself, hang it all, that you wanted that holly bush dug out!"o front, middle or end position. damn with faint praise not condemn, but mention for praise only qualities of such slight merit as to imply that more valuable or import-ant qualities are lacking a(source) Damn with faint praisd, assent with civil leer,/ And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer. EPISTLE TO DRARBUTHNOT (A POPE 1688-1744) □ ' But your book wasn't so unkindly reviewed as you say.'' Damn-ed with faint praise——I would rather it had been violently attacked, which arouses people's interest at least.’口 used esp in literary or other forms of professional criticism. a damp squib an event, statement, publication etc intended to be interesting, exciting, startling etc that fails in its effect □ After these fireworks,the final communiqué on the visit was a damp squib. Lo I forget the year, but I know the date was Guy Fawkes’ Day, so I was able to make something of the‘damp squib’ theme when the speaker duly called ' Captain Longhurst' and Iextracted the evidence from my pocket and read it out. ST o' Here's your girl,' he said to Bill.‘Handle her carefully; she’ s liable to explode.’' Like a damp squib,' Cindy said. She spoke toBill, 'I tried to flirt with him, but it all fell flat.'PE□ also pl; often used with a bit of, something of; attrib use the ' damp squib' theme;a squib =‘firework that explodes loudly’. a damsel in distress [O(NP)] (facetious) a(young) woman who needs help with a practical difficulty, in an unpleasant situation, etc(from a stock character in old tales of romantic chiv-alry) V: rescue, save □ Th e students come to him with personal problems too; he seems to have a way with tormented youths and demsels in distress.□' What were you doing in Barfield at that time of night, anyway?’‘Rescuing a damsel in distress. She'd missed her last bus and was walking home.'□(NONCE) The team have set their tale in that storybook time when knights were bold and brave in shining armour, minstrels sang of love and battle, demsels were distressed and all the castles looked like something out of Dis-neyland. TVT one's dancing etc days are done etc one can no longer dance etc because of age, disabil-ity, changed feelings or views press p: dancing,fighting, mountaineering, flirting. Comp: done,△ over, past o Former bar-room brawler and hell-raiser Robert Conrad stars in a new series here—— but he says his fighting days are over now because: 'I carry the Bible with me everywhere. I get a lot of strength from it.’ TVT□' Does Isabel try to keep you guessing?'' No.'said Harold, stiffening.' But wives sometimes do,you know; it's a habit women have. And I don't like it. Myguessing days are over.’ PW□People don't have much more to offer once their danc-ing days are over. □ headphrase may be used figuratively to complain about or emphasize old age, restriction of activity or pleasure etc, as in last example. danger/ dirty money extra payment above usual wages for doing particularly dangerous or dirty work o No amount of danger money would tempt me to work on these oil rigs they' re constructing in the North Sea.□ Two constantly recurring themes among all who were writers were economic duress and violent fluctuations of readership. Danger money, they felt, was no better deserved at the coal face. NS□ Big stores have had difficulty finding men to play SantaClaus in their Christmas bazaars. Possibly they want danger money, or dirty money for all the chimney work they have to do. SC a Daniel come to judg(●) ment (saying) sb who makes a wise decision or ruling about sth that has perplexed others(see DANIEL V14-16); or may be said in approval of sb whose opinion,decision etc agrees with that of the speaker o(source) SHYLOCK: A Daniel come to judg-ment! yea,a Daniel!/O wise young judge, how Ido honour thee! THE MERCHANT OF VENICE IV Io'I shall have to toss for it.' He tossed a penny in the air, ‘Muriel will call,’ said her father in the tone of a Daniel come to judgement. RMo ADaniel come to judgement could hardly have disentangled the truth from falsehood in this case, much less an inexperienced young DistrictMagistrate like me. a My friend had plied me with official transcripts of the hearings in the hope of converting me to his passionate view thatSenator McCarthy was either John the Baptist resurrected or Daniel come to judgement. L (a) Darby and Joan[n + n non-rev] a faithful loving married couple(a couple thus named are referred to or described in a number of 18-19th c ballads)□ My parents won't mind the isolation of the cottage one bit. They' re merea l old Darby and Joan—— there's no company they enjoy better than each other's. □ Newbury had a bumper at-tendance for the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup and it was good to see many young race-goers there.Too often race-course crowds look like a reunion of the local Darby and Joan club. ST o used for middle-aged or elderly people; attrib use theDarby and Joa n club. a dark horse [Comp (NP)] somebody who is 130 <131> (not) darken sb's door(s) (again)— day etc in (and) day etc out secretive, or unusually reserved, about his feel-ings, activities, plans, skills or abilities V:△be:find, think, sb o JERRY: Did Jim ever tell you about my old man's money, Mrs Mount? JEAN:Idon't know--I suppose so. JERRY : He's a dark horse is old Jim. I bet he never told you nothing.YAA o ' Well, Mr Highmore, you are a dark horse, ' said Mrs Paxon who had joined them,I' ve not heard an amateur (actor) like that for a long time.'WDM□MRSELLIOT: It seemed a funny thing to say, and especially after all these years.Of course, she always was a dark horse. EGDoWhatever the outcome of the election, MrMichael Foot —— the dark horse — emerges more and more as a figure of moderation and sound sense. NS o occas pl a couple of dark horses. (not) darken sb's door(s) (again) (not)enter a building, sb's home etc,(the implication being that the person has become either a reluc-tant or an unwelcome visitor);(not/ no longer)want or be allowed membership of or associa-tion with a society, group, business concern, etc□ If anybody had spoken to me like that when Iwas a guest in their house, it would be a long time before I would darken their door again. □ ' Go!Now!’ shouted his indignant, but slightly in-ebriated father, adding, with a touch of melo-drama, ' And never darken my doors again!'oDylan Thomas wrote to Pamela Hansford John-son: You' ll be interested to know the BBC has banned my poetry. After my poem in the ' Lis-tener' , the editor received a host of letters com-plaining of the disgusting obscenity of two of the verses. I shall never darken Sir John Reith's door again. L darkest Africa the most remote, inaccessible parts of Africa (from the fact that the regions referred to were the last areas of the continent to be explored by Europeans; also linked with19th c missionary zeal to bring the light ofChristianity to those that‘walk in darkness’)口Like the earth of a hundred years ago, our mind still has its darkest Africas, its unmapped Bor-neos and Amazonian basins. HAHo I'm not going to have you beetling around on your own. Next thing I know you'd be heading for Burma or dar-kest Africa. TCB o I do most of my listening (to radio) on Fridays when I go to my country cot-tage at Chiddingfold in darkest Surrey. RT oAfrica seems to cast a spell over many of theEuropeans who go there to work. A remarkable number of them are irresistibly drawn back by the magic of the dark continent. □ frequently adapted as shown in examples; variant the dark continent. the darkest hour is that/ comes before the dawn(saying) it is often when things seem to be at their worst that they improve o Don 't give up. Try to believe that the darkest hour is that before the dawn. Tomorrow, or the next day, something may happen that will make you feel life is worth living after all. □ Your share certificates aren't worth the paper they' re print-ed on at present—— but hang on to them. Even in the stock market the oddest things can happen that prove the darkest hour comes before the dawn. □ That was my darkest hour, but the rescuers turned up and everything was suddenly much brighter. I may be said to console or cheer oneself or another in difficulty, despair, danger etc; variant one's darkest hour. dash/ shatter sb's hopes[V + O pass] cause sb to abandon altogether, or to lose confidence in, his hope(s) of doing or getting sth □ All hopes that the European proletariat would rise.and come to the rescue of Russia, utterly ruined by years of war, civil war, and intervention, were dashed . ST□ Shares soared and the nation joy-fully awaited the glad news that the Chancellor would announce to the House of Commons on his return from the International Monetary Con-ference. But hope was soon dashed by a torrent of cold water from official quarters. Lo Well,I'm sorry to shatter your hopes, but I don't believe your furniture will fetch anything like the price you mention. Davy Jones'(s) locker the sea as a grave(from Davy Jones, a personification of some-thing like an evil spirit or devil of the sea who delights in drowned men, foundered ships etc)o Ah, well, well, I believe when the Excisemen blew up the ' Cabinet Minister' and put all that good whisky in Davy Jones's locker, DavyJones himself was warning you to keep off the grass. RM□He was a fine seaman, poor fellow,but ended up in Davy Jones' locker. dawn/ day breaks the first morning light comes; (fig) a period of time begins that brings or promises to bring change, a new outlook——often, but not necessarily, for the better oDawn was breaking when we came in sight of the walls of Pekin. BM□Suddenly, everyone is a lot more optimistic about the economy, but theChancellor's new dawn won't break overnight.OBSoI suppose we must accept this not unwel-come period of passivity (on the part of insur-gents), and hope that we will not really be strung from the lamp-posts when the great day dawns. NS o n compound daybreak; variants if that day should ever dawn, when the great day dawns, begin to see the break of day, break of day.the dawn chorus burst of bird-song at dawn,particularly prolonged and audible in spring and early summer o I crawled into the tent at3a. m. promising myself four hours sleep at least.but I'd forgotten about the dawn chorus, and didn't drop off till 4.30. □ Angus McDermid's picture of radio in Africa, beginning with the pleasing comparison of stations coming on the air in the morning with the starting-up of the dawn chorus, was illustrated with extracts from a play. L a day dream used of letting one's imagination wander pleasantly, esp about things one would like to do or have happen to one□I sat thinking of New York, wondering whether I'd like it as a place to work in, one of those damned, stifling,dreadful summers, but those were day dreams all right. PPo Muriel would say that if he was capable of mixing her up with her twin sister he could hardly be as much in love with her as he pretended to be. Then he fell back upon a day dream. Dick had arrived and made an immediate impression on Elsie. RMo I would have spent an hour day-dreaming an imagined place, to no particular end. Lo also used as va s in last exam-ple. day etc in(and) day etc out [A(NP)] every day; continuously or repeatedly over a long 131 <132> the day/ times is not (so) far off/ distant when----the days of sb/ sth are numbered period of time n: day, △ week month, year oThe same thing happened to Sartre when he ar-rived in America after the war. He had been wearing the same old suit, day in day out, for five years, and he was swept straight off to the tailor's. OBS o And ever since I grew up I' ve weighed ten and half to eleven stone year in year out.□ You get more variety in your work, Betty.You' re not slaving week in week out in a hot kitchen, like me.□ Life on the tennis roundabout has its drawbacks. ‘You see the same faces day in, day out.’ TVT o front, middle or end position; stress pattern day , in day out. the day/ time is not (so) far off/ distant when it will soon be the time when (sth hap-pens, is said, etc)o My aunt is still just able to care for herself, but the day is not far off when she' ll need to employ a daily help or go into a nursing-home.□The day may not be far distant when the small-scale techniques can be used in large-scale mapping. NSC□The time isn't so far off as you think when minute computers will take over most jobs. D often used to introduce predictions about the near future; variant the day/ time is approaching when. a day etc or two a short period etc of days etc n: day, minute, week; inch; glass; word o As a matter of fact, if you stop eating altogether for a day or two and drink only plain water, you will be surprised — after the hunger pangs of the first twelve hours are over— at how well you feel. TO□For a moment or two after a wave had passed he could see right into it, but the waves were nothing but water—— there was no weed in them, no speck of solid, nothing drifting. PMo/think your skirt should be a contimetre or two longer. □ He may take a glass or two of wine with his evening meal, but otherwise he doesn't drink. O stress pattern a day or two. day and night [A (n + n rev)] continuously throughout all 24 hours of each day; continu-ally, most of the time, whether it be day or night. V: work, study, slave; guard, watch over,sb/ sth o There was a ten feet high electrified double wire fence all round, and dogs and guards patrolling between the fences day and night. DS□ For one like Stanfield a thousand typists toil day and night. Not for one minute would he let an important document exist in one copy. UTNoHe had worked night and day for it; few scient-ists had been more de voted and whole-hearted in their science. NMoJiMMY: Nearly four years of being in the same room with you, night and day.and I still can't stop my sweat breaking out whenI see you doing something as ordinary as leaning over an ironing board. LBA □ front, middle or end position. the day of days a very special day because sth important or pleasant takes place then; a noteworthy day, in general or to sb in par-ticular;a red letter day(qv)□GEORGE: Now let the wine flow on this day of days. Bring out the golden goblets. EGDo In all parts of the country open-air entertainments had been planned to celebrate the Coronation, and when the day of days dawned cold and wet, many hasty revisions had to be made. the day of sb/ sth is over/ finished sb/ sth has outlived/ outlasted his/ its usefulness and importance, or has already been rejected or 132 superseded; have had one's day/ time (qv) □ Ican't say that I liked the new machine with its thick wings and its enormous Sabre engine, but the day of the Spitfire was practically over inEurope. RFW□ He needn't think he's going to be first just because he's the son of a peer. It's time he realized that the days of his sort are over. oIt should not be assumed from this that the day of the family trust is over. In particular it will still be possible to arrange trusts to keep capital out of the hands of the irresponsible young. Go also pl the days of sb/ sth are over/ finished. △the days of sb/ sth ă re numbered. the day of reckoning the day or time when debts, or(fig) misdeeds, shortcomings will have to be paid for;a testing time when the degree of one's success or failure will be exposed o As late as the end of July they (the Chinese, 1900)allowed food to reach the garrison. They wanted to exterminate the ' foreign devils' and foreign influence, including if possible the Pekin Lega-tions, but at the same time they wanted to leave themselves room to manoeuvre on the inevitable day of reckoning. BMo Whatever his majority,Mr Heath has Mr Wilson's unqualified as-surance that the‘day of reckoning’ has merely been postponed. Lo ' All that drinking, and the late nights he keeps, don't seem to have affected his health, anyway.'' Not so far, but there' ll be a day of reckoning yet.’ a/ one's day etc off a/ one's regular and recur-ring time off duty n: day(s),△week; morning,night; period a' How nice of you all to come,' she told the nurses, ' especially on your day off.'DM□ You thought you were being a comfort to him,and all the while he was deceiving you with hisItalian servant, lying in her arms (I don't know where) on her days off. PWoI' ve a good mind to take a day off and go down to Brighton with you.The office could get on without me, for once.◇△ have/ be one of one's good etc days. daylight robbery [Comp (NP)] flagrant overcharging for goods or services V: △ be;find sth o Even allowing for wages and other overheads it's daylight robbery to charge 60pence for a cup of tea. a Father is quite out of touch with prices nowadays. If ev er he does a few errands for me he always comes back muttering about daylight robbery. □ often an expression of opinion rather than a fact. the days of sb/ sth are numbered sb/ sth will live, last, only a short time longer; the death or end of sb/ sth is inevitable and will come sooner or later o Lord let me know mine end, and the number of my days that I may be certified how long I have to live. BOOK OF COMMONPRAYER: PSALMS XXXIX 5a Tommy feels that his deys are numbered and that a grandchild, once a possibility, is fast becoming a daydream. TVToThe Conservative Party has been much more suc-cessful than Labour in attracting middle-class support but now there are signs—— that the days of an automatic borrus to the Conservative Party may be numbered. NS□ Like harem slaves they(cars) are bought for their bodily beauty and changed before it begins to fade. Some, it is true,survive tattily to become dowdy wives rather than flashy mistresses, but even their days are num-bered for all cars now it seems are born with the fatal disease of obsolescence. SC ◇ ▲ the day of <133> a day-to-day arrangement etc----dead easy/ simple sb/ sth is over/ finished. a day-to-day arrangement etc an arrange-ment etc that is valid, renewable, only on or for each day as it comes n: arrangement, △allow-ance, commitment; basis, footing o Myrtle was continuing our relationship on a day-to-day basis. SPLo Your accounts are in confusion but you don't care. Organising the future is a day to day affair for you. WI O a day-to-day basis/footing usu follows prep on. day-to-day life etc a daily routine or con-tinuous pattern n: life; work, duties; expen-diture, administration o The local quality of the day-to-day life of a working-class man is still illustrated by the way he will still(1950s) trudge half-way across town with a hundcart or old pram, transporting a sixth-hand kitchen table he has picked up cheap from someone who knew someone. UL□ The railways are starved of first-class technical men, and the small and enthusias-tic band who keep the wheels turning are so engrossed in day-to-day duties that there is little opportunity to think out what the long-term solution may be. NSCa He said that an indepen-dent corporation for the medical profession on the lines of the BBC and the Arts Council would be one without the need for a Minister to be answerable to Parliament for the day-to-day conduct of a service. DM dead and alive [adj + adj non-rev] lacking animation; lacking interest in oneself, others,or one's surroundings; boring; without a lively atmosphere of active interested engagement S:performer, speaker,lecturer; reception,occasion, affair o In the play he is the complete petit-bourgeois, dead-and-alive from the mo-ment he was old enough to think, killed by the formalism handed down through the ages. LoThese civic receptions are pretty dead-and-alive affairs as a rule. You won't miss much by not going. □ ' Sue. ' the director protested. you can't come on to the stage and say“Folks, I have wonderful news for you'' in that dead-and-alive tone of voice. You' re supposed to be bursting with excitement. ’ o often hyphenated esp in attrib use that dead-and-alive tone of voice. ◇ Δmore dead than alive. dead beat [Comp (AdjP)] exhausted, esp tem-porarily after too much work or other demands on one's physical or mental energy V: △ be;feel, look o You look dead beat, and no wonder.There was no need to dig the whole potato patch in one go. a The present specimen, dead beat,robbed of his loose cash in the pursuit of disgust-ing pleasures, loitered with an empty stomach in a ghostly dawn. HDo In Sandford's play, Edna is a tramp and a drunk, the dramatist's message is that something should be done for deadbents like Edna. on compound a deadbeat = ‘sb who does not have, or has lost, the will to work, to contribute anything to the society of which he or she is a member`; stress patterns (adj) , dead beat,(n) a deadbeat. dead and buried/ gone [adj + adj non-rev]long dead, separated from the living;(fig) for-gotten or otherwise relegated to the past S:wife, father, friend; love, quarrel, hope, mem-ory o Ten years ago I was gamekeeper to the old squire---Squire Lawson-Hope and his dear wifeLetty. She's been dead and gone this many a year. RTaJO: You' re forty years old. I hope to be dead and buried before I reach that age. TOHoConsciously, he is able to experience a past which is, in actuality, dead and gone. MFF□ Whether the Scottish Nationalist Party really have a case or not, it should be argued in terms of present issues and not in terms of old grievances better dead and buried.□SAM:I am dead and buried and live only in the imagination of a neurotic young man; you are fickle, and you' ll forget all about this, then I' ll be really dead. HSG a dead cert/ certainty [Comp (NP)] (racing)a horse, dog, that will certainly win; sth that will certainly happen; sb/ sth that is sure to do what is expected or forecast V:△be, seem; regard sth as o ' Do you ever put any money on a horse yourself?' I'm not such a mug. Unless of course it's a deed cert.'AITCo I hoped that the governor and all the rest of his pop-eyed gang were busy placing big bets on me, and the more they placed the happier I'd be. Because here was a dead cert going to die on the big name they'd built for him.LLDR□ What had seemed in the opening stages to be a dead certainty (i. e. a girl) had luredPatrick, earlier in the year, to a rugger club dance. As it turned out, the dead certainty was just a naughty little tease after all. TGLYo ' Do you think your brother would lend me his car for the weekend?' 'I'd say it's a dead certainty that he won't, but ask him if you like.'o also pl. dead certain/ sure (of/ about sth) [Comp(AdjP)] completely, absolutely sure (about sth)V:△be, seem, regard sth as a I'm deed certain he has a lot of money stashed away that he never lets on about. o We locked all the doors when we left. I'm dead sure of that. □I'm not saying that if you put on a clean shirt and brush your hair you' ll get the job, but it's a dead-sure thing you won't if you go for an interview looking the way you do now.□attrib use a dead-sure thing; adj compounds dead-certain/ sure; stress patterns a dead-sure ' thing, dead-' certain/-' sure. dead drunk [Comp (AdjP)] so drunk that one is incapable physically and/ or mentally V: △be, get (sb) D It was the night I went and got dead drunk because the world didn't have any bottom any more, TST□ There was a bloke lying on the road dead drumk, so we pulled him over on to the verge and left him propped up against the hedge. a dead duck [Comp (NP)] sth which is either abandoned, or doomed to fail $: plan, project,scheme, undertaking; idea. V:△be, become□A statement of future plans issued recently by theIBA significantly predicts no change in the present structure of commercial television. For the next few years at least, the fourth channel is s dead duck. NS□ After the evictions and the demolition all we have is a stretch of ugly waste ground as a memorial to another of the Council's dead ducks. ◇ △a lame duck. the dead and the dying[n+ nnon-rev] newly dead and dying persons as in the aftermath of battle, natural disasters, large-scale epidemics o Being over seventy is like being engaged in a war, All our friends are going or gone and we'survive amongst the deed and the dying as on a battlefield. MM dead easy/ simple [Comp (AdjP)] extremely easy to understand and do V:△be, look; make 133 <134> a dead end—(in the/ at) dead of (the) night sth o It'd ' ave (= It would have) been dead●essy to burgle the Scarfedales' house, except that there worn't (= wasn't) anything much worth pinching. LLDR o ' It's dead easy,' the' bishop' assured him;' they' ll all be ready and waiting for you at the church, and the bus drops you a few yards away.'BMo' The strategy's deed simple,' he said, setting his mug down after a long swig. CONa He won't even tackle a dead simple job like changing the battery though you couldn't fit the leads into the wrong connections if you tried. □ attrib use,a deed simple job, not common. a dead end [O/o(NP)] a path, road, which has no exit in the direction in which one is travel-ling;(fig) that stage in one's work, art, research,enquines etc where one can make no further progress;a blind alley (qv)V: reach, come to □They still talked of Alexander Goodrich, not with the reverence of old days, for they too felt as the reviewers did(and some of them were reviewers)that Alec's art had reached a dead end. PWoIshall pass over the details of my quest shortly,because it ended in a complete dead-end. RFWoHis school hadn't worried about what work he would ever do, and now he was in what he called a dead-end job. L o attrib use a dead-end job;sometimes hyphenated even when not used attrib. dead from the neck up [Comp (AdjP)]stupid, or uninterested in any kind of mental,artistic, political etc activity 8: boy, pupil,blonde, boxer, chorus-girl; boss. V:△be; find,think, sb□ And there they were, two old ladies,dead from the neck up. TT o Goodness,Patrick's cousin is hard work! He's very correct,very courteous—— and dead from the rock up.□(NONCE) But even so, by Christ, I'd rather be like I am—— always on the run and breaking into shops for a packet of fags and a jar of jam——than have the whip-hand over somebody else and be dead from the to●-mais up. LLDR the dead hand of the past etc the influence of any firmly established tradition, code of con-duct or procedure, which prevents or hinders reform, improvement, enlightened action n: the past, bureaucracy, legal precedent, dogma,authority, the Church a England has progressed in many ways towards egalitarianism. None the less, to an outsider like myself, it would appear that in some respects you are still under the power of the dead hand of the past. EM oThere's nothing in the White Paper (on devolution) which will bring jobs to Scotland,eradicate poverty in Scotland. The dead hand of the Treasury remains on our country. G oLord James hopes that, freed from the dead hand of university curricular control, they(Colleges of Education) will be transformed from geese into swans. NS□ No action, however urgent, can be taken without being duly' authorized', The dead hand of bureducracy exerts its paralysing influence everywhere. a dead heat an instance of two or more per-sons, horses, cars etc finishing a race so close together that it is impossible to say that one has beaten the other; an instance of sb/ sth being indistinguishable from another, in merit, rate of work, time of occurrence, etc o They can't both get the Chair(= Professorship) of course, 134 but it looks like a dead heat between Ross andClarke at the moment.□ In the new Riksdag(=Swedish Parliament) the Social Democrats have retained power only in a dead heat——175 seats to the Social Democrats and the 19 Communists who support them, and 175 to the three ' bour-geois' opposition parties. OBS□Come along with us, Joe. Let's have three deed-heating for last place. CON□-ing form in last example unusual.a dead letter' a letter, package etc undeliver-able by the Post Office because it is incorrectly addressed or because the addressee cannot be found a The label may have come off that parcel you' re expecting. You should enquire at theDead Letter Office—— or rather the ' ReturnedLetter’ Office, as it's called nowadays.口 also pl.a dead letter² a law, agreement etc no longer in force or that has been allowed to lapse oSome of the obligations imposed on employees would be unworkable or unenforceable or would quickly become dead letters. T o After discussions the councillors agreed that the‘10-day rule' would be reviewed each time it was to be enforced. In fact, the rule has become a dead letter. OBS a dead ioss [Comp (NP)] (informal) sb/ sth from whom no profit, advantage, use, or interest can be got V:△be; think, find,sb□ I'm an individualist, which is a dead loss these days when everyone gets pushed steadily up theN. H. S.(= National Health Service) ladder, un-less you fall off with a coronary on the way. DIL□ This job on the drill was madeed lowis, and he was going to black Frank's eye for him some day, but he would stick to it until he found something better. AITC□Madge didn't tear(a manuscript)up for that, but out of pique, because I broke a lunch date with her to meet a woman novelist.The latter was a dead loss, but I came back to find ' Mr Oppenheim' in pieces. UTNo Larry, who lives in the attic, must be the world's champion cadger and is a dead loss about the house. TVT□ occas pl a couple of dead losess. dead men(informal) empty bottles, esp beer or spirits bottles whose contents have been(recently) drunk o Here, take this carton and go round collecting the dead men, will you? Then we' ll see exactly what we' ve got left. □ I was longing for a pint of beer, but could find nothing in the larder but dead men. o ' There's still a bottle behind the typewriter.' ' That's a dead man too.'o usu pl. dead men tell no tales (saying) men who have been killed do not give away incriminating evidence. □' You won't get away with this, you know.'' Why not? Dead men tell no tales.'o may be used as a threat to kill, or be given as a reason for killing. (in the/ at) dead of (the) night [A(PrepP)](in the) middle hours of the night when it is darkest and most quiet o One thing I can't stand in the dead of the night is a cat miauling. DCoCoca-Cola, though it can taste like nectar on the appropriate occasion, is some way short of the ideal winter drink for dead of night in the Alps.SCo The joints and timbers of the old house kept up an uneasy sighing and creaking which, easily enough ignored in the daytime, took on an eerie significance at dead of night. I usu occurs as prep p. <135> dead on time [Comp/A (AdjP)] at exactly the expected or appointed time S: he; train;procession; customer, comet. V: be; arrive, pass by, walk in, appear, occur□ The towing aircraft appeared dead on time, and far behind it a small winged object streaked across the sky. RFW oAlways when she arrived so dead on time it seemed like a coincidence. But it wasn't; so what could have kept her now? pw o The Safety First slogan competition was won by a fourteen-year-old schoolboy, with his punning entry ' Better five minutes late than dead on time.'a We want to make a good impression on your parents, so we'd better take care to be on time when we go for lunch on Sunday.□ ' Dead on three o' clock!' he exulted. ' Just when I told you I'd get here!'o variants (be) on time and dead on two o' clock etc.dead or alive [adj + adj rev] whether dead(possibly killed) or alive o Citizens are no longer encouraged to become casual agents of the law by posters announcing rewards for the capture of' So-and-so, Dead or Alive.'o(reader's letter) Ihave one criticism of the series. which concerns the irritating non-character, Peter Grant. The search for him detracted from some of the episodes in the middle of the run. I hope Peter will be found--dead or alive-in the first of the new series. RTo No one knows where Harry is,nor if he is alive or dead. TVT o usu in order of headphrase, but note the last example; often preceded by I want him. He's wanted, Bring him back. dead pan [Comp/A (NP)] an expressionless face; an expressionless way of saying or doing sth; an attitude which is deliberately assumed in order that others may be uncertain whether one is joking, means what one says, etc V: be, ap-pear; speak, behave□ He may have been pulling my leg, of course. With that dead pan of his, you never know how to take what he's saying.□' Just to tide me over till I can get a decent, steady job.said Robert, all dead-pan. CONo Perhaps it was inevitable that the surviving papers should have reported the news dead-pm. NS□ When Rose-mary tells stories in that dead-pan way of hers.it's difficult to know if they' re supposed to be funny or not.口 attrib use, that dead-pan way of hers, usu hyphenated; occas hyphenated when used as Comp or A. dead silence complete, unbroken silence oThere was almost dead silence for the next quarter of an hour. as the star fields on the edge of the cloud were carefully compared by the assembled astronomers. TBC□' Listen, Hugo, it'sJake Donaghue here. I want to see you as soon as possible about something very important.There was deed silence. UTN o He heard me through in dead silence, giving no sign of approval or disapproval until I had finished.□The darkness and dead silence of the cave began to oppress him. o usu with there is/ was or prep in;variant be/ keep dead silent. dead still [Comp (AdjP)] not changing one's position, stance, perhaps even one's facial ex-pressions, at all; absolutely still V:△be; stand;keep, stay, remain o I stood dead still on the floor of the store room. There was a silence into which it seemed to me I had just let loose a vast quantity of sound. UTNo` Try to keep your whole arm dead still,' the doctor said.'I won't hurt you dead on time—— the dead wood too much.'o It's not much use trying to fly a kite on a dead still day like this. □ On the deed still surface of the lake the further bank was reflected as if in a mirror. □ adj compound dead still, n compound dead stillness(of the night, the forest etc); attrib use a dead still day. dead to sth [Comp (AdjP)] (formal) imper-vious to and unaffected by sth V:△be, become.o: shame, pleasure, feeling o Are you dead to shame, that you could behave so disgracefully in front of everyone?□I do not know of any spur to increasing my capacity for response(other) than the realisation that I am dead to something in which better-equipped people find delight. LO△deaf to sth. dead to the wide [Comp (AdjP)] physically exhausted or actually deep in sleep; either just managing to keep going or having given up the effort altogether V:△be, appear; find sb □ Day in and day out she'd worked her fingers to the bone at that fag-packing machine, coming home at night dead to the wide yet cooking his dinners and mending his britches ( = breeches, type of trousers). LLDKo' Where's Jimmy, then?' ' Dead to the wide on the divan in the back room. That last whisky was too much for him.' o possibly variant of dead to the world (the wide world being a familiar collocation). ◇△ next entry.dead to the world [Comp (AdjP)] deeply as-leep, unconscious as a result of physical exhaus-tion, sedation etc V: △ be, appear; find sb □Jane's dead to the world at the moment. She's been travelling for 48 hours with no chance to rest. □ He's under heavy sedation. He' ll be dead to the world for the next 24 hours or so. o has similar meaning to dead to the wide but tends to denote greater degree of withdrawal and is not confined to physical exhaustion.entry. a dead weight [Comp (NP)] a heavy burden;sb/ sth difficult to move, carry or manipulate because bulky and inert V: △ be; find sth oPerfecto does not fight, but, giving a curious musical groan, drops, a dead weight, to the pavement, where he hangs from the policeman's grip. BM □ A curling-stone moves smoothly enough over the ice but it's a dead weight to carry.□Gaitskell found the dead weight of con-ventionalism at Winchester very oppressive. ToJohn may be a good teacher but he's a dead weight socially. the dead wood sb/ sth out-of-date, or not relevant or useful, esp in a government, ad-ministration, educational system, etc(from horticulture) V: cut out, get rid of, leave; con-tain. det: the; much, a lot of o Opportunity was taken to get rid of a great deal of inefficient material in the lower ranks, but in the higher ranks much dead wood was left untouched.MFM。Clichés apart, it was sad to see how much deed wood, how much muckage, we left in, but we thought at the time we were doing a good job of streamlining on the English language. Lo Har-vey would like to see more practising jumpers both on the British Showjumping Association:Council and on the board of selectors. ' There'v too much dead wood: people who scarcely ever go to a show so don't have a clue what's going on and who's in form.' RT o Nor was it merely u matter of reshaping, refinancing, revitalising. 135 <136> (the) deaf and dumb— death/ old age comes to us all The dead wood of obsolete and erroneous ideas had to be uprooted. SD o often used with v cut out. △ cut out(the) dead wood(Vol 1). (the) deaf and dumb[n + n non-rev] (these)unable to hear and (hence) to speak, as a con-genital defect o He knew the system of signs, the' finger alphabel', whereby the deaf and dumb communicate,o' Perhaps he's deaf and dumb',said the woman with the pinafore.' Can't you say unything?' called the man on the fire escape. UTN□ also[adj + adj non-rev] as in second example.deaf to sth unable to hear accurately or per-ceptively from want of skill or training;(fig)determined not to listen to or be affected by sthV: be, become, o: niceties of tone, indications;appeal, instructions, reason □ Large lorries covered with Arabs tore along in the middle of the track and were deaf to all intimations of the horn. TCBo The poor woman pleaded with the manager not to press charges against her son but,deaf to her entreaties, he put the whole affair in the hands of the police. a There is often a switch to politics of violence when authorities are deaf to the politics of argument.◇ dead to sth, blind to sth. deal sb/ sth a blow [V + 10 + O pass] strike sb/ sth a blow;(fig) cause a severe disappoint-ment, setback, reversal of fortune, etc□ He was just heginning to take heart again after the death of his wife when fate dealt him another blow.His younger son was drowned in a yachting acc-ident.□ There's no doubt that the Hire Purchase system dealt a blow to the second-hand fur-niture trade— except in the case of genuine antiques which could always find a market.□' Did you hear that Helen's husband has lost his job?"Oh, poor things. They' ve had enough trouble lately without being dealt a blow like that.’ aWhen I went to Hollywood, TV had dealt the heavy blow and it was like living in a factory town. RTo The arrival of Michel from France looks like dealing a severe blow to Anglo-French relations. TVT o also pl deal sb/ sth severul heary blows. (the) dear (only) knows (saying) nobody knows: I don't know; there's no means of knowing o Dear knows when I' ll get home tonight so don't wait up for me. o The research costs of a safe cigarette ure estimated at £50million and dear knows what the final figure may be, o' How are you going to get all that luggage into the van?'' Dear only knows. We' ll try anyway.'a I was going to meet all that gang again and what we were all going to say to each other, the dear only knows. CO N o often followed by what-, when-, how - etc clauses;possibly contraction of the dear Lord or a cor-ruption from the French or Italian (Dieu, Dio).dear me/ oh dear a mild exclamation of anxi-ety, sympathy, consternation etc o Dear me!Just look at the time! I had no idea it was so late.□ Her eyes reddened and the damp streaks of tears lay on her cheeks. ' Oh dear!' she said. 'I'm sorry to be like this.'DCa Shaw got through to him(on the telephone) and said: ' Hallo old man.I hear you' re dying. ' A bewildered and startledLe Mesurier replied: ' Oh dear. Am I?' NS o /know you don't have a big salam, but dear me,Alice. there are plenty of people with much less who manage to make both ends meet. □ often 136 interchangeable, but oh dear more likely in cases of sudden and/ or genuine alarm or distress;dear me accompanies remonstrance, objection,claim; stress patterns dear ' me, oh ' dear. dear to sb's heart dear to sb; much loved or liked by sb; close/ near to sb's heart (qv)o The concept of individual freedom is dear to Tory hearts. NSo No place on earth, however beauti-ful, could be dearer to my heart than these few acres of wood and stream. o Her hair had been tinted with one of those blue rinses so deer, at that time, to the heart of the older American matron,a This satirical skeIch material is dear to the German soul but out of place here. NS o sometimes said lightly or sarcastically, as in last example; variant dear to the soul of sb. one's death agony/ threes the last moments before a person or animal dies, whether in con-scious pain or not;(fig) the final stage in the break-up of an empire, institution, industry etc□(mock headline) Loch Ness Monster Hit By aFlying Saucer? Groan Heard By DrumstikitMan May have Been Death Agony. RM o The break-up of(the Cloud`s) neurological activity is bound to lead to the most terrifying outbursts— what we might call death throes. TBC o Ten miles short of our destination, after we death agony of rattles, shudders and minor explosions.the engine finally gave out.□ Even in the threes of death, his chief concern was that no one should be too much troubled on his account. o variants a death agony, the death throes, the throes of death; often used with in. (on) one's death bed (on the) bed or other place where one is dying;(at or about) the time,place where sb/ sth dies or ends o Bernard's al-ways spoiling for a fight. He' ll rise from his death-bed if there's an injustice to attack. HAA□ All Prissie had was a letter written by her old nurse on her deathbed, confessing to a mix-up of bahies. DC□ By the end of the Wars of theRoses. English feudalism was already on its death-bed. o Some of these verses are new to print, not least the ' Epitaphs', said by FlorenceHardy to have been dictated on the author's deathbed. NS□A death-bed repentance is all very well but what good will it do for his victims?□ attrib use a death-bed conversion; written as one word, or two, or hyphenated esp if used attrib. a death blow[0(NP)]a blow, or other injury that kills;(fig) sth that destroys, puts an end to,sth V: deal, give, deliver, inflict o The police surgeon stated that the victim had been struck several times about the head and shoulders. The death blow had been the one which was inflicted just above the right temple.□ Pop stared blankly u t Charley giving the death blow to a pink and purple ball that went up with a crack like aRoman Candle. BFAo The Company might have weathered the slump if that had been all. But the withdrawal of a government subsidy was a death blow. death/ old age comes to us all (saying) a remark often passed on the subject of (sb’ s)death, old age emphasizing that everyone will ultimately die/ experience the problems of old age o HELEN: No, he's dead. JO: Why? HELEN:Why? Well, I mean, death's something that commist o use all. TOH □ She gets impatient with <137> death or glory— delusions of grandeur/ power the old chap being so slow and confused. She ought to remember that old age comes to us all.□/ little thought when I was speaking to Tom lastThursday that I'd be at his funeral today. But there you are, it comes to us all. D variant it comes to us all, an example of popular senten-tious language— it = ‘death’. death or glory[n+ n non-rev] death/ utter fail-ure or glorious victory/ success are the only out-comes to a hazardous enterprise(from the regi-mental badge of the 17th/21st Lancers (a regi-ment of the British Army), showing a Deaths-head and the words‘Or Glory’) o While on military service, I was chiefly concerned with keeping my head down. I was never one of your death or glory boys. oJack treats all his business deals as death or glory contests— he doesn't know how to compromise. a death rattle[Comp/0(NP)] a ratting sound sometimes occurring in the throat of a person very near to death V: be, sound like; hear o 'I'd just like my little biography finished before theBaron dies, that's all. ' ' I didn't hear any death rattle this afternoon,'I said. PP (sign sb's) death warrant (complete by signing) an official document authorizing either the execution of a legal sentence of death or a procedure that hastens and ensures the death/ end of sb/ sth;(fig) finally thwart sb/ sth o... the Welfare moves in the blood is bled away'and that ' the gift of the council house is the death-warrant of the Gypsy people.' L o By revealing his knowledge of their plans the foolish fellow was signing his own death warrant. oThe Minister of Transport is shaping the future of soccer. And, without meaning to, signing the death warrant of many little clubs. TVT o also pl (sign their) death warrants. a decent/ good sort [Comp (NP)](informal)a likeable person who behaves fairly, kindly, is good company, etc S: he, she; cousin, neigh-bour, boss. V: △ be; find、 think, sb o If the hushand were a decent sort and let his wife have an extra shilling or two, then she could be relieved of a deal of fine calculation. ULo But she still smiled, wasn't touchy like some. She was agood sort—— would likely make somebody a good wife one day. TTo also pl; expression a decent/ good chap used without implication that decent is opposite to indecent or not correct, whereas to describe sb as a decent man, woman, girl etc would imply that they were respectable persons unlikely to conduct themselves improperly. declarean/ one' sinterest[V+ Opass] make known to others any facts which (whether they do so or not) might influence one's opinions,decisions or actions in a particular set of cir-cumstances o Films in the ' can'(= ready to be shown) have had to be held over until next spring.Here I must declare an interest, for my own film on Vietnam, made this summer, is one of those that will have to wait till March at the earliest. NSo Asked about the Suez action of1956, Sir Frank said: Here I must declare my intergst. My wife is an Egyptian of Lebanese origin, and I am therefore prejudiced. Lo LordRedcliffe-Maud's committee is already looking at the desirability of tightening up on public declarations of interest by councillors: this is obviously most important where planning and building contracts are concerned . OBS o variant a declaration of interest. decline and fall[n+ n non-rev] the process or sequence of events leading to a final and com-plete loss of power, prestige, popularity etc(cf esp the title of Edward Gibbon's famous his-tory (18th c) ‘Decline and Fall of the RomanEmpire') o A myth was growing up about theNile in the early 18th century. This was a new kind of decline and fall, where the sophisticated past was overwhelmed by the primitive present,and the great river, flowing out of nowhere, car-ried one back and back towards the mysterious origin of things. BNo The Pop world is a milieu where reputations decline and fell with more than usual rapidity.□ There have been few sadder tales in the last decade than the decline and fall of the British Post Office. NSo also [v + v non-rev), as in second example. one's declining years[o (NP)] one's old age,when physical and mental powers are becoming weaker V: be in; save for, put sth aside for o(from a letter) There has been bitterness between your parents and yourself, I know. But the time is come, surely in their declining years, for you to make what amends you can. MM □ He does a pretty hard day's work for a man that's supposed to be in his declining years. □ Our pensioners deserve a better deal than they get; it is not al-ways possible for a working-man with a large family to put something aside for his declining years. □ esp following prep in. deep in thought etc[Comp (AdjP)] tem-porarily wholly engaged in thinking, either because one is in a pensive mood, or because one is thinking carefully about sth, considering a problem, etc V: △ be, appear; sit, stand. n:thought; discussion, argument; a book, his homework o Some students scribbled away furiously, others sat deep in thought, and others glanced in all directions as if seeking inspiration from any source. □‘He’ s far away, ’ she said,indicating her uncle who, oblivious of the chatter around him, was deep in a book. defeat one's/ its (own) purpose atc [V+O] interfere with, spoil, or undo an intended effect or purpose O: purpose, △end(s), aim □In fact the middle course is so uncommitted and colourless that by following it he risks losing his audience and defeating his purpose. L o Those who are out to line their own pockets can do little harm—— mere greed defeats its own ends. TCB□' Tell John you can't go, and then you can make that long-promised visit to Kate and Andrew.'' That doesn't sound a bad idea but it would defeat my aim, which is to have a long quiet weekend clearing up arrears of work.' deliver the goods[V+ O](informal) do what is expected of one, make good one's promise,achieve desired results o I should commend es-pecially Mr Hyde's consideration of Stalin as a commander. There's little doubt that in this sphere Stalin emphatically delivered the goods.NSo'I don't see the difficulty.' said Berill. ' You' ve been doing splendidly, why, you' ve been delivering the goods.'NM □ Th e film business does not need creative geniuses. We need people who can deliver the goods. That's what I'm doing now. ST delusions of grandeur/ power [O (NP)] 137 <138> (not) demean oneself— the devil one knows is better... exaggerated, false or insane assumptions that one is far more highly placed, powerful, in-fluential, than is in fact true V:△have, develop,suffer from o I think he has developed delusions of grandeur after playing police of-ficers for so long---he needs a change of role. RTo(reader's letter) What splendid arrogance.What superb independence. And yet it was also a symptam of a complaint common to PressLords — delusions of power. ST o These delusions of gramdeur can be dangerous; com-mentators, in a word, are expendable; if one's face is not staring from the(TV) screen, it might just as well he another, L (not) demaan oneself (not) lower oneself,esp in one's own esteem, by behaviour that falls short of one's usual standards or by doing something (eg a menial task) that is beneath one's dignity □ T' ll help with the washing-up first.'' No, don't do that. I wouldn't like you to dermean yourself. PEo Listen at key-holes? Iwouldn't demew myself to do such a thing!'oHe's the sort that wouldn't darneen himself to sit down and have a cup of tea with the workers in the canteen. o neg, interr and conditional;sometimes said sarcastically to, or about, sb whose standards are thought to be pretentious or false, as in first and last examples. the demon drink (facetious) alcoholic drink,particularly as the cause of poverty, violence,deterioration of character, etc□ It was easy to see how even a family which had had as good food as it wished and a few extras could be down to bread-and-scrape off an orange-box inside a month if the demon drink' took hold. UL o At first, anyway, the Budget is certain to be thought' fair'. What could be more virtuous than old-age pensioners and milk? And what could be worthier of stern discouragement than tobacco and the demon drink? NSo Nobody who lived among the tenements of Glasgow when Benny Lynch was in his prime will ever forget Scotland's first World boxing champion, who punched his way into folk-lore until being counted out by the demon drink in 1946. TVT o drink is in apposition to demon.a den of iniquity [Comp (NP)] a place associated with criminal or immoral activitiesV:△be, become; find, make, sth□ People thinkSoho is a den of iniquity. It isn't. We get more churchgoers round here than any other part. RT□ His daughter Maureen, 17, would like to be a cryptologist but probably won't because it would mean studying in London, a city her father tends to regard as a den of iniquity. ST o also pl dens of iniquity. a den of thieves [Comp (NP)] a meeting-place of thieves and rogues; a shady or disreputable organization, place of business, entertainment etc V: △ be、 become, turn into; make sth o(source) And(Jesus)... said unto them, It is writ-ten, My house shall he called the house of prayer;hul ye have made it a den of this wis. MATTHEWXXI 12-t3 a She shouldn't he chasing after that character. He's no good for her, and if she ap-pears in that den of thieves (Sporting Club)looking like that, the wrestling won't all be in the ring. AITC dereliction of duty (formal) neglecting or failing to do one's duty esp in an official or appointed role o Two minutes away from the 138 accident or ten, Constable, it's dereliction of duty in either case, as you' ll find out when I get you back to the station. □ Marie Helene had no compassion for her mother-in-law's role as a wronged wife, when it sprang from such derelic-tion of wifely duty. ASA□ word dereliction now mainly confined to this expression and legal uses connected with the abandonment or neg-lect of property or rights. ◇ devotion to duty.desperate diseases etc call for/ require desperate measures/ remedies(saying)extreme, violent or repressive actions, pro-cedures involving great risk are justified as being the only effective response to dangerous situations n: diseases, difficulties, situations DDis· esgs desdesperate grown/ By desperate appliances are reliev'd,/ Or not at all. HAMLET1119□ Ampulation of the whole limb may seema desperate remedy, but gangrene is a desper-ate dis参看&·. o Desperate times call forth des-perate men applying desperate meetsurgs. SCoOf course, I knew nothing whatsoever about graphology, but a desperet e situation cells for desperate remedies. SNP o Locked in a telephone booth, Miss Murphy resolved that she must take the desperate messure of breaking the glass. ARGD often modified lexically and/ or grammatically. the devil/ Satan finds/ makes work for idle hands(saying) when people don't have enough work to do they get into, or make,trouble o (source) In works of labour, or of skill./I would be busy too;/ For Satan finds some mischief still/ For idle hands to do. DIVINESONGS FOR CHILDREN()WATTS 1674-1748)□ I hope you won't mind, Mr Chadwick, but I have just had occasion to, well, reprimand your class. Per-haps if you had left them some work to do before leaving them? The Devil always makes work for idle hands. TTa The Devil finds work for idle hands——A light-hearted look at a serious subject in today's new series.' Four Idle Hands'.TVT (why should) the devil have all the best/good tunes (why must) what is wicked or worldly have a claim on what is attractive and interesting, while what is virtuous or worthy is dull and dreary o (source—— referring to Wes-ley's defence of setting hymns and sacred songs to the music of popular songs) He did not see any reason why the devil should have all the good tunes. (R HILL 1744-1833) o What makesKingsley Amis's change of heart all the more bitter is because he is so funny, dammit: that he should join the enemy has come as a cruel blow to the Lefties who believed that for once the devil didn't have all the best tunes, or rather jokes. NS□The devil has all the best tunes. and his advocates the best arguments, which might explain in some measure why Robert Robinson is an unparalleled performer on radio and television, Lo Every age, however, has seen at-tempts at a(religious) come-back, marked by the reluctant abandonment of dogmas which have become indefensible and the adoption of popular new ideas on the principle of taking the devil's best tuuros. NS the devil one knows is better than the devil one doesn't(saying) it is better, easier,to tolerate, cope with, sb/ sth evil, unpleasant or <139> the devil looks after his own----a diamond etc of the first water undesirable who/ which is familiar and under-stood, than to risk having to cope with sb/ sth unknown, who/ which may prove worse o Un-less a population is brought by desperation to the verge of revolution, there will always be more people who prefer the devil they know to the devil they don't . Lo The Mamelukes, in mo-ments of violence, behaved infinitely more cruelly to the Egyptians than the French did. But this nu n not the point. The Mamelukes were the devil they know and Bonaparte was not. BN □And like everyone else, we scientists are just a teen v (= little) hit resistant to change. par-ticularly if we are not 100 per cent certain that the change will be for the better. Better the devil you know, ele. NSo Some women stick to men who are very far from being ideal, either because they think the devil they know is likely to be no worse than any other devil they might encounter---or because they can't be bothered to start all over again. TVT o variants better/rather the devil one knows than the devil one doesn't, prefer the devil one knows to the devil one doesn't. the devil looks after his own (saying) suc-cess, good fortune, comes to those who least deserve it o Jo You' ll end up an old down-and-out boozer knocking back the meths. HELEN: It' ll never come to that. The devil looks after his own, they say. TOH□ He's the greatest swindler there is in the whole building business and a living proof that the devil looks after his own. o often used jokingly about a stroke of good for-tune, lucky escape etc, without any real sugges-tion that the person concerned is undeserving.a/ the devil of a fellow etc[Comp/O (NP)]an extreme example of some aspect of sth or some type of person V: be; have, take. n: fellow.fine looking woman; job, situation; time; way□I was the devil of a follow. I was the lover of a married woman,I was taking out the daughter of one of the richest men in Warley, there wasn't a damn thing I wouldn't do. RATT ' Davil of a fine-looking woman, that,' commented the colonel as Estelle passed through the lounge. o It' ll be the devil of a nuisance if the car isn't ready to pick us up tomorrow.□Poor soul, she deserves a holiday and I hope she enjoys it. She's had a devil of a time these last two years.□ That line of seaweed's going to take a de vil of a time to build. PM口 frequently, but not necessarily, with a strong disparaging implication; in last two examples a devil of a time means respectively l,`a harassing, difficult experience', 2,'a very, or unusually, long time’. (the) devil take sb/ sth(saying) an exclama-tion of annoyance with, or about, sb/ sth o ' No,the damned Customs took it.’ I said, and as I had a gulp at the whisky I added, ' Devil take them!'UTNo I'm going out. If people don't choose to come when they' ve said they would, then the devil take them.'a ' The Devil take it!’ he ex-claimed, slamming down his book.'I should have been at the dentist's an hour ago!'o devil spelt with or without a capital. a devil with the men/ women [Comp(NP)]a philanderer, flirt etc; attractive to the op-posite sex, esp to flatter one's own vanity and extend one's conquests regardless of broken hearts etc V: △ be, turn into; make sb □ JO: You' re not really going to marry her, are you?She's a devil with the mem. TOH o It's an ex-traordinary thing that when a man gets a reputa-tion of being a devil with the women they ab-solutely line up to be the next victim. the devil's advocate [Comp/O (NP)] a cen-sorious critic of sth who deals only with points in its disfavour, eg in formal debate with another, or before going on himself to give the other side of the question (from an official of papal courts whose duty it is to advance all possible arguments against a proposed.canonization)V: be; act、 play o The Withowers'ultimate view of the artist is anti-romantic, but before they reach it they give the devil's advocste full scope. To He was secretly pleased about his son's decision but, in order to test the firmness of his resolve rather than to dissuade him. decided to play the devil's advocate for a while. □ Adamson loved a battle of wits and was willing to be a devil's advocate on any subject just to keep a good argument going as long as possible. □ with capitals or small letters. devoid of sth [Comp (AdjP)] without, not having, sth desirable (as an undesirable con-dition)V:△be; seem, appear. o: quality, merit;intelligence, beauty; goodwill, generosity o The child seems to be quite devoid of any sense of right or wrong. Not surprising really, when you think what his parents are like. ◇△ free from sth;free of sth. devotion to duty [O (NP)] exceptional con-scientiousness in carrying out one's duty (often used in formal citations accompanying the award of medals, prizes, for courageous or faithful service (military or civilian)) □ The brave and brilliant work of your gallant pilots and crews and the devotion to duty of the ground staffs have aroused our profound admira-tion. MFM□(The English) left the church almost roofless, demolished the two transepts and severely vandalised the choir. But their thorough devotion to duty 423 years ago has led to an astonishingly ambitious project today — a medieval abbey is being painstakingly rebuilt,stone by hand-fashioned stone. □(review of a novel) Post-mortem shows his plot skin and bone, his character skeletal, his imagination ex-clusively visual—— even perhaps after so long, his devotion to duty is somewhat casual. ST Odereliction of duty. diamond cut diamond (saying)(a situation in which) two persons or parties are equally matched in cunning or power o (Wormold' phoned) ' Bring a gun. '' Can't you bring one?'Carter asked. 'I don't happen to own one.' he replied. ‘Nor do I’ and he(Wormold) believed he caught in the receiver the metallic sound of a chamber being checked. Diamond cut diamond he thought, and smiled. OMIH□ It's a case of diamond cut diamond with those two and both of them are afraid of going too far in their demands of each other. a diamond etc of the first water a dia-mond of the finest quality (water here refers to clarity and lustre); (fig) sb/ sth of superlative quality or that is outstanding within a given field n: diamond, gem; artist, soprano,prevaricator; performance, writing o Oh,thank you!’ she enthused gratefully. ‘You’ re a 139 <140> diamonds are a girl's best friend— die laughing real gem,a diamond of the first water.'o The great Lord Salisbury was a sickly baby and grew up into a frail introverted schoolboy. At Oxford he was still 'a reurotic of the first water' . NS□ Sir Charles Cochran, who dazzled the town with many entertainment of the first water in the twenties and thirties, was a man of great taste. OBS□(piano competition) As well as being a musical experience of the first water, and of vital importance to those taking part, it actually was a sporting occasion— the bookies in Leeds truly were offering odds on the finalists, and why not? RT diamonds are a girl's best friend (catch-phrase) diamonds, or gifts with a lasting cash value, esp from a lover or succession of lovers,are an insurance for one's, future o (source)Men grow cold as girls grow old, and we all lose our charms in the end./ But square cut or pear-shaped these rocks don't lose their shape —diamonds are agisl's best friend.(from a song in the musical comedy GENTLEMEN PREFERBLONDES. 1949) o Quote from Zsa Zsa Gabor:` Diamonds are a girl's best friend, and a dog is a man's best friend. Now you know which sex is smarter.'TVTo Isadora slept aroundagood bit,acquiring childrenby Gordon Craig and Mr Sing-er, of those sewing machines. The latter also provided yachts, houses, a holiday in balmyPaignton, and a girl's best friend(dismonds).NS did he fallor was he pushed?(catchphrase)a humorous or ironic enquiry into the cause of some apparent injury or accident (originally a music-hall joke)□I was lying half under the car trying to spot an oil leak when my cousin arrived.' Did you fall or were you pushed?' he asked jocularly. Peo'I hear Tom has moved in withEmma at last.'' Poor girl, did she fall or was she pushed, I wonder?’ a And what aboutRudolf Diesel, who disappeared from a channel steamer in 1913—— was he pushed, did he fall,did he drop out? Nobody knows, NS die the death [V +0](be condemned to) die,be killed;(fig) come to a sudden or irreversible end; cease to function $; career, performance;show, play; actor, singer o (source) For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother,let him die the death. MATTHEW XV4□ He went into the Editor's office prepared to die the death but was let off with a warning. o With rather more distinction she played Judy Garland's kid sister in‘Presenting Lily Mars’. after which her film career died the death. STo It's awful to ' die the death' in front of an audience and in my' down' period it happened to me. You couldn't win. TVTO always absolute. die hard take a long time to die;(fig) persist despite opposition, reason, or the advance of knowledge $: customs, (old) habits; ideas oCustoms die hard; and I'm glad of it for there are many Gaelic customs which I would hate to see die, and with them our individuality as people. RT□ The notion that one is free to make any kind of postulation in psychology seems to die hard. SNP□ I had been given a chapter to write, and here were the facts for writing of the chapter. I almost wondered why I took the trouble. But force of habit dies hard. PPo He presumably thinks that Scotland is ' too poor' to mount its own defence system (I should have thought that even the most die-hard critics had given this argument up). L□ As ' peace-maker' the Prime Minister would gain popularity with the public and with diehards in his own party. NS □ n compound diehard, as in last example used to describe sb who retains long-held and possibly outdated principles, ideas etc; attrib use as die-hard attitude. die in a ditch die alone in some forsaken cor-ner, esp as a penniless vagrant o A year ago.when Miss Taylor had been admitted to the ward,she had suffered misery when addressed asGranny Taylor and she thought she would rather die in a ditch than be kept alive under such con-ditions. MMo ' Let me sleep in your barn, ma' am.'he pleaded. ‘You wouldn’ t drive an old man out to die in a ditch, on a night like this, would you,ma' am?'o often in unconsidered assertions that one would rather die in a ditch than do sth. ◇△wouldn't be seen dead (in a ditch) with sb/ in sth.die in harness/ one's boots die while still going about one's daily business or duties□I'm as fit as a fiddle. Mixing with the CoronationStreet' youngsters keeps me youthful. No, I' ll never retire. Actors die in harness. TVTo PleaseGod, he thought, don't let me die in harmere.When he did die he would find St Peter at thePearly Gates looking at his watch and saying:' Oh, Standish, you' re just in time to ref (=referee) that Colts match with Lucifer's.'TGLYoI don't want to think up things to do when I retire.I'd rather die in my boots. I variant die with one's boots on. the die is cast(saying)a decision, gamble etc has been made and cannot be revoked; cross one's/ the Rubicon (qv) (a translation of theLatin, iacta al ea est, ascribed to Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon) o Now it was done; the die wgs cost: she hadn't realized that a doubt still lingered, but there must have been one, to judge by her relief. PW o The country really does not yet know where it's going. The die has not yet been cest. Lo The lot of theScottish Labour MPs in all this has not been a happy one. The devolutionary die was cost without their Government even consulting them.NSa Eighteen months after the ' preliminary can-ter' the Corporation finally gets down to commit-ting itself to building an opera house. On Dec 14,1969, the die is coert and the Corporation takes the plunge. SC o die a rarely used sing form of dice. die laughing (informal) be quite overcome by mirth, or laugh to the point of exhaustion o‘You can be sure we' ll do right by you and send you back into the world an honest man. " Well,Icould have died laughing, especially when straight after this I hear the barking sergeant-major's voice calling me and two others to atten-tion and marching us off like we was (= as though we were) Grenadier Guards. LLDRo Yes,he told us the whole story. Lough? I nearly died!□ A beleaguered Britain, which was the greatest fortress in history, has somehow been scaled down to the size of a location for an early Ealing comedy. At times it becomes increasingly hard to believe that nobody died laughing. NS O esp in constructions、 nearly died inughing. could have 140 <141> die like flies—(the law of) diminishing returns died laughing. die like flies die in very large numbers, esp during a famine, epidemic etc o For instance, in places like Kimberley, where most of theEuropean miners go back to their homes every dav, if you X-rayed them (to detect diamonds)every time they left the mine they'd die like flies.DSa A Government Official said: ' We have given up cremating them because the refugees are dying like flies, and we do not have enough fuel,so we bury them. 'SC□Nepalese soldiers sitting by the stage looked baffled by it all. Elderly colonels hegan dropping off like flies in the back row. STo in last example, writer has combined ex-pression with drop off (= ` fall asleep`) (Vol 1)(qv). die a natural etc death [V + O] die from disease or old age; die from natural causes or otherwise; cease to exist; be superseded or for-gotten adj: natural, violent, slow, painful; a hero`s, well-deserved o There was no reason to suppose that he had not died a natural death.The other three died violent deaths, Von Freid-b urg poisoned himself, Kerizel shot himself, andFriedel was killed in a motor accident shortly afterwards. MFM o As a boy, he says, his am-bitions were to ride in the Grand National and to go big game hunting. But since the war, such objectives have died a natural death. OBS□ Has the cycle of booms and slumps been throttled or has it died a natural death, or is it just lying dormant? NS o When he was told he would have to pay his own expenses, his enthusiasm for the trip died = Sudden desth. a difference/ different in kind [Comp (NP/AdjP)] a difference/ different in a way that places sth in another class or category from what it is compared with V:△ be, seem o There is a difference in kind between what many people call ' the flu', ie a feverish cold, and the true epidemic influenzas. □ ' People quite cheer-fully dodge paying their fares on buses who wouldn't dream of stealing 50p from their neigh-bour to buy a ticket with.’ There seems to be a difference in kind between the two actions,though I don't know if this feeling is justified.'oLondon occupies a special position only in being the largest and therefore the most congested city.Its traffic problems are not different in kind from those of any other big city. SC (a) difference of opinion [O (NP)](instance of) two or more persons, or parties, thinking differently on the same subject, coming to dif-ferent conclusions from the same set of facts,etc; disagreements of a more quarrelsome kindV: have; settle, resolve o One can be right or wrong about matters of fact like the latitude ofParis or the number of square yards in an acre,but in matters of aesthetic judgement you have to allow for difference of opinion. a The point is that honest differences of opinion are almost inevitable among experienced commanders, es-pecially if they are also men with very definite views of their own. MFMo' You and your husband are happy together, I take it?'' Certainly, we are.We have our differences of opinion from time to time of course. What married couple doesn't?'o ’ l sell cars— till the end of this week, that is.After that I'm out of a job.'' You mean you' ve got the sack?’ ’ I had a small difference of opinion with the owner.'PE a (very) different kettle of fish [Comp(NP)](informal) sb/ sth quite different from sb/sth else previously mentioned; another matter,subject, altogether; another cup of tea (qv) V:△ be; find sb □ SAM: Hamlet wasn't an import-ant man. Where would he have been if Shakes-peare didn't rescue him from obscurity? NowShakespeare was a different kettle of fish.HSGa Peter Terson has specialised in studies of the way society tramples on instinctive adoles-cent energy. But his latest play is a very dif-ferent kettle of fish: an amiable farcical romp.Go I'm not the stuff that martyrs are made of:Idon't have any sort of built-in sanctity. I'm glad to have been able to stand as a sort of witness to the Church, yes, but that's a very different kettle of fish. L ◇ △a fine etc kettle of fish. a different matter etc[Comp(NP)] a state of affairs or consideration that is different from one previously mentioned V: △be, seem; make sth. n: matter,△thing; story, proposition. adv:very, quite a; entirely, altogether (front or end position) a The barrage does not, of course.prevent infiltration, but makes it difficult and serves as a warning system. A concerted attack would be a very different matter. SC a Yet he still retains the capacity to make an important contribution towards the sanity of this Govern-ment. Whether he will ever summon up the energy to make it is a different matter. NSa The task of influencing an Army which dwells among an alien population is easy. But an Army which dwells among its own folk is a wholly different proposition. MFM diga pit(for sb)[V + O pass] contrive to trap.or trick, sb or (through miscarriage or mis-management of one's plans) oneself o: oneself;his enemy, the unwary o (source) He that dig-geth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge,a serpent shall bite him. ECCLESIASTESX8□ The sort of middle-aged or elderly trendies who try to get with it are digging a pit for them-selves of no mean depth. Lo / strongly object to the type of paper where examinees, instead of being given a straightforward chance to show what they do know, have a pit dug for them in every question. dim and distant [adj + adj non-rev] imperfect-ly recollected/ imagined because it is far back/ahead in time n: past, future; time(s), days;memory o At school we were led to believe that physical toriure belonged to the dim and distant past and that times were better now.□One day,in dim and distant times many travellers as-sembled at a traditional English inn to go on an outing to the Cathedral of Canterbury. Lo Iwould like to believe in the ultimate perfectibility of the human race in some dim and distant millennium but the pointers are notably lacking.Go I hear of people recalling incidents from their early childhood—— and even their infancy—— but my dim and distant past is very dim indeed to me. D often part of a prepositional phrase. (the law of) diminishing returns [O(NP)](a theory which states that one receives) less and less profit in proportion to the increase in outlay, expenditure of money, work, effort etcV: show reveal; lead to o The increase in remem-bering which results from an increasing number 141 <142> a ding-dong (battle etc)— dirty work of repetitions shows a diminishing return. MFF□ Th ere is a law of diminishing returns that becomes operative in old age, I find. One takes longer and longer to do less and less as the years go by. □ ' Inadmissible Evidence' (a play) ap-peared to proclaim that the protagonist already knew in his guts that increased doses of sex, sel-fishness, and hooze provided diminishing returns. NSo a ding-dong(battle etc) (informal) a fight,argument or dispute in which there is an ex-treme display of actual violence or angry disagreement n: battle; △ argument, con-frontation, fight, contest, match o Two of the children were engaged in a ding-dong battle in the bicycle shed, surrounded by a circle of gaping class mates.□ In the Common Market discussion quite a few times we had the pleasure of hearing the questioner say he'd just received the informa-tion he sought and was grateful; the BBC is wrong in supposing the greater the ding-dong,the greater the fun. Lo Nobody had got upset,nobody had shouted or been unpleasant, they'd all abided by the rules of the debate, but no punches had been pulled. Ding-dong all the time.TSMPo' Let's have a ding-dong, ' a drunken voice called out from the back of the bus, but no one joined in his feeble efforts to start one, o in last example ding-dong =‘sing-song’(from Cock-ney rhyming slang). a dirty dog (informal) sb who has behaved badly, meanly, selfishly o Was he equally defeatist in his heart? Maybe he sympathised with the ambassador of whom he writes, ' Dirty little dog has got the wind up and wants to get out of the country.'OBS□' The dirty dog! He might have slowed down a bit!' I said, wiping mud off my jeans. □ I see you' ve finished all the whisky,you dirty dogs. You might have saved me a little.□ The tone of the book (by a French writer) is naive.' Le fair-play' is British. Why then were theBritish dirty dogs enough to hound the poor innocent Irish Nationalists ' rightly struggling to be free'?SC o not always said very seriously; not used of a person for his physical appearance or habits—— such a person might be called a dirty pig(qv). the dirty/ thick end of the stick [0/o(NP)]the most unpleasant, heaviest share in an ar-rangement, division of labour or responsibility etc V: get, have; be left with o It (neighbourly helpfulness in the working classes) starts from the feeling that life is hard, and that ' our sori' will usually get ' the dirty end of the stick'. UL o In most divorce cases the woman, even if she has been very little or not at all at fault. is left with the dirty end of the stick both financially and socially. o It's the care staff who have the thick end of the stick in the running of the hostel, andI think their salaries should be increased to match the teachers. a dirty great bill etc(informal) a very, or unexpectedly, large bill etc; sth possibly large and/ or dirty, disliked, resented or scorned by the speaker n: bill; hole, stain; boots, bag o It's bad enough to get your car half wrecked in the process of being serviced, without having to pay a dirty great bill for the privilege. □ Saw her coming round the stairs rattling her dirty greet bunch of keys. And Mrs Southcolt gave a last 142 little toss and jangle and sorted out the Yale she wanted. TTo No thanks . The last time I borrowed your boots I came home with two dirty great blisters on my heels. a dirty old man [Comp (NP)] (informal) a(type of) lewd or lascivious older man; sb con-sidered to be interested in sex, or in young girls as' sex objects' in a way not at all suitable for his years V: be; find sb; turn into, regard sb as oThey thought I was a dirty old man, of course.They thought I must be hard up if I was reduced to trying it on with a girl who'd be too tired to do anything but sleep all night. CON□ I'm going to stay a bachelor. Changing imperceptibly from gay young to dirty old. Dil a 'I'd love to go toFrance before I get too old to enjoy it.'' You' re not old, silly.’ I'm very old. I'm twenty-five. Agenuine DOM.’ RATT 口 also pl; occas abbreviated to DOM, as in last example. a dirty pig (informal) sb who is (offensively)dirty in his or her personal or domestic habits,or who is offensively coarse or obscene o To tell someone that he stinks like a polecat is to insult him. The same goes for the expression ' dirty pig'.This is an insult to the pig which is a clean animal until some person makes it dirty. SC□ also pl. ウ△a dirty dog. a dirty etc trick [Comp/O (NP)] a mean or dishonest action, esp one from which another person suffers adj: dirty, △ rotten, mean, fil-thy. V: be; play(on sb), do (on sb)a' You don't think they' ll try and pay us out by doing nothing about the Garryboo pier?’ asked MurdoMacCodrum. ' Ach, they would not do a dirty trick on me, like that,' the councillor protested.RM□' Well if I let you play.' said the child,' you' ve got to play fair, and none of your dirty tricks.like moving pieces when you think I'm not look-ing.'o There has been some suspicion over the last two years that the periodic explosions have been organized by a ' dirty tricks' department to discredit the SNP. Go in last example a depart-ment of dirty tricks is used to describe part of a business or political organization with the specific task of disrupting the work of rivals or opponents by questionable means. a dirty word [Comp/O (NP)] an oath or ob-scenity V: be, sound like; say, use a At first he looked down his nose as though I'd said a dirty word in church. HAA□ To the new generation,science sounds like a dirty word (when all the old dirty words are everywhere in print) while the new mysticism seems to many to hold the secret of the universe. NS o JIMMY: She gets letters. Letters from her mother, letters in whichI'm not mentioned at all because my name is a dirty word. LBA□In Red China' bonus' is a dirty capitalist word. OBS □ often used now in con-junction with the name of sth that is deplored or scorned by some specified person or group.dirty work'[O(NP)] necessary work of a dirty,unpleasant, or laborious kind V: get, do; be left with o Which of us is to do the hard and dirty work for the rest—— and for what pay? SESAMEAND LILIES(J RUSKIN I819-1900)oPETER: A private(soldier) is far more important than you think.After all, who does all the dirty work? JO: Yes,a general without any army wouldn't be much use, would he? TOH ◇ ▲ dirty work at the cross-roads. <143> dirty work²[Comp/O .(NP)] criminal,dishonest, or discreditable activities or behaviour V: there be; go on; do (for sb) o It's u cad's trick, isn't it, to put it mildly? I mean,whom does he take me for wanting me to do his dirty work? PWo The St Ermin's Hotel whereLabour's National Executive is staying this week has something of a political history of its own. In the Fifties all sorts of dark plots and dirty deads were reported as being hatched there. NS □variant dirty deeds occas used for facetious ef-fect as in last example. ▷ △ next entry. dirty work at the crossroads dishonest.shady. or simply unpleasant, activity o There must have been dirty work at the crossroads for all that amount of tainted meat to have found its way into the market. O We can expect some dirty work at the crossroads tonight, with all that drunken football crowd in town. ◇ △ dirty work ¹,² (do)a/ one's disappearing act[V + O] ab-sent onself so that one cannot be found as ex.pected or when wanted; do a bunk (qv): sth cannot be found where one might expect it to be o Now that I have time to sit down and read the paper. it's done a disappvering act. a You' ve only got to suggest a collection for ' poor old so-and-so' or mayhe for Oxfam or the SalvationArmv. for Jack to do his disappearing act. □The disappearing act by the man who's come to the end of his tether, says goodbye to his wife in the morning, never turns up at the office, is never seen again, has reached the point where they have a special phrase for it----' human evaporation.'Lo also used seriously or lightly when it is not un-usual for sb to absent himself or for sth to get lost. a disaster area a district which has been badly damaged or devastated by natural forces or war:(facetious) a room, or other defined area.which has suffered some minor disruption or calamity V: be; declare sth (to be) o ThePresident declared the west coast of Florida disaster aree.□ Over the past eighteen months the reserves of the voluntary aid organisations have heen drained by appeals from one discenter arm after another. □ The tension of the cup-tie finally exploded in violence which left the visitor's goalmouth looking like a minor diss.ter are. a The children's bedroom was an ab-solute disaster ares— toys, books and clothes were strewn across the floor. o also pl. ◇ △ a distressed area. discretion is the better part of valour(sayIng) u is sometimes better, wiser, more sensible to exercise discretion or caution than to be courageous. determined, or foolhardy o(source) FALSIAFF Thebetter part of valour is discretion; in the which better part,I have saved my life. IHENRY IV V4□ When Desmond and his valuer' (of diamonds) came into the garageCharlie recognized among the guests a certainJohnny, who had been a fellow prisoner of Des-mond's in jail. Desmond and his ' valuer' with-dren and conferred. They decided that discretion w ø s the better part of valour.Johnny would certainly beat up the ' valuer', and probably hoth of them. DS□ Collins ignored the tribunal's findings until one day a policeman ar-rived with a rail warrant and his marching orders. dirty work--the distaff side Reluctantly he decided that discretion was the better part of valour, although during the first year of the Bevin Boy scheme (compulsory work in coal mines — Second World War) 500young men like him decided to risk prosecution and 147 were sent to prison. OBS□(NONCE) It was1878. The staff of Rules Restaurant had even built a special door for Bertie (the CrownPrince), opening directly into his curtained-off corner, saving a walk past less distinguished diners. Discretion, then, was the better part of adultery. TVT dishetc the dirt [V + O pass](informal) reveal information about somebody or something scandalous, underhand, improperly conduc-ted. etc V: dish.△spill, make with□' Really, my dear,' he was saying, ' fun's fun, and I like mine feelthy(= filthy) but you can't really suppose Iwould have dished the dirt about you if I'd guessed I was speaking to your daughter. You would and did, said Bernard. HAA o I think it's just as well for Robert to have found out that his wife is not the paragon of virtue he supposed. I'd never have had the courage to spill the dirt myself though. o ' But what do you know aboutBrother Golding? Give, make with the dirt." Why are you so interested in him?" Chadwick said. TT a dismal etc failure [Comp (NP)]a complete disappointment V: △ be. become; turn into.adj: hopeless, miserable; total, unmitigated oThe question of whether or not Britain requires a national incomes policy is by no means closed.The Government are against such a policy because attempts to apply it hitherto have been dismal failures. SC He cast his first spell when he was twelve. ' It was to help me through an examination, and it was a dismal fellure. I'd have been much better occupied learning myFrench verbs.'STo I didn't know John was a vegetarian until I served the roast lamb, and thenI dropped the bottle of wine—— the evening was a total failurg. a disorderly house [0 (NP)] premises doing business that is in violation of public law and morals, eg an unlicensed drinking-house.brothel, gambling den V: run, keep o Police raided the premises known as the Dean Club on the night of March 14th and found ample evidence that the proprietor had been running e disorderly hour@ under the cover of this name.o When Queen Elizabeth visited the ruins ofPompeii in 1980, the Italian authorities ordered policemen to position themselves in such a way that the royal visitor should not be embarrassed by over-explicit drawings on the walls of theRomans' disorderly housge. a displaced person a person forced to leave his native country, or ejected from it, as a result of military action, political pressure, etc and not yet accepted as a national by any other country (the expression originated in WorldWar II) I I n addition there were about one million civilian refugees who had fled into our area from the advancing Russians; these and' Displaced Persons' were roaming about the country, often-looting as they went. MFM □ for a time, such people were referred to as DPs. the distaff side women, as contrasted with men (the distaff is a stick to hold wool or flax 143 <144> distance lends enchantment...—— do as I say, not as I do for spinning by hand) o I could tell you a thing or three. He was always a great one for the dis.teff side, could never resist a bit (= young woman). TT o If there is any blue blood in the family it must have been introduced somewhere on the distaff side. □ Of the women, successfulBritish singers like Shirley Bassey and PetulaClark could have been doing what they' re doing now if rock 'n' roll had never happened and CillaBlack, the distaff side of the Mersey invasion of the 60s look, is set fair to become the GracieFields of 1984. RT□ expression on the distaff side, as in second example, indicates the female(or mother's) branch of a family. distance lends enchantment to the view(saying) flaws and faults are not so apparent at a distance;(fig) one's ideas of far-off times or places may be idealized and unreal o(source)' Tis distance lands enchantmentto the view,/And robes the mountain in its azure hue.PLEASURESOFHOPE(TCAMPBELL 1777-1844)oDis-tance lends enchantment to the view, but so does propinquity. A Sung painting of far away mountains, clouds, and torrents is transporting,but so are the close-ups of tropical leaves in theDouanier Rousseau's jungles. HAHoI look back on my childhood as a time of almost unsullied happiness and I don't think that this is merely a case of distance lending onchantment to the view. o They' re talking of California as if they were going to live in a paradise on earth. Dis-tance lands enchantment to the view, I sup-pose. a distressed area part of a country in which there is serious long-term unemployment with consequent hardship o You can still believe it'sJanuary 1933, when 4,000 in the town are unem-ploved. The number didn't decrease much until the war was well under way, and today WestCumberland, to the local workers, is still a distressed area. Officially, it's a development area. OBSo Occas pl. ◇ ⚠a disaster area. disturb the peace [V + 0 pass] disregard the state`s requirements to behave in a peaceful,orderly way; cause or take part in a quarrel o' You' re disturbing the peace, that's what you' re doing. ' replied their long-suffering neighbour.' Turn that music down, or I' ll phone the police.'□ I'm not sure whether having a transistor going full blast (= playing very loudly) in a public vehicle constitutes a disturbance of the peace or not, but it certainly ought to. 口 variant a dis-turbance of the peace. divide and rule [v+ v non-rev] (saying) it is easier to obtain and maintain control and mas-tery of an empire, a nation, or other large group, if it is divided into parties, or factions.that either rival each other or are not motivated by a common interest D We are still struggling.1 0 overcome the vestiges of the feudal order and of the communalism which was encouraged by the policy of ' divide and rule'. MRSIGANDHI□The three men, who had exclusively and unsuc-cessfully directed the government's policy for three years, played out their trio to the last. It had been an unequal trio which had allowed theMinister to divide and rule with personal power.NS□(NONCE) I was surprised to read as shrewd a judge as Brian Winston suggesting that the single-handed interview had had its day, and that 144 the job might be better done by a panel of journal-ists. Doesn't Brian know that this is the set-up most favoured by the politicians themselves? And why not? They know how to divide and win the debate. L (the) divine right the right, or entitlement to do sth, believed to be directly ordained by God□ That there is no divine right whereby Britain will without exertion automatically stay a lead-ing second-class power has not yet sunk in. To... the royalty of that middle-class womanhood,which is so eminently secure in its divine rights,that it can afford to tolerate the parliament, and reasonably free assembly of its menfolk. LBA□The Department of Health can advise and in-fluence, but it is careful not to be caught ' interfer-ing with the divine right of doctors to be the arbiters of medicine. O expression the divine right of Kings refers to the belief that royal authority was divinely conferred and not dependent on the will of the people. a/ the division of labour the allocation of the various duties necessary to a main body of work, undertaking or project, amongst those who are employed on, or take part in, it on I do the cleaning and maintenance work around the kennels. George does the actual handling of the dogs, rearing the pups and so on. It makes a pretty fair division of labour on the whole.□ In a recent survey of married couples both of whom were in full employment it was found that the division of labour was heavily weighted against the wife, who, in all but a few cases, continued to be responsible for 70 to 80 per cent of all domes-tic commitments. o I want to argue that the central theme of the improving society will be the attempt to break down the rigidities of the division of labour. L the dizzy heights (of sth) [O/o (NP)](cliché) an extremely high and exalted level of(sth) V: △ rise to, reach; fall from. o: fame,popularity; office, wealth o For three and a half years he(James Prior) sat in the Cabinet, eventu-ally rising to the dizzy heights of LordPresident of the Council and Leader of the House.of Commons. NSo In 1956 my BBC salary had risen to the dizzy heights of £20 14s a week. Iwas offered a job of weekend commentating byABC at £5000 a year. Naturally I took it. ST o' Have you ever thought of going in for one of the international competitions?' ' Good heavens, no.I'm just a working musician. I don't operate at thes· dizzy heights.'o sometimes ironic, as in second example. do a sb [V + O] do, behave, as a named person did or would do o And of course, there is no question of the society under its present control doing a Clore (the name of a well-known developer) on its valuable property sites. OBSoHe had contemplated doing a Charles March'(a friend of mine who, years before, had given up society and career in order to become a doctor).NM□ ' Kids have never given him half a chance.'said Steve. ' He might go and do a Richie on us(be an excellent and popular teacher like MissRichie). TT do as I say, not as I do (catchphrase) follow my advice, not my example o (source)Preachers say, Do as I sgy, not es I do.PREACHING (J SELDEN 1584-1654) □ But despite his <145> mother's well-meaning efforts. Simon comes to the inevitable conclusion that parental guidance is really a case of ' Don't do as I do— Do as Isay. 'TVT do as/ what one is told obey orders; be obedient to one's parents, teachers, superiors at work, etc A/O: as/ what one is told, as/ what sb tells one, as sb says of HELEN Come on, Jo, shift those books. Jo:I'm sorting them. HELEN Jo, do as you' re told. TOHo For one he was prepared to admit that I was in charge in the battle area and he must do what he was told' MFM oPickup is graced by several superlative performers, all of whom spent a decade or more doing what they were told, and usually coming out on top as a result. RT□Catherine was arrested with her hushand, but freed after a week.' They take the view in Spain that a wife does what her hushand tells her.’ OBS□Although he dreamed of being ' one of the three As'— author, artist or actor— he was apprenticed at 15 as an account-unt because you did what your father said in those days. 'RI□ vanants do as/ what sb says/ tells one. do as you would be done by (saying) one should treat others in the way that one would hope to be treated by them o (source) Do as you would be done by is the surest method l know of pleasing. LETTER TO HIS SON (EARL OFCHESTFRFIELD 1694-1733) o She is the loveliest fairy in the world — and her name is MrsDoesyouwouldbedoneby.C KINGSLEY Dpopularized as a saying by Kingsley's use in‘The Water Babies’ and sometimes accompa-nied by the warning or you' ll be done by as you did (Mrs Bedonebyasyoudid — also a charac-ter in ' The Water Babies'—— found life deser-vedly difficult). do/ try one's best [V+ O] have good inten-tions(in all things) which one carries out as well as one can, be conscientious, hard-working, an-xious to please etc; do/ try one's damnedest (to do sth/ for sb)(qv) adj: very, level, honest. A: for the children, for his patients; in that respect;always o Henry's school reports were something of a disappointment to his parents and they didn't.know whether to find the ' General Remarks'item, ' always does his best' , a consolation or not. □ Aunt Maud brought me up. She did her best for me, but she only had the money she earned as a nurse. DC□I have done my muddled.unhappy but none the less honest best. I ask no privilege except the right of every Englishman for a fair trial.(jo Some months later, he said:We' re looking for a new commentator for theBoat Race. Will you take it on?’ I said: ' Oh yes,I' ll do the best I can.' Lo SAM: Listen, Davy;don't settle for second best like your mother andI did. Do you understand what I mean?DAVID: Of course. SAM: Then promise me you' ll try your best. HSGO variant do the best one can. do/ try one's (level/ very) best(to do sth)make a determined effort, use every means available, to do sth whether the aim is praiseworthy or not Inf: to provide (a good home); to stop sb; to please, spoil, sth oCOLONEL:I did my best to stop her, but she was in such a state of mind, there was simply nothingI could do. I. BA a Edmund Gosse's father was a minister of the Plymouth Brethren and also a do as/ what one is told—— do a bunk scientist who did his best to resolve what the nineteenth century saw as a conflict between religion and science. SCo The girl is lucky to be alive. Somebody did his best to strangle her and probably would have succeeded if she hadn't had her dog with her. υ And, until the birth, HenryVIII tried his best to please Anne and keep her happy for the sake of the son and heir he so confidently expected Wl. do better to do sth gain advantage by doing sth specified instead of doing sth else already, or about to be, mentioned Inf: to wait; to save(one`s money); to forget (the matter) □ If it's clothes you want, Jimmy, Spenser will let you buy anything you want, although you would do much better to wait until we get to the States.AFTCo 'l am revolted by men who don't work,'continued Fiorella. ' You'd do better to work instead of nattering. 'ARG a It'd have been better selling the car than having it locked in the garage never used. o with will/ would; variant it would be better doing/ to do sth. do one's bit [V + O] do one's (share of) duty,esp as a voluntarily accepted responsibility (an expression popularized in Britain during WorldWar I when anybody furthering the war effort either as a soldier or a civilian could be spoken of as doing their bit)□ I thought I ought to do my bit. I wasn't much use for anything, but they were glad to have anyone then. ASA□ Unambitious but out to do his bit Gunner Goodmu n had become a quarter-master sergeant when I parted from him two years later, and I wish him well. SDo(a hostel providing temporary accommodation)Almost 5.000 kids come through our doors in any one year and it's unusual to hear anything more from them again when they walk out after three days. We have done our bit, but who knows where they go then? RT do oneself a bit/ piece of no good [V + 10+O] incur loss or harm through misjudgement,folly, carelessness etc o ' You believe it might work?' I said.' When he started talking about it,I thought he'd do himself a bit of no good.'nM□' Look at you, ' she sneered. ' Loafing around from morning till night . I did myself a real piece of no good the day I married you.'o It is temp-ting to try to get a higher return for your money.but take your broker's advice or you may do yourself a bit of no good. o bit used more frequently than piece. do a bunk [V + O](informal) go away without warning; disappear from one's usual haunts,place of residence, a place of danger, etc, esp to avoid trouble or sb/ sth one doesn't want to have to cope with but sometimes for no very serious reason and not for long;(do) a/ one's disappearing act (qv) o We talked about the dough(= money) we'd crammed up the drain-pipe. Mike thought we should take it out and both of us do a bunk to Skegness or Cleethorpes for a good time. LLDR□ When the enforcing officers arrived at the farm, the bankrupt had already done# bunk, leaving his wife and family to cope as best they could. □ These boys have more cheek than courage. If a policeman appeared they'd soon do a bunk. □ also used in the meaning of`a dash and bid for escape`, in the expression make a bunk for it; make cannot be substituted for do in do a bunk. 145 <146> do sb credit— do sb/ sth good do sb credit [V + lO + O] a person's achieve-ments, actions etc are in his or sb else's favour;his achievements etc show, or add to, his or sb else's good qualities, ability, worth; a credit to sb(qv); reflect credit on/ upon(Vol l)(qv) adj:(not) any;(not) much;(not) sufficient o But his wide-ranging sympathy, though it no doubt did me credit, didn't do anything to make me less uncomfortable. CONa‘If this is your own work,as I presume it is,' said his tutor, ' it does you credit. 'o This exhibition, from which many of his best paintings are absent, doesn't do the artist credit.□If you help a neglected, deprived child,he or she may well grow up to do you credit. OBSo Wilkinson, it's not that this pitiful attempt at an office budget doesn't do you sufficient credit. It doesn't do you any credit at all. o often in neg constructions, as in third and last examples. do/ try one's damnedest (to do sth/ for sb) [V + O](informal) do everything in one's power(to do sth/ for sb); do one’ s utmost(to do sth/ for sb); do/ try one's best(qv) Inf: to win; to prevent it; to prove the truth of sth. o: the boy;his constituency o(Her trainer) has no fears for her once she is in the water and racing. ' She's a natural competitor and she' ll do her damnedest to win everything she's in.'RT□ You must realise that, at the end of a career of 40 years, doing one's damnedest for an Army that one loved,one was in a certain state of, not mutiny, but almost despair. Lo In the same bill is a worthy documentary from Switzerland, ' Katutura',about the plight of the black South African. The title means ' total insecurity': the 37-minute film does its damnedest to show why. NS□ They tried their damnedest to stop the pop festival in the village but failed. do the donkey work [V + O pass] do the drudgery, esp the hard and/ or uninteresting part of the work as contrasted with the parts that require skill and reflect credit on the doer□ Valcareggi points the moral: ‘There are people who can invent things, fantasists, makers of the final pass. You can't make them do a lot of don-key work.' Lo But at the last moment the Labour reformers who had done the donkey work were excluded from the committee and it was packed with rather more elderly, uncommitted folk. NS□I don't know anything about gardening, but Icould do the donkey work for you if you want to make a rockery. o donkey-work can be hyphenated. do/ get a double take [V+O] react with full understanding to a situation following a first reaction that was incomplete because, at the beginning, one did not fully understand that situation o Even today, though, Dr Stoppard finds herself up against male prejudice. 'I can almost hear them thinking. “What does she know?” When I tell them I'm a member of theRoyal College of Physicians, they do a double-take.’ TVT o‘Wouldn’ t you think that people might be less bigoted in this day and age?' Eng-lish people keep on asking me about Ulster.' You would certainly think so,' I answer. And im-mediately I find myself doing a double-take.' Why would you think they might be?' I wonder.L o I always get a double take when I tell that joke. People smile politely, then a second or two later there's a loud laugh from them when the 146 point has sunk in. do one's duty [V+O] perform an allotted task faithfully and well; act in accordance with what one feels to be one's moral or social obligations0... and to do my duty in that state of life, unto which it shall please God to call me. BOOK OFCOMMON PRAYER□ England expects every man will do his duty. LORD NELSON (before theBattle of Trafalgar)□Oh help, help! I am dying of exposure. I am starving, dying of thirst. I have done my duty for you and this is my reward. PMo MILLY: Do come and do your duty, Myra——Ican't cope with all these people any longer by myself. EHOW□ Our Dad wasn't a particularly loving father but he did his duty by us. do sb a favour [V + IO + O pass] do sth to oblige or help sb out of courtesy or goodwill,and sometimes as a result of being asked to do so o I thought I was doing you a favour by coming to warn you, but it looks as if death for you might be the best solution. OMIHo Anybody'd think I was asking you to risk your neck for me.instead of just suggesting that you do me a little favour. HDo ' Do me a favour. Baxter,' saidRobert, jigging the cup up and down in his hand.' Scrub off. Take a powder(= go away).'CON□' Do me a favour, will you?' said Ralph Reader.' Don't write about me only in connection with theBoy Scout Gang Show. I' ve done other things,you know.’ sc o imper do me/ us a favour introduces a rude or aggressive suggestion as in last two examples; person A asks/ begs a favour(of sb) but person B almost always does sb a favour. ◇ △do (sb) a good/ bad turn. do good [V + O] act with virtuous helpfulness towards others. esp in promoting social reforms, organizing or supporting charities etc det: much, a lot of, no end of, a great deal of oAsk any half-dozen working-class people what they understand by religion, and they will be like-ly to answer with one of these phrases: ' doing good', ' common decency', ' helping lame dogs'.UL o I think my husband would' ve been very shocked and rather grieved to have seen the Em-pire breaking up. We had a great position in the world and did a great deal of good. RTo No-one on a hospital management committee would dream of telling a surgeon what operation his patient needs; but any do-gooder knows what is right for a deprived child. OBS □ The NationalFederation of the Blind say (that the charities)are out of touch with the real problems of the blind, and representative of Victorian philan-thropy and do-gooding. OBSO n compounds a do-gooder, do-gooding are usu derogatory, sug-gesting blundering amateurism or over-righteousness. △next entry. do sb/ sth good [V+ 10+ 0] be beneficial to sb/ sth; improve sb's health, or happiness, or the condition of sth; serve to correct a fault in sb/sth o Jo: Will you get me a drink of water, Helen?HELEN: No, have a dose of this. It' ll do you more good. □ ' Guy needs cheering up, ' Prissie was continuing. ' He works too hard and he looks aw-fully thin. A night out will do him good.'DCoYou' re welcome to use our cottage any weekend we' re not going to be there ourselves. It does the place good to be aired, anyway.□ Harry's been getting much too cocky lately, and it' ll do him good to be taken down a peg or two. o if special <147> emphasis needed, use expression do sb a power/world of good (qv).△ previous entry. do good by stealt h (and blush to find it fame/ known) (saying) do good quietly and inconspicuously, either because one wishes to avoid praise or thanks, or because one thinks this is the most effective way to help sb, or improve sth c (source) Let humble Allen, with an awkward shame, Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame, IMITATIONS OF HORACE(A POPE 16881744)o At some stage the moderate members of the government must cease trying to do good by stealth and instead make a virtue of allempting to rationalise the pay of notoriously touchy groups. NS□' What if they realize that it's not a free house at all, but that you are paying the rent?’‘I shall tell them of course. I like to do good by stealth but I wouldn't blush to find it known, o We must take into account their in-nate conservatism and nol try to bring about changes overnight. Social reform is often best done by stealth. do (sb) a good/ bad turn [V + IO +O pass]perform some kindly action, esp of one's own free will and when not asked for, that helps,benefits or pleases sb; do sth that displeases sb,that is to sb's disadvantage, usually without intending too He' ll go a long way out of his way.a long way to do you a good turn. And there's another thing he is, and that's emotional. Pwo He liked doing good turns and letting one know it,but that had always seemed to me more amiable than not liking to do good turns at all . NMaI'm afraid I did you all a bad turn when I introduced you to the Barkers. I do sb a bad turn less com-mon than do sb a good turn and implies con-Scious constrast with a good turn. ◇⚠ do sb a favour. do one's homework [V + O] (informal)make suitable preparations, find out the necess-ary facts or possibilities, before answering questions, starting up an enterprise of one's own, or making an appraisal or criticism of another's work or of a general situation oCarwvn James had done his homework before the tour started, and his basic ideas were sound.L o I can't sit quiet while my company- - and others--are subjected to the uninformed criti-cism of hospital plans expressed by MrPiachaud. He should do some homework and make sure he has a fair view of the enemy before swinging his crusader's sword. NSω From 11.0p. m until 2.0 a. m. he puts in three hours' solid work He makes sure he does his homework.How well, listeners will be able to decide for themselves when 56-year-old Mr Davies answers questions live on Radio 4's ' It's Your Line' onTuesday. RT do sb an/ the honour[V+ 10 + 0] pay deser-ved tribute to sb o ' I don't want to open their bloody Sale of Work!''I know, George, but how can you refuse? I'm sure they think they' re doing you an honour, poor things.'o He is a very great man and his compatriots don't do him enough honour in my opinion. □ They did me the honour of asking me to chair the Commission.o when used with definite article, as in last example, particular form of tribute is specified.◇△ next entry. do the honours {V + O pass] act as host; per- do good by stealth--- - do sb/ sth justice form the main social duties appropriate to a public function or private occasion o If I am called away this evening before our dinner party,he told his eldest son, ' I shall rely on you to do the honours of the table for me. ' a How very kind of you to bring me a bottle of my favourite brandy. But, first, let me do the honours of the house and offer you a drink.△previous entry.do I/ am ! to understand etc? is it true that?is it the case that?V: understand,△gather, take it o ' Do I understand that you' re suggesting Ishould change my employment?' Charles asked him with dignity. HD□ Do I gather that I am no longer welcome here? ’ he asked. Their averted faces were answer enough. □ ' Do I understand you to say you cannot pay your bill, sir?'o At first she seemed not to understand him at all and then she asked him if she was to take it that he was never coming back. Dindicates uncertainty,dismay, incredulty or protest about what is stated in the following clause; am I to understand etc more usual in reported speech. do sb/ oneself an injury [V+10+0] cause or inflict bodily harm, or do say sth that damages one's own or another's reputation, chances of success, etc o When he thought of this manReIlly, who had worn a monocle, he wanted to seek him out and do him some physical injury.HD□ He laughed so hard and so long I hegan to fear he would do himself an injury . n There are people who may try to do you an injury. Please'stay at home for a few days. Don't come to the theatre. OMiH□He chose to think Patterson had done him an injury by getting the post he thought he was entitled to. ◇△ do sb/ oneself a mischief. do it yourself do practical jobs like house-painting, carpentry, interior decorating, etc.with the help of a manual and/ or one's own commonsense instead of employing a trades-man; handle a subject or project untrained or unaided o No point in getting a builder in to do such a simple job. Why not do it yourseW? □ As long as the specification is correct you can fit any make of brake lining. Extraordinarily, some people make their own. which is taking do-it-yourself a bit far. STo The superstitious half of his do-it-yourself creed involved the fate of his immortal soul, a factor which affected him to the end of his days. Lo Cape have just published his first book.' An Occult Primer', which they claim is the first do-it-yourself manual on the subject.ST □ The DIY department in the basement supplies just about everything in the way of tools or material that the home-handyman requires. On compound do-it-yourself; attrib use a do-it-yourself manual; of ter abbreviated to DIY. do sb/ sth justice [V + lū + O pass] give sb/sth the treatment, acknowledgment, praise that is deserved; do (ample/ full) justice to (Vol 1)(qv) adj: ample, scant; no(= not any)□ To do it justice, the Africa Korps behaved itself com-mendably well amidst the current temptation to destroy. SD□I saw your picture in the ' Courier'.It doesn't do you jur ice though. RATT □ Last year's revival(of the ope:a, ' Eugene Onegin') in the company's international secson did it scant justice. SC□ The accusation that there is little interest in Gaelic literature throughout theHebrides does the people of these islands a grave 147 <148> do sb/ oneself a mischief----do one's own thing injustice. O neg variant do sb/ sth an injustice,often with such adjs as grave, serious; neg ex-pression more formal than headphrase. do sb/ oneself a mischief [V + IO + O](in-formal) do some physical harm to sb or oneself o ' My orders are to bring him in,' went on the corporal. Tuke his sword, Fred, he might do himself a mischief.’ TVT□She lets the baby play with anything he can lay hands on. He' ll do him-self a mischief one of these days. ◇ ⚠ do sb/oneself an injury. do more harm than good [V+ 0 pass]achieve an effect which is more damaging than beneficial □ What is needed is a new drug which will relieve and console our suffering species without doing more harm in the long run than it does good in the short. DOP□ In general I was convinced that ' speaking'(giving unasked-for advice) to people was liable to do more harm than good. SMLoMore harm than good would be done by pumping in public money□Enjoying entertainment and loving talent. I ought to under-stand and appreciate Showbiz. But in fact Idetest it. Increasingly it does far more harm than good. NS□ I always said that more harm than good would come of it, and now I'm proved right. I used esp as warning against, or criticism of, actions, institutions etc which are motivated by good intentions but not, in effect,helpful; variant more harm than good comes of(doing) sth. do the necessary/ needful [V + O pass] (in-formal) perform some action, or task, that is expected or required o She's our mother after all and if she's no longer able to look after herself it's up to Diane or me to do the necessary and have her to stay.□When the kick came in, centre-halfDempsey jostled aside Osgood to reach the ball first and head just wide. The forward might have done the necessary a shade better. STo ' Here,Peter.' she said, handing him the rubbish bin, ' go and do the noodful.’ do no good [V + O pass] not be useful or effec-tive in achieving any purpose det: no;(not) any,(not) much; little; what □ Archie is always being punished by his teacher, but it does no good(or:never does any good).□ It may be assumed that the inquiry now being conducted by the TUC (=Trades Union Congress) into unofficial strikes will distinguish between impatient gestures.which may do little good but are not altogether blameworthy, and the stoppages which are part of a campaign to cause trouble in industry. SC□You could complain (about delays) to theDepartment of Trade and Industry, who oversee civil aviation. But that is unlikely to do much good either. STo ' We' re getting a very poor pic-ture on BBC2 tonight.'' Try switching it off, and then on again.' 'I don't see what good that' ll do.'◇△ much good may it do sb; no good. do no/ not do any harm [V + O pass] have no bad effect, or result, and possibly have a good or useful one$; it;a walk in the fresh air,a word of advice. A: to take a walk, to eat less; for Jane to take the children out o Maybe he can't help you but it does no harm to ask.□ I do believe you are willing, Prissie, but it won't do any harm forNurse Ellen to take the children out. DC o It wouldn't do you any harm to walk to work for a change. □ ' These tablets should help your in- 148 digestion, ' the doctor said, ' and remember that,at our age, a little less to eat and drink never does any harm.'o Perhaps he can't help you but there's no harm in asking. □ variant there's no harm in (doing) sth, where's the harm in it? do no more than do sth be sufficient, or adequate, only to meet a particular need or purpose V: cover, pay for, provide, sth; amuse,soothe, sb. adv mod; no; little;(not) any,(not)much o The £15 fee did no more than cover my expenses. o Even if they do little more than help her to forget her troubles for a few hours, I think a couple of sleeping pills would be a good idea. oSuch half-hearted reforms can't do much more thanserve as palliatives for the time being. o The business is washed up; a loan will do no more thanno delay the day of reckoning. do nothing/ not do anything by halves do anything one is engaged in completely and thoroughly; extend oneself to one's limits in one's activities, emotions etc D No doubt a rapid volley of telegrams would shower upon them from all parts of the country, and possibly even from abroad, for Walter did nothing by halves.HDo George was not the man to do things by halves. He would either refuse to support the venture at all or send us a very handsome cheque.□(a golf enthusiast) He made models of the greens and worked out every angle, putting his theories into successful practice and even playing with a red ball in the snow. Pop never did any-thing by helves. TVT□So ends a weekend which began with sheets of tropical rain, typical of a city which does not do anything by haves. Tdo one's nut [V + O](informal) get into a state of alarm or consternation; lose one's temper.self-control; blow one`s top (qv) o I'm doing my nut because the doc says I may be impotent by Christmas. JFTR□Oh, Lesley, be careful what you' re doing! The boss' ll do his nut if anybody jams up that copying machine again. o nut =head. do or die[v+ v non-rev](catchphrase)(resolve to) make a determined, or desperate, attempt to do sth(the price of failure not necessarily being death)o I had to get down that rock face, do or die, before nightfall. □I was only riding as an individual(ie not one of a team) so there didn't seem to be a great deal of honour at stake——though that of course has since been disproved;apparently it should always be do or die. OBS□Only four contestants were left in the slow-bicycle race, all of them wobbling along the track with identical do-or-die looks on their faces. 口attrib use a do-or-die look. ◇ ▲ never say die.(sb can/ could) do the other thing (infor-mal) do what you like, let him do what he likes etc, I don't care o You' re twenty-one, and you' re married to me. So what? If she doesn't like it, she can do the other thing. AITCo I'm telling you this, and if you don't like it, you can do the other thing · I think you killed Christine. PE o' Do the other thing. then!' she flared at him.' There's no pleasing you.' o' You pamper those children ridiculously,' said their father. ' If they won't eat the food you set before them, let them do the other thing.'o often follows if-cl. do one's own thing (catchphrase) allow one's natural abilities, tastes, interests, feelings etc to guide one's way of life, work, pastimes, <149> do sb a power/ world of good----do sb/ oneself a service/ disservice or behaviour(the implication often being that self-expression is a desirable end in itself);follow one`s (own) bent (qv) o The popular cutch phrase of the moment - - doing one's own thing is symptomatic of a widespread revulsion of thought and feeling against the kind of regulations which the education system has imposed. SCo It's very much a characteristic of today, this doing your own thing, the idea that in the last resort our liberation is only possible.through what we see and feel and taste. RTDIfeel pleased that I can involve other women and per-haps help them by providing pin-money. So do your own thing and who knows where it might lead no matter if the home gets a little dusty. ST◇△ do one's thing. do sb a power/ world of good [V + 10 + 0pass](informal) be very beneficial to sb(esp to his health, good spirits, morale) $: holiday,breaks; exercise, diet; getting away □ Astonish-ing what a man can do with a bit of training. Oh,it' ll do us a power of good. THH□' If you don't mind me saying so,' Ma said, 'a few days in the country'd do you a world of good.'DBMo That was why he had saved his cigarettes--an intact packet of ten. A smoke now would do him the world of good. HDa Aubrey was really extra-ordinary with that boy. It will do him all the good in the world to feel he is someone and get a bit of importance. WDM D variant do sb all the good in the world; less emphatic form do sb/ sth good(qv). do sb/ sth proud [V + O + A] entertain,reward, honour, sb lavishiy or generously;praise or otherwise testify to the merits of sb/ sth in a full and fitting way $: restaurant, hotel;press, radio; performer □ There had been quite a correspondence in ' The Times' and ' TheTelegraph'. ' The papers have done you proud certainly.' said the stockbroker's wife. HAA□Fin-ally he had a brainwave and remembered the name of some extra-special superb restaurant,where we could do ourselves really proud, and re-directed the driver again. CONo You may think that he was not doing me as proud as all that(=was not paying me a very special compliment).SMLD How such a cantata could go unrecorded so long is a mystery. Nikolaus Hamoncourt and hisVienna forces do it proud. NS do the rest [V + O] complete a job or process.esp one begun by sb/ sth else □ (an attempted murder) There must be only a slight mark, as if she had fallen against the lamp as it hung from the hook. The real fall would do the rest . ARG□‘Once you have signed up with us,’ the TravelAgent assured him, ' you have to pack your own suitcase and turn up at the airport at the time we tell you, but we' ll do the rest.' a often will/would do the rest. do the right etc thing'[V+ O] hehave, act.in a way that is morally or ethically proper, that seems just and fair adj: right, △ decent,proper, honourable □(World War I volunteer)I never regretted joining up. I'm no churchman,I can tell you. But I felt I did the right thing. SC.□C learning they were of the opinion that Jack had done the decent thing, had put himself in the right by his generous apology. LF □ do the right thing by the girl, woman. Jane etc can be under-stood to mean ` marry sb who has the right to expect it. do the right etc thing² [V + 0] act wisely,prudently etc adj: right. △ sensible, wise,wrong o If she took sides in their disputes, as she sometimes did, she never knew if she was doing the right thing--it was like interfering between husband and wife, they both resented it. PW oShould we have waited till morning to phone you, doctor?'' No, you did the right thing. I' ve given the boy a sedative and we' ll get him into hospital right away.'o Anyway the whole atmos-ph ere of the place was stuffy and institutional.No spark. Everyone seemed to be afraid to ex-pand. People were too afraid of doing the wrong thing. ST a Joseph Lambton was doing the sussible thing, keeping out of harm's way until the rum and the beer and the brandy settled down. RATT do/ drive a roaring trade/ line (in sth) [V+ O pass] be very successful in selling particular goods or providing a particular service o Tem-porary cafeterias set up at one end of the hall are doing a roaring trade refreshing the hungry multitudes before and after the show. To aJIMMY:(reading a Sunday newspaper) Grotes-que and evil practices going on the Midlands.Startling Revelations this week! Pictures too.Well—I' ll bet Forinums must be doing a roar-ing line in sacrificial cocks! LBA o The electricians ' strike lasted so long that anybody with the foresight to stock up could have done a ro spring trade in candles and oil-lamps. □ As the only blacksmith in twenty square miles of this countryside. my great-grandfather drove a roering trade. O drive rarer in use than do, line rarer in use than trade. do/ go the rounds[V + O] make a number of visits, calls, inspections etc covering a certain area, often including certain gróups of people o Every Christmas (they) did the rounds of their own people and then of ours on a visit of goodwill . SML o Several high level party delega-tions from Moscow have done the rounds to inspect the party organisation all over Italy, and they seem to have departed satisfied. L o I'm afraid that the doctor can't come to see you im-mediately—— he's out doing his rounds(= see-ing his patients).□ variant do one's rounds often indicates a procedure carried out regularly do sb/ oneself a service/disservic● [V +10 + O pass] do something that will or should benefit sb/ oneself (or the reverse) o TheCuilleband Report may be doing a service to more than the railwaymen directly affected (by the proposed improvements). NS o Since he doesn't realize that his arrogance is antagonizing people I think you would be doing him. service if you told him so. o Constables' pay has kept broadly in step with the average industrial earn ings. If the police were too far ahead of the general body of industrial workers it would be doing a great disservice to the workers. DMa ll is surely worth trying to put matters into some kind of perspective. Neither our politicians nor our newspapers do us any service by trying to frighten us out of our wits. NSa I decided not to bother contacting Duvivier in Paris and thereby did myself a disservice, as subsequent events were to show. a I think I do the army and myself a disservice in always concentrating on military 149 <150> do the spadework— do etc wonders/ miracles (for/ with sb/ sth) subjects. G do the spadework [V + O pass] perform the(hard) tasks that are a necessary preliminary to the success of a project □ Some of the prime movers to the third (aid to undeveloped countries) conference did a lot of spadework beforehand, urging delegates to play everything very cool in the belief that the rich would be more impressed by rational debate than by emotive polemic. NS □ Theory and exercises are very boring, I know, but you can't be a real musician without doing the spade-work, o The Im-pressionists certainly brought in new attitudes in art, but where feeling for Nature and skill in capturing its moods were concerned, much hum-ble spade work had already been dong. G o spadework written as one word, two words or with a hyphen. do one's stuff[V+ O](informal) do what one is expected to do; show how well one can do sth;carry out the duties, activities usually assigned to or associated with one o Training in the 5thCorps was ordered to be hard and tough; in rain,snow, ice, mud, fair weather or foul, at any hour of the day or night—— we must be able to do our stuff better than the Germans. MFMo Some day a war might come again and I would have to leave my peace and go and do my stuff as my father had before me. RFW o Jennings remembers his manager, Bill McGarry, telling him bluntly that he didn't know a thing about goalkeepers and wasn't fussy whether Jennings trained every day or not, so long as he did his stuff on the day.TVT do one's thing[V + O](informal) perform in a way commonly associated with one; go into one's act/ routine (Vol 1) (qv) o Dad usually stumps up for anything we want badly. But first,you' ve gotto let him do his thing about not being able to afford it. o It's quite amusing to listen to him doing his thing with tourists in the lounge bar. I don't suppose he buys a single half pint for himself, the whole of the summer season. o(fashion shows) Few can mould crépe so skilfully and his white pants suits are a tour de force of supple tailoring. Revers and huge collars are his thing, overlapping each other on widely cuffed coats. ST O variant be one's thing. ◇ △do one's own thing. do time etc[V + O](criminal slang) serve a prison sentence O: time; △(slang) bird, por-ridge o Sammy's a well-known Jew fromJo' burg. He was doing time for illegal possession. DSo The regime in children's prisons is not unnecessarily harsh or punitive but it is a prison regime and the children themselves are well aware of it. They get a certain amount of pride at having done‘bird’ before their 17th birthday. STo The two dozen or so members of gangs ' doing porridge' are a drop in the ocean of potential villains, says Mr Payne. SC□ He's doing fifteen years for armed robbery. o variant do x months/ years, with actual period of im-prisonment specified. do the trick etc[V + O] (informal) accom-plish what is desired; be sth that (finally) solves a problem, achieves an object, has a required ef-fect, etc O: the trick,△the job; it oMICK: You' ll be tarring over the cracks on the roof. ASTON: Yes(pause). MICK: Think that' ll do it? ASTON: It' ll 150 do it, for the time being. TC□ Bevin and Citrine and the TUC (Trades Union Congress) gene-rally, refused in 1931 to accept the analysis of the crisis with which Macdonald and Snowden presented them. Bevin refused to believe that cuts in wages would do the job (and he was proved right). OBS□I said that if I was not taken to see the Marshal I would leave Berlin and return to the British Zone—— which, of course, I would hardly have done! However, this did the trick and I was taken to Marshal Zhukov's residence.MFM□' The next three or four hours will probably decide the business. If oxygen doesn't do the trick’—— Dr Bennet shrugged his shoulders as if to say, ‘There’ s your answer.’ PE do the/ one's usual [V + O] (informal) do what is customary; do sth that one is in the habit of doing whether this is a mode of behaviour or just a customary task o ' Have you planned your summer holiday?’‘Not really; Iexpect we' ll be doing the usual and taking the caravan up the West Coast somewhere.'o ' Cof-fee will be served in a few minutes — MissWotherspoon, would you be frightfully kind and do your usual? Thank you so much.' MissWotherspoon's usual was to trudge down to the school kitchen, make the coffee, and carry it up.HDo It was a very pleasant gathering on the whole. Our chairman, of course, did his widual and spoke far too long. do well to do sth etc be well advised, find it in one's own interests, to remember or do sth specified Inf: to remember, to bear in mind; to call off, postpone; to think again o Those who criticise India will do well to remember the depths of her start, and the height of her hopes.ST o At this time the Scottish and New Zealand rugby teams would do well to call off their forth-coming visits. SCo I can only commend Mankie-wicz's literate, witty, caustic and penetrating script of an order of writing many modern film directors would do wall to study. RT o You do well to ask if you can help me to mow the lawn now that it's finished! o usu with will/ would;often used ironically in the simple present and past tenses as in last example. do etc wonders/ miracles (for/ with sb/sth) [V + O] be extraordinarily successful in achieving something, producing some result;work a miracle/ wonders(qv) V: do, △ work,perform, achieve o ' I think,' he said, ' Murley was one of the movers of the economy. Bernard had done wonders but the cost of living, you know, does rise so.’ HAA□JERRY: Old Jack here has been doing wonders with her. JEAN: How is she? JACK: (putting his arm round Cairy's shoulders): She's fine. YAA o Mr Goodrich tells me that you can work wonders with the miser-able pittance that a robber Government still allows us to call our own. PWo The bath and the drink had worked wonders and Sir Julius was by now sufficiently recovered. EMoSome patients expect their doctors to do miracles in the way of instant relief. o This annual‘Book of Records’has done wonders for the name of Guinness and has made the McWhirters wealthy men. ST oIt is hard to believe that children who are so physic-ally handicapped have produced woodwork and pottery of such a high standard. Miss Murphy has wrought wonders with her pupils. o <151> wrought occurs much less frequently than wor-ked in this phrase. do one's worst [V + 0] be as difficult, un-pleasant, harmful etc as possible □ Grieve drives towards Charing Cross (in Glasgow) where he says the planners have done their worst. High on a flyover above the old cross he points to the sandstone relics of the Victorian days. RT□She's with me at the house. I decided to have her up here, for a time at least, and let the gossips do their worst. CON □ The weather could do its worst for all he cared. He had enough provisions and fuel was laid in. 口 the expressions let sb/ sth do his/ its worst, he etc can do his worst in-dicate defiance. do you know (informal) a comment, or ex-clamation, introducing a statement, esp one which may cause some surprise□Do you know,that 's the first time I' ve heard of burglars having children. Makes them quite human doesn't it? DC□' You switched off the hot plate before we left.I suppose?’‘You know something. I don’ t believe I did!'□ I had the old Chesterfield suite recoveredwhile he wasawayanddo youknow, he hasn't noticed yel.o almost always front position; stress pattern do you ' know; variant(less formal) you know something(?). do you mind?’ an enquiry as to whether sb objects to some action or event; if you don't mind'(qv)o I think I' ll go along to the club this evening for a game of snooker. Do you mind? o stress pattern do you ' mind?; a medium rising tone on mind? do you mind?² an expression of objection,often aggressive, to sth which is occurring, if you don't mind²(qv)(according to the context.could be the equivalent of get out of my way',` stop interrupting', ' you' re sitting in my seat'etc) o JO: Hold my hand, Geof. GEOF: Do you mind? Halfway through this?(he is brushing the floor)TOHo(TV stars about weight-watching)DIANA DORS: Actually, I'm just getting the weeniest(== slightest) bit bored of reading about me in the round. D' you mind? TVT O stress pat-tern do you ' mind?; a fall-rise tone on mind? do's and don' ts [n + n non-rev] (informal)instructions; detailed guidance o My do's and don' ts for employing any kids are: first, to see the job is done properly. And I pay on the dot.OBS□Many people dream of retiring to a cottage by the sea or in the country. But, when the time comes, can they be sure the dream matches up to the reality? Today's programme looks at the do's and don' ts of making a move. TVTo ' YouCan Take It' is a useful manual of Do's andDon' ts for the ambitious amateur photographer.dodge/ duck the issue[V + O pass] avoid dealing with a situation, answering a question or argument, directly o ' Would you let your daughter marry a bear? Come on now, yes or no?”You then appear to be the one to be hovering and qualifying and dodging the issue while he stands there quivering with certainty and right-eousness. NS5 This led to an attack on the dele-gates by Keith Jackson of Liverpool accusing them of ducking all the issues at stake. NSdoesn't one know it! (informal) an added comment to the effect that sb is very well aware,or too much aware, of sth previously men-tioned o SARAH: He knows he can go to her—— do one's worst---a dog in the manger she' ll feed him. CISSIE: He's her son, for God's sake. SARAH: Don't I know it. CSWB o‘TheBrowns made a big mistake in not buying that house when they first came here.’' Don't they know it! It' ll cost them twice as much now.'oHe's handsome all right—— and he doesn't half know it/o variant sb doesn't half know it (!) =` sb is very well aware of sth'. the dog days high summer; (fig) a time of tedium, apathy etc(in the Roman calendar, the6 or 8 weeks of greatest summer heat when the influence of Sirius, the Dog-star, rising with the sun was thought to increase its heat thus caus-ing difficult conditions, pestilence etc) o My first full week of retirement from the daily production of '24 Hours' coincided with the very end of the dog days of repeats and try-out series which disfigure the schedules of late summer. LoIf the French did accept the rather presumptuous identification of Gaullism and France, their ac-ceptance had the colour of acquiescence, passiv-ity, precisely the qualities which, as Ophuls shows, made possible the shameful dog days of the Pétainist regime. NS dog ears/-eared turned-down corners on the pages of a book, or in bundles of papers (usu-ally the result of much, or careless, handling but sometimes done deliberately to mark a place).□' Don't do that,' she snapped. 'I hate a book full of dog ears. Use an old envelope or something to keep your place.’ o He asked me to read his novel,a dog-eared manuscript that told its own story of having gone the rounds of probably a score of publishers. dog eat dog ruthless competition that takes no account of loyalties or fellow-feeling o BluffCourt was far too large to live in. You needed to keep twenty servants to wait on you and another twenty to wait on them. It was very dog eat dog.DBM o(NONCE) The world of books has always suffered from its petty promotional aspect, in that its dogs—— not to mention its bitches—— eat each other till their teeth fall out, but MelvynBragg has the proper open-minded respect for artistic achievement. RT a (an Englishman criticizes his compatriots' theatrical production in New York) Dog does not eat dog; but I can no longer repress a cry of anguish. OBS □ neg vaniant dog does not eat dog = ‘one doesn’ t harm or destroy one's own kind'. a dog in the manger [Comp (NP)] a person who selfishly prevents others from using or en-joying sth which he keeps for himself, though he cannot use or enjoy it(from Aesop's fable of a dog sitting in a manger and preventing the ox from eating the hay) V: △be, become o Who would get the commission? No one. That filthy dog in the ménger would not have accepted any— that was certain; and had taken care to see that no one else profited. USo To these major attitudes towards ' Them' may be added one or two minor but recurrent ones, the 'I ain't a gentleman, you see' attitude: a dull dog-in-the-mmnger refusal to accept anything higher than one's own level of response. ULo It is not merely that it (the BBC) finds itself in a dog-in-the-manger role--not wanting the fourth channel for itself but still firmly determined to do every-thing in its power to deny it to ITV(= Indepen-dent Television). NS 口 attrib use a dog-in-the- 151 <152> the dog it was that died---don't just stand there (do something) manger attitude, role etc. the dog it was that died (saying) sb has become the victim of his own attempt to harm another o (source) The man recover'd of the bite.; The dog it was that died. ELEGY ON THEDEATH OF A MAD DOG(O GOLDSMITH 1730-74)□ '/have come back, ' he said to Beatrice,'I am not under the table( = poisoned). I have come back victorious. The dog it was that died.'OMIH□ Be sure you have your facts right. If you make an attempt to discredit a man in his position and fail,it may he a case of ' the dog it was that died'.dog one's/ sb's(foot) steps [V + O pass] be sth that one/ sb never seems able to escape from$:△bad luck, misfortune; unhappiness; sick-ness o Bad luck still seems to be dogging theEuropean Movement's footsteps, a He worked hard enough on his farm, Godknows, but drought and pestilence dogged his footsteps season after season.□ That tiresome old bore. Perkins,seems to be dogging my footsteps these days.Iswear I can't go anywhere but he turns up too.o tNONCE) But we were winning. At all points success dogged our steps. The great walls of the citadel emerged as our picks cut through the encumbering debris. SD O use in last example depends on paradox in that the meaning must be deduced from an apparent contradiction in terms. a dog's breakfast/ dinner [Comp(NP)] (in-formal)a mess; a situation, undertaking, piece of work, room etc that is mismanaged, untidy etc V:△be; make sth; feel like □ You' ve made a right dog's dinnerof your attendance register,Mr. Smith, I' ll issue you a new one and you can get it copied out so that other people can make sense of it.□As for the party I don't remember muchofit. Ifelt like& second-class dog's dinner.JFTR□ The battle was really almost lost before it began. The whole business was a complete dog's breakfast'. MFM o He was prepared readily to accept assignments which most offi-cers would have regarded as the kiss of death, and to the horror of Mountbatten, who knew a dog's breakfast when he saw one, he agreed in 1942 to assume command of the Army of Burma. NS. a dog's life [O (NP)] a pattern of life in which there is not much pleasure or freedom, in which one has to take orders from others, etc V: have;lead (sb) □ He is leading a dog's life in that store, fetching und carrying from morning till night.□ My old man(= father) would never hang himself, worse luck. Maybe mam (= mother)would have to leave him first, and then he might do it, but no---I shook my head--there wasn't much chance of that even though he did lead her a dog's life. LLDR O It's a dog's life is often an expression of temporary or not serious dissatis-faction. a Don Juan a womanizer, breaker of hearts,sexual libertine, etc(from a 14th centurySpanish aristécrat who figured as the‘hero’ of many poems and plays and of Mozart's opera' Don Giovanni')o The occasional bachelor in a(English working-class) neighbourhood is likely to be living at home with a widowed mother. He is not thought of as a man-on-the-loose and therefore as a potential Don Juan. UL a ' And there's another thing, Mister Don Juan, she said, her arm round Rosa's shoulders. ' Get out and do some work, even if it is your last night.And next time you meet a decent girl, leave her alone, will you?"HDo Pete's virility has to he established.' He's a pistol,' explains an office girl-friend. Tillie amiably assents, side-tracking the girl's attention by a chummy discussion ofDon Juanism, NS□ also pl; variant Don Juan-ism. don't be too sure said by a second speaker to a first who has just made an unwarranted assumption, over-confident remark, etc oThank God. I never need to wonder where my wife is or what she is doing.' ' Don't be too sure, she answered teasingly, maybe I'm lead-ing a double life.’ o‘Henry will be away at the university by next winter, so we' ll have a spare bedroom.’ Don't be too sure,’ her husband said. ' He hasn't been doing so well at school this year. don't call us, we' ll call you (catchphrase) a statement intended to hint that it may not be possible to keep a promise, or to keep people at a distance (from the statement traditionally made by theatrical directors to aspiring actors,actresses, chorus girls, etc after an audition)□' The parts shouldn't be too difficult to obtain.''I' ll ring up in a day or two, then, and call to collect them if you' ve got them.'' No, don't call us, we' llcallyous.'o What good is a cosy Utopia that raises students' expectations and then dashes them in a world that has no use for more than 10 per cent of them? The rest, waving their special aptitudes, could be channelled relentless-ly towards the car factories or the collective farms. Don't call us, we' ll call you. G o now normally used ironically; call in headphrase =` make a telephone call to'. don't do anything I wouldn't do (catch-phrase) used as ironic advice in leave-taking oWell, got to run along now, Charleyboy. Got to see a man about some scrap iron. Don't do any-thing I wouldn't do. See you all about five.DBM □ Off on your holidays tomorrow, are you?Be sure to enjoy yourselves then, but don't do anything I wouldn't do. don't give me that (catchphrase) what non-sense! do you expect me to believe that? what you' ve just said is not true and you know it, etc o ' Didn't know where you lived, ' he muttered.Don't give me that. ' Robert grated. ' An ad-ministrative wizard like you couldn't be baffled by a simple problem like finding my address.’CONoRUTH: You' ve a lot to learn yet, George. If there weren't people like the Elliots, people like you wouldn' texist. GEORGE: Don't givene that,Ruth. They drive you mad, and you know it. EGD□(writing dialogue for a play) He put a fresh sheet in and typed: Gregory: But this is really quite farcical. Breathing heavily, Bowen now x-ed out his original line of dialogue and typed:Gregory: You' re just pulling my leg. Then he got up and stumped around the room for a bit, made another line of x's and typed: Don't give me that. ILIH don't just stand there (do something)(catchphrase) act effectively, esp in a time of crisis or trouble o Don't just stand thes, do something! Your great brute of a dog is going to attack my little cat! Look, he's got him by the throat! o He remembered one of their quarrels. 152 <153> Why don't you do something, act some way,any way at all? You just stand there' oMIHo' The investigation of an affair of this nature is entirely outside my sphere.’ ' Do you mean that you' re going to stand there and do nothing, you ridiculous person? ' said Mrs Carstairs. EM 口often an appeal or demand though the speaker himself may not know what should be done;stress pattern don't just stand there, ' do some-thing; reference to standing need not be taken literally. don't look now, but a request that another should look at sb/ sth without drawing atten-tion to himself, without being seen to be look-ing □ (of a television series) Don't look now.but the Daleks are coming back. Dr Who zooms off on a new series of adventures soon OBSo' Don't look now but I think your father's among that party that just came in.'' Good Lord,let's finish our drinks and get out of here. I'm supposed to be at my French class tonight.'o Il was Sir Thomas Beecham (who else?) who once became aware that a soloist had slowed up und was now several bars behind the orchestra.' Don't look now, ' he hissed to his players, ' butI think we' re being followed.'RT O used as a sort of‘joke’ phrase when the speaker thinks another will be interested, surprised or dis-mayed by what he is about to see. don't make me laugh(catchphrase) a bitteI,scornful, resentful etc response to a statement or suggestion D Mind you, in a way it's the poor bloody wives I'm sorry for. Legalized bloody prostitution, that's what it is. Look at their faces,that' ll tell you all right. Ever-loving wives? Don't make me faugh. TGLY a DAVID: Anyway, what can you do with two hundred pounds? SAM: You can build up the business into a really posh layoui; or you can take a world trip before you.begin. DAVID: Don't make me laugh, a world trip? You' re living in the past. All I could do is buy a motor-scooiëi ữ eight new suits. HSG don't mention it a courteous reply to sb's expressions of thanks or gratitude, to sb's apo-logy for a mistake, trouble caused, etc; you' re welcome(qv)oPHILIP. Well, Myra,I'm sorry all this hus been foisted on you. MYRA: Oh, don't mention it. EHOW a ' Thank you, constable, for your help.' ' Don't mention it, ma' am---that's what we' re here for.'o I paid your milkman for you--£3.20 for the week, he said--and you can give me that. As for taking care of Billy, don't mention it. He was no trouble at all. don't mind me'(informal) don't bother about me; don't let concern for me interfere with your plans etc O: me, him/ her, us/ them o HENRY:Have you been there (beside me) long? ADA:Some little time. (Pause). Why do you stop?Don't mind me.(Pause). Do you want me to go qway? Eo' You will see my bicycle now.' He threw his leg across the saddle and settled himself com-fortably in riding position. The seconds went on ticking by while he went on sitting there andBowen watched him. Don't mind me, Bowen wanted to say to him; go brmmm, brrmmm in you want to ILIHo Father says go to the cinema and don't mind him, he' ll be perfectly happy with his book. o said more or less sincerely, but without criticism of person to whom it is addressed; stress pattern , don't mind ' me; fall- don't look now, but—— don't tell me rise tone on me. don't mind me²(informal) don't bother about me; don't let concern for me interfere with your plans etc o PETER: Oh, go to hell! Go on, have your blasted family reunion, don't mind me!TOH□' Don't mind me, I just love getting my feet wet.' she said stepping into a puddle in order to pass him.□ His wife leant over and switched theTV to another programme. ' That's right, don't mind me! ' he said. o said sarcastically, resent-fully, or aggressively, to draw attention to a grievance: stress pattern , don't mind me; rise-fall-rise tone on me. don't' Now Norah' etc me(informal) do not speak to me in the terms, or call me by the name, that you have used Comp:' Now Norah'.‘Granny’; ‘ever so sorry’ o‘Now Norah----’ he said, and put his pen down carefully. Don't' Now Norah' me please, I' ve had just about enough(= as much) as I can stand.'TTa' Don't you ' Gruny' me, my girl,' she said to the nurse.My name is Mrs Adams, and that's what you' ll call me.’ a 'I forgot to collect your transistor,Dud—— ever so sorry.' ' Don't ' ever so sorry'me in that don't-care tone of voice! The shop' ll be closed by now or I'd send you straight back for it.’ o expression is aggressive, conveying resent-ment or defiance; Comp is always repetition of all or part of the statement which causes resent-ment or defiance. don't shoot the pianist atc (he's doing his best)(catchphrase) be tolerant towards a well-intentioned person who only means to please, entertain or try to do something worth-while, whether he is making a success of it or not (from the first example, said by the author to have been a notice in a 19th c American saloon bar) O: pianist; artist; translator、policeman; secretary o(source) Please do not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best. IM-PRESSIONS OF AMERICA (O WILDE 1854-1900) 口(NONCE) I must declare my interest in the piano interlude, ' Peter Grimes Famlasy', which was commissioned by‘Music Now’(a TV series).This piano was fine, expertly tuned. The pianist was' shot'(doing his best) in the music room of Tyvi e Castle. Lo I happen to have read one ofM. Orieux's earlier biographies in his own lan-guage— and can assure the reader that this tone is entirely his own. So don't shoot the translator, she is doing more than her best.NS o (‘audience participation’) It is as well to recall that(a) participation need not necessarily be a viriue (I should not add much to a pas-de-deux in‘Swan Lake’), (h) participa-tion can take many forms, from mental com-munion to shooting the artist. OBS口 used as a whole, in part, or allusively; in second example shot means‘filmed’, making the whole sentence a complicated play on headphrase. don't tell me surely it can't be possible (that sth is true or has occurred) o ' Really, dear,Icouldn't say when they went to the park. Don't tell me they' re not home yet.' Brigit shook her head. DC□‘What did you mean, he’ s a business friend? What business? Don't tell me he's any-thing to do with that publisher.'' He's in a much better racket than that. He's a bookie.' AITC uDon't tell me you' re Millie's grandchild, the one that had the yellow hair down to her waist!" 153 <154> done etc to a turn—— double or quits ∵Yes, that was me. done etc to a turn [Comp (AdjP)] cooked for just the right amount of time and ready to eat(from roasting meat on a spit) V: △ be; seem.pp: done,△cooked,roasted□' Is your egg right for you?'' Done to a turn----white solid and volk soft, just how I like it.'o(NONCE) Like some wine with this? I' ve got some ' Entre Deux Mers'chilled to a turn. BM (for) donkey's years (informal) a long, or very long, time (perhaps arising from an old tradition that one never sees a dead donkey) □Mrs Scarfedule had set to working at the tobacco factory to earn enough for herself and Jim. She stayed hard at it! for donkey's years and she had a struggle to make ends meet. LLDRo It would take donkey's years to collect all the necessary information for their survey unless they could enlist u research team. o It's donkey's years since I' ve eaten semolina pudding. I didn't think people made it any more. D often not have done sth for donkey's years. dot and carry(one)[v+ v non-rev](informal)move with a limping, or unsteady, gait o If she rested in the daytime, Lennie went dot and carry up the stairs with cups of tea and vivid sugar cakes from the bakery on the corner. AITC□In waters so hazardous with reef and shoal our ex-plorations were dependent on the availability of some local navigation, but in this dot and carry way we did manage to visit most of the islands in the group.□' lgot a punishment exercise from oldDot-and-Carry-One. ' ' James, I have forbidden you to use that nickname for Mr Simpson. An artificial leg is nothing to make fun of. In attrib use, this dot and carry way as in second exam-ple, indicates uncertain or irregular progress of any kind. dot the i's (and cross the t's) be meticulously correct in what one does or says;make clear in every detail something which may be obvious or well enough understood already o There are many i's to doi and t's :0 cross before we can feel certain about the exact relationships described here in broad detail. SNP□ The shares may not break through the chart burrier at around their current 42p until full-year figures are produced, dotting the i's, but then they should move smartly ahead. ST□ The novel-ist's own belief had been that the scandal lay, not in the political field, but in an indefinable, though very definite, impression of sexual indiscretion.of the unnecessary crossing and dotting of the t's and i's, which were perfectly well known, but not to be advertised. HAAo'/ see you' ve got my point.' the lawyer continued.' There's no need for me to dot the i's and cross the t's then.'o usu in order of headphrase. a double agent a person who is employed as a spy, agent-provocateur etc by the Secret Ser-vices of two countries, one of whom he is deceiving on behalf of that other to whom he owes allegiance □' Will he(our man) be able to start again if he's blown (ie his disguise is penetrated)?'' He has a trick worth two of that.Struck right home into the enemy camp.Recruited a double-agent in the police-headquarters itself.' ' Aren't double agents al-ways a bit tricky?'OMIHa Like numerous other academics he enjoyed the battle of wits carried on in the Intelligence world behind the multitary battles. ' Running a team of double agents is very like running a club cricket side. ' ns a double bind (informal) a situation in which one has to choose between two things, two courses of action, etc, both unfavourable or undesirable;a dilemma V: be; be in, put sb in,find oneself in□ The double bind I found myself in was very simple: if I left the country now Iwould not be allowed back, but if I stayed, Iwould be forbidden employment, and probably imprisoned. a double chin a heavy fold, or folds, of flesh or fat visible between the jaw line and the neck oThe double chin he had had when he was twenty-five was a rather larger double today, his com-plexion was pastier, and his pugnose was now approximating to a bulldog's nose. RMo The fat man's eyes glared and all his double chins shook with rage, as he thumped the table. D one can have several, three etc double chins. a double cross the betrayal or exploitation of two different persons or parties by sb who pretends allegiance to each but is in fact using them against each other o The Italians had said they were fed up with the war. It seemed that at any given moment they were prepared, if we would land on the mainland of Italy, to come in with us. I remarked that this looked like the biggest double-cross in history. MFMo Madge is being double-crossed by Sammy, who ditches her for Sadie, UTNo Some agents made errors, which were surely detected and exploited in Germany; and the Germans themselves were also operating a double-cross system to feed us misinformation. NS□(NONCE) And the lovers of power, the councillor, the footballer, the treble-crossing womaniser, and a thousand others are all there. Ppo attrib use a double-cross system;used as n, v or attrib n or adj; variant, treble crossing, in last example unusual, but easily un-derstood. double Dutch something, esp sth spoken or written, that cannot be understood or that seems to be gibberish; meaningless sounds or words a How can anybody understand this Con-stitution? It's difficult enough for educatedAfricans and Europeans to understand it, but for the masses it must be absolute double Dutch. L□'I expect the name Paul Temple is as well known in Europe as it is here. Except in Holland,where they' ve never heard of him.'' But you said just now——'' Yes, I did— but in Holland, for some double-Dutch reason, he's called PaulVlaunderin.’ RTo Sometimes an older brother or sister seems to have an intuitive knowledge of what a toddler is trying to say in a double-Dutch that defeats even his own parents. □ often hyphenated; attrib use some double-Dutch reason etc. double or quits [n + n non-rev] a bid in a gambling game, when the winner alone stakes his stake for the second game, throw of the dice,etc, and it is agreed that if the loser loses a second time he will pay double this stake, but if he wins, his debt is cancelled and no money passes o 'l should be against any compromise.You' ve either got to show some faith now--or give the whole thing up in this country.'' Double or quite,' said Rose, ' if I haven't misunderstood 154 <155> you. my dear chap.’ NMo So with Consols it's a double or quits situation. If interest rates rise.then the income is inadequate and the capital value drops. G o may be spoken as an actual offer or challenge as in first example. double quick [A] very fast; as quick(ly) as possible (the implication usually being that speed is, or will be, expedient or necessary) o' And if it starts to spit, then turn it off double-quick. It's quite a reliable old contraption.' He guve the geyser a familiar and affectionate slap on its smooth white flank. TGLY o Now then,Freddie, … off to bed and in double-quick time,too. It's me that' ll get into trouble if your mother comes back and finds you still up. a 'I feel badly(= ill), I fibbed. ' Well, get outside and get some fresh air then, he shouted, I did as I was told,double quick because if ever Dad goes as far as to tell me to get some fresh air I know it's time to get away from him. LLDRO often hyphenated.(do) a double shuffle [V + O](take) correc-tive action to get back into step when marching;(fig) (take) some hurried action to correct a situation, or alter the direction of an argument o The three of them fell into step. This meant that every now and then Simon had to do a double shuffle to catch up with the others. LFo We had about twenty minutes' notice that Arthur and family were coming to see us, so we all had to do a double shuffle to clean the place up before they arrived. o ' Now who would like to see my slides?' said their hostess brightly. ' I wouldn't,'he started to say abstractedly, but being a master of the double shuffle, coughed as if he had caught his breath unexpectedly, and added ' miss that for the world.' double talk talk, sth said, that is capable of more than one interpretation or that is intended to mean something opposite to, or different fro: si、 what the words actually used might in-du:: te□ I'm sure I don't know whether all this sophisticated double talk your friends indulge in is just a pretentious habit or whether they' ve found a way of being able to insult each other with impunity.□ The managing director's speech was a masterpiece of double talk. The workers thought they were being promised the earth, but the shareholders knew there weren't going to be any changes that were going to come out of their pockets. (a) double think (informal) believing two contradictory things at the same time o At the heart of Christianity there seems to me to be a stark double-think: ' the world' is worthless.corrupt and doomed, at the same time as being precious, sanctified and glorified.□Mr Jackson's guilty of a bit of double think about Mary. He values her work, but won't promote her because he believes women are inferior to men. (not) doubt sb's word [V + 0 pass] (not)disbelieve what sb has stated, reported,promised etc o ' You might be Harold Martin's daughter.’ I am. I' ve just told you.’‘No need to take me up. I'm not doubting your word.'AITC□Yes, I would like to see your references. It's not that I doubt your word, but it's always better to do business matters in a businesslike way, isn't it?" Have you found the murderer of Hasselbacher?Wus it Carter?’' After what you said, naturallyI checked. He was with Dr Braun at the time. double quick——a down payment And we cannot doubt the word of the President of the European Traders' Association, can we?'OMIH a I' ve already said I would tell nobody about this. Do you doubt my word?□ I believe you' re doubting my word. Ask Jack, if you don't believe me. a almost always neg, interr or conditional; positive uses tend to imply that doubt should not be present, as in last example. a doubtful proposition [Comp (NP)] a proposed undertaking which will be difficult to carry out and could easily fail; a statement,assertion etc that is arguable and perhaps falseV:△be; find, think, sth □To take on the job of hand-rearing a week-old baby (ant-eater),therefore, was a very doubtful proposition, to say the least. DFoAfter the taking of Alexandria and Cairo, Napoleon's campaign to annex Egypt from the Ottoman Empire began to seem less of a doubtful proposition. □ ' If you show people that you trust them, they will not let you down.'' Well, if that has been your invariable experience you are a lucky man. It seems to me to be rather a doubtful proposition,'o also pl. a doubting Thomas a sceptic; sb who will not believe anything unless he has satisfied himself as to its truth, seen the evidence with his own eyes, etc(from the name of one of the 12 dis-ciples of Christ, see JOHNXX25-29)□' And I didn't believe in those flying saucers till I saw one with my own eyes. ’‘You’ re a bit of a DoubtingThomas, what?’ RM□The experiment has wor-ked. It didn't really need doing, since Einstein's theory had already been tested under far more extreme conditions. But such a test had to be performed, if only to lay the doubtingThomeses to rest. Lo The workers have all been paid a month's wages, which will make Christ-mas a good deal brighter for them, and confound doubting Thomeses like me. L (a trip) down memory lane (cliché) nostal-gic recollections of the past; an event, ex-perience that recalls the past, esp one's own V:take (a trip); go, travel, wander o'I'm not a nostalgic person at all,' says Elspet Gray, refer-ring to her trip down Memory Lane in‘WithGreat Pleasure' (Sunday 10.10 Radio 4). I'm very forward-looking.’ RTo The Queen Mother took atrip down memory lane yesterday during an informal visit to the Angus village of Glamis where she spent her childhood. SUNDAY EXPRESS□ Remember square-bashing and the days of the short back and sides? Whether you do or not,take a trip down memory lane to the time ofNational Service. TVToId o not want to travel too far down memory lane in this piece, but Iremember the time when Mr George Brown ar-rived panting in Brighton to persuade an alarmedGeneral Council to accept a voluntary wages policy. NS a down payment [O (NP)] part of the total price of goods or property, paid at the time of agreeing to purchase; a deposit V: make;request, ask for □ The Building Society have agreed to give us an85 per cent loan which means we shall have to make a down payment of near-ly £500. □ We usually ask for a down payment on made-to-measure suits for new customers, sir.Will that be all right?□It was the sort of wedding where the cost of the ceremony and reception go as a down payment, and you then continue dish- 155 <156> down to sb/ sth— draw/ take(a/ one's) breath ing out your wages every week for life. LLDROalso pl. down to sb/ sth[A(PrepP)] even including the final item of a comprehensive list of persons or things o: the last woman, the youngest man; the last detail; the final stages; the present day o In the course of a séance dance, the witch doctor was able to describe correctly, in minute detail.the hidden article, down to the colour of the wrappings and the nature of the locality where it was huried. SNP□ From Thomas More, throughRousseau, and a dozen others down to Lenin,many thinking. feeling men, disgusted by the ugly squalor of existing social systems which main-tained and propagated the poverty and misery of mankind, have sought a solution. NS□ We had everything packed, down to the very last tea-spoon, when the removal contractor phoned to say he couldn't come till the next day. o The patients were of the middle sort from well-to-do workmen down to impoverished pensioners. L down tools[V+O] stop work at the end of the day, for any official break, or as part of a strike or other protest;(fig) pause in, or discontinue,any activity o Conditions from the point of view of the professional astronomer were poor, the seeing was bad-there was too much wind at high levels. So nobody was sorry to down tools for the midnight snack. TBCa He had realised that he could not carry on without taking some decisive step to help himself. It was then that he had ' downed tools' and retreated here, he ex-plained. HAHA down under [A] in the antipodes, and espAustralia or New Zealand o Actor WarrenMitchell who plays Alf Garnett, the outrageous cockney character from the series' Till Death UsDo Part', talks to Alan Whicker about his approach to comedy down under. TVT□EdwardHeath became the first British yachtsman since the war to win the Sydney-Hobart race. Oh Lord,yes, he said, it was very much his object to show them down under that we' re not as effete as they thought. G down with sb/ sth(catchphrase) an exclama-tion, or exhortation, that expresses hatred of sb/ sth or a desire to destroy sb/ sth o TONY. God knows there is material progress. Hundreds of millions of people progressing in leaps and bounds towards a materially-progressive heaven.MYRA: Are you pleased about it or are you not?TONY Of course I'm pleased. Down with poverty. EHOW□' Down with the Rich': Berger's writing is at its stirring best when predicting the overthrow of authority. NS O up (with) sb/ sth. drag one's feet [V + O] proceed unwillingly.or with delaying tactics, in a course that one must or should take □(The convoy system) was a tremendous success. And the people at the Ad-miralty were amazed. They still dragged their feet for some time to come. But by August it was perfectly clear that this was the answer and they must simply go ahead full speed, and they did. L□(advertisement) Drag your feet much longer and you' ll end up kicking yourself. Save As YouEarn is the most profitable guaranteed NationalSavings plan ever, OBS o The site could tem-porarily be used as a sewage pumping station, if only to remind our foot-dragging friends that we are still aware of the problem, and hope that 156 they are. SC口 attrib use foot-dragging friends,bureaucracy etc. draw (a) blank [V + 0] fail to obtain, learn,find sth one is searching for, or hopes to get(from drawing a blank ticket in a lottery, but draw blank is a hunting term for failure to start game in a covert etc where one hoped to find it)o So we wanted it known for certain if there really were any diamond mines in Liberia. We had nothing to go on, and the British andAmerican Embassies in Monrovia, who were equally worried about the problem, had also drawn a complete blank. DS □ I came upon various interesting objects, but noí the typescript. There was no sign of the thing. Finn had drawn a blank too. We searched the other rooms, but without much hope. UTN□ Well, he might be at his club, but if you draw blank there,I don't know where to suggest. draw blood [V+ O pass] injure sb sufficiently seriously to make him bleed;(fig) hurt sb's feel-ings; arouse injured resentment; score a victory over sb o And although the future Prime Minis-ter (Disraeli) was smaller and not so strong he was like lightning on his feet. Besides, he had been taking boxing lessons for three years. Soon he succeeded in drawing blood from his op-ponent, and at last the boy collapsed. OBSa ' Oh,Clun feels doubts about Pforzheim's proficiency in Arabic,' Gerald said. 'I hope he raises that in the discussion,' said Theo. ' Pforzheim' ll make rings round our Arthur.'' Well, you must let me know if he draws blood.'□Dawson doesn't care about the critics. Anyhow, critical disclaim can hardly drew blood from a man who went through the swamp fever of the provincial clubs in the Fifties. TVTo First blood was drawn by the home team, with a goal scored within five minutes of the start of play.□ dramw the first blood =` be the first to draw blood, or to score in some contest’. draw breath [V + O] live;(begin/ continue to)exist o She was as kind a woman as ever drew breath.□ The warning signs were clear before the new government drew breath. OBS□(late 17thc)Verse drama would have to be overtly formal.and probably composed in strict couplets, if it were to stand a chance in drawing breath— the language had lost its innocence beyond hope of recovery and only discipline could restore it to delight. STo She won't want for a friend as long as I draw breath. ◇ △next entry. draw/ take(a/ one's) breath [V + 0]breathe; breathe in; pause to breathe adj: deep,long, another, one's last. A: lightly, painfully oI suppose Sir Mortimer had to seem to be talking to somebody but in fact, he was entirely self-sufficient. He hardly drew breath. Lo Sarah drew& deep breath before replying. WoCharlesLamb said he wished to draw his last breath through a pipe and exhale it in a pun. □ A useful trick, if ever you want to avoid being interrupted.is not to draw breath at the end of a sentence but to carry straight on, breathing when you can in mid-flow. a As he slid the third slide under the microscope he drew his breath sharply, causing his colleague to look up from his work. a ' Take two or three deep breaths before you jump in.said the swimming instructor. You can hold your nose if you like.'D draw never followed by pl <157> draw/ make comparisons--dressed to kill morals. breaths. ◇△ previous entry. draw/ make comparisons[V+ O pass] com-pare sb/ sth with sb/ sth else o No one is so much disliked as he who persists in ' drawing com-parisons, he spoils the party spirit. UL □ ' She runs her house in quite a different style from MrsRose, the home help replied, but they' re both very nice ladies to work for, and I see no call to make comparisons.'o Punish or reward a child as he deserves, but don't draw comparisons with his brothers or sisters. D often used to sug-gest that the comparison is unjust, or tactless,instead of being based on merits or demerits objectively considered. draw sb's/ the enemy('s) fire[V + O pass]cause the enemy to concentrate gunfire etc:(fig)cause sb to concentrate attack, criticism, un-welcome attentions, etc in a particular direc-tion, against particular groups, objects etc in order to divert such attack from sb/ sth else oThere was no shortage of police volunteers to draw the killer's fire by attacking the front of the building while an attempt was made to rescue his hostages from the rear. o Elsie feared that tempers were rising and, brave girl, she drew her father's fire upon herself. RMo'I can't imagine heing afraid of a woman, ' Harold said, trying not to sound unsympathetic. ' Oh, can't you? Well,you don't know Elspeth. We shall get through it somehow. You must draw her fire, Harold Play up to her, won't you?' pw draw it mild [V + 0 + A] moderate one's speech or behaviour; not exaggerate a descrip-tion, overstate a case (from a request for mild.or light, beer in public houses etc where dif-ferent kinds of beer are sold on draught)□ Oh.come on, Bill. Draw it mild. That's no sort of language to be using in front of kids.□Conditions were, in fact, even worse than I had described butI drew it a bit mild for fear of not being believed at all, o often imper.come it strong. draw/ point a moral [V + 0 pass] perccive and / or point out that there is a moral lesson to be learnt from sth that has happened, a story etc□ (source) He left the name, at which the world grew pale,/ To point a moral, or adorn a tale. THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES(SJOHNSON1709-84)□ Tales deliberately concocted so that we may draw a moral from them don't appeal greatly to children and no class I ever taught were much interested in ' Aesop's Fables'. o A riffle through the daily papers turned up little to light-en the general gloomexcept an item that told how when a wolf escaped in a zoo, people were put behind bars. There is obviously a moral hereNomewhere waiting to be drawn. SC□Our mother was # great drawer of morals and the various fortunes of our neighbours provided her with numerous examples of what we shouldemulate or avoid. a We also believe that, given the facts,people nowadays are anxious to make up their own minds—— and that we shall not always need to draw obvious conclusions or point familiar morals. NS □ A grave defect of the English oratorio was the inadequacy of the libretti so enthusiastically produced by the Anglican poetasters ((derogatory) = versifiers) who found in the most murky episodes of the Old lestament fit material not merely to adorna tale hu t to point a moral. L o variant a drawer of draw sb's/ sth's teeth/ fangs [V + O pass]render sb/ sth harmless, take away from sb/ sth the means to cause fear or harm o Scottish in-dependence, the speaker said, was more a matter of personal characteristics than of national am-bition. In any case, the teeth of the ScottishLion had been drawn over three centuries ago.□He was an elderly homosexual, who had corrup-ted a few boys in his time, but was comparatively harmless now. His fangs were drawn, he declared sadly. AITC□ The British family. pos-sible loss of earnings apart, does not have to bud-get for possible illness. The National Health Ser-vice has drawn the teeth of that bogey. dread the moment(when)[V+ O] be wor-ried about, or merely not be looking forward to, sth that will, or may, happen o Pauline spent three wretched hours at the cinema dreading the moment when she must go home and face her husband again. BMo ' The Principal wants to see you in his room.’ Jane said. ‘Oh dear,’ Mary whispered hastily to her neighbour, this is the moment I' ve been dreading.'o The thought of having to take my turn at climbing down the rope-ladder scared me stiff, but when the dreaded moment came I found it much less of u n ordeal than lexpected. O variant the dreaded moment. dress the part [V + O] clothe oneself suitably for what one has to do, for the role or function one has to perform----perhaps merely in order to conform with convention or the expectation of others o Charles seemed not to realize the sacred duty of dressing the part. Even as an undergraduate he had not worn corduroys or coloured shirts. HD□ You can't possibly open theHighland Games without dressing the part.You' ll have to hire a kilt and all the trimmings.□ 'I thought of phoning to warn you it would be a dirty job, but'---he added, glancing at Jim's grubby jeans——I see you' re dressed for the part, so that's all right.'a ' le xpect that' ll be the old lady's solicitor that came in just now. '' He's dressed for the part, anyway. You don't see many people wearing a morning coat and striped trousers, even at a funeral, nowadays.'o variant be dressed for the part. the dress rehearsal [Comp/O (NP)] the final practice performance of a play, with full cos-tume, scenery etc in the same form as it will be presented to the public;(fig) an episode which precedes a similar but more significant event V:be; hold, stage o ' The dress rehearse di dn't go too well.'' Oh well, they know now what can go wrong. It' ll be all right on the night, you' ll see.'□ He was going to stage Myra's wedding all over again, as if to rub in the fact that the first one had been nothing but a dress reheersal, and this time she was really getting married. CON dressed to kill(informal) dressed in very fine and striking-looking clothes (the implication usually being that there is a lack of taste, a gaudiness, too many adornments, etc)o BrendaRawnsley, dressed to kill in the New Look,chartered a four-seater aeroplane, with money borrowed from the bank, and flew across theChannel one summer Sunday in 1948. OBS□She had done her utmost to remind him of the con-ditions agreed on when he asked her out, insisting 157 <158> (in) dribs and drabs— drop a hint , on paying her share and backing this up by having dressed as hard not to kill as she could,short of frumpishness. TGLY (in) dribs and drabs {n + n non-rev](infor-mal)(in) small irregular amounts; by irregular action V: get, impart, reveal, sth; approach,deal with, tackle, sth o She had concocted the whole story from dribs and drabs of gossip picked up at back doors and in the shops.□Wales have given British soccer many great players.But always in dribs and drabs . If only they had all arrived in the same generation. then Wales would certainly have been potential world cham-pions. TV7 a Certainly there is an illiteracy problem in Britain by the old measure——a read-ing age of the average nine-year-old. It is tackled at the moment in drib $ and drabs, a volunteer teacher scheme here, a local authority class there. NS□ also used as [A(PrepP)] as shown in second and third examples. drink/ drain the cup of sorrow etc[V + Opass] (formal) experience great sorrow etc o:sorrow, △ sadness: humilation, shame o / was mistaken in supposing that I had drained the cup of humilation to the dregs. My ex-wife was now to inform me that our' child was not my own. □ After all their high hopes for their sons.they' ve had a bitter cup to drink: one a drug addict, one in jail, and now the youngest diag-nosed a dangerous psychopath.□ variant drink a bitter cup = ‘experience humiliation’. drink like a fish (informal) drink too much alcohol too often, as a regular habit o He claims that it was the loss of his wife that drove him to drink, but believe me, he was drinking like a fish long before that.□‘Who’ s Alphonse?’ Pop said.' He is the chef. He is not an easy man.'Drinks, Ma thought. Sheknew. Nearly all cooks drank. Like fishes, too, though perhaps you couldn't blame them. BFAo It stands to reason,doesn't it, that you can't have money for clothes.or anything else, if you drink like a fish. drive a hard bargain [V + O] (have the means, power, or cunning to) force a bargain;contrive an exchange of goods and services that is either unfair or to one's own advantage oWhether we buy the furnishings along with the house depends on what you' re asking for them.'' Look,I'm not trying to drive a hard bargain. If you care to get any reputable value r in to look at the stuff, I' ll let you have them at his valuation.'□Goran chief executive.40-year-old Archie Gil-christ, has been hunting a purchaser. It was a pretty tense period, he admits, and Pao coming along in the nick of time, has managed to drive a hard bargain. ST o Now that the supplying countries have drivers a hardbargain and cashed in again at the expense of the UK consumers, we can begin to reckon up the cost of not having this sugar business thought out and properly agreed.SC drive sb made to [V + O + Comp pass] cause sb to lose his/ her sanity; (fig) make sb angry,exasperated, distraught etc; send sb crazy(qv)Comp: mad;(informal) △daft, crazy;(slang)crackers, bonkers o It drove one man mad:another to his grave. It caused bitter controversy and cost a fortune. Now it merely exasperates. It is the new Palace of Westminster, more famous as the Houses of Parliament. SCo It's always me 158 who's the louse, and honestly, Jim, you' re so God damn forbearing and unselfish that sometimes it's enough to drive a man med. AITCoJO: There's a gas stove in here. How do I light it?HELEN: How do I— with a match. Wouldn't she drive you mad? JO: I know that, but which knob do I turn?TOH o ' Gosh!' she said. ' Who'd work in a dry-cleaning shop. This afternoon nearly drove me crackers.’ PEoI offered to look after the two boys for her while she was in hospital but I'm just about driven daft with the pair of them, althoughI'm used enough to children. drop one's nitches [V + O pass] omit the initial `h` sound in a word where it is present in received pronunciation, as is done in some dialects, egin some London speech□' And when she has to make a public appearance, it's embar-rassing for both of them.'' Why should it be?'Randall asked. ' You mean she drops her nitches or something?'CON D ' It was the ' ead-master kept us back, miss——'e told ' er and me to wait be' ind and ' elp with the milk bottles.'‘Now ’ Harry. say all that again without drop-ping your aitches.’ o often used to suggest, or indicate, origins that might be found socially unacceptable; aitch is name of letter'h'. drop a brick/ clanger [V + O pass](informal)say, or do, sth that causes embarrassment, or that should not have been said or done in the company present o Still careless of how many bricks I dropped, as long as I could be of some use, I asked him why he didn't come back home:at least he had friends there who could keep an eye on him, CON o My series is honest—— it re-ally is, I may have made a few technical blunders.politics are so complicated even the most seasoned MPs drop bricks. TVT o 'I wouldn't know how to behave at a grand function like that,' the old man said. 'I'd be dropping bricks the whole time and upsetting you by doing every-thing wrong.’ o Mary did not realise what eclan-ger she had dropped when she asked her hostess if the soup came out of a tin. D drop a clanger is the more informal expression. drop dead'[V+ Comp](informal) die suddenly(in the middle of some normal activity) o/ said that, of the things one has to expect from old age,I put blindness, being totally bedridden, and dropping dead as the worst, in that order. o' Dropping dead,' he boomed ' has no terrors for me.'SToI' ve got enough money in my pocket to last me the rest of my life--provided I drop dead this afternoon. OBS drop doad²[V + Comp](slang) a coarse and/ or violent recommendation to sb to stop bother-ing one, interfering etc; get knotted (qv); get lost (qv); get stuffed (qv) up yours etc(qv)□PAMELA: Mummy says she's common, but that's just because she wears shocking pink socks and says ' drop dead' all the time. FFE□ She could see the point of sex being frank, free and open asPatrick had unwisely put it. What was meant by the expression in practice was a frank, free and open (and immediate) scuttle into bed with some man; to tell them all to drop dead, however frankly, freely and openly did not count as that.TGLY drop a hint [V + O pass] refer indirectly to something; make a suggestion indirectly, or tactfully, in order to give the listener an oppor- <159> a drop in the bucket/ ocean— dust and ashes tunity to do something that the speaker wants him to do o Fiorella couldn' t help dropping d/ c w hints. Gianpaolo, like a true working man.was ullerly impervious to hints. He didn't even unswer. ARGoI knew that in this matter his tem-perument would work like mine, we said yes, but we did not like to be managed. Nevertheless l could drop shint. NMo' Is it true that me and him are--sort of cousins, in a way? Your mother's great-auntie used to drop hints about goings-on in the sixth viscount's days, but I never paid any attention to them, and my advice to you is to do the same .'tMo His visit to France, which was to have started last Tuesday, was posiponed on his plea of influenca. Dark hints were dropped about a diplomatic illness' . OBS O take a hint. a drop in the bucket/ ocean sth of incon-siderable value, importance, esp as compared with something larger in total or in kind adv mod: only, just, no more than a. adj: mere,single, tiny o(source) Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance. ISAIAHXL15□ According toKarl, the diamond which Kutze had lost on BeitBridge was a mere drop in the ocean. The Cop-perbell was lousy with IDB smuggled stones. DS□ In fact, the total resources of the hospital ser-vices would furnish no more than a drop in the bucket by comparison with the needs of the com-munity. L drop sb a line etc[V + 10 + 0] (informal)write sb a brief note etc O: line, △ note, letter□BARNEY : Here, I' ll have to be going. As I say.maybe we can do business together and make some money for both of us. I' ll read it through again, and drop you cline. EGDo Relax with an ice-cool drink. Day dream about Marlon Brando or some celebrity you admire, then drop him a not· to say so. WIo'I think,' his solicitor advised,that before threatening your tenant with the law.you should drop him a letter yourself.'o esp of casual, or friendly correspondence, or of an attempt to keep communications on this foot-ing. drop names [V + O] (informal) over-use the names of celebrated or influential persons in order to impress others with one's acquain-tance with, or knowledge of, them; over-use scientific, technical, specialist words and terms in order to impress a lay audience o By drop-ping a sprinkling of the right nemygs and enough technical jargon I was able to pick up secret files left lying on desks. OBS□ The book is strictly for members and sympathisers but as there are thousands of them, it is sure to give a lot of pleasure, It is unpretentious, it can present names without dropping them, and the tone is contagiously warm. Lo A brief broadcast talk,already crowded with information, is not the place to give references; had I done so, the ac-cusations of name-dropping, now gratuitous,might have had some point. L o Most secret agents are snobbish about their calling. They enjoy name-dropping about cult outs, post-boxes, burnt contacts, double agents, conscious and unconscious agents, de-briefing and the rest.DS □ second sense less usu than first; n com-pound name-dropping. drown one's sorrows [V + O] (informal)drink wine etc to comfort oneself, to forget one's troubles o ' You' re in trouble, aren't you?she said. He shrugged his shoulders slightlyWho isn 't?' Well, there's something in that.Better have another drink and drown our sor-rows. I' ll buy you one this time. Peo They talk about drinking to drown your sorrows, but the more Andrew drinks the more melancholy he gets a We arrived in Edinburgh on the evening after an International rughy match and found the pubs packed out with Welshmen celebrating andScotsmen drowning their sorrows. □ often used lightly. a drug on the market[Comp(NP)} an article.or commodity, not in much demand and dif-ficult to sell V: △ be, become; make sth oSecond-hand cars were a drug on the market inKuwait, where every other semi-skilled in-habitant tore (= drove very fast) sumptuously around in a Chevrolet or Mercedes, imported at cut-throat prices du ty free. BMo The publisher has been accused of using the word ' novel' in connection with these three related stories and two pieces of reportage, to conceal the fact that the book is that supposed drug on the market.a collection of stories. NS a dry/ dummy run an experimental, or trial.performance of a mission, project, the working of a machine, etc o A dummy run of the rescue apparatus, with weighted sucks instead of people.had been organized for the following week. o(headline) Dummy Run With Metric System.Advantage Of Trial. Io It is too early to assess the success of the scheme but if the rest of the` dry run ' trips(to continental hotels) are as suc'-cessful as last weekend's I don't think that many clients will forfeit their deposits on summer book-ings. OBS□It was us tricky a piece of advertising copy as I'd ever had to handle, and the crumpled papers in my waste-basket testified to the number of dummy runs that had preceded the final layout, o attrib use u dry/ dummy run trip. a/ the dumb blonde (cliché) stereotyped fig-ure of femininity, esp as a sex-object or booster of male morale o (reader's letter) I write in praise of Charles Murowitz' s fascinating talk on the dumb blonde. And of course, he is right.the dumb blonde, beautiful und desirable, does not need brains, providing that she is loving and sympathetic. Lo She is alone by choice as much as circumstance, she says. No dumb blonde.with clockwork eyelashes this one, but a woman as shrewd as she is beautiful. TVI o I used to resent being type-cast us a dumb blonde all the time, but now that I' ve proved I can do serious parts I'm quite content to cash in on my physical appearance for some years to come. RTO also pl.dust and ashes' [n + n non-rev] the decom-posed state of sb long dead o (source) ... earth to earth, ashes lo ash@s, dust lo dusc; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.... BOOK OFCOMMONPRAYER□Edward Fitz-gerald could not visit a museum or read history without thinking: The men who did this are dead. ' He saw the dead writers and those they had written about as what they exactly were ul the preseni moment: dust and ashes. NS. dust and ashes²[n+ nnon-rev] sth previously pleasant which has become unpleasant, bitter o.. in his frenzied search to regain those wondrous secret childhood games beside which all the 159 <160> the dust of ages—— each and every pleasures of the adult world were dust and ashes in his mouth. HAA o Chanel (in her autobiography) has produced a gripping success story, which at the same time most morally exposes the dust and ashes of that success. Lthe dust of ages [o (NP)] dust that has lain undisturbed for a long time;(fig) the obliterat-ing effects of the passage of time prep: under;in, from; with □ By courtesy of the local commandant, the labour problem had been solved und Ugarit (an archaeological site) was fast emerging from the dust of ages. SDo The books on the upper shelves were thick with the dust of ages.□Under the psychoanalyst's skilful questioning, memories long buried in the dust of ages hegan to reform themselves. the dust settles(saying) the upset, consterna-tion, confusion, resentment etc aroused by sth slowly lessens, subsides o As the dust began to settle yesterday. one or two facts aboutThursday's controversial programme became established. OBS o Has there been a leak?Downing Street (home of the British PrimeMinister) flatly denied it. Had the journalists been afflicted by some collective delusion? They remained silent. Once the dust had settled, the one certain thing was that for the time being unemployment was being left to respond to the medicine already prescribed. L o often in subordinate clauses beginning when, till, after etc. raise a dust. Dutch courage (informal) courage lent by strong drink, either in the form of assertions as to what one can or will do, or carried over into action o We' ve finished the whisky. Fancy that now. Just when you need your Dutch courage most! OMIHo I woke up thinking: I' ve got to change my hair. I' ve got to get it cut.' I drank a whole bottle of wine for dutch courage and took myself to ' Scissors' in King's Road, London,before I could have any second thoughts about it.TVT □ After my fourth drink it began to seem possible that I could tell my wife what had happened, so I left the pub hoping that my Dutch courage would last till I got home. a Dutch treat(informal) an outing, entertain-ment, social gathering, etc where each person pays his own share of the expenses o'I thoughtGerald had invited you all for this game of golf and dinner at his club-house.' ' Oh no, he has organized it because he's a member, but it's to be a Dutch treat.’ o ’ You’ re spending too much money.' Jenny said.'I'd much prefer to go dutch on our evenings out.’ o variant go Dutch =` share the cost of an outing etc’; both headphrase and variant sometimes written with small d. (in) duty bound to do sth [Comp (AdvP)]required to do sth because it is one's professional duty to do so, or out of a sense of moral obligation; feel obliged to do sth because it is ' one's bounden duty' (qv) V: ▲ be, feel □ E each and every [det + det non-rev] each single individual (person or thing) in a group of people or things, without exception; every last/ 160 ' Since you are turning me out,' I said, ' you are in duty bound to make a constructive suggestion.' You were never in, Jake,' said Dave, ' but I will try to think.'UTNo'I cannot sell you these tablets unless you have a doctor's prescription,' the chemist replied, and added stiffly, as in duty bound. ' o It's nice for an old woman to have somebody drop in for a chat, but I wouldn't like you to feel duty bound to come every other day.a duty call[0/o(NP)] a visit made to sb as part of one's routine of work (eg as a doctor,diplomat etc), or of one's social obligations V:make, pay, receive; go on o I'm afraid I can't give you an appointment at 4.30. That's the timeDr Simpson keeps free to make his duty calls.□ Any diplomat will tell you that most of the first couple of months of a new posting are taken up with tedious but necessary duty calls on theForeign Ministry and on other diplomatic missions. duty calls(cliché) there is work that one must do now; there are obligations that one cannot escape (esp as a reminder to oneself or others that a pleasurable interlude must come to an end)o ' Stay and have another drink, won't you?'' There's nothing I'd like better, but duty calls,I'm afraid' o He had once wanted to become a monk, but with a widowed mother and two younger sisters to support, he had realized that duty called and that he was obliged to train for a professional career. a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary etc[Comp/O (NP)] a thoroughly imbued and committed person of a specified type (the reference is to wool that is dyed before being spun or woven) n: reactionary, conservative,socialist; rogue, villain o Some people see you as a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary. Others think of you as an out-of-date 19th century classical liberal. Your son suggests calling you a libertarian anarchist. L o' Are you making reflections on my morals, old man?'' Yes, I am.You' re nothing but a dyed-in-the-wool incon-siderate rogue.'DIL□ The programme's title is.in this case, slightly misleading. Both the featured guests are to be found more often on the rock-orientated‘Sounds of the 70s’—— but they could open the ears of a few dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists. RT o His real name wouldn't mean anything to you and the last thing I want to do is to throw a man's past in his face, unless he's a double-dyed villain. DS□ If anyone tells you he sat there wholly at ease, looking forward to the moment when the Speaker would call upon him to make his maiden speech, he is a liar of the deepest dye. ST o often, but not necessarily,used of old-fashioned or reactionary qualities,variants, using the same metaphor, a double-dyed reactionary etc, a reactionary etc of the deepest dye, almost always derogatory (or jestingly so). single one etc(qv) n: one (of you, them etc);person, householder; item, object; situation,recommendation, objection; time o There is not <161> each/ every man for himself— early to bed and early to rise one of youmen und women who is not a volunteer.In the hands of each and every one of you lies a civilization. TSTo The astonishing thing was that each and every one of the patients thus treated made a better and quicker recovery than any pulient in the control group. o Each and every discovery can only be examined against histori-cal evidence and historical evidence means here the story as we receive it from Bede. ASA □tautological expression used for emphasis (cf each one, every one). sach/ every man for himself (and the devil take the hindmost) (saying) every-body does what he can to further his own interests, to protect himself, to save his own life etc without considering the interests etc of any-body else; (the) devil take the hindmost (qv)□This is a case of each man for himself. Briggs.u nd if you don't make a clean breast of it to the police I shall have to give them the information in my own interests. EMo For years he had tried to justify to himself that final act of treachery.He no longer bothered now. In Sefton's world it was every man for himself . ARG c He had no regrets about leaving the crowded existence of a big impersonal city with its attitude of every man for himself and the devil take the hind-most. O each/ every man for himself can be used alone with the rest understood; used as warning remark, or reflection on people's behaviour, or as recommendation that one should act in this way. each (one)/ everyone (according) to his taste(s) (saying) (one must accept the fact that) what one (or sb) likes or dislikes is not, or may not be, liked or disliked by sb else o 'I like working for the magazine. ' Everyone to his taste, Helen said, with the air of one who has long outgrown such childish things. AITCo Com-pany (a musical play) is us far removed fromHair' as it is from ' Muhagonny' . Everyone to his taste. however, and plenty of people will love it. Lo used to affirm that tastes differ(but to suggest, perhaps, that one's own taste may be superior). each way/ both ways[A(NP)](horse-racing)(be t money on a horse in the hope of it) either winning or gaining second or third place (as opposed to a bet ' to win' only or' for a place')V: back a horse, the favourite: put£5 on a horse□ Queen's Rook won't lose, ' said Sammy, but were covered anyway by the four-thirty.Twenty-five quid each way on the two of them just to please you. ' UTNo The favourite came in third which must have pleased the bookies as few people had been cautious enough to back it both ways. an eager beaver(informal) sb who is, or who makes himself, particularly enthusiastic and busy about sth, often in minor matters and without any particular need on We were a mixed hunch of 24 students of several nationalities and from all walks of life. We were all eager beavers and wanted to learn, a fortunate minor-ity . SCo The House of Lords is now inhabited by u fuscinating mixture of aged celebrities, public-spiritedexperts and politicalager beass who would like to do something useful if they knew'what their function was. NS□ formerly US army slang for a particularly zealous recruit who is anxious to please; repeated vowel pattern. an early bird(informal) sb who gets out of bed early in the morning or does something earlier than most other people (either as a habit or on a particular occasion)□ You' re a bit of generaly bird, aren't you? I didn't expect to see you down for breakfast after that party last night. o' ShallI leave the door open? If you don't mind, she said. 'I expect several little early birds will be in soon.' rt a △next entry. the early bird catches the worm (saying)the person who seizes the carliest opportunity of doing sth(eg getting up before others, react-ing faster than others to a situation, etc) will get what he wants, be successful at the expense of others etc o (music hall song) She was one of the early birds/ And I was one of the worms. o(NONCE) At eleven o clock in the morning I was certainly no early bird— but the plan still looked fair enough to catch some sort of worm. PPaTheearly bird gathers the worm. ' Mother was saying, and it would he best, if I was to cut new ground, to set out rather early. MM o usu com-ment or recommendation to act; sometimes in the construction it's the early bird (who/ that)catches the worm. ▷△ previous entry. the early days the early period of one's life.career etc; the beginning of a historical process.the development of sth, etc det: the, those.one's o He has no equal—— proving that he was not wasting his time in those early days us a third-rate stand-up comic in second-rate clubs. I□ Most old people are fond of recounting the experiences of their early days. o The early days of the nuclear power programme were mar-ked by some very expensive technical mistakes and considerable bureaucratic hungling. o Since the early days of the Valois régime English corps de ballet have been notoriously well drilled. srd△ next entry. early days yet(saying)(it is) rather too soon to come to conclusions about, or to pass judge-ment on, a situation that has still to develop □I'm heginning to think I shall never be a grand-mother. " For goodness' sake it's early days to be talking like that!''oI hadn't managed to bring the committee round to my way of thinking, but it was early days yet and I still had a few cards up my sleeve. O usu with it's/ it was as reminder or recommendation to be patient, not to be an-xious . ◇ △ previous entry. early on [A (AdvP)] soon after the start of an event, proceeding, discussion etc(that has taken place in the past) o Early on these new discoveries put a strain on the Rhodes selling machinery, and the Diamond Syndicate more or less collapsed. DSo Moreover I agree with whatAlexis said earlier on that the only way to test a hypothesis is by predictions. TBC□' Isn't it a love-ly morning?' ' It was ever so cold early on,' saidBobby Reynoids. TTO usu with past tenses of the v that is modified. la ter on. early to bed and early to rise, (makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise) (saying)if one lives sensibly and without excesses one will benefit physically, materially and mentally□ We knew how to breed' em(= them) good. We were resourceful, imaginative, tough, reliable.We were early to bed and early to rize, heal-thy, wealthy and wise. CON o(NONCE) It has 161 <162> earn/ turn an honest penny etc---easy come, easy go had to be early to bed and early to rise with me most of my life but though I'm certainly healthy and I may be wise. I'm still waiting for the wealth. □ (parody) Early to rise and early to bed,/ Makes a man healthy, weekthy and dead! O NASH 1902-71 口 usu comment, or recommendation to act. earn/ turn an honest penny etc[V + O]earn some amount of money as a result of one's(honest) work O: penny、△copper; cent, dollar;coin o RONNIE This notion of earning an honest penny is all my eye. A man can work a whole lifetime and when he is 65 he considers himself rich if he has saved a thousand pounds.Rich! CSWB□ Soon Elliott was turning further honest coppers by giving poetry recitals as well as lectures, Lo BLACK: Look, give us a break-help me earn an honest coin——I'm not really a traveller in tombstones. HSG o often used euphemistically or self-mockingly to hide one`s interest in money. earn one's/ its keep [V + O] be sufficiently useful, helpful and profitable to balance any expense incurred (eg in housing, feeding or maintaining oneself or itself) $; assistant; cow,pig; tractor, van; duplicator o Jill more than earns her keep with the help she gives me about the house and looking after the children and so on. □I don't keep hens any more. What with the high price of feeding-stuff and the little I got for eggs, they weren't morning their keep.□Though it's quite expensive to hire and maintain, the new copying machine is learning its keep us we' ve been able to reduce the number of office staff.◇△ next entry, make a/ one's living. earn a/ one's living [V + O](have to) work.for a wage or salary, in order to obtain the food.services etc necessary to maintain oneself adj:(a) good, decent, respectable;(one's) own o He hadalwaysgathered that manual workersbelong-ed to Unions and that anyone who tried to earn a living with his hands without the blessing of theUnions was in a very dangerous position. HDoIt's high time you were earning your own living, my boy. You can't expect me to support you for ever.□ pl They earn their living(s) on the land. △previous entry; make a/ one's living. one's/ sb's ears burn be aware that, think that, other people are or have been discussing one, one's (good or bad) character, etc(from the physiological fact, or belief, that one's ears become hot or flushed with blood in embarras-sing situations) o Well, some folk's ears must have been burning tonight. I never heard such a lot of gossip us went on in that back kitchen. oDid he have anything to say about me and my new ventures?’ Not really, your name was men-tioned in some connection or other, but it was nothing to make your ears burn. ' o often with must have or make. one's ears/ eyes deceive/ do not deceive one what one thinks one has heard or seen is not actually/ is actually true or a fact; one's senses mislead/ do not mislead one into think-ing something has happened o Do my eyes deceive me, or are these real orchids you have growing in that pot?□ That's the train coming now if my girls don't deceive me. □ usu interr(expecting a confirmation of what one hears or sees) or conditional(with neg if. . . not, unless). ease sb's conscience/ mind [V + O pass]give sb some relief from worry, guilt or fear; set sb's mind at ease/ rest (Vol 1) (qv) S: news,report; verdict、 decision; it... to know everyone was safe o ' ll would ●●常● my mind,' said Mar-tin, ' if I could explain a little what I mean.'NM□ Doctors must use their own judgement of course, but in many cases the patient's mind is greatly messaged if his treatment is explained to him. □I'm sure my husband wasn't offended by anything you said last night. Still, if it' ll eese your mind, I can ask and make sure. 口 also pl ease their consciences/ minds; usu with will/ would.easier said than done [Comp (AdjP)] (say-ing) suggesting some course of action is very much easier than actually carrying it out (esp if the person proposing it expects others to do it)$: it; writing the letter, moving house, putting up the new shelves; to write the letter, to move house, to get agreement to the plan. V: △ be,look, seem o The essence of all reducing diets is to eat less— often musicr said than done—— and keep eating less than before. RT o Wormold thought, I have no arsenic or cyanide. Besides Iwill have no opportunity to drink with him. Ishould have forced that whisky down his throat.Easier said than done, off the Elizabethan stage. OMIHa Forcing a child to eat is emsler said thinks done. O often rueful comment on the difficulty of doing sth. East is East and Westis West and never the twain shall meet (saying) there are,there may be thought to be, great differences in people or things(eg races, cultures, beliefs, at-titudes) which are fundamental and not likely to be brought together □ (source) Oh, East isEast, and West is West, and never the twain shell meet./ Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgement Seat. THE BALLAD OFEAST AND WEST(RKIPLING1865-1936)□ The courses available for students have been arranged on the usual assumption that the Arts ere the Arts and the Sciences the Sciences, and never the twain shall meet. o The professional film critics have separated the ' commercial' films from the artistic' pieces of cinema, determining that never the twain shallmeet. NS口 twain = arch-aic form of two; often adapted, as in second example; either first or second part can be used alone, as in last example; originally comment on the difference between Asian (Eastern) andEuropean (Western) cultures and occas still used in this way. East,(or) West, home's best(saying) one's home(ie one's house, home town, native land,etc) is where one is likely to be happiest. esp in comparison with other places one may be at the time, may have visited, may have returned from etc; there's no place like home(qv)o'I was born there. Yes. It is a very small town, some old walls.a castle in ruins-- - ' East or West,' Beatrice said, home's best. 'OMIHO sentimental jingle often written on calendars, door-knockers, pot-tery etc. easy come, easy go (saying) what has been acquired too easily or quickly, without effort or trouble(eg money, friends, knowledge) is(like-ly to be) spent, lost o What you chiefly notice(about American society), after the shock of seeing so much stuff lying around, is precisely 162 <163> easy/ gently does it—(let us) eat, drink and be merry that it does he around and is easily lent or given away We might produce a so ur British phrase to explain that- - easy come, easy go'-but we wouldhe wrong . Lo There is a popular notion that speed of learning is related negatively to the amount remembered. The learning of the bright student who acquires knowledge with case and speed is felt to be unstable easycome, easygo.MHFO easy/ gently does it (saying) handle, move,lift, lower, an object with great care so as not to damage it; handle a situation, deal with a per-son, with great delicacy, patience etc so as not to ruin it, upset him, etc; softly, softly (catchee monkey)(qv)o We' ll slip the edge of the blanket under you and use it to slide you on to the stretch-er. There you are, you see, easy does it' of won't ask her vet what's the matter, he decided. Easy does it. He plied her with drinks and little atten-tions, and was rewarded by seeing colour return to her cheeks and naturalness to her manner. pw o ' No call to get worked up.' Mr Fiske said.Gently does it. AITC. O advice to sb. or caution to oneself, to act patiently etc. easy game etc[Comp(NP)] sb or sth that is or can be easily attacked, victimized or taken ad-vantage of V: △be, appear, become; make sb.n: game, △ meat, prey □ She was easy game,or rich material for satirists. She is said to have been a mainstay for certain satirical novelists of the twenties. AHo Down on the coastal plain lay the great Roman cities which must now or shortly he battlefields in the main advance and therefore easy meat for any dog that came along. SD□ He was rich, he was young, he was foolish. He was easy prey for any scheming woman who came along. O game and meat are uncountable nouns(no article); prey is uncountable or countable.eg He was (un) easyprey for... easy in one's mind [Comp (AdjP)] more relaxed and reasonably content about sb. sth,some situation, etc V:△be, feel, seem; make sb o Phone us in the morning, Lilian. Your mother won't be easy in her mind till she knows you got back safely aI know he's said he doesn't need the money just now, but I'd be easier in my mind if we got out of debt now while we have the chance.□ He feels easier in his mind now that the whole story is out. o also pl; usu with will/ would be. easy money [Comp/O (NP)] money in return for very little work, trouble, or initial outlay(the implication often being that some dishonesty is involved)S: selling cars, teaching.flower-arranging, giving pop concerts. V: be.appear, seem: make a Here we have the case of a hitherto conscientious official tempted by what seemed to be easy money into not thinking too closely about the possible consequences of what he was asked to do. SCo One treated them with tact, with finesse, und after a time, perhaps, one got an occasional good racing tip from them and made a little easy money. PE□Taking parties of six to eight people round the bay for an hour at f5 a head seems pretty easy money to me. ◇△a fast etc buck. easy on the eye [Comp (AdjP)] (informal)quite pretty, good-looking (in the opinion of the observer or speaker)$: girl, woman; nurse,secretary. V:△be, find sb. adv: very, rather oPeggy is not quite so good-looking as her sister bul very easy on the eye, all the same a used to describe a woman. ◇△ next entry. easy/ hard on the eyes etc[Comp (AdjP)](be sth) causing little strain (considerable strain) to one`s eyes etc V: △ be, become, get,grow. o: the eyes, the hands the legs, the feet:the skin; the nerves, the digestive system o This close italic print is very hard on the eyes.□ Amuseum attendant's job doesn't sound arduous but actually, for an older man, it's likely to be hard on the iegs.□ You have to be careful about soap powders. For all their claims some of them ure rather hard on a delicate skin. a Johnnie's driving this time, so let's hope our return journey will he wesier on the nerves. ◇ △ previous entry. easy/ hard on sb's/ the pocket [Comp(AdjP)] easy/ difficult to afford V: △ be.become, get; make sth' o Package tours have made foreign travel, within a limited range, sur-prisingly easy on the pocket. □ These price in-creases are always hardest on the pocket of the lowest-paid worker. an easy rider (esp US) sb who wanders from place to place (esp on a motor-bike) without settling, and trying to lead an uninvolved life;sb who takes advantage of what society,a situa-tion etc offers but without contributing himself□ Knievel (a stuntman) has no truck with those slovenly Easy Riders: his supersturs are Elvis and John Wayne, NSo He (a militant striker)approves of the Labour Alliance there's no easy riders, no opportunists' — but has not joined their ranks. NS o originally a blackAmerican term for(i) sb good at sexual love,(ii)a guitar, the present meaning has developed from the theme of the film‘Easy Rider’(1969).easy terms [O/o (NP)] (finance) low interest rates on, or a long period in which to repay,a loan to buy goods, services etc, esp in hire-purchase arrangements V: get, offer, let sb have. prep:(buy) on; (offer sth) on o ' Easy terms available' ran the poster across the shop window. ‘Why not refurnish your home now?’ oI'm sure that, as a salaried woman, you'd get a loan on gesier terms from your bank than from any finance company. □ Most easy terms cost the customer a great deal more than if he had been able to buy the goods outright. eat sb alive/ for breakfast [V + O + Comp pass] (informal) be able to dominate, make maximum use of sb and then discard him, esp in a sexual relationship O: him, us, you, them;that type of man,a married man o You want to steer clear of Gloria. She'd eat someone as green as you for breakfast. u ' But watch out for JackWales. Bags of money, about seven foot ta ll and a beautiful R. A. F. moustache.'I laughed. 'I eat those types for breakfast. 'I said . RATT□ He' ll get eaten alive if he tries anything on with Bar-bara. o esp used of a woman's domination etc of a man in a sexual relationship. (let us) eat, drink and be merry (for tomorrow we die)(saying) we should enjoy ourselves while we can because life is uncertain,we should not concern ourselves about the future □ (source variously ascribed but see) Aman hath no better thing under the sun, than to oat, and to drink, and to be merry.ECCLESIASTES VIII 15oLet use nt and drink: for 163 <164> eat humble pie— either way tomorrow we shall die. ISAIAH XXII 13□ Let's leave the rest of this work for another day. I'm in the mood to eat, drink and be merry and the rest of you had better be too. o(NONCE) He holds the broad view that taking one year with another, as all good Chancellors of the Exchequer do, it is not only pleasant but prudent to get, drink and be merry for tomorrow is another day. NS Ousu said in support of a selfish, pleasure-loving attitude, or in a disapproving spirit. eat humble pie(have to) be more respectful or apologetic than one has been before. usu because one has been proved wrong in one's opinions or statements(from, in former times,‘umbles`—— the entrails of a decr—— served in a pie to huntsmen etc while the nobility etc had better meat)o If John's wife did take him back,would she have the sense not to make him eat humble pie for the rest of his life?□ Both sides claimed afterwards that there had been straight and frank talking, but it seemed obvious that theGovernment were cock-a-hoop and the TUC(Trades Union Congress) & eting humble pie.SC. eat like a horse(informal) eat well, consume large quantities of food, either on one specific occasion or as a habit o It doesn't seem fair thatI should have a constant struggle to keep my.weight down while you can eat like a hors@ and always stay the same.□ Cosmo was eating little,Matthew was pretending to eat sparingly, but putting a surprising amount away, and DorothyMerlin was geting like a horse, stuffing food into her small frame. US □ often used disap-provingly of greedy people. eat a peck of dirt/ dust before one dies(saying) one is bound to take in with one's food a certain amount of dirt from the air, in the course of one's life o 'I wonder if these strawber-ries have been washed properly? They taste a bit gritty to me.’ ' What of it? You' ve got to get者peck of dirt before you die. anyway.’ a(of a married couple in an illustrated advertisement)They need more sleep in their eyes, they need at least a little rumpling and staleness, just as the room needs at least a small crack in the plaster.and the sunbeams a suggestion of that dust which, whether we come from it or not, we all eat a peck of before we die. RATT o The truth is.that all alcohol is filth. But we are compelled to swallow our peck of it, as it were, before we die, in order to conform to the conventions of an idiot society. US□ peck =‘a dry weight measure.equal to 2 gallons`; usu preceded by one/everybody has to(is bound to, we/ you (all) have to. eat oneself sick (on sth) (informal) eat too much(of sth, esp at one meal) so that one either feels sick or (occas) is actually sick and vomits o: sweets、 chocolate, ice-cream o Come to Lon-don and have a slap-up lunch with me on ex-penses. We' ll eat ourselves sick on lobster atPremier's, HAAo She'd eat herself sick on ice-cream if I let her. eat/ drink (sth) till/ until it comes out of one's ears (informal) eat/ drink excessively oHer cooking is disappointingly received by her two children. Kate,12, and Matthew,10.'I think they' deat beefhurgers and chips and sausage and mash until it come out of their girls.'RT o 164 We' ve got butter coming out of our ears in the canteen at work, ever since the ' more dairy products' petition was handed in. D variant (have sth) coming out of one's ears. eat one's words [V + O](be forced to) take back what one has previously said was true,certain etc(because of changed circumstances,new evidence, etc)o They can't eat their words fast enough about Donald. I must say he seems to have been very tactful all round. ASA o If the.Government agree to‘# at their words’ and pump in more public money what is going to hap-pen? To No Prime Minister is committed to the expulsion of South Africa at the moment, al-though some are having to do a certain amount of word-eating. SC o unusual n compound word-eating. ebb and flow[v+ v non-rev] move backwards and forwards regularly and continuously as the tides of the sea do, sometimes decreasing and sometimes increasing in quantity; fluctuate,alter, in intensity o Pigeons wandered unconcer-nedly about the station concourse seeking the odd crumb here and there while round them the tide of commulers ebbed and flowed. □ He lay in a comfortable half-doze, just aware of the noise of the traffic as it obbed and flowed in the street.□ After such a heavy lunch he found it difficult to follow the course of the arguments as they ebbed and flowed around him. □ first sense used of people or things, second sense used of con-versation, noise, abstract ideas, etc. ◇△ next entry. the ebband flow(of sth) [n+n non-rev] the constant movement (of sb or sth) changing in quantity throughout a period of time; the decrease and increase in intensity (of conversa-tion, noise, abstract ideas, etc) det: the, an; this,that o The cameraman and his sound-recordist had to catch the ebb and flow of conversation and the peaking of tension between one member of the family and another. L o I knew by ex-perience that she suffered this mysterious obb and flow of mood, but I felt slightly reassured ifI could link it with some external event. SPL oThus there was a continual interchange at Cairo,●constant obb and flow of strange faces and of strange goods displayed for sale. BN ◇previous entry. eff and blind [v+ v non-rev](slang) curse and swear o They wouldn't let him mess around with the radio so he started offing and blinding and threw their books on the floor. CSWBaI' ma Lon-doner and have played Cockney characters all my life. My image is that of a drunken old cow.When I'm not working, I don't swear all the time.If I go out I don't go offing and blinding everywhere. RTo usu occurs in - ing form or (eg with start) as to-inf; eff =‘fuck’, blind=‘blind me' or‘blimey’; euphemism. either way [Disj(NP)] whichever of the two is considered or chosen; whether sth is true or not;however things turn out; one way or the other(qv) V:(not) matter,(not) be important,(not)care; win, lose o ' I'm not a Templar after all.Nicky and Sarah aren't Templars. We' re nice people!’‘It didn’ t matter,’ said Fergus. ’ I loved you other way.'o In the days of goodHollywood comedies, such a marital quarrel used to end with a reconciliation in which the career- <165> woman gave up her career. Today the hushand changes his job. Either way it is a fairy-tale. STc usu front or end position. an elder statesman sb who has held (high)office in government, business management,etc. for a long period and who, though he may have retired, is still likely to be asked for opinions and advice o It was to be expected that the chuirman of the Parliamentary Party might also he given a free run (ie be returned unop.posed by any other candidate) in view of the widespread affection felt by everybody for this eider statesman. STo Cicero distinguished his year in office by undoing the lethal conspiracies of Catilinc: after which he grew yet further, from statesman to eider statesman, from doyen to oracle.()BS□ also pl elder statesmen. an embarrassment of riches (the state of)having more things to choose from, to use, etc than one can really cope with or than one actu-ally needs(from the French phrase embarras de richesses which is also used in English) □ But an embarrassment of riches is perennial on radio.One of the problems for anyone with catholic lustes is that last Saturday, for example, he'd have to choose between the ' Arts Commentary'on Radio 3 and ' The Entertainers' on Radio 4. Lthe emperor has no clothes(saying)(some sensible person at last points out that) what the majority of people blindly accept as existing or true (because other more influential people have said so), does not in fact exist, is complete-ly false etc o (source) In a fairy story an em-peror is persuaded by two swindlers that they have fitted him with a suit of fine clothes that are‘invisible’, but do not in fact exist; he pretends to admire them until - - - - ' Bul the Em-peror has nothing on at all!' cried a little child.THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES (H C ANDERSEN1805-75)□ The last story concerns a European couple and the way in which the wife, seeking to immerse herself in India, still retains her ability to see that the emperor ( in the guise of mysti-cism or eastern eroticism) very likely wears no clothes at all, SC□ expression, esp when based on the title of the story, often adapted and modified. end one's/ its days [V+ O] spend the last part of one's/ its life in a particular way or place (esp after having done sth else in the main period of one's/ its existence, or having served some other purpose)S: he, she, we, you, they; retired bank manager, statesman; racing-horse, pit-pony;paddle-steamer, steam engine. A: in peace; in the country, on the farm; in a junkyard, in a museum, as a tourist attraction of I am reminded of this by a letter from an old friend who writes to me that he has decided to end his days inHullywood. I. o A much-loved pre-war RileyKestrei (car) ended its days stuffed in theMichelmores' kitchen doorway . RT o usu modified by an adv phrase of manner or place in end position. an end in itself [Comp (NP)] looked at as sth in its own right, even though it was originally undertaken for another purpose S: ritual, cere-mony: meeting, reunion. V: △ be, become;regard sth as o We almost came to look upon a meeting at the summit as an end in itself, as though what we were seeking to achieve was a an elder statesman—— the end of the road meeting for its own sake. BMo She goes to see all his films half a dozen times each, she can repeat scraps of gossip about him, but this is an end in itself She doesn't even consider the idea of get-ting any closer to the man. CON o To be progressive, forward-looking' , ' as modern as tomorrow' , is still one of the desirable ends-in-themselves. UL the end is not yat(formal) there are more (or worse) things going to happen, to be said, to be endured (before one can have better things,before a situation improves etc) □(source) For ull these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation.and kingdom against kingdom. MATTHEW XXIV6-7 o Meanwhile, the Sahara desert grows, in-creasing its acreage year by year and within itself growing ever more desert-like as oases, uncon-served, degenerate. And the end is not yet. SCoCheer up, the end is not yet. We' ve still got another couple of weeks to raise the money. the end justifies the means if the result is considered to be important enough, then any method of achieving it, whether right or wrong,should be welcomed and pursued D The hazard to which revolutionaries are particularly prone is not that they will think that the end justifies the means. It is that they will allow the means to dictate the end. I. a Whatever the director's intentions. ' Straw Dogs' is a ' wartime' ends-justify-the-means movie. NS □ (NONCE) The means becomes the end. Law courts are inten-ded to do justice; then the law courts become more important than justice. RT O unusual attib use in second example. ◇ △ a/ the means to an end. (at) the end of the rainbow (fig) the place where all one's hopes are fulfilled (from folk-lore, in which anyone who could locate where a rainbow's end touched ground would find gold buried there) o Since World War Two.more than one and a quarter million Britons have emigrated to Australia, and for millions more it's still the end of the rainbow. TVT□ In 1918 theCity of the Angels(Los Angeles) was the brim-ming pot of fool's gold at the end of theAmerican rainbow, and the roads into LA were packed with hopefuls and dreamers ofevery kind.RT the end of the road' the final place, goal, at which one is aiming, where one can find peace,satisfaction etc;(a) journey's end(qv)V: it be...(for sb/ sth); reach, come to, arrive at o(source)Though your heart be weary, still journey on/ Till you come to your happy abode.[Where all you love and are dreaming of/ Will be there at the end of the road. (popular song sung by) SIRHARRY LAUDER 1870-1950 □ The shop stewards have welcomed the news of a government subsidy with all the calmness and generosity of men who feel they have won a just battle. But it is by no means the end of the road for the Upper Clyde.NS the end of the road² the point at which no further progress is possible, where one is forced to stop, beyond which there is no more hope.where life finishes, etc V: it be. ..(for sb/ sth).reach; be at, come to, arrive at o Father PaulByrn e is Director of the Shelter Housing AidCentre to help families in London. ' When a 165 <166> the end of the world---enough is as good as a feast family comes to SHAC you know you' re at the end of the road for that family, that even the local authority social workers have given up hope of being able to do anything for them.'OBS□ For.him, irrational literary movements like Dada andSurrealism mark the end of the road for bour-geois literature. Lo We have, in fact, got to the end of the road, where the man who determines that objective (of scientific research) has got to justify it to a form of shareholder, whether it be the electorate and their representatives in Parlia-ment, or the shareholder in a company. NS the end of the world[Comp(NP)](informal)completely disastrous for sb;(mean that) sb's comfortable way of life etc will have to stop or change S: defeat, failure; refusal, reluctance,unwillingness(to act); it. V:△be; seem(like),look like o Once a lad had served his time (as an apprentice) he could always try some other job.knowing that failure wouldn't be the end of the world. L □ Refusal (by the Transport andGeneral Workers` Union) to pay would not be the end of the world. The court could then or-der the seizure and sale of enough union property to pay the fine. NS□ often neg. the end product what is finally manufactured after a number of processes have been gone through;(fig) the final result (ega kind of per-son, an idea,a conclusion) that is achieved after some kind of process or effort (eg a type of education, a series of discussions, etc) is com-pleted □ Most of the assembly workers spread through this vast plant never get a sight of the endproduct.□Buta group of pictures organised into a sequence is enormously more powerful than the same slides shown individually. The end product can express much more than most of us can express with words. RT end to end [A(n + n)] with the (short) side of one touching the (short) side of the next, and the longer sides forming a continuous line V: lie;put, place, lay, sth o Put your two card-tables end to end over by the window and the kids can have their meals there for the time being.□At the foot of each page were snippets of useless in-formation such as that if all the cockroaches inLondon were laid end to end they would stretch right across the Atlantic and back again. □ often occurs in if-cl. the enemy at the gate(s) the threatening presence of enemy forces very close to one's homeland, one's cities etc; (fig) any imminent threat to, or attack on, oneself, a particular form of society, one's beliefs o For centuriesBritain had had to wage no foreign wars within her own confines. Things were rather different in the last war as the civilian population had the reality of the enemy overhead as well as at the gate.□ There is today a new guemy at thegate.Inflation may have become a capitalist bogey word—— but in fact it is a far more terrifying spectre for socialists than for anyone else. NS△ next entry. the onemy/ traitor within (the gate(s)) a traitor; sb who acts, or is thought to act, against the interests of the family, group, society etc of which he is a member o Wherever Jenny had got to, there was not much left of that elaborate structure of love and obligation which the two of them had been struggling to assemble. The 166 gremy had been within the getes, he intoned.TGLY o Books are felt to be alien, and the traitors are within the gates. Mr Wain has met people ' employed in university literary studies'who actually concur in their pupils' self-important supposition that the present is dif-ferent from anything preceding it and so renders the past irrelevant. LO △ previous entry. the English etc dearly love a lord (saying)the English etc have a high regard for titled nobility, are flattered to have dealings with or be noticed by any of its members $: the English shareholders; they, we o Mr Worsthorne holds that the common people defer to birth but not to mere position: they dearly love a lord but they can't stand a bureaucrat. Lo Their contribution towards management is often negligible but their names lend weight to a directors' list, for shareholders too, it seems, dearly love a lord.□ It is rather remarkable that almost two cen-turies after the fall of the monarchy, and after not one but half a dozen French revolutions, thePresident of the Republic should claim descent from the Bourbons and the Minister of theInterior from a niece of Charlemagne. The Eng-lish are not the only people who love a lord. STan Englishman's home is his castle(say-ing) (in England a citizen is, or thinks he is,entitled under Common Law to consider that)his home is a place in which he may do as he wishes, where he may remain private, and from which he may exclude anybody □(source) For a man's house is his castle, et domus sua cuique tutissimum refugium (and his own home is to each person the safest place of refuge). In-STITUTES (SIR EDWARD COKE 1552-1634)□ ' He is a milord?’‘Down to the ankles,’ Angela Shaw said.' And like every Englishmen he's sure his home is his coatle.’ BFA□Jack clearly enjoys his home and his privacy. ' The old bit about an English-man's home being his castle fits me to a T.'TVT o used of a man/ men alone, and, by im-plication, of men and women together but not used of a woman/ women alone. enough/ plenty to be getting/ going on with [Comp/O (AdjP)] (be, have) as much as one needs or can use, temporarily;(have done)an adequate amount of work (so as to be able to rest); (have obtained) a reasonable amount of information (so as to know how to act etc)V: be; have(got), have completed o Jacob, how-.ever, had better luck at the top of the tree, and soon lowered down a bag of twenty specimens,which I thought was quite enough to be getting on with. BB□ Ned was now going to bed withMyra, and Stocker knew all about it or enough to be going on with. CONo' Have you got all the paper you need?''I' ve got plenty to be going on with, thanks.’ enough is as good as a feast(saying) what one has got, done etc should be quite sufficient and anything more is not needed, will bring no additional pleasure or benefit etc; next entry(qv) o ' Why can't we have more blackberries,Mummy?’‘Because · nough is as good as a feast, You' ll have blackberries coming out of your ears if you eat any more.’□ Then she decided to go and say good-bye to the Larkins and then,a moment later, impulsively decided not to after all. Enough, after all, was me good we see d. <167> enough is enough— the error of one's/ sb's ways BFA D warning to oneself or others that enough has been said or done. enough is enough(saying) what one has said,done etc, is quite or more than sufficient, so that nothing else needs to be said etc; previous entry(qv) o But on the last day, since I had been a diligent bottle-washer, the chief chemist took me by the arm and said ' Enough is enough. But before you go you shall do something that really matters.'NS□And for nearly four years the trio barn-stormed the world, earning both cash and credit, until Miss Ross decided enough was enough. To ' She said she wanted to commit suicide. '' Now that's enough!' Stanley was sharp.He glared at Alice. ' Enough's enough.'TSMP□usu said as indication or warning that what is going on must be stopped. enough to make one weep etc[Comp(AdjP)] (informal) be so distressing or disgust-ing that one needs to weep etc S: destruction,slaughter; smell, sight; neglect. V: △ be,become, find sth. Inf: to make one weep,△ to make one cry, to make one throw up; to make a cat laugh; to drive one to drink □ This absurd posturing is mough to make you throw up. oIt's enough to make you weep, seeing all that food go to waste. enough of a fool etc(to do sth) [Comp(NP)] sufficiently foolish etc to perform some action V: △ be; appear, seem. n: fool, △coward, idiot; man,lady□' He wouldn't take the cliff path in the dark, would he?'' He might, the fellow's enough of afool to do anything. 'oI had 'no doubt that Sadie thought it quite possible thatI would be fool enough to buy Mars (a dog).UTN o You aren't morning n enough to scrape up a miserable seventy-five pounds without all this whining. HD□Married, you call yourselves. Well,I'm lady enough never to have asked any ques-tions about that. AITC o variant fool enough etc(to do sth); enough (of) indicates the degree of foolishness etc; usu followed by to-inf. enough/' nough said (informal) one doesn't need to say any more, because one's meaning or intentions have been made clear. □ ' But, my dear Roderick, " Waggett protested, verb. sap means— well, it's short for something. I don't remember what, but it's the same as" Amen" or" Enough said". "RMoEnough said. If you feel like doing your training here, you only have to say so. enter/ join the f ray [V + O] take part in a fight, quarrel, dispute etc(that has already star-ted);(fig) put oneself forward as a contender in some competition (eg for election, for a position of power, etc) □‘Now don’ t you join the fray, she pleaded with her husband.' There's enough people shouting their heads off in here already. 'o Earlier in New Hampshire, where none of his serious rivals entered the fray,Senator Kennedy also polled well. SC enter sb's/ one's head/ mind [V + O] occur to sb/ one; arise, be considered, in sb's/ one's mind $: thought, idea; matter, question; it... to speak to her, it... that she might need help. A:not, never, hardly, seldom, rarely o Any other thought regarding her had never entered his mind. DC□ Economy was important to him but on this occasion the matter of money never entered his head. TBC o I wonder, did it ever enter your head to collect your shoes from the repairers' when you were in the village? □ It did enter my head to ask her why. □ also pl enter their heads/ minds; usu neg or interrog, but see last example. (not) entertain the idea etc[V + O pass](refuse to) accept, consider, an idea, suggestion etc made by sb else ◎: idea, notion; suggestion,proposal; doubt, suspicion o I assure you our firm simply would not entertain the idea of advancing a loan without security. □ This was a case of suicide. Any other swiggestion is simply not to be entertained. EM□ That any child of his might be mentally handicapped was a notion he could not bring himself to entertain. o He did entertain the idea of an overseas post at one time, but decided the risks were too great. o usu neg or with neg implication. (one's/ sb's) entrances and exits [n + n rev} (the acts of, the places for, the times of)coming onto or leaving a stage in a play etc, or coming into and going out of a room etc(often in a rather dramatic way) o (source) All the world's a stage,/ And all the men and women merely players:/ They have their exits and their entrances... AS YOU LIKE IT II 7 o She moved towards the door, as if her entrances and exits depended on her own volition and concerned no one but herself. Pw a Lunch was very good and there was some claret which pleased Mr Down-ing, but owing to Doris's exits and entrimences they could only speak of matters of outside interest . WDM to err is human (to forgive divine) (say-ing) it is in the nature of mankind to sin and to make mistakes(and therefore one should be as forgiving as possible) o (source) Good-nature and good-sense must ever join;/ Toorr is human,to forgive divine. ESSAY ON CRITICISM A POPE1688-1744□ To abandon him (your brother) now would almost certainly lead to further terms of imprisonment. Your parents illustrate the old saying' to orris human, to forgive diving'. TVTa 'I shouldn't have lost my temper. though.' ' It probably didn't improve matters, but to err is human. We can't be perfect all the time.' an error of judgement[Comp/O (NP)] a mis-take in one's assessment of a situation, in some aspect of a course of action that one has under-taken (the mistake may affect only part or the whole of what one does) V: there be; make.commit. adj: serious, gross; minor, small;regrettable o Though he has made serious errors of judgement he has always been a staunch supporter of the principles on whichAtaturk founded the Turkish Republic. OBS□He showed me the report of the court of enquiry: the master and second mate were criticised for errors of judgement but not blamed for the deaths among their crew. RT□I notice that in thisDiary I described the Jenkins plan as ' the one gross error of judgement he made as HomeSecretary'. Let me make amends and admit that this was one gross error of judgement I have made as a diarist. NS the error of one's/ sb's ways[O/o(NP)] the mistakes, sins, omissions etc that arise from the way one/ sb lives, that are present in one's/ sb's thoughts, beliefs etc V:(force sb to, be made to)see, learn, recognize; teach sb, point out to sb o 167 <168> escape (sb's) attention/ notice—— ever more He admits to having expected the deed to be done then and there. But he soon learnt the error of his ways. NS□ Having seen the error of his ways. St Laurent's (fashion) shows are now as organised and civilised as limited space allows.SC□True, he dislikes their racial system, but he is more concerned to propound the advantages of dialogue than lecture the whites on the errors of their ways. SC escape(sb's) attention/ notice [V + O] be missed, not be observed or noticed (by sb) S:point, fact; comment, observation; it... that costs have risen o It surely cannot have= scaped the professor's attention that there has been a big swing in economic opinion on the EEC since the‘Observer’ poll of a decade ago. Lo But the guilt-ridden anxiety and deep depression felt by these patients may often @ scape notice.SNPoIt will no doubt have gicaped the notice of those living south of Alderley Edge, but last Thursday people in the greater Manchester area had 3.4p slapped on their rates. To often neg, with the implication by the speaker that a fact needs to be emphasized or brought out(because sb has overlooked or suppressed it). ie the eternal triangle the sexual relationships(with their accompanying tensions, jealousies etc) between one man and two women, or one woman and two men o It was so fascinating; she knew Dollie and her ' Don Juan', and now this wife. For some it would just be the eternal triangle. ASAo Long Island has developed its own lawdry suburban version of the crime passionel, in which murder supplants divorce as a solution to the sternal triangle. NS even as [Conj](do sth, happen) at the very same time as, just when(sb does sth else, sth else happens) □‘We' re going to have a storm, Ithink, ' Andrew said, and even as he spoke the first flash of lightning shot across the sky. o Even as she remembered his reassuring words Brigit imagined she heard a faint stirring in the direc-tion of the fireplace. DC□ But even as they sat there congratulating themselves on their success.the forces of the law were gradually closing in.口functions as subordinating conj. even if/ though {Conj] in spite of the fact or belief that sth is the case, did happen, or might have happened, etc□ I don't regret lending her the money, even if I never see it again.□The plea of diminished responsibility in his case failed,even though there was some evidence to show abnormality of personality. OBS□That was anice bit of steak - - even if a little overcooked. o functions as subordinating conj with both con-ditional and concessive meaning; occas in non-finite constructions with participle as in last example. even now/ then'[A (AdvP)] not at this or that moment (any more than previously) V: (not)manage, succeed; understand, believe o I could never do sums at school—— in fact I have dif-ficulty in adding up a column of figures correctly,even now.□ They put another two men on the job but even then they couldn't move it.□ He consul-ted two other doctors who both confirmed the original diagnosis but he didn't believe it even their. □ usu in neg constructions. even now/then²[A(AdvP)](formal) at this or that precise moment (while sb is or was doing 168 sth else) V: plan, plot; arrange, prepare; invade,attack o While we are talking and debating, the opposition is went now forming an alliance with the dissidents in order to overthrow the established government. o The news was that the mob had broken down the barricades and were even then preparing to storm the palace.□ with continuous tenses and A often in middle position between aux and main v. even odds [Comp (NP)] (horse-racing) an equal chance, in the opinion of the backers,bookmakers etc of a horse winning or losing;(fig) equally likely to have happened, to happenV:△be, become; make sth a Heavy betting in the morning had the favourite in the Derby being quoted at even odds an hour before the race began. o Well, father's bound to be at the bowling-green or in the pub, but it's even odds which.□' They' re very keen that this first baby should be a boy.’‘Well, the odds are even that it will be, aren't they?' o either The odds are even that he' ll be late or It's even odds that he' ll be late. even so [Conj] nevertheless; in spite of sth (that has happened, may or may not be true etc)□ In the end the Executive struck out the word ' pro-per, but even so the phrase was more than MrNicholas, Mr Cousins’ representative, would stomach. OBS□ Across the road one of the finest collections of art-nouveau and imperial postcards in the world is, as always, never open.But, even so, there are more things worth seeing in this city than you can assimilate in one visit.OBS□ The scientific profession does still tend to operate as though the new Baconian revolution had not yet taken place. Even so, today's scien-tists can now follow a dozen pathways to dis-tinction. OBS ever and anon [adv+ adv non-rev](formal)a number of times, at fairly frequent intervals oAt dawn I had walked into the city,a little ginger-ly, preceded by a sapper who thrust a bayonet ever and anon into the suspect soil (ie because of land-mines). SD。 The dog was restless too,over and anon rising to lay his head on his mas-ter's knee. ever more' [A (AdvP)] (formal) increasingly(anxious, keen etc) as time passes; more and more (qv) S: he, she, you, they, we; child,woman, man; administrator, teacher,politician. V: be, become, grow, seem. adj:anxious; beautiful, dear(to sb); keen, trustwor-thy; stupid,frightening□ The plane was now two hours overdue; relatives and friends waiting at the airport were becoming ever more anxious.and besieging the staff with almost hysterical demands for news. o Despite the scepticism of friends, they had grown ev er more attached to the life of the quiet little village they had retired to. o modifies an adj. ever more² [A (AdvP)](formal) to an increas-ing degree (anxiously etc) as time passes, as a situation develops, etc V: wait, act, work,speak. adv: anxiously; amazingly; carefully.clearly o The crowds outside in the square waited ever more anxiously for news of the President's health. □Encouraged by each small, but positive.piece of new evidence, he pursued his enquiries over more persistently.□It must be apparent to all concerned. that the country is living ever <169> ever so— every little helps more dangerously on borrowed money. Dmodifies an adv. aver so' [A (AdvP)](informal) very, extremely(bad, good etc) V: be, become, seem. adj: bad.good; happy, sad; hard, easy □ Jenny went back to her perch on the stool. ' Can I have another of these chocolates? They' re ever so good.'TGLYoSix-year-old Guy and his classmates constructed a morality play for modern times on the subject of cheating.' The lady who was God was ev er so angry.'RT□ We were over so reluctant to pull out. we really were, but there was no alternative.oBS □ considered substandard by some educa-ted speakers and thought of as being used mainly by women and children; modifies an adj. ever so² [A(AdvP)](informal) very, extremely(badly, well etc) V: behave; speak, talk, play,act. adv: badly, well; happily, sadly; hard, easily o I thought your little Johnny spoke his part in the school play ever so well. Perhaps he's going to he an actor. aCLIFF: Let's have your arm. I' ll do it ever so gently.(Very carefully, he rubs the soap over the burn.)LBAD Ever so hard he work.ed for the firm and what thanks does he get? ATV set and a little thank-you letter'o considered substandard(as with ever so'(qv)); modifies an adv. ever so³[adv mod](informal) a very great etc number or quantity(of people, things etc) det:many, much; few, little. n: people; problems,questions; places, countries o TONY: And you become certain that there are over so many sides to every question. EHOWo How many people play bridge nowadays, anyway? Ever so few as com-pured with our young days. □ There must have been ever so little difference between the three of them, but you know what judges are! O con-sidered substandard (as with ever so' (qv));modifies a det. every bit as bad etc(as)[Comp(AdjP)] in all respects or to the fullest extent as bad etc(as);as bad etc as ever (qv) V; △be, look, sound.adj: bad, good; important, relevant, effective,useless o We went there for a meal and the food was every bit as bad as you said it would be. oThe holiday was superb. It was every bit 理念good as we had been led to expect.□ Teachers are every bit as responsible as we (doctors)are. And if a child is epileptic, for instance,shouldn't his teacher be told? L every bit as badly etc(as) [A (AdvP)] in every way, or to the fullest extent; as badly etc as ever (qv) V: act, behave; play; see, speak,talk. adv: badly, well; importantly, effectively,clearly o When it came to his own turn to per-form, he played the guitar every bit as badly as those he had been criticizing. o I really don't know why he bothers to wear glasses. He can see every bit as clearly without them.□' The parents are as much to blame as the children, don't you think?’' Every bit.'o in last example Every bit implies The parents are every bit as much to blame as the children. every cloud has a silver lining (saying)there is always some comforting or brighter side to a sad or gloomy situation, sth pleasant that can happen now or in the future, even though it may not be immediately clear o Oh well, every cloud has a stilv er lining . I may not he so well off now, but I' ll have more time to enjoy my family. □ Patrick decided things were far from bad just now. Even an alcoholic cloud may turn out to have a silver lining if taken in time. TGLYo(NONCE) He turns out to be consider-ably less pessimistic than most writers whom we think of as ' serious', for whom every silver lining has a cloud. Lo often adapted; often said to encourage oneself or sb else. every day(and) in every way(one is get-ting better and better) (catchphrasc) one can improve, is improving, one's life gradually over a period of time by means of constant self-examination □(French source) Tous les jours,à tous points de vue, ie vais de miwux en mieux. (EMILE COUE 1857-1926) a Every day, in every way, we' re getting better and better.Malcolm Muggeridge doubts that familiar proposition. In an earlier edition of ' The Ques-tion Why ' (BBC I) he invited his guests to discuss the question of progress and perfectibil-ity. La(NONCE) Lorenz devotes a brief chapter to each of his' sins' in turn, drawing on a variety of sources for his argument that every day, in every way, things are getting worse for man-kind. L overy dog has his/ its day (saying) every-body will, at some time or other in his life, get his turn at being successful, at being in a position of power □(source) Let Hercules him-self do what he may,/ The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. HAMLET VID He has the best financial brain in Pariiament-even if--'' Even if a certain person is Chancellor of the Exchequer and your husband is not? Never mind, his time will come. Every dog has its day, and we are all mortal.'EMσ Was he hopeful? ' Yes, because if Ibelieve that there is a God, and if I believe that we blacks were created by God, then certainly Ican't dismiss the idea that every dog has its day.’ L o often said in encouragement to oneself or others, esp when one or sb else is at the moment unsuccessful etc. every incha gentleman etc[Comp(NP)] in all respects a well-dressed, well brought-up per-son(either because one is in fact or because one is pretending to be) V: △ be, appear、 look. n:gentleman, lady; king, queen; soldier, officer;politician, administrator, businessman o He was dressed in a quiet grey suit and looked very well bred and every inch a gentlemen. CONaIrma in her soft red dress looked every inch a lady. PWoGeorge Shipway is very upright, very,very well dressed, every inch a military man(which he once was). SCD usu said of obvious.superficial distinctions of class, rank etc. every last/ single one etc every person or every item (in a group) included, with no one person or item omitted; each and every(qv) n:one(of you, them, us); man, woman, child; bit,crumb, piece; time □ The other four shook their heads as though butter wouldn't melt in their mouths, every last one of them lying in actual sin. TT o And she turned round, and every last child got on with its work as though that was the thing. IT o ' People don't realise - - you are scared every morning when you go down, every single morning, said one miner. NS. every little helps (saying) even though sth that sb has done for, or given to, one may be 169 <170> every man has his price----everything but the kitchen sink small, it is not too small to be of some use; each gift, however small, will eventually add up to a large total o'I'm sorry we could only let you have one(sten gun), sir. ' Every little helps, he said.RFW a 'I' ve nothing on me except this 5p, I'm afraid. " Never mind, said the collector, siicking the charityflag onherlapel, every little helps.'o said in appreciation of, admittedly limited,help. every man has his price (saying) nobody is so honest or incorruptible that some particular weakness or (secret) desire cannot be used to bribe or corrupt him o The statement that all men have their price was true of the men invol-ved in the Watergate break-in. The prospect of continued political influence at the heart of theUnited States Government outweighed any scruples about their actions being illegal. a But for how long can he escape it (joining the rulingélite)? His answer:‘Every man has his price—I' ve got a price. ' For if he wins his seat at the next election he will automatically join theEstablishment. NSD expresses a commonly held,cynical belief. every man jack (of sb)(informal) every one of a large group or of a considerable number of people, with no exceptions. o:(of) them, you,us; committee, police force, platoon, govern-ment ministers of Come on. Dad, they' re only a bit to the left of the Labour Party.' Say what you like, they' re Trotskyites, every man jack of them.'a There's only one way to describe the people who run this country— incompetent. I'd sack the ruddy lot—— every man jack of them.o To have Robert standing there---the only man Jack of us who had got sufficiently away from himself to create anything— it was Hell.cono usu derogatory; unusual sing form in last example; Jack may be spelt with a small or capital J. one's/ sb's every move [O/o (NP)] every-thing that one/ sb does; everywhere that one/ sb goes V: watch, note; check, follow, control; be aware of □ I had a feeling that from amidst the leafy cover unseen eyes were watching our every move. a From that moment Glatt's every move was recorded. DS o In his heyday of supreme power at Elstree film studios, he had all the clocks removed because he resented time dictat-ing his every move. SC o used esp if one is suspected/ one suspects sb of wrongdoing,crime, an intention to attack sb, etc. every now and again/ then (A (NP)] on a number of occasions, at irregular intervals;every so often (qv); now and again/ then (qv);from time to time(qv)V: snore, interrupt, look up; buy, sell, sth o / wouldn't read the news-papers if it wasn't for this ridiculous idea about being well informed. Conscience stirs me every now and again. ASA □ Ella soon felt that she could decently abstruct herself from the discourse. Every now and again Bill's phrases came to her as through pads of cotton wool. HAA□It was a warm squally day: the windows on the garden side were shut against the blast. Every now and then the pennons of the pampas clump howed almost to the ground. Pw every other/ second man etc missing the first, taking the second, and so on alternately;half or approximately half, without actually 170 numbering the particular group or class; (fig)quite a large number of people or things n: man,girl; car, office block; song, plan o Continue knitting the pattern increasing once at the end of every other row till there are 78 stitches on the needle. □ Second-hand cars were a drug on the market in Kuwait: every other semi-skilled in-habitant tears sumptuously around in a Chev-rolet or Mercedes. BM o Kristofferson, an ex-Rhodes Scholar who works out of the country-music tradition, is a gifted lyricist who does something good in every second song. L every picture tells a story (catchphrase) a picture, photograph etc is able to convey a situation, or express a message, just as easily as(and sometimes better than)a written account;the way sb or sth looks is likely to reveal what has happened, the true story etc(from a caption to an illustration of a person in pain, in an advertisement for a patent medicine(1920-40))o‘Well, well,’ said Frank’ s father, eyeing the lipstick mark on his son's cheek, every picture tells a story.□(advertisement) Every mirror tells e story—— when you look into the mirror you know the real truth about your complexion. HoHELEN (she peers and primps into the mirror)Oh look at that, every line tells a dirty story,hey? TOH□ often adapted, as shown. every schoolboy knows (the stated fact, the information, is so elementary that) even sb who is still at school has learnt it already, and it therefore hardly needs repeating o (source)How haughtily he cocks his nose,/ To tell what every schoolboy knows. THE COUNTRY LIFE(JSWIFT 1667-1745) □ Every schoolboy knows where to find Teeside. OBS□ The Lord Chun-cellor, as all first-year law students and most schoolboys know, is a very curious animal in.deed (the office combines political, legislative,and judicial functions). NS o often occurs in as-cl or what-cl. every so often at irregular intervals that may be frequent or not; every now and again/ then(qv); now and again/ then (qv); from time to time (qv)o I began throwing them (the stones)straight into the cart and every so often, whenI had cleared a few square feet of ground, I used to pull it after me on to a nice. fresh. stone-filled part. OBS□This make of starter-motor has a good reputation but every so often you get one that just won't function properly however much you tinker with it. every time [A(NP)](informal) whenever pos-sible; whenever a choice can be made V: give me(= I would choose); opt for, prefer; settle for,take. O: classical music, jazz, pop;a Mediter-ranean climate; plain cooking, home-made bread o You never know where you are with ultra-polite people like George. Give me the out-spoken type overy time. o T'd rather have too much to do than too little, wouldn't you?'' Oh yes.every time.'a People have different notions of how they like to spend a holiday but I'd settle for a quiet seaside place every time. everything but the kitchen sink [O (NP)]every possible (moveable) object; every ab-stract thought, argument etc that might be thought useful or relevant V: include; produce,carry, bring o She was only coming to stay for a few days but she brought everything bus t the <171> everything the heart could desire— exercise one's right(s) kitchen sink with her.□His central theme has to be disinterred from a heap of accompany-ing debris that includes everything but the kitchen sink. But the theme itself is clear and important. L everything/ all (that) the heart (of a man) could desire {Comp/O (NP)](formal)(sth is) all that one wants (eg health. wealth.success etc);(sb/ somewhere has) all the desir-able qualities that one wants or expects V: be;possess, attain, achieve□ She said, ' Aye, they' re getting for him everything the heart of a more could desire, saving one thing.'I asked, ' What's that?’ she said. ‘A wife.’ RFW□ He tried to reason himself out of his depression, telling himself that he had everything the heart could desirg,I As a place to stay the island seemed to him to offer all that the heart could desire except the means of earning a living. □ My teenage son's just achieved his heart's desire——a drum set, and he plays it all the time. 口 variant one's heart's desire.everything in the garden is lovely/ rosy(saying) everything is satisfactory, is going well,could not be better o ' Welcome back, MistressOdd. How are they all in Nottingham?’‘Oh.everything in the garden's lovely in Notting-ham. "RM oJACK (consults book): Bristol, Bir-mingham and Manchester are taking on extra staff — simply cannot cope with the orders pouring in. JASON: In fact, everything in the garden is lovely. DPM everything is going/ coming one's way all that is happening is exactly as one had wished; all the things that one had planned are in one's favour o When I kissed her on Sunday it had seemed that everything was going my way. RATTo The public took a fancy to him in that television series last year and now every-thing seems to be coming his way with offers of work from all over the place . o As usual when things weren't going his way, Peter turned quite sulky. D in neg constructions S is usu things as in last example. everything etc under the sun everything etc in the world, anywhere, of any kind, that one can think of pron/ adj+ n: everything, any-thing; nothing; all things, every nation, all places; no subject; the kindest woman; not a rottener trick □ (source) The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done and there is no new thing under the sun. ECCLESIASTES I9o attitudes which show themselves in the all-pervading gossip about everything under the sun, but most often about sexual peccadilloes. L□Julius found himself under the cruel necessity of holding his peace about the subject which, of all subjects under the sun, he most liked to discuss. EM□ There's no nation under the sun that doesn't try to protect its military secrets.however meagre, from foreign powers. NS the evil eye the(alleged) ability to cast an evil spell, to do sb harm, by means of a malevolent look or glance o The priest dropped his eyes to the ground and covered his shaven head with a fold in his robe. ' The camera is a form of evileye,'Sefton explained. ' They don't like ' em (=them).'ARGo' There you go,' said Lefty. ' It's like the evileye. You don't really believe in it, yet it paralyses you.□Modern science produces the H- homb which reproduces the heat of the sun;modern magic counters with voodoo, black mass.●vil eyms. the Turot pack. T the evil that men do lives after them(say-ing) people will remember the bad, wrong things that sb has done long after they have forgotten the good things; the bad things that one does in one's lifetime continue to have an effect long after one's death □(source) The evil that men do lives after them,/ The good is oft interred with their bones. JULIUS CAESAR III 2□(NONCE) A bald and squat old Babbit(= ordin-ary business man) at the next table with a young woman certainly not his wife, looked around,quickly and guiltily. The evil that men do lives sometimes with them. PP□ The evil that such men do lives after them. The dangers from which Dulles saved what he liked to call the FreeWorld no longer frightened us. OBS o first mean-ing derives from original source, second mean-ing is more usu in current usage. the exception proves the rule (saying)some single thing that exists or occurs contra-dicts or diverges from an established theory or belief(eg in behaviour, philosophy, science etc)and therefore serves to confirm or emphasize(the truth of) the theory o In spite of her up-bringing she emerges from her own pages as ex-ceptionally serene and strong and it looks as if the best the child psychologists will be able to do is regard it as the exception that proves their rule. Lo' Englishmen are supposed to be very reserved, but Ralph will start a conversation with anyone anywhere. ’‘He’ s the exception that proves the rule. ' o variant it's/ he's the excep-tion that proves the rule. △ next entry. an exception to the rule [Comp (NP)] be sb who, or sth which, appears contrary to what is normally accepted, believed etc(eg in matters of behaviour, science etc)V:△be; prove; make sth o This small boy was something of an except-tion to the rule in so far as he appeared to seek knowledge rather than profit. BMo Press tycoons have never been notably successful in turning themselves into writing journalists and this book,far from being the exception that proves the rule.proves that the author is no exception to the rule. NS◇ △ previous entry. exercise duə/ proper care (and atten-tion) [V + O pass](formal) take all the ordin-ary and normal precautions(esp those required by custom or law) in a situation with some possibility of danger o Residents claimed that the City Engineer's Department had failed to●×* rcise due care and attention, by leaving u manhole uncovered during the hours of darkness.□ Sniping may be a problem and senior officers must exercise due care when travelling about their areas. MFMo Provided you exarcise pro-per care there is no reason why you shouldn't live to a great age. □ occurs in formal written(and esp(legal) use eg He was charged with driving without du@ care and attention. exercise one's right(s)/ prerogative [V+0] do sth with the awareness that one is entitled to do it, either legally or as part of a special privilege attached to one's rank, office etc oHenryVIII could have exgrcised his prerogative and prevented Sir Thomas More's execution, but there was to be no Royal Pardon 171 <172> the expectation of life----one's eyes are bigger than one's belly for the gentle scholar. a I decided to take my books across London each day for a change of scenery by dárcising my rights as a member and working in the British Medical Association building. DIL the expectation of life the number of years,based on a general statistical average, that a person may expect to live; the number of years that sb (who is middle-aged or elderly) may,with care or appropriate medical attention, ex-pect to continue to live det: the, a(n); one's □The duration of marriage is related most ob-viously to theexpectation of life. Since the turn of the century, the impact of medicine has in-creased the span of life by some 20 years. OBS□We none of us have a great expectation of life nowadays, so why worry? We live in an atomic age, Mr Wormold. OMIH□ The older one is on joining an insurance scheme, the greater the an-nual premium, because one's life expectency is less. O variant one's life expectancy. expense/ money (is) no object (saying) it does not matter how much money is needed to do sth, to buy sth, etc(either because there is plenty of money available or because there are other, more important, factors involved) □ (of a journalist) ' He' ll do anything to get his story.'says Veitch. ' Expense is no object. He can charter a jet or whistle up a helicopter any time.’RT□Cooking, when money is no object, soon becomes ornate, over-elaborate, amazing. NS口sometimes used as invitation or encouragement to spend, in form Expense is no object! explode a myth etc[V + O pass] destroy the basis of what is believed or accepted by many people; show sth to be false or no longer true;blow sb/ sth sky-high (qv) O: myth, △ belief,idea, notion, theory o The popular picture of the craftworker is a grey-haired tatty figure.wrapped in hessian, producing lengths ofknobbly tweed. In recent years a number of individuals have exploded this myth. OBS □ Two myths about comedians: they all want to play Hamlet and they' re all melancholic. Both are exploded by Richard Briers. RTo The author sets out to explore and, let it be said, explode the present fashionable theories about the structure of lan-guage. explore every avenue [V + O pass](cliché)examine all the means, opportunities or possibilities that may be available in order to achieve some aim; make all possible inquiries to find out what is happening etc; leave no/(not)any stone unturned (qv) det:(sing) every, any,a/ this particular; (pl) all (possible), many,several, a number of □ ' You don't suspect a man in my position, surely? Why it's preposterous!'' It is my business 1 0 explore every avenue, ' theInspector answered. o I' ve explored a lot of www.gs as they were always saying in the House(of Commons) when I was a member, but this time I think I'm barking up the right tree. WDMo ' Let the public be assured,' the speaker con-tinued, ' that we will leave no avenueunøx-plored in our efforts to keep down the cost of living.'o usu associated with official or political figures; (double neg) variant leave no avenue unexplored. extremes meet two or more people or things of very opposite natures, qualities etc meet,come into contact or conflict with each other,etc o Alec and his wife are not a bit like each other. I suppose it is a case of extremms met-ing and actually finding they could live together.o Extremes of poverty and affluence meet in this mushrooming city. O often spoken as comment or judgement; variant a/ the meeting ofextremes. an eye for an eye (and a tooth for a tooth) (saying) (a warning that) an act of aggression will be met with retaliation of the same kind (esp in personal or national con-flicts) □ (sources) If men... hurt a woman with child. .. and if any mischieffollow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,hand for hand, foot for foot. EXODUSXX1224□ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you,That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. MATTHEW V 38-9□ And in the Protestant areas of Belfast, the talk will be of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. SC□ The minister might preach about God loving his flock and protecting it from harm, but we believed far more in that tooth for a tooth and in an Angry God who would punish us for our sins. SC the eye of the storm etc the central and strongest point of a storm(often indicated by a small break in the clouds); (fig) the main,central point of a dangerous situation, crisis etc n: storm, △hurricane, whirlwind □ Not having proper navigational aids the pilot had been unaware of the changing conditions and had flown the plane right into the eye of the tropical storm.□ But his(Harold Macmillan's) warning that the‘wind of change’ should not become a' howling tempest' was a little late; the storm has already broken across Central Africa. MrMacleod is sailing into the eye of the storm.OBS□ While warring factions battled all around him for Spain, a journalist working for a British newspaper paced carefully up and down a soli-tary cell in the eye of the storm. Lo Suddenly all is quiet; daylight begins to filter in; but it is only the eye of the whirlwind and before one can reach the escape hatch the storm is on one again from the rear. SC o last example is a humorous account of steering one's car through an automatic carwash. one's/ sb's eyes are bigger than one's/his bolly/ stomach (saying) one/ sb is too greedy in asking for, or taking, more food than one/ sb can eat; (fig) think that one/ sb can do more, enjoy a larger amount of sth, than actu-ally is the case o‘What was the sense in buying two packets of chips when you can't even finish one, Mike?'' Hiseyes are bigger than his belly,that's what's the matter with him,' said his father.□ The Law Society's Legal Aid budget,including an allowance to publicise the scheme,comes from the State. Given the relatively small numbers of solicitors choosing to practise in the poorer urban areas, the profession's eyes could prove larger than its belly. NS a often spoken as criticism or reproach. 172 <173> F face down/ up[A] with the informative. func-tional, or otherwise important side hidden/exposed S: book, photograph, paper. V △ lie;lay, place, deal, sth o The fortune-teller asked me to select 16 cards from the pack and these she dealt face up on the table, in the shape of a square.□ I don't know what's wrong with this alarm clock but it only goes if it's lying face down.□She laid the book down face upwards.It was one of Alec's novels. ' Oh.' said Isabel,when they had shaken hands, I see you are read-ing that!’ PW□ When she had read through a page of examinee's answers she placed it carefully face downwards on a separate pile. HAAovariant face downward(s)/ upward(s). face (the) facts [V + 0 pass] see (and deal with) things as they are, not as one would wish them to be; not avoid acknowledging that sth is difficult or unpleasant o I might as well face facts、 good-bye Susan, good-bye a big car,good-bye power, good-bye the silly handsome dreams. RATT QHARRY: But it is an industrial age.you silly girl. Let's face facts. CSWB□It was my homecoming that had precipitated this thing, andI must face the facts and take what might be coming to me. RFW□I began to be aware of the identity of some of the heavily muffled figures.who, like me, were pacing the platform. I sup-posed they had already seen me, and one another,but didn't feel like facing the stern fact that we were all travelling together. CONo... the bid to convince the citizenry that it faces disaster unless prodigal ways are mended, facts faced, belts tightened, teeth gritted, and wallets opened. NSOvanant face the fact that. one's face falls one shows one's disappoint-ment、 dismay etc by one`s expression a Then her face fell . I was still sitting there shivering and clutching for something else and she was suddenly sorry that she had failed. HAHA□ Mac-farlane always takes a supply of soft drink with him to the commentary-box-usually in a gin bottle. ' The first year I did it, the producer's face fell.'RT o usu in simple past tense; also pl their faces fell. face the music [V + 0] (informal) accept the difficulties, criticism, repercussions that follow a decision or action of one's own; meet a crisis,emergency with boldness and confidence modal: have to, must, ought to, should o DrVerwoerd will have to face the music of his opponents criticisms of apartheid. SC □ (We agreed) that we should ask the Prime Minister for a new Minister of Defence. But that agree-ment came to nothing, since my two colleagues declined to face the music on the day of battle.MFM the face of the earth [O/o (NP)] the surface of the whole world; anywhere and everywhereV: change, cover, disfigure, transform; disap-pear from; wipe sb/ sth off/ from o The conserva-tionists claim that modern technology and com-mercial exploitation will change the face of the earth us surely as any Ice Age. a If highway authorities reorganised road networks in such a way that there was no traffic congestion, there'd be so much road space covering the face of the earth that there'd hardly be room for anything else. a Is there a more beautiful county on the face of the earth than Perthshire? □ ‘How will this company of yours relate to Bounty Belfoun-der(another film company)?’ I asked.’ Relate to it?' said Madge. ' It' ll wipe it off the face of the earth.'UTN□ How many people go abroad to live, change their names or addresses, die intes-tate, have heirs who live in Australia or Chile, or just disappear from the face of the earth? OBSface to face(with sb/ sth)[Comp/A(NP)] in a directly opposite position (to sb/ sth); in the physical presence (of sb/ sth); in direct con-frontation or competition (with sb/ sth) V: be,come, find oneself; bring, place, sb; meet, argue;tell, accuse, sb o Two people arguing Face to face enjoy a greater sense of intimacy and privacy than when made to dispute at a distance with the help of closed-circuit television. NS□(stage direction) Davies turns, shambles across the room, comes face to face with a statue ofBuddha standing on the gas stove, looks at it and lurns. TC□ Securely placed in the middle-class world of a successful businessman, he is suddenly brought face to face with the realization that there are more things to life than making money.OBS a We were face to face with Rommel's forces between the sea and the QattaraDepression. MFM□I' ll finish the affair once and for all. And face to face. Not by letter. That's cowardly. RATT fact/ truth and/ or fiction/ fantasy [n + n non-rev] verifiable information, or an account of sth, that has really happened, as contrasted with imagined or invented incidents o She lives,perhaps, in a world of other people's dramas.where fact and fiction are no longer clearly dis-tínguished. UTNo This feature, which provides a contrast with many modern European tales of fact and fiction, is the small concern shown for character', either psychologically or morally.NDNa ' Now it's your turn, Emily, said the quiz-master. 'A swan sings once only, just before it dies. Fact or fiction ( = true or false)?’□ This shows one of the important factors of myth and folklore— they survive because fact and fan-tasy are totally dissociated. RTo Of course the difficulty is that in the Indian context, now as before, the dividing line between truth and fic-tion is elusive. Go usual collocations fact and/ or fiction/ fantasy and truth and fiction. the fact of the matter is (that) sth is the real truth or the most important aspect of sth being discussed o You keep on saying that a camping holiday will be no real rest for me but the fact of the matter is, you don't want to go yourself. □ He said he couldn't afford to run his car any longer. now that he was having to live on a pension— the fact of the matter being that he'd had several near accidents and had lost his nerve. 173 <174> the fact remains (that)—(with) one's/ sb's(own) fair hand(s) the fact remains(that) sth is true, is undeni-able, is still the case(whether regrettable or not,whether likely or not, whatever else may or may not be true) o Each (defence) Service has developed within itself a system which provides for specialisation where it is wanted, and yet en-sures overall unity in direction. But the fact remains that we have not achieved for the threeServices in combination a system which is com-parable to that which each Service has evolved for itself. MFMo Annabel, either the children or those cats of yours have been at my clippings. No.I don't know either what cats or children would want with Stock Exchange clippings, but the fact remains, they' ve disappeared. DC facts and figures [n + n non-rev] (items of)precise information, esp in spoken or unspoken contrast with ideas, theories, rough estimates,generalized statements or arguments V:△give,provide, quote o We torchbearers of culture(librarians) are paid starvation wages, and the hard materialists, the men of facts and figures,are the lords of creation. RATT□So I told my tale with the facts and figures I knew, the dates,and the changes in the history of the firm. PPoAnd this time the argument succeeded. TheCheddar teenagers talked(= gave) facts and figures. They guaranteed to pay the rent. H (let) the facts speak for themselves (let)the actual facts noted about a situation or oc-currence, or revealed by an inquiry, indicate the conclusion to be drawn from them without further interpretation or explanation o 'I am suggesting nothing. But do not the facts speak for thegracks?’‘You seem to have jumped to the conclusion that because of what has happened to this unfortunate young man there must have been foul play. 'EM o I reserved my complaints about being understaffed and underequipped. It would be better. first, to escort the Visiting Com-mittee round the buildings and let the facts speak for themselves. faint heart ne' er/ never won fair lady(saying) a timid or easily discouraged person won't get the best of anything in life o Don't give up. Faint heart never won fair lady—— or anything else worth having either. o MrWhitelaw condemned such critics as ' faint-hearts': the worst thing to do when the going got tough was to about-turn and march in the op-posite direction. L O n compound a faint-heart. a fair cop(informal) the act of catching sb. the occasion of being caught, in crime, mis-demeanour, error, evasion etc(esp when this has been brought about by fair or legitimate means)o The attitude of the professional thief is quite different. If he's nabbed it's a fair cop, he pleads guilty, and hopes to be smarter next time.□ ' My goodness, we treat animals like slaves!' 'Iexpect you' re a vegetarian,'I suggested. 'I ought to be. ' Mr Adams replied. ' All right, I admit it,'he added eventually. “That's a fair cop.’ OBSol found him at a flat near Fisherman's Wharf. He had dismantled the telephone because he wanted a rest from the Press but he bowed gracefully to a fair cop. OBS□ often follows it's/ that's. fair do's (informal) just and equitable treat-ment or appraisal V: be; give sb o On weekdays,papers come right to the door, with the milk;sometimes for breakfast, but sometimes after 174 lunch, depending on which way the milk lady decides to tackle her journey. Fair do's. STo' It's six months and more since he promised to look into that claim for me. It's just not good enough.'' Come on, John, that's not fair do's! The man's been ill.'o often used as comment on fairness of sth. fair enough [Comp (AdjP)] (informal) sth which is proposed, or which has taken place, is acceptable V:△be; seem; think sth o ' Look,Ican't lower the price any further because of an agreement with the wholesalers. But we' ll forget about any extra charges for delivery.'' Fair enough. I' ll write you a cheque.'a 'I don't see.what more you can expect—— you were dismissed from the job and offered two weeks' pay in lieu of notice. Generous, I'd call it,'' Well, that's fair enough. But what about the holiday pay I'm owed?' o used to acknowledge fairness of sth;often introduces a qualification. fair, fat and forty [adj + adj + adj] (catch-phrase)a teasing, or derogatory, description of a woman in early middle-age o (source) ' Who can that comely dame be, on whom our excellent and learned Doctor looks with such uncommon regard?’' Fat, fair, and forty,’ said Mr Winter-blossom; ' that is all I know of her---a mercantile person. 'ST RONAN'S WELL, VII(SIR W SCOTT 1771-1832□It fell to Mr Andrews to propose the toast to the ladies, which, in view of the fact that the representatives present were indisputably fair,fat and forty, he managed very graciously. o expression now usu begins with fair and always ends with forty. (in) fair (weather) and/ or foul whatever the weather is, or will be, like;(in) favourable and adverse circumstances alike; come rain,come shine(qv); in any case/ event (qv); wet or fine (qv) o Training in the 5th Corps must be.carried out in all conditions of weather and climate; in rain, snow, ice, mud, fair weather and foul. MFMo We' ve put off this fishing trip long enough. I'm going to set off to-morrow morning, fair or foul. o It's not everybody that would stick by a man through fair and foul as you have. □ adj compound fairweather as in a fairweather friend =‘one who will desert you should trouble or difficulties arise'. fair garn e [Comp (NP)] a legitimate, or suit-able, object for exploitation, abuse, ridicule,teasing etc(from animals thought proper to hunt and kill)V:△be; make, think, sb o Irma was not an ordinary barmaid, he recognized that.Still, she belonged to the category of barmaids.Barmaids were fair game, so Irma was fair game. PW□ Not for nothing was the admirably flamboyant Highland Division ('HD') known to its envious friends as the Highway Decorators.The colonnades of Lepcis and its undercladstatu-ary were fair gamm. SD□Anyone who takes part in a prohibited demonstration somehow puts him-self outside the law and is fair game for any soldier to take a pot shot at. NS (with) one's/ sb's (own) fair hand(s) [A(Prep P)] (facetious)(by) oneself/ sb personally(the reference usu being to a task, service or favour performed by oneself/ sb)□ My sugges-tion is that we go upstairs to the sitting-room,where we drink coffee and where we listen to music played by Ann's fair hand. TBC□' Did you <175> hake those cakes yourself?'' Yes, with my own fair hands. "o The landlord of the inn seemed flatered to have a titled guest, and his wife made up a bed for me with her own fair hands. fair play behaviour, in a game or contest、 that conforms to the rules: personal behaviour,governmental or legal procedure. that con-forms to generally accepted principles of im-partiality and justice o Traditional standards of fair play on the football field are so far eroded that terms of suspension for fouling are regarded as a hazard rather than as a stigma . Go The leader-writer explains. Democracy assumes fair play. OBS u It is perhaps u tribute to yourBritish insinct for fair play that what came immediately to my mind did not also occur to yours. FMo(radio panel-game) Peter Haigh will he in the chair for this series to see fair play, and for tonight's session the members of the panel are RTo Suddenly I lelt tired and old sick ofIrying to explain, sick of eternally trvIng to mediate and see fair play . COND see. ensure fair play = ` referee, supervise (and, if necessary,interfere) in order to ensure proper behaviour'a fair question [Comp (NP)] a reasonable, or permissible, question, a question that sb is entitled to ask and receive an answer to V: △be: find, think . sth o ' Before lagree to purchase.can you assure me that the house isn't in an industrial development area?'' It's a fair quest-tion and my honest answer must be"I don't know”,'c (science fiction story) ' What I mean is. ' she said, things like that oughin't to be allowed. If a man is going to be able to walk through a girl's bathroom wall, where is he going to stop? Which seemed a pretty fair question.TSTo' You'd do hetter using a spanner. " How canI use a spanner if I haven't got one?' ' It's a fair question, I must admit. the fair sex (facetious) women o I' ve already told Sir Edgar to appoint one of you younger chaps If they don't like either of your two faces.there's Prescott or Drake, not to forget the fair塞●X. ASA a His personality. so unlike that of the traditional ' Herr Professor' , his attraction for what used to be called the fair sqx, and the fact that in his spare time he composed songs... ST Ostress pattern the ' fair sex. fair (and) square [adj + adj non-rev] just;honest; without deceit, bias or concealment o' May I ask where you got that from? '' Yes, you may And what's more, I' ll even tell you. I toldMr Purnell I'd taken it - - - everything fair.square and above board.'ITa We won't have a local referee for the re-play, and then if we beat them again everybody will know its been fairly and squmerely done o variant fairly and squarely[adv + adv non-rev]. fair and square[adj + adj non-rev] without deviation in position or direction D She had it(a moving target) fair and square between the rings(of the sighting device) at about four-0-clock (dial position), exactly as she wanted it.RFW □ At length the awaited sign flashed to us from the beach, the commander signalled ' full speed ahead' and we struck the beach fairly and squarely. SD 口 variant fairly and squarely [adv +adv non-rev]. fair and square² {adj + adj non-rev]unequivocal; without ambiguity, or possibility fair play——a fairy story/ tale of mistake or misunderstanding S: blame、 res-ponsibility, guilt. V: rest, lie, fall, stand o TheLabour Party stands fair and square behind the proposition that Britain should leave the EEC. oThere hasn't yet been an accident between two roads or two stationary cars. No, the blame rests fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the motortst and no amount of verbal smokescreen can obscure this. ST o variant fairly and squarely[adv+ adv non-rev]. fair to middling[adj + adj non rev] (informal)less than satisfactory but not really bad,moderate in number, force, or quality a ' Had t = have you had) u good day? ‘Fair to middling you know.'ILIHo ' So you' re going toParis’ How ' s your French?' ' Oh, fair to middling I can order myself a cup of coffee.'oHe was never more than a fair to middling student and he was lucky to get us good a degree as he did. □ The Cocktail Lounge was almost empty hul there was a fair-to-middling number of drinkers in the Public Bar. O attrib use, a fair-to-middling golfer, often hyphenated. fair's fair(saying) an appeal, or a reminder, to act justly and equtably, share a benefit or our.den equally, avoid prejudice o The letters just lie on the page like lumps of dead cod on a slub.But fair's fair While Cicero's letters may he (to me, at least) vain, fussy. tedious and irresolute,they are also honest and, in their mannered way.affectionate. OBS□(NONCE) (advertising sticker on a travel-agent's shop window) Fare's Fair'o headphrase = ‘fair is fair’, a fairy godmother a good fairy who bestows some gift, talent, magic protection, etc on a child at birth or on its naming day, and who may continue her help throughout its life (from a character found in many folk tales and child-ren`s stones); a person who is a source of protection, help or deliverance o She's th(family drudge, poor little soul- - - a Cinderella without a fairy godmother (in the children's story、 Cinderella’ s fairy godmother saves her from the neglect and abuse of her two step-sisters) □ Completely benumbed, still doped with morphia, I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew a Highlander was talking to me, a stretcher-bearer. This Jock was like a fairy godmother . He'd looted some champagne from a burning shop and brought me a bottle . Si o(NONCE) But the report did have one positive result: the Official Solicitor--the fairy god-father', as Mr Wilson called him materialised once again and announced that he was going to apply for the men's release. Lo also pl. a fairy story/tale' a folk tale or children's story which, if not specifically about fairies, will involve supernatural events and beings, eg ogres, goblins, giants, witches, magic spells,and fanciful incidents o Their age divided them from the adult world and their credulity was of a different quality. He was glad that Milly could still accept fairy stories: pictures that wept or spoke words of love in the dark. OMIHO stress pattern a 'faIry story. a fairy story/tale² an inaccurate account or interpretation of sth, motivated by romanti-cism, wishful thinking, gullibility or a reluc-tance to face facts o I'm not going to hide things 175 <176> a fairy story/ tale——a false dawn from her, or feed her with fairy stories that will make it easier for her and more difficult for me.AITC□Coinneach Mór is not the kind of man to spread a fairy tale. I am satisfied that the eyes of a man whose professional powers of observation have never been at fault would not have been deceived . RM o stress pattern a ' fairy story. a fairy story/tale³a lie o' She said you were an old boyfriend of hers, thirty years ago.' Damn that for a fairy take!'o 'I think you' re telling me a fairy story, Peter,' his mother said.' Your face would be dirty if you'd fallen. You' ve been fight-ing again, haven't you?'o also pl; stress pattern a ' fairy story. one's faithful hound (cliché) one's dog, or other close companion (from the frequent oc-currence of faithful together with the name of a dog in poems and stories)□' Where's the faith-ful hound today?' ' Oh, I had to leave him at home, He has a sore paw.'o' You don't eat them,do you?' he said, with all the disgust of a man asked to make a meal of his faithful hound. ' If we didn't breed rabbits and poultry for the table,'I replied. ' we couldn't afford to eat meat at all.'□ Carter patted his tobacco-pouch as though it were a dog's head, " My faithful hound shall bear me company.'OMIH O last example misquotes the following(which deals with various concep-tions of an after-life): (an Indian) thinks, ad-mitted to that equal sky,/ His faithful dog shall bear him company. ESSAY ON MAN (A POPE 1688-1744) fall flat[V + Comp] fail completely in its inten-ded or expected effect S: joke, story; perfor-mance, play, concert □ I once made the mistake of taking a sceptical girlfriend to see a MarxBrothers' picture on a sunny afternoon in a huge,almost deserted, Thirties palace of a cinema. For once, Groucho flopped. For much the same reason,I think, he falls a bit flat on television.L o Tonight's Commons' vote on entry into theEEC will be, as has often been said, a decision of historic importance. Yet the great debate in the country and Parliament has fallen flat. SC oTustes and habits of humour vary not only from country to country but from region to region within them. A story that makesa West Highland-er laugh may fall very flat in Edinburgh. fallfoul of sb/ sth meet, have a confrontation or disagreement with, sb/ sth to one's disadvan-tage or in a way that exposes one's weaknesses,ignorance, misdeeds etc o: authorities, police;official, taxman o He had been publicly nasty toChurchill in the recent war, he had failen foulofMI5, and inquisitive Members had asked a lot of questions about him in the House(of Commons).PPo Simkins had got away with a lot of shady dealings for years, but eventually overreached himself and fell foul of the law. a fall guy(informal) a comedian's stooge; any-body who is set up in a role only to be dislodged from it, discomfited, ridiculed, blamed etc with the purpose of showing another person to better advantage o(film review) Randy Quaid is s well-observed fall-guy again, a simpleton whose trusting affection for Daddy is endlessly betrayed. Lo It was a marvellous piece of organi-sation. A political crank was used as a fail gury.They shot him and planted a diary on him that explained his motives and proved he was crazy. 176 Everyone fell for it. STo also pl; stress pattern a fall guy. fall/ be taken ill/ sick [V + Comp] become ill□ I must expect to falls ick. I cannot expose the body to this hardship and expect the poor beast to behave as if it were in clover, PM□ In '42ndStreet', the script had Ruby Keeler taking over from Bebe Daniels, the leading lady who had fal-len sick, going on and dancing her feet off to roars of applause. STo First there was trouble finding politicians or soldiers willing to serve on the commission, then its leader, Brigadier-General Alfred H Terry, was taken ill. OBS 乊△go/ report sick. fall quiet etc[V + Comp] become silent after having been speaking, shouting, laughing etc adj: quiet, △silent, speechless a The strange-ness of these words struck the two young people.And they fell quiet. ARG o‘Listen, Masa!’ he said exciuedly. We all fells ilent, and then from the valley ahead a strange cry drifted down to us.BB □ The two of them kept shouting more and more loudly. The noise was just at its peak whenNed appeared. They fell silent and he turned his head to look into their faces one after another.CONo The conversation consisted mainly of em-barrassed silence on Strindberg's part, floods ofFrench and German from Shaw, who fell spechless when Strindberg took out his watch and said: ' At two o' clock I am going to be sick.'SC ◇ △ strike sb dumb/ speechless. fall short(of sth) [V + Comp] be less than a required, satisfactory or desired standard o: the average; perfection; one's expectations, speci-fications □ There is no point at which we can say anybody beyond this point is tall, or intelligent,or fat, and anybody who fails short of it is the opposite. SNP□The largest absenteeism is in the most tedious, frustrating and dehumanising jobs.The national sickness rate provides a measure of the distance by which we still fall short of having built the good society. NS□If, however, its middle and ending falla bit short, ' Mirror, Mirror: can at least claim a startlingly arresting beginning. L□He's full of ideas. His short-fall is in carrying them out. D n compound a short-fall = ‘deficit;lack’. a false alarm [Comp/O (NP)] a call for emer-gency action that is not in fact needed; an occasion of being unnecessarily alerted to do sth or caused to feel panic or alarm V: △ be;sound, give o (a voice from the streets is heard frantically shouting: Man your posts! Come out!Come out!) MONTY: Christ! They' ve started before time. DAVE: It might be a false alarms.CSWB o(earthquakes) Even though a warning system may give some false alarms, it is prob-ably worthwhile since quite minor precautions should be able to reduce the number of casualties.NSC□ Pop said it was very nice about Mr Charl-ton and Mariette and had Mr Charlton found out about the baby? ' She's not going to have a baby now. " Ma said. ' False alarm!' DBM a false dawn [Comp (NP)] an indication of success, improvement etc that proves to be an illusion (from the lightness of the horizon before the real dawn)V:△be, prove, turn out.to be o The following year he was appointed conductor of the reconstituted Royal OperaHouse at Covent Garden. Alas, it proved a faise <177> dawn and for over 20 years he suffered almost1utal neglect. OBS□(a former German officer speaks of 1940) And we felt that the war would soon be over, that the British could not fight on- - and at that time there was no war withRussia. It was like a false down. We had few casualties, although I was wounded twice. RTo(of the actress, Marilyn Monroe) She had long years as a cheesecake ' sweater girl' before break-ing into movies. slowly and with many false dawns before the sunhurst of her seven years at the top from Gentiemen Prefer Blondes' to ' TheMisfits' . I. false modesty affected modesty . esp in deny.ing or minimizing one's good looks, abilities or achievements when these entitle one to feel pride and satisfaction o I don't like people who have this false modesty. I know that I am beautiful. STo' Any one of 40 actors.' he says,' could have played that part and been just us successful as I was. ' But then, in up rofession not normally noted for its false modesty. Gilmore is a strikingly reluciant interviewee. RT o The hook contains 19 references to his own writings.und no more that seven to those of any other individual scholar. No false modesty here; but no false pride either. NS (make) a false move(do) sth foolish. rash or mistaken which results in one's discomfiture,defeat. capture, death etc(from chess, as in the first example) □ Wormold was clinging to the edge of the board with what was left of his foiled pincer-movement, but he had lost his base. He made a false move which enabled Segura to thrust a protected piece into square 22. OMIHoIalways had the fear of doing the wrong thing. of making a fool of myself in front of the higher grades. The rich were my enemies, I felt they were watching me for the first false move.RATT□He said harshly:‘But remember also that one false move could cost Sally her life. If you try to get in touch with anybody while I'm out.you' ll he murdering her yourself.'10□ also pl.(on/ under) false pretences[A(Prep P)](by using) lies about one's identity, qualifications.financial or social position, etc of wouldn't have cared whether his father was an earl or a fish-monger. It's people making false pretences thatI don't like. □ Could he be arrested now that he was on British territory? What would the charge be? Obtaining money on false pretences per-haps or some obscurer charge heard in camera under the Official Secrets Act. OMIHo.. . the par-lourmuid had been deceiving his mother and living here under false pretences for the last year. RFW□ do sth on/ under false protences is a legal term to describe a criminal action. fame and fortune [n + n non-rev] fame and wealth, as the twin goals of ambition V:小 seek,be off to; find, be at the height of one's; court□ I told Sheila I was off to farm and fortune in the big city and would invite her to join me inPark Lare as soon as the penthouse was ready.JFTR□Other musicians cour : fame and fortune for a lifetime and count themselves lucky to possess these unreliable goddesses for a few weeks. ST= Scott started the journal in the winter of 1825 when he was at the height of his fame and fortune. NS familiarity breeds contempt (saying) con- false modesty—a family joke tinued experience of, or association with, sb sth leads to loss of appreciation, respect, attention etc formerly shown □ A combination of self-interest and fear usually made Yves obedient toMrs Portway' s orders. The situation unfor-tunately had gone on too long; familiarity breeds contempt. ASA□ Queen Victoria grew alarmed as rail accidents increased and there appeared to he evidence of railway slackness.familiarity perhaps breading contempt. GoThere must be fumiliarity in marriage, that was certain. But too much familiarity was a danger too, it bred if not contempt an apathy of the feelings. PW o(NONCE) Thomas Hardy saw its tumultuous outline daily from his windows, bul familiarity only bred fresh wonder at it. SD o(NONCE) Femiliarity breeds attempt and when kissing the same girl over a long period of time gets too tame—— or too stimulating—a fellow is apt to shift into the next gear. H a family favourite (cliché) sth likely to be appreciated by all members of an average family; sth (or occasionally sb) that all mem-bers of a particular family like, or like best oSummer Pudding is an old family favourite made with any mixture of summer fruits you happen to have available. WIo She used to like the record-request radio programmeslike‘Housewives’ Choice’ and‘Family Fevourites’which gave brief glimpses into other people 's lives as well as music. □ My mother had five brothers.of whom Uncle Harry, a regular visitor and interested in us children, was the family favourite. a family feud bad feeling between two families or family groups, or betw een two branches of the same family (cf family tree) (this may vary from a distant unfriendliness to a serious inten-tion to harm or even kill) o I wouldn't kill for capitalism or Communism or social democracy- - I would kill Carter because he had killedHasselbacher. A family feud is a better reason for murder than patriotism. OMIHo A dispute over an inheritance fifty or sixty years ago led to a family feud which exists to this day. o Romeo and Juliet's love-match was doomed from the start because of the family feud that existed between the Montagus and the Capulets. □ also pl. the family fortune(s) [O (NP)] the wealth.perhaps hereditary, that belongs to a family;the assets, or income, however small, that a family may have V: make; restore, retrieve;spend, squander, waste o ' Cleopatra's People'begins in Alexandria, ten years after the Queen's death, with survivors of her family plotting to rescue her heirs from Rome and restore the family fortuness. c Mummy hoped that I'd ac-quire a sort of polish and a little glamour-and then hook a rich young man and retrieve the family fortunes. RATT□ I don't have a son or daughter, only a nephew who's deud scared I may run through the familyfortune before he can get his hands on it. a family joke[Comp (NP)] sth amusing that is frequently said or done in a particular family(often a remark or allusion which would be meaningless to outsiders because they do not know the origin of it); sth/ sb found ridiculous by a family V:△be, become; make sth o'I hope 177 <178> a family likeness— far afield the chicks(the two daughters of the house) will bring back some eggs.’ This was a family joke at which Mrs Waggett tittered dutifully. RM□I'm tired of having my appetite made a family joke.I don't eat any more, for my size, than the rest of you. O also pl. a family likeness a greater or lesser degree of physical resemblance between the members and/ or generations of a family; (fig) shared characteristics V: notice, find, detect. adj:strong, distinct, clear, obvious; faint o ... her similarity to her father, whose image was still fresh in Patrick's mind. This family likeness, so extreme in general physical outline, extended under better optical conditions to points of detail.TGLYa Now that you tell me who you are, I can see the family liken@s.oInotice afamily like-ness in the modern German novels that I read. L a family man[Comp(NP)]a man with wife and children, esp one who identifies himself fairly strongly with them, likes to spend a good deal of his free time in their company, etc V: △ be,become, turn into o Some youngsters have found, like family men, that they are better off on Social Security than working. ST □ Then he goes home and takes his children out for walks.You can believe him when he says work is his hobby, and he is, despite all, a family man. RToOh, George's quite different from when you knew him. He's settled down and is quite the family m ǎn now. family planning methods by which parents may decide the number and timing of the births of their children; birth control □ (of women who work after marriage) The social benefits of family planning in poor and overpopulated countries must be weighed against people's rights.as individuals, their feelings, and religious and cultural values. o Despite the strenuous op-position of some of the less enlightened local church groups, we now have a family planning clinic right next to the supermarket—— and they don't ask to see a marriage certificate as you go through the door. O attrib use a family planning clinic. family pride high regard for the prestige and good name of one's own family and ancestry V:△ show, display, have o The Goodwins had always acted as if they were a cut above their neighbours and it was a great blow to their family pride to have to acknowledge this dirty drunken old fellow as a relative. o Whatever your sister has done, there's no need to tell the whole world about it. Have you no family pride? a family tree a diagram giving the line of des-cent of a family, or related families, as far back as it can be traced (eg families descended from the elder and younger sons of a common ances-tor will belong to different branches of a family tree) o (book review) To follow this approach needs a good grasp of genealogy; fortunately we are provided with a set of family trees. SC□ My great grandpa, despite any impression to the con-trary, did not actually grant humble petitions from his bedside — merely industrial patents from a run-down little office near the Louvre. Let us therefore not gasp too excitedly at the lofti-ness of Mother's family tree. FFEoIt is not thatDayaks fear to look down their family tree, as many of us might, for they do not believe that 178 children are stained by the sins of their forebears.NDN a famous victory(catchphrase) an instance of an overwhelming, or unexpected, victory or success o (source) ' And everybody praised theDuke,/ Who this great fight did win.'/' But what good came of it at last?'/ Quoth little Peterkin./' Why that I cannot tell,' said he./' Bui ' twas a famous victory.’ THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM (RSOUTHEY 1774-1843) □ ' Well Harry,' said Sir(Harry's teacher), ' and how did you get on?' 'Inever got the stick, Sir, he just told us off.’ Afamous victory.’ said Sir. ‘Now go and find a place. Sit next to Charlie there.’ TT o... a lady who boasted that she could teach a lamp-post to sing and had indeed gained some famous vic-tories with actors for whom music was a great mystery. TVT c often ironic. fan the flames (of sth)[V+ O pass] incite to further activity, a more determined attitude,intenser emotion, etc o: rebellion, love,jealousy, ambition, curiosity o (reader's letter)No part or class of the community should be made a laughing stock, least of all on television.Such jokes do not promote ' integration'—— they merely fan the flames of strife and discontent.RTo You can't put into a student what's not there.but where ability or enthusiasm is already present a good teacher can fan the fiames. o He put more work into the business and got less out of it than either of his two brothers. All the same,I don't think he would have broken with them completely if his wife hadn't been there to fan the flames. fancy oneself [V+ O](informal) be vain, con-ceited; have a high opinion of one's attractions or abilities o ' She's ever such a good teacher.Makes me despair. ' ' Never comes down from the mountain to visit the Staffroom with her favours, ' said Dusty. ' Fancies herself, and it's easy enough to impress kids.'TTo' Oh, he's good-looking all right, ' Tracy agreed, ' but he fancies himself a bit too much for my taste. a fancy man etc(informal) sb who has a relationship with another, not as a suitor or serious lover, but as an escort, spare-time companion, or (casual) sexual partner n: man,△woman; bit o Night after night we sat in front of the telly with a ham sandwich in one hand,a bar of chocolate in the other, and a bottle of lemonade between our boots, while mam was with some fancy men upstairs on the new bed she'd ordered. LLDRo Then the rows began. MrsCollins would rake over his first marriage. Or he'd get it stuck into his head that she had m fancy man. STo He never uses the caravan for a real holiday, just for the odd week-end with one of his fancy women.□'I'm not deceived about your carryings-on, his wife told him, ' but there's a limit. Just don't bring any of your fancy bits here again as q friend of the family, that's all.' far afield [A(AdvP)] far away V: travel, move,go, wander o Singing coachloads of block-bookings from as fer afield as Bristol and Not-tingham converge nightly on Birmingham'sBingley Hall. TO aThere are outings with jam-jars to a dirty stream a mile or so away, for sticklebacks and red-throats; blackberrying,also with jam-jars, even farther affeld, past the church with the whalebone arches. UL o School <179> far/ miles away—(not) far removed from sth journeys are few, und have to be within walking distance because there is no money for fares to go.further afield. NS□(NONCE) Hughie, who thinks nothing of sailing off on his own to Boulogne or even as far afloat as Oslo, ran aground in theThames Estuary. TVT far/ miles away [Comp (AdvP)] oblivious of one's surroundings or company S: l, you, she,they; one's thoughts. V:△be, seem o'I' ve often wondered where you hide yourself,' he said, ' and now I know—— gazing out of the landing window'at the sights of South London. You were miles away.'I'I 'I 'I 'm Mr Wormold, Mr Wormold, your thoughts are far away. Come back to earth. We have to find a lottery-ticket at once, before the draw. OMIH far/ out and away [adv + adv non-rev] to a very great degree□ Axel Springer owns far and away the most influential newspaper empire inCentral Europe. STo' Thompson's Progress' was not the most notorious of Hyne's works but it was far and away the best. SDo They were both con-scientious scholars, but Davis was out and away the abler of the two,o more emphatic than much or by far; comparative or superlative adj which follows far/ out and away always preceded by det;stress pattern ' far/' out and away. far be it from me to interfere etc(but/yet) I would never interfere etc(because Irecognize it would not be right or appropriate)V: interfere, disagree, pass judgment o‘You must be the judge, ' she said. ' Far be it from me to interfere.'TT o ' Far be it from me to sug-gest any change in your admirable programme,Mrs Paxon,' said Mrs Pemberton, ' but don't you think it would be better...?’ wDM□I did not add the sick kids, with the drains and more per-sonal plumbing, in the dispatches of the last two weeks; far be it from me to indulge in self pity.Go often followed, or preceded, by a statement which proposes sth very like what has been disclaimed; stress pattern far be it from ' me to interfere (but/ yet). a far cry from sth [Comp(NP)] very different from sth V:△be, make stho The room is chilly,but full of light——a far cry from his Oxford digs, described by Stephen Spender as 'a dar-kened room with the curtains drawn, and a lamp on a table at his elbow.’ OBS□ Tea came in on a wheeled table and Gobi began to hand us tea and scones. It was a far cry from the Baron's canteen with its bentwood chairs, glass-topped tables and slops of char(= tea). PP□It might be objected by some that it is a study of Paris in the absence of the Parisians: and it is true that AnthonySutcliffe is a very far cry from Professor LouisChevalier, especially as the latter is seen in his recent work. L far from sth certainly not; by no means; not at all o Life in the outback was far from a bed of roses. a It is generally recognized that our present legal methods and procedures for ascertaining the truth and administering justice are far from perfect. SNP o Yet the idea of manned space-stations is far from new: they were discussed byKonstantin Tsiolkovski, the ' father of space research'. almost seventy years ago. Lo Mere hints of trouble they may have been, but I took them far from lightly, o He answered me in a manner not far from insolent.□ premodifies n or adj, not far from = ' very nearly'. far from doing sth' [Comp (AdjP)] certainly not doing sth V:△be, find sb/ oneself □ Who would look after them, if I die?'' You' re far from dying, by the look of you.'o She went up to Alec with a winning smile, at the same time hunching one shoulder to give an effect of shyness that she was far from feeling. Pw far from doing sth² [Disj (AdjP)] not doing sth (as expected), but, on the contrary, doing sth else o / stuck it in a pot and forgot about it,but the plant, far from dying, seemed to thrive on neglect.□ Everyone was shya t first, but that soon passed and the chairman, far from having to prod the discussion, was having to call for order!Ho Dr Elton does seem, then, to have proved thatCromwell did not operate a reign of terror. Far from deploying an army of spies and officials, he was dependent on the traditional authority of the country gentry. ST a Many Labour MPs were inclined to agree that the party, far from simmering down, faced a critical year of argu-ment and discussion. OBS far from it [Disj (AdjP)] certainly not; just the opposite □ Eight years old, Jeremy was much taller than Janice who was six. Janice did not seem to be afraid of him, far from it; she used him remorselessly as a mirror to show off in. PW□ ' Is he generous with his money?' ' Far from it.He doesn't even like to spend it on himself.' o 'l mean, you haven't come into a fortune or any-thing?’ Far from it! Yes,' said Victoria slowly,'I shall want a job.' TCB o follows (as reply or comment)a previous statement in neg, interr or conditional form; stress pattern , far' from it. far gone (in sth) [Comp(AdvP)] in an advan-ced stage (of sth) S: he, she, you, they; roof,house, farm; business; country. V:△be, seem.adv mod: very, too, so. o: debt; love, madness,ignorance; neglect, decay, corruption;decadence, misery o The victim of the attack was already far gone when the ambulance brought him in□Nobody will lend us money now.They know we' re too far gone in debt ever to pay them back. □ The roof is pretty far gone but the rest of the house is in fair condition.□ The city was so far gone in decadence that the country's legal system had ceased to operate there. far and near [adv + adv rev] (from)everywhere; from all, or many, places or direc-tions V: come, arrive, make one's way from:take, get, sth from o One used to be able to pick up good furniture quite cheaply at rural auctions.but now dealers come from far and near and force the prices up. o When a priceless master-piece was stolen recently from a famous gallery,people flocked from far and near to see the empty space where it had hung.□ Experience has taught me that, home or abroad, never and far,mankind comes in the same mixture of good, bad and indifferent. ◇ △ far and wide. (not) far removed from sth [Comp(AdvP)](not) very different from sth V: △be, seem □The doleful, taciturn image he represents to the public is far removed from the jo vial father his family knows. OBS□ The 32 litre Rover V8 engine is not so very far removed from a now obsoleteBuick engine, manufactured in America byGeneral Motors. ST□I know that among journal-ists can be found people who started their work- 179 <180> far and wide——a fate worse than death ing life in jobs far removed from newspapers.NS o The Highland games at Kirkintilloch - - -with small girls dancing reels and cabers thump-ing the ground--are a fer remove from the ordered magnificence of the Olympic Games. RTo variant a far remove from sth. far and wide [adv + adv non-rev] (to)everywhere;(to) all, or many, places or direc-tions V: look, search, (for sb/ sth); reach,spread, scatter a ' It appears she's come down to infant-teach at Albert Road, the renown of which must have spread far and wide, because her home is located as far away as — ' 'I knew that, ' Patrick Standish managed to interrupt.TGLYo Fest's view of Hitler as' the point of con-vergence' for the ' intersecting moods of the age'exonerates the Germans, or at least spreads the blame for and wide. OBS□By the 8th century theChurch at Rome was already a power whose in-fluence reached far and wide in secular as well as spiritual affairs. ◇ ⚠ far and near. fast/ sound asleep [Comp (AdjP)] comfort-ably and deeply asleep V: △be, fall o There's nothing to worry about. I looked into the child-ren's bedroom while I was upstairs and they were both fast asleep. a The thieves would have happily resorted to violence —— so it was for-tunate for the night-watchman that he was sound asleep in his office for the whole time they were in the warehouse. fast bind, fast find/ safe bind, safe find(saying) if you safeguard your property it will be there for your use when you want it and/ or as you left it o (police poster) Going On Holi-day? Then remember, fast bind, fast find.Leave your doors and windows secured with adequate locks and inform a neighbour or your local police officer. O Although the housekeeper did not actually distrust any of her staff, she preferred, on the principle of safe bind, safe find, to keep the store cupboards locked and have the servants come and ask her for anything they required. o My wife's a stickler for put-ting things back in their places. ' Safe bind, safe find, she's alway saying. o fast here = ' safely;firmly`. a fast etcbuck (informal) money quickly and easily made or earned, esp with disregard for higher values or other people's interests adj:fast, △ quick; easy o That was when most property was in the hands of Blackpool people— now it's owned by vast companies who don't care about the town and its people, just the fast buck. RTo ' But we aren't going to chase after every situation that promises to make a quick buck, ' Lee says. ' We want to move cautiously and firmly, building up a reputation here of a bank that offers a good deal more than just lend-ing facilities.'STo Bess Myerson sometimes gets into trouble, but because she is always and ir-refutably on the side of the little guy who gets stomped on in New York,' she bids fair to make the Mecca of the fast b uck a marginally more honest city. STO buck(US informal) = ‘dollar’.◇▲ easy money. fast and furious[adj+ adj non-rev] exciting,frenzied or hilarious o Father swore he was right and mother swore he was wrong and, various members of the family siding with one or the other of them, the argument raged fast and furious for an hour and more. □ The shelter had to be completed before darkness fell and as the sun slid down to the horizon the pace of work grew ever more fast and furious.□' Life is what yer (= you) make it' is a vulgarly unfunny programme where the audience response seems to have been filled in by the sound engineer, with the jokes coming fast, furious and feeble. Lo may function as A, as in first example. a fast worker {Comp (NP)} (informal) sb clever at establishing relations quickly with sb of the opposite sex, either in some particular instance or as a characteristic ability V: △ be;think, find, sb □ ' Is it true you got married.Jenny?' she asked at once. ' Why didn't you tell us about it?' ' I didn't know myself until just before it happened.' ' I wouldn't have thought you were such a fast worker.'AITC□ 'I don't like the idea of Pat going out with a fellow twelve years older than herself, said her father. ‘Particularly when he's already got the reputation of being a pretty fast workgi.'o also pl. af at etc lot of good etc[Comp(NP)](infor-mal) little or no good etc V: △ be, do sb. adj:fat, △damned, great. o: good,△ help, use. cl:that is, he' ll be, you were; they talk o MajorPenrose said gloomily, A damned lot of good they' ll be in action. As likely as not shoot our fellows in the back.’ BMo All the points were first made more than 10 years ago—— not least in aYoung Fabian pamphlet, some of which we prin-ted in this journal. And a fat lot of good it did us or them. NSO usu ironic and exclamatory; usu front position in an inverted construction. af st price etc a high price etc n: price, △sum,profit, return; salary o His latest novel has an exotic Italian contessa rudely forcing a young composer away from his wife for fet sums to satisfy her need for possession. NS□ He would hide his diamond hoard near one of the beaches and come back to the coast by plane or boat. It would mean paying a fat price to a pilot but probably a few hundred pounds would be enough.DS o Willy could pay the excess (postage); the fat profits of his swindling firm could cope with that. US□ Now it happened that Karl had once been a police informer in Kimberley, and he had not forgotten the fat rewards you could get for successful informing. SD the fat years and the lean years contrast-ing periods of prosperity and hardship in sb's life, a business, a country's history, etc(fromGENESIS XLI I-36) D He talks about the debt he owes his wife, Rena, who has helped him through the 27 years of their marriage which, like so many, has faced the problems of coping with the fat years and the losin. TVT o We (Israel) had the fat years. Now we' ll have the fean yesers,divided into several structural units. NS□Like all highly successful writers, he has to pay a huge percentage of his earnings to the Inland Revenue,regardless of the fact that the learn years for the self-employed outnumber the fat years by seven10 one. SC□ The fat years are over now for theBritish doctors of Calgary. A British doctor wouldn't get a licence so easily now, in fact he might not get one at all. OBS o either part of headphrase may be used alone; stress pattern the , fat years and the ' leani years. a fate wore than death [O/o (NP)] (fa- 180 <181> a father figure—— feather one's (own) nest cetious) to be seduced or raped V: suffer, meet(with), face, endure; escape□(article heading)The lady who escaped a fate worse then death.TVI□In ' Callisto' we see the innocent virgin who takes up a cause with such passion that she blind-ly slides into her seduction without really being aware that it is happening, and she goes willingly to her fate worse than death. Lo(NONCE)(the‘Tantra’ carvings) The smiles of the women suffering af ate better than deathare charming.NS a father figure sb seen, or accepted, as the psychological equivalent of a father (in any relevant role, eg authoritarian, benevolent,protective, repressive, disciplining) □ Perhaps the authority of the father figur · was less established in fact. More and more the Vic-.torian family seems to belong to the class of powerful myths. Lo Syria, on my count, has had22 régimes in the past 28 years. But now(1971)it seems to have discovered a father figure. LoBut let us now look back as cricket came out from under the shadow of that great father-figure, W G Grace. Lo(a driving instructor)They were terrified of me as well as the car.Well, I was a sort of father figure to them, and perhaps they were frightened of their fathers.OBS□ also pl. the father and mother of a row etc[Comp/O (NP)] (informal) an outstanding example of a row etc(esp sth noisy, violent or unpleasant) V: be, turn into; start, stir up. n:row, quarrel, fuss, uproar; crash, thunderclap,storm; lie; mess o My views on how to tackle the problem were not considered right and proper and there was the father-and-mother of arow.MFM□ After a long walk through dark, lonely lanes in what promised to be the father and mother of all thunderstorms,I at last chanced upon the church. BM□(television programme) If they were stopped, as ' World in Action' has been stopped from showing ' South of the Border', at least we'd know- - and there would be the mother and father of a public fuss about it.OBS the fault is in ourselves, not in our stars(saying) we are not what fate makes us, but what we make ourselves; our own mistakes,lack of ability, misuse of opportunity, etc are the cause of our misfortunes or sufferings o(source) Men at some times are masters of their fates:/ The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,/ But in ourselves, that we are underlings.JLLIUSCAESARI2a It is very annoying that we do not always enjoy doing what is right, but the fault is probably in ourselves, not in our stars.WDM fear the Greeks, bearing gifts (saying) be(rightly) suspicious about gifts, or benefits, of-fered by certain people □ (source) (translated from the Latin, the reference being to the wooden horse given to the Trojans by theGreeks who had first concealed their own soldiers inside it) Do not trust the horse, Trojans.Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts. AENEID II48(VIRGIL 70-19 BC)□With colleagues on other newspapers, I have pleaded that the twenty local BBC stations should have access to medium waves as well asVHF. Now Sir John Eden, Minister of Posts and Communications, has answered our prayer. Yet still I fear the Greeks, gift-bearing. ST a 'Avery handsome present, Colin, the old lady said.' It must have cost quite a bit. But I was taught a long time ago to beware of the Greeks who bring gifts. What is it that you want?'ARGoAny piece of goodfortune that came his way he tended to think of as a Greek gift, to be paid for later by some counter-balancing misfortune or mishap. o often used allusively and with varia-tions in wording; variant a Greek gift. a feast for the eyes etc[Comp (NP)] sth satisfying and delightful to see etc, be a sight for sore eyes(qv) V:△be; find, make, sth. o: the eyes,△the ears, the senses; the mind, the soul□ Bales of cheap printed cottons in gay colours made a feast for the eyes. TCB □ Probably,though, what will most turn on Barbara's ad-mirers is the prospect of a film compilation of the best‘Carry On’ s’, affess for eyes and senses.out next March. TVTo Perhaps the audiences of ancient Greeks rose from their seats purified and enlarged, as Aristotle suggests. I haven't seen much from contemporary dramatists that would qualify as a feast for the soul. a feast of talent etc an abundance and/ or great display of talent etc n: talent, wit; colour,delights□ ' All About Eve' is another film much requested by viewers. I can only commend Man-kiewicz's literate, witty, caustic and penetrating script as chief delight among such a fe ast of talent that one wonders if we will ever see its like again. RT a feather in one's cap [Comp/O (NP)] sth achieved that constitutes a victory, triumph.credit for oneself (from a former custom of various peoples, among them the American In-dians, of adding a feather to their headgear for every enemy killed)V: be, make sth; get□ Debs(debutantes’) mums think it's a definite feather in their caps if their daughters get asked to Tri-nity (College, Cambridge) Ball. Trinity is very royal and aristo(= aristocratic), it has glamour.ST o Desmond had got the names of a number of the men at the mines who were stealing, and these people were sacked and blacklisted. So theDiamond Detectives got quite a lot of feethars in their cap. DS □ Obviously it would be m feather in their camp if they could get this scheme off the ground without a public inquiry. SCo also pl a feather in their cap(s). feather one's (own) nest [V + O pass] look after one's own interests, esp by accumulating money or property (the implication almost al-ways being that greed, selfishness or dishonesty is involved) o It is generally assumed that politicians are:‘All twisters’ crooks.’‘Only out for their own ends.'' Feathering their own nests.'' Looking after number one. 'ULo The myth that employers of labour are all unscrupulously ex-ploiting humanity for the sake of profit is balan-ced by that which presents trade-unionists as all purblind opportunists feathering their own nest at the economy's expense. Lo(NONCE) The film industry's own next-featherers, and local politicians looking for a vote-catching cause, all have an interest in shouting for stricter controls.L o I'm sure she feathered her ne st well after they got too old and confused to be bothered with housekeeping accounts. 181 <182> feed a cold and starve a fever—— feel one's way feed a cold and starve a fever(saying) eat well if you have a cold, eat little if you have a fever o Helen Mirren believes you feed a cold and starve a fever. Snuffling into a restaurant's paper napkin, she looks at the food arranged in a stainless steel goblet and slaps it on to a large plate. OBS feel one's age[V + 0] realize from one's fail-ing powers, altered outlook, etc that one is growing old o Men of that age and type can't bear the sight of old people. It reminds them that they' re getting on. Ha, and he's feeling his age,I hear. MM□ I know I'm not exactly young any more but, really, I never felt my age till this last winter. o Yes, thank you, grandfather is pretty well—— feeling his age of course, but that's only to be expected. ◇△be (only) as old as one feels. feel (all) (the) better for (having done)sth [V + Comp] feel that one's physical, or mental, well-being has been improved by(having done) sth o The letter could not be pos-ted for another twenty-four hours, but I felt much better for heving written it. SPL o I had begun to feel a bit paunchy, but now I'm down to my fighting weight of 12 stone, and I'm feeling all the better for it. RTo Leave her alone. She's very likely to feel better for having had a good cry. a Of course, sun is welcome, but so are clouds. I feel better for rain on the face, and Irevel in snow. For me all weather is good. OBS feel the draught [V+ O pass] feel unpleasant- ly cold air blowing gently round one inside a house, room etc;(fig) be made aware of some adverse change, or the threat of such change,affecting one, esp financially o Scotland has the unenviable distinction of being top of the unem-ployment league. Even the prosperous Midlands are feeHng the draught. SCoIt(America) is on the way out. Finished. Doomed. And then will you fellows in Europe feel the draught! ILIHfeel good [V + Comp] feel happy, confident,pleased with oneself, virtuous D DAVID: I want to be a crooner. I want to switch on the radio——any time and any day—— and hear my voice on records. SAM: Why, Davey? Why have you got these crazy ideas? DAVID: I feel good when I'm singing. HSG o I might not have let her off with that remark on another occasion, but I had just downed a couple of whiskies and was feeling good.□ People donate money to charities not so much because they are concerned to do good, but because it makes them feel good. □ No wonderMark Twain said of the perils of fame, ' It's a rough business. Shakespeare's dead, Dickens is dead, and I don't feel so good myself.'OBSO neg variant not feel (so) good =‘not feel well’. feel like (doing) sth think that one would enjoy, be willing to accept, or take part in,(doing) sth o …… having to be gay and lively forJoe and always ready to listen when he wanted to talk, and being sometimes kept up half the night if he felt like a party. AITC □ Stick the beauty page for another two weeks, and you can come back to editorial. I feel like economizing. You can do two people's work. AITCo They clustered round Mr Roderick eagerly, and some of the other guests, those who felt like hearing the story again, came over and added themselves to the audience. HD □ He was cold and chilled. ' Flu coming on, ' he thought. He didn't feel M ike any- 182 thing to eat. TOD' Does anybody feel like a game of poker?’ he asked hopefully, but nobody did.feel/ look like a million dollars (informal)feel/ look extremely well, happy, proud, hand-some, beautiful etc o I'm on holiday, it's a beautiful morning, and I feel like a million dollars.□It's good to see you both again. Jake,you look like a million dollars! feel liked new man/ woman feel restored to health, completely refreshed or revitalized oTake one of these tablets every morning and you' ll soon feel like a new marry.□ As soon as Istarted in my new job I felt like& new womemy. feel/ look like nothing on earth (informal)feel/ look extremely ill, miserable, strange,ridiculousetc□ That dreadful period when you' re just coming out of an anaesthetic and feeling like nothing on earth is not the time when you want a visitor, however well-intentioned. o It could have been quite a pleasant room if she hadn't cluttered it up with a hundred and one so-called objets d' art that looked like nothing on earth. feel one's outs [V + O] (informal) be in an energetic, lively, perhaps obstreperous, mood and act accordingly (from a horse well fed on oats)□(Father Christmases, in the big London stores went on strike) One wonders just what induced them to take such a step. Something ob-viously has got their back up. Perhaps their rein-deer have been feeling their oats, perhaps... sc□They' re a bit rough and noisy but no real trouble—— just a bunch of healthy lively kids feeling their oats. o 'I thought I'd be too tired to do anything more than lie about, but I'm beginning to feel my oats already.'' It's all this fine fresh air and home-cooking that does it.’ o usu in con-tinuous tenses. feel the pinch [V + O](informal) suffer from a lack of sth (usu money) a Lisa's money (a legacy) will make a great difference to a man ofGuy's tastes. He has been feeling the pinch late-ly. MM o(headline) Press Feeling the Pinch.The newspaper publishers are claiming that they are being hurt by rapidly rising costs at the same time as circulations remain stagnant. SCo The big fat cat entertainment industry of the past decade is feeling the pinch; in hard times the record industry cannot take a chance on something new,different and possibly good—— they must go for tried and true trash. G feel etc small[V + Comp] feel, appear etc inadequate, despised, humiliated V: feel, ▲look; make sb o Harold had been left at the end of the interview feeling very small. Not looking small: Alec had saved his face, had managed to give the Inspector the impression that Harold backed him up. PWo One doesn't meet so many men of stature in this puking little world and his greatest thing was that he never made one feel small. HAA□A good teacher does not indulge in sarcasm. Children can be guided or reproved or,for that matter, punished, without being made to feel or look summ. feel one's way [V+ O] determine(eg in dark-ness) where one is going by touching walls,(natural) objects, putting one foot in front of the other cautiously to avoid obstacles etc;(fig)proceed cautiously in an undertaking, adjust-ing one's plans and ideas according to circum- <183> feelings etc run high—(in) a few well-chosen words stances A: along the passage; through the hazards; towards a solution o Is Mrs Gandhi feeling her way towards some kind of ' guided democracy' in which opposition is tolerated provided it is tame? Go 'I can't see anything wrong with your idea. When are you going to start on it?' But Miss Heath said it was no good rushing one's fences and she must feel her way.WDMo It was the first training scheme of its kind and we would have to feel our way carefully to avoid unforeseen difficulties. feelings etc run high feelings etc are intensi-fying n: feelings, △ loyalties, resentment, tem-pers o National feelings on the subject (the military campaign in North-West Europe,1944) have tended to run high and in particularAmerican writers have launched heavy attacks on the British conduct of operations. MFMa In committee heads were shaken, not much was said, yet feelings ran high. Luke was one of those figures who have the knack, often surpris-ing to themselves, of stirring up controversy. NM□ And although militancy among workers is running higher now than for decades, it may well die out if it is not nourished and informed with a strategy for social change. NS one's feet etc are killing one one's feet etc are sore, causing one pain n: feet; shoes, collar,tie, girdle, belt, trousers; suitcase, rucksack oHELEN: Oh my God, my feet are killing me.How I got(= carried) that lot from the bus stopI' ll never know. TOH o The NorthamptonMuseum of Boots and Shoes has records from ancient times containing complaints from Egyp-tians that their feet were killing them—— and blaming the shoemakers for their discomfort.TVT o ... women, lost in girlsh romantic memories, who have forgotten momentarily that their girdles are killing them. TVT O usu first person; not used in this way of other named parts of the body, though the pain in my back was killing me is possible. (a) fellow feeling[O/o(NP)] sympathy with,and a desire to help or support, other people oA fellow-feeling makes one wond' rous kind.ON QUITTING THE THEATRE(DGARRICK 1717-1779)V: show, demonstrate, display, express o The mind is its own place, and the places inhabited by the insane and the exceptionally gifted are so different from the places where ordinary men and women live, that there is little or no common ground of memory to serve as a basis for under-standing or fellow feeling. DOP□ The doctor has a fellow feeling for his migraine patients, since he suffers from it himself. a fellow traveller [Comp (NP)] sb who,without being a full member, associates himself with, sympathizes with, and supports an or-ganization or principle(esp Communism) V:△.be, become; regard sb as o Dozens of talented writers in Western countries declared their sym-pathy with the Stalinist ' experiment' while it was in progress. The more eminent of them were taken on tours of the Soviet Union and. if their enthusiasm survived the experience, they return-ed to serve on committees dedicated to pro-Soviet causes and to the justification of Stalinism. They were called follow-travellers. NS a I' ve never joined the Labour Party— perhaps because Ifind it too much of an uneasy mixture of policies and factions. I suppose you could call me a fellow-travelling Socialist Liberal in search of a cause, o adj and n compound fellow-travelling.◇ △ a card-carrying member etc. the female of the species is more deadly than the male (saying) a derogatory, or joking, expression used of women, comparing them unfavourably with men□(source) But the she-bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail/ For the female of the species is more deadly than the male. THE FEMALE OF THESPECIES (R KIPLING 1865-1936)□ The females of the species are most dangerous when they appear to retreat. ARCHY DOES HIS PART (DMARQUIS 1878-1931)o ' Both the Richardsons are amusing but Jack's wit is never cruel. "" Well, you know what they say about the female of the species being deadlier than the male.'o And what about Margaret (the female of the species is more deadly than the male, ' DailyExpress') McKearney, billed as the IRA's Num-ber One Single-Handed-Mistress-of-Disguises21-year-old Long-Legged Blonde Super-Bomber? Go an imitation of a possible zoologi-cal comment on a species eg a poisonous spider.the festive season (cliché) the few days around and including Christmas o He ex-pressed the desire that if it met with your con-venience you should remain as his guest over the festive season. EM o During December all the counters on the ground floor of the store were given over to the display of gifts, decorations and cards for the festive sgeson. few and far between[Comp(AdjP)] small in number and widely dispersed; scarce; seldom occurring or found V: △ be, become, seem oSince signal communications were so inadequate,the Command Post could be set up only at places— few and far between —— where the interna-tional buried cable system came to the surface.MFMo You see, in a town this size the number of people who take any interest in intellectual pur-suits, politics and the arts and that, they' re pretty few and far batween. TGLY o Although theRoyal Ballet is full of good dancers, it is short of star personalities. Nureyev has not been engaged at all for next season. Fonteyn's appearances have become few and far between. NS a few home truths [0 (NP)] outspoken as-sessment, or criticism, of sb or his behaviour usu in order to point out his faults or shortcom.ings to him personally V: tell, give, sb; hear,learn, listen to. det:a few, some, one or two o‘You heard,’ she called back. ’ A few home truths might do you a bit of good.' LLDR oHELEN: Now you' re going to listen to a few home truths, my girl. JO: We' ve had enough home truths! TOHo ' Teaching's had me, I can tell you that, and I' ve been waiting to tell you bloody lot a few home truths for——' ' Try not to swear,' said Richie. ' It only weakens your case.’ TTa Having once led a strike,I know one or two uncomfortable, improbable home truths about the business which seem to elude the TVinterviewers. SToI admire' Man Alive' and I like those programmes in which humble citizens are able to deliver efew horm# truths to Authority. L(in) a few well-chosen words[A (PrepP)](cliché) (using) a brief, but comprehensive and appropriate, statement or description V:△tell, 183 <184> fiddle while Rome burns----a figment of the/ one's imagination sb; say, express, sth □ . .. all failing to clarify some point that could have been made in a faw well-chosen words, if anybody involved had been capable of doing the choosing. OBS□… and the few, well-chosen words of criticism with which he could quietly splinter someone's too-lengthy conclusion. TCM□ He suggested, since Iwas out of a job, I might like to give him a hand in the shop ' for experience' —— meaning he wouldn't pay me. I told him in a few, well-chosen words what I thought of that idea. Ooften facetious, as here. fiddle while Rome burns (saying) behave frivolously in a situation that calls for concern or corrective action (from a legend that theRoman emperor, Nero, played a violin while his capital was being devastated by fire) oMeanwhile, plans are going forward for a newOpera House and an enormous sports stadium and swimming pool in a city where over half the population are inadequately or insanitarily housed. This is fiddling while Rome burns. o(NONCE) (the world's population‘explosion’).They say that things are so bad nothing can be done. This is awful. The situation must be shown to have some hope, or we might as well dish out violins and start fiddling. OBS o (NONCE) The novel is rich in evidence of the trivial snobberies and hypocrisies which obsess our upper and upper-middle classes as they fiddle while Lon-don smoulders. L o often adapted, as shown. a field day [Comp/O) (NP)] a day, or other period, full of special excitement, important events, profitable or pleasing activity (from a military term meaning‘a day when troops carry out manoeuvres, have field-practice in mock warfare’) V: be, make... for sb; have, enjoy oMrs Craddock was delighted by Bernard's speech, delighted by all the speeches; it was a field day for her, of course. She told Eric andAlan so a hundred times and rather loudly. HAAa New York was then abominably plagued by racketeers who made a field-day out of the awk-ward fact that Manhattan is an island. Lo Two people were discussing someone they knew, and having a field day with his reputation. Then it dawned on me that I knew the person they were tearing to shreds. RT fight the good fight [V + O] act with strong commitment to sth o (source) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life... !TIMOTHY VI,12o Fight the good fight with all thy might,/ Christ is thy strength and Christ thy right. ENGLISHHYMNAL389o... missionaries who fought the good fight at the sacrifice of their health (and pockets) and did a great deal of good. RTo The Society chairman had fought the good fight for the conservation society by going round personally to see planning offenders, to argue with them with calm and polite good sense.NS fight like Kilkenny cats fight so violently and/ or persistently that both, or all, parties are defeated or destroyed (from an Irish story of two cats who fought each other till there was nothing left but their tails) o They fought likeKillenny cats —— and the only result of their quarrel was that they both lost the respect of those who had supported them. o(NONCE) The two men fought for the girl, over a period of 184 months, but it was a Kilkenny cat fight—— she was so sickened by their behaviour that she dropped them both. fight like a tiger attack sb/ defend oneself with ruthless energy/ savagery □ Except as regards its natural prey the weasel is a timid animal but will fight like a tiger in defence of its young. a But he (Frank Sinatra) fought like a tiger for the part of the little Italian Maggio in the film,' FromHere to Eternity'——a gamble which paid off with an Oscar and a new world fame. Ho also pl fight like tigers. fight a losing battle [V + O pass] struggle without success to achieve, or prevent, sth o(obtaining a mortgage on old property) We too will be joining the rush into suburbia as our hopes and energies rapidly diminish in the losing battle we' ve been fighting. SC□(reader's letter)I am trying desperately hard to bring up children in a decent way, and sick and tired of fighting a losing battle. What assurances have I and mothers like me that scenes of this nature will not be included in children's programmes again? RTfight etc tooth and nail fight etc with energy and determination, using every means one hasV: fight, △ struggle; oppose sb/ sth; defend oneself o Ir. dustry has been pressing hard for the abolition of the fuel-oil duty, which adds to industrial costs; and the local Board has been fighting tooth-and-nail on the other side. OBS□CISSIE: You ought to be ashamed of yourselves,I told them, after the Union struggled hard tooth and nail for every penny you get, and at the first sign of intimidation you want to give in.CSWBo Were I a British subject (a status which under suitable conditions I would deem a great privilege), I would fight British entry into theEEC tooth and nail. NSo When I ventured to criticize her husband's behaviour she fell upon me tooth and nall. o more often used of struggles to achieve some end than of physical combat. fighting fit [Comp (AdjP)] in exceptionally good physical condition; fit for energetic action and/ or endurance of hardship; in good general health V: △ be, become, get o This little flyweight(boxer) weighs 8 stones, every ounce of him fighting fit. SCo' And how are you feeling today?'' Not exactly what you'd call fighting fit,but improving.’ o Mailer scarcely yields to his 50years. His middle-aged spread has all but vanished. If less disposed to fight, he is fighting fit again. ST fighting talk/ words a defiant statement or challenge; a declaration which will involve one in having to defend, or substantiate, it o ' To deride the hope of progress is the ultimate fatu-ity, the last word in poverty of spirit and mean-ness of mind.' Fighting words indeed. NS o 'l want to race where it comes down to who's toughest, who can push himself the farthest into that kind of exhaustion.' Fighting talk at 21,especially when the event has never been won by anyone under 25. RTo often used as a comment when quoting, or reporting, such a statement. a figment of the/ one's imagination[Comp (NP)] sth imagined; sth supposed to be real but which is in fact not so V: △ be, seem;regard sth as o Among these fignments of the imeginstion appear such varied objects as the <185> philosopher" stone, the Oedipus complex, and the houris. SNP□ Had I really seen a face peering out from among the reeds or had it been merely a figment of my imagination?□ Long before marriage I suspected that a spoilt child was not just a figment of a stern Victorian imagination but something real and nasty. OBS a figure of fun [Comp (NP)] a person who looks. or is made to look. foolish or ridiculous in appearance and/ or behaviour V: △ be,become, turn into, look □ To him the novelist was, if not exactly a figure of fun, then at any rate someone who was playing at life and therefore not to be taken quite seriously as a man . PW□ The holiday-maker(at the seaside) is portraved as a bingo-crazed figure of fun, get-ting locked out of his hotel, losing the bus station,getting sick on shellfish, chips and beer. SC□ No,I'm not going to change my clothes to please you.I intend to be warm and comfortable in the boat whether I look like a figure of fun or not.□ also pl figures of fun. fill/ fit the bill [V + 0] be satisfactory, or adequate, for a defined or understood purpose;satisfy all the requirements of a function or role(bill here refers to a theatre or advertising pos-ter) o I would stand there in my sensible shoes that would ' fill the bill on most occasions'. HHoBut sometimes solid food doesn't fill the bill.During illness, for example, or simply between meals.□... a calculating, ingenious book, which is described as a thriller but doesn't quite fit the bill. NS□ For a man who regularly provides (a radio programme) with a guide to shopping,John Leese admirably fits the bill. At 6ft 3ins,and a number of pounds over 300, he admits:“I’ m no gastronome but I do enjoy my food.'RT... do whatever heads of state have to do with efficiency and grace. Better still if it is done within the context of a happy family life. Edward VII, an unattractive, self-indulgent roué, would not fit the royal bill today. L fill sb's shoes [V + O pass] adequately take over sb's function, role □ We face, moreover,impending changes in the political leadership of the world's most influential states. The men who fill their shoes, at whose identity we can only guess, may make an unexpected imprint upon world politics. Lo The old doctor was worshipped round here. The son's a nice enough young man.but he' ll never fill his father's shoes. filthy lucre money, or financial gain, as some-thing to be despised □(source) A bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled,not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to fifthy lucre. TITUSI7oPETER: Inside that safe — packets and packets of lovely, filthy lucre. DPM□(a golf tournament) No advertise-ments are allowed to disfigure the scene either inside or outside the grounds—— nor is any men-tion of filthy lucre permitted, All the television directors and commentators have to submit to a solemn lecture forbidding mention of money in any form, St o usu facetious, as here. the final solution a way of dealing with a problem that will be completely and per-manently effective o ... Treblinka, the notorious concentration camp, where a single-line railway track ended a stone's throw away from the gas chambers, and where the Nazis were putting into a figure of fun—— find one's vocation practice their final solution of the Jewish problem, by which they meant the Jewish people.OBS □ Mescalin can never solve that problem: it can only pose it. The full and final solution can be found only by those who.... DOP□(BBC inves-tigatory programme about gypsies in Britain)But what was achieved? There was no verdict, so what action does ' Time for Action' think it is time for? Armed confrontation? Government intervention? A final solution? L o expression now widely recognized as a grim cuphemism for the Nazi policy(under Hitler) of mass exter-mination of Jewish people living in Germany or in countries under German control. find etc one's bearings[V+ O] get to know etc where one is, what to do, in a new location,social situation, employment etc V: find, △get.take; give sb; lose □ Though I had lived in Bir-mingham as a child, the city had altered so much it took me some time to find my bearings again.□John's experience had been with a legal practice that didn't do much court work, so the retiring partner agreed to stay on till he'd got his bear-ings. o But other fantasies seem to belong to the world of the paranoid. I do not doubt that these are the kinds of fabrications with which those who have lost their bearings in life attempt to re-inject meaning into things. NS find etc a better hole [V + O](catchphrase)find etc a situation, a place, a home, a job etc.which is an improvement on the one that one has now, that one was in previously v: find,△look for, have, get□(source)(a cartoon picture of the First World War showing a soldier—Old Bill— in a battered, muddy trench saying to another soldier) Well, if you knows of a better hole, go to it. CBBAIRNSFATHER 1888-1959□An d will you now please give a thought to ourTodday Monster, to Old Bill who has gone off to find himself a better hole. Let us wish him a safe return to his icy home. RMo(work in the BBC)You learned to examine your craft because you had to tell other writers what needed changing and what wouldn't work. I couldn't have found a better hole. SC find one's feet [V + O] gain experience and the knowledge of what best to do in new sur-roundings, a new job, etc; achieve a settled out-look and purpose in life o The Ist Canadian division had not been in action before and officers and men were just beginning to find their feet.MFM σ It was good experience for her, for it enabled her to find her feet in the new country and to learn a little of its ways. RFWo It may be that our playwrights would have broken out of this (rigid set of rules and conventions) in any event. There were signs of it happening as early as 1956, when television drama was still finding its feet. RToMRSEGAI· Excuse me, Sam. but you must agree; he's good for nothing. SAM: There Idisagree with you, Mr Segal he' ll find his feet.HSG find one's vocation [V + O] find, esp after trying other work or activities, the work or function that best suits one`s abilities and in-clinations adj: real, true o With two films under his belt Jeffries was directing his third with all theéclat and exhaustion of a man who'd found his vocation late in life. RT□(from a diary)25 Sep-tember: My first lecture--at last I' ve found 185 <186> find sb/ sth wanting—a fine thing my true vocation. There were more than 200students, ranging from fresh-faced late teens to grizzled heads; I loved them on sight. OBS O miss one's vocation. find sb/ sth wanting [V + O + Comp pass]judge that sb/ sth does not meet a required, or expected, standard of behaviour, efficiency,suitability □(source) Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.DANIEL V 27-8□ Shaw applauded Nietzsche for laying low false ideals, but found him wanting politically. NSoOur British leaders receive power with modesty; they lose it with resignation, if not with exhilaration. But when weighed in the balance they are not found wanting. MFM □Fashions in education are constantly changing as various methods are tried and all, in some degree,found wenting. find one's way (to sth) [V + O] reach a destination, or objective, by search, inquiry, or experiment; (facetious) arrive, be found,somewhere by fortuitous or unexplained means S: traveller; researcher; coat, key, wallet□ Don't bother to meet me at the station. I'm sureI' ll be able to find my way to your house by myself. □ Reluctantly defensive of his family, he is drawn to the liberals, until he sees how they insensitively try to turn individual desperation to immediate political ends. Yet at least he deter-mines, patiently and painfully, to find his own way into reality, without selling out his con-sciousness to any factions. NS o ' Here are your cigarettes in the refrigerator.' ' Good God! How on earth did they find their way there?' o The new (Italian) Government's first act has been to impose exchange controls on all those suitcases of bank-notes that traditionally find their way to Switzerland the moment there's a money crisis. L finding is keeping (saying) if you find some-thing, then it is rightfully your property o(Colin has picked up a packet with two cigarettes in it, from the gutter.)' Come on,' Bert said, cajoling, threatening, ' let's ' ave(= have)one.' Colin stood firm. Finding was keeping.'I'm saving ' em for our dad.' LLDRo' That's my ball! I lost it in the park yesterday!' ' I don't believe you. Anyway, finders keepers.'o said,esp by children, as a claim to ownership, of sth found; variants finders keepers, findings keepings. a fine body of men etc[Comp (NP)](cliché)an admirable group of men etc V: △ be, seem,appear. n: men, women; soldiers, amateurs,sportsmen; criminals, incompetents o I have nothing against Air Force pilots. I am sure they are a fine body of men. I just don't see that having been one qualifies Potter to run this firm.□ Philosophers, lawyers, scientists, diplomats,sociologists — a fine body of men, as CyrilRay used to say, whenever he had occasion to refer to a provincial police force. Lo Do you know who trained our secret police, that fine body of mm?ILiH□a conventional compliment, used esp of soldiers or policemen; stress pattern a' fine body of men. ◇ △ a fine figure of a man etc.fine and dandy [adj + adj non-rev] splendid,most satisfactory for one person or group only,or depending on an (as yet) unfulfilled con-dition □ John wants to spend the whole vacation 186 up at the log-cabir. As I said,' Fine and dandy for you, since you like fishing and climbing, but what am I supposed to do with my time?’ o What do they need another loan for now? I understood that everything was to be fine and dandy oncePeter started his new job.□ ‘You can drive here in twenty minutes in your car,' she said. Which would have been fine and dandy, if I'd happened to have one. o often used as ironic comment on arrangements that suit another person. fine feathers make fine birds (saying) an eye-catching outward appearance is necessary if one wants to attract attention, make a good impression, etc;(ironic) an impressive or showy appearance is no indication of merit or ability□(source) It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds. FABLE: THE PEACOCK AND THE JAY(AESOP 620-560BC)□As for the Elizabethan episode(in a pageant), Miss Crowder in her farthingale had never enjoyed herself so much, so much so indeed that her friend Miss Hopgood felt con-strained when they got home to remind her that fine feathers did not make fine birds. WDMo' Fine feathers make fine birds,' I tell him. ' IfSusan had as much time and money to spend on her appearance as those Quigley girls have, she’ d soon put them in the shade.'o For the Trinity(College, Cambridge) May Ball, the fledglings had put on their finest feathers. RTo But it's all window-dressing really. Our fine-feethered friend must keep well in with Britain andAmerica now, since they weren't defeated by Hit-ler as he'd hoped. ILIH o use of expression with neg often indicates sarcasm; adj compound(attrib) fine-feathered; a fine-feathered friend used as term of scorn. ◇ beauty is but/ only skin deep. a fine figure of a man etc[Comp (NP)] a man etc who is well-developed physically and of handsome, or impressive, appearance V:△be; find, think, sb. n: man, woman; sailor,Yorkshireman o I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror and thought that I looked a fine figure of e mywry. UTN o MYRA: Do put something on,Tony. You' ll catch cold. TONY:I know, and then you' ll have to nurse me (drags on his black sweater). MILLY: Eh, but he's a fine figure of a boy, that Tony. EHOW□ Mr MacLennan,a fine figure of a Highlander of the old school, gave our representative a vivid account of the amazing occurrence. RMo I don't like your skinny pieces.I prefer what our grandfathers would have called'a fine figure of a women'. D stress pattern a' fine figure of a man. △a fine body of men etc.a fine etc kettle of fish a disagreeable,muddled, perplexing state of affairs det: a,what a, such a. adj: fine, △ nice, pretty o‘Here’ s a fine kettle of fish,’ John said, return-ing to the car. ' The petrol pump's empty and there isn't another for 40 miles.'□' Well, if they' re going to sack me, Eliot,' he said, 'I' ve left them an ice kettie of fish.'NMO △a (very) different kettle of fish. a fine thing [Comp (NP)] an excellent procedure or state of affairs; a deplorable procedure etc V:△be; seem o It would be afine thing if we could present to the electorate next time not only proposals for national superannua-tion, but a complete all-in plan for modernising social security. OBS□ What a fine thing it is that <187> a fine time (to do sth)—— fire and brimstone our city ha、 heen chosen as the site for the new university. . . Sil somewhere else, indeed' It's fine thing when(I man can't sit down on his own chair for fear ofdisturbing a cat!□ Through some slip-up in organization there was no one to meet our distinguished visitors on arrival. A fine thing to have happened when we'd been told first im-pressions would be important. □ when used alone, as in last example, functions as ironic comment; stress pattern a ' fine thing. a fine time (to do sth) [Comp(NP)](ironic)an unsuitable time or too late a time (to do sth)V: △be, seem a ' Jenny, someone on the phone for you. '' Some joker, no doubt. '' Fine bloody time to he ringing a girl up, what? Tell them the morning' ll do. ' TGLYaI don't feel like eating breakfast this morning,'' Well, this is afinetime to tell me that. I could have saved myself the trouble of making it.'o No . I'm not going to let you drive home with all that whisky inside you.A fine time to lose your licence this would be,just when you' ve got a job that depends on your having a car a used as ironic comment; stress pattern a ' fine time to do sth. fine words butter no parsnipe (saying)flattery, expressions of sympathy, vague promises, etc do not help others, do not im-prove a situation; mere words are not enough□ ' Fine words butter no parsnips,' went onBevill gravely, waving a finger at Martin, who in fact had not spoken. ‘You chaps have got to deliver the goods. ’ NM a Mr Carter reminded everybody at the so-called ' summit-meeting' inLondon that fine words butter no parsnips or whatever is the equivalent idiom of Georgia. Lo(NONCE) But I readily admit that by the end of the chuí my unhealthy prejudice, as one born in theForest of Dean, against Welshmen buttering parsnips with fine words and moist adjectives almost ebhed back within the proper confines of the Race Relations Act. NS one's finer feelings the better, or nobler, side of one`s nature as contrasted with less worthy sentiments, urges, desires V: suppress, show, be governed by; (let)... get the better of one a l should not have repined because a brother had stamped down his finer feelings and done him-self well out of it. Success did not come so often enough to those one was fond of that one's rev.ponses could be so delicate. NM□I feel sorry for the people I have to evict, too. But if I were to be governed by my finer feelings I'd soon be out of a job und then where would I be? the finer points (of sth) the details, or as-pects, of an art, skill, game, system etc which can be recognized or assessed only by those who have a full understanding or knowledge of it V:grasp, understand. appreciate; be well up in, be(well) versed in; escape, elude □(cricket) The last hall of that over Skinner hit nearly to the boundary, but took only one run off it . The idea of this--Jenny was pleased with herself for get-ting one of the finer points—— wastourrange that he. and not his partner. should be up againstLawrence(the bowler). TGLYoI don't think your landlord could prosecute, but I'm not well enough versed in the finer points of the law to be cer-tain. a Jamieson, who always thought nobody could appreciate the finer points of a picture as he could himself, proceeded to explain just how the artist had achieved his effect.□I think Jack's a fool to try and undermine his boss's authority--and he thinks I'm a fool and that the finer points of his subtle plan escape me. o stress pattern the ' finer points. one's finest hour the period during which sb.an institution, country etc achieves greatest success, receives credit or renown to a degree greater than at any other time o(source) Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and itsCommonwealth last for a thousand years men will still say, ' This was their finest hour. WCHURCHILL (in a speech after the British with-drawal from Dunkirk June 1940) a It seemed fitting somehow—a definition of national tem-perament— that he (a German) should speak of1940 as a military ' finest hour' with the same nostalgia that we do. But when we use the phrase we mean the time of our defeat. RTo The Sixties had seen public service broadcasting in its finest hour of liberation, and only a few were aware that distant signals were faintly ominous. NS the finished product sb/ sth finally com-pleted or evolved (contrasted with the same person/ thing at an intermediate stage) o Educa-tion is a life-long process. No young person emerges from school, college, or university as a finished product. SC□(Max Wall, comedian)I' ll do whatever comes into my mind on any given night. The trouble is that none of it is written down, and that makes it hard to sell; bookers say they don't know what to expect. They simply can't see it, but I tell them not to worry: I can always visualise the finished product. ST□It is wrong to make a fetish of professionalism, of theFinished Product. There should be courses in,for example, creative writing, if only to get people to read, to feel that books are theirs. L a finishing school a school where rich parents send their children (usu girls) to be‘finished’, ie to acquire cultured tastes, social assurance, good manners, etc of was sent for a year to a finishing school in Switzerland, but allI learned was to swear in Swiss German and to drink litres of lager fast. (add/ put) the finishing touches (to sth)[V + O pass](add) the final details completing or embellishing sth o Twenty rushed minutes later, she was getting the melon from the fridge and putting the finishing touches to the sal-mon salad. WI□ The hul was now completed ex-cept for a few finishing touches. BMo'I'm leav-ing my husband. Shocking, isn't it?'' But when he's like this, laid up—' Martha laughed loud-ly. ' Oh yes, isn't that wonderful? That was the finishing touch On top of everything else he has to go and get himself shot.' TGLY o Rosa brought Glad downstairs, the finishing touches were put to the tea, and they sat down.HD □ sing form, (add/ put) the finishing touch (to sth), often derogatory. fire and brimstone [n + n non-rev] symbols of punishment and destruction, esp as inflicted by God's wrath and associated with Old Testa-ment concepts of God, Hell, and the Devil(brimstone= sulphur)V: call down...(on), rain(down)...(on); breathe o (source) Then theLord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brim-stone and fire from heaven. GENESIS XIX24□Far 187 <188> fire the first/ opening shot——(in) the first/ full flush of youth etc from being propaganda for the established churches, only the fourth (TV programme)approaches traditional fire-and-brimstoneChristianity. OBS□(Britain's in-shore fishermen resist entry to the European Common Market)Rampant Scottish peers have emergedfr om their glens breathing fire and brimstone. The 20-oddTory MPs with fishing constituencies are looking distinctly unhappy. OBS□Joanna is Joanna. Ilove her. She just radiates — whether with fire and brimstone when confronted with yet another ir-ritating inadequacy, or conversely, with deep compassion and understanding of other people's problems. TVT fire the first/ opening shot [V + O pass]make the first move in a contest, quarrel, fight or confrontation □ (headline) Carter FiresFirst Shotin Election Campaign. Jimmy Carter formally opened his campaign today with a strong attack on... o The opening shot in an intensified pro-monetarism campaign was fired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. □ A letter from the owner's lawyer to the tenant, demand-ing the vacation of the property within 6 weeks,was the first shot fired in a long and tiresome legal battle. (need) a firm hand[V +O pass](need) strong discipline, control o Churmian needs to be bullied. What she needs is a firm hand. She will simply go to pieces if you don't keep at her. MM□ It was obvious to Symes within two days of taking up his appointment that a very firm hand would be needed. a firm offer[O(NP)] an offer to buy or do sth.and one which can be accepted as genuinely meant and almost certain to be adhered to V:△make(sb); reject; obtain (from sb) o First, we tried to obtain from them a firm offer, with satisfactory guarantees, but it was not forthcom-ing and negotiations were terminated by them. T□I think you' re just the man for the job. Go home and think it over; but remember that though it's a firm offer I can't keep it open indefinitely. □No, we haven't sold the boat yet. Several people seemed very interested but nobody has made us a firm offer. first among equals[Comp (NP)] the one of a group who leads or takes special responsibility but who neither feels himself, nor is held by others to be, their superior V:△ be; stand□On the Parliamentary Committee we are equal, the leader being first emong equals, and the res-ponsibility for party discipline is shared by all equally. OBS□In Dyak society the rich are respec-ted but the poor are not despised. Success is ad-mired because it represents something everyone would like to achieve. The rich man can therefore hope to stand first among equals in the minds of other men. NDN afirst charge on/ upon sth/ sb[Comp(NP)]a demand on sth/ sb that takes priority over all others V: △be, become; make sth □ A certain minimum of defence expenditure ought to be a first charge on a nation's resources. MFMo /confess that it was I who sent the bomb which killed the postman and I desire that the welfare of the man's family shall be a first charge upon my estate. ARG□We fully realize that the care of your husband's health must be afirst charge on your time during the next few weeks. first come, first served (saying) people will be dealt with in strict order of arrival, applica-tion etc; there will be no discrimination or favouritism about the order in which people are entitled to buy or receive goods or services oJoining up was like anything else— it was a matter of first come, first served. Quite soon,when the war actually started, everyone would be conscripted; but by that time they, Robert andNed, would be well ahead with their training, and in a position to get a better share of what was going. CON□First come, first served should be the rule for hospital waiting lists, but there seems to be little doubt that some National Health patients with a bit of influence can jump the queue in a way not entirely related to the severity of their condition. first cousin to sth [Comp (NP)] closely resembling, if not actually the same as, sth elseV: △ be, look o I could never tell whether his eyes were blue-grey or grey-blue, but what I did know was that as a colour it was first cousin to stainless Sheffield steel. PPo Did that teak chest come from Burma? We have one at home that's first cousin to it. □'I wouldn't call it a quarrel.really.’' Wouldn't you? It was first cousin to one, anyway.’ the first fine (careless) rapture (saying)any initial period of enthusiastic activity or pleasure which is not, or is not likely to be,maintained at the same high pitch □ (source)That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,/ Lest you should think he never could recapture/ The first fine careless rapture!HOME-THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD (R BROWNING1812-89)o In an exclusively male party,(men) feel a special kind of happy-go-lucky contentment,yet they cannot do without women entirely. Gian-paolo himself, when the first fine rapture had worn off. seemed none too pleased. ARGa Young love, that first fine careless rapture, comes for most girls not with a, crush on a pop star or the gym mistress, but in a passion for ponies. G o(NONCE) (football) By and large, Inter have not had a good season and the team manager has been under fire. The first fine frenzy of his promotion from youth coach last season is no more than a memory. ST□(NONCE) My mood was a text-book case for manics, the classic anti-climax, the first fine careless flatnses after the job is done. PP (in) the first/ full flush of youth etc[A(Prep P)](in) the freshness, or vigour, of youth etc at its outset/ prime;(in) the period when a stimulating activity, state of affairs, emotion begins or is at its height n: youth,(early) man-hood,(young) womanhood; romance, reform,victory, success; enthusiasm, passion, anger.generosity o Most West African lorries are not in what one would call the first flush of yourth.BB□The great likelihood of this relatively early falling off of learning efficiency is something which may be unpleasant for those of us who are past the first flush of youth. MFF□ We should hate to think that Edinburgh, particularly in the full flush of Festival, was not going to be given the chance of responding to some of the novel invitations to public participation in art ex-perience planned by artists. SC o It is mainly because, in the first flush of romance, we like 188 <189> first and foremost— first thing (in the morning) to pretend that marriage means independence of other people that it so often turns sour. NS□It was a statement he would regret when the first full flush of his anger had abated.□ The bottom had fallen out of romanticism with the death ofBvron, and Clare's first flush of fame as ' the peasant poer, the literary ploughboy to be putronised u nd gawped at, was fading. SC first and foremost[adv + adv non-rev] firstly and most importantly; taking precedence as a consideration, procedure, function or role oWill we now let carseat men and our cities? First and foremost people want space to live in at a price they can afford. ST□ If your problem is dry.cracked nails, first and foremost have a health check. Your doctor may suggest some ' diet-extra' tonic. Ho What I' ve been saying has been based on the assumption that the museum is there for the benefit of the community. On another view the museum is first and foremost a tourist assel. L a When you talk about the National(Theatre) most people think first and foremost of Lord Olvier. St o Now who is going to teachBritish management to do the job? First and foremost the companies themselves. L o usu front or middle position. the first one has heard of it/ sth the first time one learns about it/ sth o He seemed flab-hergasted when told we were going to Sui and it was obviously the first he had heard of it al-though he was a partner in the Company operai-ing there. DS□ Like everybody else in the village.including the wives of the men involved, it was the first she'd heard of it. And 30 years later,there's still a degree of confusion among the men themselves. RI a I can 't stand all this fuss over weddings. I'm telling you now that if lever do get married the first you' ll hear of it is after it's an accomplished fact. o How do you know aboutTony's appointment? The first he heard of it himself was last night. □ Really? I' ve knownGeorge for years and it 's the first I' ve heard of him nursing a secret ambition to go into politics.c usu Comp of be; usu pres or past perfect tense of hear. one's first impression one's immediate reaction to a new experience of any kind o He(the Prime Minister) said he wanted my opinion on the proposed operation I replied that I was not his military adviser. He agreed but said he would like me to study the plan nevertheless, and give him my first impression’, MFMa‘I could easily be wrong in my estimation of his character.of course. '' Not necessarily, first impressions are often correct.’ oIt's a beautiful place, but I'm not going to launch into a description of it or show you my slides or otherwise interfere with your first impression of it. first and last [adv + adv non-rev] altogether.when everything is taken into account; in all respects and/ or circumstances o It took four vears to build the Towers and cost about four hundred thousand pounds first and last. WDMoI'd go back to Canada if I got the chance. First and last, the ten years I spent there were the happiest of my life. o' His father wouldn't have done business that way.’' No, he was a gentleman, first and last.'o What his dismissal from the cabinet and his translation to the hoardroom of a great nationalized industry taught him about himself is that he is first and last an administrator, and that political labels simply got in the way . NS□ front, middle or end position. first of all'[A(Adv P)] before(doing) anything else; in the first place' (qv); in the first instance(qv); to begin with'(Vol l)(qv); to start with'(Voll)(qv)o Brigit was aware, first of all, of the resentment in Prissie's face. Then it passed,and Prissi e lurned a hurt but acquiescent look towards Brigit. DC□ Well, I tried this and I tried that and still the car wouldn't start, so I went and phoned the AA ((GB) = Automobile Associa-tion), which is what I should have done first of all . o an emphatic version of first. first of all²[Conj (Adv P)] (used to introduce what the speaker considers to be) the first or most important item in an argument or process.for a start (qv); in the first place²(qv); to begin with²(Vol 1)(qv); to start wɪth²(Vol 1)(qy)□First of all, he's not the dear kind old man he'd like you to think he is a ' I don't see why we can't just go ahead and buy the house. " Well, first of all, we simply couldn't afford to pay off a mort-gage of £30,000-which is what we'd need.Secondly, no building society would lend us that much, anyway. 'o an emphatic version of first.first principles [0/o (NP)] truths, laws or assumptionswhichformthebasis for subsequent reasoning or illustration; the basis of a whole religious, philosophical, educational etc system V: go back to, return to; derive sth from; establish o This elegant method is derived here from first principles, including the back-ground of complex functions. NSC□ At least the old authoritarian teaching was' reasonably clear on its objectives, But of course Bruner does not suggest a return to first principles in this res-pect, although in the past he may rather have over-stated the case against all learning by ex-position rather than by discovery. NS□ Realising that his students were out of their depth, the lec-turer decided that he had better go back to first principles. the first step (in/ towards sth) {Comp/O(NP)] the first stage in a process or progress V:be, regard sth as; take o ... recommended that the school-leaving age should be raised from hf-teen to sixteen as the first step in a long-term plan for improving the education of all boys and girls between the ages of fifteen and eighteen.OBS□ You know what'd happen if he did marry you, don't you? Load you down with about five kids in the first four years, that's the first step.TGLYa' What are you doing, father?''I'm taking the first step in a new career.' She looked over his shoulder. ' Are you hecoming a writer?'OMIH□ Sadat should be supported because he has taken some brave first steps along the road to peace with Israel G first thing(in the morning) [A(NP)] early in the morning; soon after one wakes or rises □So I went up (to London) alone, with Ned's as-surance that he'd follow, either late on the same night or first thing in the morning. CON oHELENA : Listen, Alison—I' ve sent your father a wire. Look. dear— he' ll get it first thing in the morning. LBA□Don't suppose you could lend me a pound? Pay you back first thing tomorrow.□ ' Fancy going off to work on nothing but a cup 189 <190> (the) first/ next thing one knows— fit and proper of tea!’’ I know, but that's all he ever takes, first'thing.'o front or end position.◇ last thing (at night) (the) first/ next thing one knows [Conj(NP)](informal) then; next; after that o You'd better keep off cigarettes altogether, or, first thing you know, you' ll be back to smoking 40a day again.□If they let that woman in there the first thing they know she' ll have the whole place reorganised. oDAVIES: We used to have a bit of a chat, not any more. I never see him, he goes out, he comes in late, next thing I know he's shoving me about in the middle of the night. TC aOne kid came up and asked for an autograph,which I gave. Then there were about 15 kids who also came up to me and I thought, ' Very nice.'Next thing I knew I got a knee in the groin. RT□ stress pattern (the) ' first/' next thing one knows.the first thing etc that comes into/enters one's head/ mind [O (NP)] a hasty or unconsidered opinion, remark, reply etc V:say, blurt out; write, use, give. n: thing, words,name、 thought, excuse □ That was just an ex-cuse. I wanted to get back early, and I said the first thing that came into my head. STo We at home can see people caught off balance, saying the first and not the fourth thing which comes into their heads, which is television's greatest achievement. ST o I tried to draw him aside,muttering by way of explanation the first words that came into my head.' Robert's just a bit irritable. 'CON o I hope it will not seem patronising if I blurt out the first thought that comge to my mind, and say that working with the young— as I'm doing these days— is a stimulating thing and full of strange surprises. Lo'I wasn't sure about giving my right name to the janitor, she said, ' so I just gave him the first name that entered my head, Moll Flanders.I' ve just been reading about her.'HD (put) first things first(catchphrase)(realize that) the most important or necessary con-siderations, duties must be attended to before any others that arise; get etc one's/ its priorities.right etc(qv) o To represent the many good things in a society massively at odds with itself is difficult for the mass media to do. But first things first. Is the case for it even recognised?L o ' Those four days I spent with you— they started me along the right track, you know, Joe.I began to put first things first, as I used to do before I got—' ' Before you got successful,' Ifinished for him. CONo' For heaven's sake, Jinny!Do you have to start being domestic now? Spen-ser is waiting for us.’‘First things first,’ Joe said. ‘She has to sew my button on first.’ AITC◇△put sb/ sth first. a fish out of water [Comp (NP)] sb who is uncomfortable, who is at a disadvantage,because in unfamiliar company or unnatural surroundings V:△ be, seem, feel(like)□ I fear that at the best I shall be somewhat of afish out of water. There is so little in common between me and my fellow guests. EMo(In this novel) aClassics don is offered a huge sum to write the life of a Hollywood Star of the Fifties now living in seclusion on a South Pacific island. The story reveals the man and his failings, and the fish-out-of-water hero is honestly and nicely obser-ved. L a In my patched jeans and torn leather 190 jacket I felt like a fish out of water amongst all those elegantly-dressed people. 口 attrib use the fish-out-of-water hero. ◇ be in/ out of one's element. a fisherman's story etc an exaggerated story(from one relating to the size of a fish which has been caught or has got away) n:story,△ tale, yarn o And there, after dinner.while the rest of the guests were spinning fisher-men's yarns round the bar, we perched in dark uncomfortable vantage points overlooking bad-ger terrain. RTo Have you heard the one about the pike that tried to eat a mule? Unlike some fishermen's tales this one could be true,because it's been around for 300 years. IzaakWalton told it first. TVT o stress pattern a ' fisher-man's story. fit for human consumption [Comp (AdjP)](official description for foodstuffs) tested and passed as being fit for people to eat V: △ be;think, consider, sth o Now I think there's a lot to be said for us all having lunch here, don't you?I think there might be one or two scraps still just about fit for human consumption if I can contrive to locate them. TGLY o Meanwhile.Gian-Carlo Menotti's politically supercharged opera, ' The Consul', is performed at Warsaw'sGrand Theatre, and James Bond has been passed fit for human consumption. Lo In Britain there is no agreed system for monitoring the alkaloid level in potatoes. Potatoes are only subject, like any other foodstuff. to ' fitness for human con-sumption' regulations. ST o often facetious and/ or fig; variant fitness for human consumption.fit sb like a glove[V + O + A] fit the wearer perfectly in size and shape; seem as if it were specially made for sb;(fig) be apt and accurate$: coat, dress; job; description, adjective oAren't I lucky? The only dress in the shop that Ifancied and it fitted me like a glove!□' Mother'.he said to me, you make the place like a palace and it fits you like a glovo.’ ASA□‘Prudent’ and calculating' are two adjectives which fitPresident Pompidou like a glove. a (NONCE)Welsh actor Clifford Evans has virtually cor-nered a market in Top People parts: he has played a Lord Chancellor, the Head of a British secret Service agency and fits glove-like into the role of a retired politician in the Sunday play.TVT a fit of laughter [o (NP)] (a state of)unrestrained or helpless laughter V: be in,dissolve in, collapse in; have sb in, keep sb in oThe attacks of asthma grew more frequent——losing his temper or a fit of laughter could bring one on. □ By this time the audience were rolling about in fits of laughter. I His attempts to manage the bicycle had us all in fits. □ be etc in fits implies fits of laughter. fit and proper [adj + adj non-rev] suitable and correct, esp conforming to accepted standards of social behaviour, religious observance,etc□' No.' he said, ' this morning I do not, to be quite honest with you all, I do not really feel that thisSchool is, well---a fit and proper place to have the Word of God read aloud in it.'TToIt' sa ll very well for them saying that marriage is just a cere-mony, but now that there's a child coming you'd think they'd want to have things fit and proper.□As George introduced Peter to Sarah it is only <191> fit and proper that he should he best man u t their wedding. a fixed id●a an idea, or opinion, not only firm-ly, but often obsessively, held and unlikely to be affected by the arguments of others or even by one's own experience o John had a fixed idea that it was only the lack of a typewriter that prevented him from plunging straight into a novel that would win him immediate fame. □ The moratorium should be recorded in some form in the general nuclear tests ban treaty, said MrTsaraph in, but he had no fixed ideas about how this should be done. OBS flags fly/ fly flags at half-master flags are hung hang flags half-way up the flag-pole, in-stead of the top, as a token of mourning or distress □(` Black September` Munich OlympicGames 1972) The air where the doves of peace flew so recently is filled with the strains ofBeethoven's ' Eroica'. Flegs fly at half-most.West Germany's Chancellor Willy Brandt sits among the mourners. OBS □JASON: Wake up,make it lively. This is a wedding. MRS FISH: The day I got married was the worst day of my life.MRS GREEN: The day I got married all the flags flow at haff-must. DPM a flash Harry(derogatory)a man whose dress,talk, manner and conduct is more showy, ex-travagant than is good taste o... politics is meant to be boring, and boring people carry it out more competently thu n Flash Harrys. NS □What's the Reid recipe? ' It's Mike Reid being himself. I'm a bit of a pushing f lash Harry---uggressive type,I suppose.' Tvt aflash in the pan[Comp(NP)] an effort to do sth, that attracts notice but does not succeed;a brief (partial) success which is not followed up:the person who makes such an effort, achieves only such a success(from an explosion of gun-powder in the pan of an old flint-lock gun.which fails to fire the charge)V:小 be; think sth.regard sth as o Brilliance that has not been tem-pered by the discipline of long years of appren-ticeship to research will not give the ' History what it requires. We shall get flashy stuff.Middleton, brilliant, unsustained fiashes in the pan. unsupported guesses. ASA□It soon became clear that he would have to follow his success with a new play, but when ' Budger's Green' was shredded by the crirics, Sherriff decided that' Journey's End' was a flash in the pan and that he should carry out another ambition—— to go toOxford, read history and become a schoolmas-ter. S1 o You' ve written that McCarthy was a kind of a ghastly flash in the pan and that that kind of thing could never happen again. Lo OnlyWinnie the Poo h who has his own adult cult following and who was translated into celluloid(= made the subject of a film) can rival Rupert's hid for Top Bear. Beside them both Yogi is just u flash-in-the-pan colonial upstart. SC口 attrib use a flash-in-the-pan success. upstart etc. flat out [A (AdvP)] with all the speed, energy.determination etc one can (from pressing the accelerator pedal of a car right down till it is flat/ level with the floor)V:△be, go, ride, work□ Dennis had allowed Nur Johan a few healthy gallops, but never before had he ridden him flat out. ARG □I suppose they (the police-car) were just putrolling u nd san us immediately after get- a fixed idea—— flex one's muscles ting the wireless message. Blast their guts. We' ll cook them yet: we' ve got five miles an hour more thun they have, first out, and in any case they' re not taking me alive. HD□My father tended to be influenced by the opinion he'd heard or read most recently. If he had just been down a coal-mine— he was a vicar in a coal-mining village inNorthamptonshire—— he tended to be fiet out on the side of the miners. Lo If we worked first out on the circuits all night there was a chance we might have the automatic cul-out working again by morning. a flat voice a(deliberately) expressionless tone of voice □ 'I could do some interesting designs blindfold, Here, Joe , tie this behind my head. " He poised his brush. Then a flat voice spoke from the doorway. ' Mr Lumb, ' it said. ' Don't you think you ought to be getting on with some work?’ cono' Shall I make some tea, or shall we have a little drink of something stronger to cheer ourselves up?’' Whichever you like, ' she ans-wered in a flat little voice and didn't even raise her eyes. o also pl. flay/ skin sb alive [V+ O + A pass] punish.penalize, abuse, criticize sb with the utmost severity o Harold Wilson is still stuck in one of his had patches. The pro-Marketeers who dominate Fleet Street have seized the chance of flying him alive. NSo ' If it's one of my boys that did this.' said the woman, surveying the damage.'I' ll skin him alive.' a fle a pit (derogatory) a cheap theatre or cinema o ' Just keeping my eye on a touring show that's here at the local f le a pit. ' ' One of your shows?’ Charles asked. HD o JO : Oh shut up.Helen. Have a look in that paper and see what's on at the pictures tomorrow night. HELEN: Where is it? Oh yes. 'I was a teenage - - - - what? You can 't go there anyway. It's a proper little fleapit.TOH fleet of foot [Comp (AdjP)] able to move rapidly V: △ be, seem o Haydn is not a com-poser to whom Boulez brings special insights; his account of the Oxford Symphony was huovant and clean-limbed, no more: and though the finale was fleet of foot, the phrasing of the slow move-ment could well have been more pointed. OBSo'Icouldn't do it now, ' said Uncle Fred, pausing in the tale of his escape,'b uI I was figeter of foot in those days.'□It's the chamois' leaping powers.more than its fleetness of foot, that are astounding. O variant fleetness of foot. flesh and blood [n + n non-rev] the human body; the human being; the frailties, fears and passions that all mankind share as physical beings □ Sometimes she wished that the symp-tom(of pregnancy) hadn't turned out to be a false alarm, for an incarnation of her experience with Alec, its expression in flesh and blood,with the prime necessity to love it would have banished the warring abstractions that beset her mind. PW□ Th e fortifications were too strong and solid concrete pill-boxes lined the whole top of the hill, and we were only flesh and blood. OBS□Something snapped inside Monsieur Bonneval.Flesh and blood could endure no more. ARGOalso found in more than/ as much as flesh and blood can/ could endure/ stand/ take. ◇ △ one's own flesh and blood. flex one's muscles(V + O pass] exercise, test. 191 <192> a fight of fancy----flower children/ people or show off one's muscles (before doing sth);display one's power, either as a warning or for self-gratification $: fighter; army; industry,union, department o The first sign that Russia was flexing its muscless as a Sea Power came in1961 when Soviet warships carried out exercises in the Norwegian Sea. OBSo Feeling in Govern-ment circles is that the TUC have had a severe shaking in the last two weeks as the industrial re-lations court flexed its muscles. SC□ I'd read somewhere that most people can't even under-stand the reviews of his books. ' Sure they can't,said Dee. ‘The guy doing the review is always some goddamned expert flexing his muscleg.’ST o It may be difficult to persuade the intellec-tuals and the artists that they can emerge from the darkness (of political repression) without fear. I gained the impression from writers, film-makers and actors that they would have to wait for quite a while before they could flex any imaginative muscles. Lo The tough talkers at the top of the Union tree could find themselves at any moment confronted with the logical implica-tions of their muscle flexing. NS O n compound muscle flexing. a flight of fancy sth extravagantly imagined,or out of touch with reality or probability oHow could a voice speak from the chimney? No,when Fergus came home this evening she could not tell him this latest flight offency. He would be as impatient with her as he was with Nicky.DC □ In my opinion this poem--so homely and spontaneous and apt and accurate----is worth a hundred flights of fancy. SC□ After I had readJay's report, I remarked to my boss that Jay would either become Director-General of theBBC or make a fortune in industry. This was received with the modicum of reserve which greeted my flights of fancy at that time. L flog a dead horse [V + O](informal) spend one's time and energy in promoting some activ-ity, or belief, that is already accepted, or widely rejected or outdated □ You may have amazed people by your advanced views oneducation forty years ago but now you' re just flogging a dead horse. o(NONCE)/ nodded and muttered maybeI should, but the Baron wasn't letting me leave the subject, he was flogging it until he made it a good dead horse. PP o(NONCE) One looked in vain for the professional touch, some hint of the craftsman's skill. Detection, it seems, is very largely a question of flogging a horse until its death is beyond question. L flood the market [V + O pass] offer/ be for sale through every possible trade outlet;produce/ be for sale in greater quantity than demand justifies or than can find buyers at a profitable price $: farmer, dealer, importer;cars, fruit, wine o Last week, as speculative far-mers flooded markets with hoarded beef to cash in while prices reached unprecedented levels, an optimistic industry claimed that the peak had been reached. ST□ In Western economies if the market show' s signs of being flooded by a com-modity, he it wheat, coffee or butter, production will be cut back. flora and fauna [n + n non-rev] the plants.trees etc that grow in, and the animals that inhabit. a specified region o Relics of the flora and faune of the Pleistocene age have been 192 pre served in fossil form. o(mental illness) Ella had retreated into an underground cave whose pale, albinoid flora and faune were less real than the vast shadows they cast on the high rocky walls around her. HAAoI wish we could have the flore without the feune. These roses are covered with green-fly again. a Florence Nightingale a devoted nurse(from the British nurse, also known as the Lady with the Lamp, who served in the military hos-pital at Scutari, during the Crimean War,1854-56)o'I only hope you' re feeling better,' he said.' But I'm sure you are, with so charming eFlorence Nightingalo to attend to you.’ ASA oShould hairy Superbikers become part-timeFlorence Nightingales? Glamour-boy Sheene.winner of the World Championships in the 500cc category, on a Suzuki, stopped to save the life of team-mate John Williams in Sweden. TVTflotsam and jetsum [n + n non-rev]wreckage, or goods, found floating on the sea or washed ashore; (fig) miscellaneous people.or things, moving/ moved about or abandoned o It was the duty of Chrissi e and Lizzie, their younger sisters, to carry up any flotsmum or jet-sam marked down by their father in the course of beach-combing operations. RM o It was the poorest and foules t quarter of the city and here the flower and jetse' ll of three continents struggled precariously to survive.□ Unforiunate-ly over the last few years the flots and get-sam of tower-block living have been dropping out of the balconies, and bottles, cans, toys, flower pots and, horribly, three cats have become lethal weapons, reaching a speed of 100mph from the top storey by the time they hit the ground. OBS□often used of the homeless, refugees etc, as in second example. flourish like the green bay tree (saying)prosper; be conspicuously successful (the im-plication often being that the flourishing is tem-porary or undeserved)□(source) I myself have seen the ungodly in great power, and flourishing like a green bay-tree. I went by, and lo, he was gone. I sought him, but his place could nowhere be found. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER (PSALMSXXXVII 36)□The wicked, he thought, did in fact flourish like the green bay tree, and it was untrue to suggest that in the morning they were not, yea, they could not be found. They were, and they could. US□ The four of them (delinquent school children) are so strong. The wide world,she thought, might use them, just as they were— out there where the wicked sometimes flourish like the green bay tree. ARG flower children/ people the name given in the 1960s to the young people who rebelled against conventional social pressures, am-bitions, obligations, conventional cultural and moral values, in favour of private values, non-aggression, affection for each other, communal living, and oriental religion (their philosophy often being called‘flower power’(next entry)(qv))□ Colin Smith reports from San Francisco and finds the city that was once a haven of peace for the flower children has become a battleground for exponents of savage ideologies.OBS□ The stalls selling underground magazines.Jamaican patties, doon pants (brightly-coloured trousers) and brown-paper sleeping-bags are <193> flower power—— follow one's (own) bent packed But not with customers Just clumps of flower people, sheltering from the rain ST uSince his death 10 years ago the German novelistHermann He ' ve has been adopted by the post-happiev, no flower-people. as one of their mupor culture-heroes. avatary and prophen. OBSu stress pattern ' flower children/ people; flower children/ people also called ' hippies'. flower power the name given to the philosophy of the flower children/ people (qv)c The , logun make love not war' sounds all very fine. hut dissidence has goi to he constructive.power o The Rolling Stones feature in a rock-st: le Pilgrim 、 Progress that sees them start off as true believers become progressively side-tracked into the Slough of Despond during their flirtallon with flower power , and return to the strught and narrow as the best live rock group in the world . RI U stress pattern ' flower power. flutter the dovecotes [V + O pass] astonish.upset or alarm people who are accustomed to a calm or conventional way of life or thinking c (source) .. like an eagle in a dove-cote, I.Flutter’ d yourV' olsciansinCorioli.CORIOI ANI'S V5D Our evidence is not complete hut the revelations we expect to make should cause the higgest flutter in the dovecotes since Eusenberg's release of the Pentagon Papers to the .4mcrican press. □ This proposal is bound10 flutter the legal dovecotes . There's nothing these follows cling to like established practice.□(NONCH) It wu n not only a great book. It would cause a rustle in the dovecotes, for in it he had pilloried everyone who had ever insulted or in-jurcd him. US口 variant (cause) a flutter/ rustle in the dovecote(s). fly the coop [V + O](informal) escape, leave(without warning) esp a domestic or work situation, one's responsibilities or obligations□The plot was about this doctor who is on the verge of leaving his wife for someone else's. After a highly-charged emotional exchange hetween them on the matter of why he s flying the coop,he's just packing his light-weight suits when sud-denly the phone rings. TVTo She could see no way, short of flying the coop, out of this oppressive life-style. fly high be ambitious o One only hoped that inSWI (a fashionable London district) they weren't going to find themselves socially too far out of their depth. We must all, even nations,learn not to fly too high; or come to that, too faut. NS。 He'd have to tell Ma , he thought, about the Master of Foxhounds lark. No, he wouldn't though. He'd keep that after all; she'd say he was flying too high. DBM□ Two more factories, and handle your own distribution! That's flying high,isn' t it? a When the implications of the new(examination) system become clear, it is just possible that one or two education boards (which are te : hnically independent of the government)may go it alone and preserve O-level as an élite examination for high-flyers. NSC n compound high flyer, adj compound high flying. the fly in the ointment [Comp (NP)] sb/ sth that spoils, to a greater or lesser degree, an otherwise perfect or very satisfactory situation.state of affairs, a blot on the landscape²(qv)V:△ he. become: regard sb as o (source) Dead flies (duse the ointment of the apothecury to send forth a stinking savour so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.ICCLESIASTES X ID ' Apparently they don't like poor Iannie. Well, neither do I. ' He's the only fly in the ointment around here, as fur as I'm concerned. ' allu a HAN I'd swiur even beforeSaturday morning, he had all his clothes packed.I suppose he had his ticket and money ready Imust have been the fly in the ointment. YAAuThe airlines recognize that the engine will be the quietest of its kind in the world, and therefore acceptable to u marker ever more conscious of noise pollution. Even at this stage, honever, there is a sizeable fly in the proverbial ointment.(anBritish Airways be persuaded to give a letter of intent for a substantial order?NSD also pl flies in the ointment. a flying start [O/o (NP)] an initial advantage.or a good beginning, which in itself takes one some way towards the completion of a race.journey, or any other enterprise V: give, have.present; get off to o The day I put on m demo b suit was the happiest day of my life . Granted, Icame home to discover that the bloody LibraryAssociation had made their exams ten times as difficult, thus giving a flying start 10 the women and the conchies ( = conscientious objectors).RATT □ Present him with the star and the script and your contracts, and we have a flying start.Belfounder hasn't anythıng on us legally. UTNo(a golf tournament) Jucklin was somewhat hemused by his 78. How it happened he didn't really know. Insteud of getting off to a flying start, he began in the most depressing fashion with five fives. SC a flying tackle [O/o (NP)] an attempt to stop.or capture, sb/ sth by hurling oneself through the air at him it (as is sometimes done to inter-cept a player carrying the ball in a game of rugby) V: make, try: bring sb/ sth down in with□ (an experiment in hypnotic suggestion) The subject opened his eyes. began to creep forward very slowly, and finally in a flying tackle brought the Lieutenant-Colonel down on the floor. SNP □ I thought my precious box of specimens was going to slide into the river butJack retrieved it with a flying tackle. O also pl. a flying/ lightning visit [O/o (NP)] a very brief visit, often one fitted in between doing other things V: pay sb/ sth, pay... to sb/ sth; beg come, on o(caption under a press photograph)Sheikh Mujih during last week's flying visit toLondon. Lo A few weeks later, as Rohin was leaving the Works after a flying visit from theLondon Office, he met Donald. ASA□ We' re only passing through, but we'd like to pay you a fly.ing visit, if we may. a Another 900 security policemen have been brought in, and theProsecutor-General has paid a lightning visit!()Paris. To also pl; a lightning visit is the less com-mon expression and is used for a visit that is sudden or unexpected as well as very brief. follow one's(own) bent [V + 0] do as one's own tastes, inclinations, talents suggest; do one`s (own) thing (qv) □ Following your par-ticular bent on holiday doesn't necessarily mean heing energetic. Ho ' There ought to he room for all styles of theatre ' says Fry mildly . The more differences the better. It's the same with people. 193 <194> follow sb's example—— food for thought The more individuals there are following their own bent the healthier we are as a society.' sc□Several of the boys who had seemed stubbornly stupid under the former system showed plenty of common-sense when allowed to follow their own bents. follow sb's example [V + O pass] do as sb else has done; act in imitation of sb else(whether or not this is wise); next entry (qv);follow suit (qv) o We learn from the book that he has followed his mother's example in diary-keeping: when it is eventually published, that may be his best book of all. Lo I'm only talking to you like this because I don't want you to follow my example and rush into marriage with the wrong kind of man. o Perhaps every fashion house should follow the example of Nina Ricci who has solved the problem by showing clothes for individual customers and ready-to-wear together. SC o also pl follow their example(s).◇△ set (sb) a (good etc) example. follow sb's lead [V + 0] accept sb's decision,guidance, or example and do as he does;previous entry (qv); follow suit (qv) □ I had never taken a first-class ticket in my life before but Ned slammed his money down with such a brusque ' Euston, first return' that I had to follow his lead and make the best of it. CON oDevlin(a golfer) hit a slump which had him walk-ing off a course in disgust, saying he didn't care to inflict his game on other people any longer,which is as laudable a reason for walking off a course as any, Mind you, if we all followed his lead, the courses would be practically deserted.SC□Most of the people didn't know a thing about the scheme; but somebody made an objection and from then on it was a case of follow-my-leader.□ He wouldn't leave us here and go on to Jim's place by himself. What he wants is for us all to play follow-my-leader and troop after him like a flock of sheep. o also pl follow their lead;variant follow-my-leader with the meaning‘a child's game where a number of children run about in single file imitating the actions of the person in front of them as passed down the line by the leader-fig references to this occur in adverse criticisms of people's behaviour. follow one's(own) nose[V + O] go straight ahead; act instinctively or pragmatically; act without thought or imagination o' How do I get to the Post Office?’ ' Turn right when you leave the house and then follow your nose till you come to it.'D The leaders of men, the best and the worst, live from hand to mouth, from hour to hour, following nothing but their own noses.and the people follow after, usually with much1 00 much obedience. RT follow suit (V + O) do as another has (just previously) done; act, or behave, in the same way as another who sets a precedent or example(from playing a card of the same suit (hearts.spades etc) as that led by the first player in a card game); follow sb's example (qv); follow sb`s lead (qv)□(laboratories and workshops in schools and colleges) The Ministry of Labour is already engaged on a campaign to make fac-tories even safer; the Ministry of Education would be well advised to follow suit. NSC□ The popular Press has long found it profitable not merely to report but even to promote arch- 194 aeological excavation. And now radio follows suit and is, I understand, sponsoring a highly technical archaeological enterprise in theMediterrunean. SD (bid sb) a fond farewell [V+ 10 + O] (say good-bye on) an occasion of leave-taking or parting(the implication now only occasionally being a loving or sorrowful feeling, now usu being ironic or facetious) o And still ringing in our ears is the fond farewell of the Russian girl employed by the tour operator, who urges us to come again. L□ On the final day of the book exhibition we left, bidding our neighbour a fond farewell. STo Our plan was to pick an up-and-coming (pop) group to front a series of 13programmes and then to bid them a fond farewell. But the reaction to the band and the fan mail was so spectacular that we decided to ask them back for another run. TVTo(astrologi-cal prediction) Any farewell at the moment will be a fond one, so there's no need to feel anxiety.TVT (in) the fond hope etc(with) a hope which,though perhaps foolish or not likely to be realized, is optimistically clung to n: hope, △belief, expectation o The fond hope of every gardener is that in high summer the garden will be a riot of colour. SC□I had been on my chapter a whole week, and the week looked pretty thin;but it was my fond hope that Mrs Macadam might unlock a door in Whitehall Mansions and thereby unlock more of Waterman than a housekeeper's memories. PP□ He spent his life in the struggle, sustained only by a fond belief in the ultimate triumph of justice.□ Indeed there is a rough parallel to the spectacular motorway pile-ups to be found in the early days of railroad-ing, when trains would be dispatched on a line-interval basis in the fond hope that Driver Bwould be able to stop in time if Driver A got stuck. ST o She's not the first that's married a crook in the fond expectation of reforming him. food/ meat and drink to sb[Comp(NP)] sth that gives sb exceptional satisfaction or pleasure V: △ be, come as o The Burtons'romun ce was food and drink to a thousand gossip columnists. RTo' And they got better and better, real photos, and he was going on great guns about how disgusting it all was that kids should be open to such corrupting influences——''I know those words,' said Dusty, and this was meat and drink to him. TT food/a dish for the gods [Comp (NP)] par-ticularly fine, tasty or welcome food V: △ be.become; regard sth as o This is an easily prepared summer sweet —— which laced with brandy and served with cream becomes a dish for the gods. OBSo/ was tired, bored, depressed u nd very hungry, and a Chinese take-away was food for the gods to me. RT food for thought {Comp/O(NP)] a situation.subject, remark, event etc that provides material for, or stimulates, thought, that requires to be carefully considered V: there be... in sth; find.. in sth; give (sb), provide (sb with) o I do no r want the Signora to talk of art any more. She gives one such food for thought that one doesn't need more food, don't you agree?USo The meetings had, they said uneasily, been <195> (you can't) fool etc all the people...—— for all the difference... interesting. Thev had provided much food for thought . NS□(reader's letter) If it is necessary to reply to some of your readers' comments. keep the replies honest . Or, better still, don't comment ul all, u nd leave the letters page as food for thought to those Jew who read it. RI (you can't) fool etc all (of) the people all the time(saying)(nobody can) fool etc every-body at all times V: fool, cheat, deceive; please.satisfy, interest. det: all(of), some of; most of.any of; none of o (source) You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people ull the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.(attributed to ABRAHAM LINCOLN1809-1865) υ Mussolini practised the fine art of being all things to all men, changing his principles whenever it was expedient and doing his best to fool all the people all the time. OBS□Attempts were made in those days to brainwash us into believing we could actually deceive some of the people some of the time. I did not believe it then. Nor do I believe it now. Lu(Isadora Dun-can,a dancer) She at first simply lay on the stage, then she slowly rose to her full height and with outstretched arms she remained motionless to the end of the composition. Well you can fool some of the people... NS□Sadly, the lesson we in ' Nationwide' carried back from Scotland is that not only can you not please all the Scots some of the time, it is very difficult to please any of them even for a moment! RT□ There' ll be an appreciation by art critic, William Feaver.There's also a possibility of a display at MadameTussaud's. A case, perhaps, of pleasing most of the people for at least some of the time. ST Ostress pattern fool , all the people all the time; ex-pression often adapted, as shown. a fool's errand [o (NP)] an unnecessary, or profitless, errand or journey, esp one that only proves to be so after completion; a wild goose chase(qv) v:△be on; go on; send sb on; find oneself on □ Every call and investigation goes down on the records— even the false alarms and the various fool's errands that are part of the fireman's lot. SC□ No harm in trying. I sup-pose, but you' re going on a fool's # grand in my opinion.'o ' The man sounded really ill.' ' He'd better be. I' ll strangle him if I' ve been called out in the middle of the night on a fool's errand.' a fool's paradise [Comp/o (NP)] a state of contentment that is based on an illusion of one's own, or the deceptions of others V: be;live in o Sheila's still got that beautiful childish handwriting that looks sort of plaintive when you know it comes from a girl of twenty-six who's living in a fool's paradise. JFTR□ ' Is that what they call schizophrenia then? Is that what's wrong with me?’ I was still staring abstractedly at yesterday and the two months of fool's paradise that preceded this revelation. HAHA□The ' fool's paradise' in which Maxwell lived is one in which many managers have basked. Get-ting accurate figures is tough; so they accept inaccuracy, which is much easier. OBS foot the bill (for sth)[V+O] pay directly or indirectly (for sth) (from signing a bill or ac-count at the bottom as a token of agreeing to pay it) o No one who cares for architecture can have much doubt that the state should intervene to save this neo-classical masterpiece and should foot the billforits preservation . NSoScience has created the physical environment in which we conduct our lives. The effects are felt by everyone · und everyone foots the bill for the scien-ttst's electron microscope. test-lube, jur of fruil flies and micro-analyser. I. a How is it, in a capitalist country, with the Press entirely owned by rich men, that so much that is printed in some papers. and so little in others, is guaranteed to be damaging to the values of the class which foots the bill? ST footloose and fancy-free [adj + adj non rev] not bound to any particular place or routine; not in love with sb, and not occupied by thoughts of being in love; without ties or responsibilities o (source) And the imperial votaress pussed on,/ In maiden meditation,fancy-free. MIDSUMMERNIGHTS!)REAMIII□In his heart, George Hill knows that the good times are over, but he says: ' We' still feel footloose and fancy-free. We may move on to Portland.Oregon, somewhere near the sea. Who knows?"OBS□ Auntie Betty arrives from her home in theMidlands, hoping for a chance of being fancy-free’ . Unfortunately, husband Frank has the same idea. TVT o I don't feel that I'm too dedicated, or that I miss out on anything. I did all the socialising bit when I was younger and foot-loose and fancy-free.’ TVT o first adj occas omitted, as in source text and third example.for and/ or against [prep + prep non-rev] sup-porting and/ or opposing V: argue, debate.struggle. n: case, opinion, argument□ He has at one time or another argued both for and against most of the big changes in Turkey over the past thirty years. OBS□ The cases for and against opera in English at Covent Garden have long been familiar. To Anything really worth saying.could, in her opinion, be said in two minutes. And the same for any arguments for or against.WDM D may follow v or n, as shown. for ages(and ages)[A(PrepP)] for a long, or comparatively long, time, referring either to the past or to the future o ' Life is no bed of roses.they assume; but' tomorrow will take care of itself; thus the working classes have been cheer-ful existentialists for ages. UL□ ' You were with him last night, weren't you?'' Yes, but Mother.he's going in less than three weeks. I shan't see him for age s and ages then.’ PE□(George is waiting for Josie to get dressed before they go out together for the evening) / think I' ll giveJosie a yell, RUTH: It won't do any good---not for ages yet. EGD for all one cares [Disj (PrepP)] considering how little one cares o If you haven't found any-one before that who's fool enough to take you in,you can go and sleep on the Embankment for allI care. AITC□‘Children are that(= so) ungrate-ful, grumbled Mrs Wrigley. 'I' ve got eleven of them but much good it's done me. I might be dead for all they care.'HAAD ' The painter was asking if you want your study done over again in the same colours?’‘Yes; but he can paint it purple and green for allicare—— aslong as he hurries up.for all the difference it makes etc [Disj(PrepP)] considering how little difference it makes etc cl: it makes; △ there is; I can see o I'd been keeping the dope(pain-killer) down becauseI still sometimes got an idea I'd be acquiring 195 <196> for all one's efforts etc---for sb's benefit virtue by holding off when I wanted it — Iwasn't of course. Forall the difference it made to anyone else I might as well be doped up to the eyes all the time. TST □ For all the difference there is between this leather-type' material and the genuine article, you'd be a fool to waste your money having your chairs covered in real hide.□Whisky is a fantastic price anyway, so for all the difference a pound or two makes on the price of a bottle I prefer to buy the best. for all one's efforts etc[A (PrepP)] despite one's efforts etc n: his effort, her education, the frustration o For all Mr Foot"s courageous ef-forts, the ' image' of the Labour Party is slightly less secure. OBS □ But he had, for all his dishonesty, made strong the love of Jill for the lieutenant called Tony. ARGa I must keep this body going. I must give it drink and food and shelter. So long as the thread of life is unbroken it will connect a future with the past for all this ghastly interlude. PMO main clause states that,nonetheless, sth is true, has happened, etc. for all one/ it is worth [A (PrepP)] to the full extent of one's/ its powers, resources, energy; as hard as one can V: play, run; fight, struggle oCOLONEL : I think the last day the sun shone was when that dirty little train steamed out of that crowded, suffocating Indian station, with the bat-talion band playing for all it was worth. LBA oI'm with another travel firm now. and we' re push-ing holidays in Britain on to the Americans for all we' re worth. AITC□ Mr Salinger plays the ingredients (of his novel) for all he is worth:public opinion polls, left-wing revolutions, hot-line exchanges, economic crises. NSo The next thing I saw of him he had climbed over the fence and was running down the road for all he we%worth. o With the wind blowing for all it was worth against them they had a hard time of it at the ours. △ for what sth is worth. for all one knows etc[Disj(PrepP)] consider-ing how little one knows etc V: know, can tell,notice o How was I to know you would come back tonight? For all I know you were never coming back. AITCo He sent me some business without knowing me from Adam; I might have been a complete crook for all he knew. PWo It might he printed in Greek or Russian for all l can tell, withou l my spectacles. for all (the world) to sè θ [A (PrepP)] with the purpose, or result, of being freely observed,judged etc by others, by the general public □ So they painted a nice new board and stuck it up in the playground for all the world to sqe. TT oYou stay where you are. I'm not having you wan-dering down the street drunk for all the world to see.□Once the facts were there for all to seg.the decision — whether taken by the Minister or delegated to the Inspectorate — should be straightforwardenough. Go New York is the only place in the US where acute alcoholics, men drinking themselves to death in the street for all to see, are given this chance(of rehabilitation).It's completely voluntary. OBS for all that [A (PrepP)] despite sth previously mentioned; nevertheless o I'm not going to pretend that I spent all my time at Aunt Emily's in a state of outraged sensibility. For all that, Iwas beginning to find certain details of living inDufion a hit too sordid to be funny. RATTo The 196 shop is State-owned but for all that the acknow-ledged personal enterprise of Clara Rothschild(no relation to the others) who has been running dress salons in Budapest since the thirties. GoIturned to go indoors when I saw a girl waiting in the next doorway. I couldn't see her face, only the white silk trousers and long flowered robe, but Iknew her for allthat. QA ofront or end position;stress pattern for all that. for all time [A (PrepP)] for a very long time;until the end of time; for ever¹ (qv); through succeeding ages o (the British and AmericanZones of occupation in Germany, 1945) Some400.000 of these (displaced persons) wereRussians and we could reasonably hope thatZhukov would take these off our hands. But the remaining 600,000 would probably remain with us for all time. MFMo Just when it seemed that the silence was to remain unbroken for all time he paused in the act of buttering a piece of toast,looked very hard across the table, cleared his throat and said in an accusing tone: ' Dr Bott-wink, you are a foreigner.'EM for all the world like/ as if very much, or altogether, like/ as if (the implication being that a perceived similarity is surprising) □ ' That sounds for all the world like a lark,' she said in amazement. ' So it should. It is a lark.' wI aProminent among them was the figure of An-thony Buckridge, creator of ' Jennings', who with his duffle coat and pipe looked for all the world like a prep school master taking games. NS□ The only talk-show not to be thrown out of its stride by politics was' Kaleidoscope', which kept up its nightly commentary for all the world as if people had nothing better to do at such a time than go to the theatre or read a book. Lo first part of expression functions like adv of degree.for appearances ' etc sake [A (Prep P)] in order to obtain the benefit of seeming to behave in a socially acceptable way etc n: appearances',convenience's, safety'so ' He has a mistress,' l said. ‘They(ie he and his wife) only live together for the sake of appearances.’ RATT□In Yalta,the Big Three decided to cut up Germany into three parts for occupation purposes. Berlin was supposed to be the vantage-point from which this would be done, and so for convenience's sukeBerlin too was cut into three pieces. L (just) for argument's sake[A(PrepP)] as a starting point for discussion V:△ suppose, say,agree □ I don't know how much his lordship owes the Exchequer for the privilege of inheriting his father's estate along with his title, but let's sup-pose, for argument's seke, that it's a round million in cash. NSo Let's agree for the sake of argument that we each have a 16-year old son who comes to us with this problem. Now what do we do about it? o stress pattern for ' argument's sake; variant (just) for the sake of argument. for sb's benefit' [A (PrepP)] in order to help or guide sb, or to suit his interests and wishes oVisitors are warned to keep away from the con-structional operations. If members of the public choose to disregard the notices put up for their benefit... HAA□I don't see why you should give up part of your holiday for his benefit. He wouldn't do the same for you.□It is often necess-ary to be strict with children for their own benefit. <197> for sb's benefit² [A (PrepP)] in order to produce a reaction, often of annoyance, fear,jealousy etc, from a specific person or group oI hope Charlie didn't think that remark of mine about picking a very convenient time to be ill was for his benefit: I quite forgot how often he has to be off work with asthma. □ I don't know whose benefit you think you' re crying for.There's nobody here who's going to let you have vour walk. for the best [A (PrepP)] with good intentions,though the result may not be as desired V:△do, mean, intend, sth o In the end the two(golf)captains decided upon a complicated set of local rules for the hunkers on this particular course.All this was done for the best STo Your sister shouldn't have interfered, I agree. But she meant it for the best so don't be too cross with her. (all) for the best [Comp/A (PrepP)] (catch-phrase) happy or satisfactory in its results, or at least better than was possible or originally foreseen V: be; turn out, happen□AII is for the best in the best of possible worlds. CANDIDE(VOLIAIRE 1694-1778)□ So here she was with the children en route to New Zealand. It had been for the best. Sarah knew. Wi□ However, it tur-ned out all for the best that the sale fell through.as he got a much higher offer shortly afterwards. for better or (for) worse [A (PrepP)]whether the result, known or unknown, proves to be good or bad o(source) I take thee to my wedded hushand, to have and to hold from this day forward for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health. BOOK OF COM.MONPRAYEROMRSELLIOT So things didn't work out then"RUTH: No—I' ve just walked out on him, for better or for worse. EGD□Careless talk, which might have drifted away over the moors, has been trapped by the media. A lot of hot air has been translated, for better or worse,into cold print. L. o Some prime ministers. perhaps most great ones, have been interesting in them-sclves. They were eccentrics either in character or behaviour. Gladstone appeared extraordin-ary, for good or ill, to everyone who met him. NSofron! middle or end position; variant for good or ill. for a bit/ while [A (PrepP)] (informal) for a short period of time a I told him about you and he said that if you were in trouble he would be glad to look after you for a bit. OBS□'I'd never go back to school now. What about you?' l wouldn't mind going back for a bit to finish off what I started.’ RFW□In 1939 Morris Myerson returned to America and stayed for a while with his sister in Philadelphia. STo Prissie unexpected-1、 hailed a taxi, and pushed the two of them into11. following herself with her suitcase. At least thei were sale for a while in a taxi. DC for a change{A(PrepP)} in a way that does not match previous habits. procedures (the im-plication often, but not necessarily, being that these are or are becoming. unsatisfactory); for once (qv); for once in a way (qv) o Perhaps if it(a house) were pulled down they might have a little moner in the hank instead of living on overdralts. Perhaps they could really live in com-fort for a change. DBM o I suppose you' ll be spending your holiday in Devon as usual. Don 't you ever think of going somewhere else for a for sb's benefit-for aver change?□ What do you want me to do? Throw the furniture about, or go for you with a kitchen knife?’’ At least that would put you in the wrong for a change. It's always me who's the louse.AITC O usu end position. for a consideration [A (PrepP)] in exchange for payment, usu in money but perhaps in the form of some other service o One knows practi-cally everybody with an intimacy of detail . One knows, for example, that that old woman is al-ways ready to sit up with an invalid for a con-sideration'. UL□' What I did hear I couldn't make out . Something to do with some estate thatOrmerod could arrange to have pul into Thomp-son's hands for disposal. ' ' Formconsideration,no doubt.'TGLY for crying out loud! (informal) an exclama-tion of astonishment, dismay, or annoyance oESTHER Have you been crying, Ada? CISSII.Leave off. Esther. I tell you. ESTHER: For crying out loud what's been happening to you two?ITAJ□ He's too available. I can just hear myself say-ing: For crying out loud, Duke, could you he a little more elusive for a change?’ RI□ This is the most sinister story I have heard about any politician. If he would do that to his wife, what would he do to us, for crying out loud? NS :1(NONCE) A wind as cold as winter ran ceaselessly round the harbour with unbroken shriekings and occasional whistles. ' For crying out gently.Charley, ' Pop said. ' Where's this? Where have we come to? Lappland?'BFA o front, middle or end position. for days etc at a time etc[A (PrepP)] for several days etc in succession V: sit, stand; wait.watch. n: days, 小 seconds, minutes, hours,weeks, months A: at a time,△at a stretch; on end; together o I was jerked into that zone of unreality one would inhabit for seconds at a time in the RAF watching a Wimpey(aeroplane) scarcely a wing-tip away disintegrate into rather gaudy green orange flames. RATT□Joe never seemed to be in the same job for more than two months at a time. All(□ Along with lethargy often goes television addic.tion. I'm not talking about the child who has regular Javourites— but about the boy who sits mesmerised before the screen for hours on end.OBS o Temperatures rose to the lethal limit throughout the whole country and people were obliged to remain indoors for weeks on end.TBC He realized with a shock that he had not succeeded for five minutes together in banish-ing the image of that small dark head. HD for dear life [A (PrepP)] vigorously and tena-ciously (as one would if trying to defend or preserve one's life) V: run, swim; hang on; pull.push; shout; argue o Did you enjoy your pillion-ride?' I did not. I was hanging on for dear life all the way.'o When I left the restaurant the fat man in the corner was still gobbling food for dear life. for ever'[A(PrepP)] until the end of time, or of a person's life; for all time(qv)□I just roamed the streets, hoping I suppose to get my hands on another five hundred nicker(= pounds) so's the nice life we'd got used to could go on and on for ever. LLDR□The colour TV hoom is still strong though it will not keep up the pace of the last year.for ever. STo In a period of cricket-watching and 197 <198> for ever—(just) for a giggle etc playing covering the past 25 years, there have been half a dozen Test Matches that will live for ever in the memory. Lo‘Hey, you!’ he shouted,thumping on the door.' Are you going to be in that bathroom for over?’ o also used exag-geratedly = ‘for a very long time’, or ironically;end position. foraver²[A(PrepP)] very frequently, or habitu-ally (but not necessarily continuously) pres p:grumbling, helping others, nibbling, having headaches□ For a man who's for ever grumb-ling about his electricity bills, you' re pretty care-less about switching off the lights when you leave a room. o... the coolly tender Anna who was for ever balancing the claims of her admirers one against the other with the gentle impartiality of a mother. UTN□ He's like the rest of you, for ever taking umbrage about something. You' re making it a perfectly beastly holiday for me, I'm fed up with the lot of you. US口 usu precedes pres p, as shown, but of He's for our up in arms about something or other. for example [Conj(PrepP)] by way of illustra-tion; for instance (qv); let us say² (qv) o But there's speculation in other areas too. For· Xym-ple: what is it about a TV spin-off which attracts cash customers to the cinema when the chances are they' ve shunned it for years? ST a While the trumpet, the horn and the piano were being im-proved, and the clarinet invented, some instru-ments—— varieties of key-board, for example——were falling out of use. Lo' But what is the use of an intellectual renaissance that doesn't move the people? Theory and practice only unit e under very special circumstances.''E. g. when?' saidLefty. ‘Well,’ I said. ’ e. g. when the Bolshevik party fought for power in Russia.’ UTN Dintroduces or follows specific illustration of general statement; abbreviation e. g. (Latin exempli gratia =‘for example’) occas used in speech; front, middle or end position;e. g. used in front position only. for fear of sth/ that [A (PrepP)] because of fear of sth happening/ that sth might happen o:victimization, accidents; hurting her; what neighbours may think. cl:(that) he might fall,the boat would sink, nobody would believe him o Not all the students have been active in the campaign, but few have dared to stand out against their classmates for fear of victimisa-tion, or at least ostracism. OBSo Virginia could understand that Mollie dared not leave the house for fear of what Paul might do. AITCo He (the scientist) must at all costs keep out of the actual political fray, for fear of raising doubts about his integrity and objectivity as a scientist.OBS□ The driver said: 'I have no time for HughMacDiarmid's opinions. Or his poetry. The man's an atheist.' I smiled politely, for fear Imight be taken past my stop again. RT for the first etc time [A (PrepP)] marks the place (first etc) in a number of occurrences adj:first, second, last; hundredth; umpteenth, nth(= any large number, equivalent to umpteenth)o‘The children aren’ t home yet?’‘Are you sure?’Prissie seemed surprised and Brigit noticed for the first time that it was growing dusk. DCo(Beatles' records) We can appreciate for the nth time the dramatic rightness of ' SergeantPepper', the richness of the double album and the 198 finesse of ' Abbey Road'. Lo Tom, 15 years old and brought up in a village not twenty miles from the sea, was now seeing it for only the second time in his life. o' Please call me Virginia,' Vir-ginia said for the tenth time. Mrs Allen bowed stiffly and continued to call her Miss Martin.AITCa Lennox's wife took the children and left him for the last time. LLDR O not for the first time. for free [A (PrepP)] (informal) without pay-ment being required; for nothing(qv)□ Bowen tried to buy some drinks, conscious of having been fed and made drunk for free. ILIHo Many fishmongers still give you an assoriment of fishy bits and pieces for free. STo And what did the jolly porter tell him? He said he had the best job in the world.' Travel anywhere in England, cross-Channel steamers, the Continent—— for me, the missus and five kids, all for free.’ sc for full/ good measure [A (PrepP)] as an extra amount to sth or as an additional item(from shopkeeper adding a little more to weighed goods, lengths of cloth, etc thus making sure he does not give the customer less than what was asked for) V: throw in, add,include, sth; display, produce, sth; take, bring,give, sth o The argument is that the whole of the military hierarchy should be convicted; some even suggest that President Nixon and hisDefence Secretary should be thrown in for good museums in fore. NS Sometimes Hingley throws in for good museum the legends (about Stalin) that were manufactured by Trotsky and other politi-cal opponents. OBSaI stood waiting and smoking and looking up at the square of night boxed in by the courtyard's roofs, and it could have been a beautiful moment, with the stars thrown in for full meesure. PP a If Mr Aisgall wanted a divorce, he could afford detectives to trace you here. That would be enough in itself, but for good museum they'd ferret out the old boy too.RATT o Hope and Crosby made ' The Road toSingapore’(1939) and thus established one of the most successful and longest running wisecracking duo teams in the movies. For full meesutre they persuaded an up-and-coming sex goddess to join them on their travels. RT (just) for fun [A (PrepP)] for amusement, en-joyment or interest, and not for any serious purpose;(just) for a giggle (qv) o I'd like to go back again some day for fun, say in about ten years' time, and see how it's all getting on. RFW□ But the majority bet for the fun of it. Their stake is only a small portion of their salary. It's a thrill if they win and it isn't a disaster if they lose. OBS□ People don't work on the factory shop floor, or down a mine, just for the fun of it. Ooften neg; variant (just) for the fun of it.fun. (just) for a giggle etc[A(PrepP)](informal)for amusement or enjoyment, not for any serious purpose;(just) for fun (qv) n:a giggle.△a laugh,a joke;(the) laughs o ' Fancy a round of golf tomorrow, Jim?’ Tarbuck knew nothing about the game. Golf, to him, was a game restric-ted to middle-class followers with old school ties.' Anything for a laugh, ' he said. TVTo After leav-ing school he somehow failed to see eye-to-eye with a succession of exasperated bosses. Then came the night when, at 18, he entered a Butlins <199> talent contest for@ giggle.RT□I' mmore interest-ed in birds(= girls) now than fighting. It's these mad huggers of 14 who go for the fights. I want1 0 see the football, see the lads win, have a few drinks, and a few laughs. That's what we come for, the laughs. ST for good (and all) [A (PrepP)] permanently;for keeps(qv)□ Alan's been away five years, but from what they say he's definitely coming home for good now. RFW□If he accepted it(a peerage),he was accepting the fact that he was out of poli-tics for good. NM □ ' Wish me luck.' Doing what”' Going to London.' ' How long for?' Iasked him. ' For good, you ass, I'm leavingNed's.'CONoIfhe were to take the responsibility,he needed sanction to join Captain Smith and try to settle ' the Sawbridge question' for good and all . NMoIf you borrow money once, you' re on the slippery slope for good and all. US□ for good and all emphatic. for sb's/ sth's (own) good [A (PrepP)] so that sb/ sth will benefit o Our rules try to per-suade us that a lot of damned bad food is all for our own good. HAAu Don't think Ienjoy finding fault with people. I'm only talking to you like this for your own good.□ Piecemeal attacks on the worstexcesses of property developers are no sub-stitutes for a policy to ensure that land is used for the good of the community. ST o TheElizabethan Sir Henry Wotton used to call an ambassador a man ' sent abroad to lie for the good of his country.'NS for goodness etc sake(1) [Disj (PrepP)] an exclamation of astonishment or protest; in the name of God etc(qv) n: goodness, △God's,Christ's, heaven's, pity's, Pete's o The Depart-ment of Employment ascribed the rise in MrsBritain's shopping bill to ' increases in the price of potatoes, and many other goods and services'.Why single out potatoes, for goodness sake?Few of us eat enough potatoes to knock our bud-gets more askew than they already are. SC□ Bat-talion headquarters, on our left, had surrendered u nd I saw the Germans coming across to us. Iremember saying to the men;‘For Christ’ ssake don't shoot now.' That effectively was the end of the battle. RIo' Can you guess why?' Tom smiled at him. There was a silence in which I thought of saying: Tom. for Pete's sake stop it' and rejec-ted the idea. SPL□ often accompanies appeal, or order, to do or not to do sth. (not) (just) for (the good of) one's health [A (PrepP)](ironic) (not) for a trivial reason or purpose□ There are many conjectures about Mr Nixon's forthcoming visit to Peking but nobody imagines he is going for the good of his health. a ' We' re safe enough, I tell you.'' You think those two coppers are hanging around for the good of their health, then?’ a ' How many new potatoes have you sold?' ' Oh, I don't know, but several pounds. ' Several pounds! You ought to have sold several hundredweight, at least, or several tons if you want to persuade theInspector that you' re not in business for your health. ' Pw o used to emphasize that the reason is not self-indulgent or capricious; always neg or with neg implication. (just) for the hell of it [A (PrepP)(informal)because of the brief experience or sensation it offers, esp when this is against the law, conven- for good (and all)— for life tional practice or one's usual habits □ In my village, boys have wrecked a beautifully-tended allotment, and smashed all the windows at the railway station, apparently just for the hell of it . NS a There's a difference between speaking necessary truths and embarrassing people for the hell of it.□ He is decent. admirable, and has to continue to be so, though it would be very tempting to take him off the rails occasionally,just for the hell of it. TVT for instance [Conj(PrepP)] by way of illustra-tion; for example(qv); let us say²(qv)□A warn-ing system for earthquakes is probably worth-while, since quite minor precautions should be able to reduce the number of casualties. For in-stance many of the 30,000 killed in the greatLisbon disaster of 1755, were buried by the collapse of the roofs of churches where they had gone for shelter. NSC□ Too much time (when travelling) must not be sacrificed to safety. No one today, for instance, would think it reason-able to impose speed limits severe enough to prevent all roud deaths. OBSo Much of the anti-trade-union propaganda is directed at women in the hope they will get at their menfolk: those stories of neglected old people dying of cold during the (electric) power work-to-rule, for in-stance. NS o introduces or follows a specific illustration of a general statement; front,middle or end position. for keeps [A(PrepP)](informal) permanently;for good (and all)(qv)□ Supposing he wants to' keep her here, in what I believe is called a love-nest, for occasional visits? It isn't likely he would want her for keeps. PW o I asked where Luke was, and who was nursing him. She went on: ' As a matter of fact, if I' ve got him lying on his back for keeps. I shall be grateful, as long as I' ve got him at all.'NM (just) for kicks [A (PrepP)] (informal) in order to get excitement or pleasure (perhaps,but not necessarily, of a dangerous or perverse kind)□ Sheila Cronin is the dominant partner in the relationship with Frank Price, Did she urgc him on to beat up Thomas Dolan just for kicks?Or are they both victims of our society? TVT oThere must be an easier way of doing that!'' You tell me then. I'm not doing it for kicks.' for lack/ want of sth {A (PrepP)} because there is little, or none, of sth o The ships were needed urgently back in England for the build-up of the army, and if they had been damaged on the beaches the whole venture might have met disas-ter a week later for lack of supplies. RFWo And experience proves that such an institution will die. It is choked by its own perfection. It cannot take roor for lack of soil. PLa The dog for warit of any better provender was lapping at the whis-key on the floor. OMIH for life[A(PrepP)] for the rest of one's/ sb's life;permanently D Scars of battle from Belfast have marked this soldier for life. STo The(wholesale)firm sells its goods to ' the High Street trader' and the public gets nowhere near its warehouses; any retailer who helps even his brother to buy there is likely to find himself banned from the premises for life. ST □ When the British public gives in interest and affection, it gives it, like a dog, for life. NSo If the Battalion got posted to Singapore or Hong Kong I'd probably sign on for another 199 <200> (just) for love/ the love of sth/ sb—— for once three years. I'd sign on for life if they'd let me drive. RT o in the last example for life refers to a maximum period of service in one of the ArmedForces; a similar use occurs where one's work-ing or professional life is referred to. (just) for love/ the love of sth/ sb [A(PrepP)] without payment, or material reward,because one likes either the work itself or the person one works for o: it, the thing; one's family, friend; firm, party, country o As a matter of fact he's one of my best informers. The beggar's name is Miguel. He really does all this for love. You see, I saved his life once. OMIHoMILLY: Well, I'd cleaned the cottage up all Fri-day, just for the love of the thing. Cleaned it up some more on Saturday. EHOW for the love of God etc exclamation of as-tonishment, dismay etc o: God, △ Christ,heaven, Mike a‘Look, Robert,’ I said.' For the love of God give it a few minutes' thought. It's a three-hour trip. That means you' ll hit London at half past two, having had no sleep.'CONo' For the love of Mike!' Jean exclaimed as the glass of whisky was set in front of her. ' You don't expect me to drink all this, do you?’ o For the love of hegven, child, can't you sit still for one minute? o can be used to introduce an appeal,as in first and last examples. (just) for luck [A (PrepP)] in order to bring good luck o When a couple leave for their honey-moon it's the custom to throw an old boot or shoe after them for luck, or to tie it to the back of their car. o There's your posy, dear,I' ve put in a little bit of white heather just for luck. □‘That was a nice goodbye kiss, ' he said to his little grand-daughter. ' Let's have another one, for luck this time.'o sometimes said without much real meaning as in last example. for a moment [A (PrepP)] very briefly V:think... that, believe... that; pause; sit down;glance o ' What's the matter, darling?'' Nothing,'she said. For how could she tell him that it seemed, formoment, as if Prissie had stood at the foot of the bed watching them. DC□Stand still a moment, while I straighten your collar. o He might have popped in for a moment, since he was passing this way. o often used without for with verbs of action. ◇△ next entry. for the moment etc[A(PrepP)] temporarily n: moment, △ present, time being □ Carry on for the moment with your own ideas and don't take any notice of your friends' criticism or ad-vice. Wi□ Evidence will be brought forward later on to show that this suggested usage agrees quite well with common usage in many ways; for the time being let us just note this new way of defin-ing the concept. SNPo With a click sounding in her ears like doom, the receiver at the other end was replaced. This was the worst of all. That, for the present, was all that Brigit could think. DC o used only with present tenses. ◇ Δ previous entry. for the most part' [A(PrepP)] in most cases;mostly (the reference being to the great major-ity of people or things); in the main (qv) o Of the many different animals and birds that were brought to us while we were at base camp, about a fifth were babies, and, although they were charming little things for the most part, they caused a great deal of extra work for us. BB o 200 Ford's first important film dates from the mid-Twenties, but for ten years before that he'd turn-ed out innumerable two-reelers: Westerns and other frontier films for the most part. L o modifies a preceding n. for the most part²[A(PrepP)] mostly; largely(the reference being to frequency of occurrence,or to preponderance in degree or amount); in the main (qv)口… the heroism, the holiness, the sublimity to which mankind perpetually aspires,for the most part in vain. DOP o This August there is a deeper sense of futility in the feverish air. In the Republic, politicians stand aghast and for the most part helpless. Lo Then it had car-ried four lines of heavy military traffic day and night. Now this tarmac miracle of engineering had, for the most part, disintegrated. ARG Omodifies v, adj or adv. for my money [Disj (PrepP)] (informal) in my opinion D They (newspapers) are there for the record, down in‘Back Numbers’. For my money they can stay in the big bound volumes that stand on the shelves. PPo This performance has a distin-guished company headed by the marvellous BenLuxon and Janet Baker who, for my money, is just about the top singer we' ve got. RTo There are two things people get really excited about. One is food; the other is the weekly, or rather daily.wash. For my money it's the washing machine that takes pride of place over the deep-freeze and the double-bed in most people's value scales. SC□ stress pattern for ' my money. (just) for the nonce [A (PrepP)] (facetious)temporarily; on this/ that (one) occasion(from an Old English form equivalent to‘for the once')o Since reading that note the foundations of the scientific approach to life had been so severely shaken that for the nonce he was will-ing to truckle even to superstition. RMo He let it be assumed for the nonce that he was one of the touring party.□This year he thought he would let a swan get on with motherhood, but that meant getting dad(here = male swan) out of the way for the nonce. L for nothing' [A (PrepP)] without payment being required; for free(qv)o He went to JoanLittlewood's theatre workshop in London and subsisted on scraps once more. ' Except thatBert's Café in Angel Lane used to give you bub-ble and squeak (fried potato-and-cabbage left-overs) for nothing.'SCo There is very little art in hitch-hiking as Germaine Greer describes it. It seems rather to be one of the crudest ways of getting something for nothing. ST for nothing²[A (PrepP)] without good reason o I didn't tell you until I got the doctor's report:I didn't want to have you worrying for nothing.□ In the English version of the tale、 Rumpelstilt-skin went on his way, while everybody laughed at him for having had all that trouble for nothing.L for old times' sak● [A (PrepP)] because of tender, or sentimental, memories of one's past□ I'd never been to Inverness before, so I decided to drop in on Gordon for old times' cake.□ She had never cared for jazz music, though she occasionally permitted herself a little ragtime for old times' sak@.HAAD stress pattern for old' times' sake. for once [A (PrepP)] on this/ that occasion (if <201> not, or hardly ever, at any other time): for a change (qv)(the implication often being that sth should be done more often than it is) oYou' re early for once, thank God, PWoJO Why did you tell me that story? Couldn't you have made something up? HELEN: You asked for the! ruth and you got it for once. TOHo But why on earth could it (the Government) not have gone one step further and have arranged to have a really scientific election for once?NSC: On most occasions, and from most people. Isabel was pleased to hear Harold praised; huí for this once she wasn't. Pwo (for) this/ that once is used when one wishes to indicate the first, or only.occasion of doing sth that is not contrasted with usual habits or procedures in an ironic or critical way. for once in a way [A (PrepP)] on this/ that occasion (if not usually); for a change (qv); for once (qv)□‘What on earth is the idea. Chris?’' Oh, just a hunch.. a crazy idea. I suppose. But perhaps you' ll indulge me for once in a way.IBC o ' Weren't you at Out-Patients this morn-ing?'' Yes— and for once in a way I was seen promptly at 10.30.' for one reason or another [A(PrepP)] for a reason not known, not remembered, or not specified; for some reason (or other) (qv) oHaving for one reason or another missed the previous broadcasts from Edinburgh, I even-tually caught up with the Festival in AnneHowell's Saturday-morning recital from theFreemasons' Hall. L o Even motorists may feel some guilt about leaving a car the whole day in c city street, but for one reason or another many of them really depend on their cars. SCoNow, what was I doing that day? Anyway, for one reason or another, I had left the children with a neighbour. for one thing (…(and) for another thing)[Conj(PrepP)] as one factor(...(and) as another factor) in support of an opinion, argu-ment, objection, accusation etc o Anyway.Robert lived with his mother's parents, whom Iseldom saw, for one thing, I dislike them. CON□There's a pretty widespread dissatisfaction with the way you' re going on. For one thing the way you just disappeared after taking your finals.Your father told me you hadn't even given them your address. HD a (someone asks RomanPolanski about his film version of‘Macbeth’)' Are you going to give Shakespeare equal bill-ing?”“Why should I?” he buoyantly replies. ‘For one thing, it's already fairly well-known that he is the author. For another thing, he hasn't got an agent!" St o stress pattern for ' one thing(...(and) for a' nother thing). for one's/ its own sake [A (PrepP)] because one/ it is what one/ it is; because of one`s/ its own qualities regardless of social class, importance,usefulness etc V: like, love, value, sb/ sth; marry sb□ One of the things that makes Ludovic Ken-nedy a superb television journalist is his real interest in what makes people think or act the way they do, and his liking for people for their own sake. RT□I love materials for their own seke and I love the feel of them. OBS□ She was so outshone publicly by her husband that, as his widow, she could scarcely credit that people might want to come and visit her for her own for once in a way—— for real sake. □ stress pattern for one's/ its ' own sake.for one's pains [A (PrepP)] as a disappoint-ing, or unsatisfactory, return for one's trouble.efforts V: be snubbed, repulsed; be wounded,shot a He had been unable to get permission to go through to Upper Burma. He tried it without permission and had narrowly missed being shot for his pains . ARG o They had grown to look more like sheep; but every now and then one of them reverted to earlier lambhood. tried to take a pull of mother's milk. and got buffeted in the ribs for its pains. SPL o usu end position after pass v. for one's (own) part [Disj (PrepP)] as far as one is concerned; in one's (own) opinion; as one's contribution to the proceedings det: my,our, their: John's; the committee's o 'l imagine they' ll (properties) be ours one day, Brigit said.wearily. ' For my party ou' re welcome to the lot.'DC □ For their part, the middle-class Indians completely fail to understand why people should give up (even temporarily) the comforts of Wes-tern living and roam harefoot around India in the sun. STo The women sit on sofa s by the fireplace and the men stand around the President. For my own part, I drain two large scotches too rapidly and can't get enough caviar, bad as that combina-tion is, to help absorb them. OBS□ use of own is commonest with my; stress patterns for ' one's part, for one's ' own part. for (all) practical purposes [Disj (PrepP)]practically considered, as far as usefully matters; to all intents (and purposes) (qv) oThere were, after all, four Zulu Kings—— more if you are fussy about titles, but four for all practi-cal purposes---yet this book deals only with the first two. SC a (touring in France, 1973) For practical purposes there are two classes of hotel and very little in between. OBS□ But for all practical purposes, the centre has been in power ever since I can remember. NS for the price of sth [A (PrepP)] in exchange for what sth costs o They (homosexuals) only use pubs for picking up boyfriends. They don't booze, themselves, any more than you or I would if surrounded by bedworthy women who might be had for the price of a few drinks. RA TT□Do your realize you could buy a loaf of bread and half a pound of cheese for the price of that packet of cigarettes? for real [Comp/A (PrepP)](informal) real, not sham or pretended; in a real way, not in a sham or pretended way V: be; see, hit, sail, fly o(re-cruiting advertisement) To fly a powerful, high-performance aircraft at great speed and with complete precision, in any manoeuvre, on a mission this is flying for real. ST D As MrMacIntyre said, with only a touch of Celtic ex-travagance, ' It(modern Ireland) is a dream in which only the knives are for real. ' Lo ' Every-thing on this programme,' Peter told us, ' had to be for real. I did all the stunt work myself.'RToThere are a few magnificent chapel scenes.during one of which the bible gets thumped for real as the whole congregation goes into a praise-the-Lord jam session. NS o Actually he had got the wrong idea because people who have been cast away for real say that you don't just lie under a palm tree for most of the time: you have to work about 16 hours a day just to survive. ST 201 <202> for reasons best/ only known to oneself— for a start for reasons/ some reason best/ only known to oneself [A (PrepP)] for private reasons; for reasons that others cannot guess or cannot understand (the implication sometimes that the person responsible does not himself fully understand why he has done sth)a He was getting on well in the business and was in line for a directorship when for some reason only known to himself he gave the whole thing up and bought a small farm in Wales. □ The rules say that any application for an extension must be.made before the original period has expired, and for reasons best known to himself the Minis-ter let that day pass. SToFor some reason best known to themselves the vast majority of 15-year olds nowadays leave school under the im-pression that the first of the Ten Commandments is ' Thou shalt not steal'. SC (just) for the record [Disj/A (PrepP)] so that it should be recorded □‘For the record,’ he said these are the companies that have selling contracts with the Diamond Corporation.'DS□In fact, commentating, like criticism or teaching,has little to do with one's own ability as a perfor-mer. But, just for the record, this is what half a dozen of the BBC's top commentators are like when they emerge from behind the microphone and into the sporting arena. RT o He has ap-parently no intention of giving evidence before the Commission. It might have been good tactics to put his case forcibly for the record. SC o(reader's letter) I don't know if James Fenton sees himself as a horny-handed champion of the oppressed but in his article on the political crisis in Lincoln he is, for the record, wrong on the following points∴.. NS□ introduces, or refers to,a statement, fact, item of information, etc that is made deliberately, officially or publicly; as A,middle or end position; as Disj, front or middle position. ◇ 小 off the record. for the rest [Conj (PrepP)] as far as other things are concerned; apart from that o Not much seemed to have changed; there were a couple of new stores and electricity had reached the place while I had been away. For the rest it was unaltered. RFW□ That was the only thing she had asked. For the rest, she had submitted without protest to everything that was arranged for her. AITCa But as far as serious dancing is concerned, Gene Kelly has retired. ' There are certain types of dancing you could do until you' re102, but for the rest I find it too difficult.’ RT ọfront or middle position. for sb's/ sth's sake [A (PrepP)] in order to benefit, please, protect or defend the interests of sb/ sth o Maybe later he would realise that all she had done was for the children's sake, not her own.Wi□' Please accept, Father,' she said, 'I' dbe so proud of you.''I'd make afool of myself.'' You wouldn't. For my sukd.'OMIHo Most heads(of schools) like things as they are. The excuse is that it is all for the sake of the pupils. The aim is to decorate them with as many certificates and credentials as they can muster. OBS□The conven-tion has been filmed through the eyes of this group that had to switch to Reagan, for the sake.of party unity. ST o stress pattern for ' sb's/' sth's sake. for sale [Comp/A (PrepP)] available for pur-chase; be on sale (qv) V: be; offer, put up, 202 display o These articles are displayed for sale in chaotic piles, though I have never seen anyone buy anything in Mrs Rinckham's shop except ice-cream, which is also for sale, and the ' Even-ing News'. UTN□ There were a few empty shops with' For Sale or To Let' notices on them, but we could find no accommodation except furnished lodgings. ◇△ to let. for shame(1) exclamation of reproach, usually addressed directly to the person who has behaved badly, or said or done sth shameful oCISSIE: You ought to be ashamed of yourselves,Itold them— at the first sign of intimidation you want to give in. For shamel I yelled at them—for shame/ CSWB□ He picked up a handful of gravel and drew back his arm to throw (at the hens). ' Stop it Patrick, ' Jenny called. ' What do you think you' re doing? For shame. Leave them alone.’ TGLY□Get out of here. You say I' ma fool.Shame on you. L o variant shame on you(!). for the simple reason that [A (PrepP)]because and only because (the implication being that, in the speaker's opinion, that one reason is so obvious or incontrovertible that no others are necessary) o John Counsell, for example, whose company at the Theatre Royal,Windsor, receives no Arts Council grant for the simple reason that Counsell has never asked for one... OBS□ They would not be expecting her to escape for the simple reason that she was a prisoner and could not. TCBo‘Why does he take on so many public engagements, if he's always feeling tired?’‘For the simple reesion that he can't say No.' for some reason(or other)[A(PrepP)] for a reason not known, not remembered or not specified; for one reason or another (qv)□ The.other day I found an old doll in the toy cupboard upstairs and Icalled it Clementine, just to give it a name. For some referon it seems to have fright-ened Nicky. DCo Here we have an example of an involuntary emotional response giving away a secret which, formersonorother, the sub-ject of the experiment wants to keep to himself.SNPo No,I won't have anegg, thank you. I seem to have gone off eggs lately for some reason, o stress pattern for ' some reason (or other). for some time[A (PrepP)] for a long time o /heard no sound after the door closed, and for some time I stood as one enchanted in the middle of the room. UTNo Experiments with tools given their power by an explosive have been in progress for some time here and in the United States. NSC□(of a book) In fact, The Case of the HelmetedAirman' has clearly been sitting aroundforsome time gathering dust, NS for a start[Conj(PrepP)](informal) first of all²(qv); in the first place²(qv); to begin with²(qv);to start with² (Vol l) (qv) o Conditions atMountain Colliery contrasted sadly with the training centre. For a start, there were no pit-head baths. OBS o Jacky Stoller has a most unusual hold over Anthony Valentine. For a start, she's his girlfriend, and, as producer of' Raffles' she is, in effect, his boss as well. TVTo' Why don't you take your wife with you on this trip?'' We couldn't afford it, for a start, and,anyway. I don't think she'd like to leave the child-ren with somebody else for so long.’ o HELEN(points to wicker basket): Hey, you can throw <203> that bloody thing out for a start. Geoff What thing?HELEN: That thing there. You' re not put-ting my grandchild in a thing like that. TOH o accompanies first item in argument, statement of opinion、 recommendation or order; often used for emphasis without speaker detailing any further items and perhaps without his having any clear idea of what these might be. for that matter[Conj (PrepP)] as is addition-ally, but equally, relevant o You oughtn't to have spoken like that to Bernard's friends, or to anybody for that matter. HAAo He stressed the need to recognize that universities(and polytech-nics for that matter) are not setting out solely to train people for jobs. L o A man-- - or a woman for that matter--can now encircle the globe with little more luggage than once he used to take to a destination not 60 miles from his own front door To front or end position. for this relief etc, much thanks (catch-phrase) I am/ we are very grateful for this relief etc det: this, that, the, which. n: relief; consola-tion, help, service, advice o (source) BERNAR-DO Tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed, Fran-cisco. FRANCISCO Forthis relief, muchthanks.' tis hiter cold, and I am sick at heart. HAMLETI10 ' I t must have fallen from heaven straight into the mind of the artist.' said Berlioz of the second movement of Beethoven's Eighth Symphony. butBeethoven's sketch books show that it was tor-tured out bar by bar. So Beethoven was a human heing. and I am another; for this relief, much thanks. ST□(a film)... a car chase with an air-borne sequence of extraordinary dream-like ap-peal. For this flight of fancy alone, much thanks. NS□Mr Bibby. who produced a lengthy tome on (Thomas) Huxley in 1959, has distilled it well into a compact and elegant little book.For which service, much thanks. NS o often ironic or facetious. for two pins [A (PrepP)](informal) with very little persuasion or provocation o 'I don't usu-ally go round fainting. ' See how you feel at play-time. For two pins I'd throw a faint myself and come and join you.'TTo For two pins, GrannyTavlor,I'd be out of that door and down them(=those) stairs if it was the last thing I did. MMo' It is a Tableau,' said Miss Pemberton, with awful clarity. ' The whole point is that the scene should be static. ' at which point Lydia felt she would resign the whole thing for sixpence. WDM Osmall sums of money may be substituted for two pins, as in last example. for want of a better name etc[A (PrepP)]because there is no better name etc that the speaker can think of n: name,△word, term oThe story regarding these beings, whom we are calling ' demons' for we nt of a better name.states that once upon a time there were two kinds of people. NDN□One forgets so quickly one's own youth: once I was interested myself in what for want of a better term they call news. QA□ The ballet. ' Unfamiliar Games', is, for want of a better word, abstract; at any rate, it has no narrative theme. Lo said to excuse or justify the use of a name etc with which the speaker is not fully satisfied. for what sth is worth [Disj/A(PrepP)] how-ever much or little value, importance, or sig-nificance may be given to sth (the implication for that matter—— force sb's hand being that the speaker is not certain and invites others to be the judge) n: it, that; opinion,evidence, report; popularity, position □ But I'm only giving you the evidence for what it's worth.I'm not giving any interpretation. TBC□ He is,for what it is worth (which in terms of public impact does not seem to be much), the ' shadow'Minister of Employment — or Mr Foot's op-posite number as the Conservatives' emissary to the trade unions. NS□ As a criticism of what is undoubtedly a very remarkable work, it was un-fair and inadequate - - hut not, I think ir-relevant. I cite it for what it is worth. DOP乊尐for all one/ it is worth. for years etc to come [A (PrepP)] for many years etc, dating from the time of speaking n:(many) years. △a long time, months, weeks□(illustrated advertisement) Take a good look!It's the Ronson C. F. L., the new shaver that sets the pace for years to come. DMo Much has been written about the campaign in North-WestEurope and it will be a happy hunting ground for historians for many years to come. MFM□ The drought has been so severe that, even if we do get rain. water supplies will still have to be rationed for weeks to come. forbidden fruit (is sweetest) (saying) sth that is desired because it is forbidden or disapproved of (is the most attractive) (fromEve's eating the fruit of the Tree of the Know-ledge of Good and Evil in GENESIS111-14)□ Pity the weight-reducers who work in restaurants.sweetshops and pubs! How awful to have one's will power tested every minute of the day by working with forbidden fruit not allowed on the diet-sheet. TVTo There's bound to be a time when the unquestioning acceptance of home gives way to a critical inquiry of it. Disobeying, contradict-ing, sampling forbidden fruit---it's growing up.OBS□ Forbidden fruit is always sweetest and there are some people who enjoy sex more if they feel guilty. TVT forbidden ground/ territory an area into which entry is forbidden;(fig)a subject, activity etc which is forbidden or disapproved of □ The second draft was still to be rejected by the NewZealanders, but it laid the foundations for uBritish counter-proposal. This British document trespassed on forbidden ground in the opposite direction.L□ Whatever his motive I'm surprised he lent his presence. Surely the occult is forbid-den territory for clergymen. a force to be reckoned with [Comp (NP)]sb/ sth that cannot be lightly treated, opposed or defied V: △be, become; make sb o It's this combination of simplicity and righteousness,verging at times on fanaticism but backed up by hard cash, that has made Gaddafi a force to be reckoned with. Lo Despite the protests about truckling to terrorists, the Provisionals are a political force to be reckoned with. NSo Some20 years ago Bayure Nakulema was already a force to be reckoned with in his village ofWayen, in the West African State of UpperVolta. OBS□ Regionalism is certainly source to be reckoned with in Spain, but it has not proved so strong in this election as was thought. L force sb's hand[V + O pass] compel sb to do sth other than, or sooner than, he intended(from the tactics of card games) o But it had 203 <204> (by) force of arms— forgive sb his trespasses been free science, without secrets, without much national feeling. That used to be science; in the future. that must be science again. Meanwhile.the war had forced their hands. NMa Wilson has been thinking for some time of a merger withBoots in 12 or 18 months, when the Glaxo profits lurned stronger, It was the Beecham bid that forced his hand now. STo The Labour PartyChairman, Mr Wedgwood Benn, said on ' TheWorld This Weekend’ that his proposal for a referendum on entry to Europe might force the hand of the Prime Minister, L (by) force of arms [A(PrepP)] (by) warfare;(by) the threat or use of weapons o Get what supplies you can from the villagers, but do so without resorting to force of arms, o But for the presence of British troops, the Communist minority, might have succeeded in seizing power by terrorism and force of arms. MFM force of circumstance [o(NP)] a combina-tion of events and conditions that leaves one little or no choice of action prep: △ by,through, owing to o It was force of circum-stance that led to their getting married. There was nobody else of marriageable age on the island—— neither wanted to leave and both were lonely. □ The camp contained men from many backgrounds brought together through force of circumstance □ He (a painter) hopes that a degree will give him access to ' at least some policy-making role' in graphic education,a sub-ject in which he has grown interested first by force of circumstance but later by choice. G (from) force of habit (owing to) the strong inclination to do certain things in a certain way from having always done so in the past o ThenI did the thing the research man always does. Iwondered why I took the trouble, But force of habit dies hard. PPo Three new murders, two new air crashes, one old fashioned strike; I don't know why I buy it (a newspaper) really - -force of habit I suppose. TT o I'm enjoying a couple of weeks away from work, but from force of habit Monday starts early with ' TheNews' at 7.0 and ' Today' ( Radio 4). RT a foregone conclusion [Comp (NP)] an end,consequence, or result that is completely predictable V: △ be; think, make, sth' o Ai-though opinion in metropolitan France still seems solidly behind General de Gaulle's plans for Algeria, the success of the referendum is not a foregone conclusion, A massive affirmative is demanded. To How can a students' union; or a nation, hold a great debate if the result is a foregone conclusion? SC□ Many people think it's a foregone conclusion that England will beat Finland comfortably in their World Cup qualifying match at Wembley on Wednesday.I'm one of them. TVT D occas pl. a foreign body[O(NP)]a piece, or particle, of matter introduced from the outside and which should not be present in sth, esp the parts, or tissues, of the body V: remove, dislodge, get rid of □ Removal of a foreign body from the eye.other than by use of a saline eyewash, should be left to the doctor. □ We decided that if we first strained the water to get rid of such obvious foreign bodies as grit and insects, and then boiled it well, it would be safe to drink. foreign parts [o (NP)] regions, or countries, 204 not one's own(used collectively in a rather im-precise way that covers all or any of them)prep:△in, from □ After twenty-three years in foreign parts I had smugly assumed that I had long since spanned the whole gamut of bureau-cratic ingenuity. BM□' We had a cockatoo,' the old lady recalled, ' that my brother—— who was a sailor, you know —— had brought home from foreign parts.'□On his travels Hunt drinks only orange juice and milk, never touching the water in foreign parts. TVT forewarned is forearmed (catchphrase) a warning of danger, or sth unpleasant, to come serves as a preparation to meet it, gives one the opportunity to protect or defend oneself as well as one can o 'I understand Sir Julius is spendingChristmas at Warbeck Hall, chief.’‘Well,thanks for telling me, Sikes. Foreward is foreramed. I shan't be sorry to have the chance of giving that windbag a piece of my mind.’ EMoFormwarned is forgarmed. Many of the thousands of holidaymakers travelling abroad would be spared the risk of injury or death if more publicity were devoted to the problems of foreign motoring. ST forget more about sth then sb over knew (saying) one/ sb knows much more about a subject/ skill than another or others mentioned o: camping, cooking; music, foot-ball o‘And Mr Prew has forgotten more about camping out than most people ever know, ' MissWriggleston interposed. RM □ To put it kindly,the author is racking his brains. Carlyle, who forgot more about revolution than Reich will ever know, urged that ' Know thyself ' was an impossible maxim till it can be translated into this partially possible one, ' Know what thou canst work at.' Lo(NONCE)I would have sold my soul for Uncle Walt (Disney). Just him, not the studio. He was a man who'd forgotten more about family entertainment than most people ever learn. TVT O tenses usu as in headphrase.forgive and forget [v+ v non-rev] (catch-phrase) dismiss ill feeling, the desire to blame and punish, etc entirely from one's mind a ThenHolleb gets beaten up, and his apartment smashed to pieces. He must either forgive and forget, or remember and pursue—— see the case through the court. Lo Cissie, unknown to Flora,has entered a competition and has made the mis-take of winning. Flora is fully prepared to for-give and forget—— as long as Cissi e hands over the prize. TVTo You were quite right in what you said to me, that I'd have told you the same. All right, sport, all right. Forgiven and forgotten.THH o‘They (Irishmen) bother you?’ I said.-' They' re all right,' he said magnanimously, for-giving and forgetting. PP forgive sb his trespans mes forgive sb for what he has done wrong□(source) Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that tros.pass against ws. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER(LORD'SPRAYER)□RONNIE: Everyone thinks whatI say doesn't count. Like they used to think ofDad. Poor old Harry—— poor old Ronnie. But you forgiv e me my trespessus don't you,Addie? ITAJo During the First World War it was a shock to many simple people, who had been taught that Christ was the Prince of Peace, and that we were to forgive those that treg pw那么 <205> against us, and that peacemakers were blessed,to see, for example, priests publicly blessing in-struments of destruction. AH O variant forgive sb who trespasses against one. a foriorn hope (dated military) a small band of soldiers sent out in advance of the main force; a hope that is almost certain not to be realized o So the lieutenant with his forlorn hope of followers led the advance attack that was to draw the enemy's fire.□It is to this theatre thatMr Turnell wishes to attach Racine—a forlorn hope indeed. He wants us to engage with Racine as we do with Shakespeare. Lo I can understand why wages and prices chase each other, but not why they are allowed to: the explanation that it's never possible to stop it without being unfair to somebody is unconvincing when I remember the.much worse injustices of forlorn hopes and strategic sacrifices of lives during the war. L fortune favours the brave(saying)a person who is willing to take risks is often lucky, and more so than one who is timid or over-cautious□(cricket commentary) Well, that was a bit of a swipe— not exactly a text-book stroke—— butBotham connected and hit the ball into the stand.Fortune favours the brave! a Miller made a daring, and dangerous, manoeuvre to overtake,and once again proved that Fortun e often favours the braw. I fortune with capital or small F. (have/ take) forty winks(informal)(have)a short sleep, esp a daytime nap o‘You must make him rest, dear,' he said to Eric; you know,feet up and forty winks.'HAA□ I drew my chair up to the fire and thought 'I ' ll just have forty works now, before the children come home from school.'o His father, Nick, says that when theTV production team joined him and Annie in their smallish sitting-room in Oxford and the lights began to warm up, Benjamin reacted by taking 40 winks. TVT foul one's (own) nest [V + O] dirty, polute,or bring disgrace to, one's home, family,profession, country etc o 1972 will be remem-bered as a vintage year for doom merchants, the year when mankind finally realised that it cannot go on fouling its nest indefinitely, the year of the first United Nations conference on the en-vironment. NSo He upsets every orthodox apple-cart in sight and fouls his own academic nest with aquiline droppings. RT o also pl foul their own nests. foul play' (sport) play that is contrary to the rules of a game; (fig) unfair or unscrupulous dealings o It seemed to the spectators that the referee was letting a fair amount of foul play go unchecked.□ Manufacturers continue to offer 2p off various goods, but since the abolition of resale price maintenance no one can be sure what figure the 2p is coming off. Many shoppers suspect foul play and this type of(sales) promotion has lost much of its appeal in consequence. ST foul play² (legal) violent crime, esp criminal assault and murder o‘A sudden death has occurred here, ’ he said. ‘It is inevitable—— is it not?— that it must be followed by police in-quiries.’‘You seem to have jumped to the con-clusion that because of what has happened to this unfortunate young man there must have been foul play.'EMo The body of an elderly man was a forlorn hope---four-letter(ed) words found early this morning in the darkened door-way of a High Street shop. According to a police statement, foulplay is not suspected. The com-mission of inquiry failed to establish any satisfac-tory reason for the crash. It left open the question whether Hammarskjöld had died as a result of a pilot's error or of foul play. RT O(not) suspect foul play collection used in police reports. a founding father[Comp (NP)] an originator and/ or patron of an institution, popular move-ment, school of art or thought, etc V: △ be;regard, consider, sb as o For some timeAustralia has been having pious second thoughts about certain founding fathers of its culture. SC□ Michael Carreras is the son of Colonel JamesCarreras, founding father of Hammer horror(films). STo Mary Tudor was subjected to heavy pressure by her father and his Ministers to ack-nowledge the Reformation Settlement. But she would not submit Clearly neither Henry VIIInor the Duke of Norfolk may be counted among the founding fathers of Women's Lib. L the four etc corners of the earth/ world[o (NP)] the regions of the world distant from the centre(from primitive conceptions of a flat or table-shaped world) prep: from, at, in, to.adj: four,△far, distant□(source)(And God)shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. ISAIAH XI12□ There is only one industry here now, and that is tourism. Tour-ism has grown tremendously, and this place has become known in the four corners of the earth.TVT□ You can almost hear the gasp of steam as the great, gleaming monster pulls out along the shining rails, carrying a boy's imagination and a father's fancy to the far corners of the earth.DM□ Throughout his career, he has exerted a considerable influence, rolling out great editorials like rivers day after day on the most diverse subjects and (since he has been a mighty traveller) often from the corners of the earth.OBS o adj occas omitted, as in last example. a four-leaved clover a clover with four leaves, instead of three, to a stem (which is believed to bring the finder good luck) □ The woman gathering rattan may be gladdened by finding a length with the sections five hand-spans apart, the Dayak equivalent of a four-leaved clover, but more useful. NDN four-letter(ed) words‘taboo’ verbs or nouns, mainly of Anglo-Saxon origin, that denote esp sexual or excretory organs and func-tions, and used with that meaning, or as force-ful swearwords o The anonymous author of' Her' sets himself a task that others have failed at: to rescue from debasement those four-lettered words, ' to new-mint these words by writing them in the context in which they are most often spoken.'NS□(of' live' radio phone-in programmes) Risks have to be taken---even if it does mean the occasional person with an opinion actually getting on the air, let alone the occasional nut-case or four-letter word. ST o(NONCE) Cognac and cigarettes are passed round,and with them the President's talk grows more manifestly masculine and even includes a pepper-ing of Anglo-Saxon tetragrams. OBSD most of these words are, in fact, spelt with four letters.eg fuck (n,v) of sexual intercourse, shit(n,v) 205 <206> the fourth estate—— free with one's hands of excretion, cock(penis) and cunt(vagina), but the term refers to the class of word and not the actual number of letters in individual words. the fourth estate the Press (the reference being to the power and influence of news-papers) o The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm. His-TORICAL ESSAYS(TBMACAULAY 1800-59)口‘You’ re a news-hound, Joe, ' he said.'A newspaper repor-ter,' I substituted, not caring to stand any in-solence about the Fourth Estate. CO N o theThree Estates of the Realm are, in the House ofLords, the lords temporal (peers) and the lords spiritual (bishops) and, in the House of Com-mons. members of Parliament. a freak of nature a physical or biological ac-cident; sb/ sth that is the result of such an ac-cident o Still harder was it to realise that this utter isolation was only momentary; the tran-sient creation of a f reak of nature, and that within a matter of days, perhaps of hours only, it must vanish. EM o At the far end of the fair-ground stood the booths where dwarfs, againt,a bearded woman, and other frocks of nature could be viewed for 20p a visit. free association the spontaneous and per-sonal association one makes between a given word, object, concept and another word etc□According to Freud's theory, the‘manifest’dream leads back to the ' latent' dream in terms of symbolization and in terms of free - ssocia-tion. SNP□' Did you know there was a group (of code symbols) for“eunuch”? Do you think it crops up often in cables? I wish we could use it.’' Are you every going to marry again?'' Your free associations, Beatrice said, ' are rather obvious sometimes.'OMIH free and easy [adj + adj non-rev] relaxed; in-formal; morally lax n: manner, style, way o 'Iwouldn't like to call on your parents without an invitation.'' Don't worry. They' re very fr əcænd easy, and as long as you' re willing to take them as you find them you'd be welcome any time.'o' It's my one chance to get out,' says a SouthLondon grandmother. ' Bingo is the only place Ican come to on my own, free and easy, and enjoy myself.' OBS o Most of the boys called me (a schoolmaster) by my Christian name, outside the lessons if not inside. I had wanted to get on free-and-easy terms with the boys—— how else could I find out all about them? SPL o I don't believe in this---whatever you call it-fræe-and-easy way of going on. ' Anticipation of mar-riage' is probably how they put it in your--the advice columns. TGLY D attrib use, as in a free-and-easy way, often hyphenated. a free fight {o (NP)} group fighting, or struggling or quarrelling, of a disorganized and rowdy kind V: turn into, develop into,degenerate into o By the time the bus came so many people were waiting that it was a fr●●fight to get on it. a' Is anybody with that class?'' Mr Simpson, I think.'' Well, it sounds more like afree fight than a geography lesson.'oI thought this was to be a reasoned discussion about next year's plans. If it's going to degenerate into #free fight, I'm not going to stay. O also pl. free from sth [Comp (AdjP)] without, not having, sth(as a desirable condition) V:△ be;find, consider, sb. n: blame, care, interference, 206 pain, guilt, anxiety o It's a little late to admit it.I know, but your mother and I weren't entirely free from blame. LBA o The virtues of theUnicorn Opera Group's Handel— so natural and straightforward, yet so stylish and com-mendably free from tiresome tamperings with the original—— have been celebrated before in this column. ST□Over the Icst few years there has been increased legislation to ensure that canned,bottled and preserved foods shall be free from harmful additives.◇⚠ devoid of sth; free of sth. a free loader (informal) sb who makes no contribution to an event of which he is taking advantage; sb who takes every opportunity of being present on an occasion where he can get sth for nothing o There we were, the usual free-loaders, already armed with our free hold-alls and drinks, staring beadily around for something else to free-load, and not what you'd call a celebrity to be seen. NSo ... the pop music busi-ness, where slit throats smile at each other across rooms crowded with boozed free loadersa t ' new star' junkets(= parties) run by record compa-nies. Lo There is something about the sight of this hardy ancient (Mao Tse Tung) in his flowered straw hat, which makes it difficult, for me at any rate, to have much patience with the pseudo-philosophers and the free-loading ' Maoists'who have somehow and elsewhere got aboard the wagon. St o adj compound free-loading; variant(v) free-load. free love(dated) freedom to love and live with a man or woman of one's choice without being bound by marriage ties□(statistics)... the per-centage who said that they believe in God, or who thought that free-love was ' all right in its way'.ULoIt was a setback that did not dauni VictoriaClaffin Woodhull,a pioneer fighter for women's rights, free love and socialism. OBS free of sth [Comp (AdjP)] exempt or released from sth usu compulsory or normally presentV:△be, become; feel. n: tax, charge; domestic duties, religious sanctions; filling in forms o... a company which he used in Liechtenstein had served only to get export permits and to allow him to take profits out of Germany free of tax.To It says here that Sheik Ahmed— an Arabian mystic— will, free of all charge, draw up for you a complete analysis of your character and destiny. TOHo The posi-war Southern prosperity(in the US) has affected the blacks too. Most of the(political) activists come from urban, middle.class homes and they and their parents are at least partly free of the traditional fears. OBS ▷▲ devoid of sth; free from sth. free speech the right to express one's opinions publicly on any subject, esp in so far as this is allowed or disallowed by censorship o ' What's on telly now?'' Something about free speech.'Mariette said. ' Freedom of the press or some-thing.'DBMD The well-being of mankind depends more directly on the rational production of such necessities as food and medicines than it does on a comparative luxury like free speech. NS□ My headmaster was a member of the (Nazi) party,but, under the circumstances, allowed an extra-ordinary degree of freedom of speech to our teachers. RTO variant freedom of speech. free with one's hands [Comp(AdjP)] prone to fight, or strike, others with whom one is in <207> free with one's money etc— frills and furbelows disagreement or whom one wishes to control or subdue; prone to touch, or fondle, others in a way likely to be resented V: △be, become; find sb o He took his responsibilities as a father seriously hu l in matters of discipline was rather too free with his hands.□' You can't say UncleSaunders is a pet.' ' He likes to make himself heard certainly. And he's a bit free with —Yes? ” said Brigit, as Nurse Ellen hesitated.' Well, I guess I can cope with silly old men who like to pinch. 'DC free with one's money etc[Comp (AdjP)]generous with one`s money etc; over-ready to offer sth not welcome to sb v: △be; find sb. o:money, help, sympathy; advice, compliments,criticism o Johnson earns more, in my opinion,than any man has a right to, but I' ve always found him very free with his money— which is more than you can say of many in his position. oIf you were as free with your help as you are with your advice we could have had the job finished by now. a French letter a contraceptive sheath o, and sent me after a job in a hot-water bottle factory in Islington. When I got there l discovered it was really a French-letter factory and it wasn't the sort of job you can discuss over cocktails. Ns o By this time the shaving process was over and the fat barber said, You don ' t want any of our boss's specials? ' What are they? 'Iasked. ' French letters, ' he said, and laughed until he coughed chestily. CON o Laurie John produced and presented his own plan for the res-toration of the Alexandra Palace organ. Any programme in which a gentleman is permitted to say that he saw two French letters underneath the organ cannot be all had. L French etc without tears (catchphrase) an easy, pleasant way to learn French etc(from the title of a play (by T RATTIGAN 1911-77), which is a parody of the kind of text-book/ manual that promises quick and easy instruction)n: French,home decoration, fitness, slimming, cooking,rose-growing D Slimming without tears isLyn's theme. Too good to be true? Give it a go.TVT o Spinach Without Tewr: it has been ruined for many of us, who remember it being shovelled into our mouths in childhood as if it were a life-saver. OBS o often adapted. (make) a fresh start [V + O pass] (make) a second, or subsequent, attempt to do sth in which former materials, methods or arrange-ments are discarded or adapted o The death in a Paris park brings two people together. Both are unhappy in marriage—— but is it too late for a fresh start?TVT□ This skeich is getting less and less like you the more I work on it. I think I' ll tear it up and make a fresh start. o Because of theLaw Lords' judgment,a new legal situation had developed and it was time for a fresh start to be made by everyone. St fret and fume [v + v non-rev] show im-patience, anxiety, irritation in one`s speech and/ or behaviour o He spent ten minutes at the phone while the others fratted and fumed. At length he put the receiver down. TBC□ I found the door open and Sadie fetting and fuming about the hall. ‘My dear creature,’ she said, ‘thank heavens you' ve come.'UTN Friday the thirteenth a conjunction of day and date thought to be unlucky and likely to be avoided by superstitious people when arran-ging a journey, an important function, etc□Monsieur Bonneval stolidly attempted to fight his way through the morass of calamities that was engulfing him. It was a losing battle. Friday the thirteenth had not finished with him yet.ARGo ' You could fly to Paris on Friday evening and add a day to your holiday.'' I thought of that,but my husband flatly refused to fly anywhere on a Friday the 13th. friend and/ or fo@[n + n non-rev] allies and/ or enemies o There was not a trace of hitterness at the Labour Executive meeting last week. On the contrary, friend and foot reated each other with a respect that has been absent these many years.OBS□ Every now and then a man would leap from the scaffolding or from one of the camera cranes.scattering friend and foe alike. UTNo Women would fight as well as men, and no one would know who was friend or foo. MFM a friend in need (is a friend indeed) (say-ing) a friend who helps one when one needs help(is a true friend) □ No, we don't see a lot of each other, but I know she would always be a friend in need. o (NONCE) Buskers (= street enter-tainers) have a ' society' of their own, a virtual unofficial union which moves unwelcome new-comers along. A busker in need is a friend in need, and must, they believe, he helped. OBS(your) friendly neighbourhood police-man etc(catchphrase) (your) friendly.familiar, local policeman etc(from the slogan your friendly neighbourhood policeman used in aPolice public-relations campaign in the late1960s)n: policeman, postman, milkman; bank:grocer; traffic warden; burglar; vandals; mad dog D ' Anybody with the slightest admiration for the Queen should wear a buttonhole next Satur-day to mark the official royal birthday.' She says it's entirely a non-commercial idea, although we don't suppose your friendly neighbourhood florist will actually be giving buttonholes away next Saturday. STa I have seen television adver-tisements which base their main message on mis-leading implications that a mass-produced brand of butter is made carefully by hand, in friendly neighbourhood dairies. L o Richard Marsh,new chairman of British Rail, says with a smile,'I know more about the problems of British Rail than anybody else because I created more than anybody else. I'm the friendly neighbourhood expert on British Rail's problems.' RTo Within three weeks my student friend receiveda welcom-ing letter from his friendly neighbourhood bank manager, together with an application form to open an account. o usu ironic or facetious. friends and relations [n+ n non-rev] one's immediate circle of acquaintances and family members o (after a funeral) That's what shivas(formal gatherings of family and friends) are for. For friends and relations to come and try.to make the family forget. HSG□He gave a grand party for friends and relations/ And all who'd stuck by him when close to the wall./ And if you just listen I' ll make your eyes glisten/ With the rows and the ructions of Lannigan's Ball . IRISHSONG frills and furbelows[n+ n non-rev] frills and 207 <208> from afar— from job etc to job etc flounces as ornamental trimmings on dress;(usu derogatory) any eye-catching finery or anything not essential to the main purpose or value of sth o ' What did you think of MrsReynolds's dress?' 'I thought she looked absurd.But then I always did prefer a good tailor-made suit 10 frills and furbelows.'o(a newspaper office) Friday's ' Objects and Subjects' was al-ready shaping with six bright paragraphs on na-tional frills and furbelows, freaks and frolics.PP□ Finger-bow's and napkin rings and flowers!If she would cut out the frills and furbelows and learn to cook a decent meal she would make a better job of running a guest-house. from afar[A(PrepP)](formal) from a distance;from far off; from a long way off V: see, view,sth; admire sb o But already he was calling out loudly the ancient Bushman greeting: ' Good day.I saw you from afar and I am dying of hunger.'LWK□(San Francisco) I know no other city so splendid from afar and so cosy from close quar-ters.-L o Both those attending the festival and those following it from after will be delighted to learn that several pubs have had their licences extended to the heady hour of 1 1 p. m. TVT ◇ at close quarters. from beginning etc to end etc[A(PrepP)]throughout nn: beginning... end,△first... last,start…finish□…a sober, clear, moving and sin-gularly unbitter book which makes fascinating reading from beginning to end. ST a The Bach ballet was brimming with brilliance — and Ithought it was wrong from start to finish and should never have been attempted. ST from the bottom of one's heart {A(PrepP)] with sincerity; with genuinely felt emotion V: speak, tell sb, wish sth o 'l love you.I shall always love you. You' re my wife. Iwouldn't have it any different.'I was speaking from the bottom of my heart. SML a In the office Luke and Martin were both sitting down.As Nora saw her husband she said, awkwardly,wishing from the bottom of her heart that she could let herself go: ' Bad luck.' NM from a child etc[A(PrepP)] from the time one was a child etc; since childhood etc n:a child,a boy, a girl; boyhood, girlhood,(earliest) youth o Most people, she was aware, acted from im-pulse or inclination but from a child she had been acted upon by successive idealisms stronger than any personal desire of her own. PWo' He's been wilful and headstrong from a baby,' the mother complained, and now even his father can hardly control him.’ o‘And this is Miss King, better known as Annie,' he continued, introducing the new manager to a smiling woman in a flowered overall.' An old and trusted employee. She's been with us from a girl.' from China to Peru [A (PrepP)] in,throughout, many or all parts of the world o(source) Let observations with extensive view/Survey mankind from China to Peru;/ Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife,/ And watch the busy scenes of crowded life. THE VANITY OFHUMAN WISHES (S JOHNSON 1709-84) □ Isherwood was a letter writer of exceptional brilliance, and when he moved on from Berlin, original observa-tions made in Copenhagen, in Lisbon, or later from China (literally, as they say) to Peru, ar-rived in a very small, regular, and evidently imperturbable handwriting. AHoFrom China toPeru the transistor radio has become as necess-ary a part of the furniture of human life as the cooking-pol. o China and Peru non-rev. from the cradle to the grave[A(PrepP)] at;in every stage of life; from birth to death o lam also local agent for the never-never furniture company, a qualified midwife, a marriage bro-ker, and an undertaker, Jason is at your service from the cradie to the grown. DPM□ Certainly there's no racist like a new racist. ' These labourers,' one manager told me,' are just bloody parasites on the national economy. And they' re looked after from the cradie to the grave.' ns b In olden times there was a saying that the Co.op took care of you from the cradle to the graw, provided a pharmacy to delay the event,and then buried you. OBS from dawn/ morning to/ till dusk/ night[A (PrepP)] all day; all the time (esp with reference to a repeated pattern of work, mode of living, etc) o When the month of Ramadan comes round each year and Moslems have to fast from dawn to dusk, any display of energy bor-ders upon the miraculous. Lo ' Oh, it's too utterly boring, said Sadie.'I'm simply worn out with the work. On the (film) set from down to dusk.'UTN o Later, when her husband was BolivianMinister in London and Paris, she lived in Com-payne Gardens, where the servants were treated as friends and an almost unreal state of happiness seems to have reigned from morning to night.L o dawn/ morning and dusk/ night non-rev. from head etc to foot etc[A(PrepP)] over the whole length of one's body; in every part of one's being, nature, character nn: head... foot,△ head... toe, crown... toe, top... toe, the top/crown of one's head... the soles of one's feet/shoes/ boots o And with another explosion the water hit him from head to foot. He shook it from his face. PMo Every time the phone used to ring I used to shake from heed to to a and felt sick in my stomach. Lo So the St Michael(trade-mark for goods sold in Marks and Spencer's stores) label is synonymous with good sense, and the housewife clothing her child in St Michael from top to to e feels the warm glow of the prudent. TVTo Britton,a Tory from the top of his head to the sofe s of his boots, is taking an unaccustomed look at life from a Socialist view-point in playing Labour MP Collinson. TVToObservable progress is being made in the novel social experiment of educating a democracy from top to to fee. T o head etc and foot etc non-rev. ◇△ from top to bottom. from here to eternity [A (PrepP)] forever o(source) Gentlemen-rankers out on a spree./Damned from here to Eternity./ God ha' (=have) mercy on such as we... GENTLEMEN.RANKERS(R KIPLING1865-1936)□ But screw all that from here to eternity. Trying not to be a bad man took up far more energy than he could, or was prepared to, spare from trying not to be a nasty man. TGLY O use often facetious. from job etc to job etc[A (PrepP)] from one to another of a succession of items,activities, events, plans, persons of the same kind V: go, drift, hurry; take, send sb/ sth. n:job, meeting, agency, shop; disappointment,fad; specialist o SAM: You have no trade—— no 208 <209> from log cabin to White House----(right) from the start etc profession — you' re not interested in politics and you drift from job to job, HSGo Meanwhile he fits from function to function, automati-cally accosted, perpetually propositioned by those who seek his patronage. ST o I asked him round. mainly to save the paper and string necessary to send back his script. Ned and I have humped along from crisis to crisis ever since.RIo Pre-school years are to me a confused mem-ory of being taken from one relative to another to be looked after. O variant from one job etc to another/ the next. from log cabin to White House[A(PrepP)](catchphrase) from humble, or obscure, begin-nings to a position of power, wealth or in-fluence (from the title of a biography of the USpresident, James Garfield, by W M THAYER)o It was Bernie who so constantly urged him to control and limit his fantasies by achievement.' From log cabin to White House, my dear,'Bernie had said, ' isn't done on a broomstick( = by witchcraft, magic) any more.'HAA□IntheAmerican log cabin story the point is soon reached at which the future millionaire must wear a tie . He explains that he cannot otherwise inspire confidence. PL 口 can be used in part and allusively, as in second example. from the money etc point of view [Dis](PrepP)] looked at. considered, with the impor-tance or function of money etc uppermost in one's mind n/ adj: money, health, schooling,family: educational, religious, aesthetic, moral o It's fairly clear that you' ve found some way of improving on the job from the money point of view, and I'm here to ask you whether you can trust me enough to let me in on it. HDaFrom the stock market point of view, however, Willson means only one thing— the tiny house furnisher and textile wholesaling group he took under his wing last October. OBS□ She claims that, from an educational point of view, mixed-sex classes at school have a negative effect. from now etc on [A (PrepP)] from now etc into the future o: now, △ then; this/ that day/year time; childhood; retiring age o ' Say Hullo to Prissie, Nick,' said Fergus.' She may be look-ing after you from now on.'DC□ And I began,almost automatically, to pack up my papers. Iknew that from now on I should do no more work. UTN□' They say he's very rich. A proper millionaire they say he is!' Even Charles took,from then on, a fresh interest in the frail, scared figure in that bed. HD □ From childhood onTennyson was fascinated by the sound of words.L o When Marilyn Frounson was 13 she saw theRoyal Ballet perform in her own city. ' From that day on, ' she says, ' all I wanted to do was to come to England and join the Royal Ballet.’ OBS□ stress pattern from now etc' on. from one week' satcend to another con-tinuously over a long period of time n: week`s,△ month's, year's. det: another, the other, the next □ He sits plugged in front of the telly, or reads a cowboy book, or just sleeps, and I sup-pose the only reason I was pals with him was because I didn't say much from one month's end to another either. LLDR□ I' ll tell you what farming is, my boy. It's work, work, work from one year's end to the next. of get quite a bit of company at this time of year, but in the winter I often don't have a visitor from one week's end to the other. D often follows neg construction saying what one does not do/ have. from pillarto post[A(PrepP)] in many direc-tions (esp in contexts implying harassment or worried activity) V: rush, move; drive, push,chase.sb□ And having crossed the Rhine, we will crack about the plains of Northern Germany,chasing the enemy from piller to poet. MFMoMr Geoffrey Rippon. our chief Common Market negotiator, continued to proceed from pillar to post and make optimistic noises. Lo Men with a prison record discover that work and accom-modation are hard to find and harder to keep.Too many of them, after having been driven from pillar to post in this way, take to crime again. □ pillar and post non-rev. fromthePresidentetcdown/downward(s) including everybody in a group, ie the most important or highest ranking person (whose name or title is given first)together with all those of lesser importance or rank o: the President, Mrs Thatcher, the matron, the managing director o The Com-missioner of Police, Bill Syer, and the head of theCID. Bernard Nealon, could not have been more co-operative, and, from Sir Percy down, we were deeply grateful for their attitude. DSo TheAmerican party were picked up by ' ChristianAction' and joyfully accepted bunk beds in mar-quees at 35p. From Professor Steinberg downwards they were rigged in anorak and ruck-suck, but they were not doss-house bums.OBS □ II was, I believed, the perfect answer to criticism that the standard 1.8 litre model lacked power. Apparently, at the time, all the company's top brass, from Lord Stokes downwards,agreed. T from ragsto riches[A(PrepP)] from extreme poverty to wealth V:△go, move, pass oTo go from rags to riches in one step could be a severe test of character, but most big pools' winners have ordered their fortunes with great good sense and some generosity. □ Even if he despised the' mobsters' over whom he towered in his prime,Hoover understood them. In their own devious way, they were part of the American ' rags-to-riches' dream. OBS□ His astonishing success. a political version of the rags-to-riches story.may have gone some way to silence the boring chorus of political pundits. NS□ The production ignored the truths of the opera, the underlying humanity and tenderness that make it more than a superficial tale of rags to riches. Lo attrib use a rags-to-riches story. (right) from the start etc[A(PrepP)] at the time when sth started, or was started, and ever since; from the word go(qv)o: the start, △ the beginning, the first, the outset □ From the out-set and for most of the time that Mrs Mackay was alive, the police refused finally to accept that she had been kidnapped. NS□From the first , theReformation had been quarrelling with the sym-bolism of Christianity, with all that connected it with the ancient, vanished, pagan world ofEurope. Lo The pundits and columnists have been wrong about Strauss from the beginning. Their assessment of his chances of nomination was wrong. □ Right from the start it was a lovely friendship. We went everywhere together. Tyt o 209 <210> from the sublime to the ridiculous——(at/ in) full blast emphasizes the immediate establishment of an attitude or procedure and/ or its continuity and consistency thereafter.◇△at the outset(of sth).from the sublime to the ridiculous [A(PrepP)] from what is serious, important,dramatic, to what is trivial, foolish, laughableV: go, move; switch, change; turn, jump,descend; range; be a short stepo If she had been rushed to hospital and her life been saved, she would have plunged straight from the sublime to the ridiculous and have got into a lot of bureaucratic difficulties. RFW □(headline of an article about fashion shows) From Britain's sublime to its frankly ridiculous. SCo(NONCE)When Peter Hall formed his own company and opened at the Aldwych he gave me a part in ' On-dine’ and other classics. Then, in 1965,I started in‘The Avengers’(TV series). From the sublime, you might say, to the—— well, rather different! OBS O sublime and ridiculous non-rev.from that day to this [A(PrepP)] from then to now V: (not) see, speak to, hear of, sb o Ihaven't really got the heart to describe Robert's wedding. I hated it all so much that from that day to this I' ve never gone down Park Lane except in a taxi with my eyes shut. CON o ButOrwell's whole effect was to tell the world that totalitarianism existed on the Left as well as on the Right and that you couldn't be anti-fascist without being anti-totalitarian-----the informing political insight governing the interpretation of cultural history from that day to this. NS□ pres perfect tense. from/ since time immemorial [A (PrepP)](cliché) from/ since longer ago than anyone can remember; from an undated time of origin o All the vegetable sedatives and narcotics, all the: uphorics that grow on trees have been known and systematically used by human beings from time impromorial. DOPa(the Crown Jewellers)…… the workshop benches, the equipment, and,. ndeed, the craftsmen, look es if they have been there since time immumor.../. RT from time to time[A(PrepP)] occasionally; at irregular intervals; every now and again/ then(qv); every so often(qv); now and again/ then(qv)V: see, visit, talk to, sb; read, listen to, sth o In the main the art of the potter has been a secular art. From time to time, however, this secular art has been placed at the service of religion. HAHo Most of the literature lies there(in the shop-window) year after year, fading in the sun, and is only disturbed when Mrs Tinck-ham herself has a fit of reading, which she does from time to time, and picks out some Western,yellow with age. UTNo He read through the letter carefully, from time to time raising his eyebrows or emitting a long slow whistle. from top to bottom [A (PrepP)] in/throughout every part of sth V: search, study,scrutinize, examine, sth o The War Office.from top to bottom, has been splendid, and every section, both military and civil, has spared no effort to help us get ready for the battle. MFM□ She searched the house from top to bottom,behind sofas, in cupboards, under beds. MM o(The architects) studied the system from top to bottom. OBS D top and bottom non-rev. ◇ △from head etc to foot etc. from where one is standing [Disj (PrepP)] 210 (as seen or judged) from one's physical, intellec-tual or emotional position or situation o ' All Iwanted to do was to fill in the sort of thing I can probably see more clearly from where I'm standing.’ Yes, spectators see more of the game than players, don't they?' he sneered. CONo Your parents aren't interfering just for the sake of it.Try to look at things from where they' re standing and be more tolerant. from the word go [A(PrepP)](informal) as soon as is possible, or has been made possible;(right) from the start etc(qv)(from the verbal signal ready, steady, go! used to start a race,game etc)□' We felt that unless it (a new system of roads for buses) was a basis for the NewTown, and unless it worked from the word go.it wouldn't have got off the ground,' says Mr KenWright, leader of the busway project team. OBS□It's important to realise from the word go that broadcasters should get out and about among the people. They must take guidance from local people. RT o There's nowhere in the country where there's a properly integrated accident ser-vice, where a seriously injured person can get absolutely first-class treatment from the word go. L frozen music architecture, statuary etc o(source) Architecture is music in space, as it were frover music.(F VON SCHELLING 1775-1854)o It wasn't large as mansions go, absolutely severe with a flat parapet line and no projections.But I caught my breath as I looked at it, remem-bering suddenly the Dufton art master's favourite phrase: here was frozen music. RATTfrozen stiff[Comp(AdjP)] rigid because liquid content has turned to ice; extremely cold or numb with cold 8: cloth; fingers, toes. V:△be.look o I had to leave the clothes on the washing-line. They were fracten stiff and I couldn't fold them into the basket.□ But there I am, froven stiff, with nothing to get me warm except a couple of hours' long-distance running before breakfast. LLDRo They had another free daiquiri each, frozen so stiffly that it had to be drunk in tiny drops to avoid a sinus-pain. OMIH the fruit(s) of one's labour(s)[O(NP)] the result(s) of one's work, seen as giving profit or satisfaction V: enjoy, see,savour□(source) For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But ifI live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labour:yet what I shall choose I wot ( = know) not.PHILIPPIANS I 21-22□ This compilation seems a never-ending task;I sometimes wonder if I' ll live to see the fruits of my labours.□ Tom Parker enjoys the fruits of his labours. His pleasures encompass hunting, shooting, coaching and see-ing the stable buckets are painted. TVT (at/ in) full blast [A(PrepP/NP)] in a state of full or maximum operation, activity etc(from the steel-making blast furnace working at full power) V: work (away); go; talk, argue o We must marshal our strength up along the Western borders of Germany, to the Rhine if possible.ensure adequate maintenance by getting Antwerp working at full blast at the earliest possible mo-ment;... MFM□ We were able to display to him an orderly British excavation in full blect, the first of its kind,I suppose, in the annals of Breton archaeology. SDoI could visualise the production line, so to speak, when this place was going full <211> full face——(at) full throttle blast and sheep were passing through at the rate of three hundred an hour. RFWoIt's not so peace-ful in the early morning, when the birds are going full blast outside your window. full face [A(NP)] with the whole face visible to a viewer(describes a portrait, photograph etc;contrasted with in profile)o Most of the masks were made fullface, but two of them, which were worn by the only two women on the scene, were made in profile. UTN□ The weakness of his chin is not so apparent in a full-face study, which, Isuppose. is the reason he chose this photograph for publication. □ attrib use a full-face study.photograph. full frontal (nudity etc) the front of nude humanbody freely exposed, esp in photography、 films, and on the stage;(fig) un-compromising and unequivocal exposure, as-sertion, display etc n: nudity, nude; postures,self-advertising.impudence、 intransigence:description. terms□ A group of girlie magazines, which for 23 years had ' gone its own sweet way ha d given a pointer to the times by setting its face against full frontal nudity— and going out of business. Go' Die Zeit' is published in Hamburg, and this week carries a double-page spread of four male full-frontal nudes, the like of which I' ve never seen in ' Cosmopolitan'. NSoHere Comes Everybody'(Certificate X) shows his methods which include screaming physical contact and verhal insults. Language is free and so are full frontals. OBS□Full frontal anarchy is his cry. and that means flaunting an in-discriminate contempt for all institutions and authority. NS o (NONCE) ' Little Blue Room' is bright and breezy, written mostly in the present tense for maximum immediacy, direct, not to sar fully frontal, easy to read and enjoyable at its best, shallow and quickly forgettable in its more facile passages. L o full frontal nudity is the origi-nal, and is still the most commonly found,collocation. full in sb's/ the face [A] directly or forcefully towards, into or against sb's face V: strike, hit,sb; look sb o The sun struck over the wall at the corner. It shone full in her face. AITC□ The jet of water hit him full in the face, blinding and choking him for long enough to enable his as-sailant to drop the hose and make his escape. full of oneself [Comp (AdjP)] self-confident(often selfishly so) V: △ be, get, seem o Her father said Patrick seemed a bit full of himself.but that at any rate he was a sight better than the fancy-neckti e brigade (= young men wearing colourful ties) who sat in his chair and read his evening paper when they called. TGLY□ When he came home from hospital he was too full of him-self to notice how ill his wife was looking. □stress pattern ' full of oneself. full of beans [Comp(AdjP)](informal) full of health, good spirits and energy V:△be, look,feel o After the first pint Grimsdyke remarked.' You' re looking full of beens, Richard. Hard work must agree with you, or something.'DILɔI had a good night's sleep in a hotel and was feeling very full of beans. MFM□ She was a girl everyone liked. 'A pretty girl—— full of beans,remembers Mr Bird. OBS full of the joys of spring [Comp(AdjP)] live-ly; light-hearted; merry V: △ be, look, feel □ She's tiresome. really— down in the dumps one day and full of the joys of spring the next.□You can see this in the behaviour of flies if they are subjected to DDT. Their first effort is to fly about, as though they were full of the joys of spring, and then they gradually die off. Lo often facetious. full of life [Comp (AdjP)] lively; animated;active; interested V: △ be, look, feel o Why should Prissie be so full of life today? Her cheeks were glowing, her large eyes more brilliant than ever. DC□ No, they weren't naughty, but you know what children are--so full of life they tire you out. □ The old fellow's still full of life.isn't he? He'd shame people half his age. full of one's own importance [Comp(AdjP)] (derogatory) thinking oneself impor-tant, influential, indispensable etc V: △ be、look; find sb a She described the chief of police in terms no lady should use, and told us that he was far too full of his own importance. DF□In the last episode of the present series, Fletcher has been out to lunch with the Chairman and comes back more than usually full of his own impor-tance---and drink. TVT (at) full pelt [A (PrepP)](informal) with great speed and/ or force; at full tilt(qv)V: run, race.dash, charge; drive, ride□' Wake up! Live dog"I said to Mars; as I knelt down he sprang from my shoulders; and together we set off down the road at fullpeft. UTNo Looking backwards as hi turned the corner, he charged full pelt into the policeman. full steam ahead [Comp/A] with as much speed and vigour as possible (from an order given on steam-powered ships) V: it be; go.come, proceed; make one's/ its way; do, per-form, sth; get on (with sth); □ Turning away from the punch-bowlshe was run into by someone who was coming towards it full steam ahead.TGLY□ Miss Jenkins has been banging away at her typewriter full steam ahead for two days to get those documents finished for you. I'm sure she'd appreciate a word of thanks. □(advertise-ment) Hoover helps you give all your ironing the master touch—— just set to the one point on the dial and it's fullstern ahead. DMa(NONCE) You misunderstand me, Professor Kingsley. I ex-plicitly referred to the immediate present just now. Once our policy is formulated we intend to go ahead full steam. TBC full stop [Disj] without further qualification;and that is all; and I have no more to add o '/find Jerry very tiresome when he's had a bit too much to drink. "" Well,I find Jerry very tiresome.full stop.'o There is no gospel in this theatrical performance (Jesus Christ Superstar). The gos-pel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of the Resurrec-tion, not of the sacrifice of the Cross, full stop.NS□I don't have to give you any reasons. You' re not going to get a motor-bike till you' re twenty-one, period. o end position; US equivalent,period. (at) full throttle [A (PrepP/NP)] with the throttle-valve of an engine fully open to allow the maximum flow of petrol vapour or steam;(fig) very energetically□ She glanced at her wrist watch; they were still about two miles off, though behind her the engine was roaring at full throttle and they were doing about fifteen knots. 211 <212> (at) full tilt---the funny thing is (that) RFW o I know you must have some practice on that motorbike before you take it on to the main roads, but is there any need to drive it up and down the drive full throttle, deafening us all? □No wonder she's worn out! If only she'd do things a little more calmly and quietly instead of steam-ing through her day's work at full throttle. (at) full tilt [A (PrepP/NP)] with great speed and/ or force; with reckless abandon; (at) full pelt(qv) V: run, race, dash, charge; drive, ride o The animal had somehow managed to get out after all and was pursuing him full tilt down the pathway. SNP fully stretched[Comp(AdjP)] extended to the limits of one's capacities or talents V:△be, feel□ Reith complained to me after John Freeman's' Face to Face' television encounter with him thatFreeman had not asked him what he still wanted to do in order (at what was then an advanced age) to be ' fully strotched'. What he had in mind—— and would have discussed frankly—— wasBeeching's job of reorganising British Railways.L o He was ambitious for his sons and felt that they were not being fully stretched in the local secondary school. a Brown equalled his own record time in the half-mile yesterday, against weak competition. It seems likely he could have knocked a few seconds off it, if he had been fully stretched. fun and games [n+ n non-rev] frivolity,amusement for oneself, esp contrasted with sth more serious, hard work, etc; (euphemism)flirtation or sexual play □ Meanwhile in Scot-land refreshing winds of change are beginning to blow' , sweeping away before them the old idea that fun and games are incompatible with the worship of God. SCo Fred Mundy is general manager of the Albert Hall. 'I think it's all worthwhile when you see how dedicated thePrommers(= people who attend the Proms orPromenade concerts) are. They may have their fun and games before a concert begins, but once it starts they' re as good as gold.' RTo You don't want to get married, I assure you, old man. Not till you' re too old to go out in the evenings, any-way. Think of the fun and games you can have yet. DILoMILLY: Well, love,I'm back. MYRA: Oh,Milly, I' ve never been so pleased to see anyone.MILLY: Me, too. A delegation of twenty women for ! wo weeks--not my idea of fun and games.I changed to an earlier plane and here I am.EHOW D Wensley was in his office and he had a copy of the first edition on his desk and copies of all the other morning papers on the floor and he was sitting there like a man in a trance. ' Not much fun and games tonight,' he said as I came in. PP (all) the fun of the fair [O (NP)] all that is arranged or happens to entertain and amuse at a fair, entertainment, social occasion, etc V:provide, enjoy, miss o Mrs Allen was having a few moments with her weary feet up while the rest of her family enjoyed the fun of the fair. NS o(Edinburgh International Festival) In Wednes-day's programme Mahoney hopes to kaleidoscope the enormous diversity and fun of the fair, with glimpses of artists at work and play. TVT a It was a great party— not thatJohnny here would know. He drank so much before we got there he fell asleep and missed all 212 the fun of the fair. the funeral baked meats (cliché) a meal or refreshment served to mourners after a funeral o (source) (referring to Hamlet's widowed mother's haste in re-marrying) Thrift, thrift,Horatio! the funeral baked meets/ Did coldly furnish forth the marriage table. HAMLET I IIoSonia found it difficult to believe that such vul-garity could accompany advancing years.' Some-thing's gone sadly awry with the gay whirl.' he said. ' The funeral baked meets taste a bit ashy in the mouth, don't you think?’ HAA o ' Got your funeral baked regets all right?' said Guy.‘What?’ said Godfrey. Guy nodded his head towards Godfrey's pocket which bulged with the cakes. MM funny business (informal) sth illegal or not quite straightforward; sth prohibited or disapproved of;(euphemism) improper sexual advances or conduct V: try(on), start(on). det:any, some; this, that o In spite of being unable to discover any evidence that the firm was any-thing other than it purported to be— manufac-turers of small electrical components for the ex-port trade—— the police and the Home Office felt sure there was some funny business going on.□As a rival he had counted Alec out. Had he been premature? Alec posed, he postured, he talked a lot of hot air. Besides, if he did try any funny business, had not Irma said she did not love him? Pwo She hardly noticed it when, still talk-ing. Anna slipped an arm round her shoulders and nuzzled her slightly, but she noticed it very clear-ly when Anna's other hand started on some funny business with the shoulderstrap of her nightdress and elsewhere in that area. TGLYO it's a futmy business =‘it’ s an odd affair’. funny peculiar or funny ha-ha funny =` odd, inexplicable' contrasted with funny =' comic, amusing'o(source) What do you mean.funny? Funny-peculiar, or funny-ha-ha? THEHOUSEMASTER (I HAY 1876-1952) o ' La BonneAnnée' opens with an utterly equivocal joke——funny ha-he or funny pecullar?—— in greyish black and white: after a second or two it dawns that we are watching the closing scenes, cul-miniating in an amorous reunion on a railway platform, of his eight-year-old prize-winning film. NSo(Teachers are writing books)'... and they' re trying hard to do a' Doctor in the House'on teaching, funny ha-ha!' ' They' re not all like that,' said Kathie.' There was" Spare the Rod". "' You' re right,' he said.' Some of them are funny.peculias.’丁 the funny thing is (that) a/ the peculiar,unexpected, or seemingly contradictory thing about sth described is that o I'm sorry I showed it (a witch-doll) to him, but I thought it was so cute. The funny thing is he seemed to mind it more shut in the cupboard than when he could see it. DC□The funny thing was that, as it turned out. Robert wasn't lying. He really did just go out and walk about. CON o Y' know, it's a funny thing, but even the best of us can fall by the wayside and yours truly is no exception. OBS□' He wasn't a bit worried, that was the funny thing.’' Oh, he's probably got plenty of money tucked away somewhere that the bankruptcy liquidators can't touch.'o variants it is a funny thing (but), that/ this is the funny thing. <213> the fur (begins to) fly— the game is worth the candio the fur (begins to) fly a real and bitter argument starts (from animals tearing at each other in a fight) o I replied that the £1500 had been spent. I produced all the receipts. The fur then began to fly. The Major-General i/cAdministration Southern Command, Salisbury,came to see me and said that this incident had ruined my chances of promotion in the Army.MFMo The moment this fact had sunk in, the fur began to fly. Holloway, accompanied by one of the firm's lawyers took the next plane to Vienna,deliberately telling no one at Lessner andKamper that they were on their way. ST□ He's a trouble-maker, I tell you. He spreads stories about people and then sits back to watch the fur fly. □ What too of the practical considerations?The ' liberated' lady may not mind wife number two sharing her husband's bed, but two women in one kitchen will almost certainly set the fur flying! G 口 cf watch{make the fur fly, get/ set the fur flying. (our) furred, four-footed and feathered friends(cliché, facetious) the animal world oI would hazard that misconstruction of this paltry event spoiled several people's enjoyment of the evening, and not just because of an English weakness for our furred and feathered friends.NSo Editions of' Nationwide', the teatime circus,which don't give me pussycats or crocodiles.warblers or wombats, just are not good enough: this is Britain, you know, squatters or no, and we like our four-footed and feathered friends. Lo(a naturalist tries to get released birds and animals to leave his camp) Those knowledgeable sentimentalists who are forever telling me that it 's cruel to lock up the poor wild creatures in little wooden boxes——I'd just like them to see how eagerly ourfurredandfeatheredbrothersrush back to the wilds as soon as they' re given the opportunity. DFo(homing/ carrier pigeons) Last century, war correspondents from ' The Times'and Reuters were chosen sometimes not so much for their lively use of deathless prose, as for their abilities to clean out birdcages under fire and be kind to the feathered friends at all times. Else the news might not get through. Goour fourfooted friends and our feathered friends also used. fuss and bother [n + n non-rev] worried,energetic activity which is (usu) superfluous to the demands of a situation det:(not) any, no;lotsof□ ' Suppose we have a drink,' came Fergus's voice from the doorway. I'm sure you need one after all this fuss and bother.'DC□ ' Why don't we just getmarried without anyfuss and bother,Dick said suddenly, as they were discussing what form the wedding reception should take. o Oh.my wife is always fussing and bothering about the children's health, when it's perfectly obvious that they' re as fit as fleas. o rare variant fussing and bothering [v + v non-rev]. G (add to) the gaiety of nations (catch-phrase) provide general, or widespread, amuse-ment, pleasure, entertainment etc o(source---referring to the death of the actor, David Gar-rick) I am disappointed by that stroke of death,which has eclipsed the gaiety of nations and impoverished the public stock of harmless pleasure, LIVES OF THE ENGLISH POETS (S JOHN-SON1709-84)□' Say something amusing, an unwise lady once demanded of Noël Coward at a Mel-bourne reception. ‘Australia, ’ he unkindly replied. I don't much care whether these stories are true or not. They add incomparably to the gaiety of nations. NSo(NONCE) And with his talent for coming vividly alive in any human com-pany, he will no doubt go on being popular.Whatever else he does he will surely add to the gaiety of NATO, OBSa They see petrol prices doubling within 18 months, a prospect not cal-culated to add to the gaiety of nations. SC gainground[V+0] make a territorial advance in warfare, combat or pursuit; make progress;increase in strength, influence, popular accep-tance, etc$: army, force; idea, notion; change,development; revolution. A: against the enemy;on all fronts, on the fugitives o At last our men began to gain ground, forcing the enemy back towards the river. o A glance behind confirmed his fears. His pursuer was gaining ground on him rapidly.□ The writing of the first three words of ' in so far as' as one, is a practice which seems to be gaining ground.□ Cottage industries are a growing business. It is a movement very much in tune with the general social changes which have gained enormous ground during the seven-ties. G ◇ give/ lose ground (to sb/ sth). gales of laughter/ mirth loud sustained laughter o But it's by no means unusual to see him wandering through the house in gales of laughter. OBS□ Whatever answer the stooge gave to his question was lost amidst the gales of laughter. o It's very discouraging to a learner to have his mistakes greeted with gales of mirth.gall and wormwood (to/ for sb) [Comp(NP)] sth felt or remembered (by sb) as a pain-ful, or humiliating, experience V: △ be.become; make sth o (source) Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. LAMENTATIONS III 19□GILLESPIE:The whole world knew that it was gall and wormwood for him to darken any church door.BOLES: He'd explain that without trouble - -' You have to pretend to observe appearances,simply for your own safety, Mr Boles.' Lo The mere mention of another artist's success was gall and wormwood to Petersen, starving for recog-nition. O now usu in form and order of head-phrase; to used more often than for. the game is (not) worth the candle(say.ing) the profits, results, or pleasures gained from doing sth are (not) worth the trouble, or expense, involved o In business,I ruminated,I'd have to soft-soap(= flatter) people whom I des-pised. But the game wé s worth the candle; ifI sold my independence, at least I'd get a decent price for it. RATT□Is the ban arbitrary and un-fair? Chapple thinks he might still be able to defend it even under the Race Relations Act. But 213 <214> a game that two can play— ge e whizz(1) the legal game isn't worth the candle. NS oI' ve got a bint(= girl I can go to bed with).Getting a bit old,' he said.' What I mean is that it isn't worth the candle, as you get older,' he said. CON a game that two can play unpleasant, or hurtful, behaviour or action which can lead to retaliation of the same kind o Sulking until you get your own way is a game that two can play,you know.□ You know Jack. He can't help chat-ting up any pretty girl he meets. It doesn't mean a thing, but if you don't like it why not show him it's a game that two can play? □ The canal was full of bodies: they must have been caught in a cross-fire, trying to get back, and I suppose every man of us along the bank was thinking, ' Two can play at that game.'QA o variant two can play at that game. gamekeoper turned poacher/ poacher turned gamekeeper sb who uses the know-ledge and skills acquired in one trade or role to operate in another which is directly opposite in purpose o A police officer who takes to crime is likely to be more successful at it than most. The gamekeeper turned poacher has everything going for him. o A clever negotiator for the Union of Distributive and Allied Workers as a young man, now turned gamekeeper. Robens (asChairman) had the inside knowledge to run rings round troublesome union men when necessary. L□Last month I finished a six-week stint working as a barman. Today makes it 24 weeks since Itouched a drop and turnedgamekeeper, and the more I see of poachers the tighter I cling to my wagon(ie cling to my decision to stop drinking).NS □ part of expression may be used, with rest understood from context, as in second exam-ple. a ga mmy leg a game leg; an injured, or deformed, leg that makes one limp o Hopalong(was) still looking for a stick to bring and walk-ing about with his memmy leg as though he was trying to shake a toffee-paper off the sole of his shoe. TT a garden/ plaster gnome a coloured figurine used for garden decoration, satirically associated with lower-to-middle-class suburbia and uninformed taste o Mrs Brown is a native of South London, the heartland of English fan-tasy, a society of do-it-yourself and the ever-watchful garden gnome. Lo Despite the knock-ing (= adverse criticism) they' ve had you can still see plasser gnomis, a rabbit and a toad or two, in some gardens. gather dust [V+ 0] be difficult, or tiresome,to keep free from dust or dirt $: statue, orna-ment; china, furniture o Why bother keeping all these ornaments? They just gather dug. gather dust² {V + O] remain unused, undealt with, neglected etc D And then she played us an unfunny snatch from an old Victor Borge record that has been gathering dust on my shelves for the past 20 years. NS□' The Case of the HelmetedAirman' is either the work of a lazy man or the victim of a procrastinating publisher, since it has clearly been sitting around for some time gathering dust. NS o Along the spectator fence are the legendary machines of a vanished but not so distant past ready for action. 'I really don't believe folks would rather see these old planes 214 sitting in my museum building gathering dust.'OBS□ esp in to-inf and - ing constructions, such as (be) left to gather dust, lie/ sit/ stand gather-ing dust. gather etc momentum [V + O] increase etc in speed or force, esp that self-generated from a movement already begun; increase etc in rate,or range, of activity S: train, lorry; process,movement, course of events. V: gather,△gain,pick up; lose, run out of o It was clear to me that as the American attack gathered momentum there would be severe repercussions all along the enemy front. MFMo The boulder seemed to slide almost reluctantly down the first few yards of the incline then, gaining momentum, it crashed through the sparse scrub and bounded off the rocky surfaces. o In a few sentences one cannot do justice to a story which depends for its effect upon a sense of gathering mommwtum. NS oMichael Tippett (who was 70 on Thursday) has seemed in recent years to have gained rather than lost mornmtum, so that one impressive work has arisen out of another in majestic suc-cession. OBS gather y e rosebuds while ye may(saying)seize what pleasures you can before the passage of time removes them or you□(source) Gather ye rosebuds while y e may,/ Old Time is still a-flying. TO THE VIRGINS,TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME(R HERRICK 1591-1674)□ Young people like to be together, don't they? At least in the stage you two are in at the moment. Gather ye rosebuds while yemmy, remember? TGLYo(NONCE) Am Isaying that the world is incurable anyway, and that we should gather roses while we may?I'm not saying any such thing. I am saying that, when the nations rage furiously together, we should not be misled by their hullabaloo. L a gay dog a pleasure-loving, perhaps irrespon-sible or licentious, fellow; sb who is fond of social life o To those who knew them bothGoronw y Rees was himself a character of grand proportions; the gayest of gay dogs; a bright cork which always bobbed to the surface again after each submersion. OBSo The aforementioned editors have all insisted on promoting Allais as a humorous writer. It is all right to be a satirist.even a wit, but give a gay dog a humorous label,and you might as well forget him. L geewhizz(!)(dated US informal) exclamation of astonishment, or an indication that one is greatly, and perhaps naively, impressed by sth seen or heard o When Phil and I first hit NewYork, we were still wearing baggy pants. It was the first time we ever saw shoes without laces or socks that came up your legs. We met Buddy and the Crickets up in Montreal; they saw what we were wearing and said ' Gee Whizzl' ST o(NONCE) The editor of the BBC's ' ElectionSpecial', Michael Townson, claims that he's try-ing to simplify and tidy up the clutter of messages on the screen, not add to them with ' g oo whizz-ery’ . RT□ This film’ s strength is not scientific data but the boyish go-whizz enthusiasm of theCanadian explorers. ST o (a television programme) ' Tomorrow's World' has sometimes been described as the‘gè· whizz’look at science and industry. RT O can now be used humorously, with awareness that it is dated; attrib use the gee-whizz enthusiasm, a <215> (all) sb's geese are swans— the genuine article gee-whizz look at sth. (all) sb's geese are swans sb, usu already mentioned, has an exaggerated idea of the merits of his own family, friends, belongings,accomplishments etc□ ' According to Jones, his class-room is full of budding geniuses. ' ' Oh, all his geese are swians. It's the same story year after year.'a It's a common maternal failing to think one's geese are swans but some mothers have the sense to keep that belief to themselves.□Lord James hopes that, freed from the dead hand of university curricular control, theColleges of Education will be transformed from geese into swans. NS O variant transform/ turn geese into swans. the general rule [Comp (NP)] the customary way of doing things that is understood and usu followed; the way things are usually arranged or are likely to happen; as a rule (qv)V:△be,become; make sth□ It's a good general rule inFirst Aid not to give food or drink to anybody in a state of collapse until you know what is the matter with them. o I never understand why patients are woken up between 5 andóa. m. to be washed but it seems to be the general rule in hospitals everywhere. o It may be that, in industrial districts, the high wages that can be obtained at an early age have reduced the attrac-tions of postponing wage-earning in favour of a university education. But there seems to be no general rule. SC□ does not imply anything leg-ally binding or strictly enforced. generate/ contribute more heat than light [V + O pass] cause argument, disagree-ment, resentment etc instead of, as might be supposed, giving enlightenment or informationS: topic, debate; conference; correspondence □Maybe the most cogent comment on a topic which so far has generated more he at than light came from Mr Mark Bonham Carter. LoSmall islands dependent on one crop can fall into serious difficulties offoreign exchange, and who-ever picks up the bill can pick up the political influence with it. To mention Cuba probably generates more heat than light. NS o TheShockley affair has contributed more heat than light, and on both sides of the controversy irrational racialism has furnished its inescapable quota of confusion. Lo(NONCE)(reader's letter)If these fundamental questions are to be discussed in your pages, may we please have more light and less heart with our physics and metaphysics? L o We have generated a lot of heart, a lot of screaming, but over 24 years our roles have evolved. ST o variants generate a lot of heat, generate less light than heat. the generation gap a lack of understanding and/ or sympathy between people of different age groups, and esp between young people and middle-aged, or old, people o Although Baza-rov's theme is certainly a serious one with con-temporary implications—— the generation gap being topical these days— this novel is most un-Russian,' says the serial producer, MartinLisemore. RTo Now, however, Hoover is a victim of the generation gap. Today, the young revolutionaries preach hate and want to destroy the society Hoover serves and loves. OBS□ TheMajor's friends and comrades, like his widow,had crisp standard-English accents: his daughter to me sounded quite extraordinary in their com-pany: a blurred, hummy youth-voice with strangely down-at-heel vowels. It doesn't much matter: but it underlined the generation gap. Lthe genie of the lamp/ in the bottle a spirit imprisoned in a jar, casket etc, that, if released,has magical or malevolent powers but will do its master's bidding if it can be controlled (fromMiddle Eastern folklore) o The sudden ap-pearance of small boys at crucial moments is an accepted phenomenon in the Middle East. They may well have suggested ancient tales of the genie of the lamp. BMo The gases writhed in the bell-jar like a genie in a bottle. o Mrs MavisMayo, writing from Germany, had gone the other way, from minor tycoon to housewife and never regretted it. ' An unliberated woman and enjoying every minute of my serfdom. Take warning, sisters, do you really know the genie you are letting out of the bottle?' st o may be adapted, as shown. genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains (saying) exceptional creative or inven-tive capacity is the product of an inexhaustible willingness to take great trouble o ' Genius'(which means transcendent capecity of taking trouble, first of all). FREDERICK THEGREAT (T CARLYLE 1759-1881) o Success in haute cuisine lies like genius, in the infinite capacity to take pains. OBS□ There are three types of commanders in the higher grades: 1, those who have faith and inspiration, but lack the infinite capacity for taking pains and preparing for every foreseeable contingency. These fail. MFM□With only limited capacity for taking pains, he used water-colour as the most ready, serviceable means of expression to hand, and constantly dod-ged his issues. L o often adapted, as shown. a gentleman's agreement an agreement between people to do sth, when the agreement is not a formal contract or legally binding but depends on the mutual trust and good faith of both, or all, parties o The English system of house-buying depends initially.upon·gentleman's agreement between the buyer and the seller without any backing from the law. SToLarge sections of the middle class were still on the way up, and thus could feel some confidence that, as a result of an unspoken gentlemen's agreement, God was on their side. OBSgentlemen prefer blondes (catchphrase)men of wealth and/ or elevated social position find women with fair hair more attractive than women with red or dark hair (from a novel of that title by ANITA LOOS b1893)□ ' Don't bother to turn on your charms for me, ' he said coldly. 'I'm not one of the gentlemen who prefer blonder.’Wi o Team spirit abounds among ' Six of the Best',those appropriately named blondes that gent-lement prefer every Monday in ' Billy DaintyEsq'. TVT o If Sharon is a little unsure about dyeing her hair for a role in a TV series, it can only be because part of her. at least, has enjoyed being a blonde. After all, aren't gentiermen sup-posed to prefer them? TVT the genuine article [Comp (NP)] sb/ sth authentic of his/ its kind, that conforms exactly to his/ its title or description; the real Mackay/McCoy(qv); the real thing(qv)V:△be, look like o Anybody that strums a guitar and mugs up 215 <216> get etc an airing----get etc a dose/ taste of one's own/ the same medicine a few old songs can call himself a folk singer nowadays. But Jeannie Robertson's different——she's the gemsine article. o‘Photoplay’declared that every single word (of his autobiography) had been written by Valentino himself: it was the genuine articles. Lo ' I t was probably one of those champagne-type sparkling wines they gave you.’' No, it wasn't. It was the genuine article.’ get etc an airing [possess] be stated, or discussed, freely and openly S: subject, views,opinions; grudge, fears; differences. V: get,△have (got); give sth. adj: good, proper,thorough o World War Two has a new lease of life when Mr Roper meets Franz Wasserman,and his old grudge against Hitler gets an airing.TVToI mention this, because it illustrates the real tragedy of Slater Walker which has not yet been given the airing it deserves. Go Producer BarrieSales and presenter Robert Kee feel they will have given the pros and cons(of Common Mar-ket membership) a pretty good airing by the finish. TVT get away(as) clean as a whistle get away,leave a place, without leaving traces, without being detected or caught (and, often, after having stolen sth) $: he, she, you, we; burglar,gang o I heard a door click, and then he was coming along the garden path, carrying one quite small suitcase. ' Got away cleaneː a whistle,'he said chuckling. CON□ Despite the tip-off the police arrived too late. The bank-raiders got sways as clean as a whistle, leaving nothing behind but an empty safe. get etc a bad name [possess] gain an un-favourable, harmful reputation (eg because of sth wrong one has done or sth right one has failed to do)$: behaviour, attitude; standards,levels(of achievement). V: get,△have; give sb/sth. prep: with o Idon't want to get a bad name among boys for being easy-going in the clinches(= too ready to respond to their love-making),but neither do I want to be looked on as an iceberg. Ho I don't know if that club really is a den of vice, but it certainly has a bad name in the district. o Rumours of poor educational stan-dards together with intimidation of smaller boys in the playground have given the school a bad namm.□ often followed by for + n or for + - ing form. get/ give sb the bird [possess](informal) be hissed off the stage by an audience/ give a stage performer an unfavourable reception; be rude-ly rejected or dismissed/ rudely reject or dismiss sb; have one's requests or suggestions rudely or sharply refused/ rudely or sharply refuse sb's requests or suggestions □GEORGE: Don't panic.I' ll not get maudlin. I could probably start howl-ing any minute, only I'm afraid of getting the bird from my audience. EGD o One's known applause and one's known being given the bird,and I don't think either is of any importance,really. RT get busy [V + Comp](informal) start to work seriously and energetically on sth specified or understood; get cracking etc(qv) □ As soon as the war is over, I' ll get busy and push Blue SealWare till it's the rage of the post-war fashion world. CONaI thought I told you to clear up these papers. Come on now, get busy. ◇△get going. 216 get etc a chill on the liver etc[possess](informal) have etc a mild illness which affects the function of the liver etc(as a result of ex-posure to cold, wet, draughts etc) V: get, △have(got); give sb. prep: with. o: liver, kidneys,stomach,bladder□ Apparently, he got what Dr.MacGregor calls a chill on the liver during that infernal east wind, so I suppose, the old boy was feeling low. RM o ' They' ll get a chill on their stomachs,' remonstrated Granny, ' eating all that ice-cream.'o Well, if he's got a chillo n the bladder I'm very sorry for him. It's a painful complaint, as I well know! get/ give sb the chop/ chopper [possess](informal) be dismissed, sacked/ sack, dismiss sb; be reduced, or dispensed with/ reduce, or dispense with sb/ sth because of an economy drive, change of policy; die, be killed/ kill s:worker, staff; department, section; plant,works; airmailor o A lot of families living here will have to leave if the fish-processing sta-tion gets the chopper. o'A very great friend of mine was with that squadron. Thoroughly decent chap. Went for a Burton over the Ruhr.’ We noncoms (= non-commissioned officers) used to say got the chopper. Going for a Burton was journalist's talk. RATTo Owing to lack of space,last week's crop of football platitudes go t the chop, so double helpings(= twice as much) this time. OBSφφg o for a Burton (Vol 1). get etc cold feet [possess](informal) feel etc,esp as time for action approaches, timidity or fear about doing sth V: get, △(begin to) have,give sb. prep: with, without o He also fails to point out that if Mr Superman signs the policy and suddenly gots cold feet the next day, it is not too late to extricate himself. STo To this dayI don't know how genuine that sudden bit of ur-gent business was; perhaps he just got cold feet and wanted me to go ahead and soften things up.CON a Make up your mind—— now I decide to stay, you start getting cold feet. HSG a All seemed set, and each day passed without any signs of cold feet on the part of my colleagues.MFM get cracking etc(informal) start to move and/ or work quickly and energetically (the reference usu being to sth that needs urgent attention); get busy (qv) V: cracking, △moving, weaving o ' You thievin'(= thieving)Radford lot.’ the man responded angrily. ‘Get cracking from here. or I' ll call a copper((slang)= a policeman).’ LLDRo’ You and Bill are going to have to get cracking. You go and see your company tomorrow, Bill,' he urged.' Make them find Cindy a passage(to Australia).'PEo If you hope to hire a caravan during August, you'd better get morning now. Most of them are booked well in advance. □ ' Come on, let's got weaving, said Hutchin's pupil, settling himself in the cockpit. HD ◇ △get going. get etc a dose/ taste of one's own/ the*** medicine [possess] receive etc treat-ment of the same kind as one has given sb else,or of a kind previously referred to V: get, △receive, take; give sb o In the rapid changes of fear and favour during those years not a few of the French Revolutionary leaders found them-selves having to take a do es of the ir own musicine on the steps of the guillotine. o There <217> get etc a dusty answer--get atc a good/ bad press is still a large body of opinion that the only effec-tive way to deal with violent criminals is to give them a taste of their own medicine, although there is no evidence that such methods produce any good results. o The most courageous stepEinstein took lay in abandoning the theoretical absolutes, which amounts to saying that things ure as observed, and not as some conceptual scheme prescribes. Yet his own theory is such a conceptual scheme, and so calls for the sname medicine. Lo Repressive measures have already fomented opposition and discontent. How can another dose of the same medicine help?SCOoften used in part, or allusively, as shown in third and fourth examples. get etc a dusty answer [possess] get etc a disappointing, noncommittal, dismissive, or virtually negative answer to a question or request V: get,△ receive; give sb; there be □(source) Ah!, what a dusty answer gets the soul/ When hot for certainties in this our life.MODERN LOVE (G MEREDITH 1882-1909)a You can try suggesting that you two girls go with him to the boxing match but you' ll get a dustyanswer.He thinks that sort of thing's unfeminine. o NoëlCoward rang up to find out when the ship would be available, but since the whereabouts of HMships was deadly secret, he always received a dusty answer. IFLEMINGo The one was secure;an agnostic having no doubts, never receiving dusty answers; the other a doubter, with her mind fixed to the God of whorn she could not be sure. STo Trenchard, blunt to a fault, informedReith that the height of the transmitter masts constituted a risk to the lives of his pilots and to their machines. Reith's answer was fairly dusty too, but the two men met and swiftly settled the matter. L. get an earful/ eyeful of this(informal) listen to/ look at this o ' Before you tangle yourself up in any more lies, get my earful of this, and he played back the incriminating tape. a'I'd never have believed it!’ exclaimed his wife, beckoning him to the window. ' Come and get an eyeful of this!’ o usu imper. get even (with sb) [V + Comp] get one's revenge(on sb) for sth done to one's own disad-vantage;(facetious) retaliate in not very impor-tant circumstances o During all my childhood Ilistened to her hating him and planning to get even with him. I was frightened of my mother.She was so bitter and unforgiving. DCoThey were trying to rob him. He would get even with them somehow, he would creep up when they least ex-pecied it. us get etc a fair/ square deal [possess] receive etc just and equitable treatment, exchange of goods or services, value for money, etc V: get,△have; give sb; ask for, want o How can post-men be convinced that they are getting a fair deal, when others in the public service receive an increase that is inflationary. though it may be justified on other grounds? SC □(reader's letter)Indeed, women do not everywhere get a fair deal.If they did, there would be no imbalance for' Radio Times' to help level, in its special issue.RTo We' re in business for profit of course, but we give our customers = square deal. ◇ get etc a raw deal. get etc a/ one's fair share [possess] get etc a justly divided share V: get, △ have (got).receive; give sb; take; pay, contribute. A: of the food, of the expenses; in the labour, in bringing up the children o I'd like to come, but you must let me pay my fair share. □(reader`s letter) /have nothing against teenagers. But if they are earning good money they should be prepared to contribute a fair share to the rest of the com-munity. DM□ It comes as a shock to some of the starry-eyed young people、 chafing from the bonds of capitalism and family, to realise that fair shares for all (in a kibbutz) means everyone having their prescribed tasks, OBS O variant fair shares(for all), sometimes used as a slogan.△have etc(more than) a/ one's fair share of sth. get etc a free hand [possess] get etc per-mission and/ or opportunity to make one's own decisions and arrangements in respect of one's work, an undertaking, etc V: get,△have, need;give sb, allow sb; ask for o (UK entry into theCommon Market) The Marketeers claim a vic-tory, the anti-Marketeers are prepared to con-cede a defeat. Mr Wilson hada free hand, which is what he wanted all along. NS a I had served under some good and sympathetic generals who had encouraged the development of my ideas and given me a free hand in carrying them out.MFMo The salon reopened with 120 workers in1945 and although, when the Communists took power, Mrs Rothchild was nationalised, she has been left an entirely free hand. G get sb's goat [V + O](informal) make one feel irritated, impatient, or resentful S: neighbour,colleague; noise, interruption; impertinence oCHARLES: It's funny how he gets my goat. Isuppose it's because I' ve been under authority for so long. I envy him his independence. Olo/ rather like a good argument. What gets people's goat about Andrew is that he doesn't bother to listen to what they have to say. get going start to move, work, or function $:convoy, procession; factory, store; project,research o' Do you feel fit for another long walk today?’‘Sure---a little stiff maybe, but I' ll be all right once I get going.'a ' What brings you down here, Lewis?’ ‘Oh, just an ordinary visit from headquarters.’' I didn't know we had much to visit, till you and Walter had got going again,she said. NM□ The new hotel is open but it hasn't really got going yet, and won't until the summer season.◇△get busy; get cracking etc; next entry.get sth going start, organize sth and make it work O: club, hotel; travel; French class,discussion groups o I'm sure with all these new-comers to the district we should be able to get theBadminton Club going again in the village this winter.□ Customers would want a drink as well as food, however good that was A bar, that's what was needed, to get the place really going.RTo I take no credit for the Charities Drive. The students got it going themselves.◇A previous entry. get etc a good/ bad press [possess] receive etc favourable/ unfavourable, or inadequate,attention in newspapers and journals S: actor,footballer, athlete; book, play. V: get,△ have.enjoy, suffer o Business men and financiers have never enjoyed a particularly good press In terms of glamour they have never really been able to compete with lords and ladies, film stars and 217 <218> get etc a grandstand view (of sth)— get etc moral support even politicians. NSo/ think the book has had my over-bad press but I'd agree it isn't up to the standard of his previous work. get etc a grandstand view (of sth)[possess] obtain etc a clear and complete view(of a relevant area) from a position of advan-tage V: get,△obtain, have; give sb, there be oMy father had a very big office and on special occasions, like the State Opening of Parliament,there were some very nice parties. And you got a grandstand view of everything and the spread was marvellous. OBS get/ have (got) the idea [possess] perceive,understand, esp what another has described,proposed, or demonstrated to one o(training an agent for espionage)' He may have recog-nized my legs under the door(of the men's lavat-ory). Do you think we ought to change trousers?'' Wouldn't look natural,' Hawthorne said, ' but you are getting the idea.'OMIHo' Well, do you think you could change a tyre yourself now?"‘Yes,I think I’ ve got the ideo.’ get in etc one's twopence/ fourpence worth (informal) make one's contribution to a discussion, argument, conversation V: get in,(want to) have, shove in (with), chime, weigh,in with o If the consumer is going to have any influence on the recommendations of a future committee he had better get in his tupperce worth early, often and loud and clear. STo We did invite some Health Visitors along, and a couple of them did turn up and weigh in with their four penn' orth. RTo We'd nearly reached agreement when Andrew, of course, had to have his twopamc om w orth on the rights of the tenants, which immediately put the landlord's back up again. o stress pattern , get in one's' twopence/' fourpence worth. get it (in the neck/ where the chicken gets the chopper) (informal) receive a severe reprimand, punishment, unwelcome or disastrous experience; catch it (qv) o (rugby coaching) ' The coach is bound to get it in the neck,' he says, ' but you know that when you take it on.'RTo ' Just you wait, ' the taxi-driver finally exploded.' You wait till Mrs Gandhi gets in, and then you are going to get it.'NSo That's another lesson of my life--the day anybody gets the whole story, you get it where the chicken got the chopper. HD o expression get it where the chicken gets the chopper rare. get knotted (taboo) be quiet; go away; drop dead² (qv); get lost (qv); (taboo) get stuffed(qv);(taboo) up yours etc(qv)□ A nurse called me out to meet one of her superiors, who coldly informed me that I was not running the hospital,and that I would in future adhere strictly to the rules about visiting hours. ' You,' I said ' can get knotted.’ OBSO exclamation expressing violent contempt. get etc one's lines crossed [possess] fail to make proper contact by telephone because of a technical fault; (fig) think· one is making genuine contact with people or groups achiev-ing certain aims, when one is, in fact, doing otherwise V: get,△have (got); be. prep: with□ (a technical accident when making a phone call)I keep getting the same wrong number. The lines must be crossed.□Sometimes an advertis-ing copy-writer will get his lines crossed and 218 produce copy designed to reach the body of the working-classes though appealing to assump-tions more characteristic of other classes. ULoSomewhere Parliament and the people have got their lines crossed and it is probably too late to unravel them. NS o He claims to be in constant touch with Albert Einstein but I think he's got his linge crossed. NS get a load of this(informal) listen to, look at,read, become familiar with, fully understand,etc this o' You said they'd never sue, didn't you?'he said, thrusting the letter under his lawyer's nose. ‘Well, get a load of this!’□‘Prescott was threatening to give in his notice this morning.'' He can please himself about that, but tell him to get a load of this—— if he does, he needn't think we' ll take him back later.'o usu imper. get lost (informal) go away; shut up; don't interfere; drop dead²(qv);(taboo) get knotted(qv);(taboo) get stuffed;(taboo) up yours etc(qv)o 'I think you two should go away and have your argument somewhere else, ' said the neigh-bour, who had come down to his garden gate to complain. Get lost, dad, unless you want a punch up the throat, ' one of them told him.□(coal-mining) There is a considerable incentive,for both management and men in the area, to tell the rest of the country to get lost. NS□ As a kidRosie Casals was always pestering her father for a game of tennis. ' They'd get really fed up with me. They didn't take me seriously and they'd usually end up giving me a nickel to get lost.’ RTo often with tell sb to. get/ have (got) the message[possess] (in-formal) have no doubts about what is best, or what sb intends one to do or think S: govern-ment, council; press, public; leader o ' They' ve got the m@ ssage all right and they' re taking action. But how effective it will be and how long it will last remains to be seen,' said an official. SC□(conclusion of a review of a fashion show) In case you didn't get the message, I thought it was a great collection. STo Homelessness, saidDes Wilson, was living in cold, damp, overcrowd-ed, filthy, verminous rooms: and on that basis,probably at least a million people qualified. The public got the message, and Shelter's funds topped the magic figure of £1m. NS get etc one's money's worth [possess]receive etc full value in goods, or services, for the money one spends; receive more than adequate reward, satisfaction, response etc for the effort one expends V: get, △ have(got);want, demand; give sb o Only those manufac-turers selling cheap, mass-produced goods con-sumed in such quantities that the products are household words can get their money's worth out of television advertising. L o 'I thought you only took a cup of tea in the mornings.’ That's true, but since I' ve paid for bed and breakfast this time I want my money's worth.'oI like to keep up with the practical achievements and future possibilities of technology. After a brisk half hour on information storage and retrieval, I feltI had really had my money's worth. NSa If it's a fight he wants he' ll get his money's worth from me. □ stress pattern get one's ' money's worth. get etc moral support [possess] get etc help from sb's presence, sympathy, public approval, <219> get etc more kicks than ha' pence/ halfpence— get sb the sack etc, as distinct from financial or practical assis-tance v: get, △ have(got);(there) be; give sb.offer, lend, prep: with o ' Here Joe, you try and get him to see reason,' Ned called to me quite angrily. Perhaps it was the lack of moral sup-port from me that made Ned give in. At any rate,the next thing was that we were in a taxi again.CON□' Oh Sir Julius, I am so glad you are still here!’ she said. ‘You have finished breakfast, Isee, but you will stay and give a little moral support while I drink a cup of coffee, won't you?" EM get etc more kicks than ha' pence/halfpence[possess] receive etc more pain than profit, more blame or abuse than praise or thanks (said first of performing or organ-grinders' monkeys) V: get,△(there) be. prep:with o He started work at 14 on his uncle's farm where he got more kicks than ha' pence. □There's more kicks than halfpence in editing a collection of contemporary verse. I' ll never do it again. get nowhere etc achieve little, nothing etc;see no, few, some results for one's efforts A:nowhere, △(not) anywhere, somewhere o In four days I travelled six hundred and seventy miles, saw twenty-four residents of Ireland and got nowhere. PPo Philip's doing fine but George,the other son—— well, he's getting nowhere,fast. □Thanks to you, I have grasped that a cer-tain fundamental decency to others is necessary if one's to get anywhere. HAAo I think we may be getting somewhere now, since those last figures came in. A pattern is beginning to emerge.□ Although the committee had decided on its recommendation the previous day, all the sniffing by the best pedigree newshounds of Fleet Street could get nowhers. NS ◇ △ next entry. get sb nowhere etc[V + O + A] not help sb to become successful, happy, to get what they want S: flattery; protests, tears; being honest.A: nowhere, △(not) anywhere, where o 'l believe you implicitly— and I believe I' ve said before, you are my best teacher andagood Chris-tian woman——'' Flattery will get you nowhere—I am, as you know, already spoken for.’ TT□In what particularly are we interested in the museum? The simplest way, of course, is to take the catalogue and tick the items. Unfortunately this idea does not get us anywhere; there is no catalogue. TCM□ You can turn off the water-works. Tears will get you nowhere with me.□In those days. films divided sharply between broad comedy and stark tragedy. The halfway house got you nowhere. NS a Renny's cheerfully optimistic belief that energy will get you anywhere helped. TVT □ Dammit, where does being honest get you? If old Philip had been honest where would the Templar family have been today? DC□ in last example where does sth get one? implies it gets one nowherd, ◇ △previous entry. get etc one's/ the priorities right etc[possess] have a true/ false scale of values;judge/ misjudge what the first claims should be on one's time, money etc and act accordingly;(put) first things first(qv) V: get, △have (got).prep: with. adj: right, △ straight, clear; wrong o Any politician who wishes to be taken seriously in politics must get his priorities right; and this means, in the end, preferring his political career to his business career. STo(reader’ s letter) The less you do, the more help you get from Welfare and Voluntary Organisations. So let's get our priorities right, let's help those who, like my parents and many others, really tried and got nothing. RTo The Railway Conversion Associa-tion League consider the benefits of their scheme self-evident, but they have got the priorities wrong. SToA senior member asked me to remind you that we are 20 years more ancient than the first Continental Congress, and maybe you should get your priorities straight. L O the much less common than one's. get etc a raw deal [possess] get etc unjust or harsh treatment; receive etc insufficient pay-ment or reward V: get, △ have; give sb oDevereall had a very raw deal from the Secret-ary of State for War, Hore-Belisha, and was turned out after 18 months in office. MFM□ The polytechnics believe that though the Government talks of ' parity of esteem' between the two sec-tors of higher education, they are still given a raw deal in comparison with the universities.OBS □ ‘A Scandalous Woman’ is a collection worth reading. But it will reinforce the iron in the soul (= sense of injury caused by adverse cir-cumstances) of any lady who feels she is getting a raw deal from life. NS O get a fair/ square deal.get rich quick[V+ O + Comp] acquire wealth without having to work much, or wait long, for it o ' Save and Prosper' itself recommends that no investor should put in more than 5 per cent of his savings anyway. Subject to these qualifications.these trusts could be an agreeable way of get-ting slightly rich quick. Go ' Do you know what you want to do when you leave school, Jimmy?"' Get rich quick. Any ideas?'o I'm doubtful if a man ever gets rich quick quite honestly.□attrib use a get-rich-quick property developer. get sth right/ wrong'[V + 0 + Comp] carry out a task, answer a question, solve a problem,etc, or fail to do so o: sum, calculation; it, the thing o I got all my sums right in school today.Mummy.□She wasn't satisfied with the sketch she had made of her friend. ‘I can't get the mouth right,' she complained. o We are constantly get-ting it wrong when we use figures like 80 per cent, 20 per cent—— or even vague ones like two to one. Lo(a television programme) On ' Nation-wide', we use(the weather) as a standby topic, to fill in spare seconds between the joins. And we often get it wrong, which is to say that BobWellings does. L get sth right/wrong²{V+O+ Comp} under-stand, or remember, sth correctly, or fail to do so o: it, things; song, story o It was Seattle she was going to, when she left Oxford, not Settle.The charwoman got it wrong. RFW a As com-monly happens when politicians land their country in a mess by their own folly, they hold that the world's Press has got things all wrong.SCo Your old man's got the story wrong. That's not what happened at all. □ O often it, referring to sth previously mentioned. get sb the sack (informal) be the cause of sb being dismissed from his employment S: boss's wife, customers' complaints; laziness, smoking o‘Breeziness’ is,I think, the quality that I most associate with him: certainly it is what got him 219 <220> get/ give sb the sack— get there (in the end etc) the sack from the Wilson Government. NS oYou' ll get me the sack if you keep dropping in(= paying casual visits) here when I'm supposed to be working. o Workers. got special rations which many of them flogged((slang) = sold) on the black market, but to be found doing so could get you the sack. RT ◇▲ next entry. get/ give sb the sack [possess](informal) be dismissed from one's employment/ dismiss sb from his employment o / suppose I have really got the suck. L. W. says I can't be trusted to do anything but wrap up parcels and that I am the most frightful idiot he has ever had the privilege of meeting in a long career of suffering fools. ST□(proposal to dismiss old and sick dockers in1947) ‘What other alternative was left to us.much as our hearts went out to them?'a TGWUofficial asked a strike meeting. He got his reply at once from the back of the hall: ' Give them nine doctors each like the King has got, not the bleeding sack!’ NS◇△ previous entry. get one's second wind [passess] begin to breathe smoothly again after a period when one's breathing has been irregular or heavy;(fig) become active again after a period of little activity S: runner, swimmer, cyclist; lecturer oI was hoping my aunt had come to the end of her tirade, but no, she had just paused to get her second wind.□ Jim expressed a desire to go swimming. Lefty had been talking to Dave, andI was just getting my second wind. UTNo The play dragged a bit in the middle but got its second wind in time for a rousing finish in the third act. get etc a shot in the arm [possess] (infor-mal) get etc an injection from a hypodermic syringe; get etc sth that has a stimulating or restorative effect $: patient; institution,industry, economy; project, campaign. V: get,△. have (got). give sb; be...(for), pro-vide...(for); bring...(to)o ... and for the first time got the full benefit of that shot in the moral arm derived from his virtual turning-down ofSheila's invitation. TGLY o They claim it will provide· much-needed shot in the arm for the half-empty churches and chapels in the area. TO□ Two momentous legal decisions last week brought joy to the Government, & shot in the arm to the Industrial Relations Act, and gloom to the militants on the picket lines. STo His wit and intelligence would be a welcome shot in the arm for many a chat show. TVT o The Chan-cellor's immediate problem is to give the eco-nomy # quick shot in the grm OBS get aslap in the face get a rebuff,a snub; one in the eye for sb(qv) V: get; △ give sb; be (for sb/ sth)□ Bill assumed he was next in line for the editorship. He got a real sla p in the face when they appointed an outsider. o A resounding slap in the face from the people of Norway and Den-mark might help the ' Europeans' everywhere to wake up to this. NS get etc a/ one's slice/ share of the cake[possess] (informal) get etc a/ one's share of whatever financial or social benefits one is, or feels, entitled to within an industry, business,profession, city, nation etc in which one is a worker, member, citizen etc V: get △ have(got); take, grab; give sb; want, need; ask for.demand. prep: with. adj: a bigger, larger. 220 better;a fair, one's rightful o' One of my worries is that the lads I knew and loved might be being exploited,' he says of the present situation in the industry. I'm all for everybody havegg a fair share of whatever cake there is. I only hope the results for them will be happiness.’ OBSo The prosperity of the rich is slowly percolating down to a rising middle class of professional people,traders and officials, but maybe too slowly. The poor, who can see this boom with their own eyes,are starting to want their share of the cake. L□Our problem cities desperately need a bigger s lice of the national cake. A Commission should be empowered to direct resources to the urban black spots within our cities. Go(medical facilities) An influential consultant has always dernymed and obtained my above-average share of the cake for ' his' patients, not because their needs are necessarily greater but because his voice is louder. OBS get etc a standing ovation[possess] get etc enthusiastic applause or welcome with the whole audience or company standing up to cheer or clap$; speaker, leader. V: get,▲have,receive; give sb. prep: with o He gets& stand-ing ovation and as he moves off stage people are pleading, chanting and stomping for more. TVToThe chairman thought that, from where he was sitting at the top table,(the speech) received a standing ovation. It certainly evoked prolonged applause. sc get sth straight [V + O + Comp pass] under-stand sth said to one, the nature of a situation,etc clearly and correctly O: this; things, the position o I want you to explain properly whyMyra should have done a thing like that. I must get it straight, Joe,I must. I feel I could stand it if I could get it straight. CONa The item that he had often placed at the head of his under-graduate list of topics to be thought over and got straight——' Sex'—— was still capable of being coolly thought over. HD a ' Get this streight.'l said. 'I love Alice. She loves me.' RATT o Let's get it straight: it is the times that have changed,not the men. Old-style centre forwards. so much a part of British soccer for so long, haven't died out. They have simply become obsolete. TVT get stuffed (taboo) be quiet; go away; drop dead²(qv);(taboo) get knotted (qv); get lost(qv);(taboo) up yours etc(qv)□ When a news-paper calls on Lord Hill to be ' less aloof, less coldly impartial, less rampantly irresponsible', it should be told to get stuffed. Everyone has his own solution to Ulster's agony. Lo'I think you'd better go down and see her. It wouldn't take much to apologize for whatever bloody tip you gave her.’' She cart get stuffed.’ said Dusty. TT o direct or indirect imper; exclamation expressing violent contempt. get there (in the end etc) achieve one's aim,complete a task, etc esp by patience and per-severance A: in the end: △ eventually,somehow o ' That's all right, dear, she said,' you' ll get there in the and.' She always ans-wered Bill's unintelligible flights with general reassurance. HAA o Jenkins isn't a fast learner but give him time and he gets there in the end--which is more than you can say of some more brilliant intellects.□ I thought we would have the house ship-shape by now but we' re still living in <221> the same muddle. I suppose we' ll get there●véntually. get there first reach, obtain, or achieve sth before another, or others, who would have liked to do so o I can usually fill a big basket of raspberries down by the railway bridge but this year somebody had got there first. a In China.or in the Soviet Union, there is at least some demand for things which Britain can make better than the local competition. Not surprisingly, theAmericans got there first. NS o(drugs in the treatment of schizophrenia) So many people are working in this field—— and the drug companies in particular have such an enormous investment in it , because not only would this bring the NobelPrize to half a dozen chemists, but it would bring untold profits to whichever drug firm happened to get there first. L get/ be too big for one's boots [V + Comp](informal) become/ be too self-important, as-suming functions and/ or authority beyond one's rights, or ambitions beyond one's powers$: child; pop-star, footballer □ Don't try and take that line with me, my lad. You' re get-ting too big for your boots, talking to me in that tone, and I'm not having it, TGLY oMRSBUTCHER: You' re a snotty-nosed big mouth. MRSFISH : Too big for your boots, that's your trouble. DPM□Archaeology stands at the point of collision between art and science, and there are archaeologists who feel that in invading their art,science has got too big for its boots. OBS□In the early days of Watergate, the press was the hero uncovering the true facts. But now a body,which was never really respected, is widely regar-dedas being extremely irresponsible, getting far too big for its boots, due to be brought down a peg or two. L get tough (with sb) [V + Comp](informal)become violent or stubborn(with sb); take up an aggressive, or sternly disciplinarian, attitude and line of action (towards sb) a Sammy's position over the typescript was just dubious enough to restrain him from getting tough.UTNo The suggestion that it is time for the army to get tough' with the opposition betrays an almost total ignorance not only of the present situation in Ulster but of the whole concept of operations in support of the civil power. L get etc the upper hand (of sb) [possess]have mastery over, be more powerful than, sb$: enemy; employer, union; passion, temper. V:get, △ have, gain o / try to be cool and sensible but sometimes my feelings get the upper hand of me.□ They were harassed by the Malays. and attacked by the Sea Dayaks who, having gained the upper hand, were not restrained by a balance of power. NDNo By June 1799, however,Desaix could fairly claim that he had the upper hand. For nearly five hundred miles he was keep-ing the enemy off the river, and many of the local sheikhs had submitted. BN get etc uptight (about sth) [V + Comp](informal) become etc tense, over-concerned,guarded or touchy in one's attitude and reac-tions (to sth) V: get, △be; make sb. o: noise,interruptions; relationship; appearance,disability, opposition, criticism o I' ve treated everybody like a gentleman so there's no cause to get uptight. RTo Please reassure the owners and get there first— get wise(to sb/ sth) managers not to get so ' uptight' about some-thing that makes the day a little pleasant. ToBentine says he's a man who gets up-tight about situations, not about the individuals that cause them: 'I hate armies, but not soldiers. Isuppose that just about sums it up.'TVT□A hero who is illiterate without being uncommunicative.and impotent without being uptight, is a re-freshing conception. Lo Where the English usu-ally get uptight about Burns is the title ` Nation-al Bard', especially if celebrating Scots indulge in comparisons between the Bard of Alloway and the Bard of Stratford. SC get etc one's (own) way [possess] succeed in doing what one wants, or in doing sth in the way one prefers, despite opposition or disapproval v: get, △ have; give sb. let sb(have) o If he still hesitated it was because he didn't want to yield to the other man's pressure,to Alec's gift for getting his own way. PW oMYRA (laughing) : And what about the roof gar-dens—— did you get your way about those too”PHILIP: Yes, everything. EHOW□There was a con-siderable measure of opposition both locally and in the newspapers throughout Gloucestershire.But the Government had its way, as it does in such matters. TBC ◇ △ go one's own way. get well etc[V + Comp] recover one's health.or suffer a deterioration in one's health adj:well. △better; worse o I'm sorry to hear aboutAlice. I must send her a Get Well card.□' How is your tooth-ache now?’‘Getting better. Of course, I' ve told the dentist I simply must have an appointment this afternoon.'o attrib use a get-wall card, message. get/ take what's coming to one [possess](informal) suffer the results of one's misdeeds or follies; suffer an inevitable fate o ' What hap-pens to them in the end?’ asked Isabel. ‘Oh, they get what's coming to them. Rather a mistake,! think: it doesn't happen in real life.'pWoI don't believe in health fads and all those ways of avoid-ing this disease or that. You take what's coming to you, whatever you do. get sb where he lives hurt, threaten,criticize, ridicule etc sb in ways that he is speci-ally sensitive to, that will particularly hurt or displease him o This, as they say, gets GeorgeMeany where he lives. He now finds himself in direct contact with men who want to dump him.NS □ Rugby is a Welshman's second religion.Make a mock of the game itself or a Weish XVand you really get him where he lives. get/ have (got) sb where one wants him[possess](informal) have sb in a position where he does as one wants him to, or where his actions can be controlled to one's own advan-tage adv: just, exactly o He's got you, see? Got you where he wants you. You' re the beautiful wife and lovely family that he can't leave when-ever one of his girl-friends starts turning serious on him. TGLY o' That's all right,' he said boast-fully. I' ve got that feller(= fellow) just whereI want ' im(= him). 'E' ll(= he will) pay.'PEget wise (to sb/ sth) [V + Comp](informal)become aware of sth, or of qualities or behav-iour in sb (the reference often being to sth that should have been noticed previously or that sb is trying to hide); make sb aware of sth, or of qualities or behaviour in sb o: it, him; their 221 <222> get sb wrong—— give etc the alarm/ alert tricks; what's happening o (advertisement) /noticed it (her greasy hair) spoils her looks.You'd think she'd get wise to it—— it's so ob-vious. H o There aren't many shop-lifters who escape my eye. I' ve got wise to their little tricks.o 'I thought it would give me a chance to put you wise about the practice,' I continued. ' Difficult to think of everything in the rush-and-tumble of the surgery.’ DIL o It was that one careless remark of Paterson's that part me wise to where he had really spent the evening. 口 variant put sb wise (to sb/ sth). get sb wrong (informal) misunderstand sb.his motives or actions, or what he says o ' Not in the game yourself by any chance?’ the young man went on in a light casual tone. ' Game?'' Don't get me wrong. I don't mean what he was pinched(= arrested) for.'HDo ' Clever, aren't you?’ he said in a very unfriendly way, ‘but we won't rest until we clear all this up.' ' Look,' Ipleaded, as if about to sob my socks off because he'd got me wrong. LLDR O expression don't get me wrong is used as appeal. agift from the gods [Comp(NP)] an unearn-ed, or unexpected, benefit that is greatly appreciated V:△ be; come as o When we went to buy our tickets back we found that the boat didn't call again till the next day. We were gloriously stranded in Skopelos. The two days there were a gif t from the gods. SCo'I wish theIncome Tax would pay me a refund.' ' They would if they owed you one. It's not a gift from the gods, you know.” gild the lily [V + O] try to make perfection more perfect; mask, spoil natural beauty or a good quality by over-decorating it, praising ex-cessively, etc S: writer; report, account o(source) To gild refined gold, to paint the lily./…… Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. KING JOHNIV 2□ (Scotland) The country that does not depend for one moment on gilding the lily, but glories rather in craggy individualism. SCo But there are some who feel he overwrites—— and even that he had gone slightly over the top (=exaggerated) in both the words and the pictures he painted of wartime evacuation. ' Gilding the lly. ' Benny Green accused him of. RTo(reader's letter) But surely ' gilding the lily' is now the quotation, for if I and the world's thoughtless masses have never known the particular quota-tion which Tom Driberg knows then we cannot be quoting it—— and when Richard Baker uses the cliché' gilding the lity' he is using a valid quota-tion. NS gild/ sugar the pill [V + O pass](try to) make sth that is unpleasant, or unwelcome, seem less so o We' ll have to gild the pi W by telling Jones that he's doing such valuable work here that he can't be spared.□(Harold wants his wife to leave him for a while) ‘You might want to run up toLondon sometimes, or go to see your mother——’' We might try it.' Isabel said.' It's very good of you, Harold, ' she added humbly, swallowing the gilded pill. PWo(NONCE) The danger here is of the personality more familiar in the world of showbiz used as sugar on the pill of a solid programme. Such false casting will only disap-point the viewers. L o variants the gilded pill,(the) sugar on the pill. (a bird in) a gilded cage (sb) confined, or 222 restricted, in his or her mode of life, though with every comfort and amenity o (source—title of a song) She's a bird in a gidded cage. AJ LAMB 1870-1928□ ‘The Government is just finish-ing the conversion of an extremely pleasani eighteenth-century manor house at Norton-stowe.’‘You want me to allow myself to be fas-tened up in a cage, albeit a gilded cage.’ TBC□Ingham the untiring money-spinner and Tina the wise bird in a gilded cage are the twin poles of this intricate and bizarre study. NS gilded youth young people, esp of the rich upper classes, with the means and leisure to enjoy themselves (translation of French jeunesse dorée) □ Exams (at Cambridge) were over, their results as yet unknown, and the students were filling this uneasy vacuum with a glorious display of their own gilded youth. RToSporting a boater, a striped blazer and the aggressive look of a visitor come to hate, Gosling watched disdainfully as gikted youth did its bright young thing. NS a gin balance(dated) a garish public house, esp one serving cheap spirits to the poorer classes o This looked a more cheerful pub. He went in and got a drink and carried it to a seat. He had been wrong. It was a gin-pelace when you got inside. HDo... the inadequacies of that time for the ' lesser society' who had to find their colour and excitement in the music-halls—— or in the gin palaces. RTO second example refers direct-ly to the kind of public house defined above;stress pattern a ' gin palace. a ginger group a group within, or connected with, a political party, popular movement, sec-tarian campaign, etc which devises schemes,and keeps pressing, for action o He joined none of the new ginger groups because he believes in working through his existing organisations一the Chamber of Commerce and the NationalPharmaceutical Union. Go Tyndall also said that approaches had been made, ' by innuendo, but with no specific offer', for the National Front to withdraw from elections and become a ginger group for the Tories, outside the party. OBSgiveon●self airs behave, talk, in an affected,pretentious way; think oneself better than one is and try to impress others with one's superior-ity adj: such, terrific,(the) most frightfulo' He's not a bit conceited—— fits in here just like one of ourselves.' ' That's what I'd expect. It's only ignorant people that give themselves mirs.'□ They' re all snobs, even Julie who's only ten years old. You never saw such airs as that child ghys hgrsgH. give etc the alarm/ alert [V + 0 pass] alert others to an imminent, or already existing, dan-ger, natural disaster, military or criminalattack—— by sounding bells or sirens, or by flashing lights etc S: bystander, neighbour, passer-by.V: give,△ raise, sound o When a baboon group is raiding crops, crossing roads, or even simply moving across country, it is said to have one or more animals ' posted' to give the alarm to the others of any approaching danger. NSC o The daylight raid at the sub-post office in MidlandRoad, Bedford, was seen by salesmen at a nearby car show-room. As they raised the alarm three men escaped by car. DM□(Observer Magazine's‘Whistleblower’ campaign on‘threats to the <223> <224> give sb the boot— give sb etc a cold etc reception his conduct of an enterprise/ during the time of its existence; approve, or encourage, sb's action/a particular scheme whether proposed or accomplished V: give sb/ sth;△get, receive,have. prep: with; without. IO: partnership,marriage: scheme, policy; change, amendment□(Fergus's wife who is convalescing in bed) ' OhFergus! My lipstick, please.’ ’ I shall only kiss it off.'' Not with Sister watching. '' Sister will give me her blessing.'DCa'I spilled the whole plate of soup into her lap. '' You wouldn't get her blessing for that.'□I asked one or two questions.Would these revelations be made with the blessing of De Beers? DS□ He had always gathered that anyone who tried to earn a living without the blessing of the Union was in a very dangerous position. HD□ The great petrol price war enters a new stage today as oil companies begin to receive the Price Commission's bless-ing to raise their prices by as much as Spa gallon.Go Industrial retraining has become a bipartisan policy in the past 10 years, with Labour and Con-servative governments giving it their blessing.G give sb the boot [possess](informal) kick sb,esp sb who he has already been knocked down,is lying on the ground, etc o I wanted to knock over the table and hit him until my arm had no more strength in it, then give him the boot, give him the boot, give him the boot. RATT ◇d next entry. givesb/ get the boot[possess](informal) dis-miss, or reject, sb from one's employment, com-pany, favour etc/ be dismissed, rejected etc oMILLY: I wish you'd give him the boot before he drops you. I wish you would, EHOW a If the old boy's son hasn't got a job to go to when he comes out of the army, I' ll be getting the order of the boot. I get the order of the boot (facetious) is a play on the word order (i) =‘command to leave, go away, etc' and (ii) = ` an honorary distinction, eg the Order of the Garter’. ◇△previous entry. give sb etc a breek¹[possess] give sb etc a rest, respite, or change from work or activity V:give sb;△get, have, take. adj: short; occasion-al; periodic o ' Do you want me to give you a break?'' Not just now. We' ll be stopping for petrol around Doncaster and we can change over then.’ o‘But with the children on top of you all day, and then the housework—' ' Yes?' saidIsabel.' Well, you don't get a break.'pW□ We' ll take a break now, and you can ask questions when we resume.□Children need excitement and activity on holiday as much as adults need to take it easy. This year there are more opportunities than ever to give them (and their parents) a break. ST give sb etc a break²[possess](informal) give sb etc an opening for his talents or abilities, an opportunity to establish himself in an art or profession; give sb etc a piece of good luck that leads to further success etc V: give sb; △ get,have; hope for. IO: actor, singer; writer; small businessman, farmer. adj: lucky; even; bad,lousy o Mr Daubeny is reticent about the mechanics of his trade. In April 1945, he says,'Igot my first break and managed to put on my first production.' Lo' You' re an optimist.' ' Why not? People have had lucky breaks before now.” □ In applications for jobs that they' re perfectly capable of doing, disabled people should be given an even break. □ He's had a lot of bad breaks lately. from what I hear. Particularly with that son of his, Victor. ST o an even break= 'a fair chance, compared with others, of op-portunity, success, selection etc’. give (sb)/ get a broad grin/ smile[possess]give (sb)/ get a smile which is a clear indication of great delight, amusement, complacency etc.prep: with o The hunters had been grouped around me in a silent and sorrowful circle; now that they saw the creature regain its faculties,they gave broa d grins of delight. BB□ His pur-suer pulled up short to greet us with an affable bow and a broad smile. BMo 'I' ve half a mind to ring the fire-alarm while the boys are in the showers,' said Frank, and grinned broadly at the notion. O variant grin/ smile broadly. give sb/ get the bum's rush [possess](slang) forcibly remove sb/ be removed; throw sb/ be thrown out(of a room,a meeting,a hotel etc); give sb/ get too little time to consider a decision, choice, agreement or refusal 10:intruder, heckler, drunk o One of the PrimeMinister's assistants, who had once before been given the bum's rush out of Downing Street when the Heath Government moved in in 1970,found himself bundled out of the Wilson entourage as well. Go His heavy drinking reached the point where he was liable to be given the bum's rush the moment he showed his face in any of the local pubs. o'I have to answer by return of post(= immediately).'' Who says you have to? Don't let them give you the busy's rush over this.’ give sb etc carte blanch● [possess] (milit-ary) offer etc unconditional surrender on a blank sheet of paper for the victor to dictate his own terms;(fig) allow, or authorize, sb to do, or say, as he likes, make his own arrangements,use his own initiative, etc V: givesb,△get, have(got). prep: with□ Fire any questions you like atPforzheim. He's told me to give you all carte blanche. ASAa You can imagine that IDSO(=International Diamond Security Organization)wasn't very popular. We were a private army and we were from London. On the other hand we'd got absolute carte blanche from Sir ErnestOppenheimer himself, and it would be wise to co-operate with us. NSo They employed an interior decorator and gave him carte blanche to do up the place as if it were his own. give (sb) etc a civil answer to a civil question [possess] show(sb) etc ordinary and reasonable courtesy in answering an ordinary and reasonable question V: give,△have(got),get; expect o MRS ELLIOT: Percy! Was that you,Percy?(She returns to sitting room.) I suppose it was him, Norah? NORAH: Of course it was. I'd know that cat-like tread anywhere. Trust him not to give a civil ansurs es to a chill question. EGD□Since it's called an Enquiry Office you'd expect to get a civil answer to a civil question,wouldn't you?□ There's no need to bite my head off. I was only asking a civil question. I may be used in part with whole understood, as in last example. give sb etc a cold etc reception [possess]give sb etc a barely civil or friendly welcome; 224 <225> give sb/ get the cold shoulder— give stc free play to sth give sb etc an uncooperative or hostile responseV: give sb; △ get, meet with; there be. 10:delegate, guest, speaker; remark, suggestion.adj: cold, △ cool, icy, lukewarm □ The John-sons called again last night, but I gave them cold reception. I'm getting rather fed up with them coming here so often and staying so late.□Any proposal that I should part with £50 would get a pretty cool reception from me. □ Despite his healthy arrogance he was not best pleased by the lukewarm reception his programme initi-ally got. O give sb etc a warm welcome/ reception.givesb/ get the cold shoulder [possess](in-formal) reject sb/ be rejected by sb IO: visitor,stranger, salesman, inventor; relative,colleague o As soon as it became clear that his business was likely to fail, his so-called friends startedgiving him the cold shoulder.□ Perhaps she really didn't know me again, perhaps I was getting the cold shoulder. □' There's nothing,mark you, that you could do, Bill, he said.' Time is what we have to rely on. ' It was his stock cold shoulder to kind strangers. HAA give credit where credit is due praise, or recognize achievement justly, ie praising the person who deserves it and not another; not fail to recognize an action, or quality, for which a person deserves some praise or recognition;give sb his due (qv)o This statement appeared in the Press as having come from me, and, thoughI have always given credit where credit is due.this particular credit has always stuck to me. STa (reader's letter) Let us give credit where credit is due. From the conversation quoted Ishould say that the suggestion for reducing the population explosion came from Mrs Williams.not from Bertrand Russell. Lo I don't like the man but credit should be given where it is due--he is very good at his job. □ pass, as in last example, not very common. give sb etc the creeps etc[possess](infor-mal) cause one to feel fear, loathing, aversion,nervous anxiety; make one's flesh creep/ crawl(qv); make one's hair stand on end (qv) S:noise, silence; snake, spiders; sb`s face, voice. V:give sb: △get, have. O: the creeps, △the hor-rors, the willies o All this time Finn had been leaning against the door. ' Send him away,' saidMagdalen. ' He gives me the creeps. ' UTN oWasps and moths and things don't give me the horrors the way creeping creatures like cock-roaches and woodlice do. o DAVID: Those same cars will he fluttering with white ribbons on Sun-day, carrying brides instead of corpses. SAM:Shut up, you give me the willies. HSG□ I can put up with him, if I have to, but the fact is he gives me the creeps. ST (sweet airs/ noises that) give delight and hurt not(music of a kind to) give nothing but pleasure and enjoyment o (source) Be not afeared: the isle is full of noises./ Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.TEMPEST III 2o Don't believe the critic who said that the BBC is backward in innovation. DavidCain's music und Adrian Revill's audiospatial illusion filled my room with noises, sweet airs that gave delight and hurt not. Lolt is with an authentic reverence that the nurslings pad on bare feet in the ' Dream House' which La MonteYoung and Marian Zazeela fill with sweet sounds that give delight and hurt not. ST aAlcohol's bad for you, tobacco's bad for you.Now butter, sugar, coca-cola and maybe even milk are bad for you too. What's left that gives delight and hurts not?□(radio review) The isle was particularly full of noises this week that gave delight and hurt not. L give the devil his due [possess] (saying) if there's anything good to be said about a person or credit to be given, let it be said or given; be just in one's assessment, or treatment, of even an unworthy person o You' re all talking aboutGeorge's meanness but, give the devil his due,he's not a sponger like some I could name. □ To give the devil his due whatever racket Frank is engaged in, he's likely to make a success of it. Doften in parenthesis. give a dog a bad/ ill name (and hang him)[possess](saying) it is difficult to regain a lost reputation; people continue to condemn, or suspect, sb who has once done, or been accused of doing, sth criminal or very wrong □ Begin-ning with the stories of eight selected citizens who have learned the bitter truth of give a dog an ill namn and hang him',(the report) acknowledges the research objections to destroying or even sealing up criminal records. NSo What gets you into prison in the first place is as little as being on the street and being black. I don't expect im-provements because it all holds together on the principle of give a dog a bad name. NS□ JimKent's known as a persistent offender, but he's never been accused of violence. Now he's accused of assaulting two police officers. Is it a case of give a dog a bad name'? TVT give sb his due [possess] admit that sb does have merits or abilities, even if they are few;admit that there is a valid reason, or excuse, for sb's (apparent) faults; give credit where credit is due (qv) o ' You' re just frightened to take on the job of living, that's all. ''I hardly think, ' saidAlan, that an enterprise like the new VardonHall backs up your diagnosis.'' No, no, Louie,give Bernard his due,' cried Isobel. HAA□ Push-kin so obviously modelled himself on Byron that it becomes imperative to show that he surpassed him. John Bayley does better than most in giving Byron his due. Lolt was seldom that Kay came to see Gerald. It was seldom, to give her her due, that the housekeeping and baby care allowed her to come up from Reigate. ASA give sb/ get the (rough) edge of one's/sb's tongue [possess] speak to sb/ be spoken to by sb sharply, rudely, critically etc o His voice was unpleasantly dry and sarcastic, except that when he was really giving someone the rough edge of his tongue, which happened about a dozen times a day, he raised the pitch and barked like a St Bernard. CON□If a child had behaved in my house like that, he'd have got the edge of my tongue whether his mother liked it or not.□The hotel manager is very ' smarmy' with the guests but I can well imagine him giving some poor devil of a waiter the rough edge of his tongue. ◇ A ave etc an edge to one's voice. give etc free play to sth [possess] allow etc freedom of movement or expression to sth v:give sth △ allow, (there) be □ There's a little free play on most steering-wheels but there's something wrong if you can turn it as much as 225 <226> give sb etc his freedom— give sb etc the green/ red light three inches without getting engagement with the wheels. □ He had distrusted the cooing, pink-shirted aesthetes because he perceived inside himself the germs of the same disease, and had been afraid of allowing the tendency any free play. HD□She was a woman who gave free play to her emotions, one who both laughed and cried a lot more than most people. ◇ △ give sb/ sth etc full play. give sb etc his freedom [possess] consent to a divorce; allow one's husband/ wife to leave one for another person or way of life, without putting legal obstacles in the way V: give sb, △let sb have; get, have(got). IO:△husband, wife o' What are you going to do if he falls in love with another woman?’‘Give him his freedom, I ex-pect,’ Brigit answered light-heartedly. DC oThey' re separated, not divorced. Mark says it is not vindictiveness that prevents him giving Jane her freedom, but that as a believing Catholic he cannot reconcile such a step with the teachings of his Church. give sb etc the freedom of the city[possess] bestow etc a civic honour on sb for public services, entitling him to various benefitsV: give sb,△bestow on sb; receive, get□On the7th June I flew to Antwerp to receive the freedom of the city. MFMo' Is there any advan-tage arising from being given the freedom of the city? ‘Well it’ s chiefly the honour, but Ibelieve you get a few perks thrown in.' give sb/ get the fright etc of his/ one's life cause sb to have/ receive a severe fright;cause sb to be/ be suddenly startled O: fright,△shock, surprise o' We' ve got the kids, haven't we? They' ll pay for them.'' What with?' askedPrissie wearily. 'I tell you I brought them here to satisfy you, and to give her(ie their mother) the fright of her life.’ DCo I knew Billy was waiting to pounce on me but I pretended to get the fright of my life.□ And one other veteran, the76-year-old racket-buster, Senator JohnMcClellan, got the shock of his life when he failed to get an absolute majority in the Primary.L give sb etc full marks (for sth) [possess]give sb etc the greatest possible praise and credit (for sth they have done well or perfectly)V: give sb, △ award sb; get o Professor Leh-mann received financial support from theAmerican Philosophical Society and the NorthAmerican Foundation, plus leave of absence from De Paul University, to write his book. Full mark s to all three institutions. NS a (reader's letter) Full marks to you for showing such an enjoyable play, which was made all the more ex-citing by the superb acting of Simon Ward. RToGort saw clearly that he must, at the least, get the.soldiers back to England with their personal weapons. For this I give him full marks and Ihope history will do the same. MFMoFu ll marks for agility were awarded by one distinguished leader-writer to Mr Christopher Chataway, for edging home ahead of other aspirants for Par-liamentary time with his new commercial radioBill. Lo variant, full marks to sb(for sth), used to offer direct praise to sb. give sb/ sth etc full play [possess] give sb/ sth etc complete freedom of action or expression V:give,△allow, grant、 sb/ sth; let sb/ sth have. IO; 226 him, her, them; sb's imagination, genius, ideas,style, taste o At St Pancras (railway station)Scott gave the style full play—— skyline and win-dows, ascending chandeliers, cast-iron tracery.OBS □ In ' Clocks and Clouds' Ligeti gives his taste for ambiguity full play; a profusion of detail is in a state of constant metamorphosis.OBS ◇ ▲ give etc free play to sth. give sb furiously to think puzzle sb; make sb think hard, examine his opinions, etc(translation of the French idiom, donner furieusement àpenser)O: the inspector,a child,the neighbours o I refuse to believe in super-natural phenomena, yet an incident like this gives one furiously to think. o This witness's deliberate provocation of the Court gave the In-spector furiously to think. give sb/ get the glad eye [possess] (dated slang) give sb (man or woman) inviting, or amorous, looks to encourage him or her to approach, make a date, etc; give sb the old one two (qv) o From the old photograph I could easily imagine him as my mother described him.—— an old peacock, twirling his moustache and giving the gladoye to pretty housemaids.□ Like a lot of old birds giving the gled in the Circus,or the York Road, Waterloo, more likely. ASAgive a good etc account of oneself[possess] work, behave, perform in a way that is creditable etc, or that will be approved of,admired etc$: player, performers; team, unit;industry; army. adj: good, △ splendid, ex-cellent; poor, disappointing o Since reaching adult life he had not actually been involved in a fight, but he had always imagined that if it ever came he would give a good account of himself.HDo' Ah, here's young Levy now. I think he can be trusted to give a good account of himself.’There was more clapping while a boy with a violin came round the edge of the cellos and got ready.TGLY o They can't always win, I know, but I' ve never seen the team give such a poor account of thressehs. give sb etc a good hiding etc[possess](in-formal) give sb etc a severe thrashing, beating;defeat sb overwhelmingly in a game or contestV: give sb,△get; deserve, ask for. O: hiding,△beating, thrashing, trouncing□ I saw my Mum and she told me it was done and she said if I went anywhere near it she'd give me a good hiding.TT o JO: You mean you' re running away from somebody. HELEN: You' re asking for a bloody good hiding, lady. Just be careful. TOHo The outcome of the staff v pupils hockey match was never in any doubt. The staff always get a good trouncing. give sb etc the green/ red light [possess](informal) let sb know etc that it is safe/dangerous to go ahead with his plans, that he is allowed/ forbidden to do as he wants in some particular case(from traffic lights)V: give sb;△get, have (got). 10: developer, industrialist;plant, company; council o The Ministry ofAgriculture, like the Department of Trade andIndustry, refuses to say which companies have been given the green light (to increase their prices) or to discuss the basis of their decisions.STo‘Master Drawbell mightn’ t have sson the red light in time. Never mind,' he said.' We saved the situation.' NM a Enfield Grammar School <227> give/ lose ground— give sb a kick/ get a kick doing sth must continue to recruit its pupils on a selective basis despite Patrick Gordon Walker's green light to the local council to go ahead with a com-prehensive scheme. NS D green/ red light can be used alone, as in last example. give/ lose ground (to sb/ sth) [possess] re-treat (to sb/ sth else's advantage); fail to hold one`s position or advantage (against sb/ sth) □If we cancel this autumn's big publicity drive, it' ll give ground to our main competitors, but, with the market as depressed as it is, we' ll just have to take that risk. o Uncle John's very ill—— he's losing ground every day. The doctors reckon he' ll be dead in a week. give sb etc ground(s) for complaint etc[possess] give sb valid reason(s) or justification for making a complaint (whether or not the complaint is actually made) V: give sb; △have(got), there be. prep: with, without. adj: no,little; some; considerable, good. o: complaint,complaining; anxiety, fears; supposing sth□In his press conference Kissinger reiterated that this demand would not be met. Thieu had good grounds for complaint. NS a But there is ground for anxiety about the growth of crime among young people. SC□ The apologists for the modern kind of magazine are usually pert and even morally self-congratulatory about the old-fashioned stuff they have displaced; they have no grounds to be. ULo Whether you dislike Smith or not, you appear to have given him some grounds for believing that you do. gives b/ sth etc half a chance [possess] give sb/ sth etc some opportunity of being, or doing,sth V: give sb/ sth;△get, have; there be. prep:with o ... the same hostels full of thieves all out to snatch your last bob if you gave them half the chance. LLDR□ He thought he knew how other people ought to live and given half a chance he was determined to make them live that way. PPo' That medicine's doing me no good.'' You' re not giving it half a chance to.'n The more you pray for me. Tony, the more I' ma hardened sinner. Or would be if I had half a chance. MMo neg, or in an if-cl. give (sb) etc a (helping) hand [possess]assist (sb) in a task or undertaking V: give (sb),△ lend (sb); get, receive □ ' Shall I give you a hand with the washing up? said Harold. PWoAmong the people who had been flying back and forth (betweenBritain andAmerica)throughout the war giving a hand on both sides,... NM□DAVIES: You took me on here as caretaker. I was going to give you a helping hand. TCo' Looking on the bright side',' lending a helping hand', ' not being stuck-up or a getter-on' , all these are a good deal more healthy than the commercial values which working-class people are constantly invited to adopt nowadays.UL give sb/ let sb have his head [possess] allow sb. esp in his work or in carrying out a project,to make his own decisions and arrangements,use his own methods (from riding, not curb or guide one's mount)o Sir Nicholas made it clear yesterday that they proposed to give the ship-builder his head' in the construction of these ships. To The conflict is created by scientists who don't wish to make commercial products and by manager. s who don't want to give good research- ers their expensive heads. OBS□Itold the Board that unless I got to run the department in my own way I wanted to leave. Surprisingly, they let me have my head. give sb/ get hell [possess](informal) scold or punish sb; make sb suffer; seriously harass, tor-ment, or persecute sb S: father, boss; migraine,fever; heat; mosquitoes; enemy bombers □ I' ll get hell if I interrupt him in the middle of making arecording.□' How's the toothache this morning,Jeff?'' Bearable at the moment, but it gave me hell all night. ’□ For two years, while she was making up her mind, she had given Charmian hell, threatening to leave every month. MMgive (sb) etc the impression (that/ of being)[possess] intentionally, or unintention-ally, make people think/ come to think that sth is so, without precisely defining it or giving an example V: give (sb); △ get, gather, form, be left with o He certainly gave the impression that he was rather bored by his company.□ They can't very well poison a bottle of wine. You could give the impression of being an alcoholic,somebody who doesn't eat but only drinks. OMIH□'I always thought you were a nurse.''I wonder how you got that impression?’ givesb an inch(and he' ll take a mile etc)[possess](saying) if a particular person is shown any generosity or tolerance at all, he will then increase his demands, be excessive in his claims or behaviour◎:a mile,△a yard,(old use) anell□(readers` letter) With this government we had to make our stand now because if we gave them an inch they would be quite content to ride rough-shod over all our principles in taking the prover-bial mile. NS□(NONCE) All that later pessimists have in common with Guy Thorne is the belief that human nature is essentially bestial, and that therefore, if you give' the masses' of humanity an inch they are liable to give you hell. OBS o Ilike that class a lot. Can't give ' em(= them) an inch, mind, but none the worse for all that. TT o often used in part, as shown. give it a try[possess](informal) make an effort to do, or obtain, sth 10: medicine, treatment;suggestion, proposal; course □ How silly of him to decide he wouldn't qualify for a grant without ever giving it a try. □ ' Here, let me give it a try,' Laurence said. But he couldn't unscrew the lid either. ◇△ next entry. give it/ sb a try [possess] (informal) use sth,employ sb, experimentally, to see if it/ he works well; give sb/ sth etc a trial(qv); give sth a whirl(qv); worth a try(qv) o Even if you don't think you' ll enjoy listening, give it a try. You' ll prob-ably be surprised. RT□‘Bread sauce? Horrible stuff!’' Not as I make it. Go on, give it a try.'ウ△ previous entry. give sb a kick/ get a kick doing sth[possess] give sb/ get a thrill; give sb/ get a sharp sensation of enjoyment, power etc S: ex-perience, change; trip, flight; crime. det: quite a, one hell of a, no end of a o ' Look,' I said.pointing to the west, a good sunset always gives me the hell of a kick, ' I said. RATT□' Half the kids,' one boy told me, ' don't like smoking fags all that much. It's doing it in the lavs (=lavatories) and that, because it's not allowed,that gives them a kick.’□ I get a tremendous kick water-skiing — there's such a sense of 227 <228> give (sb) a lead— give (sb)/ get notice movement and freedom. ◇ △ get a kick out of(Vol 1). give (sb)a lead [possess] take the initiative in some matter; make oneself responsible, by in-struction or example, for events $: father; offi-cer, manager; government. adj: clear, firm,clear o He was emphatic that when the war was over, I must speak out and say these things, and give a lead in the matter. MFM a The GeneralCouncil rightly seek to give a lead to the Con-ference by putting forward a motion on the Scot-tish economy. SC□These people are ignorant, not lazy, and, given a lead, could quickly improve the quality of their crops and livestock. give sb/ get a log up[possess](informal) help sb to mount a horse, climb a wall, etc by placing a hand under one of his feet to give him an upward heave/ be helped in this way;(fig) help sb with money, influence used on his behalf to get, or do, sth he wants or needs/ be helped in this way. 10: neighbour, colleague; industry,agriculture a Hugo began to put his money into films. He started to do this in a vaguely philan-thropic way, in order to give the British film industry a leg up. UTNo Why not just keep on your regular patients and give that new young dentist across the square a leg up by recommend-ing any newcomers to him?□ He is determined to achieve whatever he does achieve in life on his own terms. He doesn't want to be givens log up by his family. NS give sb etc a lift[possess] take sb somewhere in one's car, esp on a journey that one is already making V: give sb; △ get, have(got); thumb((informal) =‘signal to passing cars with arm outstretched and thumb cocked')□' You won't get back unless you start now.'I added unwilling-ly, 'I' ll give you a life if you like.'QA□ You might have asked that woman with the baskets if she wanted a lift. □ Hikers used to be people who took a walking holiday with rucksacks on their backs. Nowadays, they sit on them by the road-side thumbing lifts. give sth/ have a local habitation and a name [possess] give/ have a precise identifica-tion D(source) And as imagination bodies forth/The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen/Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing/A local habitation and a mom@.MIDSUMMERNIGHT'S DREAM VI□ Quinton's book cannot, in-deed, be taken as totally representative even ofOxford philosophy as a whole. If it must be given = local habitation, no name would be more appropriate than‘New CollegePhilosophy’. Lo If Bergman is hinting at the aboriginal calamity, should he not give it more of a local habitation and engaine? L give a mar etc enough rope (and he' ll hang himself) [possess] (saying) sb allowed sufficient freedom of action will eventually overreach himself, cause his own downfall,come to harm, etc IO: a man, these chaps; a thief, a suspect. det: enough; △ more, plenty(of) o Napier had decided to give Theodore a little further time to surrender——a little more rope with which to hang himself. BN□ Donald's success (was) due to factors of which he had no comprehension— desire by some to curry favour with Robin, determination by others to let him https : / / r op@ and hang himself.ASA o Wilson 228 did, from time to time, toy with sacking George.But I suspect that he knew that he had given him enough rope and that George Brown would hang himself, as he duly did. L o variant let a man etc have enough rope (and he' ll hang himself).give sb etc his marching orders [possess](military) give troops the command to carry out a training march, proceed from A to B, advance to a fighting front, etc; (fig) direct, instruct,dismiss etc sb V: give sb his; △get one's; have(got) one's o The answer to the question, ' Who,in a democratic society, is to give the scientists their marching orders?’ is quite simple:democratic society itsel/ and its elected represen-tatives. NSoMrHeathhas beengiven his march-ing orders simply because he has been found guilty of the one crime in the Torycharge-book for which there can be no forgiveness: He failed' and therefore he had to go. NS givesb/ sth a miss[possess](informal) not do sth, not go somewhere, as one might be expected to do, or as one has been in the habit of doing/avoid meeting sb, or omit him, on a particular occasion, from an arrangement, invitation etc10: film, show; lecture, party; club, restaurant/boyfriend oI asked him why he didn't come back home.' It is impossible,' he said. He seemed to be psychologically committed to the policy ofgiving the place · miss. CON□ He nce our profound at-tachment to and love for the Jesus Bor. We did however give Jesus a miss one night for a sort of token meal in the town. STa‘You know I always see Jake on Friday nights. '' Well, you' ll have to give him miss for once.' give sb/ sth etc a new etc lease of life[possess] provide an improvement in, or re-newal of, sb's health, vigour, happiness etc; give sb/ sth further opportunity of success, popular-ity V: give, △ offer sb; get, have; take on. adj:new, △ second, another o Far from being too much for her to cope with, the care of her grand-children seems to have given the old lady a new lease of life. oGive your poor old restricted brain anew fesse of life with what Dr Edward de Bono calls ' lateral thinking' . RT o' How come that clock's working again?''I knocked it off the shelf last night, since when it seems to have taken on another learn of life.'o He volunteered for the same colliery, which was enjoying, if that is the word, a swcond le&s· of life, having been con-demned in the inter-war years. OBS o In theBenelux countries fears are being expressed that unless the Community is glov es of life by enlargement, Germany may reject her present role as its chief financial mainstay L give (sb)/ get notice' [possess] give (sb)/ get advance information about sth one/ sb intends to do det: much,a lot(of),(very) little o l sat at the window trying to see who was there to meet me.It was likely to be my father. I hadn't given them much notice. RFW◇A givesb etc warning. give(sb)/ get notice² [possess] give/ get for-mal notification that employment is to end 8:employer, boss; employee, staff; servant. det:one's, a week's, a fortnight's o My chauffeur's ghronnotice. He's going toget married. HDoThe factory is cutting down all the time. I'm always expecting my husband to come home and say he's got his notice.□Ifhe wants to getrid of you, he' ll have to give you a fortnight's notice. O of give <229> give sb/ get an old-fashioned look— give sb etc a rough ride (sb) notice to quit, said of a landlord in relation to a tenant. give sb/ get an old-fashioned look[possess](informal) give sb/ get a reproving, or disapproving, glance prep: with □ When Boh said we'd go out for a pint and come back later, his wife didn't say anything but she gave him a right old-fashioned look and then picked up the tray with the tea things and marched off to the kitchen.□' Idon't think it's so damned funny myself.'' Ido,'I said, and grinned a bit more. He looked at me.old-fashioned as we say up there. CON□ ' And then there are all the arrangements, catering—it's enough to put anybody off(getting married).Pat lookedather in an old-fashioned way, and then obviously decided it was none of her business really. Tro variant lookatsb(in an) old-fashioned(way). give sb/ get the old one two [possess](dated slang) give sb/ get an ogling look that declares a sexual interest or invitation; give sb/get the glad eye(qv)o‘You’ re a wicked boy to be so late, she said. Ron gave her what he called his old one two' look. HAAo An atmosphere of heavy hot-eyed sex prevailed, everyone giving everyone else the old one two, because at the end of the week they'd all be safely home again.ST give sb/ sth/ get the once-over [possess](informal) assess sb/ sth/ be assessed rapidly with a travelling glance; calculate sb/ sth`s suitability for a purpose, role etc/ have one's suitability for a purpose, role etc calculated by sb 10: patient, applicant; shop, plant; car, boat□ A thick-set woman peeled the coats off our backs and gave us the once-over. CON□A man pushed open the swing door, stood uncertainly for a few seconds and went out again. Probably giving the place the once-over and deciding he wasn't hungry, ' I said. □ He wasn't quite sure what his feelings for Lucy were but he wasn't going down to Exeter for the weekend to get the once-over from her parents. give or take ten years etc allowing, in an estimate, for a margin of variation or error of ten years etc up or down O: ten years;a mile;a pound or two; a few herrings; several inches □What was the size of the traffic when you took over the job?’ Blaize shrugged his shoulders.' About ten million pounds a year, give or take a million,' he said. DS□Give or take a handful the herrings are packed two hundred to the barrel.□We got our loo in for Easter, give or take a day or two, but it doesn't flush yet and we have to use buckets. OBS a front, middle or end position. gives b etc a piece of one's mind [possess](informal) let sb know. bluntly or angrily,exactly what one thinks of him or of his behaviour V: give sb, △ let sb have; get □/shan't be sorry to have the chance of giving the old windba g a piece of my mind. Perhaps he won't have such an enjoyable Christmas. EMo If any child of mine spoke to me like that, I'd let him have a piece of my mind.□My wife got fed up with his self-pity and gave him a piece of her mind one night. D often in first person state-ments or threats. give sb the pip [possess] (slang) irritate, or depress, sb o He overdoes the name dropping,Well, we were having dinner with the Oliviers, when-- - ' It gives some people the pip. But it shouldn't because it's endearing really. OBS □Can't we change the subject? All this talk about wills and dying is giving me the pip. give sb/ get the push etc[possess] (infor-mal)(try to) dismiss sb/ be dismissed from one`s company, home, employment, public office, a committee etc IO husband, colleague, em-ployee, official, member. O: the push, ▲shove.(old) heave-ho□(to a hospital patient) Soon. Isuppose, they' ll be wanting to give you the push from here. You must rehabilitate yourself, as they would say. HAH□ Then if your daughter has to come here with her kids, I' ll be getting the push,I suppose?□If he doesn't resign after this term—— which he won't —— we' ll just have to give him the shove. give sb etc the raspberry [possess] (infor-ma!) make a rasping explosive sound with the tongue and lips, as a sign of derision or rejec-tion; treat sb with similar rudeness and con-tempt V: give sb; △ get; draw, earn □ SnooperRiley and Tugs Campbell gave him the rasp-berry on the Green today. OBS□ NowI am aware.that this sort of statement is liable to draw loud raspberries from all sides of the house, not to mention cries of ' No!' and ' Get Away.'SG□ Tell-ing them that they are interesting examples of contemporary sociology might earn you a clump round the earhole (= a blow on the ear) fromTerry or a verbal respberry from Boh, margin-ally the more civilised of the two. RT give sb a ring/ tinkle [possess] (informal)speak to, get in touch with, sb by telephone oViola's in the telephone book. If you like I' ll give her a ring tonight. RFWa You' ll be all right now.said the kindly neighbour from the flat upstairs.But if you want anything or don't feel well just give me a tinkle and I' ll be right down. give sb/ sth etc a rough st c passage[possess] cause a ship, and/ or those sailing on it, to have a rough, dangerous etc voyage; give sb/ sth etc a trying, painful, difficult etc time (in the course of accomplishing sth) V: give sb/ sth;△ get, have, be in for. IO: speaker, teacher;legislation, proposal. adj: rough, △ stormy,smooth o There's a tide rip out there that can give small boats a rough passage. □ You could see, if you cared to, that his leg must have given him a rough passage in its time. TT□ The Bill was given a smooth page through the Com-mons.□ A certain amount of rowdyism had been traditional at Rectorial addresses in Scottish universities and speakers knew they were in for e rough passage. give sb etc a rough ride [possess] subject sb to hard or painful experience(s), abuse or ridicule V: give sb,△ get, have; be in for o His own GP felt that Geoff had been given a rough ride in hospital.□ Th ere was at least an equal chance that Mr Jenkins, if not actually torn limb from limb, would have had an extremely rough ride. NS□I knew the coloured lads might get a rough ride from spectators and opponents, so Imade a point of warning them that players are bound to try any trick to get them rattled. TVToHe went to Joan Littlewood's theatre workshop in London and subsisted on scraps once more.That kind of rough ride has obviously shaped some things in his personality. SC 229 <230> give sb etc a run for his money— give sb stc a thick ear give sb/ sth etc a (good) run for his/ its money [possess](informal) cause etc another race-horse to strive to the utmost in order to win or run well enough to satisfy or encourage its backers;(fig) provide sb/ sth with challenging competition or opposition; provide sb with reward, interest, enjoyment etc in return for outlay or effort V: give sb/ sth; △ get, have □' They all fall for Joe,' Hoylake said. He sighed.' Mind you, when I was younger I'd have given him a run for his money.'RATToI think he's got a bone to pick with you. Something to do with your interpretation of the seals. So we' ll give you a bit of a run for your money. ASA□ Le VieuxPuant de Lille is the smelliest cheese in the world— though a really powerful Limburger would probably give it a good run for its money. Ggive sb etc the run of the house[possess]give sb etc freedom, permission to use one's house as if it were his own V: give sb; △get,have. o: the house, the library, the place, his uncle's workshops a Jenny(a lodger) was sorry she had never bought herself a kitten as she had planned at the start. But she could not give it the run of the house, and to keep it shut up in her room would have been cruel. TGLYoJEAN: We had absolute trust in the man. They had complete run of the house. YAA□In the end he landed up with an enlightened clergyman in Truro who gave him the run of his library and taught him all he knew. SC give sb/ sth etc short shrift [possess] give sb a brief, perfunctory form of confession and absolution before a public execution;(fig) deal with sb/ sth summarily, impatiently, in a dis-missive way V: give sb/ sth; △ get, have. IO:heckler, critic, intruder; programme, broadcast□ The Minister gave the deputation short shift,telling its leaders he had no sympathy for a cam-paign that appealed for public support by means offalse statements and exaggerated accusations.□ Even the man with a roving eye gets short shrift if he goes in for marriage-breaking. UL o(reader's letter) Despite the short shift whichMagnus Magnusson has given to the critics of'BC: The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', we should like to make further comments on behalf of our 800 or so members. RT give sb/ sth the slip [possess] (informal)avoid meeting sb; escape sb's notice, super-vision or control; avoid carrying out some duty etc esp when this is done without attracting no-tice or reproof IO: a boring colleague, a tiresome neighbour; guard, supervisor; enemy,pursuer o Godfrey decided to give MrsPettigrew the slip again this afternoon and go and see Olive. MMo Sir Julius has not been here.Funny. He must have given me the slip. I could have sworn I saw him making off in this direction.EM□ I'd given up hopes of getting you here. But you haven't told me how you managed to give the desert(=a work assignment) the slip, and why you decided to leave. TBC give sb etc some rope[possess] (informal)not force sb to follow too strict a discipline or control (from allowing a captive, or domestic,animal a long tether) V: give sb,△ allow sb, let sb have. IO: child, pupil, student, employee.det: some, more, less, a bit of, too much oWe' re an old-fashioned firm, Mr Smith, but not 230 hide-bound. We' re not averse to giving a man with ideas of his own some rope.□ You' re abso-lutely hopeless about people you like or who you think like you. You—— give them too much rope. You let them kick you around too much.ILIHI Tony's nearly sixteen. You' ve got to give kids a bit of rope as they grow older. give sb etc something to complain etc about [possess] give sb who is(in the habit of)complaining etc some reason to do so/ have some reason to complain etc V: give sb,△have(got), there be. prep: with, without. Inf: to grouse, to cry, to sulk, to worry o I said you weren't to have any more sweets. So just stop snivelling or I' ll give you something to cry about,o‘Don't go,’ he said. ' Come and live with me. That would give her something to gripe about.’ AITC□ If your hair was falling out like mine you'd have something to complain about. o Now here is a man with something to mo an about. He bought a new car three months ago and it's been back to the garage five times because of poor workmanship or faulty parts. Ooften used as threat or following conditional constructions. give sb/ have something to think/ talk about [possess] present sb with/ have a problem, difficult decision, etc to make; startle or upset sb/ be startled or upset by a threat,defeat etc, or through unexpected or unconven-tional speech or behaviour o The doctor's remark that the wife of any alcoholic should take a close look at herself has certainly given me something to think about. □' We gave them something to think about,' said Sam. ' He won't want to come and fight us again in a hurry.'LFo If he went on a cruise and came home with a wife and four ready-made kids the neighbours would have something to talk about.□Togive them something to think about, Davies has set up an office right in the back garden of hisAmerican competitors on the outskirts of Bos-ton. ST give and take[v+ v non-rev](be able to) ar-range matters sensibly and tactfully with others so that each gains advantage or suffers disad-vantage to the same extent; show mutual toleration between people or groups o We had to learn how to give and take, otherwise I think it might have been a very disastrous situation after four years. ST o We often require, in the give and take of social life, to recount our ex-periences to friends and satisfy their curiosities about us. MFF o What Miss Murphy had long tried to do was to project towards them the sound,friendly, give-and-take attitude she held towards other students. ARG o Don't let Jack overwork you. He never thinks of anybody but himself—— it's all take and no give with him. o also [n + n]—— usu non-rev but see last example;attrib use a give-and-take attitude. give sb etc a thick ea r [possess] (informal)give sb etc a blow on the ear or the side of the head V: give sb;△ get, need, want oEverybody's kids are the same. The only way to impress them is to give them a thick ear. RTo' Did he get a thick ear for allowing me to leave the country?''I gather so, but he didn't say much about it.’ TBC□ There's a couple of waiters, but they' re paid to do waiting, and you can't blame <231> (not) give sb/ sth a thought----give sb etc a warm welcome them if they look the other way when anyone starts acting rowdy, A man doesn't want a thick ear us well as having to carry things on a tray.HD o more often threatened than actually car-nied out. ◇ △ box sb's ear(s). (not) give sb/ sth a thought [possess] not think of, or about, sb/ sth at all; forget, dismiss from one's mind, or not concern oneself further with, sb/ sth A: scarcely, hardly. IO: her friend,his wife; it, the matter; such remarks, his ab-sence. det: a; another, a second; enough oAfter your wife's death, didn't you miss this hug? ''I didn't even give it a thought . Too many other things to think of I suppose.’ PE□‘I wish there was some way I could repay you for your kindness.’‘Please don’ t give it a thought.’ oThere will be plenty of young men in America.You won't give this Joe creature another thought. AITC o The popular Press has long found it profitable not merely to report but even to promote archaeological excavation; so that the other day in Cincinnati I scarcely gave the mutter s second thought when I found the eminent excavator of Troy at work in a comfort-able study amidst the machinery of the news-paper which is his generous patron. SD□James is going for a week's holiday tomorrow, but he hasn't given a thought to packing his things yet.give sb etc three guesses [possess] give sb etc three chances to answer a riddle, to guess who, what or where sb/ sth is, etc before being rewarded or punished; delay giving a piece of news to tease sb or to stimulate his interest by speculation(from a formula commonly used in folklore, fairy tales) V: give sb, △let sb have;get, have, take o (the door bell rings) TONY.Perhaps it's Philip. MYRA. Who is it? I'm not in.IONY:I' ll give you three guesses. EHOWo ' On the other hand, he mustn't let me slip out of his hands, otherwise someone else might corner me.So what does he do? What does he do?' ' We' ll take three guesses,' I said. CON give sb/ sth etc the thumbs down[possess] give a gesture, make a statement, ex-pressing rejection or disaproval of sb/ sth V:give sb/ sth,△get; be. prep: with□ ' Love Story'came to be made only after six major studios had given it the thumbs down. RTo If ever an as-pirant presidential candidate got a thumbs-down from the pundits, John Lindsay did this week. NSa Then I heard words in the hall and a split second later the two plain-clothes men were standing at the kitchen door and I knew it was thumbs down for me. PP◇ next entry. give sb/ sth etc the thumbs up [possess]give a gesture, make a statement, expressing acceptance, approval for, success achieved etc or wishing courage and good luck in a situation where he is likely to need these V: give sb/ sth,△get, be . prep: with a He's absolutely delighted to have scored that goal! See him running round with his thumbs up! o ' The surgeon told me exactly what he was going to do tomorrow, andI'm sure everything's going to be all right.'' Thu's the spirit,' Jean said, kissing him.' Thumbs up, eh?' ' Thumbs up if is, ' he said.previous entry. give sb the tip [possess] (informal) let sb know that sth is the case, is about to happen or likely to happen, esp so that he may take advan- tage of such information; tip off(Vol 1)(qv)o' How did you know to put your money on that horse?’‘Somebody I won't name gave me the tip.'a 'I hope, ' said the Editor, that if you do decide to lead another expedition to the Islands you' ll give us the tip beforehand.'RMo Well,thanks for giving Jim the tip. He found it very useful to know what his examiner's foibles were.give sb/ sth etc a trial [possess] employ sb.use sth, experimentally to see if he/ it works satisfactorily, suits one's purposes; give it/ sb a try(qv); worth a try(qv) V: give sb/ sth; △get,have. IO: product; medicine, paint; policy,approach o (advertisement) Have found Val-peda of great benefit for tired and aching feet.and sincerely recommend sufferers to give it a trial. DM o I don't know what to do aboutBobby's fits of temper. You could give ignoring them atrial, in my opinion. □'I'm stronger than llook, ' the boy pleaded. ' Won't you at least give me a trial?” give sth/ sb etc a trial run [possess] test a machine`s performance,speed etc under simulated conditions or as a preliminary to final production, sale or use; try out any new project, test the competence of a new employee or assistant experimentally for a period V: give sth;△get, have; do.10: boat, car; programme,method, procedure; assistant, employee, team o ' The first race isn't till 2 o' clock anyway. ''l know, but there are drivers on the circuit all morning having trial runs and I find that very interesting to watch. □ Besides the recovery in morale, the Eighth Army had been given a trial run under its new commander. MFM ﺩ It was decided to give the tinned puddings atrial run of six months in the chain stores of a subsidiary company. givesh to understand (that) make sb think sth is true; lead sb to believe (that)(qv) o He gave the Prime Minister to understand that in his view the British forces on the eastern flank could and should be more offensive. MFMo TheBritish public had been given to understand that, before the final decision on Common Mar-ket entry was taken there would be a referendum.SC: When I ordered these carpets I was given to understand that fitting was free of charge, and now you have put it on my account as an extra.□ often used to suggest that one was misled in being made to believe sth; often pass. give sb etc a warm welcome/ reception[possess] give sb etc a kind, positive reception or recognition of his presence, performance etcV: give sb.△accord sb; have(got), get, receive;there be; deserve. IO: visitor; team, theatre company; idea, proposal o ... a warm wel-come to LCDT(London ContemporaryDance Theatre) on the opening of their four-week season at Sadler's Wells. G o EmperorHaile Selassie of Ethiopia, flying back to his country after Wednesday's coup, was given a warm welcome when he landed at Khartoum today. To This shop is one of the most exciting.design outlets to be offered to us recently and deserves a warm welcome from architects and designers as well as domestic consumers. OBS□The invitation to come on boardgotawarm, not to say rapturous reception from the children.◇give sb etc a cold etc reception. 231 <232> give sb etc warning—a gleam in sb's eye give sb etc warning [possess] let sb know one's intentions, that sth is to happen, etc a reasonable time in advance; not upset, or in-convenience, sb with a sudden decision,penalty, task etc V: give sb;△get, receive, have.det: some, any; no, not much. adj: fair, ample,adequate; insufficient o The least he could do was to give fair warning of a change of attitude.CON o You might give me some warning when you' re bringing people home to dinner!□On April17th his client had received 7 days' morning to vacate the premises. ▷ △ give (sb)/ get notice¹. give way collapse; break; yield to pressure;become loosened; (fig) yield to the pressure of grief, temptation, despair, opposition, argu-ment $: leg, support, prop; bridge, trestle;floorboard; prisoner o The joists were so eaten through by dry rot it was a wonder the whole floor hadn't givenway.□AsI put my hand to the door of Sylvia's Café I had a mild attack of pins-and-needles and one leg gave way under me.RATT o'I didn't mean to give way like this,'Mary sobbed.□ When I refused to allow him to question Phuong without me he gave way at once. QA give sb/ get what for [possess] (informal)punish or scold sb for what he has done/ be punished or scolded for what one has done o 'Igave one of' em(= them) whatfor,' said Ralph,'I smashed him up all right. He won't want to come and fight us again in a hurry.'LFa You thieving hooligan! I' ll tell your father, and he' ll give you what for. □ For when the governor told me to be honest it was meant to be in his way. not mine. But in my own way, well, it's not allowed.and if I find a way of doing it then I' ll get what-for in every mean trick he can set his mind to.LLDR give sth a whirl [possess] (informal) try sth experimentally in order to find out whether it is suitable, effective, pleasant etc; give it/ sb a try(qv)10: it, this; the treatment, your proposal □A chat show with musical interludes has worked.And the reason it works is that, at this hour of the night, it is what most people who are still awake want to see and hear. Why not give it a whirl?Lo I'm prepared to give this a whirl. Senora, if things are done my way. STo' How can you say it's a rubbishy series if you never watch it?' ' OhI gave it a whirl when it started—— three or four episodes at least. " givesb/ stha wide berth [possess](nautical)allow a ship room to swing at anchor; steer past a ship at anchor, or past some other hazard, at a safe distance;(fig) avoid coming into contact with sb/ sth in the interests of one's safety, con-venience, or happiness; steer etc clear (of sb/sth)(qv)10: colleague. father; restaurant. shop o I think what excited them was the fact that he should he wandering about among us, unherald-ed, after having given the place such a wide berth for so long. CON□ Victoria resolved to give this lady as wide a berth as possible. Something told her that inventing stories to satisfy that kind of woman was no easy job. TCB□A reporter fromLynn actually joined the beaters while we were shooting! He very soon gave me a wide berth asI very nearly shot him in the legs. NS give (sb) one's word (of honour) (that)[possess] accompanies or introduces a claim, or 232 promise, in order to make it more credible (the implication being that the speaker would be a person without honour if the claim or promise were not true)oI give you my word of honor,Segura, that I didn't even know he existed until tonight. OMiH o I will give you my word of honour that you may safely ride by my side, andI will accept yours. ARGo' If I show you my secret den will you not tell my sister or anybody where it is? On your word of honour?'' Word of honour. I won't, Bill.'o variants have sb's word(of honour) (that),(on sb's) word of honour, latter used by children. give sb/ sth etc the (full) works [possess](informal) do, say, provide etc everything one possibly can or undertake to meet some par-ticular need V: give sb/ sth, △(formal) accord sb/ sth; get. IO: audience; visitor, guest; house,car o I' ll give them the works about London,the Octopus and the need for provincial culture.ASA□ They are what's known as Category One guests of the British Government, accorded, in terms of comfort and deference, the full works.Lo The boat wasn't ' patched up' as you put it. It's got a new engine, new sails. fresh trim.—— the works. (I'm) glad to meet you a greeting on the first occasion of being introduced to, or meeting, sb adv mod: so, very o‘You’ re Joe Lumpton, ’ she said. 'I hope you had a pleasant journey.' I sud-denly remembered that I should offer my hand.'I'm giad to meet you,' I said, meaning the words. RATTo ' May I introduce myself since our host is so busy? I'm Anne Cairns, and I think you are Bob's mother.’‘Glad to meet you. MissCairns. Do you live in Deepham too?'o warmer than‘how do you do?’(qv), but still formal unless stressed, eg/ am glad to meet you, So gied to more you at last. glad rags (dated informal) evening dress, or clothes kept for special occasions, parties etc o'I'm afraid I' ve only this old tweed doublet and Idon't expect Mr Mackay will have gled rags.'' Glad rags?' ‘Evening dress.’ RMo HELEN: Help yourself to a drink. Peter, and I' ll go and put my giad rags on. TOH o An uninterrupted camera sweep prepares us for something more shattering than the sight of Theo's wife, Hélène, prettily waiting in her Twenties glad rags by a Rolls. NS(the) glad tidings(formal) very good news口Glad tidings of great joy I bring/ To you and all mankind. ENGLISH HYMNAL 30□ Staff represen-tatives were given the glad tidings that, since the unions were engaged in a wage restructuring exercise with British Rail, the staff too should benefit from a parallel exercise. NS□The children raced each other up the stairs, each determined to be the first with the glad tidings. gladden sb's heart [V + O pass] cheer and please sb a I took out a tight wad of dividend warrants ringed with a rubber band, and the records in the wad would have gladdened the heart of a broker. PPa There was one incident which must have gladdened the heart of every schoolboy who has ever tried to penetrate his father's sanctimoniousness. STo To gladden our hearts in January Iris histrioides is the most outstanding of the small early-flowering irises.SC a gleam in sb's eye [Comp (NP)] (informal) <233> a glutton for work/ punishment— go (and) chew bricks etc sh or sth which is anticipated, for a time, with pleasure and desire, but which has not yet come about V:△be, think of sth as □ This was when we were living in our seedy flat in central London,at a time when you were still a gleam in your father's eye(= before you were born). □ Your cur for the twenty-first century may already be a gleam in the eye of a designer— even on the drawing-board. oBS□ facetious. a glutton for work/ punishment [Comp(NP)] sb always willing, or wanting, to work, or to tolerate hardship, physical or mental stressV:△ be, become; find sh o He's a glutton for work-the sort that would rather make a garden seat than sit on it afterwards. □ You can't afford to be self-conscious if you take part in It's aKnock-Out' and it helps if you' re a glutton for punishment 100.□ She's an impossible woman!Jack must he a glutton for punishment if he's staved with her for all these years o also pl glut-tons for work/ punishment. gnashing of teeth grinding the upper and lower teeth against each other, as an accom-paniment or reaction to pain, stress, frustra-tion: grind one`s teeth (qv) □ (source) But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth. MATTHEWVIII12□Andso. in a brief blaze of glory and to much weeping and gnashing of teeth in Monrovia and amongMonsieur Diamant's friends in Europe, IDSO(= International Diamond Security Organiza-tion) wound up its activities and prepared to dis-hand. DS□ Martha Graham has had more in-fluence on an art form than any other woman in history. Passing over much gnwshing of teeth and beating offeminine breasts, let's take a quick look at her track record. RTo She didn't know what to do. Bill's incompetence had made most of her work over the last three months quite point-less — she could have gnashed her teeth with sheer frustration. O use often non-literal and facetious, as shown; variant gnash one's teeth. (not) go any/ go no farther/ further be stopped, or dispelled; be treated confidentially;be kept secret S: illness, epidemic; rebellion,disturbance; story, confidence, rumour o' We can't cure baldness,' the specialist admitted, ' but sometimes we can keep it from going any further.’□Two people moved forward and began to speak in an attempt to stop this (quarrel)before it went any farther. HD□ She told me of his discretion: ' You could tell him everything and you knew it wouldn't go any further.'AHo He paused before going on with the letter he was dictating. I am particularly anxious, MissBaines, that this should go no further at present inside ihis office as well as out.' go as/ so far as to do sth/ that go to par-ticular —— often extreme — limits in talking about sth, in dealing with a situation, etco The younger Nicholls, indeed, hated his father so much that he went as for as to make two at-tempts at killing him off. STo The delegates spent a day discussing the prospect of advanced life on other planets. Many we nt so far, in their enthusiasm, me to treat the possibility as an ac-complished fact. To o Then Beatrice said, ' I wish you hadn't given your word of honour. You needn't have gone es far as that.'OMIH go begging be unwanted, be available for any-body who might want them $: job, vacancy;house, site; seat, berth o ' That flat over the sta-bles.' Mrs Middleton said. ' it seems such a pity that it should go begging. I thought perhaps you would like it. 'ASA o ' Won't you have this last sandwich?’‘Well, if it’ s really going begging.I' ll eat it.' o Why should I work when I could steal? Why sentle down to some humdrum uncon-genial billet when excitement, romance, danger,and a decent living were all going begging together?TVT go etc berserk [V + Comp] become etc filled with a maniacal fury which drives one to attack people or property (from Scandinavian folk-lore of warriors in battle)V: go;△be; drive sb,send sb □ A young man shot a girl he did not know and then himself. He is believed to have gone berserk. To Police searched the track(railway) for a man who we nt borserk at two stations. At London Bridge station he attacked the collector. then assaulted three other men.OBS□Mr Massey, the master, had to go down and see about the register or something; as soon as he left the room we all went berserk. ST a In the past 18 months the housing situation—— in fact,the whole property world--has gone complete-ly berserk. St o may be used seriously or not,as can be judged from context. go etc blue (in the face) [V + Comp](infor-mal) appear bluish because of sluggish circula-tion brought on by cold etc V: go,△turn (sb),be. A: with cold, with fear, with fright, with terror o I could see the way things were going.right enough. His mam (= mother) suddenly went blue in the face. LLDRa It was icy cold--enough to turn you blue in the facθ. □ The prisoners we nt blue with terror. ◇ △ go etc purple (in the face); go etc red (in the face). go/ be broke [V + Comp] (informal) go, be,bankrupt o In the depression of the ' thirties'.when everyone was going broke and all the properties were coming under the hammer at a knockdown price, the McConchies were prudent-ly buying land. RFW o I told him there was no point in undercutting competitors to get business and then going broke because there were no profits.□If we spend money at this rate, we' ll be broke in six months. go (and) chew bricks etc(slang) go away;be quiet V: chew bricks,△eat coke, fry your face, climb a tree, fly a kite, jump in the canal,jump in the lake o He thought there was a con-spiracy to keep him out of the big (football)teams. I said to him: Goundchew bricks, man.The manager's never heard of you, or your club either.'RT□'I'm going to get that fellow turned out of here.' ' Go and fly a kite. Do you think everybody's going to gang up on him, just because he gets your back up(= annoys you)?”□The fish traps would horrify the Izaak WaltonLeague. (The Izaak Walton League can just go climb a tree because the traps have brought us an average of a dozen fish a day for supper or lunch.)OBS□ The law might require me to (open the case), but I had the power to tell the Law go jump in the lake, for nobody but I knew the case existed. RFWo exclamation expressing derision and contempt; esp in direct or indirect imper constructions. 233 <234> go cold on the deal----go/ get far go cold on the deal [V + Comp] (informal)lose interest in, or not carry through at all, a proposed business transaction or other agree-ment—— either because of delays, or as a result of thinking about it more carefully $: partner;client, customer o I strongly advise you to lend(money) to our Italian friend for the down-payment. Otherwise, I shrewdly suspect that he will go cold on the deal. US o You were keen enough to go fishing when we spoke about it last night. You' re surely not going to go cold on the deal now, after I' ve bought the tackle and hired a boat? go etc crackers etc[V + Comp] (informal)become mentally unbalanced or disturbed;start to behave eccentrically or foolishly V: go,△ be; drive sb, send sb. adj: crackers, △bananas, bonkers, crazy, mad o If I have to share a room with Jimmy for another month,I' ll go crackers.□ Why did your aunt give that child a toy drum for his birthday? He' ll drive everyone banánas with the noise! ◇△ next entry. go etc crackers etc(about/ over sb/ sth)[V + Comp] (informal) become etc obsessively,or extravagantly, interested in, or occupied with, sb/ sth V: go, △ be; drive sb, send sb. adj:crackers, △ bananas, bonkers, crazy, mad □' Janet went crackers over that dog. ' she told me. ' She spent every minute that she had with him. ' RFWo ' Jack's looking miserable—— what's wrong?'' He was crazy about this last girlfriend of his——I' ve never seen him so keen on anyone— and she's just gone off with another man.'ウ△ previous entry. go dead on sb [V + Comp](informal) cease to function; cease to respond, or be interested; be,or seem, incapable of development, or com-pletion $: machine; radio, computer; class;project, painting, novel, song o Charles and I.set up our Ferrograph and microphones to record some of the strange night sounds. The machine,which before had worked so well, now went dead on us. LWK □ There's a two-way flow bet-ween actor and audience, and there's nothing more paralysing than the feeling that your audience has gone dead on you. o' This is one that went deed on me,' he said, moving aside a canvas that stood with its face to the wall. go their different etc ways continue their own journeys, disperse in different directions,to their homes etc; having had a common origin or bond, branch or drift apart $: travellers.guests; vehicles; members, devotees, disciples,.followers, lovers. pron: their, our, your. adj:different, △ separate; several, various o The' broad front' strategy was to be adopted. And so we all got ready to cross the Seine and go our different ways. MFMo Why had we suddenly become polite, almost distant? We were like the vicar and the doctor going our separate ways after the squire's tea-party. CONo All the other jazz musicians of his generation have gone their different ways but Steve Lane is a purist——one hundred per cent devoted to the music of theGolden Age. RT□They are all proud to call them-selves Americans. Yet, equally proudly, they call themselves Irish and Italian, Polish and Nor-wegian and German, and go their separate ways together. TVT go and do sth'(informal) move and do sth o 234 Then he straightened and said briskly, ' What about getting Prissi e a little brandy, AuntAnnabel? I must go and see about trains.’ DC□Will you go and fetch me another four glasses from the cupboard in the hall, Peggy?□' And I' ve got my violin practice, as well, tonight. “Why don't you go and do it now, before tea?'o go often superfluous here but reflects fact that one moves somewhere before, or while, acting. go and do sth²(informal) go and functions as a kind of auxiliary to the main verb— itself often do (the implication always being that the main action is wrong, stupid, or regrettable)□Day in and day out she'd work her fingers to the bone. And now what had he gone and done by way of thanks? LLDRo' If she was happy in the place whatever made her go and do a thing like that?’ I dunno (= don’ t know), Mr. Alan,’ he replied.'I dunno what makes girls go and do the things they do.’ RFWo Captain Segura said poorDr Cifuentes was so scared he went and wet his trousers. OMIH□ Oh, yes, isn't that wonderful?On top of everything else he has to go and get himself shot up the bum. TGLY go down etc like ninepins be easily over-come, brought down, scattered etc(from a game in which a ball is rolled along the floor at nine bottle-shaped pieces of wood with the ob-ject of toppling as many of the pieces as poss-ible) o I was a jack of all subjects and a master of none, but General Papers (ie examination papers on‘general’ subjects) went down before me like ninepins. NS□ This was the batsmen's first taste of body-line bowling and they went down like ninepins. SC go easy on sth (informal) use sth moderately,sparingly, in not too large quantities o: butter,bread; beer, whisky; petrol, paint o You can have yourself another slice of bread but go easy on the marge(= margarine) mind, it's all we' ve.got till I can bring some in from work. TTo And they said ' Goeasy on the dope!' I should laugh.If they'd given me anything else to keep the pain away, maybe I would. TSTo Try going easier on the brakes, will you, or you' ll have me through the windscreen. a Easy on the paraffin! There's not much left and I can't get any more till next week. o usu direct or indir imper, go sometimes omitted, as in last example. go far last long; meet the needs of users adequately $: money, food, supplies; cement,plaster. adv modi: very, quite, surprisingly o£45a week doesn't go very far these days.□Yo u only bought half a dozen bottles of wine! That won't go far among thirty people.□ A piece of meat will always go further if sliced cold.□ You know I'm not extravagant, Jim. I make the money you give me go as far as I can. o' Just take the 2-litre can in the meantime,' the paint salesman suggested.` You' ll be surprised how farit' ll go.'o often neg;positive constructions usu comparative, or contradict neg assumption, as in last example.◇△ next entry. go/ get far rise greatly in social position, a profession, or the arts; become very successful,or effective; go/ come a long way (qv) $:beginner, novice, pupil; movement, crusade.adv mod: very, so, that, as o His teachers used to say that the boy would go far but I don't suppose that even they thought a small village <235> go far to do sth/ towards (doing) sth— go native school would produce a future Cabinet minister.□ She has a good ear and a fine natural voice but she won't get far as a singer, without training.□But political integration seems unlikely to go very far so long as General de Gaulle is in com-mund in France. SCD often in predictions; often neg. ◇△ previous entry. go far to do sth/ towards(doing) sth help greatly to achieve a desired purpose; go a long way to do sth/ towards (doing) sth(qv) o The very activity required for rebuilding confidence in his direction of Vardon Hall would have gone far to dispel his depression and distrust of him-self. HAA□ A promise of accommodation in nine to fifteen months' time doesn't go far towards the solution of our present problem. go farther/ further and fare worse (say-ing)(one might easily) go on in the hope of finding sth better, but in fact end up with sth worse ' o The hotel is all right. It doesn't look much from the outside but they make you very comfortable. You could go further and fare worse.□ He's not a bad old stick. One could go farther and fare worse than have Jenkins for a boss. o often with can/ could/ may/ might, and used to make fairly favourable comment on sb or sth. go great guns(informal) do sth vigorously, or successfully; be very fashionable or popular oMost of the young ones had drifted off to the other room where Terry was going great guns u t the piano. □ ‘The old fellow's going great guns, isn't he?' whispered Anna to me in the middle of his speech.'I didn't think he still had it in him .’ o I myself remember buying a khaki green overcoat in 1969, when the military look was going great guns. TVT □ usu continuous tenses. go green (about the gills/ in the face) [V+ Comp] (informal) start to look pale, sickly-coloured, from nausea etc V: go,△be; turn sb.A: with nausea, with sickness o You' ve gone a bit green about the gills—— are you feeling all right? □ The younger ambulance man went green in the face, and I thought he was going to faint or he sick. go/ be haywire [V + Comp] (informal) go/ be wrong; become/ be confused; behave or func-tion in an uncontrolled or crazy way S: look;office、 switchboard; programme, schedule;things o I want the right time. My watch seems to have gone haywire. PE□ Instead, partly due to Mark Cox and Brian Fairlie unexpectedly coming through to the singles final, the original schedule went haywire. PE □ Cooks are traditionally liable to fly off the handle anyway and working conditions in that kitchen were enough to make anybody go completely hay-wire.□ Th e phones are completely haywire this afternoon——I keep getting the same number no matter what I dial. go it alone(informal) do sth, esp an undertak-ing of some difficulty, or that takes a consider-able time, without the co-operation, assistance,or backing of others a Merseyside has been under Government scrutiny since 1949. Liver-pool Corporation having till then' gone it alone'since the 1930s. To He put forward all sorts of schemes on how to capitalise on the unused assets of various companies, but his employers wouldn't listen. So he went it alone. NS□ In an age of motor manufacturing giants, it is not easy for the smaller company to go it alone. SC go like a bomb (informal) be an instant and thorough success S: party, comedy act, jumble sale; new product, latest book D I hope to produce two super courses, and a slight failure with the pudding makes the other women happy and the evening goes likes bomb. ST□They have been on sale in some London stores--whereTreasureware says they have been ' going like a bomb'—— and they are now becoming available in stores around the country. ST go/ run like clockwork function or proceed smoothly, regularly, according to a plan or a pattern S: organization; trip, tour; party; office.laboratory, kitchen o We' re used to emergency catering, we all know our jobs and everything went like clockwork.□When Mr Mays had the organizing of the school plays they used to run like clockwork. go etc like the wind move very fast; pass very quickly S: sprinter; horse; car; week, month. V:go,△run, speed, be off□ Harry was on his bike and going like the wind in the direction of the beach. □ Your uncle's left this parcel behind.Tommy. Be off like the wind, now, and catch him before he gets to the bus stop. □ Pop only knew that the month at St Pierre le Port seemed to have gone like the wind. BFA go/ come a long way make/ have made great progress— esp improve one's social or finan-cial status, standard or performance—— over a period of time; go/ get far (qv) $: politician.academic; company, department; movement,theory□HAVA:I think David is a lovely boy, he's got such a wonderful(singing) voice, he ' ll go me long way. HSGo They are very able people and will go a long way. What they musin't mind is if somebody pips them to the post for the topmost job. Lo Ideas about the educability of the masses have come a long way during the past 100 years.SC D go a long way usu in predictions with will,come a long way in retrospective statements with have. go a long way to do sth/ towards(doing)sth help greatly to bring sth about; go far to do sth/ towards (doing) sth (qv) det: a; some,a considerable, (not) the whole o If you can get some really good stories from Lewis any sus-pici on of bias will vanish, and it will go a long way to offset the effect of that letter. RM□DrBuchan goes s long way towards explaining what one commentator has called the ballad enigma’. SC o The report's defect can only be dealt with by tightening up and widening legal requirements. This will go some way towards stopping shareholders from backing the wrong jockey instead of the right horse. OBS□‘Money doesn't bring you peace of mind.' ' No, but it would go a long way towards it in my case.’ go native [V+ Comp] (informal) adopt the customs of a foreign country or region that one lives in, and abandon those of one's own oThere were even rumours that Scotland's greatest traveller had long since gone native and married what was quaintly called an ' African princess’. OBS o (time-shifts in science fiction story) I am well aware of your sentimental pen-chant for the Twentieth Century and its ways my 235 <236> go one better (than sb/ sth)—— go/ report sick dear, but surely it wasn't quite necessary for you to go native? TST go one better (than sb/ sth) outbid, or outdo, sb; be rather better than sth similar which was previously offered $: rival, com-petitor; remark, suggestion; joke, ploy □I saw the other dealer was determined to have the pic-ture: however high I bid he would go one better.So I gave up.□ The urge to go one better thann the next man which seems to dominate most people's lives in one way or another, is somethingI just didn't have built into me. CONo... a power-ful pressure, notably from advertising copy-writers to sell to all classes the ramified forms of individualism by which their kind of commerce must live, in the stress on the virtue of going one better' , getting on', ' being wideawake'. UL go one ' s own way follow one's own inclina-tions; have values, interests, pursuits, work methods, etc not the same as another's, or a group's, with whom one might be expected to conform o As far as others are concerned, what-ever they tell me to do,I usually go my own way.RT o After my encounter with Schoenberg had produced what Hans Keller calls productive ten-sion, Nielsen gave me the kind of intellectual and spiritual support I needed to help me go my own way. Lo' The English didn't want us.' so the local saying goes. ' and the Scots didn't want us.'Which left the land on either side of the Tyne to go its own way, to mature over the hundreds of years its own tough and vital lifestyle. RT◇ △get etc one's (own) way. go the pace lead a life of continuous, or ex-cessive, social activity; lead a loose, or dissipated, life o ' Of course I only got to know'her in bed.' ' Good gracious! I know you young people go the pece a lot, but I didn't think you'd he as brazen about it as that.’ DIL o What,another dinner in Downhaven? You are going the pscè, my dear. PW go phut(informal) collapse; break (down); fail to function S: marriage, plans; ankle, electric irono It was an experience she recalls with deter-mined optimism. The marriage had gone phurt.She was unknown in America. TVTo 'I shouldn't have to treat it gently.'I told him.' Other people can bang their car doors shut without the roof-light going phut.' go places (informal) (seem likely to) become very successful, improve one`s position $:actor, businessman; company. department oRaymond, of course, is no run-of-the-mill executive. Firstly he is still only 36, and the City loves nothing better than a young man who's going places. OBS□ Ron, too, was in a dreamy mood, going places' on his looks and personal-ity. HAA ◇ △ next entry. go places (and see people) (informal) be active socially; travel, frequent, places of enter-tainment, etc for interest or stimulation oSAM:I tell you, Mr Segal, that's what I' ve missed--Imean going places and see ing people. HSG oLarrie was going places that Mr Vin Salad would only see at the pictures (= in cinemas).ASADI was tired out and Jenny was in a want-to-go-pieces-and-see-people mood, and we had our first quarrel. D attrib use a go-places-and----people mood. △ previous entry. go etc purple(in the face) [V + Comp](in- 236 formal) start to look dark red (in the face)through being flushed with blood V: go, △ be;turn sb. A: with anger, with fury, with rage, with frustration o He held the kinds of left-wing views that can turn the face of a retired colonel pear-ple with fury.□The delay was enough to make a patient man go purple in the face. ◇ △ go etc blue (in the face); next entry. go etc red (in the face) [V + Comp](infor-mal) start to look red (in the face) through being filled with blood V: go, △ be; turn sb. A:with anger; with shame, with embarrassment oWe can behold an outraged member of Women'sLib going red in the face and choking with anger so that she cannot find words to express her contempt. SC ◇ △ go etc blue (in the face);previous entry. go right/ wrong(for sb) [V + Comp] turn out well/ badly (for sb); happen or be done according/ contrary to (sb's) plans or hopes $:things, everything, nothing, something; mar-riage, pregnancy; evening, talks □ It was a tight schedule but everything wentrightforus.□Ford did everything he could to dissipate his mar-vellous talent, but on at least two occasions things defeated him by going right. Lo Nothing goes right for Noddy today. TVTo His main aim in the (TV) series is to make the vet less necess-ary. ' How to prevent things going wrong by treating animals properly in the first place.’ RT▷△go wrong(with sth). go the right/ wrong way have a favourable/unfavourable result 8: contest, dispute; trial,hearing; war o He had opened the bag (of uncut rubies) meaning to cache the rest where, if the war went the right way, he could come back and collect them. ARG□ His lawyer advised him not to sue; the case could so easily go the wrong way and leave him worse off than before. go etc scot-free[V + Comp] go etc without paying the due penalty or suffering punishment(from scot, an old form of tax) V: go, △ get away, escape; let sb off o Men like the Kray brothers or the Richardson gang are often too canny to get personally involved in the crimes they are planning. It would surely be wrong to let them go scot-free just for lack of fingerprints.SC o It appears that, as the Act stands, if theTGWU (= Transport and General Workers’Union) had registered, it could have got away scot-free. SC go to show serve as a proof, or demonstration,of sth previously, or shortly to be, mentioned$: it(all), this, which o Anna le Page never used any French words mixed in with her conversation in the way that French people were meant to (ie usually did): it must just go to show how longAnna had been living over here. TGLY o He's never looked back since. He's got a boutique and a used car business. It all goes to show. don't(= doesn't) it? ST D often followed by that-cl,how-cl. go/ report sick (esp military) report, in person or through sb else, that one is unfit for duty,one's work, because of illness or injury o Bel-chem was an excellent man to have handy in case de Guignand we nt sick as he sometimes did after too much hard work and strain. MFMa They agreed, and Desmond was briefed to tell X that his principal had gone sick and was sending a <237> junior value r in his place. Ds o report sick formal.◇△ fail/ be taken ill/ sick. go slow reduce work, or activity, considerably;(industrial relations) reduce work, or activity,considerably as a form of industrial action in place of stopping work altogether $; railway-men, air traffic controllers; railways, ferries oThere's something wrong with his lungs. Nothing immediately serious but he does have to go slow.□ A go-slow by pilots of British European Air-ways demanding more pay had little appreciable effect on Easter holiday traffic. Lo Between 17April 1902 and the holding of a special con-ference on 15 May, Lord Kitchener, theCommander-in-Chief, agreed to what he himself called a ' go-slow' in the war. OBS on compound a go-slow. go stumming (derogatory) visit the house of poor people on fact-finding or charitable missions; (condescend to) visit a family, res-taurant, pub, place of entertainment, etc of a lower class than one usually visits— perhaps from curiosity □She had chosen to go and live inStepney and share the exposure of its people to the hazards of poverty and war. Her concern with the lives around her seemed so different from that of those who used to go slumming. AH□ T didn't expect to see you in the Public Bar.' ' Oh, theCocktail Lounge was frightfully crowded so we thought we'd go slumming.'o often facetious.go/ turn sour [V + Comp] become sour, ie no longer fresh, sweet, wholesome; (fig) become unfriendly, unsatisfactory, unproductive etc S:milk, beer; things; life, friendship, attitude, feel-ings; economic conditions, the market □ After25 years as an MP does he wish when things go sour that a career in music might have been poss-ible? Go / was certain in my mind that the whole operation was going sour. DS□The story centres on an attractive fashion model whose romance turns sour and leads her into a situation of ter-ror. TVT o Commodity shares are fine for the more knowledgeable investor but even he has to he nimble-footed and prepared to switch quickly if the sector shows signs of turning sour. OBSoEven his humour has gone sour. I think he just doesn't like people any more. go steady (with sb)(informal) have a stable relationship with sb of the opposite sex, of the kind that usu leads to marriage o I have been going steady with a girl for nearly two years,and we were shortly to be engaged. Wi o Half a dozen visits to the Cinema, and then they would be going steady; and afterwards— well, why not? HD□(reader’ s letter)I have not got asteady(boy friend) because the boys I like best just aren't the steady kind. H O usu continuous tenses; variants be sb's steady/a steady (boy-friend, girl-friend). ◇ △ next entry. go steady (with sth) be (more) careful or controlled in one's actions or speech; be (more)careful or controlled (in the use of sth)□ Here,you two, just go steady with that bottle! I want a couple of drams left for Dad and Harry.□I'd go a bit steady about calling in the police if Iwere you. They might uncover more than you want found out. □Goseedy, James. That's no kind of language to be using in front of the child-ren. □ usu imper. ◇△ previous entry. go straight (informal) give up dishonesty, or go slow—— go the way of all flesh crime, as a way of life S: prisoner, criminal oHe' ll never go straight, and if he wanted to, the lot he goes around with wouldn't let him. ASA□By the time Desmond came out of prison in October(19)53, he had no intention of doing what Sammy wanted. He had decided to go straight. DSgo too etc far exceed what is right, true,reasonable or just; carry sth too far (qv) s:critic, opponent; remark, comment; claim,proposal, policy. adv mod: too, rather(too),a bit (too), much too, a great deal too o JIMMY:She is a cow. I wouldn't mind that so much, but she seems to have become a sacred cow as well.CLIFF: You' ve gone too far, Jimmy. Now dry up((slang) = be quiet)!LBA□(reader's letter) After having quite a few drinks, she went too fer with another boy and is now expecting a baby. Wi□Possibly I went a bit far in urging on him my own plan. MFM o This nonsense about feeling better by tomorrow has gone far enough. I'm going to phone for the doctor, whether you like it or nol. O variant have gone (quite) far enough usu implies have already gone too fer; too can be premodified by rather, a bit, a little. go trumps (on sth/ sb) play a trump card which beats any card of another suit; (fig)outdo, score a success over, sth/sb□ In the third round of hearts I fully expected to see somebody go trumps on my Queen.□(advertisement) Go trumps at your next party by wearing this wool and metal weave. It's the newest fashion deal. go underground live and work in hiding,under a false identity, etc, esp as a member of a secret, or proscribed, military or political movement S: movement, party; dissident, op-ponent o' What about Rudy?' 'I'd have told him to radio London that we were breaking off and then go underground!' OMIHo Some say ' theGeneral' was secretly executed, others that he escaped and we nt underground. o The native healers probably went underground during the350 years of Spanish rule. OBS go the way of sb/ sth end in the same way,suffer the same fate, as sb/ sth specified (the im-plication almost always being that this is regret-table) o: his father, too many careerists, other small firms; the old ideals o He'd better watch himself or he' ll be going the way of his father and ending up an alcoholic.□ The young pharma-cist who has bought the business has already made plans to re-vamp the exterior. So MrEwan's shop is destined to go the way of so many small shops in London today. STo If it(Gaelic) loses another generation of children it is lost as a spoken language. It will go the $& me way as the Cornish and Manx languages have gone. RTo Religious sanctions for human behav-iour have long been in decline and it now looks as if moral ones are going the same way.口 variant go the same way (as sb/ sth). go the way of all flash(saying)(live and) die as other men do; suffer any of the changes,hazards, or temptations which men are faced with o (about Picasso) Now that the greatest artist of the first half of this century has at long last gone the way of all filesh, the small talents are doing their best to discredit his phenomenal achievement. SCo' Craze' embroils Jack Palance as a broke antique dealer who kills ladies to satisfy an idol called Chukee. Poor Julie Ege, 237 <238> go west—(may) God etc forgive me Kathleen Byron, Dame Edith Evans and SuzyKendall go the way of all flesh as he makes his rounds. NS go west die; perish; be lost, or got rid of(from the sun sinking in the west)o' There always used to be a white horse in that field.' ‘Fancy you remembering that, it's a long time since he went west.’ o Even now, when what used to be called compensating moral values have gone west, the end of‘The Getaway’ comes as a surprise. ST oThe food mixer must have gone west along with my baking tins, when we moved house. go west, (young man) go and develop new opportunities (while you are young and vigorous) (from a 19th c US catchphrase to promote the opening up and development of the Western States) □ Jacklin will do all right from British golf. In the long run. there could be an end to the fa llacy that the only way to make good in this game is to go west, young man(=play in US tournaments). OBS□ Th e old rebel went West — we' ve seen it on a hundredHollywood films. The freed black men wentWest as well. RTo They wanted ' the right kind'of young man to go West in 1927, and they were misguided enough to accept Pyke. TVT o now used in allusion to original catchphrase, or facetiously. go etc while the going is good leave,escape etc while there is an opportunity to do so easily; do sth while conditions are still favour-able or do not involve too much danger or in-convenience V: go,△get away, get out, leave,escape o MR BUTCHER: Good luck, son— but go while the going is good. DPM□Many European planters have already left Ceylon, retiring early to their bungalows in Surrey and Sussex, get-ting out while the going is good. SC o I could see that the alcohol would involve us in a rallen-tando and I wanted to go as far away as possible while the going wess good. UTN go the whole hog (informal) go to the full limit of a possible course of action; commit, or involve, oneself to the fullest extent o He was rich, but he had refrained from going the whole hog and becoming a millionaire, and he showed the same spirit of restraint in his style of living.HDo 'I'm a vegetarian, do you know with what intention? I want to live for 250 years.' ' Lad! Go the whole hog! Live for ever!’ St ◇ △ all or nothing. go wrong' take to crime, vice; start to behave in some socially unacceptable way o This chap came from a very good South African family, but he went wrong, and in 1951 he got a two-year sentence for conspiracy to defraud. SDo' We' ve been foster parents to eight kids in all, she said,and some of them from terrible backgrounds.They all keep in touch and not one of them has gone wrong. go wrong² err in calculation, judgement, or management o Perhaps all you need to do to see where you want wrong is to read the instruc-tions more carefully. a With a skilled instructor.to correct you each time you go wrong, bad driving habits don't get built in. ST□They ask why the young take to drugs, they ask where they, as parents, might have game wrong. SC go wrong(with sth) fail; prove deficient, or.unreliable s: something, nothing, anything, 238 what. o: experiment; air-conditioning system,lock; metabolism, sense of time, eyesight, left knee o My class were watching the demonstra-tion very attentively, no doubt in the hope that something would go wrong and I'd be showered with broken glass and raw egg.□If only I'd made the thing fifty per cent bigger. Then whatever's gone wrong, it would still have worked. NMoAs long as nothing goes wrong with my other earI won't be too deaf. o cf the experiment went wrong, and something went wrong with the experiment. ◇△go right/ wrong(for sb). God damn (it) (taboo) damn(it); blast (it)□MILLY: What's the matter with you all anyway?— Well, God damn the lot of you. I'm going home. EHOWo For the next ten minutes I want to talk to somebody else, so just take your God-darmed dirty hand off my wrist if you want to keep your front teeth. HDo Through prayers and psalms and rackety hymns, the Squire slept like a beaming child, save when a visiting preacher took some rhetorical flight, when he'd wake with a loud ' God damn!'CWRoI don't know whether these guys are communist or not. But if anybody asks me am I Democrat or Republican I'd say it's none of his goddam business. NS o The other player simply put down his cards and, shaking his head in disbelief, said,' Pug, you' re the goddam-nedest lucky player.’ ST o exclamation of strong irritation, displeasure, or anger; attrib use (GB) your God-damned dirty hand, (US)none of his goddam business. God damn sb's eyes(taboo) damn sb; blast sb o My name it is Sam Hall, and I hates (=.hate) you one and all./ Yes, I hates you one and all, God dam nt your eyes. GALLOWS'SONG (US)o CRAPE: Mrs Letouzel, you cantankerous old bag. what do you mean by complaining about your money? All you are asked to provide, God damn your eyes, are those few small comforts.THH □ The lucky sods (ie vulgar term of abuse)got there before us, God damn their eyes.口almost always spoken in anger, in hate, or with offensive intention. God etc forbid let us hope that what is men-tioned is not so, cannot be, will never happens:God,△ heaven, the Lord o ' Look,I must go.I'm late already. I didn't think you would want breakfast.’‘God forbid,’ He made a face. AITC□ The housewife might ultimately have some sort of television link with her neighbourhood store.Godforbid, there might even be, with computers becoming smaller and smaller, a computer link to the home. Lo You may be right, but I know if Iwere going to take a wife to Mars, which heavan forbid, I'd feel a tough, gun-toting Mamma was less of a liability. TST o fervent wish which negates another statement. (may) God etc forgive me possibly a pious appeal for forgiveness, but usu added to an account of sth said or done to note, or point out, that it was wrong, mistaken, mischievous etc S: God, △ the Lord; heaven. O: me, you,him, them; the poor soul, those responsible oIkilled and imprisoned and exiled those I loved because the Devil whispered in my ear through your mouth. May God forgive me! WI o Oh, Ihate you with your filthy mind! But how can Iexpect you to have anything else? You' re a Temp-lar! And now, heeveren forgive me, I'm bringing <239> unother Templar into the world . DC□' Boys, ' said the Biffer one evening in the Snorvig bar. I never came so near to hitting a man as I came to hittingWaggett this afternoon. ' The Lord forgive you.Mr Wuggert. I was saying . RMu That was the night Henrv may he be forgiven, got us to believe his wife was due to have triplets. □ pass form may I be forgiven (ie by God). God etc help sb sometimes a pious appeal,but usu a comment that sb`s circumstances are unfortunate, that he is, or is likely to be, in need of sympathy and help though perhaps not like-ly to get it $: God,△ heaven, the Lord o Isn't it time that husband of yours was demobbed? The war's been over a year already We' ve been living here five years--he hasn't even seen the place,God help him'CSWB□If that's the way he treats his friends then God help his enemies. □Nevertheless heaven help opponents if theyever play on dry grounds--if, in fact, we ever have dry grounds again. To Ivy's mother and father think of her as a perfectly ordinary girl, not doing too well in her studies, but popular', Lord help us! ARG God helps those who help themselves(saying) one has to make efforts on one`s own behalf before God can assist in making those efforts successful o Things will come out all right for you. God helps those who help them-selves, if you want another old saw (= prover-bial saying). AITC□ Fischer emerges not only as the victim of an exclusive dedication to chess, but also as a product of a society where God does indeed only help those who help themselves.By crushing others. L o either advice to lazy,indifferent, or despondent persons or, more cynically, a comment that it is wiser to look after one's own interests than to trust God to do so. (dear) God in heaven(!) exclamation of sur-prise or shock □(Jo is pregnant by a coloured man) HELEN And what about the nurse. She's going to get a bit of a shock, isn't she? Jo: Well,she's black too. HELEN : Good, perhaps she' ll adopt it. Dear God in heaven/TOH□Dear God in Heaven,I thought to myself, get me out of this mess and I' ll never tell a lie again. □ God in heaven, Mary, what's happened to you?' ' I fell off my bike.’ aADA: God in heaven save me from the claptrap of a threepenny pamphlet. CSWB□sometimes worked into structure of exclama-tory appeal or statement. God etc knows I don't know; nobody knows;one can only guess S: God,△ the Lord, good-ness, heaven. O: what there is; who arranged it;when to buy; where it landed; how to end it;which ideas o ' What does he hope to achieve by carrying on like that?’‘God knows, you’ d think he was trying to get himself disliked.'o 'I had a most glamorous evening dress, ' Eva said. ' Yes,'said Bob, ' and God only knows how it kept up.'RATT oAnd is this one of the bargains that will be kept when Gerneral Franco dies and is replaced by goodness knows whom? Lo' Does it matter now?’ she asked. ‘He’ s dead and we' re old.Heaven alone knows who lives at Melphan now. "ASAa Here I'm living, my posse of GhurkaGuards, who protect me very amiably from God-knows-what wherever my headquarters may be.SDo ... meditating on goodness knows what God etc help sb— God speed (sb/ sth) subtleties of mind and convolution of tempera-ment in his loved one. SML 口 can be modifiedGod or (the) Lord above/ only/ alone, and good.ness or heaven only/ alone, attrib use God-knows-what、 goodness knows what. God etc knows (that) certainly; emphati-cally $: God, △ goodness, heaven, the Lord oGod knows . English rule in Ireland has not been distinguished for wisdom or even common sense.NSa' We can 't really afford it, ' Brigit answered cheerfully. ' Then you must ask Saunders for money. Goodness knows he has plenty.' lx'l:He never did become a top-class athlete though heaven knows he tried hard enough. o affirms the truth of a statement. (serve) God and Mammon satisfying spiritual (God) and worldly (Mammon)interests, esp the love of money o (source) Ye cannot serve God and mammon. MATTHEW VI24□ He (David Frost) has huilt up a financial empire. He is still only 32. He may find other causes beside God and Mammon. io Paxton was one of those‘Christian’ businessmen who find it a very satisfactory arrangement to serveGod on Sunday' s and Mammon for the rest of the week. God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform (saying) God often achieves his purposes in ways which cannot be clearly seen or understood (the first two lines ofOLNEY HYMNS 35 (W COWPER 1731-1800)) O Her motives would then be huried beneath the issue of a son saved from moral danger. God---if one could believe in Him, she thought with a little laugh— would once more have moved in mys-terious ways His wonders to perform. HAAo(NONCE) Fowler, of course, knew that language.like God, works in mysterious ways its won-ders to perform. l. a (NONCE) One particular extract from Barrington-Ward's own diary is all too revealing of the way the Establishment(of which ' The Times' was then, of course, an integral part) moves its wonders to perform.NSo(NONCE) Attention has to be paid to lunch-time nourishment. But the law moves in mys-terious ways its functions to perform, and the only people who can be sure of a square meal are the judge, jury and prisoner. SC□ often freely adapted, as shown, usu for ironic effect. God rest him/ his soul (dated formal) pious,or affectionate, parenthesis used when referring to sb who is dead o As far as I know, my father.God rest his soul, only met my mother's people at his wedding. TVT God speed(sb/ sth)(dated formal) may God prosper sb/ sth o Together we have carried through one of the most successful campaigns in history, and it has been our good fortune to be members of this great team. God bless you andGod speed. MFM□Th e old man then came upon a group of women mending nets by the shore.' God speed the work,' he said courteously. ' Is there any kin to James Sangster, once of this place, amongst you?’ a All the same, isn't there something, anything, to be said for these (subur-ban) people and their chosen life-styles? As it is.little is allowed to impede the swelling food of bile. Ayckbourn, God speed him, would have been more balanced and forgiving. NS□ Harry's done so much for this school, I think we should 239 <240> God willing— the golden mean organize a dinner or something else special, just to wish him and his good wife God speed before they go to Jamaica. o now more usu in ex-pression bid/ wish sb God speed; old-fashioned form of well-wishing, esp for sb starting on a journey, task, enterprise, new way of life. God willing if God so wills; unless prevented by‘(an) act of God’(qv) or by some circum-stance over which one has no control a God willing, this was Richard Nixon's last campaign and he won it going away, for the first time in his life a landslide winner on his own. NSa We' ve had a lovely holiday and will be back again next summer, God willing, o I could come and stay for a weekend at the end of April provided you let me know the date pretty soon—— and always. of course, D. V.'' Cautious blighter, aren't you?'o front, middle or end position; variant DV =(Latin) deo volente = ‘God willing’. △please God. God's gift to sb/ sth[Comp(NP)] sb/ sth that seems specially created to be of use or pleasure、esp to persons of a kind, group or race、 or to a place, industry etc V:△be; regard, see. oneself as. o: women, lazy cooks; Scotland; the legal profession o Anyway, I'm sick of him and his soppy ways, and it may do him a bit of good to find out he isn ' t God's gift to women. PEo MrWilson today contemptuously dismissed theHeath Government as God's gift to militants and troublemakers. SC a ' Won't you grow any fruit?’‘No. Only rhubarb, God’ s gift to Scot-land and lazy gardeners.'□ Syphilis was God's gift to puritanism since it combined the horrors of a sexually transmitted disease (therefore shameful) with those of a slow and secret killer(therefore fearful). NS 口 often ironic. a going concern [Comp (NP)] a shop, busi-ness, institution etc that is well established,active and sucessful V:△be, become; make sth o Labour leaders yesterday started anew the search for a defence policy that would, with luck,keep together the party as a going concern during the next 10 months. To Junior secondary education has so far failed to develop as going concern. SC□ This time I accepted(a new ap-pointment). I felt that now I could depart with a clear conscience. Behind me I should leave a going concern. SD o You know the properties will never be going concerns commercially;most of them are terraced farmland which is no longer economical. Lo And as Sir Edmund was only eighty-six we hope that he will continue in his ways, for apart from a slight and often deliberate deafness he was an extremely going concern. WDM D last example a parody of nor-mal use. going, going, gone an auctioneer's warning that an article is to be sold unless there is a higher bid before his hammer goes down at the word gone o What's happened to Manchester?says the man behind the desk in the planning office. What's happened? Why it's going —going, going, gone. OBS□ also in extended use,esp facetious, as shown. the going rate (for sth) the usual sum paid for goods, or for a service, at any particular time; the general percentage increase being awarded to groups of workers in any one cycle of wage negotiations o Chung Ling Soo caught 240 the bullets between his teeth, till one caught him between the eyes and he was killed. The going rate for the secret of the bullet-catching trick is just £2 at Brighton, and there are not many takers. TVT□ If certain powerful groups of wor-kers settle their wage claims at 17%, we can expect other groups to look on that figure as the goingræt。 (still) going strong(still) active and success-ful; (still) maintaining its/ their popular appeal s: father, president; business, institution;periodical, orchestra, ballet o Kathleen is the only one of the original ' Children's Hour' broad-casters still going strong. RT o (tourism inBritain, 1912) The Corris Railway is going strong—— five bob((informal GB) = five shill-ings) for the combined rail-and-coach tour. STo(reader's letter) May we inform, or reassure,readers that the ' British Journal of Photography'has reached Volume 122 and is still going strong. Go ' I suppose Rockets are still going strong.'I said. I notice that the municipality ofParis is a customer of yours.'UTND after be, or may modify a preceding n. a gold mine any source of wealth, esp a product or idea which brings massive returns to its originator, or to those marketing it o That was all right as long as Ballantynes(publishers)kept on repeating the success of ' The Lady of theLake'. Scott himself was a gold mine . SCo With the North Sea oil speculators` need for coastal development sites some crofters who had scratch-ed a living for generations found themselves sit-ting on a gold ming. o Gerald Priestland began with Harmsworth's verdict immediately after the launching of the first‘Daily Mail’ in 1896:‘We have struck a gold mine!'L the golden age (of sth) the period when sth is at its best, happiest, most prosperous, most interesting, etc(from the Golden Age in Greek mythology — first and happiest of the suc-cessive ages of mankind) o For most English radicals. Paine's ' The Rights of Man' provided a bridge between their native traditions and the cosmopolitan revolution; the world of humanity and the golden age which many saw as opening up in the wake of revolution in America andFrance. Lo From about 1880 to 1903 was truly the golden age of mountaineering, when theLakeland pioneers developed their craft to such a peak that the best of their routes still provide a severe challenge today. SCo In the further cor-ners a few dilapidated carriages still remained from the golden sge of horses and prosperity.EM a golden handshake [O(NP)] a gift, or gra-tuity, given to sb on his retirement, or honour-able dismissal, from office,a job, service in the armed forces, etc□ A golden handshake for workers, financed by a variable payroll tax on employers can no longer be classified as an over-fed director's bad dreams. To We'd both just come out of the forces, blown(= spent reckless-ly) the golden handshake and were jobless. SCa(reader's letter) I was aware of the golden handshake' presented to Sir John when the BBCboard, not unaided by leading members of the political Establishment, dislodged the giant inJune,1938. L the golden mean the ideal (point of) balance <241> between too much and too little of sth; modera-tion in principle and in conduct o Trollope's hero and anti-hero personify the excess of virtue and the excess of vice which in his philosophy threatens the British golden mean. NS□ WalterKempowski is an author whose own life approximates to a sort of golden mean of con-temporary German existence; old enough to remember the Nazis but too young to have fought in the war, hailing from the East, resident in theWest. ST a golden opportunity a very favourable opportunity to do or obtain sth, esp one that rarely occurs or that, if taken, will provide ex-ceptional rewards V: offer, present, afford;take, seize; lose o Polytechnics present golden opportunities to a bright young lecturer. Start-ing salaries are higher than in universities, and there are unparalleled chances to experiment with new syllabuses. OBS □ (review of‘ThisWeek`s Composer`, Radio 3) Surely a golden opportunity was lost for demonstrating thatWalton's range is wider and deeper and more varied than is usually acknowledged. L the golden rule the best, most useful, course to adopt in a particular field or activity A: in politics; of advertising; for all young nurses□In uny relationship—— personal, business or social when in doubt, follow the golden rule. aTell him not to be impatient. That's the golden rule in politics. EM o ' Important business, ' Ishouted from the floor below. ' Fleet Street, Hust-le. Get there first, newspaper man's golden rule.’CONo But Tudor knew that the golden rule of merchandising is to create an appetite for some-thing that you didn't even know you wanted. Lo when unmodified, as in first example, ex-pression means' treat others as you would like them to treat you'. a good address a place of residence which lends social prestige, esp in a city district that tends to have well-to-do, fashionable, or im-portant people living or doing business there oThey could have got a far larger house in NorthLondon for half the price. " Ah, but they wouldn't have had such a good address.'o Why the militarily impractical castellations on top of a great house on the Welsh border? Because, then,as now, a castle is a good address. RT the good book the Bible □ She even took out the Good Book' from a dusty cupboard and sat it on the table as a testimony to the godliness of her home. HAA o The good book, if we are to believe it, says we are entitled to three score years and ten(= 70 years). Who am I to argue? OBSgood clean fun harmless and wholesome en-joyment or entertainment o Why not come and have a cup of tea with me and my old mum? Why not make a jolly day of it, with lots of good clean fun and memories of old times? CON oWell, what do you think? Very jolly, what?'' Oh yes, good clean fun.'TGLY□(film review) A lot of very funny people are doing their best to see that you get a good 90 minutes' enjoyment. This is good clean British fun. RT o HamishMaclnnes wouldn't, I imagine, class himself all that high as a writer. Good clean fun in theAlastair MacLean style but somewhat livelier.sco often ironic or derogatory. a good/ great deal [A(NP)] much; ofteno ' He a golden opportunity—— good and evil seems to think you care a good deal about Guy.Brigit said deliberately. DC□ The father has to be away from home a good deal and the boys are getting a bit too headstrong for their mother to handle. a He worries a great deal about his future. □ great, not good, in all neg uses. ◇△next entry. a good/ great deal (of sth) a large, or con-siderable, quantity (of sth) o: noise, distur-bance; unpleasantness, dissent; charm, en-thusiasm o There's been a good deal of discon-tent, locally, with the new traffic regulations. a' Did he have much trouble getting through the customs?''A good deal,I'm afraid.'□According to the campaign committee, revival supporters are generous people and a good deal of the money is being contributed in small amounts by hard-up enthusiasts who can ill afford it. TO□ The young animals spend a great deal of time and energy exploring, and therefore, learning, their environment. NSCo The all-party approach to theGovernment sponsored by the STUC (= Scot-tish Trades Unions Congress) may also not achieve a great deal . SC口 great, not good, in all neg uses. ◇ △ previous entry. a good/ great deal healthier etc[Comp/A(NP)] much healthier etc adj: healthier; better.worse; longer, heavier; louder. adv mod: too(long, heavy, loud; often)o Russian foods seem to be a good deal healthier, anyway, than ours.NSC□ It' ll be a good desl more expersive to have the floor sanded and polished than to lay a fitted carped. o 'I don't often interrupt you, do I?''A great deal too often. I can only suppose you' re unaware of it.'o' Can you manage that case?’‘Why not? It's not a great deal heavier than the one you' re carrying yourself.' o great,not good, in all neg uses. one's good deed for the day an action,appropriate to the situation and designed to help another person or other people, that one tries to carry out each day (the reference being to the recommendation to Scouts and Guides,that they should try to do at least one good deed every day, ie sth helpful to others) o Half-way through, the door swung open and a Boy Scout came in with Parson's camera. His good deed for the day, I suppose. CONa Tell them if they want to borrow the lawn-mower they can come and fetch it themselves. Tell them I' ve done my good deed for the day already. O often facetious. good aggl(dated informal) good! excellent!o'I managed to find a shop that sells all those things you wanted for that Chinese recipe you' re going to cook tomorrow.'' Oh, good eggl I was beginning to think it would have to be roast chicken again. good and evil{n+n non-iev] what is right and what is wrong, esp as forces or pnnciples in-fluencing, or exemplified by, human conduct□But men do not seem to be reliable judges of good and evil the help of the same God is in-voked by opposed nations, each believing that it has right on its side against a wicked enemy. AH□HELENA. I believe in good and evil and I don't have to apologize for that. And by everything Ihave ever believed in or wanted, what I have been doing is wrong and evil. LBA□On the whole, it had been a successful evening. An excess of emotion 241 <242> a good few((of) sb/ sth)— one's/ sb's good lady had crept into an argument on good and evil.TCM o non-rev when unexpanded, but cf a power for evil as well as for good, there is more good than evil in him. a good few((of) sb/ sth) (informal)a large,or considerable, number (of sb/ sth); a good many ((of) sb/ sth) (qv) o ' By the way,' con-cluded the chairman, ' our treasurer tells me that a good few of you haven't paid your annual subscriptions yet.’ o' Are there many of the origi-nal members about?' ' Oh,e good few.' good for sth[Comp(AdjP)](informal) able, or likely to, provide sth; fit, or equipped, to do sth$: father, punter, backer; oar, boat. V: △ be,seem, look. o: £10,000, loan, raise; another twenty years,a lifetime,20,000 kilometres□ He was a rich man in our estimation—— good for at least £10,000. □ If you' re thinking of raising money to help with the expenses, you should ask the Club members. They' ll be good for a pound apiece.□ 'I'm eighty you know. I can't expect to live much longer.’' By the look of you, you' re good for another twenty years.'o The Civic Ball was the event of the year in Warley, good for two full pages in the ' Courier'. RATT good for sb(1) exclamatory comment of congratulation or approval; bully for sb(qv)o:him, the boss, the kids o Yes, sir! TheAstronomer Royal is Chief British Liaison Of-ficer to the whole U. S. project.'' Good for him.'TBC o ' Well, I' ve persuaded your father to see a doctor.'' Oh, good for you! You must have been very tactful.’□(reader’ s letter) ' But then we never got around to thinking of emotional depen-dence as a moral virtue,' he writes. Well, good for Mr Cutforth, but I happen to be mystical and sanctimonious enough to believe that emotional dependence is important. Had Mr Cutforth ever been lucky enough to fall in love he would prob-ably think so too. L o usu sincere, sometimes ironic; stress patterns , good for' you(!), good forMr ' Cutforth(!). good for a laugh [Comp (AdjP)] (informal)likely to cause amusement V: △ be; find sb □Some of those interviewed were friendly and communicative; others, voicing distrust of the mass media and the way it has usually handledWomen's Lib—— always good for a laugh——refused any information. STO You could get Mike to tell a few of his stories. That's always good for a laugh. good for nothing [Comp(AdjP)] idle and use-less (the implication sometimes being that the person referred to is a scoundrel or wastrel as well); (sth that is) useless for any purpose S:brother, daughter, partner, ally; information;guidebook V:△be; find sth o MR SEGAL: A lot of good that boy will be to you, anywhere in the world. Excuse me, Sam, but you must agree; he's good for nothing. HSGoI once knew a military man who professed to believe that the French were good for nothing. AH□' Their son's old enough to help his father with the outdoor work.'' What! That good-for-nothing?' o ' Did you have any of your dress material left over?'' Just a heap of good for nothing clippings.' on com-pound a good-for-nothing; attrib use a load of good for nothing layabouts, can also be hyphenated. good going[Comp(NP)] rapid and/ or success- 242 ful travel, performance, progress V:△be; find sth o Our Australian roads are straight and good, and relatively empty, but even so an average of over fifty(miles per hour) was good going. RFWo(reader’ s letter) Can anyone beat this? After cracking four eggs, I got ten yolks— two trebles and two doubles. Good going,eh? DM□ Nine of our sixth-formers gained entry to Oxford or Cambridge that year, which was pretty good going for a provincial GrammarSchool.□Her work is hand-written. For' BarbedWire' she finished an episode a month, which is pretty goodgoing. TVT good grief(!) (informal) exclamation of dis-may or displeasure o' And how old's your boy-friend?’‘Twelve. He says I can go and live with him.’‘Eh?’ Pop said. He spoke faintly. Good grief, bit early wasn't it? BFA□(reader's letter)‘Tapu’ was an insult to New Zealand and theMaori people, the Maori being portrayed as a' cave-dweller who can reach the heights through education' as the so-called Maori King said in the meeting house. Good grief, who wrote the script? RTO often accompanies criticisms or ob-jections. good heavens etc(1) exclamation of alarm,dismay, surprise; or accompanies an assertion,denial, question, to emphasize it n: heavens,△God, Lord o(a nightmare) His scream came to an end only for want of breath, and as its sound died from his ears he heard his father saying,' Good heavens, Nicky, are you being mur-dered?’ DC□‘Margot, are you thinking of marry-ing Jim?’' Good hevers, no.' replied Margot,and from that moment on she began to think of it. Ho' Am I seeing things, or is that Tony getting out of that car?'' Good God, so it is! Fancy him turning up here.’ (it' sa) good job/ thing(that)(informal)(it is) lucky or convenient (that sth is true, does/did happen, etc)o It's a good job I can only think of these things as fast as I can write with this stub of pencil. LLDR o Forster himself provided his own explanations. It is a good thing he did, because it must be said that words like ' beauty', ' liberty' and ' democracy' are elas-tic. AH□ Someone else shouted ' Cops' and these two chaps that had been smoking scooted. No-body knew who they were. I said, ' Good job,too.’ ST□‘Perhaps you haven’ t been in love, MrsBatey?’‘Good thing I wasn’ t, or I'd have shot myself from disappointment long ago.'AITC乊△a good/(not) a bad thing. a good job well done a necessary, or worth-while, task or undertaking ably carried out or successfully completed o The ideal of fine qual-ity, of a good job wall done (always a bour-geois rather than working class ideal) had accompanied him into the new world. HDo The rescue team came home tired and dirty but glow-ing with the satisfaction of a good job well done. one's/ sb's good lady one's/ sb's wife oPhotographers are desperately searching for famous faces. There's a senator—— and there'sKenneth Galbraith and there's Jo Levine with his good lady, and there, there is Bobby Fischer.NSo As I was just saying to your good lady, sir,you don't see many of these old water-driven machines nowadays. D often used to refer <243> pleasantly (and perhaps obsequiously) to wife of man addressed. the good life the privileged life. real or imagined. of those who can afford to have whatever comforts, luxuries, pleasures they choose□ The good life is not simply a matter of putting up with things of making the best of it.hut one with scope for having the ' hit extra' that reully makes Life'. Ul a It is not easy to admit that there are limitations on the delights of being rich. handsome and successful. But GeorgeLazenby looks at the good life from an un-expectedly critical angle. RT a good/ bad listener[Comp(NP)] sb who says little but whose sympathetic attention allows.or encourages, others to talk sb who pays little attention to what others tell them, perhaps because they prefer to do the talking V: △ be.become; find sh o Fortunately a good listener istener to the two men and she hegan to pick up the jargon fairly easily. T(Bo I have too active a mind of n. vown to make a good listener and. if l cannot say my piece. I direct my thought elsewhere. □ also pl: a bad listener found only occas. a good/ bad loser [Comp (NP)] sb who is good - bad-tempered when beaten in a game.competition etc. or when surpassed by sb else in any activity V: be; find sb o This was the firstBritish Lions team that had been mentally and physically prepared for the demands of a long tour. This team was no l content with our traditional acceptance of being jolly good losers. Lo I am a good loser except at games.Show me a contest with little round balls and oblong pieces of coloured paper and I tremble with anxietr. NS□In the old days I was always irving to beat other fellers (= fellows)— and if/ lost. I was a bad loser. TVT good etc luck to sb may sb be fortunate and successful in general or in sth he is trying to do or obtain adj: good. △ better, the best of oHowever, for the time heing I was the boss andI decided to get on with the job in my own way.If later someone else was appointed, good luck to him. MFM o (reader's letter) Good Luck toRadio I - - - hut keep it for Radio I listeners.leave Radio 2 alone, and let us have our decent programmes back. RI□Some of the modern food experts seem to be eating everything raw now.Good luck to them , let them get on with it. Lo often used with the meaning 'I wish sb no harm. a good many((of) sb/ sth)a large. consider-able number (of sb sth): a good few (of sb/ sth)(qv) c ' Get a nice atom homb dropping down upon Eurls Court tonight. I said. That' l dget rid of a good many of us.'RFWo It seems the place hasn't been used as a builder's yard for a good many years. HD (all) good men and true honest, worthy.loyal people, esp as a body of responsible citizens, policemen, jurors etco To live one's life in the close companionship of the Force is to adopt a way of life bound by rules and regula-tions discouraging to originality and designed to turn out good men and true, formed to a pat-tern. NS□(reader`s letter) And why should one of the few programmes that one finds a complete the good life—— the good/ bad old days delight he shown at an hour when all good men and true are fast asleep?Rt□always in order of headphrase: modern use often facetious. a good mixer [Comp (NP)] a sociable person.one who can adjust himself to, and be liked by,various kinds, or classes, of people V: △ be.find, think,sb□ Harold was well pleased with the evening: he told Isabel he hadn't thoughtGoodrich would be such a good mixer. PW□ An expression heard frequently was that so-and-so was a good mixer. A good mixer of drinks. Icame to believe , for it soon appeared to me that a good mixer was a man who had never been known to refuse a drink. MEM □ also pl. good money[O(NP)]a lot of money, ie money that is hard-earned, not to be wasted, etc V:make, earn, get; pay, spend; cost o PETER: Oh.you get good money here--but you work! 'IKoJIMMY: You spend good money on a new pair of trousers, and then sprawl about in them like a savage. LBAoA great sound of wrath came fromIan. It was. I could see, his first encounter with an irate Scot being pressed to pay good money for nothing. BM sb's good name [0(NP)] the present, or poss-ible future, good reputation of sb . V: destroy,damage, injure. o: (of) the school. your country; the family, anyone o ' Remember, he said, that at all matches, at home or away, the good name not only of your team but of your city is in your hands.'o He has never quite done that (written a ruthless book), perhaps, because he is too kind to debunk, too civilised to destroy,someone's good name. SC (through etc) sb's good offices (A (PrepP)](because of) services, efforts, influence exerted on behalf of another or others prep:through. △ due to, owing to, as a result of oInstead Parkinson went to London and claimed that the retreat of the Cloud was in a large measure due to our good offices. TBC□ In the following year he obtained, through the good offices of a family friend,a post with a publish-ing firm which, though not highly paid, he found more congenial. □ Two or three years ago theAssociation of Municipal Corporations under.took to take up with various local authorities the question of swimming baths being made available at morning and night(ie outside working hours)for top level training. I have not yet heard of their good offices being called upon.Everywhere, athletic facilities are standing idle for much of the week. OBS a ' One of the best purchases I' ve ever made, ' said Richard. ' And entirely owing to your good offices. ’ TCB good old sb/ sth(1)a greeting, or reference, to sb/ sth for whom/ which one feels affection or appreciation □ They pressed forward, smiling and laughing, shouting Good old George I LoOnly another week, Fay, and we' ll be back in good old Bristol, meeting all our friends again.□Cotton or polyester-cotton slacks in a galaxy of colours and three sizes are£1-99, while good old blue denims are only 89p. SC the good/ bad old days periods in history, or in one's personal past, when conditions of life and work were (in the speaker's opinion)better/ worse than they are at present o In the1930s maids' wages were around £25 a year all found. These were certainly not the good old 243 <244> good and proper—— good works days, and it took another war to end it all. RToHENRY That's what hell will be like, small chat about the good old days. Ea To the miners.decentralisation signals a return to the bad old days of cut throat competition, with area boards instead of private owners. DMo It is always to somebody's advantage to persuade you that theBad Old Days ended when you were born. NSgood and proper [adj + adj non-rev] (infor-mal) proper(ly); valid(ly); thorough(ly) a No-body will be excused their turn of duty except for u good and proper reason, such as illness. □ He could see justexactly what George was worthand put the screws on (= blackmailed) him good and proper. PE□(1) caught him with a razor blade at my Renoir book. Clipped his ear good and proper. TTo It is right that we should have this scabrous aspect of Genet revealed to us and we get it good and proper (or bad and im-proper) at the Aldwych Theatre. STO usu func-tions as adv phrase of degree, though adj in form. good and ready etc(informal) completely,thoroughly, very, ready etc adj/ adv: ready,large, deep, hot, early □STANLEY: I think you'd better go to bed. CLIVE: I' ll go to my bed when I'm good and ready. FE o I meant to get up good and early and take a walk before breakfast. 口good and functions as adv of degree. good riddance (to bad rubbish) (saying)exclamation or comment of relief at having got rid of, or no longer having to endure, sb/ sth unwanted or disliked o As Professor Talbot had been nothing but a very selfish, cross, complain-ing old gentleman and bedridden and senile for the last five years of his life, everyone had felt:And a Good Riddance. WDM o These are the sucker students on whom commercial correspon-dence colleges (many budget for an 80 to 90 per cent drop-out, collect a fat fee and quietly say good riddance') positively thrive. NS□ There's nothing worth stealing in the house except yourUncle Michael's silver cups and trophies; and good riddance to bad rubbish if they were stolen! a good Samaritan a person who helps another in distress or difficulty—— perhaps with loss or inconvenience, and certainly with no profit, to himself(in allusion to LUKE X 30-37)□Claud Cockburn has taken the story of theGood Samaritan and has immersed himself in it imaginatively. Mr Cockburn's key theme is the danger of disinterestedness. SToI was really in a hurry to get home to watch a football match on telly but I decided to be a good Samaritan and lurn back with her without saying so. SCo also pl. (a) good etc show(1) a creditable,praiseworthy etc mode of conduct or action,esp in difficult circumstances adj: good,▲ first-class; bad, poor o She felt that his effort for the drowned man had been a good show and she told him so. RFWoIn the words of Osborne, who leads the raid, the important thing is to put up a good show'. NS□ Once she had put that scarf into MrDakin's hands, perhaps her task would be done.He would say to her, perhaps, like on the pic-tures: ' Oh! Good show, Victoria.'TCB□He does admit to once turning down a book about a hor-rible dog. ' It was full of things like“Jolly good show” and“I say, chaps”.' OBS a Marcuse 244 argues that such social repression of genuine feel-ing has gone too far—— though it may be a bad show for officers to cry it does not mean that' emotion' need become a term of abuse in every-day life. ST O good show! without article an ex-pression of approval or praise; dated upper-class public-school or military slang but still used mockingly as supposedly representative of usage of those groups. a good/(not) a bad thing[Comp(NP)] desir-able, beneficial/(not) undesirable, harmful in nature or result S: competition, indirect taxa-tion; democracy, having to fend for onself. V:△ be, seem, look like, prove o There are some places for which it's not easy to find a properly cogent reason for a national identity--except that independence is a Good Thing, in the ab-stract. Lo My caddie suggested that it would be s good thing if he accompanied me to Rye for the University match. STo Fifty years ago, of course, nobody had the least idea that com-petition in the classroom was a Bad Thing. NSoIn this remarkable first novel different forms of romance, the real and the spurious, jostle against each other. In case anyone is wondering whether this is a good thing,I will tell you that it is every good thing. NSO esp with capitals, deliberately parodied from Sellar and Yeatman's comic his-tory,'1066, And All That'(1930). φ ▲ (it'sa)good job/ thing (that). the good things in/ of life [O (NP)] material comforts, luxuries, pleasures V: provide, sup-ply; desire, crave a He drove off past the lighted shop windows, full of television sets and bottles of intoxicating liquors and other selections from the good things in life. TGLY o His talent has brought him the good things in life but not happiness. NS□ Brezhnev had made a very funda-mental change of policy back in about 1971,when they decided that the Soviet citizenry would be treated with better consumer goods—— more food, more of the good things of life. L (a) good wine needs no bush(saying) any-thing of good quality will become known and appreciated on its own merits and should not need to be advertised or boasted about(former-ly, a bundle of ivy hung outside a building was a sign that liquor could be bought within) o If it be true that good wine needs no bush, ' tis true that d good play needs no epilogue. AS YOULIKE IT: EPILOGUE D The revised edition ofJanouch's remarkable memoir needs no bush from me, but let me commend ' AmericanViolence' available as a sizeable Vintage paper-back. NS□A good wine needs no bush. If the piece is a good as you say it is, stop talking about it and let me hear it for myself. a can be used in part and allusively, as shown. good works charitable or welfare work o(source) Now there was at Joppa a certain dis-ciple named Tabitha: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. ACTSIX 36□She put an envelope (containing a dona-tion) in Mrs Paxton's hand which that lady, who was very practical and in the cause of good works had no shyness or reticence, at once opened. WDM o ... produced by the FurtherEducation Department of the BBC at those ad-vanced and sleepy hours usually reserved for minority interests like gods, poetry and good <245> the goodies and (the) baddies— the grass roots works. RT the goodies and (the) baddies [n + n non-rev](informal) the (groups of) people represent-ing good and evil in stories, films etc of adven-ture, crime, espionage o Mr Hurd has very sim-ple ideas of right and wrong. His novel, ' TruthGame', lines up the goodies and baddies as clearly as any two-bit ( = cheap) Western. NS□It doesn't often happen in world politics that the goodies defeal the baddies. It happens even more rarely outside strip cartoons that the little goodies beat the big baddies not once but several times. L (my) goodness (me)(1) exclamation of(mild) astonishment, pleasure or dismay D He looked at me, then put out his hand to feel the texture of my suit.' High grade worsted,' he said.' And look at that shirt and tie! My goodness,Mr Lampton, however do you manage on your(clothes rationing) coupons? ' He has connec-tions, ' Reggie said. RATT□ ' Oh, goodness me.child, ' his grandmother fussed, ' wherever did you learn such a horrid word as that?’□ So here you are at last. James. My goodness me, it has been a long time' a stress patterns , my goodness,, goodness ' me, my , goodness ' me. goods and chattels [n + n non-rev] (sb's)belongings or part of them □ She piled various goods and chattels into Wayne's pram till you couldn't see the baby for the articles surrounding him. NS□It's amazing, the amount of goods and chattels my husband finds it necessary to take with him on a fortnight's holiday.□ The old boss knew the workers by name— but not this chap.We' re just goods and chattels, nothing more.□chattel (legal term for an article of moveable property) not common usage except in this ex-pression. one's gorge rises one feels nausea or disgustA: at the thought (of sth), at the sight (of sth).at the sound (of sth)o She knew instinctively of what he was going to talk, and she tried in vain to stop her gorge rising. HAA□He knew, though his gorge rose at the sight of it, that he'd have to drink the greasy soup or give deep offence to his hosts. O variant make one's gorge rise. grace and favour [n + n non-rev](formal)goodwill(from a superior) as distinct from duty or obligation o Princess Margaret and MrArmstrong-Jones spent about two hours looking over their new home— the grace-and-favour residence in Kensington Palace, London—— yes-terday. DM□ The police are responsible for the(mountain) rescue equipment itself although this responsibility is on what one might describe as grace and favour' terms. OBS o attrib use a grac@-and-favour residence. gracious living (catchphrase) a luxurious, or refined, standard of domestic furnishings, ar-rangements and daily management o Until now there have not been the same rich pickings for senior members of the Bar as there are in Eng-land but most top Scottish Silk can amass somewhere between£10,000 and£20,000 a year.However, they do enjoy gracious living in delightful surroundings. OBS□ Myra had become a symbol of possession, achievement, of ease, of having it good: what the ad man, in his sickening dialect, calls ' gracious living.'CONo All (trans-atlantic liners) had the same idea of gracious living that is, you wandered through unaccus-tomed opulence in a dinner-jacket, then retired to a crowded box to remove your trousers before strangers (ie returned to a shared cabin). L (in) the grand manner (with) a confident display of wealth, superiority, authority, abil-ity, style etc a There is a touch of the grand manner about her — the overtones of her strong, flexible voice, her elegant frankness. Tyt□ It is not only the piano that is grand. Here is a hint of the grand manner as well--and that is something that is rare in contemporary life. ToDickens was a traditional Victorian father in the grand manner, as the Tuesday series ' Dickens of London' shows. TVT a Grand Old Man (of sth) an old, or clderly,person of outstanding ability and a long history of achievement in his own field (first said in1882 of William Gladstone, British PrimeMinister)□ He looked back over his long years of struggle and victory. ForaGrandOl d Man ofLetters it had become fairly plain sailing. HAAo(Fred Streeter) The grandbu t gentle old man ofEnglish gardens. who is now an amazing 94. star-ted work when he was 12 for 2s 6da week. RTaBritain today has two Grand Old Men in her two great ex-Prime Ministers. OBS o sometimes abbreviated to GOM; occas pl. grasp/ seize the nettle [V + O pass] deal with a difficult matter firmly; use bold measures to rid oneself of an obstacle, solve a problem oOur object must now be to bring the WesternGermans into the community of Western nations.But if we were to do this, we would have to grasp the nettle firmly with both hands. MFMo If the extra road space is denied, it can be argued that the effect in time will be to deny car ownership to the lower income groups. Who, may I ask, is going to gresp this nettle? L o Lord Gladwyn said it was arguable that, if the political nettle had been seized earlier, success would have resulted. SCa ' Time for Action' , one of the more costly new ventures. grasping daunting mettles by the handful, deserved to go out on the air more often. L the grass is (always) greener on the other side (of the fence)/ in the other man's field (saying) people are inclined to think that in another country, job etc they would be better off, happier, than they are in their present circumstances o He thinks the grass is always greener in the other man's field. He has a constant feeling that the party was last night and he missed it. OBSo ' They do things differently in France. The independent artist is respected over there.’ Oh, sure, The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.’ o(NONCE) It is horribly expensive to play golf in America. And when you consider the relatively improved rewards in other parts of the world, then the gress on the other side of theAtlantic does not look all that much grigner.OBS the grass roots the basic level; the natural, or popular, sources from which a society, art,political system, etc must draw its strength □(histories of working-class movements) Their authors overrate the place of political activity in working-class life, they do not always have an adequate sense of the grass roots of that life. 245 <246> a grass widow— grin like a Cheshire cat UL□Politically, there was the fact of colonial rule and, initially at least, a lack of contacts at gress roots level between rulers and ruled. NS□ They were men who admitted no loyalty other than to the international Communist cause, who spoke for no native grass-root aspirations. OBS□ TheArts Council, sensing a gress-roots movement,show the colour if not the weight of their money.OBS□ The word‘community’, like ' grass-roots’,has come to suggest a lot of well-educated people shouting and swearing in the American manner.L o attrib use a grass-roots movement, the grass roots level. a grass widow a married women whose hus-band is temporarily absent on holiday, because of his work, etc o Look, what about coming round on Tuesday and cheering me up when I'm a grass widow? TGLY □ also pl. the gravy train (informal) an easy means of getting much money and other benefits (from gravy(US slang) =‘easily acquired money or financial success') o North Sea oil has transfor-med a faintly cranky brotherhood into a serious political force. The aim of most Scottish Nation-al supporters is to book their seats on the new high-speed gravy train. TIMES LITERARY SUP.PLEMENT o The Gravy Train Rolls On. Two whole mornings were spent wrangling in par-liamentary committee on the correct name for the new Independent Broadcasting Authority. NSgrease sb's palm [V + O pass](informal) give sb money either as a tip or as a bribe o The waiter says all the corner tables are booked.'' You should have tried gruesing his palm.'o also pl grease their palms. great and small[n+ n non-rev] people of all ranks, grades of office, importance □ Cromwell,efficient policeman that he was, filed away all the reports he was sent concerning the treasonable utterances of great and small, up and down the country. ST□Another feature of the last five years has been the introduction at BBC board meetings of the counting of heads of every conceivable subject great or small. NS□ also [adj + adj non-rev], and always end position when used thus.the great wen London□(source) But what is to be the fate of the grown of all? The mon-ster, called ' the metropolis of the empire'?RURAL RIDES (W COBBETT 1762-1835) □ TheMetropolitan Railway Company wooed com-muters with cheap season tickets and the promise of pastoral pleasure at the end of each day's labour in the great wen. RT 口 originally derogatory, but now often used merely to name the city. (I'm) the greatest (catchphrase) (I am) the best;(I am) better than anyone else—— either in a specific group or field or absolutely (from a remark made by the boxer, Muhammad Ali,about himself)S:I, you, he, she, we, they□80%of young people who send me their manuscripts don't want advice. They just want to be told they' re the best. The greatest.□O' Connor? No,not Des. Tom, Tom O' Connor from Bootle.Never heard of him? In Liverpool, he's the greatest. TVT the greatest thing since sliced bread(catchphrase) sb/ sth new, or of recent introduc-tion, that is much admired or appreciated o Iwent with the sting of ambition—— this was going 246 to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Iwalked out on that stage and I was going to show them Mr Showbusiness. Loo My husband uses this stuff now for all repair jobs about the house.He thinks it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. the Greeks hada name/ word for it(catch-phrase) reminder that a human condition or activity, an idea, scientific theory, physical fact or object, etc has existed and been known about for a very long time □'I thought I heard a sort of rumbling noise. Yes, there it is again.'' Rumb-ling in the guts. My guts were rumbling.’ Of course, of course—— Yes, yes, the Greeks had a name for it, eh?’ RM□The Greeks had a word for the contemptuous disregard North and South showed for their opponents. It is hubristic. T green with envy [Comp(AdjP)] extremely, or resentfully, envious of what another has or doesV: △be, go, turn; make sb □ I do wish I could handle mine(ie my pupils) the way you do yours,it makes me green with envy. TTo However.clothing manufacturers in Leeds are, without doubt, green with envy at the prices Savile Row can charge and get away with. ST a grey eminence a background figure in government, administration etc who has con-siderable power in an influential, or advisory,capacity (anglicization of éminence grise(French), often left untranslated in English writing) □ Both are truly grey eminences who have become accustomed to the delectable pur-suit, the exercise of influence. STo By then the Six(a European economic coalition in the 1950s)had formed the Coal and Steel Community, in-vented and headed by that French grey eminence of genius, Jean Monnet. L O ▲ the power behind the throne. grey matter brain tissue; mental powers;intelligence; common sense □ MARTIN: He's all right, really, Joe Turner, not much greymetter,but a good worker. OI□ It's not for want of grey matter he does so badly at school. He's just lazy.□ Encourage the older patients to play card games or do simple jig-saw puzzles—— anything that keeps the grey matter in use. grievous bodily harm [0 (NP)] (legal) the infliction of severe physical injury V: cause, in-flict; suffer o In the legal sense the intention to cause grievous bodily harm constitutes murder if the victim dies. OBS□Now the neuro-surgeon is charged, jointly with the psychiatrist who recom-mended the operation, with causing grievous bodily harm to Mrs Williams. TVTo informally abbreviated to GBH. grin and bear it [v + v non-rev] (informal)endure sth unpleasant cheerfully or, at least,without complaint o He would grin and beas it.pretend he was pleased to act as a model to so great an artist. US o with must, have to, will,would; etc; for reference to past time I had to grin and bear it, there was nothing for it but to grin and bear it,(occas)I grinned and bore it.grin like a Cheshire cat(continue to) grin or smile, esp in a senseless or inappropriate way(from an old simile of obscure origin, that was further developed in ALICE'S ADVENTURES INWONDERLAND(LCARROLL1832-98) in which there is a Cheshire Cat who could disappear except for his grin which remained visible)□Go ne are <247> grind the faces of the poor etc(in the dust)—a guinea pig the days when the photographer's, ' Smile,please' , kept us transfixed, grinning likeCheshire cats while he fiddled with his camera.□ The population may have vanished, but the hos-pital remains on its site, like the grin on the face of the Cheshire cat. LcA face stuck out of the shop door. It made a short speech then. suddenly giving it up, it leered . When the face had gone the leer seemed to hang there, 6ft above the ground,like the Cheshire Cat's grin, TVTo(hallucina-tions of fever) They were Cheshire-cat smiles.with no face or outlines, and I could see the room clearly through them. CWRD variants have/ with a grin (on one's face) like a Cheshire cat. (like) aCheshire cat's grin/ smile,a Cheshire-cat grin/ smile.grind the faces of the poor etc(in the dust) [V+ O] oppress poor people, any under-privileged group, by exploiting their labour, or by denying them any chance to improve their conditions o: the poor. their subjects. the cap-tives; honest workers o What mean y e that ye heat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts. ISAiAHIII15o Contemplatives(= contemplative men) do not as a rule preach intolerance, or make war; do not find it necessary to rob, swindle or grind the facesof the poor. DOP□The trouble at ChobhamFarm container depot is not a case of a tyrannical employer grinding the faces of honest men in the dust. grind one's teeth [V+ O] grind the upper and lower teeth against each other as an accompani-ment, or reaction, to pain, stress, frustration etc;gnashing of teeth(qv)o Daniel came home slow-ly, on hishery feet, grinding his teethaseachrod of pain probed upwards from his toes into his forehead. t; So He ground his teeth and forced himself down and the rock was so sharpagainsthis knees that he reopened the wounds of the first day..PMoA hundred yards aheadhe saw the gates of the level-crossing start to close and he ground his teeth withfrustration. o(NONCE) Onhillsides and in deep rough, trolleys are inclined to get on one wheel and turn over. It's one of the most teeth-grinding experiences in golf. SC D attrib use a teeth-grinding experience. grist to/ for sb's mill[Comp(NP)] sth that one can seize, make use of, turn to one`s own pur-poses v: △ be re gard sth as o (the hairy armadillo) Nearly everything is grist to his mill.He will eat fruit and vegetables or even a snake,should he happen to meet one. DF□ Question-naires became very popular indeed in the years between the wars. They provided so much grist for the statistical mill of the psychologists' cal-culating machines. SNP grit one's teeth [V+ O pass] clench one's jaw so that the teeth close hard against each other;(fig) decide definitely (clenching one`s jaw or not) to do sth difficult, to resist pressure, etc□The swimming baths terrified me as a child. But rather than be made a fool of by the other boys/ would grit my teeth and jump in.□' People are a trial and a trouble, aren't they?' she added, in that voice which must have greased the way to many a confession. But I gritted my teeth against speech. UTN □ Grit your teeth while watching ITV's ' Opportunity Knocks'. But spare a thought for the production team. Every year they audition 10,000 acts, most of them awful, to bring you the 175. Lo... convince the citizenry that it faces disaster unless prodigal ways are mended, facts faced, belts lightened, teeth gritted and wallets opened. NS□ often in con-struction grit one's teeth and do sth. grow grey in the service of sth have a long and creditable record of service to sth o:country; firm, family, art □ Who can doubt that such a man, grown grey in the service of a nation, would have acquired an extraordinary prestige? OBS a You would think a well-to-do family would have had more consideration for an old dependant grown grey in their service. □often facetious. grow old gracefully accept one's advancing years and adjust one's habits and outlook suit-ably, not trying to appear younger than one is nor becoming resentful, depressed, careless of one's appearance, etc o / have a distinct sense of the passing of time, and I do want to grow old gracefully. I don't want to be some kind of age-ing pop singer. RT□I don't think he's the type to grow old gracefully—— more likely to write com-plaining letters to the press and the BBC. growing pains vague aches and pains felt by children;(fig) mistakes and troubles that occur when a new enterprise, popular movement,business concern, etc is being set up□ The result(of paying high wages) was splendid service for the first month followed, after pay-day, by 75 per cent absenteeism. This is called' growing pains'.NS□The disaffections that threaten to disrupt the three-year-old republic are more than just growing pains. a grown man/ woman an adult; sb who has,or should have, common sense; sb who will behave reasonably o The assumption that the world is divided into good and evil, with each side immediately recognisable on sight, is scarcely creditable in any grown man. NS□We know and respect each other, and we' re both grown men.I think I ought to tell you what this is all about without mincing words. You' re in bad trouble. ST□ He was too much masked behind his mocking.paternal attitude for any proper relationship with a grown woman. MM a/ one's guardian angel a heavenly spirit that watches over, protects and helps one; a person in real life who seems to fit such a role o You thought you had a guardian angel. Well,you did, only you were looking for him in the wrong place. AITC □ Tony has crashed fast cars.jumped from burning buildings, been swept down rapids, more times than you and I have had hot dinners. 'A stunt man,' he says, ' needs to have a good guardian angel. o also pl. a guiding light/ star [Comp (NP)] sb who gives a lead, or sets an example, that is followed by another or others V:△be, become; see sb as□(a television programme) I an Hendry was in' The Avengers' for the first nine months of its life.He was the guiding light, the inventive genius.TVT o What I dislike about her is that she is so self-satisfied. She tries to set herself up as a guiding star to everyone she knows.□They saidI was a menace to honest lads like Mike and thatI was the brains behind the job, the guiding light when it came to making up anybody's mind.LLDR a guinea pig [Comp (NP)] sb/ sth made use of, 247 <248> guns or butter—(in) half a mo etc willingly or not, for testing medical, scientific,administrative etc experiments (the reference originally being to laboratory experiments on animals) V: △ be; act, serve, as o The psycho-logica: material at his disposal was still absurdly inadequate, and he was anxious to add to it. I was on the spot and willing, indeed eager, to be a guinea pig. DOP □ I could get free board and lodging in exchange for being a guinea pig in a cold-cure experiment. UTN o also pl. guns or butter [n + n non-rev] symbols of alternatives between which a country must choose, ie national power and prestige,contrasted with the personal welfare and pros-perity of its citizens o (source—— translation of a broadcast speech by Hermann Goering,1936) H hail and farewell(formal)a greeting, or com-ment, on seeing sb and saying goodbye to him simultaneously or within a very short space of time (a translation of av e atque vale—— the Latin poet Catullus's last salutation made at the grave of a brother who had died during his absence) o We are here this evening to bid hail and farewell to George Oxford, who has cap-tained our match team for the last few years. PE□Professor Colman and I had been in correspon-dence with each other at various times but our sole meeting was a ' hail and farewell' affair of a few minutes' duration in the departure lounge at Orly Airport. o often facetious; attrib use a hail and farewell affair. hail follow well met (with sb) [Comp(AdjP)] friendly in a confident or (too) familiar way, esp when greeting, meeting, approaching or receiving, sb V:△ be, become; get. o: every-one, me o It doesn't do to be too hail-fellow-well-met with employees over whom you may have to exercise your authority later. o TheAgriculture Minister has a bluff and cheerful manner. No such hail fellow tactics were invol-ved in the Environment and Transport Councils.NS o attrib use a rather hail-fellow-well-met approach; shortened form in last example is unusual. a/ the hair of the dog(that bit one)(infor-mal) a glass of beer, spirits etc taken(esp on the morning after heavy drinking) to offset or help to remove the effects of drunkenness o Poor oldGitty, looking as though she needed something on the stronger side of tea to do her much good, a hair of the dog that bit her. TT a I was a dissipated traveller—— dissipated in a gentleman-ly sort of way, looking forward to the hot bath.the hair-of-the-dog, the black coffee, and the snooze in the silk dressing gown. RATT hale and hearty [adj + adj non-rev] in vigorous good health o Being still hale and hearty in spite of his seventy years, my father was able to add to his pension by selling vegetables from his garden. o DOBSON: These places(youth hostels)really do cater for the hele and hearty, don't they? ITAJ □ esp said of elderly people; [n + n]in last example. half cut [Comp (AdjP)] (informal) somewhat, 248 Guns will make us powerful; butter will only make us fat.□(NONCE) In the current Soviet Five-Year Plan, great emphasis is laid on improving the living conditions of the Soviet people. In short, it comes down to: fewer missiles, more butter. L the gutter press newspapers, weekly papers,etc filled with the kind of material which ap-peals to uninformed or vulgar tastes o ' Some-thing that really catches the public's eye. Say an important series of articles on some scandal. "There was something almost fine in the selfless zeal with which he worshipped the glory of the gutter press. HD o (reader's letter) Report the news by radio as you deem best, but do not drop to the sensational level of the gutter press. RT but not completely, drunk; half seas over (qv)v:△be, seem, look □ How many executives can work reasonably effectively unless they are half-cut? RT o Go and sleep it off, and we' ll take the morning tide. These are no waters to be negotiat-ing with a navigation that's half cut. half the fun etc(of (doing) sth) much of the enjoyment(got from sth/ doing sth) n: fun,△ pleasure, thrill o Hall the fun of coming home was to come back to all the things you knew and remembered. □ I didn't enjoy all that bobbing around on moorings, brewing up and having bacon and eggs, which yachtsmen say is half the fun. TVT half and half [A](in) two equal portions; or(in) an equal mixture of two ingredients,qualities, feelings o ' How do you like your cof-fee?' Mary asked.' Half and half please, and no sugar.'o' Are you looking forward to your trip?'' Helf and half, really. In some ways I'd rather just stay at home and have a good rest.’ o esp as a response; as a v qualifier, always in end position, eg Let's share it half and half, not *Let's half and half share it. half a loaf is better them no bread/ none(saying) having to accept less than one expects,or feels entitled to, is better than having noth-ing; it is better to compromise in one's demands than risk losing all o‘You do understand, don’ t you, that the operation will only partially restore your eyesight?’‘Well, even half a lost is better than no bread.’ o Realising that they couldn't prevent raw materials coming in through the docks, the strikers decided that help a loaf was better than non e and accepted a 10% wage in-crease instead of the 15% originally demanded.half a mo etc[Disj (NP)](informal) wait for a short time; just a minute (qv)(the implication being, until the speaker does, remembers,thinks of, sth). n: mo(ment), △ sec(ond),minute; jiffy, tick o ' Half a mo. Stay a few minutes.' But I was already on my feet. HAAo' There's no bus after 10pm, ' he said, studying the time table. ' Helf a swic., There's a later one onSaturdays and Sundays.' (in) half a mo etc[O/A (NP)] (informal)(in)a very short time V: take, wait, be; be there(in);do sth (in). n: mo(ment), △ sec(ond), minute; <249> half seas over---handsome is as handsome does jifTy, tick口 ' Don't go without me,' Jillcalled. I' ll be downstairs in half a mo.'o 'I' ll ask him whenI next see him.' ' Don't be lazy . It' ll only take half e kick to ring him up now. half seas over [Comp (AdjP)] drunk, but not helplessly or violently so; half cut(qv)V:△ be,seem, look o Look at Frank— half sees over already, and the party's hardly begun.□He spoke with the careful enunciation of a man who knows he is half seas over hu t does not wish to be thought so. half the time [A (NP)] very, or too, often □HELEN I never used to be sure when he was being serious or when he wasn't. CLIFF:I don't think he knows himself ha lf the time. LBA o Don't askTed! Haif the time, he's too drunk to know whether he's coming or going. o front, middle or end position. (in) half the time[0/o(NP)](in)a much shor-ter time than expected; a considerable, or too long a. time V: take; do sth(in)□ ' Some painter he is! ’ her hushand grumbled. ’ I could have done the job myself, in half the time, and far better100.'a If I have company on the way, the walk to the village seems to take only half the time. o' Johnson didn't finish his literature paper,' 'I'm not surprised. He spent half the time staring out of the window. half the trouble (with sb/ sth)(informal)a considerable part of what is wrong or unsatis-factory (about sb/ sth); a significant contribu-tory cause(of sbs/ sth's faults or shortcomings)□‘The department should be running more smoothly, now that it's fully staffed.' ' That's half the trouble. Everybody leaves things for somebody else to do.'o Half the trouble with kids like Tony is that they' ve been spoiled. Give children everything and they' re satisfied with nothing. o often functions as S or Comp of be. a halfway house a resting-place that marks half of a journey completed; the middle stage in a process or undertaking likely to be com-pleted; a compromise between opposite at-titudes, procedures etc□ All this assumesPresident Nixon's complicity in the original crime or in the subsequent cover-up. Should this complicity he proven Congress will have to bite the bullet and move toward impeachment. There is no halfway hows. NS the hall of fame the number of great and famous persons; those remembered as being outstanding in a particular profession or skill det: mountaineering's, the mountaineering.vaudeville's, his country's, the medical o One can qualify for the hall of fame by murdering sufficient people in a sufficiently interesting fashion. □ Men like Walter Parry Haskett-Smith, and the remarkable O. G. Jones have eurned theur place in mountaineering's hall of fame. SC hand in glove (with sb) [Comp/A (NP)] in close, often conspiratorial, association and/ or co-operation (with each other) V: be, seem;work, operate o ' You must speak to the doctor.Granny Barnacle,' said Miss Taylor, ' if you reully feel you aren't getting the right treatment from the Ward Sister.'' The doctor, my backside.They ' re hand in glove. What's an old woman to them I ask you?"MM□(BBC television) Our aim is to run two channels hand in glove, and in such a way as to provide choice programme by programme. Lo Unprogressive managements like this are much too common. They cause half the trouble and work hand in glove with commu-nism for the downfall of the system. SC hand in hand [A] side by side with hands link-ed V: sit, walk; come in, go off o One of the genial moments of the film finds them gazing raptly at an exploding helicopter before wander-ing off into the desert hand in hand. NS hand over fist [A] with rapid alternative movements of the hands, as when climbing a rope; pulling, or gathering, sth towards oneself;(fig) continuously and rapidly, esp said of making big profits from business V: haul(it) in;make, coin, money o / was lucky to land the fish.My reel jammed and I had to lay the rod down and haul the line in hand over fist. □ They' re making money hand over fist, but anyone ca-pable of counting up to ten can do that nowadays.RATT o hand and fist non-rev; usu end position after inf or continuous tenses. hand over heart [A] sincerely; honestly V:declare、 state、 affirm、sth□ Iask you, in a society which repeatedly declares, handover heart, that the child's interests are always paramount in these disputes, how damned hypocritical can we he? RT O variant with one's hand on one's heart.the hand that rocks the cradle (rules the world) (saying) the example and influence of a mother are powerful and far-reaching in their effects□ And the hand that rocks the cradle/ is the hand that rules the World. W R WALLACE1819-1881□ In recent years the hand that rocked the cradle has reached out to grasp the stethoscope, the barrister's brief, and the minis-terial portfolio. o(reader's letter) What a pity that your Special Report on the Modern Woman was written from the standpoint of the young.educated, English townswoman. This not very lovable of species does not yet rule the world.though her hand may have ceased to rock the cradle. G hand-to-hand fighting etc warfare or struggle ` at close quarters' (qv) involving bodily attack and defence n: fighting, △com-bat; contest, encounter o One scene taken from high ground of an attack over open ground, in-cluding hand-to-hand fighting, showed the horror, the courage, and the bravery of war. RT□ Wars become depersonalized, and hand-to-hand combat is replaced by machine warfare.SNP□ One did not connect the ships with their future; only with their immediate present, their hand-to-hand encounter with the grey.monotonous sea. PW o variant fight, contend,grapple etc hand to hand. hands off (sb/ sth) (informal) not take,touch, interfere (with sb/ sth); not criticize,judge or find fault (with sb/ sth)□I think it may have been on that very day that the newsbi ll car-ried the slogan, Hands Off China! AHo Hands off free English! Up with warmth and spon-taneity, down with scholastic rules! NSO usu im-per; often(part of)a printed or shouted slogan.◇ keep one's hands off(Vol l). handsome is Aandsome does(saying)good looks alone are not enough; character and behaviour are more important than good looks u I'm quite pleased with my old Morris, thank 249 <250> hang fir·—a/ the happy medium you. Handsome is as handsome does is my motto for cars as well as people. hang fire fail to fire, or delay in firing;(fig) fail to be carried out and completed as expected, or suffer delay in being carried out S: pistol, gun;scheme, project; play, show, concert, perfor-mance o He was checking its action this morn-ing. ' Not much use being quick on the draw if your pistol hangs fire,’ he said. □ The completed play had hung fire for five years, with no-one willing to chance his arm on a fairly spectacular production. SC ◇ △hold one's fire. hanged/ hung, drawn and quartered[Comp (AdjP)] suffer a savage process of crimi-nal execution;(facetious) be severely chastized or reprimanded V:△be, have sb, order sb to be□ He glared at me the message that he would have preferred to transport me to Australia or have me hanged, drawn and quartered. Go I' ll sue the council for every penny it's got! I' ll have you hung, drawn and quartered. And whipped!HHGG hanging is too good for sb(catchphrase) sb deserves a much worse fate even than to be hanged o: him, the likes of you, traitors o(source) Hanging is too good for him, said MrCruelty. THE PILGRIM`S PROGRESS (J BUNYAN1628-88)□ It's the child molesters that sicken me.Henging's too good for them. □ She had an unfortunate experience, we know, but now she talks about all doctors as if hanging weeks too good for them. D used to express disgust or exasperation. a hanging judge a judge who (esp in former times when the death penalty was allowed for many types of crime) sentenced persons to death much more frequently than was the general practice; still used of judges apt to pass harsh sentences o The effect was that of a hang-ing judge, a jolly old bon viveur sentencing some poor devil of a labourer or clerk to death by di slocation of the neck. RATTo‘What’ s happen-ing here? It looks like a court martial.' ' It is a court martial.’ At 11.35 the Colonel came out; he looked hot and angry as he strode towards the lift. There goes a hanging judge, thought Wor-mold. OMIHO stress pattern a langing judge. the happiest days of one's life (cliché)one's childhood and school days (often used to remind children how fortunate they are in not being working adults)o Schooldays, the saying goes, are the happiest days of your life. If you'd told that to Nicholas Nickleby, hero ofDickens's novel, you'd have got a bitter reply. RT□ All this talk of the happiest days of your life is bunkurn to me. I have no happy memories of my childhood. OBS happy the bride the sun shines on(saying)sunshine is a good omen on a wedding day o It was an appropriate day for an artist's wedding;happy the bride the sum shines on, and happy the painter for whose wedding Nature gives a really convincing imitation of art. CON oJO: Aquarter past eleven, and the sun's coming out.HELEN: Oh! Well, happy the bride the sun shines on. TOHO not taken seriously, but even a blink of sunshine at a suitable moment could provoke this remark from a guest or onlooker at a wedding. a happy choice {Comp (NP)} a name, word,250 gift, location etc that is, or turns out to be,suitably or fortunately chosen V: △be; find,think, sth o Whether by chance or foresight her parents had named her Grace. The years had proved it a happy choice.□' There were so many beautiful caftans I didn't know which to get you.'' Well it was a happy choice. Yellow's my favourite colour.' (by) a happy/ an unhappy coincidence(because)— fortunately/ unfortunately — cer-tain events happen together o Looking for a second-hand Land Rover, are you? That sounds like a happy coincidence. I have one to sell andI'm sure we can agree on a price.□ If by am un-happy coincidence both celebrations were to be held on the same date I should have to forgo one of them. the happy couple/ pair (cliché) a bride and groom or a very recently married couple□ After the church ceremony relatives and friends went to the bride's parents' house to drink the health of the happy couple in champagne. □ There were photos of the happy pair alone, with attendant children, with family. In no picture did they touch and in none did they look happy. NS. happy days(1) an expression wishing sb well,eg in a toast; o ' Well, it's nice to be here, ex-claimed Mr Porter, beaming affably around him.He raised his glass. ‘Happy days?’ a happy ending a successful conclusion to a series of events;a satisfactory settlement of ear-lier troubles and trials, esp happening at the end of a story, film, play o(discussing R. L. Steven-son's unfinished novel, ‘Weir of Hermiston’)The plot outlined in them (Stevenson's notes)was not present when the novel was conceived,but developed later from Stevenson's anxiety to provide a happy ending. RT□ In this instance the kidnappers were arrested and Nicole was return-ed to her parents, but few such cases have a happy ending. □ also pl. a happy etc hunting ground (for/ of sb)a happy after-life, paradise (from American In-dian folklore);(fig) a favourable place, source,etc where sb may do, observe, acquire what he wants adj: happy,△good, favourite. o: botan-ists, folklore enthusiasts; pickpockets, gossip-mongers o The crowded sales floors are a happy hunting ground for pickpockets. □ Much has been written about the campaign in North WestEurope and it will be a happy hunting ground for historians for many years to come. MFMoHealth authorities are also looking at the possibility of a 10 per cent cut in costs. Capital spending — a favourite hunting ground for cutters— is already largely confined to urgent work, or buildings already started. G happy landings(!) good wishes for a journey.esp by air (occas used to express good wishes for other types of undertaking—— perhaps im-plying a ' crash' of sb hopes)□ I' ve got a plane.Soon as there's a suitable break I' ll send her over.’‘Thanks—— thanks a lot,’ I said. ' That'sO. K. Happy landings,' said the voice. DF a/ the happy medium [0 (NP)] a proper balance between too much and too little of sth,between two qualities either of which would be undesirable in excess V: strike, hit; attain,achieve o I don't want to get a bad name among boys for being easy-going in the clinches (= <251> hard by—a hard life close embraces), but neither do I want to be looked on as a iceberg. Is it possible to strike a happy medium? Ho You tend to laugh at people above you to cut them down to size and at those below you to express your superiority. He' ll be looking for the happy medium in Frank MuirGoes into Europe’. RT hard by [A (AdvP)](formal) situated very near(to) o Not a stone's throw from Whitehall, and hard by the River Thames, there stands an old,decaying building. NS□ Never assume a young animal has been deserted. The mother is prob-ably concealed hard by, waiting for you to go.□functions as prep or adv(front, middle or end position). a hard case'(sb in) specially sad or difficult circumstances o Everybody that comes to thisBureau is in trouble of some sort but I' ve seldom heard of a harder case than that poor woman's.□ ' He' ll lose his job as well as his licence.' ' The court can't make exceptions for hard cases.'ウ△ hard cases make bad law(s). a hard case² sb with a hard or unsympathetic character; sb who has followed a life of crime or evil ways for so long that he is not likely to change□' She looks a right hard case, that one,'said old Mrs Jennings.□ School became unbear-able when the kind Miss Dear was supplanted by a hard case called Miss Turnbull. OBS o‘You can ' t jump to conclusions from their age, ' theProbationer Officer objected. ' Some of these boys are just in need of care and training and some are hard cases at fourteen.' 乊 △ next entry. hard cases make bad law(s)(saying) being lenient in applying a law (because of the hard-ship it will cause) leads to that law becoming less effective □ Legislation restricting the freedom of the great majority cannot be justified merely because it ensures the protection of a tiny minority. Hardcases make bad laws. OBS△a hard case',². hard cash[0/o(NP)] coins or notes contrasted with cheques, banker's cards, etc V: want, pre-fer, prep: in (terms of), in the form of a I don't have that much money on me—— not in hard cash anyway. Will you take a cheque?□What it will cost in terms of hard cash the ratepayers ofOxford may shudder to think. To Victoria toyed hopefully with the idea that Mrs Chipp might press upon her a parting present in the form of hard cwsh. TCB hard cheese(!) (dated slang) interjection or comment expressing sympathy, sincere or iron-ic; hard lines (on sb) (qv); hard etc luck (on sb) (qv) o (tossing a coin) ' Heads', Muriel quavered. But when the paternal hand was lifted it was tails. ' Hard cheese,' said Elsie, accepting her victory like the good sportsgirl she was. RMthe hard core(of sth) the solid or permanent part of sth □ It was the ' regular content' of theServices which was the hard core of our fighting efficiency. MFM o The hard core of racial an-tagonism used to be in the mines where the white miners fought a long and bitter battle to retain the privileges of the European worker. NSa At once, the hard-core Tories of the old Govern-ment, headed by Wellington and Peel, resigned.St o often used of the strongly committed mem-bers of a political or religious group; attrib use a hard-core Tory. a hard day at the office (catchphrase) fa-cetious reference to a busy and tiring day.sometimes used as a plea for relaxation or amusement or as an excuse for laziness, bad temper, etc□ At opening time, glasses polished and lager at the cool and ready. I'd greet the first few customers and we'd talk in clichés for half an hour.' Hard day at the office?'I'd ask and they would say something on the lines of Yes. Mustn't grumble.' ns a hard day's night staying up late or all night,possibly on special duties, but esp to drink.dance etc o It's heen a hard day's night, AndI' ve been working like a dog./ It's been a hard day's night./I should be sleeping like a log.(PMCCARTNEY b1942) □(New Year's Eve) It's a hard day's night—— and from 11.0 pm on Radio4 Scotland Tom Fleming will be launching the jollifications with a look back at 1975 through records and sound archives. RTO expression is a facetious variant of next entry (qv). a hard day's work etc a day spent working hard n: work, graft; ploughing, teaching, climb-ing A: on the farm; in the kitchen; at the coal-face o He doesn't know what it is to do a hard day's work. D We are sitting in the bar and theGoodies are resting from a hard day's filming for the first of their new series. RT□Often, after a hard day's work in the ward, I was too tired to change my clothes and go out. □ similarly a hard day in the fields, etc. hard fact(s) facts which can be examined and checked; information as opposed to general statements, expressions of opinion, etc o The way to fight emotionalism is with a cool head;hard facts versus fake evidence. NS o The ideas generated seem to stem from bouts of reverie entangling with hard facts. L hard and fast¹[adj+ adj non-rev] fixed; inflex-ible; precisely defined n: rule, regulation; cate-gory, class distinction o These stages may now he discussed in more detail but first it must be emphasized that they do not present hard and fast categories. MFFo We must make it a hard and fast rule not to allow any parent to enter a classroom without first speaking to the headmas-ter. D often in neg constructions. hard and fast²[adv + adv non-rev] firmly; im-movably V: stick, fasten, jam, weld (sth)o The thawed surface had frozen again and now the runners of the sled were stuck hard and fast to the ice. SC□ The boulder was wedged hard and fast in the crevice and nothing short of an ex-plosive charge could have moved ir. hard and fast³ [adv + adv non-rev] with energy, speed, all one's attention V: play; run,row, swim o He played the Do You Know So-and-So game hard and fast from all angles.social, political, and even religious. It's a well-known game, its object being the humiliation of those with less money than yourself. RATT□If there'd been any danger, you'd have seen me run-ning hard and fast in the opposite direction. a hard life[0 (NP)] a life made difficult by hard work, poor natural conditions, poverty, ill health, persecution etc V: lead, live, have oShepherds in those hills lead a hard lif@ com-pared with those who work the lowland pastures.□ But those white South Africans who espouse the 251 <252> hard lines (on sb)---hard to take cause of black emancipation to some purpose have a hard life, even if their professional and family lives are not ruined by a series of treason trials. SC□ Life is hard, George. Anyone who thinks it isn't is either very young or a fool. EGD□' They had every size in the shop except the oneI wanted.' ' Oh, it's a hard life, all right.' o variant life is hard; it's a hard life and life is hard are popular remarks about the quality of life in general, or as expressions of casual, perhaps mock sympathy for oneself or sb else, usu in not very serious circumstances. hard lines (on sb) exclamation or (sym-pathetic) comment on an event, or state of af-fairs, which is unfortunate, undeserved or un-just(for sb); next entry(qv); hard cheese(!)(qv)□ ' Hard lines!' said a bystander sympathetically.' Now you' ll have to wait half an hour for the next bus.'□It would be hard lineson a serious student to be turned down in favour of a lay-about likeCharles. hard etc luck (on sb) exclamation or (sym-pathetic) comment on sb's misfortune in general or some particular case of it; previous entry(qv); hard cheese(!)(qv) adj: hard,△bad,tough, rotten, foul, lousy o So he didn't inherit a penny? That was hard luck, after all the years he worked for the old devil. o‘You are not disap-pointed because Mrs Eastwood cannot come?’' Well, it was be d luck on her, of course, ' saidHarold. PW o Like it's a man's life in today's professional army, but if you don't want to be in the infantry, tough luck. NS□ Oh, wasn't that just my bad luck? o variant be sb's/ one's hard etc luck. a hard luck story a story, or version of events,told by sb who is trying to win sympathy, help,financial assistance, etc for himself a‘He says it's not his fault.' ' Nothing ever is. He's always got a hard-luck story to excuse his failures with.'a At first glance he was one of nature's second fiddles. A walking bloody hard-luck story. JFTR a hard/ tough nut to crack[Comp (NP)](in-formal)a problem difficult to find an answer to,a situation difficult to deal with effectively; sb likely to resist efforts to conciliate, influence or intimidate him V: △ be, seem; make sth/ sb o(building a motorway) But the difficult terrain of the Pennines, and the congested urban development along the remainder of the route will both be hard nuts to crack. To I didn't think any of them(= girls you fancy) were too tough nuts for you to crock. I should hate to think you were losing your grip. TGLYo a hard/ tough nut is‘sb who resists physical or mental strain, or has no sympathetic or tender feelings'. hard of hearing[Comp(AdjP)] rather, or very,deaf V: △ be, become; make sb. adv mod: a little, a bit, somewhat, quite, so o Since your father's getting so hard of hearing you must all learn to speak up instead of losing patience with him. o Certainly he enunciates beautifully——a fact borne out by an award as ' Television'sClearest Speaker of the Year', chosen by the deaf and hard of hearing. L hard on sb[Comp(AdjP)] dealing with, punish-ing or criticizing sb/ sth(too) harshly; being un-fair by either blaming too much or praising too little V: △ be; find, think, sb. adv mod;a bit, 252 rather, very. o: son; partner, colleague o I don't like to be hard on an old man but I'm going to have to tell him, one of these days, what a lying old fraud he is. □ Roy Hudd was actually heard to say that King Edward VII would be remem-bered for reforms—— which seems a bit hard onLlovd George (who was really responsible for them). L hard on sb/ sth [Comp (AdjP)] having a damaging or destructive effect on sb/ sth V:△be, seem; make sth. o: tyres, brakes; shoes, jum-pers o The washing-machine is a great time saver, but my one anyway, is hard on clothes.□' Mumps now,' she continued.' That's another ill-ness that's far harder on grown-ups than on children. ’ o The trad (= traditional) British cooked breakfast is hard both on wives/ mothers and on the digestion. OBS hard/ close on/ upon sb's/ sth's heels[Comp/A (AdjP)] immediately or soon after sb/sth in time, order of procedure, merit etc V: be;arrive, appear, come, follow o The appearance of Briggs with the tea-things brought the con-versation to an end. Hard on his heels came SirJulius, rubbing his hands and oozing geniality.EMo A cold and agitated wind came hurrying ahead. and close on its hoeis came the rain. BB□Personally,I find Henry James the most boring writer there is, but your precious Nabokov,' Lolita' apart, is hard on his hoels. o may pre-cede or follow come or be. hard put (to it)/ pressed to do sth [Comp(AdjP)] able to do sth only with great difficulty v:△be; appear, seem □ Even with the three of us working, we were still hard put to it to cope with all the work. DF□ The ground beneath us shook so violently to a series of shocks that we were hard put to keep our feet. TST p Young women were burdened with large families that they were hard prossed to feed and clothe. SC□Robin Day has been unable to get together the balanced panel he had wanted and was hard pressed to keep things moving. NS hard to say/ tell [Comp (AdjP)] difficult to make a firm statement about, esp because too little is, or can be, known about it $: that;it... why they did it, when to operate, how to do better. V:△be, become; make sth o ' How old a man is he?' ' About my age, probably, though it's hard to say.'o All this time Finn had been leaning against the door, looking abstractedly into the middle distance. Whether he was listen-ing or not was hard to toff, UTN the hard/ soft sell (informal) sales technique by which the customer is pressed into buying by facts, figures, argument or the seller's force of persuasion/ sales technique by which the cus-tomer is persuaded to buy by attractive presentation, indirect suggestion, etc o In fact a cooling-off period for insurance deals of this kind is going to be made law— yet another reason for the decline of the hard sell. It's no use wasting all the time and effort if the man can change his mind as soon as he's had time to think about it. ST□' It depends on what you want from a machine, sir.' replied the assistant who was clearly a master of the soft sell.' If you' re happy with the quality of reproduction from this, there's no need to pay more for the best. " hard to take [Comp (AdjP)] difficult to accept <253> a hard taskmaster/ taskmistress---hate sb's guts without bitterness or grief; difficult to believe,to accept as being true S: disappointment,rebuff, misfortune. V:△ be, become; make sth□ Be patient and kind with her, John. The loss of a young child is very hard to take.□I joined theArmy when I was 17. The discipline was dreadful,und the loss of freedom hard to take. TVTo What is harder to take is Hawkridge's account of his own moral indignation. NS a hard taskmaster/ taskmistress sb who makes others work, and does so strictly or harshly o But Gly n is a hard taskmaster. The winter is spent doing tough practical work on the mountain to get the dogs fil. RT o Mark was promoted swiftly through the ranks byValentine, who perhaps recognised himself in this hard taskmaster and man of scrupulous honesty. St a also pl. the hard way [A(NP)] the most difficult, least convenient, method (of doing sth, of achieving one's object) V: do, learn, sth; find out sth oSuch things as electric starters and windscreen wipers were not so long ago regarded as rather sissy accessories not really required by the virile und competent motorist who much preferred to do things the hard way. SCo ' Ludovic has acted in school plays.'' The best beginning for anyone.'said Aubrev, now that people aren't allowed to be horn in a harn and learn it all the hard way.WDM □ As for the strike committee, they haveJound out the hard way who their real friends ure. The stopping of strike pay by one of the two unions involved and the comparative lack of interest shown by the union leadership in their cause, give the phrase ' official strike' a hollow ring. NS□'I rose to my present position the hard way. ' he answered, ' but it doesn't follow that Ishould expect my sons to do the same. " hard words reproaches, criticisms, accusa-tions, made or exchanged o There were some hard words between us, that I will admit. But if it cam e to threats, what could I do? EMo Those who have nothing but hard words for the present generation of university students have little idea of how hard most of them work. hard work never hurt etc anybody (yet)(saying) popular pompous remark justifying one's own or another's efforts or criticizing idleness V: hurt, △ killed, harmed; did (any)harm to anyone, did anyone(any) harm o Me a breakdown?’ said Harold, as if a breakdown was a thing that only happened to writers with100 much time on their hands, and too much money. ' Hard work never did enyone eny harm.'pw□ Hard work never killed anybody.It's too much rich living that gives people coronaries. a hard/ harsh world [Comp (NP)] life seen as a struggle against natural conditions, misfor-tune, and esp competition from one's fellow men, etc V: △ be, seem; find it o (a teacher defends his classroom methods) This is a hard world—— they' ve got to learn to give and take some hard knocks before they' re very much older.’ TT□Emily's protected upbringing had not equipped her for the realities of a harsh world.o often it's a hard world as comment on an instance of hardship, etc. harden one's heart [V + O] not allow oneself to be misled by the love, sympathy, pity etc one does in fact feel o T he impulse to feed(the released animals) was almost irresistible , but we had to harden our hearts and ignore them. DF□If he could have cried, he would have cried now at the unfairness of it all. He hardened his heart. This was no time for thoughts of anything but the immediate problem. US a hardened criminal etc sb so ac customed to a life of crime, wrong-doing, that he is unlikely to repent or change his ways n: criminal, △sinner, reprobate□Guy had told him, ' The more you pray for me, Tony, the more I'ma hardened sinner.'MMo ' And was that all you did in Paris?No wine, woman and song?'' Certainly not. I'm a family man, not hardened old reprobate like you.'a also pl; sometimes used facetiously of other faults. (not) harm etc a hair of sb's head (not)injure sb. even in the slightest way V: harm,△.hurt, touch o ' Come, dear, the nurse soothed her, ' you know I wouldn't harm a hair of your head if I could help it, but I' ve got to give you this little injection, just to make you better.'o That's a lie. I swore at him and told him to get out of my way, but I never touched a hair of his head.□usu in neg or conditional constructions. a hat trick [0 (NP)] three related achieve-ments, successes, awards etc in sport or some other activity (from, formerly, a cricket club presenting a new cap to any member who took three wickets with three successive balls)V: do,score, achieve, bring off o George Seaton wrote and directed, he was already a double Oscar winner by this time, but his script was too proud or too profane to make it a hat trick. RT口 stress pattern a ' hat trick. hatch a plot etc[V + O pass] devise a plan,arrange (by oneself or with others, and usu secretly) to do sth, which will be revealed only when completed or carried into action O: plot,△conspiracy, plan, scheme o So the next timeI ran into Ned we hatched a schem for going to see Robert together. CONa The St Ermin'sHotel has something of a political history of its own. In the Fifties, all sorts of dark plots and dirty deeds were reported as being hatched there. NS□When Curyl Brahms was writing bal-let review's for the ' Daily Telegraph' she and S JSimon hatched a plot to write a novel about a murder in the ballet. with Arnold Haskell as the corpse. G a hatchet man/ job sb/ sth employed to reduce staff and cut down expenditure in a business or public service; sb/ sth used to attack, discredit or get rid of opponents (eg within a political party, government system);a destructive critic!criticism of anything o Brown is regarded by theLeft as a hatchet men; they haven't forgotten the way he treated Bertrand Russell. OBS□We used to do our homework in the train to and from school—— but that was in the days before LordBeeching did his hatchet job for British Rail. □The ' Times Literary Supplement' suggested that the programme ' tends to select only those books about which it can say something commendat-ory.' Well, in the age of Hatchetm an that makes a nice change. L o stress pattern a hatchet man/job; also pl. hate sb's guts [V + O] (informal) hate or dislike sb intensely o I just had to tell someone. 253 <254> hate sb/ sth like poison---have(oneself) a ball Funny it happened to be you, and you hate my guts. QA □. .. and I wishing to God she'd asked him (a police detective) in, though on second thoughts realizing that that would seem more suspicious than keeping him outside, because they know we hate their guts, and smell a rat if they think we' re trying to be nice to them. LLDRhate sb/ sth like poison (informal) dislike sb/ sth intensely o The Earl and Gillies's father hated each other like poison I believe. WDM □' Look, ' I'd say, ' Why don't you get a book,duck?’ But she never would, hated them like poison. She sneered: 'I' ve got more sense, and too much to do.'LLDR hate/ loath e the sight of sb/ sth [V + O]dislike sb/ sth very much; find sb/ sth objection-able or intolerable; can't/ couldn't stand/ bear the sight of sb/ sth(qv)□ He hated the sight of army officers, whom he regarded as idle and effeminate. OBSo‘You don’ t love me any more,do you, Charles?’‘To be frank, Amanda, I hate the bloody sight of you!' have etc an/ the air of sb/ sth [possess] look like sb/ sth; function or behave as sb/ sth does or would be likely to do V: have(got);△give sb.lend sb/ sth. prep: with o Her house is the marvel of the film colony. Its mock stonework, narrow interstices and naked fuseboxes have somewhat the air of a rained keep. ST o He picked up his tankard with a rather weary gesture, and drank from it. He had the air of a man who is turning over a number of things in his mind. CON□ The portrait utterly fails to convey the sitter's charac-ter. It gives him, in fact, the air of a languid aristocrat. o This technique—— for it is often no more than a technique, lends an air of profun-dity to the discussion. NS have etc all day[possess](informal) have etc(at the time of speaking) much or any time to spend or waste V: have(got);△ther e be. prep:with. A: for that, for reading; to hang around,to read books o Stop mucking about and tell me what you want brought back from town. I haven't got all day. o ' No, we can't,' the girl at theEnquiry Desk answered brusquely. ' We' re busy people in this office. We haven't got all day to fill in forms for people.’□‘We must go. We’ re keeping your wife up and she should be getting plenty of rest just now.'' Oh, don't go! She has all day for that. A bit of company will liven her up.' o esp neg in first person; positive state-ments usu assertive and often suggest that others have ample time or opportunity com-pared with oneself.△(not) be/ take all day etc.have (got)/ with all one's marbles[possess] (slang) be in full possession of one`s senses or wits o The uncle claims he was butted at a séance by a goat which had died the previousOctober. John thinks his uncle may not have had all his markless. NS I O S e one's marbles. have(got)/ with all the marks of sb/ sth[possess] be likely to be sb/ sth, because he/ it shows the signs of being so o: a schoolma' am;a hasty departure, having been done on the cheap o Williams has all the marks of a suc-cessful and rather ruthless man. TOo' An amateur job, would you say, Sergeant?' the Inspector asked. ' It's got all the marks of it, sir.'oI think he knew he was dying. At any rate, his last novel had all the marks of having been written in 254 haste. have etc all the money etc in the world[possess] (informal) have etc a very great amount of money etc V: have(got); possess; get;there be. prep: with. n: money, wealth; advan-tages; influence; leisure, time; patience □ They have all the money in the world, with wool up at its present price, but they' ve got to do their own housework just like everybody else. RFW□He has all the advantages in the world of birth and education, so why does he want to go and be a nurse in a leper hospital?□Nobody could put up with such behaviour, even if they had all the pa-tience in the world. □ Having all the time in the world is hard for a writer, who can always say 'I' ll start tomorrow.' sc o Though we were late in starting, he strolled along as if there was all the time in the world to get there.□ His voice was quiet, calm, and unhurried. He seemed to have all the time in the world. RT have (got) another think/ guess coming[possess](informal) be forced to think again, to revise or alter one's opinions or plans o DAVIES:If you think you' re better than me you' ve got another think coming. TC□HELEN: In any case.bearing a child doesn't place one under an obliga-tion to it. GEOFF: I should have thought it did.HELEN: Well, you' ve got another think coming.TOH□(NONCE) If you think I'm going to sit still and play noughts and crosses after listening to all that dreary crap, you' ve bloody well got another gugsscoming. HAA□ almost always in aggressive statements made to or about another person. have etc ants in one's pants [possess] (in-formal) be very restless, excited or excitable V:have(got), △ get. prep: with □ She's had ants in her pants all week—— waiting for the exam results. □ Emergency. Action stations. I said Ishould be ill. I can feel the old scar in my leg tingling. Salt in my trousers. Ants in my pants.PM have/ give sb a bad etc time (of it)[possess] suffer(a period of) ill-health, poverty.persecution etc adj: bad,△ hard, rough, thin oDad's beginning to get his strength back now, but he's had a bad time of it. □ But in each class there are born a certain number of natures with a curiosity about their best self--for the pur-suit, in a word, of perfection. They have, in general, a rough time of it in their lives.MATTHEW ARNOLD 1822-88(quoted in UL) o By now we were weak and thirsty and the flies and stinging insects were givingus a bad time.□The small independent dealers have had a thin time in the past two or three years. T have otc bags under one's eyes [possess]have a puffiness or swelling in the loose skin below one's eyes, as a sign of lack of sleep, ill-health, or as a general indication of old age. V:have(got), △ get; there be. prep: with □ Ob-serve the bags under his eyes, the look of lascivious satisfaction. RATTo You could point to the bags under his eyes, the bags under his chins and the bag that was his belly. PP□He's only twenty-three, but he's got bags under his eymis already! have(oneself) a ball(informal) enjoy oneself greatly, perhaps doing sth one shouldn't A: in the Mediterranean, with his prize money. <255> have(got)/ with bats in the belfry---have one's cake and eat it (too) criticizing the neighbours o Is he sorry for him-self? Not on your life. He's having a ball while it lasts. Ho We were subjected to Colin Davies having a ball teaching the Promenaders how to sing. RI□In the airline's advertising the girls are referred to as ' Love Birds' . You get the feeling thu t one of these days Women's Lib is going to have a ball with Air Jamaica. OBS have (got)/ with bats in the belfry[possess](informal) be mad, eccentric, odd(esp in regard to some subject that obsesses one) □He's not the first in the family to have bats in the belfry. His grandfather used to sit up half the night composing letters of warning to all his ac-quaintances about the end of the world , or what-ever his current obsession happened to be. oWhat was that old man at the bus-stop trying to tell us? ' ' Some rigmarole about sheep and pop-pies … bats in the belfry, if you ask me. have (got) to/ must be seen to be believed be almost impossible to describe convincingly because it is so beautiful, ugly, un-usual, untidy, ridiculous etc S: view; squalor,filth; conditions, sufferings□ The sun went down in an explosion of colour that would have to be seen to be believed. □ The squalor of those crumbling red sandstone tenements has to be seen, not just to bring the housing figures alive.but to be believed. NS ◇△seeing is believing. have etc a been one's bonnet[possess] be obsessed with sth (usu with the implication that it is unimportant, irrelevant or foolish) V:have (got),△get prep: with □ For years Ford's had a bee in his bonnet about the Irish and theEnglish. Thinks he's got a God-given mission to'bring the two races together under theEstablished Church. PP□ Scientists and doctors are no more immune to bees in their bonnets than other members of the community. To She was always a crank. Got a bee in her bonnet about Mussolini later on— the Shavian great man', you know. ASA have etc a/ one's bellyful/a basinful (of sb/ sth) [possess](informal) have etc as much as one can tolerate of sth, or of sb's actions or company V: have;△give sb; get o If Robert's coming round tonight, I'm going out. I' ve had a bellyful of his company this week. o Can't you think of anything exciting for us to do? I' ve cer-tainly had a basinful of slumping in front of the television. □ often perfect tenses, as shown;basinful more polite than bellyful. have/ give sb best [possess](informal) know more than, be stronger than, intimidate or out-wit, sb □ If it ever comes to a fight there's no doubt which dog will have best.□David hates to give anyone best in an argument so he never learns anything from what other people have to say. have etc a black eye [possess] show etc severe bruising and swelling of the area round the eye caused by an accident or by a deliberate blowV: have (got), △ get; give sb. prep: with □ !walked into a door in the dark and gave myself this black eye. □ When the women of our street could think of no more bad names to call FrankieButler for leading their children into fights that resulted in black eyes, torn clothes and split heads... LLDR□ often pl. ◇△ black(en) sb's eye(for him). have etc a black mark(against one) [possess] have etc a note, in an official record,that one has done sth wrong, incorrect etc, eg of a schoolchild's conduct, an employee's per-formance; receive a sign of disapproval of one's actions V: have(got),△get; give(sb); there be.prep: with, without o In our school if you got three black marks, your name was read out at prayers, and if you got six, your parents were sent for. □ I don't know if the firm will actually sack me for having lost the contract, but it' ll certainly be a black mark against me.□He left the bank after 40 years' service without a single black mark against him. □Th e Nicholsons will he giving me a black mark, I suppose, for not lurning up at their purty. have etc blue blood (in one's veins)[possess] be a member of, be related to, the upper classes (from the greater visithity of the veins in persons with fair skins) V: have (got).△ there be . prep: with □ A young upstandingTory's the romantic thing to be now, especially with any blue blood in your veins. PP□ The blue-blooded sons of noble families were not averse to mending their fallen fortunes by marry-ing the daughters of wealthy manufacturers and industrialists. □ adj compound blue-blooded. have etc a brain(-) wave [possess] have etc a sudden inspiration,a good idea V: have(got).△get; give sb□ Pop confessed he wasn't all that gone on David either, and urged Ma to put her thinking-cap on. Ma was always the one who had the brainwaves. HSG □ brain wave, brain-wave, brainwave are all possible. have etc the brains etc(to do sth)[possess] have sufficient intelligence etc to en-able one to do sth V: have(got). prep:△ with,without. O: brains, △ intelligence, nous,(com-mon) sense, wit, vision o I would like to see the school-leaving age lowered, instead of raised, for children who don't have the brains to profit from class-room teaching. RT o It was a good thing somebody had the intelligence to switch off all the power when the first explosion occurred. a ' Don't give him another thought,'said Stephen. If the fellow just hasn't the sense to see what he's losing.' wIo Times had changed and my father had had the wit to change with them. RFW o Macmillan had the vision, but not the guts to face his own destiny.RT□ He had the political nous to know what to say if, for example, a live film of an IRA chier being interviewed was suddenly slotted into the programme . Lo often neg. have etc a bun in the oven [possess](dated slang) be etc pregnant V: have (got); give sb.there be. prep: with o Ah! The er ring daughter.Who's got a bun in the oven? Who's got a cake in the stove?TOHoMrOtway is bisexual and only married Gillian because there was a bun in the oven. L have one's cake and eat it (too) have, or enjoy, two things simultaneously even though one normally excludes the possibility of the other; have etc it/ things both ways(qv) □Cam-bridge has been shouting for a by-pass for the past 20 years. Now that plans have been drawn up, people do not like them. Cambridge cannot have its cake and eat it. T o ' I f Bernie likes to give me the money, I shall be glad to have it. But 255 <256> (not) have etc a cat in heli's chance— have etc a closed mind I certainly shan't feel under any obligation.' Bravo! Eric, bravo!' she cried.' You want to have your cake and eat it.’ HAA o often neg;often with can. (not) have etc a cat in hell's chance (of doing sth) [possess](informal)(not) have etc a slight chance (of achieving sth); next entry(qv); (not) have etc a dog's chance (of doing sth)(qv);(not) have etc a ghost of a chance(of doing sth)(qv)V: have(got),△get; stand, give sb; there be. prep: with, without o ' Their dad-dies will have arranged it(a future marriage) all,'Charles said. ‘You haven’ t a cat in hell’ s chance, frankly, Unless you thoroughly misbehave, if you see what I mean.' RATTo It wasn't cowardice. It was common-sense. If I'd thought I had a cat in hell's chance of holding him against the current, I'd have dived in. o usu neg. (not) have etc a chance in hell (of doing sth)[possess](informal)(not) have etc a slight chance (of achieving sth); previous entry(qv);(not) have etc a dog's chance (of doing sth)(qv); (not) have etc a ghost of a chance (of doing sth)(qv)V: have(got),△stand, get; give sb; there be. prep: with, without □ I just thought there was half a chance in hell that the old man was the vain fool he turned out to be. ASA□ HadI been the man whose case was heard before me,I should have stood a snowball's chance in hell of getting off(ie an exceedingly remote chance).NS□Un der half of the men found work, and even this represented an achievement. ' To be quite frank, said one genial manager,' we jump the queue. Otherwise our chaps wouldn't stand a charcc in hell.'NSo usu neg. have etc a chip on one's shoulder[possess] have etc a grudge or grievance, either about one's circumstances in general or about sb/ sth more specific, which makes one quarrel-some, discontented, ready to take offence, etcV: have(got),△get; wear; there be. prep: with,without D You' ll get on all right with Carson if you take him the right way. He has a chip on his shoulder of course — feels he knows more about the business than the people he sees being promoted above him. □ Where would MrGoodrich be without his chip on the shoulder.his grievance against women? It was that that made him tick, to use a vulgarism. PWoIftourists are an insensitive lot, the toured are terribly touchy. First, in new countries one really must be aware of the Chip. It's hopeless to admire the old colonial buildings: one must admire the skyscrapers. L o(NONCE) For God's sake take that chip off your shoulder. I didn't like telling you when the others were around-but you were bloody offensive to me. RATT have etc clean hands [possess] have com-mitted no crime, done no wrong or harm, either in general or in a particular case V: have(got).prep:△ with, without o(source) He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceit-fully. PSALMS XXIV4□ No state throughout his-tory has had completely clean hands. A civilised society is one which sees the evil in itself and provides means to eliminate it. NSo He was talk-ing about the old colonial powers, England andFrance, and how they couldn't expect to win the 256 confidence of Asiatics. That was where America came in now with clean hands. QAD Let no mud be thrown: few people's hands are clean. Just let us think again. CSWB□ If the stock market is actually aiming to protect investors rather than just keep its hands clean it must be more selec-tive in allowing these dealings. ST□ The global inflation now engulfing us all might be termed the masterpiece of 25 years of centre misrule. Nor can the men of the centre be described as exactly clean-handed: they have spilt much blood in their time. NS o variants keep one's hands clean,sb's hands are clean; adjcompound clean-handed.have etc a clear conscience [possess] have etc no reasons for, or feelings of, guilt V: have(got).△ keep. prep: with, without □' It must be a great burden nursing your old mother at home for so long.' ' Oh, I prefer to do that and have a clear conscience, than let her go into one of those“homes”.'o Paul Foot's documents present their evidence persuasively enough to show that no jury faced with it could have convicted Han-ratty with anything like a clemr conscience. L□ Here are the recipes, and I guarantee that the family will find them as delicious as an ordinary dessert—— and slimmers can enjoy them with a clear conscience. WI o variant keep one's con-science clear. have (got)/ with a clear head' [possess]have the ability(as a permanent characteristic)to think clearly, make accurate appraisals,sensible decisions, etc o All the examiners com-mented that he had an impressively clear head and considerable powers of independent criti-cism. □ I can't understand how Monica got her-self into such a predicament; she's usually so clear-headed. □ adj compound clear-headed. have (got)/ with a clear head²[possess]have one's state of mental alertness unaffected by alcohol, fatigue or illness o I'm not going to touch a drop of anything till we' ve had a definite' yes' or' no'. I' ve a feeling that we' re going to surprise the world in the next three or four days,and I want to have a clear head. RMo He does have pain-killing tablets for his arthritis, but he wouldn't take them today—— said he wanted to keep his head clear for the TV interview this evening.□ variant keep one's head clear; adj.com-pound clear-headed. haveetca clear idea(of sth) [possess] have etc precise knowledge or understanding of the nature, cause, possible outcome, etc(of sth) V:have (got), △ get; keep; give sb. prep: with,without. A: of the outcome, of the progress;(of)what to do;(of) how to proceed o Though Er-nest Bevin foresaw the General Strike and to some extent prepared for it, he did not have a clear idea of what the strike was meant to achieve and certainly did not consider the im-plications of victory. OBS□ And they have no clear idea what she (a merchant ship) is, where she came from or when she sank. External sources provide few clues. OBSo He confessed to distrusting this particular employee without having any clear idea why. O Peter is a dreamy,drifting sort of fellow, but his sister is a young lady with a very clear idea of where she is going and what she wants from life. have etc a closed mind [possess] have etc a mind unable or unwilling to accept new ideas, <257> have etc a constitution like a horse— have etc sb's ear consider other opinions, either in general or about sth in particular V: have (got). prep: 小with, without □ A final word; this is not a play for closed minds, established beliefs, or misplaced Puritanism. ST□ He believes in the literal truth of the whole Bible and has a closed mind on the subject. So we don't bother trying to argue with him. □ ' They have no interest in unything that huppens beyond the parish boun-darv.’' People with closed minds? ' ' That's right.'◇ have etc an open mind. have etc a/ the constitution like/ of a horse/ an ox {possess}be strong and vigorous; be able to do hard work; be able to withstand the effects of illness, accident, or old age to a surprising degree. V: have (got), 小possess; need; develop. prep: with a‘MrsPettigrew has a constitution like a horse, saidDame Lettie, casting a horse-dealer's glance over Mrs Pettigrew's upright form. MM□ He's been getting through three bottles of whisky a week for as long us I can remember. He must have the constitution of an ox or he would have killed himself long ago. □ He's got courage,ingenuity and a constitution like a horse--just the man you need to lead an urduous expedition of this sort. a A week on tour with Ray in Scot-lund makes your ealise that a snooker profession-al needs the constitution of an ox, a certain talent as a comedian and raconteur and a fairly formidable drinking capacity. RT o indefinite article used with like, definite article used with of, as shown. have etc sb/ sth covered [possess] have sb.or a place, in the direct line of fire from a pistol.gun etc V: have(got), △ get, keep o You will observe that I also have you covered. From under the table you can only give me a painful wound. If I see the slightest sign of you raising that pistol above it, I will kill you. ARG□ Keep them covered while I try to fetch help.□ A voice on the loud-hailer said OK, Beeblebrox, hold it right there. We' ve got you covered.' HHGG have one's day' [V + O] be important, useful.fashionable etc only for a period (but be (likely to be) superseded by sb/ sth)□Our little systems have their day, They have their day and cease to be. INMEMORIAM(ATENNYSON1809-92)□It was rather like during the War, when private armies sprang up and had their day until they made a mistake and were disbunded or swallowed up. DSo He's just another of these public idols that will have his little day and be forgotten, like many another before him.◇△have had one's day/ time.have one's day² [V + O] be successful, be in-fluential, be happy, enjoy life, etc only for a period, (but with the emphasis on these good things rather than on their impermanence) oTime drag heavy. She do that. Time drag so slow.I get to thinkin' it 's Monday when it's still Sun-day. Still, I had my day. I had that alright. RoI don't believe in loading youngsters with respon-sibilities. Let them have their day is what I say.The world will close in on them soon enough. ◇△ have had one's day/ time have (got)/ with the devil's own luck[possess] be unusually, or exceptionally, for-tunate o When there was company he had supper in the nursery and played card games with Nan-nie, in which pursuit he had all old Lord Pom- fret's skill and also what his uncle Roddy called the devil's own luck. WDMo He raised his rifle and fired. By a stroke of the devil's own luck.the bullet sped straight to its mark.□Funcy him not being hurt at all! But then, he has the luck of the devil, that boy - always has had, □variant have etc the luck of the devil. have(got)/ be(sth) to do with sb/ sth' be related to, or connected with, sb/ sth; have as its subject S: book, chapter; argument, process. O:something, nothing, little, (not) a great deal oSome years ago I published an autobiographical hook ' Double Lives' . It had to do with my progenitors and my own early life. AHuA touring fringe company from Paris are offering their ver.sion of ' Robinson Crusoe', an anarchic pageant which has little to do with the story as we know it. I. o It seems that the first step in germination.by abrasion has to do with weakening and cracking in the outer spore layer, which keeps out water. NSC have (got)/ be (sth) to do with sb/sth²work with, concern or interest oneself in, sb/ sthO: something, nothing,(not) much, little, a lot□ A man like Angus that ' s had to do with boats und these waters all his life doesn't need advice from you. □ I had never had much to do with children and felt awkward with them. (not) have etc a dog's chance (of doing sth)[possess](informal)(not) have etc a slight chance (of achieving sth); (not) have etc a chance in hell(of doing sth)(qv);(not) have etc a cat in hell`s chance (of doing sth) (qv);(not)have etc a ghost of a chance (of doing sth)(qv)V: have (got), △ stand, get; give sb; there be.prep: with, without o I' ve entered my name for the 1000 metres, but I haven't a dog's chance of winning. The competition is very strong this year. a' Now, get out! And I want your resignu-tion by the morning, Wensley. ' Then Wensley said, 'I don't think so, and I' ll tell you why. A:I 'm not the resigning sort. B: You don't standa dog's chance and I' ll tell you why.'PPa' Will he catch his train, do you think?’ Not a dog’ s chance! But he's determined to try. ' o usu neg.have done it this time etc [V + O + A](informal) have done sth serious that cannot be undone; have made a foolish, or serious, blun-der in speech, conduct or work S: he, you,I,they; our team, the Government; the stupid fool. A: this time, △ now, again o It was dramatic and touching with the baby inside Vir-ginia, but what about after it was born? What would life be like then? A baby! Well, he had done it this time, all right. AITC□Oh God! I' ve done it again. When will I learn to hold my tongue?□ There was an iron-shaped hole with charred edges where she had started to iron her dress. ' You' ve done it now. haven't you' here mother said. have etc sb's ear [possess] have access to sb esp on a higher social or administrative level than oneself, be able to influence him, obtain his help, etc V: have (got). △ get, win. prep:with □ So ' Maori'(a nickname) had Tedder's ear— they were both goodairmen. MFMo LuckilyZamyatin had the support of Gorki who, in turn.had Stalin's our and he was allowed to go on living in Paris until his death . SCo But it turned out that the eccentric Browne had the car of 257 <258> have etc an edge to one's voice---have(got)/ with an eye to (doing) sth Leonard Elmhurst, millionaire owner of Dar-tington Hall. ST □ If sent through the regular channels, the information was sure to be suppressed. Somehow, he must win the ear of the President himself. D sing form used when referring to two or more people, as in He must win the ea r of both men. have etc an edge to one's voice [possess]have, show,a certain degree of anger, nervous-ness, exasperation etc in the way in which one speaks V: have(got); △ther e be. prep: with o' The facts. Robert, the facts!' Ned cut in. There was an edge to his voice, this time, that revealed how sick of it all he was getting. CONoThe child repeated his lesson again, more cor-rectly but with an edge to his voice that showed that tears were not far off. □ ' You have a ten-minute tea-break, don't you?” was all the manageress said, pausing at the canteen table.But her voice had an edge to it that sent the girls scurrying back to their work. o variant one's voice has an edge to it. ◇ △ give sb/ get the(rough) edge of one's/ sb's tongue. have etc elbow room [possess] have etc suf-ficient space beside, or all around, one to move one's elbows sideways (so as to eat, play an instrument, sit comfortably etc); (fig) have freedom, within certain limits, to experiment,negotiate, manoeuvre V: have (got), △ get,gain; give sb; there be. prep: with. det; some,more; no, (not) any, enough, a little, too little o The gallery was fitted with tiers of narrow wooden seats which afforded their occupants very little elbow room. □ As an independent school we have enough elbow room to try out new theories and methods of education. o This gaining of more air to breathe, more elbow room for thought, so to speak, looks like being a very cautious probing of the possible. L have etc enough luggage etc to sink a battleship [possess] (facetious) have a con-siderable, or excessive, amount of luggage etcV: have (got); etc there be. prep: with. O: lug-gage, money; food, drink; confidence, conceit oI thought you said your mother was only coming for a week. She's got enough luggage there to sink a battleship. o We' ve had hundreds of applications since we advertised. People with enough degrees to sink a battleship have writ-ten in. ST have atc enough and to spare [possess]have more than a sufficient amount (of sth mentioned previously) for oneself so that there is some for others if they want it V: have, get;there be. prep: with. O: food, drink; money.riches: jobs: room,□(source) How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! LUKEXV 17oYet whenever I went out, even into areas just vacated by other disappointed hunters, I would find game enough and to spare. LWKo' Listen,Findlay,' he babbled. ' there's money down here— millions of it. Be sensible, there's enough here and to spare for both of us.'ARGO enough used either after the n or as Comp to be (as in last example). have etc an enquiring etc turn of mind[possess] have etc an enquiring etc mental out-look or aptitude V: have,△possess; be of; lack.prep: with, without. adj: enquiring, academic, 258 mathematical; religious; gloomy, optimistic oHe's a child with a more enquiring turn of mind than his brother. □ The affair much irr-itated the French, and not least General deGaulle, while those of a democratic turn of mind were concerned that a man could be kid-napped in broad daylight on the Boulevard StGermain by French ' parallel police' acting under orders from the head of a foreign security or-ganisation. NS have etc an even/a fifty-fifty chance (of doing sth) [possess] have etc an equally balanced possibility, opportunity (of sth hap-pening, of succeeding in sth, or not) V: have(got), △get; give sb, offer sb; it be, there be.prep: with o I think it was his enthusiasm as much as anything else that decided me to go ahead. It was after all an even chance, and this has always seemed generous odds to me. OBS□It was a fifty-fifty chance which staircase he would use so I tossed a penny and waited hope-fully at the Baker Street exit. a Right now you got something to sell. You got assets. I'm gonna be fair with you, Tagliaferri; I like to give every-body an even chance. STo There are only two of us being considered for the job and I happen to know that we' re about equal as regards qualifica-tions and experience. So,I suppose I' ve a fifty-fifty chance of getting it.□ I still wouldn't give the whole operation better than an gien chance, but, at the time,I didn't even think there was that. L o variants have etc a better than even/fifty-fifty chance, have etc better than an even/a fifty-fifty chance. have etc everything but (sth) [possess]have etc almost all the things that one needs for a task etc except for(one, often vital, thing) V:have(got), △get; give sb; there be; find. prep:with o He had the feeling that he now had almost all the information he needed, that he had every-thing but that one last piece of the jigsaw that would make the whole situation clear. o' What about the attic?’‘I went right through it ——found the most amazing things—— everything but what I was looking for.' o I particularly asked Margaret to write and let me know if she would be home for Christmas and here's a great long letter that tells me everything but. ◇小anything but; nothing but sth/ do sth. have (got)/ with an eye for etc the main chance [possess] do sth concentrating on one's own interests, on what one considers will be profitable, and ignoring the interests of others prep: for, on, to o But to talk of ' sincer-ity' helps no more than to talk of' utter cynicism'.Clearly a man may not be altogether a conscious manipulator but still have an eye on the main chance. ULo This is how Alec had seen it, in his book: not as an act of self-abnegation on her part, but as something done with an eye to the main chance. PW □ If, as his critics allege, MrWilson had too much of an eye for the main chance, that certainly doesn't emerge from his account of his relationship with Ministerial colleagues. L have (got)/ with an eye to (doing) sth[possess] do sth for the sake of sth else, with the main or further purpose of sth else happening,or in the hope of achieving sth o: the future,further developments, possible closure, quick <259> have eyes in the back of one's head---have one's feet on the ground profits; cornering the market, impressing the general manager □ Schweppes' first big ac-quisition was the right to distribute Pepsi-Cola,which they bought in 1953, clearly having an eye to the battles to come. OBS□ ' Gunpoint' is a conventional Audie Murphy Western, made very much with an eye to television, about a small town sheriff pursuing a nefarious gang. RT oThere is something about the tone of these letters that makes me feel sure they were written with an eye to getting them published at a later date.have etc eyes in/ at the back of one's head/ neck [possess] (informal) (seem to,need to) have the ability to see in all directions at once (because a lot is happening around one,because there is sth suspicious going on, etc) V:have(got); △ there be, prep: with o You need10 have eyes at the back of your head to keep that kid out of mischief.□Jack came out quickly,und closed the door. Collins has goteyes in the back of his neck, he said, and he's only waiting for a chance like this.'TT o also pl They' ve got eyes in the back(s) of their head(s). have etc eyes in one's head [possess] (in-formal) be observant; be able to notice one's surroundings, what sb is doing etc V: have(got); △ there be. prep: with o Well, it's getting pretty obvious about you and Katie, and I' ve got eyes in my head as well as anyone else. TT oThere's a notice outside that says ' Please knock before entering' . Haven't you got eyes in your idiot head?□ Her purse wasn't lost at all . It was lying on the hall table where anybody with eyes in his head would have seen it. □ also pl They' ve got eyes in their heads! have etc a face-lift [possess] receive etc cos-metic surgery to reduce sags and wrinkles caused by ageing; be re-decorated, re-constructed, modernized or otherwise im-proved V: have, △ get; give sb. prep: with oConcrete has had a face-lift in recent years and is no longer its old forbidding grey self. OBS □Even getting one's face lifted can't do much for nose-to-mouth lines. TVT o Mrs Lauder (ofEstée Lauder Cosmetics), in her sixties, is a very good ad for the products— peach skin and so on— ' and no face lift', she said, insisting that Icheck for scars round her hairline. STo The Lin-coln Centre has now had a time to settle down,not only as a group of buildings devoted to the arts but as a factor in the face-lifting of NewYork's slummy West Side. L o also pl; variant have/ get one's face lifted; n compound face-lifting. have etc a fair crack of the whip [possess](informal) have etc an equal opportunity with others to say sth, to show what one can do, or to play one's part in an undertaking V: have,△get; give, allow sb □ Mr Botha believes thatAfricans should now be given a fair crack of the whip in the Zimbabwean Government. To‘The press never gives doctors a fair crack of the whip.' There is some truth in this. Often we are not fair to doctors, expecting them to be not only dogmatic, but also omniscient. NS□For the news-papers, and for the broadcast political discussions, gladiatorial engagements between the front benches are the main theme. In ' Yester-day in Parliament', on the other hand, the ordin-ary Member does get a fair crack of the whip. Lo Nowadays Sylvester very rarely appears with the orchestra at public preformances in LondonThis is so that Victor Jr, who has laboured for years behind the scenes, should have a fair crack of the whip. ST have etc(more than) a/ one's fair share of sth [possess] have etc(more than) a usual,or expected, amount of sth (without the im-plication that others are either entitled or deprived) V: have(got); △ enjoy; be blessed,favoured, gifted, with. prep: with. o: (good/bad) luck; adventures; good looks. talent,intelligence; disappointments o Up to the time he got into films he had made steady progress in the business of acting. Clearly he had a more than respectable talent and a fair shar@ of the necessary luck, TVTo Certainly, as birds go, the oven-bird appears to have more than his fair share of personality and charm. DF□ Business,so the saying goes, is people. Even more so is local government, a service-oriented industry with more than its fair share of loyal, and perhaps sometimes excessively dedicated, staff.OBS ◇ △ get etc a/ one's fair share. have etc a familiar etc ring (about/ to it)[possess] sound familiar; seem already known to one $: message, request, plan; name; music.V: have (got), △ there be. prep: with. adj:familiar, old-fashioned, convincing, ironical,foreign o If this casino confrontation has about it a familiar ring today, it could be because among the representatives of British Intelligence in the casino that night was Ian Fleming, who more than a decade later was to make this mo-ment the central point of ' Casino Royale'. OBS□Unfortunately, Mr Tranter's descriptive ex-cellence is not equalled in his writing of dialogue,which has a stifted ring to say the least. SC have etc a/ the feeling (that) [possess] think etc that sth is the case, will happen, etc, though there is no reason for thinking so v: have(got),△get; give sb, leave sb with □ She took the two bottles of whisky, half a bottle of brandy, and all the tins of soup. She had a feel- ing that she and Joe were going to need them. AITC□ He was very pleasant but I got the feel- ing that he didn't much like me, all the same. have etc feet of clay [possess] have etc some fundamental weakness or fault that injury,challenge or attack will reveal (from DANIEL 1131-35, describing a statue with a head of gold,and other parts progressively less durable and valuable, down to feet made partly of clay which, when struck by a stone, caused the whole to collapse) V: have, △ possess. prep:with o Why don't you directly refute Lenin's thesis that imperialism is a colossus with feet of clay, and 'a bugbear'? T □ Every twisted cor-porate saga of recent years has had the same effect—— showing that an erstwhile management hero had, among other things, administrative feet of clay. OBS □ (NONCE) The phrase ' high ideals’ is commonly used derisively. If anyone else seems to be trying to ' live by principle' he may be a fool or prig; look for the clay feet. ULhave atc one's/ both feet on the ground[possess] have plenty of commonsense; know what one is doing and why; not be likely to be led into foolish undertakings; be realistic V:have(got),△ keep. prep: with □ ' If my brother 259 <260> have etc(the) first refusal----have etc a (great) future hadn't been with me I daresay I would have been talked into lending them the money.'' Yes, It's a good job John has both feet on the ground,since you haven't. 'o SYLVIA: I want a home,Peter. PETER : I' ll build one for you. SYLVIA:What, with dreams? I want a boy with his feet on the ground. DPMo The working classes are at bottom in excellent health: rough and un-polished perhaps, but diamonds nevertheless; not refined, not intellectual but with both feet on the ground. UL have etc(the) first refusal [possess] be given etc the option to buy sth before it goes on the open market, or to accept a gift etc before it is offered to sb else V: have: △give, promise,sb □ Mr Cadbury gave Lord Rothermere a firm option, first refusal on the papers should they ever come into the market. T o No one has the dedicace (= has my new book dedicated to them) so far, but you can have the first refusal,if you like. PWo' Look,' I said, 'I have a private customer waiting for an early oak bureau and Ihave promised him first refusal. I' ll ring you if it does not suit him.' sc have etc afit[possess] suffer a physical seizure with convulsions; (fig) become wildly or ex-cessively alarmed, dismayed, angered V: have;△take, throw o The car started up. ' Look the other way please,' Helena laughed,' as I take this corner. The instructor would have a fit if he saw me. ’ HAHA□】 went along to interrogate him and he practically threw a fit, ending up by shouting at me: ' You English swine, what right have you got to be in this country anyway!'DS□ often with would in (exaggerated) predictions of how sb might react. have etc a fit of (the) giggles [possess]succumb to etc irrepressible giggling for a short time V: have(got),△get; give sb□(reading a script) It's no wonder that in the middle of one steamy love scene Jenny had a fit of the giggles as her imaginary romp continued on another page. TVT o I laughed a lot, particularly atMilligan's sport with cigarette commercials, but that doesn't persuade me to excuse his tendency to laugh at himself. A fit of giggles in the middle of a sketch is no substitute for a good script. RThave etc a fle a in one's our[possess] be reprimanded, rejected or humiliated V: have,△get. prep: with o If he tried to take over my little operation, he'd soon get a flea in his ear. o…… Duncan, who sank even lower in his chair like a discouraged Cupid with a flee in his car fromVenus. USo He thought all he had to do was come and ask for his job back, but he soon had a flea in his ear from me, and he won't be back.□ often send sb away| off. go away, leave with a flee in one's●ar. have a/ one's fling [V + O] enjoy a short or long period of unlimited pleasure; allow oneself some special extravagance of behaviour, expen-diture etc a He's only young once. Let him have his fling. He' ll settle down, you' ll see.□ It's nice for a bride to be able to dress up and be the centre of attraction, without having to feel guilty about it. And you never forget it, it's probably the last chance you get to have a bit of a fling. TT have(got) sb fooled [V+ 0 + Comp] deceive or mislead sb; puzzle sb $: problem, task,puzzle; player, opponent o `1 thought he was 260 really ill.' ' He had me fooled too.' o ,,, the phoniest account of wage-slavery and incestuous relations ever. That really read as if it had been written by an American butterfly collector, but it had everybody fooled from Fleet Street toPinewood. JFTR have (got)/ with form [possess] (police slang) have a criminal record of some kind, esp one including a prison sentence, which can be consulted by the police□ Mimi has a child whom she adores and a husband who has what English criminal lawyers call ' form'. NS have etc the fortune/ misfortune to do sth [possess] be lucky/ unlucky to do, have, or be sth specified V: have(got), △ be sb’ s. prep:with. adj: great, good (fortune); great (mis-fortune)□Israel has had the fortune to attract a nucleus of Jewish scientists from the Western countries. NS□In his late forties he had the mis-fortune to lose the sight of one eye.□II was my good fortune to have parents who were both understanding and tolerant. have etc a friend at court [possess] have access to sb who will help one by using his in-fluence in an important place V: have(got),△get. prep: with o He had just mentioned HectorRose (a Permanent Secretary of State), for whom perversely he had taken a liking—— and Iteased him about his friends at court. NMo' My brother has spoken so often and so well of you.'' Well, it's good to know you have a friend at court,' said Robert, I was nervous about meet-ing you all.’ have etc a frog in one's throat [possess]have a (temporary) loss or roughening of the voice, eg as might be caused by catarrh in the throat V: have(got), △ get. prep: with o He started to speak, but coughed instead. ' Excuse me, I had a frog in my throat.'o ' What's the matter with you—— have you got a sore throat?’'I'm all right,' he answered hoarsely. ' It's just that I often get a frog in my throst first thing in the morning.'o Against all odds (and, ap-parently, doctor's advice) he soldiered on for four long acts, without a top or a bottom to his voice and a frog in the middle. Our sympathies went out to him. But what, in opera's name, are understudies for? NS◇△ have etc a lump in one's throat. have (one's) fun enjoy oneself (doing sth)□Even Nicky had pink in his cheeks. In response to Brigit's question he admitted that they had had fun catching the kitten. DC a All I know is you' ve had your fun and now I'm going to have a baby. HDo All right, then, we' ve had our fun.Settle down now and get out your Geography work-books. o with possess usu indicates selfish enjoyment or a pleasure that is, or should be,temporary. have etc a(great) future [possess] have etc good prospects; be likely etc to succeed; be like-ly etc to lead to success $: actor, minister;discos, supermarkets; plastics, detergents. V:have(got). prep:△with, without. A: ahead(of one/ sb); before one o And Twiggy? Time alone will tell whether she home a future at this game.Her present is exquisite. NSo Apprentices are, or should be, people with a future. SCo Indeed, just about the only clear message to emerge from this.book is that violence bas a great future ahead <261> (not) have etc a ghost of a chance— have etc a good time of it. Lo I suppose any mother would like to see her son in a nice respectable job with a future.(not) have etc a ghost of a chance (of doing sth) [possess](informal)(not) have etc a slight chance (of achieving sth);(not) have etc a cat in hell's chance (of doing sth)(qv); (not)have etc a chance in hell (of doing sth) (qv);(not) have etc a dog's chance(of doing sth)(qv)V: have(got), △ stand, get; give sb; there be.prep: with, without o ' Perhaps you' ll make it up again with Angie. " Not the ghost of a chance.She's avoiding me like the plague.'o Believe me,if I thought I had the ghost of a chance I'd apply for the job myself. □ If Harry were to pay us back the£200 he borrowed, things wouldn't be so bad. ' ' Yes, but there isn't the ghost of a chance of that.’ o Anyone with the ghost of a chance of getting a visa was queuing outside the consular offices. □ usu neg. have etc the gift of the gab [possess](infor-mal) have the ability to talk fluently and at length V: have(got), △ possess. prep: with □Hurry's a good person to invite to dinner parties.He's got the gift of the gab so conversation never flags when he's around. a He's an ex-insurance man with the gift of the gab and a shrewd brain for business. TO□ Very remarkable chap, you know, Unusual to find a sense of re-sponsibility with such a gift of the gab. ASA oAnd it is true that one of Shaw's problems as a pluwright is that he cannot resist his own gift of the gab, his desire to charm through which-ever character currently has his or her mouth open. R1 have etc the gift of tongues [possess] have knowledge of, and skill in, the use of a language or languages; have the ability to interest,delight, or inspire others in conversation or speeches V: have (got), △ possess; be blessed,favoured, with; speak with, prep: with □ PopeJohn Paul II makes a point of giving at least some of his speeches in the language of the country he's visiting. He has the gift of tongues in a way shared by none of the world's secular leaders. o A man with the gift of ton-gues, he could speak fluently in four languages.und could get by in as many more. □ The chapels made wide use of lay preachers. They were ' one of us' with what admirers called ' the gift of tongues' , but doubters knew as ' the gift of the gab. UL a You know. Matthew said, this is most illuminating, and admirably put. ’ And Da-niel himself was genuinely moved; he had been speaking with the gift of tongues. US have etc the gift/ power(s) of total recall[possess] have etc the ability to recollect, as one chooses, events, one's past, what one has studied, read or listened to, wholly and in cor-rect detail V: have (got), △possess; be blessed,born, with; lack. prep: with o ... those people with powers of total recall who can identify uny quotation and remember the names of all the horses who won the Derby. SC o What special quality made E Nesbit so good at distilling the atmosphere of childhood, the small details that assume enormous importance? It was, for a start,the gift of total recall which, perhaps pre-cociously, she had cultivated. RTo Kempowski combines the gift of near-total recall with u chilling knuck of letting his characters condemn themselves out of their own mouths. SThave(got)/ with a good etc head of hair[possess] have hair that grows thickly to cover the scalp adj: good,△ fine, magnificent, lovely□I don't think you' ll grow bald, Bill. Your father lived to be 76 and still had a good head of hair on him. □ At thirty-five she still had a head of hair like black silk cotton, curly and thick as it fell to her fat olive shoulders. DBM o GrannyGreen would never fail to tell the nurses after her hair was done, 'I had a lovely head of hair till you cut it off. 'MMo With that head of hair you don't need a hat. O usu said of hair that can be admired or envied. have etc a good etc/ one's innings[possess] (be allowed to) enjoy a long life or have a peniod of popularity, power etc; have a satisfactorily long turn at officiating, perform-ing, speaking etc(from cricket) V: have,△get:give sb. adj: good,△fair, long □ Being dead Idon't think about. I have had a good innings.and it would be quite nice to have a rest. Lo None of these sirens would have had an innings (a chance to marry him) if Mrs Arbuthnot had been alive. ST o I don't think he' ll be re-elected president. People are feeling he's had a long enough innings and that the honours should go round. have etc(no) good reason (for (doing)sth) [possess] have etc(no) valid motive, ex-planation or justification (for doing sth) V:have; △ there be; see; know, prep: for, with,(not) without □ Last week's annual get-together of Wintrust shareholders was a jolly affair and for good rweron. There was plenty to celebrate,what with thumping good increases in profits,assets and dividends last year. OBS□I think he is very genuinely sorry to leave and probably with good reason, for he belongs to the soil here. NS□ Without any good reason for doing so, MrBludgeon was inclined to abandon a class half-way through a lesson, to the astonishment and delight of the pupils. c... the woods at evening.the two figures for no good reason locked together, the shadows in the background...RATTo He hit her again two weeks later, for no better reason than that he was half drunk and discouraged. AITC□ Her apprehension had not been without reason. Now it had flowered into this very real problem. DC have etc a good time [possess] (informal)enjoy oneself generally or on a particular occasion, eg as at a party、 on a holiday, etc V:have,小 give sb, treat sb too Apparently he had taken an overdose of sleeping tablets. ' But why do it in Brighton? That's where one goes to have a good time.'DCa He finds life largely accept-able so long as the big worries (debt, drink, sick-ness) keep away, and so long as there is adequate scope for ' having a good time' , UL, o If the weather's fine we can give the kids a good time,with pony rides and picnics on the beach.□I knowAngie s just a good-time girl. But she's fun to take out and it doesn't bother me who else she goes out with.□ Most of the canoes were swam-ped but the water was warm and a good time was had by all. ST o often derogatory, as inShe's only interested in having a good time;attrib use a good-time girl; variant, (and) a good time was had by all(often facetious or iron- 261 <262> have got it badly---have etc(no) hard feelings ic), may end a description of a pleasant or social occasion. ◇△have/ give sb a high old time. have got it badly (informal) esp be very much in love with sb, but used also of other enthusiasms, infatuations or crazes o 'I like her. ' He paused and chose a little colloquialism which he remembered hearing somewhere.' She's got it very badly over you, Robin.'ASA□' Steve's always had plenty of girl-friends, but it's dif-ferent this time. '' Got it bad, has he?'o Most of the twelve-year-olds had dreams of being ballet-dancers or show-jumpers. I'd got it badly too,but it was skin-diving in my case. o variant (in-formal) have got it bad. have etc the grace etc to do sth [possess]have etc a sense of what is suitable, polite or considerate, behaviour and thus do sth specified V: have (got). prep: △ with, without.O: grace, △ courtesy, (good) manners, (com-mon) decency, o Why could she not have the grace to accept the polite lie he had told her? HD□I did have the grace to feel a bit ashamed whenI got a picture postcard from a Chelsea address.CON D Announcing at the last minute that he couldn't attend the meeting after all, he might have had the courtesy to explain why.□ He was unnecessarily rude but at least he had the decency to apologise afterwards. have etc green fingers [possess] have greater than usual ability to grow plants,flowers, crops, successfully V: have (got), △possess. prep: witho Williamson's farm rated as an A during the war, and in the ensuing decades flourished under his green fingers. OBS□ Potted plants always die with me. I'm afraid I heren't got green fingers. □ ' Nasty frost though, very nasty. It' sa wretched nuisance. "'I'm sure you are green-fingered enough tomanage, Mr Purnell,'she said. To adj compound green-fingered. have etc guts [possess](informal) be a tough,persistent, courageous type of person V: have(got): △ show. prep: with. det: no; plenty of,some o ' She has got guts; no one can deny that,'said a colleague. OBS□ Don't give up like that,Hurry. Show some guts, man, and refuse to be heaten.□The bloody fool's got guts,I' ll say that for him. PE◇ △ next entry. have etc the guts to do sth[possess](infor-mal) have etc sufficient courage, determination,or defiance of opposition, to be able to do sth specified V: have (got). prep: △ with, without o He also saw in Lansbury the good-natured but woolly-minded pacifist who would not have the guts to use force. OBS□ ALISON: I used to hope that one day, somebody would have the guts to slam the door in our faces, but they didn't. LBAoWould you have had the guts to join Xerox in1959? Volkswagen in 1950? IBM in 1946? Lo(reader's letter) At last! A writer with the guts to present us with a sincere, true-to-life situation.RT φ▲ previous entry. have had one's chips (dated slang) be dead or dying; suffer a serious loss of prestige,favour, position; have had it (qv) $: he, she,they, you; firm, company; project o ' Here's another case of somebody drinking weed-killer from a lemonade bottle.'' Well, if it was thatPuraquat stuff, he's hand his chips.' o 'I thinkGoldilocks (a nickname) has had his chips.’' The push?' he said.' From here, anyway.'TToJO: 262 It doesn't really matter if you do fancy her, any-way, beause she's gone. You' re too late. You' ve had your chips. TOH have had one's day/ time [V + O] be too old,worn out, to be of much or any further use; not be able to function as one used to; the day of sb/sth is over/ finished (qv)□'I'm afraid these shoes have had their day.’‘They certainly have.Throw them out.' □ (alleged experiments on patients that are in hospital with terminal diseases) It seems the attitude has been that these patients have had their day anyway, so that even if things go wrong there's not much harm done oHAVA: Going to die? Please, Mr Levy, don't speak that way; you scare me. SAM: Listen, be a good, sensible girl——I' ve had my time and I'm going to die— what's more natural than that?HSG ◇△ ha ve one's day¹,2. have had enough be unable or unwilling to stand any more of sth, eg pain, worry, inter-ference, disappointment, hard work, etc adv mod:(just) about, more than. A: of sb, from sb o TONY: I'm waiting for that moment when you put your foot down about something and say you' ve had enough. But you never do. EHOWoThe work was hard but the pay was good. I had no complaint against the company, but I sudden-ly felt I had had enough. D The Marquis stood in the middle of the haymarket offering gin to all comers. They came all right. But the police had had enough. They managed to arrest him on a charge of furious driving. L have had it (informal) have come to the end of one's life or career; not be able any longer to continue an activity or a relationship, or to command the respect or interest of others; have had one's chips (qv) □ I was thinking:' Well,that's that. I' ve had it,' and deciding that I was now in some kind of outer-room to heaven. TSToSometimes I think I' ve had it, I really do. I get phases of desperation and my husband and Iagree we' ll manage to live somehow on his salary.SCoPHILIP: Why don't you recognize the fact that we' ve had it? We' ve served a purpose. MYRA:You mean we should leave it all to the youth?EHOWoI hope nobody wants a last drink because if they do they' we had it. have(got)/ with one's hands full [possess]have plenty of work to do, or so much that one cannot take on anything else A: at home; with all these papers to correct; coping with the rush of orders □ I won't stay for coffee. I can see you have your hands full this morning.□Its task was also to arouse amongst the educated public anew sense of values in matters relating to the material heritage of India. It had its hands full. SD oSomebody else will have to see to the curtains and lighting. I' ll have my hands full helping with all the changes of costume. o Joe Sugden's hands are full with the Emmerdale Farm AnnualGeneral Meeting coming up. TVT D variant one's hands are full. have etc(no) hard feelings [possess] have or retain (no) feelings of resentment, or bitter-ness, about sth said or done to one by another person V: have;△be ar sb; there be. prep: with(no), without(any) □ He thought I was wrong and said so. I bear him no hard feelings for that.□They had both agreed that the engagement had been a mistake. They broke it off, apparently <263> have etc a hard row to hoe----have (got)/ with a heart of stone without hard feelings on either side. have etc a hard row to hoe [possess] have a long and wearisome task or a difficult and arduous style of life (from the hand-hoeing of weeds among rows of field plants)V: have(got);△give sb; it be. prep: with□ It' sa curious thing about the English race: they hate brains. People who have a little flash of poetry or genius in their make-up have a hard row to hoe. STo' He's very young to be appointed Headmaster, isn't he?'' Yes, some of the older staff don't like the idea at all. And it' ll be a hard row for him to hoo in other respects as well . The school is going com-prehensive next year.' have/ give sb a hard time [possess] have/give sb difficult work; be in a situation in which people harass, obstruct, or demand too much of one/ harass etc sb else o The eldest of four sons, he was always the rebel. His father had died and his mother had problems. He recalls: 'I sup-pose it was my individuality coming out, but she certainly had a hard time from me.’ TVTo l would kill any fox that I found doing specific damage to stock, and I'd do it with the local pair!I knew they were giving somebody a hard time. But I don't know that they are. SCo WestYorkshire sent a man to cut down all the bunting from the lamp-posts. It was 'a traffic hạzard'.The man they sent was not only on the gala com-mittee. he was the man who traditionally put the hunting up. He was given a hard time. G have (got)/ with a (good) head for figures [possess] be good at arithmetic, at cal-culating□ / have no head for figures— drawing and making things with my hands is what I can do best; whereas my sister Maureen, blessed with a superb head not only for figures but also for words, draws cows and ants to look much the same.口 often neg, esp in have no head for figures.have (got)/ with a (good) head for heights [possess] be able to stand on, move along, or look down from, a high place without feeling giddy or afraid □ I judged the distance,looked at the drop, and decided I was not a daring fellow. I had no head for heights. UTN□ Any fit person with a headfor heights could learn to do rock-climbing. 口 often neg, esp in have no head for heights. have etc a head of steam[possess] have etc steam pressure, to drive an engine, etc; (fig)show an increase in enthusiasm, energy, rate of work、 feeling etc V: have; △ develop, get up.produce; there be. prep: with. adj: good,powerful □ After reading or listening to nearly100 speeches, I cannot honestly report that any-one here has got up much of a head of steam about what the Tanzanian delegate described as the increasingly iniquitous status quo NS o(rugby) But in the loose, especially in the con-cluding 20 minutes, it was the Irish forwards who were able to produce a more powerful head of steam. STa It could happen that Fitzwilliam will beat Crowe to the London stockmarket scene.Whatever finally emerges. Crowe shares still seem to have a good head of steam. OBS □ He offers her£100 to get an abortion, but she sweeps out on a proud head of steam, hating and loving him at the same time. SC ◇ △ get up steam (Vol1). have etc a head start [possess] have etc a certain advantage over others, or above what is usual at the start of a race, competition、 course of study, etc V: have(got),△get; give sb. prep:with o In her time (she had a head start asRADA's youngest student at 16) she has playedRosalind, Lady Macheth, Cleopatra, Beatrice,Desdemona and Titania, and Ophelia last year in the West End. OBS□In ' Winner Takes All', Tar-buck takes bets from contestants gambling on their ability to choose the right answer from six possibilities. And ' being a bookie's son gives me a head start.'TVT a Whether chairing a panel game, quizzing a politician, or talking of books.Robinson gives a display of language which may.or may not help to communicate. Readers of' Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable' have a head start in keeping up with him. L have etc a healthy respect for sb/ sth[possess] have etc a respect for, fear of, caution about, sb/ sth which it is wise to have for one's own good V: have,△feel, show; give sb. prep:with o The confrontation over Cuba must have given the Russians a healthy respect for theUnited States Administration. OBS o Don't worry. I have a healthy respect for the Law.□Aman with s more healthy respect than myself for firearms, especially for one pointed in my direction, would be hard to find. o healthy (=preserving one's safety or comfort`) also occurs in the expressions have a healthy dislike of sb/ sth, at a healthy distance. have a heart(1) be more tolerant, considerate.merciful, helpful etc o ' Have a heart, Jake,' he said.' If you don't help me to get away now I may not be let out for days.'UTN□ He dropped the window with a crash, and was staring angrily up the line when a rich husky voice from inside the compartment summoned him back. " Have e heart, partner!I'm refrigerated to the marrow as it is!'HD □ exclamatory appeal to sb. (not) have (got) the heart to do sth[possess](not) be willing, or able, to do sth which could, or does, cause distress either to oneself or another det:(not) much, little, no.Inf: to refund the money, to turn them out o We disposed of the car when Maurice died. It was his really: we hadn't the heart to use it somehow.RATT □ She had not the heart to spoil his pleasure with her own troubles. RFW□ The child was in obvious need. Who could have the heart to refuse him? have (got)/ with a heart of gold {possess}have a noble, kind, helpful, loyal etc nature(which may be contrasted with a rough and unpleasing exterior) o Everyone behaved as if they were under contract to live up to the tradition of the outspoken Yorkshireman with a heart of gold underneath a rough exterior.RATI。 The hero,a Tory MP, has as his loyal ally a rugged Labour MP, who, though he makes foolish radical speeches in the House, has a heart of gold. OBS□ You ' ave' earts (= have hearts) of gold like my friend, Cavalier e Skip-ton. I cannot love you enough' USo We are any-thing but strangers to the small town in Montana with its store and sheriff's office, the bullying deputy, crooked gambler, and evena whore with a heart of gold. We have seen it before in scores of Western movies. NS have(got)/ with a heart of stone[possess] 263 <264> have etc a heavy/ light heart---have etc an idea of sth have an unfeeling, callous, pitiless nature a It couldnotbe said that she hadabeartofstone, for this usually implies some conscious rejection of pity. ASA a Elspeth was extremely photogenic.The pictures of her leaving the court would have moved a heart of stone. Pwo also pl have hearts of stone. have etc a heavy/ light heart [possess] be filled with feelings of despondency, grief,sorrow/ joy, happiness, relief (the reference al-ways being to a condition caused by sth, not a general characteristic of the person specified)V: have; △ there be. prep: with o There were many heavy hearts in the little fishing village that night.□He recalled with a heavy heart the tone of her voice when she had murmured 'u double wedding' with all too evident pleasure at the prospect. RMo We finally found my kitten locked up in the cupboard under the stairs. It was a light-hearted little boy that went to bed that evening, I can tell you.□ adj compound heavy-/light-hearted; variant (informal) be heavy/ light of heart. have etc a hide/ skin like a rhinoceros[possess] show etc insensitivity to attack, criti-cism, slights or insults V: have (got); △ need.prep: with o Angrily the men returned 10minutes later to tell their mates, ‘We had no impact. These men have hides like a rhinocerrog.’ OBS o To stand up and opposeChurchill in person needed the skin of a rhinoceros. ST o But how do you identify your dedicated social climber? She will certainly haveCardin or Yves St Laurent labels sewn into her chain-store coat. Her hide is as thick as a rhinoceros in a bullet-proof body-stocking. STOfrequently adapted, as shown. have (got)/ with high hopes [possess] be optimistic and ambitious in one's hopes A: of winning the cup; for her clever son; that he will succeed o Our (medical) team has the highest hopes Iassure you. We' llhave yououtofhere inno time! HAHA o Local owner Albert Burnett has high hopes of winning Newcastle's GosforthPark Cup with Shamrock Star. DM□Hopes are high that the National Exhibition Centre, soon to be built just outside the city will restore Bir-mingham's rate of industrial expansion. NSo' TheLong March of Everyman', Radio 4's 26-episode history of the British underdog, set off lastNovember with high hopes. L o Everyone's hopes ra n high for Plessey had recently taken over the computer-based numerical control sys-tem for making machine tools. RT o variants hopes are high; hopes run high. have/ give sb a high old time[possess] (in-formal) enjoy oneself immensely, esp in an exuberant or jolly way/ entertain sb in such a way that he enjoys himself immensely o I'm a bit of an old fogy, but I still flatter myself I can rise to the occasion. We should heg& a high old time tonight and no mistake, heh?DILO' Oh, yes,'said Dollie, ' we had a high old time all right. Ienjoyed myself.'ASA ◇ △ have etc a good time.have etc Hobson's choice [possess] have etc the option of taking either what is offered or nothing(from the 17thc carrier who would not offer a free choice of horses, but hire out one only in its proper turn) V: have(got)、△ get.take; give sb; there be. prep: with o In America 264 it is still possible to choose from a fairly large selection of architect-built homes, rather than simply taking Hobson's choice and thanking your lucky stars that you' ve found anything that's remotely habitable. ST have (got)/ with hollow legs [possess](fa-cetious) have a large appetite o Lydia toldMinor not to eat too much cake as they would be having tea in half and hour. ' That's all right,Miss Lydia,' said Nanny.' Hollow legs they have at their age. 'wɒM have etc a home (of one's own) to go to[possess] used esp in reproachful or aggressive comments or questions suggesting that sb`s own home is where he should be, rather than where he is V: have (got). prep: △ with (no),without □JO: Havon't you got a home to go to.Geof?TOH□I'm tired of entertaining Tony at all hours of the day and night. It's not as if he hadn't a home of his own to go to. □ There's no need for us to stay here if we' re not welcome. After all,we do heʊea home of our own to go to.□ esp in neg and interrog constructions; also pl have homes (of their own) to go to. have(got)/ get a hunch(that)[possess](in-formal) have/ get a premonition or strong feel-ing(that sth is the case, or is about to happen)(the implication often implying being a shrewd or inspired guess that is later proved correct) cl:(that) he will come,(that) you were going to ask me o Purvis's description of him is right.Nationality, on the face of it, British. But I have a hunch that he might not be. ARG o I had a couple of chits about Waterman from the Baron during the war. So today I just had a hunch he might want a note on Waterman. Instinct. PP□/had worked on this job for ten years and my hunch is that the peers were getting poorer. Lo variant sb's hunch is (that). have etc an idea (that) [possess] have etc reasón to think that sth is the case or is likely to happen V: have (got), △ get; give sb. prep:with. det: no, (not) any, (not) the least. adj:good, shrewd, vague o He said he had on idea that Miss Prentice had gone abroad. RFWo No,I don't know where he spends the night when he doesn't come home, but I' ve a good idea who he' ll be with.□MILLY: Myra, what are you going to do? MYRA: I have no idea. EHOWa Have you any ide n what it costs to put a man into space?□ ' Of course he speaks Welsh. It was his first language.’‘Really? I had no idg&.’ o I didn’ t press him but I got the idea he'd be willing to co-operate. □ Me a teacher! What gave you that idea?o dets listed not used before an adj; often negimplying lack of information or inability to make up one's mind about sth, esp have no idea.have etc an idea of sth{possess} have etc an impression, understanding, of sth studied or explained to one; know sth from experience or instruction V: have (got), get; give sb. prep:with. det: some,(not) much, no. adj: good, fair rough, poor; o I see you' ve done social research work before so you should have a good idea of the kind of information we want. □ The annual careers guide is a valuable introduction, giving some idea of the range of opportunities open to school-leavers. OBS□‘You mean you keep them lying about on your desk?’ Oh. I lock them away at night.'' You haven't got much idea of secur- <265> have etc sth in one's blood--have etc the knack (of it) ity , have you?'oMIHo dets listed not used before an adj. have etc sth in one's blood [possess] have etc sth as part of one's nature, character,through heredity or custom V: have (got),get; there be. prep: with □ The desert's in my blood, and when I go home after the war I' ll take a sackful of sand with me! SCa Shirley Anne can reasonably claim to have betting in her blood.Her father, Tom Baines, is a well-known London book ie with several shops. SToWhen local people of Welsh descent come together they can start up a choir straight away. ' The harmonies are there,aren 't they? It's in the blood, isn't it?' OBS have stc sth in one's favour [possess] have etc sth as an advantage or asset, helping one towards a desired result V: have (got); △ be.prep: with, without. S/O: youth, a sound con-stitution; years ofexperience; the wind, climatic conditions o (a fishing competition) Everything was in the postman's favour--yearsofpractice,expert knowledge of the river, the support of the crowd. TO□' Our side haven't much chance with the ball in this wind. " Oh well, if it doesn't drop,it' ll be in our favour in the second half. ’ oThough Frank had youth and good looks in his favour,a shrewd girl was more likely to settle forAlan's £10,000 a year. have it (that) suggest, state, declare, that sth is the case, is true $: tradition, the story;rumour, local gossip; some, others; the police,his wife o Tradition has it that Bridge of Allan copper was used in the first coinage of halfpen-nies, struck for the Coronation of Queen Mary in 1543. SC□ The legend has it that, during a recruiting drive in 1795, the Duchess of Gordon put a golden guinea between her lips and said she would kiss any man who enlisted. TVTo Disap-peared. Rumour had it he was killed in a reprisal raid up in the Fermoy area. PP have etc it/ things both ways [possess](try to) combine two ways of thinking or behaving,satisfy two demands, obtain two results, etc that are, or might be thought to be, exclusive of each other; have one's cake and eat it(too)(qv)V: have(got).△get; want o Victorian critics of the monarchy were able to have it both ways,denouncing the Queen for her avarice, the Prince of Wales for his extravagance. Lo To be admired for one's talents or to be loved for oneself? Men want it both ways and I am surprised that women do not make a little more pretence of giving it--especially when they want to marry the men in question. SPL have (got) it good [possess](informal) enjoy prosperity, comfortable conditions of life, etcoMyra Chetwynd, the fashion model, had become an important symbol. A symbol of possession, of achievement, of ease, having it good, what the ad man, in his sickering dialect, calls gracious living. CON □BESSIE: You' ll cry—— you' ll see——when I'm gone— you don't know when you' ve got it good. Didn't I give you everything you wanted? HSG □ All the complaints about food,accommodation and facilities come from people who I know for a fact have never had it better.□ Mr Macmillan was still riding the wave that had taken him to landslide victory in the never had it so good' election of 1959. Lo Greig has never had it so good. Late in his career he is enjoying well-earned luxuries. OBS o variant you' ve never had it so good (a catchphrase since its use in 1959 by the Conservative Party as a campaigning slogan for re-election to office). have (got) it made [possess] (informal) be sure of(continued) success $; firm, hotel, store;businessman, actor o Why go to the OuterHebrides to open a hotel? If you stay here in the middle of Birmingham, you' ll have it made.□To hear the Group talk you'd think they'd got it made—— just because they got a two-minute spot on a Regional TV show. have etc it/ things one's (own) way[possess](informal) be allowed to have the last word in an argument; succeed in doing what one wants, or doing sth in the way one wants,despite some opposition; dominate a situation,ega sporting contest V: have(got),△get; want□ All right then, have it your way. I'm tired of arguing.□ That's James all over, he's got to have things his own way. □ In the second half, the heavier Welsh pack had things pretty much their own way. O stress patterns have it ' one's way, have it one's ' own way. have etc the jitters etc[possess](informal)be in an unsettled, fearfui, nervous state, esp when awaiting or undergoing some serious trial or ordeal V: have (got), △ get; give sb. prep:with. O: the jitters, △ the shakes, the willies □When her hand trembled as she handed Brigit her cup of hot chocolate, she laughed shakily and apologized. I'm sorry. I' ve got the jitters. 'DC□ Meet me for coffee before my exam. If I' ve someone to talk to it will keep me from getting the shakes. o You' re giving me the willies the way you keep jumping up and running to the window. have(got) a(hard/ tough) job to do sth/doing sth do sth only with great difficulty oIt now seems that earlier estimates of a business boom were over-optimistic and that the Ad-ministration will have a job to prevent a recession. SC a Malta doesn't make anything much or grow anything— in fact, it has a job supporting itself. Lo ' John's not fit to drive.' 'l know, but you' ll have a hard job stopping him.'have (got)/ with a kick like a mule[possess] (informal) have an unmistakeably definite effect on the recipient, spectator etc resulting in his being stimulated, galvanized,stunned or stupefied $: drink, drug; play, film,piece of music; her presence; his conversation oYou be careful. Some of these home-brews have a kick like a mule. □ He gave me a small glass of some raw spirit with a kick like a mule. □For amateurs of exotic dancing there was the Ballet de Rio de Janeiro in a voodoo piece, Zuinaaluti,with a kick like a mule but curiously little flavour of its own. T have/ give sb kittens [possess] (informal)react to a situation, or piece of information,with surprise and alarm, or with fussy and ex-cited behaviour/ act in such a way as to cause sb else to be alarmed □ My mum thinks money is for saving. She'd have kittens if she knew how much I paid for this coat.□She'd been giving the baby a half aspirin and a teaspoonful of whisky every night to make him sleep. The doctor had kittens when he found out what was going on. have etc the knack (of it) [possess] have or 265 <266> have(got)/ with a/ the knack of doing sth— have(got)/ with the Midas touch learn a practical skill V: have(got),△get; learn oI know you' re used to painting with a brush, but a roller's far quicker once you get the knack of it. have (got)/ with a/ the knack of doing sth [possess] have an aptitude for, or a ten-dency towards, acting or behaving in a certain way adj:(un) happy,(un) fortunate □ He always had a knack of falling out with anyone in time.PPσ The Bank of England has a happy knack of not doing these things at the expected moment and then doing them when expectations have been temporarily postponed. To Dr Jackson has the knack of putting nervous patients at their ease. have (got)/ get the last laugh [possess] be the rival, competitor, opponent etc who after alternations of fortune, is finally successful,outdoes another or others o President Pom-pidou could have the last laugh over his old chief, General de Gaulle, who, many believed,cherished hopes of becoming the first President of Europe, OBS□ One can only wish the former civic dignitary luck in his labours between now and Friday morning and hope that he has the last laugh after all. Go variant he who laughs last laughs longest/ loudest. have etc the last word[possess](be allowed to) speak etc last in an argument, discussion etc— this being regarded as decisive, or closing off further debate; be the final authority or judge in an office, the home etc V: have(got),△get; let sb have, give sb □ If the negotiations fail and the Government says that the outcome is unsatisfactory, the people must have the last word in a referendum. ST o There wasn't any point in arguing. so I got up and put on my tie and shoes. Here the police had the last word. QA ▷△ the last word (in sth). have etc a long face[possess] have etc a dis-mal, disappointed or disapproving expression on one's face V: have(got), wear, pull. prep:with. det:a, such a, what a o I suppose they lost at the match, because I can't think of any other reason why you should have such a long face.LLDRo How shocked she was, because in a novel—I forget its name—— somebody, some naughty.naughty woman broke up a happy home. Oh,what a long face she pulled! PW o ' She says“No"?” I said with hardly any hesitation. ‘She hasn't made up her mind. There's still hope.'Phuong laughed.' You say" hope" with such a long face. ’ QA□The longest faces in Llandud-no last week belonged to the Communists in theNational Union of Mineworkers. OBS□Is any-thing wrong with Paul? He says he's all right butI can't remember seeing a longer face — he looks ready to burst into tears. have etc a long way etc to go [possess]have etc much still to do, learn, change, im-prove; have a long time to wait (until sth hap-pens) V: have(got), △ there be. prep: with. O:long way. A fair way, some distance, far, a lot further, a bit. A: still, yet o Housing and sanitary conditions have improved under the new ad-ministration but there's a long way to go yet.□(popular breeds of dogs) But the King CharlesSpaniel has far to go before it dethrones theMiniature Poodle. OBSo' Will I ever be as good a player as Geoff?’ ' Perhaps, but you' ve a fair 266 way to go before that day comes.' have etc a lot to be grateful/ thankful for[possess](cliché) be, in some or many respects,fortunate or more fortunate than others V:have(got);△ find. prep: with. O:a lot, much.a great deal, a good deal □Of course I would like to be able to get about as I used to, but I realizeI have a lot to be thankful for. o When they look back, and especially when they look abroad(for example, at Northern Ireland), the Greeks find much to be thankful for. OBS□ He's not complaining, he's a man with a lot to be grete-fulfor. have(got)/ with a lot to learn [possess] not be well enough informed, or experienced in general or about sth in particular A: from us,from your example, from animals; about life,about the theatre, about running a newspaper o Far from this country learning about road safe-ty from America, the Americans he va a lot to learn from us. Lo He's got a lot to learn and ten more years to learn it in. Or rather, he's gots lot to unlearn. Lo The youngster has a lot to learn about his world, and the simple acts of play help him to explore. TVT have (got)/ with a lot to put up with[possess](informal) have much to endure as a pattern of life or work O: much, enough,a good deal o ' Tell me it all, my lad, ' she said. ' Get it off your chest. I can see you' ve had a lot to put up with.’ LLDR□ My mother had much to put up with, poor soul, but survived her trouble with an increasing sweetness to the age of eighty-four.SD have etc a lump in one's throat[possess]feel etc a constriction in one's throat as a result of strong emotion caused by beauty, love, sad-ness, grief, relief, gratefulness V: have(got),△get; give sb; there be. prep: with o Seeing him step out of the plane and down the gangway geve me such a lump in my throa t that when we fi-nally met I was quite unable to speak, o also plSeveral had a lump in their throat(s). ◇ △have etc a frog in one's throat. have (got)/ with a memory like a sponge/siev●[possess] have/ lack the ability to absorb and retain information, to keep in mind the details and practical arrangements of daily life and work o I have normally a mem-ory like a sponge: I used often to fill in spare moments by presenting pages of print before my mind's eye. RATTo I wouldn't depend on John.He's got a memory like a sieve.□ Of course Iforgot. What do you expect of someone with a memory like a sieve? have etc(a) method in one's/ sb's mad-ness[possess] there is a pattern and/ or pur-pose in one's/ sb's irrational or unusual behaviour V: have(got), △ (there) be. prep:with o (source) Though this be madness, yet there's method in't. HAMLET II2o Yet Theo-dore's appalling reputation does not fit this ab-solutely. He was far too emotional to be a cal-culating villain, and there was no real method in his madness. RM□By the time they do realize there is a crafty method in their opponent's apparent madness he has won the match. BMhave (got)/ with the Midas touch[possess] have the ability to make a financial success of all one's projects or undertakings <267> have etc a mind to do sth—— have etc a mouth to feed (from the Greek myth of King Midas to whom the gods granted that everything he touched turned into gold) o Candidates for your finan-cial wizard-work, your Midas touch, are queue-ing up and falling over each other. Pwo(marine salvage)' Not until we have shifted every grain of sand out there will we leave the" Atocha's"grave,' says the man with the real MidasTouch. OBS□‘Your father knows how to reward talent—— but your father plans to give talent leisure, and of that we have a very shrinking sup-ply. '' My father.' James said grimly, ' has KingMidas's touch.'HAAD King not usu used; stress pattern have the ' Midas touch. have etc a mind to do sth [possess] have the intention, or feel a strong desire, to do sth V:have(got), △ be in, find oneself in. prep: with.det: (half) a, no o When they heard I had a mind to walk the whole length of the Downs from west to east they recommended keeping to the ridge the whole way. Lo Miss Pilchester remem-bered some stock exchange figures and found herself in half a mind to ask Pop what he thought she ought to do with her 3% War Stock.DBM □ I had no mind to let such moments of contemplation be ruined by miserable yearnings for a woman I could not find. UTN have etc a mind of one's own [possess] be(habitually and characteristically) capable of forming opinions, making decisions, etc in-dependently; be determined to act as one thinks right or suitable for oneself V: have(got). prep:△ with; without o 'I'd like to know who's been putting such ideas into your head.'' What do you mean? I have a mind of my own.'oI'd discover something unimportant to disagree with her about so that she'd think me an intelligent type with a mind of my own. RATT□ By the time he was fifty Eric began to display what looked like a mind of his own. MM ◇ △ know one's own mind. have etc mixed feelings [possess] react to a person, situation, event, piece of news, etc with confused or conflicting feelings, such as love and hate, joy and sorrow, contempt and pity V:have, △ there be, show. prep: with. A: about him; on this subject □ Christopher Seaman has mixed feelings about musical competitions.' These have often been the means of discovering great talent. But there's always the danger that some youngsters will be beaten and simply pack it in RI □ Miss Quentin's admirers, who have been regretting her recent retirement from the limelight, will hear with mixed feelings the report that she is bound for Hollywood. UTNoWhen I read some where this week that a Peter-borough citizen had raised only £5 after three weeks of fasting in aid of the Ethiopian victims of famine my feelings were— well, let's play it.safe and say mixed. NS□ Victoria went to bed that night in a turmoil of mixed feelings. TCB□variant one's feelings are mixed. have etc mixed motives [possess] do sth for more than one reason (the implication sometimes being that the motive(s) may be discreditable) V: have(got): △ there be. prep:with o I don't believe that most people are more concerned to feel good than to do good when they support charities or send donations to relief funds— and even if they do have mixed motives that doesn't prevent their money from doing good. □ His motives in taking on the job were' mixed' , he says, and he denies getting the same personal kick out of multiplying business assets.so clearly and sucessfully shown by his chairman.SC□ Like Frick and Mellon and other transatlan-tic billionaires. Morgan collected fine and rare things for a mixture of motives, partly to satisfy his sense of power and because there was little outlet for his vast wealth. SC o variants one's motives are mixed, a mixture of motives. have (got) one's/ its moments [possess](informal) have short periods that are happier.more interesting, more successful, etc than are usual in the course of one's life or work; have sth of interest or amusement here and there;have unpleasant short periods contrasted with pleasant ones S: life, partnership; play, speech.adj: happier, lighter, livelier; gloomier, off oYou miss a woman no matter what sort of cat and dog life you led together—— though we had our moments that I will say. LLDRo Like any other of Chaplin's films, even the poorest of them.' Limelight', has its moments. □ And somebody who was so lively so much of the time was bound to have his off moments. TGLYo Life as a fu-neral director has its lighter moments. have etc more goodness etc in one's little finger than sb [posses] be a very much better, kinder, more virtuous person than(another) V: have (got); △ (there) be . prep:with. n: goodness, imagination, understanding,guts. cl: than sb has in his whole body, than the rest of them put together, than the whole lot of you o She has more goodness in her little finger than he has in his whole body. POLITECONVERSATION (J SWIFT 1667-1745)□ Your father knew what would happen. He's a man with more sense in his little finger than these com-mittee members have in their whole bodies.□She had more animation in her little finger than you two put together. LBA□ If you had as much courage in your whole body as she has in her little finger, you'd have followed her. 口 variant have etc as much goodness etc in one's whole body as sb has etc in his little finger. have (got)/ with more money than sense[possess] spend one's money foolishly (the reference being either to general extravagance or to a particular item of expenditure) □ You had more money that sense when you bought that white overcoat. It's never out of the cleaners.c When we heard of a student, with more money than sense, who bought a portable television for his room, we felt much the same mixture of pity and contempt that we felt for each other when, in our last year, we saw ourselves embarking on careers' . L have etc a mouth to feed [possess] have sb requiring food and/ or general support as a per-sonal responsibility or expense V: have(got);△(there) be. prep: with. det: another: one less;a lot of, so many o ' He' ll have to stay with us for a while. '' Poor you--another mouth to feed.'oWe were hoping to have children: more and more mouths to feed. □ My grocery bills are just about the same as they were ten years ago whenI had twice as many mouths to feed. □ Some refugees were turned away. There were too many hungry mouths to feed already. 267 <268> have a mouth like the bottom of a parrot's cage— have etc no (more) nonsense have etc a mouth like the bottom of a parrot's cage[possess] (informal) have a mouth that tastes unpleasant, eg after drinking or smoking too much, or during illness V: have(got), △get; give sb. prep: with □ For heaven's sake go and fetch me a cup of tea. I' ve got a mouth like the bottom of a parrot's cage!TBC have etc a natural bent (for sth/ doing sth) [possess] have etc an in-born talent for sth, ability to do sth well V: have(got);△ show;it be, there be. prep: with. o: singing, painting,teaching; running other people's lives; mathe-matics, music, athletics, card-games o Rawlins had a natural bent for mathematics and was a theoretical rather than an experimental scientist by aptitude. NM have etc neither rhyme (n) or reason[possess] make no sense V: have(got),△ show;give sb...(for sth); there be...(in/ to sth). prep:with, without. det; neither, no, little o (source— referring to More's having advised an author to turn some prose into verse) Yea,marry, now it is somewhat, for now it is rhyme;before, it was neither rhyme nor reason. TMORE 1478-1535□ This formidable way of dealing with correspondents extended to virtually all the things they wrote about. People who sent in poems might be told there was prelither rhyme nor region in them. Lo Her officials can give no rhymenor reason for her decisions; she certain-ly takes not the slightest notice of the local education authority's views. NSo My first action on being appointed headmaster was to do away with a mass of petty rules and regulations that had neither rhyme nor reason to them. □ Eng-lish spelling and pronunciation must seem to the foreigner to be totally without rhyme or regson. o The country, already burdened withCambodian refugees, cannot quite look after its own; there are better reasons here for inter-country adoption than in Korea, but there is little rhymen or reason to the manner in which it is conducted. L have (got)/ with a nerve [possess] (infor-mal) be bold, insolent, presumptuous etc adj:bloody, colossal, terrific o ' What's he (an aircraft) up to?' ' Making a survey, I suppose.Photocopying everything he can. He's got a bloody nerve. 'RFWo God, you have a nerve.Whenever I think about it, I could break your neck. RATT ◇ △ next entry; have(got)/ with the nerve etc to do sth; of all the nerve etc(!); what a nerve etc(!). have (got)/ with the nerve etc(to do sth)[possess] have the boldness, courage, con-fidence in oneself, necessary to do sth O: nerve,△courage, confidence o I worked with about five different guys before I had the nerve to tellCapitol that I wanted to leave unless they let me do it the way I wanted. RToA young woman gaveWormold a grave encouraging nod. Wormold made a little gesture as much as to say,'I haven't the nerve. Help me.'OMIH◇ △ previous entry;next entry; of all the nerve(1). have (got)/ with the nerve etc to do sth[possess] (informal) show impudence,presumption, impropriety in doing sth O:nerve, △ cheek, face, gall, (brass) neck; im-pudence, impertinence o Macmillan has the 268 nerve to suggest that the American intervention in Lebanon in July 1958 was a vindication of what the British and French did in 1956. Lo Ten shillings (a fine) and I spend six months inside and the judge has the ch eek to ask me if I had the ten bob on me now. SToI don't think I'd have the face to ask for a holiday just at that time.RFWoI was a leader writer on everything. I can't imagine how I had the gall to hand out all that instant advice. LO▲ previous entry; have(got)/with a nerve; of all the nerve etc(!). have(got) no business (to do sth/ doing sth) [possess] do what is not one's duty or responsibility; be wrong, foolish or interfering(in doing sth) det: no, (not) any, what. A: to give you orders, to change the programme;giving you orders, reading other people's letters o Actually he had no business to give you any orders at all. You' re not part of his command.RFWo I warn you that the regular club members think nobody else has any business making proposals. □ He bathes every morning in theThames. He's lately had three months away with a bad leg. 'I hope he stays that way.' interjected his landlady. ' He's no business being in the water at his age.’ ST have (got)/ there be no call to do sth[possess] (informal) have no need, reason or excuse for doing sth det: no,(not) any; more,less. Inf: to come here, to be rude, to let sb do sth, to take offence o You had no call to come down here. You' ll catch your death of cold. EMoIf we lose the match, I'm in the dumps. But there's no call to go around kicking some poor devil's windows in. ST□' Don't you dare put those cases in the van before I get back.'' No callto get worked up, Mr Fiske said. AITC have etc no/ an inkling (of sth) [possess]have no/ some knowledge, awareness(of sth)V:have (got), △ get; give sb. prep: with (no),without(any). det:a; no, some,(not) any. o: it,any of this, what was going on o I do now have an inking of what the immigrants face from the authorities. NSo At the turn of the century a large majority of people were only two generations removed from country life — they had some inkling of what it was about. TVTo The middle-aged lovers were so quiet and normal that he had no inkling of what had happened since he last saw them. WDM o The report is frightening enough but gives only an imkling of the suffer-ings of ordinary people. have etc no (more) nonsense[possess]tolerate no false, pretentious, unnecessary, un-suitable, foolish, extravagant etc quality in the appearance or function of things, in the charac-ter, conduct or any particular action(s) of people V: have; △ there be; stand. prep: with,without. A: about it, about paying o The enjoy-ment of fireworks, according to Hugo, ought to be an education in the enjoyment of all worldly splendour. ' You pay your money,' said Hugo,and you get an absolutely momentary pleasure with no nonsers a bout it.'UTN□ Granny will look after you while we' re out, and when she tells you it's time to go to bed there's to be no non-.sen%·.□‘He thinks he's only got to shout and lose his temper and then everyone will scurry around and do what he wants.' ' Does he? Well,I'm not going to stand any nonmunis e of that <269> have etc no remedy but to do sth---have etc(a) nuisance value sort from him.'a (a performance of ' TwelfthNight') Maria alone is allowed to be real.Patricia Hayes plays her an elderly no-nonsensenanny. Lo attrib use,a no-nonsmuse approach, attitude, always hyphenated, have etc no remedy but to do sth[possess]have etc only one thing one can do to improve a situation, help oneself, get rid of a danger or nuisance V: have (got);△ there be. prep: with o Mr Henderson has driven his critics and op-ponents into a position where they have no remedy but to break the law. SC□A fine place to have a breakdown! Well, if there's no ramedy but to get out and walk, we'd better sturt. have etc no time to lose [possess] need to hurry, act swiftly, in order to do sth, prevent an accident or disaster, make use of an opportun-ity while it is available, etc V: have (got); △there be. prep: with (no), without (any). det:not much, not any o The Tories have a unique opportunity to steal a march on their political opponents. They have no time to lose. SC □You'd better get your things together. There's no time to lose. a ' Could I still catch the 6.50?'' Yes, you haven't any time to lose, though.'ウ△ lose/ waste no time (in doing sth). have etc a nodding/ bowing acquain-tance (with sb/ sth) [possess] know sb slightly; have occasional casual contacts (with sb/ sth); have a superficial, or patchy, know-ledge(of sth) V: have(got),△ obtain; give sb o ' Who was that?' ' A Mrs Parker, just a nod-ding acquaintance. We say" Good morning"when we meet or pass a remark about the weather.' o The plane back to Cuba had few passengers; a Spanish woman with a pack of children, a Cuban cigar exporter with whomWormold had a nodding acquaintance...OMIH□I have made sporadic raids into these 150-year old documents (a naval captain's log books), and have established a nodding ac-quaintance with one of history's bystanders. Lo Working there would be a means of obtaining at least a bowing acquaintence with Greek,and after a few weeks he found he could often pick up the drift of a simple conversation. have etc none/ nothing to speak of[possess] have etc very little; have etc not enough (of sth) to merit mention or notice V:have(got),△get; there be. prep: with, without.det: no,(not) any,(hardly) any. n: crime, harm,pain; work; snow, money o There is now ork to speak of in a small modern house like this. o' Do you have much work to do?'' No indeed, none to speak of.’□‘Does your husband help you with the house work?'' Not really, not to sp eak of.'□And look how successful marriages are in India.There is hardly any divorce to speak of. OBS□Normally, there should be no carbon monoxide to speak of in the air of a house using gas for heating or water-heating. Lo(TV play) It had no plot, no action to speak of; nothing but this tremendous spate of words. SC □ And with no money to spare, or none to speak of, we' ll find the going tough. have etc nothing better to do (than)[possess] not be able to fill one's time in a more profitable way; not have anything more worth-while to do (than the activity mentioned) V: have(got);△can think of; there be. prep: with.without □ I went—— for I had nothing better to do— to the Press Conference. QA □ Do you think people have got nothing better to do than look at you? TOH□ One man told me he and some of his friends were sitting around one even-ing and for want of anything better to do ( =because they had nothing better to do) went up the road and broke the man's arm. ST□The other day, stepping out of Broadcasting House and consulting my wristwatch with the usual gesture.I was pounced upon by a military-looking lady in a trilby. ' Haven't you anything better to do than flap your hand at me like that?' she deman-ded. L o variants for want of anything better to do(than), have better things/ something better to do(than). have etc nothing/ something between one's ears [possess] (informal) be/ not be stupid; have/ not have a frivolous or superficial mental outlook V: have(got);△ there be. prep:with, without o He's a handsome, sensible enough looking boy, but you don't need to be talking to him very long before you realise he has nothing between his eyes.□ How did you get into such a mess, you great idiot? Nothing between your ears, that's your trouble. oChorus-girls don't become stars on looks alone:they' ve got to have something between their ears as well. have (got)/ with nothing/ something to hide [possess] have done nothing/ something wrong; have been/ have not been frank or honest in a particular action, relationship etc□The MP concluded by saying that he had asked for reporting restrictions to be lifted because he had nothing to hide. Go I can leave the con-stable here while I go back for a search warrant.But if you have nothing to hide, why put us to all that trouble?□ That's another cause for sus-.picion. Nobody goes about under an assumed name unless he has something to hide. have etc nothing (much) to shout/ write home about [possess] (informal) have etc nothing that is specially fine, valuable, impor-tant or interesting V: have (got), △ there be.prep: with, without. O: nothing,(not) anything.not much; something o Irwin Russell is in the' Dictionary of American Biography' for being one of the first Southerners to see the literary possibilities of the Negro, and to exploit a form of Negro dialect in his own verse. Nothing to shout about today. L o The acting was mar-vellous, and I can only suppose that it was on the actors' fees that the vaunted £100,000 spent on the programme was used up: there was nothing else to write home about. NS D I' ve seen his work. He has nothing to shout about. o You should be used to John's changing his mind by this time. Now, if he were to make a plan and stick to it we'd have something to write home about. O have etc something to shout/ write home about = ' sth that is worthy of special mention.is particularly fine, interesting’. have etc(a) nuisance value [possess] have etc an annoying, or disruptive, quality that can be put to some use V: have (got), △ possess;give sth; there be... in sth. prep: with□(a boy's pets) And, not least, grass snakes which had a tremendous nuisance value in my constant 269 <270> have etc sb's number— have etc an open mind guerrilla warfare with my countless maiden aunts. A snake in any aunt's bath was worth any petty punishment that might ensue. SD□Other members come to be admitted (to a Cabinet).some with a claim to special knowledge but more because of their nuisance value when excluded.PL have etc sb's number [possess] (informal)know or discover what sb's character, social position, motives etc really are V: have(got), △get, take a I didn't believe my wife when she said you were just a fairweather friend but she had your number all right. o All swank and no cash— it didn't take me long to get his number. oShe told him she didn't intend to go on modelling.' Pity,' he said, brushing her body upwards and downwards with his eyes. 'I always—' Before he had got half-way through his sentence she had taken his number. CON have etc occasion to do sth [possess](for-mal) need, or find it suitable or convenient, to do sth V: have(got), △ find; give sb; there be.det: no, (not) any, little, frequent o PresidentMitterand's speech expressed admirably the sentiments which inform French relations. But he himself has had occasion to note the changes of sentiments. SC□She seldom wore them (evening dresses), indeed she seldom had occasion to do so. HAA □ If you do find occasion to come toLondon be sure to visit us.□I'm not going to buy expensive kitchen gadgets that there' ll be little occasion to use. □ 'I never hear you criticizing.your husband.'' Maybe I have no occasion to.'◇△ take occasion to do sth. have etc an old head on young shoulders[possess] have, as a young person, wisdom,caution, tastes etc that are usu associated with mature or older people V: have,△(can't) put.prep: with o The demand was for the YoungConservatives to have old heads on young shoulders. To' In a few years' time he' ll be wish-ing he'd listened to my advice. '' Very likely, but in the meantime you can't put an old head on young shoulders. 'o you can't put an old head on young shoulders (saying) = ' you can't ex-pect wise, mature behaviour from the young’. have etc sth on the go[possess] have etc sth currently happening, being done, being offered,made available V: have (got); △(there) be.prep: with. O: too many things, a business deal,preparations for dinner, a new painting, a closing-down sale, a Christmas pantomime oSometimes he doesn't feel like writing his quota of 600 words a day. But he always has a book on the go. TVT o That's the trouble. With so many things on the go at the one time, how can he give any of them his proper attention? have got/ with one foot in the grave[possess] be so old or ill that one is not likely to live much longer o Some of us stay nymphs and satyrs till we have one foot in the grave. SMLo... known and respected for his kindness to unfor-tunate born-losers, who have lost their way in life, who find themselves alone, crazy, forgotten and with one foot in the grav@.ST□If you knew how many pensioners bother me with the most trivial complaints. They' re the only type that really need me. I think they' re lonely. They live in small rooms, one foot in the grave and one half out. YAA 270 have etc one law for the rich, and another for the poor [possess] have etc a social system in which rich and successful people can avoid legal restrictions and penalties that poor or working-class people have to sub-mit to V: have (got); △ there be, prep: with □' There's one law for the rich—,'' There's nowt(= nothing) to choose between them (political parties). ’ These, and a hundred similar apophthegms are repeated unquestioningly every day , as they have been for decades. ULo(NONCE)The feeling that there was one law for the workers and another for the gentry did much to undermine faith in the justice of the previous incomes policy. NS have/ be one of one's good etc days live through/ be a day when one feels well etc, when one acts more/ less efficiently, when one is in a good etc mood adj: good,△on(= good); bad,off (= bad); better, best; worse, worst o l shouldn't go in and see him now if I were you.He's having one of his bad days, swearing at everything and everyone.□By ll o' clock I knew it was going to be one of my better days; the thoughts were all assembled and the words flowed freely on to the paper. O variants have one's good etc days, have/ be a good etc day.a/ one's day etc off. have etcone over the eight [possess](infor-mal) have etc too much to drink V: have, △take; be o The Irish playwright roundly declared himself completely unembarrassed by his previous screen appearance, when he had one over the eight. SC o The most widely accepted story was that he had met several of his former shipmates and they had persuaded him to take several over the eight. RT o I'm not surprised you' re feeling sick this morning — you were definitely one over the eight at the party last night. □ be one over the eight =‘be drunk’. have (got)/ with a one-track mind[possess] (informal) have a mind preoccupied,or dominated, by a particular subject, interest or purpose o Carpenters, as a breed, I have discovered, have one-track minds: engage a carpenter and tell him he must make a variety of cages for animals, and he immediately goes all to pieces. DF□ The caption reads: ‘Freddie Laker was in the right——OK?’ Also in this room: a brightly coloured painting of Laker surrounded by flags of the world,a framed photograph of aLaker DC 10,a map of the world, and 14 model aeroplanes, ' This man,'I thought to myself,' has aone-track mind.’ OBS口 also pl have one-track minds. have (got)/ with only oneself to blame/thank (for sth) [possess] because of one's own faults of character, actions or failings, be solely responsible for sth unpleasant which happens to one O: only oneself, no-one, nobody but oneself o We sent our soldiers into war with weapons and equipment that were inadequate; we have only ourselves to blame for the disasters that early overtook us in the field. MFMo ' If women don't join unions,' said Barbara Castle.they have nobody but themselves to blamm.ST o 'I don't think you need feel very sorry for him.’ Harold said. ' He had only himself to thank. He didn't take care of himself.' PWhave etc an open mind [possess] have etc a <271> have(got)/ with other/ bigger fish to fry---have etc(the) presence of mind mind that can accept more than one point of view, that is ready to absorb new ideas, to aban-don or change former opinions V: have (got);△ keep, preserve. prep: with □ /' ve an open mind. I' ve nothing against angels, for those who want to put their trust in them. AITC□(reader's letter) As Mr Morley can only have heard old recordings of some of the famous artists past their best, I feel he should at least have kept an open mind on the quality of their voices. RTo My two colleagues considered it was preferable to let the planners tackle the problems with an open mind. MFM□At 14 he was strong, cheerful, open-hearted and— what was equally important—— un-usually open-minded. SToHis experiences there were not unusual, but less than usual was his open minded and appreciative attitude. OBS oMr Koestler is an asset to our culture; a cogent and persuasive reasoner, his mind is open. ST Oalso pl have open minds; adj compound open-minded; variant sb's mind is open. have etc a closed mind. have (got)/ with other/ bigger fish to fry[possess] (informal) have sth more important,interesting, profitable to do o What? You' re walking out on me? You' ve got other fish to fry? Is that it?EHOWoWe can't expect the Cloud to give endless time to talking to us, it's got bigger fish to fry. TBC□At80 he(a composer)still has other fish to fry, ' What I really want to do is turn John Van Druten's play“The Voice of the Turtle” into a musical.'ST have etc outside interests [possess] have etc concerns, (eg sports, the arts, social or political activities, not connected with one's work or home-life V: have (got); △ develop.prep: with, without. det:(not) any, some, no,(too) many,a few o Have you any outside interests?’‘I don’ t know what you mean.’‘Did you belong to any societies at the university?"NM□ Chiefamong his outside interests are playing croquet and attending concerts of pre-baroque music. RT have etc the patience of Job/a saint have etc unlimited patience, either in the perfor-mance of laborious tasks or in the endurance of pain, provocation, opposition etc V: have(got);△ need, require; try, test. prep: with□(source)Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen... that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. JAMESVII□ Patience is a very necessary qualification for coastguard skippers: Comman-der Sigurdur Arnason of the ' Odinn' appears to have the patience of Job. Lo Perry realised at once that here was a major new talent,a man who could film animals as they are, using the skills of the stalker and the patience of a saint. RT□ In the end her father gave her a good smacking andI wasn't surprised. That child would have tried the patience of as# int. have etc pins and needles [possess] have a(more or less painful) prickling sensation, esp in a limb, when blood starts to circulate freely again after pressure or a cramped position V:have(got),△get; give sb□As I put my hand to the door of Sylvia's Café I had a mild attack of pins-and-needles and one leg gave way under me. RATTo Terror made him catch his breath;pins and needles surged in his fingers. TGLY have etc a place in the sun enjoy etc a position of equal, or shared privilege with other nations, groups, professions, institutions etc V:have (got) △ get, want, fight for, keep; buy oneself. prep: with, without o There are things we can do to help if we summon up the will. It is not impossible to enable the poor of the world to improve their lot, to feed themselves and to have a place in the sun. La I never resent it when people in the behavioural sciences overstate their case somewhat, because they have had to fight for a place in the sun; they' ve had to fight to be recognised by universities and to get their depart-ments, so naturally they can't be too. diffident in appraising their own worth. Lo If Robert wanted to go on indulging his belief that business men were robots whose only justification was to minister to the needs of artists, Nedequally wan!-ed to make a dent in this egoism, and at the same time buy himself a place in the creative sun.CON have (got) a point [possess] say sth sound,difficult to deny, etc esp in an argument, ex-pression of opinion, justification of behaviour.etc; have (got) something (there) (qv) □ AGerman once said that ' in Britain they think that soap is civilisation.’ When you reflect that we spend more money on advertising and marketing detergents than we do on our whole educational system, you must admit he mi ght just have a point. SC□ ' If some people have mopeds, every-one will want mopeds. Then they' ll want cars and before we know where we are we' ll have a capital-ist system. " He has a point. OBS have(got)/ withone's/ itspoints[possess] have valuable or useful elements,characteristics, capabilities adj: good, strong:weak, bad o The argument had its points of course. SML□ Counsel will speak as if he had a strong case though he may know very well it has its weak points. □As a wife for Peter, I was prepared to concede that Daphne might have her points.□ when not modified by an adj. the expression has a favourable meaning. have etc one's pound of flesh [possess]receive etc the full amount of anything due to one legally or by previous agreement, though hardship, suffering and even death(of the other person) may result from obtaining it (fromShakespeare`s THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, in which the usurer Shylock obtains the promise of a pound of the merchant Antonio's flesh as security for a loan and then tries to enforce it in a court of law)V: have(got),△get; take; want,demand; pay o It would have cost Brown less to have forgotten the debt than to try to trace the couple through a detective agency, but he hated being diddled and swore to have his pound of fiesh, o I should also mention that, Britain having now agreed to pay France her pound of flesh through the Common Agriculture Policy.the French have sanctioned the creation of a free trade area in industrial goods covering the whole of Western Europe. Lo' ll sounds like a fair rise in salary but you' re left with pickings once theIncome Tax send out their new assessment.'' Yes; trust them to take their pound of flesh.'have etc(the) presence of mind (to do sth》[possess] have etc the ability to decide and do quickly what is needed in a situation or crisis 271 <272> have etc reason to believe/ for believing etc— have etc a rude awakening V: have(got), △ show, take. prep: with □ The child would have pulled the steaming soup plate over on top of her if George hadn't had the presence of mind to grip the other side of the tablecloth.□ Disaster was averted. I grabbed a cigarette with sweating hands and lit it. JustinCartridge leaned across and said to me, 'Ithought you showed pressence of mind there.CON□A curious cold presence of mind seemed to descend on him. Everything became very clear to him; he knew exactly what he must do. PEo His mates ran to help the struggling man while the foreman, with greater presignce of mind,jumped into the pit and switched off the current.have etc reason to believe/ for believing etc[possess] have etc adequate evidence or justification for believing V: have;△ there be;see; give sb. prep: with, without. adj/ det: good,little; any, no, some, every. Inf: to believe, to know, to object, to fear, to change. A: for believing, for supposing; for his belief, for their attitude, for my action o There is good reason to believe that recurrence is not due to fresh infection from outside the body. NSC □ There was reason to suppose that the impending' total' war would be catastrophic. AHo We have reason to believe that in every country there are agents of this group, some established there many years ago. TCB o‘These escape lines are very dangerous, ' he grunted. I had every reason to know they were dangerous. OBS□ The Chan-cellor, no doubt, had good reason for his anti-inflationary warning. SC□ The people of RumburValley have yielded less to outside influences.Nature provides for their basic requirements and they can see little reason to change. RT o The mescalin taker see s no region for doing any-thing in particular and finds most of the causes for which, at ordinary times, he was prepared to act and suffer, profoundly uninteresting. DOP□With the threat of being instantly forced out of business should it prove not to be the case, the government how given the company good reason to make sure its statements are true. NShave etc a red face [possess] feel or look embarrassed, ashamed, conscious of error/make sb feel embarrassed etc V: have(got);△give sb. prep: with o I'm sure he feels embar-rassed. Anyone who virtually accuses a colleague of stealing his money and then finds it in his own coat pocket deserves to have a red face. oEveniually he did the job himself, and then casu-ally pointed out that I must have mixed the sam-ples up. I went home with a red face. NSC□He's so damned cocksure about winning the race I'd like to see somebody giving him a red face. oIwas doing one of my imitations of the boss whenI turned to find him standing in the doorway watching. He just shook his head and went off.but was my face red! □ The burglar-alarm people had failed to sensitise the bank flooring and their faces must have been as red as anybody's on the morning after. NS o variant one's face is red, esp in exclamatory form was my face red! have etc a right to sth/ to do sth [possess]be etc(legally) entitled to have or do sth; be etc fully justified in doing, expecting, demanding,receiving sth V: have (got); △ give sb. prep:with, without. det:a, the; no every, some,(not) 272 much,(not) any. o: the property, consideration.Inf: to know, to be told, to be present o What has been going on here? I am a magistrate. Ihav@a right to be told.ARG□ ' You had so many beautiful things, and Clementine — ’‘Hed a right to some?' said Fergus softly. DCo You may like him (a boy) well enough to just push him away and tell him firmly that you' re not the type.If he persists, you have a perfect right to slap his face. Ho And what right have you got to inter-fere, I'd like to know? have(got)/ with the ring of truthetc seem likely, either by what is said or by the way it is presented, to be true etc; ring true etc(qv) S:story, report, account; testimony. o: truth, △sincerity, authenticity; folly, madness o His account conflicted with that of the other wit-nessess and yet his story had. for me, the ring of truth.□‘We should feel wonder at nothing at all in nature except only the Incarnation of Christ.'In the seventeenth century, the phrase seemed to make sense. To-day it has the ring of madness.DOP o distinct from with a ring of merriment,scorn. incredulty etc in his voice indicating a qual-ity of sound. have etc a roof over one's head [possess]have etc a place to live in, a house of one's own(and often, by implication, the security and amenities that go with it) V: have, △ get, give sb; be; need, want. prep: with, without o And if you add on rates, insurance, heating etc, he is paying something approaching half his income just to have a roof over his head. STo All she craved for the children was a roof over their heads and a school nearby. WI o If Bernard hadn't paid all Bill's debts, we shouldn't have a roof over our heads. HAA□ Blood-hounds and grand pianos do not normally figure among the possessions of those who publish pathetic appeals for a roof over their heads. To You can have the cottage, such as it is. It would be a roof over your heads and much cheaper than a hotel, while you look around for something better. have (got)/ with a roving eye [possess]have a watchful, inquisitive, acquisitive dis-position; look for chances to flirt, or have love affairs o Hubert took Bill's arm.' Come and have a long talk.' Unfortunately Mrs Curry's roving eye had seen the undesirable confluence and her large mauve form bore down upon them. HAAoThey know he has also been out with MrsCooper, and with that Mrs Winter who was here a term or so ago, and with at least three of the students we have had here recently —— in fact that he has what he himself calls a ' roving eye'.TTo Even the man with a roving eye gets short shrift if he goes in for marriage-breaking; before that, he comes under dispensations more indul-gent than those accorded to women on the loose.UL have etc a rude awakening [possess] have an experience that causes one, suddenly and forcibly, to realize sth unpleasant or unwel-come V: have,△get; give sb; there be, it be; be due for, deserve. prep: with a(the effect of theSpanish Civil War, 1936-39) The older genera-tion had a rude swakening. The younger generation grew up taking it all for granted. NS□The Rolls-Royce men had a rude awakening.Those who felt that, having become technical <273> have etc one's say— have atca sense of humour etc engineering assistants with considerable respon-sibility, they should therefore be able to find com-parable jobs, experienced difficulty because their expertise was specific to Rolls-Royce. Lo I had many rude awakenings and frustrations beforeI was finally given a part in ' Seagulls Over Sor-rento' , the comedy with Ronald Shiner. TVT□IfBrown thinks he's just going to walk into Jim's job when he retires he's due for arude& waken-ing. have etc one's say [possess] be allowed to express one's opinion, have one's comments,advice etc listened to in full whether these are accepted or not/ allow sb to express his opinion etc V: have, △ get; give sb o At Hyde ParkCorner pacifist speakers were usually allowed to have their say along with everyone else. NS□The work gets done in the best possible way, because everyone feels he has had his say. NDN □ He began to talk like a man who has an unwilling audience but who will have his s gy whether any-one listens to him or not. PMo It was a natural development to attempt to give people who rare-ly have an opportunity to express their views on television their sgy. L have (got)/ with a screw loose[possess](informal) be a little mad or eccentric □ If you employ a message boy with s screw loose because you can get him for peanuts, you must expect him to do stupid things. o It wouldn't have been such a bad idea for your son and my daugh-ter if he had a nice job with prospects, but a crooner? Hava, you' ve got& screw loose. HSG□ occas pì He's got a few screws loose. have etc second sight[possess] have etc the(supposed) ability to see, or know about, events taking place in the future or in another place v:have(got);△be blessed, favoured, gifted, with.prep: with o The Hottentot groom who believed that horses have second sight, cried out...LWK o Every village has its tale of some old in-habitant with second sight who...□ 'I don't know what made me ring you just then.' ' It's lucky you did. You must be gifted with second sight.’ have etc a second string (to one's bow)[possess] have etc a second person, commodity,skill etc. available for a purpose or as a means of livelihood, either as a replacement for, or an alternative to, a first (from archery) V: have(got), △get;(there) be, it be. prep: with. det:a second, another, more than one; two, several o I' ll just jot down that telephone number. We have a baby-sitter that can usually come but it does no harm to have a second string.□ WhenI doubt my literary competence,I can tell myself that I am primarily an actor and that writing is just anotherstring to my bow. RTa(the accep-tance of modern medicine in a primitive so-ciety) Gradually more and more people began to regard medicine as the first rather than the second string to their bow. NDN o I' ve discovered now that it's important to have a second string and not to be totally reliant on acting. That's how the restaurant came about.TVTo Now he's working hard at his schoolexams,determined to be an actor, but sensible enough to realise that the profession is loaded with disap-pointments. Two strings to your bow is a minimum requirement. OBS □ often adapted, as shown. have second thoughts [possess] arrive at an opinion, decision which further thought has changed from one previously held A: about it,about resigning; on the matter; as to how we should proceed o I took some pictures of the gunpi t in which he had died. I was going to send them to his family. Thank God I had second thought:SC a Then one morning I woke up thinking:'I' ve got to change my hair, I' ve got to get it cut.’ I drank a whole bottle of wine for dutch courage and took myself to Scissors in theKings's Road, Chelsea, before I could have any second thoughts about it. TVI o English property law bends over backwards to allow both parties time for second thoughts or to with-draw if their circumstances alter. SToI was temp-ted to set off again then and there for HolbornViaduct But on second thoughts I decided thatI had better collect my wits a little before attemp-ting to face Hugo. UTN o He did not give theExecutive quite the statement that appeared in' Tribune', On second thoughts he had made one or two additions, the most important being a reference to a mixed economy. OBS口 variant on second thoughts = ' having thought further(about the matter)’. have to (go and) $●● a man about a horse/ dog (catchphrase) absent oneself on unspecified business; go to urinate o ' Do you want to hear me practise my new piano piece.Dad?' ' Can't, ' said his father, rising. 'I have to go and see a man about a horse. Ask your mother 10 listen to you. 'o second meaning euphemistic. have seenetc it all(informal) have a long and rich experience of life in general or of sth speci-fic V: seen, heard, done, been through o They sat and looked at each other, the wise old man who had soon it all and the blasẻ young sophis-ticate who thought he had.□As careers go, MoiraRedmond has done it all. Well not quite, she says. TVTa You may distress your analyst but hardly shock him. After a few years in practice they' ve heard it all. have etc asense of guilt etc[possess] have etc feelings of guilt etc V: have; △ feel, ex-perience, suffer. prep: with, without. det: a,some,(not) any, no,a slight,a faint, a heavy,a great, much, little. n: guilt, 小 loss, shame o She would rather that she had not had to fire theOerlikon (an anti-aircraft gun), but she felt no particular $参疗$@ of guilt.RFW o I drove on,musing about how impossible it was for anyone to divine the precise nature of Robert's suffering.Wounded pride; sense of loss; all that, yes.CONo' But you forget,' said a colleugue,' the man has no sense of shame.' ns△next entry. have etc a sense of humour etc[possess]have etc a quality of, sensitivity to, understand-ing of, humour etc(as a permanent quality of character) V: have, △ possess, be blessed,favoured, gifted, with; lose one's; acquire.prep: with, without. det:a. some,(not) any, no.a great, much, little. n: humour, △ fun,mischief; occasion, duty, proportion, values,the ridiculous o His family could boast of little.but their integrity, their senke of humour, and their appreciation of pleasant things. DC□I know he can be a stern man when necessary, but he's 273 <274> have a sense of one's own importance— have something to say for oneself not like that at home. He has a great sense of humour. OBS o ... a country which is, on the whole, tolerant, inhabited by decent people with# sense of duty. Lo Tom Fleming comes closer than any to filling part of the gap left by RichardDimbleby's death. It is his voice and sense of occasion(= feeling for what is right on a par-ticular occasion) that now provides the commen-tary to national and state ceremonies. RTo(the merits of individual football players) These questions are discussed with a scholarship and passion which occasionally make me think the community has lost its source of proportion.NSD Working in television news as a reporter is to live in a slightly unreal world, with a somewhat false sense of values(= an under-standing of what is important in life). L O △previous entry. have etc a sense of one's own impor-tance [possess] feel that one is important(the implication sometimes being that one is not as important as one thinks one is) V: have; suffer from, be afflicted with. prep: with. adj: tremen-dous, overwhelming, enormous o The Chan-cellor of the Exchequer's sense of his own im-portance had had time to re-establish itself. EM□Of course, John always had an immense sense of his own importance. have etc a shot(left) in the/ one's locker[possess] have etc a reserve of ammunition;(fig)have a remaining source of money, influence,information, argument etc that one can use V:have(got). prep: △ with, without. O: a shot,another shot, a shot or two. A: still, yet o But counsel had another shot in his locker. ' Is it not true,' he asked,' that you did, as someone has said, persecute this long-suffering man with your malignant fidelity?’ pw o He’ d been staving off bankruptcy for some years but now he'd exhaus-ted his credit. He hadn't a shot left in the lock-er, and soon everyone knew it. o also pl He has several shots in his locker. have etc a/ that sinking feeling [possess](informal) have etc a sensation of panic, help-lessness or fear V: have (got), △get; there be.prep: with o As soon as I saw Chris I had a terrible sinking feeling. I knew she'd only have come if something was wrong. a Julian's house was so large and had so much land surrounding it that a sinking feeling to do with butlers came over Jenny, but none appeared. TGLY □ ' Son,you' ll just have to leave your animals behind.'Well, supposing we did that?’ l asked,& sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.' How do we get out then?’ DF have etc a sixth sense [possess] have etc a special sensitivity beyond those of the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch),believed to warn one of danger, help one under-stand others, etc V: have (got); △ develop;show; give sb. prep: with o It seemed to Harold,whose training and experience had given him a sixth sense in such matters, that with every word an agreement was being reached. Pwo He would have abandoned the task altogether, had not som@ sixth sense told him that it was worth while to persist. EM□ Pop drew a deep breath and told her, in a swift flick of description, almost ecstatic, how he had a kind of sixth semis about flowers and their perfumes. BFA 274 have etc a sneaking suspicion etc[possess] feel etc a secret, rather furtive, sus-picion etc V: have(got);△there be; feel; retain.prep: with. n: suspicion, △belief, hope, pride,sympathy, admiration, envy, weakness. A: that he stole it, that I can do it; with their cause; forJohn's ruthlessness; of such people a le ven had an occasional sneaking suspicion that the director had taken a certain pride in these defects as proof of honesty. NS□Therewes# snoaking belief that the Conservatives would still beatLabour at the next election. To If a man eludes police pursuit for long enough people begin to feel, though few would confess to it,sympathy with him. □I' ve a snaking week-ness for old-fashioned thrillers. NS o We (as boys) accepted Hitler and Mussolini as bogey-men, while retaining a sneaking admiration for the country that could produce the Auto-Union and Mercedes racing cars. TVT have (got)/ with a soft centre [possess]have a weak, or sentimental, tendency to yield to pressure, which is not apparent at first oPeople might think I'm a hard nut with a soft centre, but I have a genuine feeling for music.TVT o She marries a man apparently as unemotional and self-possessed as herself, butPeter turns out to have; soft centre, and, when he breaks down, Emily can offer him no more than ' ordered coldness'. L have(got) something(there)[possess](in-formal) show good sense, shrewdness, under-standing of a situation, in a comment, piece of advice, criticism, argument etc; have (got) a point (qv)o In her diary Janet had written that this house and this view had made Bill what he was, Perhaps she had got something there.RFW o‘The faults in others that people are most aware of are those they have themselves.'' You know, I think you have something there.'o The chap that first said there was no fool like an old fool certainly had something. have (got)/ with something etc to lose(by sth) [possess] risk losing money, health,prestige etc by doing sth O: something,△any-thing; everything, much, plenty a lot, a great deal; nothing,(a) little o But the United States may have much to lose by precipitale action and much to gain from patience. SC o MissLittlewood said would I be good enough to read one of the parts since an actor hadn't turned up for the session? I had nothing to lose so wasn't embarrassed. OBS□ After all, a depressed area has little to lose by believing in luck and may even, through such irrational hopes, come to believe in itself. NS have (got)/ with something etc to offer[possess] be able to provide opportunities,facilities, help, inducements etc O: something,△ anything; everything, much, plenty, a lot,a great deal; nothing,(a) little. A: to students, to tourists, to investors; by way of accommoda-tion; in return for their money o If we expect to attract tourists we' ve got to he ar e something to offer them. D John could usually be relied upon for helpful advice but for once he had nothing to offer. have (got)/ with something etc to say for oneself [possess] be talkative, com-municative, in general; be able to explain, ex- <275> have etc something etc to show for it---have etc a temperature cuse or justify one's conduct on a particular occasion O: something, △ anything; much,plenty, a lot, a great deal; nothing, (a) little oThe girl kept away, not turning up very often for the communal evening meal and not having much to say for herself when she did. TGLYa SirThomas turned to Dennis. ' What have you got to say for yourself?’‘Nothing,’ Dennis answered. ARGo I don't think he's the chap for the job. We' ll see if he has anything more to say for himseW at his interview. have etc something etc to show for it[possess] have etc some tangible, or demon-strable、 evidence of gain; get a proper return for money, time, energy etc expended V: have(got),△get; there be. prep: with, without. O: some-thing,△ anything; much, plenty,a lot,a great deal; nothing, (a) little o 'I seem to remember you spending twenty pounds on a handbag last week.'' Well, at least, I' ve got something to show for it.'aI didn't make much money out of the series—— in fact I had nothing to show for it at the end. ST o These Americans have been sustained only by pride in their companies, and when the war is over they will have nothing to show for it but their wounds. L have etc a sporting chance (of doing sth) [possess] have etc the possibility but not the certainty(of achieving sth)V: have(got),△get; stand; there be; give sb. prep: with, without□ Labour leaders yesterday started anew the search for a modus vivendi on defence policy that would, with luck, stand a sporting chance of acceptance by the next annual party con-ference in Blackpool in October. To Wouldn't it be terrible to start work if you didn't feel there was a sporting chance of being interestingly interrupted? DIL have etc a spot of bother/ trouble[possess] (informal) experience etc some dan-ger. difficulty, disturbance or inconvenience V:have, △ meet (with); there be; give sb. prep:with □ We (twins) were a bit of a handful at school, and naturally made merry blaming each other for any spot of bother. TVT o If ' Delos'sails into Ancona she may be impounded owing to a spot of bother with the Italians. STa‘Had a spot of trouble,' he said. ' In fact, had a load of trouble with the bird.' He jerked his head towards the helicopter. BMo There seems to have been a spot of trouble in the outer office. Some-body let off a revolver,I understand. TCB口 often an understatement. have etcasting in the tail[possess] have etc an unsuspected and unpleasant feature or resultV: have (got); △ there be; hide. prep: with o(source) And they had tails like unto Scorpions,and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. REVELATION1X 10□ Our first colony; now our last. It should come as no surprise if Ireland proves the deadly sting in the tail of British decolonisation. NS□The Act ended 150 years of religious bigotry, but his triumph had a sting in its tail. It gave the country an appetite for reform. STo The Sugden family turns out to see Joe get his meal. But there's ssting in the tail sprung upon them all.TVT have etc a streak of cowardice etc(in one) [possess] be cowardly to some degree or in relation to some things; have cowardice etc as one of one's character traits V: have (got);△there be. prep: with. o: cowardice, cruelty.madness, vanity o Like many another bully he had a strenk of cowardice in him. □ Talman has a streak of self-criticism which makes it difficult for him to be certain he is right on any particular issue. OBS □ Indeed, my father, a school-master not without a puritanicalstreak in him, thought there was too much entertain-ment in Bradford. OBSo usu derogatory; variant have a cowardly etc streak (in one). have(got)/ with asweet tooth [possess] be fond of, greedy for, sweet foods and drinks □Does a cauli have a sweet tooth? Is it true that a teaspoonful of sugar sprinkled around a cauli-flower plant will produce a whiter head? OBS。Harry is the only one of us with a sweet tooth.If it weren't for him, I wouldn't bother making puddings at all. a But caring for her looks doesn't stop her having a sweet tooth. 'I still can't resist fudge, candy and chocolate cookies,' saysMarge. TVT have etc one's tail between one's legs[possess](informal) have, etc feelings of dejec-tion, apprehension, humiliation or surrender(from the behaviour of dogs) V: have(got);△carry; go off, slink away, come back, with; ask,apologize, with, prep: with a 'I' ve always known Mr Golding was that sort of man,' saidMiss Flynn, ' and she sent him packing with his tail between his legs, and he won't forget that in too much of a hurry.’ TToI think he hopes thatI' ll crawl back, carrying my tail between my legs, and ask for my job again. □ also pl have their tails between their legs. have (got) sb/ sth taped [possess] (infor-mal) know all about sb/ sth; be able to manage,influence, control sb/ sth (from, originally.having taken sb's/ sth's measurements with a measuring tape)□ Now that he knew how muchGoodrich was worth, now that he had him taped,Goodrich had become much more manageable to his imagination. PW o All right, I had them taped; I was free to go ahead and feel sorry for them. If we have, as you say, got everything taped and our plans are known, then it's easy for the other side to have got us taped, too. TCBoWhen it comes to playing Continental beauties.Madeleine Hinde has the market taped. TVT have etc teething troubles [possess] have etc pain, feverishness, minor ailments when cutting one's first teeth;(fig) have etc difficulties and setbacks when new $: baby; machine, busi-ness, industry, administration. V: have, △ ex-perience, suffer from. prep: with□ On the crèdit side, the best of the manufacturers' guarantees offer servicing at appointed dealers. If a new car.is having teething troubles, nine times out of ten free servicing is available locally. ST o We were hopeful last week that the progressive elimination of the teething troubles (which were anticipated) would result in a steady and sustained improvement of the services. To The first supertankers had teething troubles.During sea tests the huge metal plates of the hulls buckled. TVT have etc a temperature {possess] have a body temperature higher than normal V: have(got), △run, prep: with. det:a,a bit of a, quite 275 <276> have(got) sb to thank— have etc too much money etc for one's own good a □JO: I' ve got a cold. BOY. I think you have too.Yes, you' ve got a bit of a temperature, TOHoIt was found, when her turn came, that she was running. temperature. MM have (got)/ with sb/ sth to thank (for sth) [possess] attribute to sb/ sth the respon-sibility for sth which has happened to one 0:one's family, one's wife; sloth, callousness. o:success, recovery; failure, accident□ Again, she had Fergus to thank for seeing that she had a pleasant nurse. DCo For his defeat and downfall he really has two men to thank. NS□' We had to wash in cold water except for a Saturday bath— no warmed bedrooms or vitamin foods.' ' Per-haps that's what you' ve got to thank for the rheumatism that's crippling you today.’ o used equally to praise sb/ sth, to express gratitude or to blame. have etc a thick head¹[possess](informal)have etc a dull or stupid mind V: have, △possess. prep: with o When will you get it into your thick head that you can't license a car without an Insurance Certificate? a You' re a fence-post short. You need 21, not 20. You could have worked that out for yourselves if you hadn't such thick heads. o You won't enjoy teaching this class as much as your last one. They' re a pretty thick-headed lot.□ n compound a thick-head = ‘sb who is stupid’; adj compound thick-headed; variant be thick in the head. have etc a thick hoad² [possess] (informal)have etc an aching head; one's/ sb's brain is tem-porarily dulled, or confused, by alcohol, drugs,a blow etc V: have, △ give sb: there be. prep:with o It's the morning after the old soldiers' re-union and there are thick heads all round. TVTo No more brandy, thanks. Fill have a thick enough head as it is. have tca thick/ thin skin [possess] have etc a low/ high degree of sensitivity to criticism,reproach, insult△ etc V: have (got); develop,grow. prepc with o Hinchcliffe is not afraid of or dependent upon the large landowners of the region who still sit on top of the social pyramid as did their great-grandfathers. ' It's feudal here.'says Hinchcliffe, ' but I have a thick skin.'OBS□ The Service manager has had to develop a thick skin, for few owners ever expect a Rolls-Royce to go wrong, and when it does they are liable to be incensed. ST o One of ' Razor'Reynolds's tutorial groups was not the milieu for students with thin skins. □ This is the cheapest holiday-flight time for families, and probably the most embarrassing for all but the thickest-skimmed parents; watch fellow holidaymakers pale as you enter the aircraft with that potential dynamo of noise. Go Furthermore, your own profession (journalism), I think. is a very thin-skinned one: they can dish it out but they can't take it. When people start criticising the press,the press scream, ' It's a foul blow, you can't do that to me. I am engaged in great public service.’L o adj compound thick-/ thin-skinned. have stc the time' [possess] know etc the correct time of day; have a watch or clock with which to verify the time of day V: have(got);△tell sb, give sb. adj: right, correct o' Good even-ing, she said.' Have you the time please?'RATT□Ask inside, they' re bound to have the time.□esp interr. 276 have etc the time² [possess] have etc suf-ficient time to do sth (sometimes with the im-plication that one has ample time, or more time than energy or inclination)V: have(got),△get;there be. prep: with o Because of the depression and the film mania, thousands of girls, many of them hanging around Hollywood, learned to tap.They had the time. ST o If you want a rock garden, OK—— but don't expect me to do any-thing about it. You' re the one that's gotthetime,anyway. have/ give sb the time of one's/ his life[possess](informal) enjoy oneself greatly doing sth, either on a particular occasion or during a certain period, eg a party, a holiday/ enable sb else to enjoy himself greatly a I' ll write to her tomorrow and tell her that you' re as fit as a flea and having the time of your life. RFWo(travel agent's advertisement) Whether you choose to go by King-Flight, King-Train, or King-Coach,you' ll have the time of your life with Lunn's.RTo And there they were now having the time of their lives letting themselves go in cheering me. LLDR (not) have etc time to turn round[possess](informal)(not) have etc some time to spare from work, engagements etc V: have(got), △get; find. prep: with (no) □I wrote as soon as I had time to turn round after the mass of work that came upon me at the invasion. RFW□ I simply can't go rushing off to visit distant relatives. I' ve scarcely time to turn round these days. □ often neg or with neg implication.have etc sth to hand [possess] have etc sth present, nearby, in one's possession, etc and readily available V: have (got); △(there) be;come. prep with, without o(broadcast opera)For me, at least, it is virtually impossible to follow an extended work of this kind without some guide to take the place of the visual aspects which would make all plain. Having a score to hand induced me to pursue Gluck's ' Alceste' to the end. Lo The Conservatives therefore require a doctrine which permits them to live alongside organised trade unions. That doctrine is, for-tunately, already to hand and is called free collective bargaining. NS□I have afew comments on items in the 25 June issue, just to hand, some of which may be positive contributions. NS have etc too much money etc for one's own good [possess] have etc money etc, ie sth normally desirable in itself, to such a degree or in such a quantity that it becomes a disadvan-tage V: have (got), △ possess, own; give sb;there be. prep: with. O: (much) money, time;(many) interests, graduates o They have too much pocket money for their own good, these youngsters. o This is hardly a socialist rallying call with which to face Mrs Thatcher when she decides that there are too many greduates for society's own good. NSo 'I'm All Right, Jack'was probably the Boulting Brothers* greatest hit—a scathing comedy aimed both at the trade unions and the employers. A bit too serious and direct for its own good at times. TVTo 'I wash my hair every day.'' Then you' re washing it too often for its own good. You' ll be drying out all the natural oils.'o variants be too serious etc for one's own good, do sth too often etc for one's/ its own good. <277> have etc a touch of class--have (got) what it takes have etc a touch of class[possess] have etc a superior quality V: have (got), possess; give sth; there be; get... from. prep: with o Even before Best's arrival Fulham already hed more than me touch of class in former England captainMoore. OBSa The Kingston Bridge(in Glasgow)and its concrete pillars dominate the skyline. It was not until they built this that I realised how much I missed Victoriana. Next to these mon-strosities, the old buildings have a touch of class. L□Manchester is a working-class city and remains so. The last has not been heard nor the final chapter written on Manchester, a town with a real touch of class. NS have etc a touch of the sun[possess] suffer from too much exposure to the heat of the sun;(facetious) suffer from lesser degree of sun-stroke as the only possible explanation for foolish or (slightly) mad-sounding behaviour or talk V: have (got); △ be; get. prep: with oI' ve got rather a headache. A touch of the sun,I expect. PE□ I'm still hoping,' he articulated distinctly, that this will turn our to be some foolish joke on your part.’ Perhaps a touch of the sun. It has been hot lately.’ HD□ Edward looked at her doubtfully and said,' You do feel all right, Victoria, don't you? I mean you haven't had a touch of the sun or——a dream, or any-thing” TCB have/ get two bites at the cherry [possess]have a second opportunity to do sth; make a second attempt at doing sth □(source)I believe he would make three bites of a cherry. (FRABELAIS ?1495-1555) 口 Any national museum or library can bid at the auction, but if their valua-tion is below the price it sells for, they should not then have a second bite at the cherry. STD Not content with getting an order in the NationalIndustrial Relations Couri, the Company im-mediately rushed to the Chancery Court for another bite at the same cherry, this time rely-ing on Common law remedies. ST o often adap-ted. as shown. have etca(nasty etc) turn' [possess](infor-mal) feel ill, faint or sick, esp suddenly and temporarily V: have,△take, get. adj: nasty,△queer, funny, little o ' Jenny, what is it? You' re trembling, darling. Was it so bad?’ It was all right. I just had a little turn. It' ll go off. I'm all right.'TGLY o Don't lock the door, grandfather.when you' re having a bath. What if you took one of your turns in there? o 'I had another funny turn this morning.'' Well, don't you think it's time you saw the doctor?" have etca(nasty etc)turm²[possess](infor-mal) have etc an upset, shock V: have; give sb.adj/ det: a nasty; △ quite a, such a, what a,something of a o Hearing his voice in the hall gave me quite a turn. It was so exactly like his father's. a It was only a nightmare but the poor child is frightened to fall asleep again, she's hand such a durn. have etc a vested interest (in sth)[possess] enjoy a right or a privilege allowed in law to a person or group; enjoy a privilege long established in favour of a person or group V:have (got): △(there) be. prep: with. A: in the armaments trade, in the research station, in maintaining private medicine, in delaying the change-over □ Only our habit of national self- deception permits us to ignore the fact thatBritish politics are class politics; and those who would deny it almost invariably have a vested interest of their own for doing so. NSo Both those opinions come from vested interests in expanding road space. Lo Management of the news is part of a perpetual battle between the press and Government and vested interests. SC□a vested interest = 'a person or group having the privileges defined above'. have etc the vices/ defects of one's/ its virtues/ qualities [possess] have etc the bad qualities which are inseparable from (and per-haps the result of) one`s/ its good qualities V:have;△ show, reveal; allow sb; suffer from; be.prep: with, without□She had the vices of her virtues and her constant generosity and unsel-fishness were felt by some of those nearest to her to be a sort of tyranny. a Perhaps Matron does cause minor resentments among the staff. but we must allow her the defects of her qualities.Everybody loved her predecessor but the hospital wasn't half so well run then. D I recommend enamel paint for the woodwork. It wears and washes well and it s only defect is that of its qualities—— it chips more easily than other paints if it gets a direct knock. o Every virtue has its attendant wice, and the reverse side of the steely restraini, which contributes to Boulez's special distinction as an interpreter (of others) musical compositions), has been a recurrent primness.OBS o variants every virtue/ quality has its vice/defect, its vices/ defects are those of its virtues/qualities. have (got)/ with a way of doing sth[possess] be apt, likely, to do sth or behave in a particular way o Mice can be found in the communal middens, and ladybirds have a way of appearing in the mucky bits of back-gardens.UL o Johnny's got a way of disappearing if he thinks there might be work for him to do. o At least officially he was thinking of Barbara, but thoughts of Buckmaster had a way of keeping on breaking in. ILiH have/ give sb a/ the whale of a (good)time [possess] (informal) enjoy oneself greatly/ enable sb else to enjoy himself greatly oWe talked about moving to a quieter spot, but the children were having such a whele of a time and had made so many friends of various nationalities that we decided to stay. SC o They (amateur actors), of course, are having the whale of a time and it is sad but true that if an actor, or orator, or preacher, or after-dinner speaker is enjoying himself, nobody else is. NSo I always thought the servants in big country houses must have the whale of a good time and now I know it. RFW have (got) what it takes (to do sth)[possess] (informal) have the necessary qualities of character, intelligence, or the special abilities, to do sth Inf: to reach the top,to be a star o Hev e you got what it takes?Elizabeth Jones chose car ferrying as a career because'I love engines, and a gipsy existence.'h□ I still enjoy trying to paint pictures but Irealised some time ago that I didn't have what it takes to reach the top.. As a commentator on the American scene you don't have to have what it takes to come up with beginners' stuff like,' It 277 <278> have (got)/ with a wicked etc tongue----the head of the table must be so terribly bad for them, always eating on stools at counters instead of sitting down for their meals.’ NS have (got)/ with a wicked etc tongue[possess] have the habit of speaking unkindly,unjustly; be a scandalmonger or troublemaker adj: wicked, △ spiteful, malicious, sharpo I'm sorry for, well you know what. I' ve gotawicked tongue and I' ve probably been unfair. TT oPeople won't believe her. They know she has a malicious tongue. o Don't be frightened of her.She's a woman with a sharp tongue and a kind heart, you' ll find. I also p l They have wicked tongu·s. have etc a will of iron [possess] have etc the firm determination to achieve what one wants or thinks right V: have(got); △ need, require.prep: with □ She looked and behaved just like a first-class cook, with a high complexion sha-dowed by the faintest of moustaches, a tiny ap-petite, and a will or iron. ARGo You don't need a will of iron, either—— just a few minutes a day, or whenever you feel like doing the exer-cises. TVT o(NONCE) But though her warm Mid-Western accent might lu ll certain innocents into believing in the motherly image, opponents know that she also hess w him of iron. ST have (got)/ with a will of one's own[possess] have sufficient independence of opinion and determination to do what one wants (the implication usu being that one has determination at least equal to that of sb else)□ He is clever, Gerald, you know, and his little heart is so big. But he hassalittle will of his own,100, like me, Gerald. ASA □(Brigit's legs are,temporarily, paralysed)I always knew they had a will of their own and one day they would say they were having a rest. DC have etc sb's (bare) word (for sth)[possess] have etc only what sb says or promises without also having any (esp written) proof or supporting evidence V: have; △ there be; take,accept o Nis be re word isn't enough. He must prove that he wasn't anywhere near the scene at the time. D Well, we only have his word for it,of course, but I suppose we must believe him. oI'm not saying the story is true or untrue. All I'm saying is that I' ll not take Jenny's bare word for it. She's a little troublemaker, anyway. have etc a year etc to go [possess] there is still a year etc that must pass, be travelled, be obtained or be accomplished V: have (got); △there be. prep: with. O:a year, 3d ays, 5 miles,a few more yards, 20 pages □ Most of theAfrican leaders have refrained from public com-mitment on their attendance, although there are ten days only to go before the conference opens.To He was well ahead of the other runners when with only acuple of yards to go he tripped and fell. o' How's the Restoration Fund progressing?'' We' ve still got a hundred peunds to go before we reach our target.’ haven't (got)/ without a clue [possess](in-formal) not know (anything about) sth; not know how to do sth; lack understanding in general o‘Is the Exhibition open on Sundays?’Sorry,I haven't a clu@.'a My boyfriend is mad keen on motor racing and he wants to drag me along with him. But I hewen't got acks e what to wear. Ho I wish you wouldn't talk about me as if 278 I'm an impotent, shrivelled old woman without a cl ue in her head. TOHo ' Fred must have felt a bit unwanted last night.'' Oh, he's so clueless he probably didn't notice.'o adj clueless indicates general foolishness, inadequacy etc. haven't etc an earthly (chance) (of achieving sth) [possess](informal) have no likelihood of achieving sth V: haven't(got);△not stand; there not be. prep: without a By the way, Bernard, another little victory for you. All the dear locals at your feet. I did my best to say you were the biggest Bolshie since AneurinBevan, but I hadn't an eorthiy. HAA□ Any can-didates without an earthly chance of passing would be tutored by me.□' Any hope of getting a ticket for the match?’’ There’ s not an earthly.I'm afraid. You' ve left it much too late.'a Once the weather broke, the climbers had no earthly chance of reaching the summit. □ form have no earthly chance (of achieving sth) less usu and more formal. the haves and the have-nots [n + n non-rev] the wealthy contrasted with the poor;privileged contrasted with under-privileged people (the reference usu being to income but also to health, intelligence, talent etc)o The gulf between the harms and the have-nots appeared to have changed little from the days of British rule. NS□ The result is an unshakable conviction among the have-nots that American society is based on two quite distinct sets of laws: one for the affluent, the other for the black and the poor. L hawks and doves [n + n rev] militarists and pacifists contrasted; those who are aggressive in military or political affairs, contrasted with those who favour negotiation, compromise,moral persuasion,etc□ Meanwhile, Mrs Gand-hi's Cabinet is still divided roughly 50-50 bet-ween hawks and doves. Lo Abba Eban always tried to defuse the situation. When he was inAmerica they asked him ' Are you a Hawk or aDove?' He replied, ' Israel isn't an aviary.'SToNot that he was an anti-Vietnam dove, or any-thing like it; his feud with McNamara was basic-ally personal. NS□ The fire Bob Hope has been drawing, particularly over his ' hawkishness'over Vietnam puzzles him. RT O can be used in part and allusively; adj hawkish(ness) is accept-able, but not doveish(ness). he who hesitates is lost(saying) unless you grasp an opportunity quickly, either someone else will, or it will be lost;o Well, you know what they say—— he who hesitates... If I were you.I'd write now.□ Dusty hesitated and was lost,because the Old Man got stuck into him. TT o(NONCE)‘And to think I very nearly married that woman!’‘He who hositetes is sometimes sured as James Thurber remarked in another connection.'o may be a comment on delay or vacillation of any sort. the head of the table the end of a table usu occupied by the host or hostess, the father of a family, etc o Sir Julius took his place at the head of the table with a malevolent look at DrBottwink who sat on his right. EMo We drifted into the dining-room where there was some argu-ment as to who should take the head of the table. o at formal dinners, guests one especially wishes to honour will sit to the right and left of <279> head over heels/ ears—— the heart/ root of the matter that position. head over hotels/ ears [A] with one's body circling, or turned upside down;(fig) helplessly.completely V: fall, roll, turn; be, go. A: into the river; across the stage; in love, in debt o You must all be aware from the peculiar behaviour of space as seen from our ports that we are now tumbling along head over heels. TST□Extraor-dinarily, he demonstrates a head over heels roll which lands him up against the marble steps of the hotel for. RT□' Bui you would be absolutely right as Romeo,' said Jessica. ' Can you still say your lines?' 'I could to you,' said Ludovic, who was by now head over ears in love. WDM o I'm head over···s in debt and that's why I'm selling the house. □ head and heels/ ears non-rev; attrib use a head over hoeis roll. sb's head rolls sb is executed or assassinated,esp by beheading;(fig) sb is punished, made to suffer loss, position, rank, credit etc□ The throne was auctioned to the higher bidder,whose head duly rolled a few weeks later. SC□Would you mind if I did needlework while we talk?' she asks. A vision passes before my eyes of those ladies who knitted while heads rolled. STo Mr Crossman insisted that heads must roll.Lord Hillman's inquiry must produce the replacement of the present system. Lo The talk,though, is that only second rank heads will roll.most likely that of the deputy police chief. LoLater, he modified his attitude, saying that there would be a departmental inquiry and that ' heads may roll'. G o heads must/ will roll used to ex-press a demand or prediction. one's head rules/ governs one's heart wisdom, commonsense, caution or self-interest,determines one's conduct —— not one's passions, sentiments or sympathies o It was typical of Stephen that, even in the matter of choosing a wife, his head should rule his heart.□I know my head always rules my heart. If I did a film with some man and fell madly in love with him, I'd never leave the children or anything like that. TVT □ variant one's heart gets the better of/runs away with one's head. one's head swells one thinks very highly of oneself o This film is about a boy jockey (JeremySpencer) whose head swells along with his list of winners. TVT o They didn't stint their praises.I expected to see your head swell visibly. oCartridge thinks it's no good letting me get recognition too fast. It might give me eswollen head. CON□ If you go off for a year on one of those courses, all your mates are dead sure you' re going to come back swollen-headed. o variants have/ suffer from/ give sb a swelled/ swollen head;adj compound swollen-headed. head to tail [Comp/A(n + n non-rev)] placed,or following each other, in a continuous line and all facing in one direction; placed in rows or stacks with the head of one alongside, or on top of, the tail of the next $; tanks, trucks;barges, elephants; bottles, sheaves(of corn). V:be; lie, stand, move o A convoy of army lorries was proceeding along the road head to tail.□In their sleeping compartment they would lie on their bunks, heed to tail, their great pink and wrinkled tummies bulging and deflating as they breathed. DF□ You’ d have got another two rows of roses in that box if you'd arranged them head to tail. heads I win, tails you lose (catchphrase)one person, group, gets all the advantages of a so-called bargain, exchange of services, etc;whatever the arrangements, rules, choices available, one person or group will always win,do better than the other o (source) A game which a sharper once played with a dupe, entitled," Heads I win, tails you lose" . J W CROKER 1780-1857□However, when it comes to renting theatres out for profit, heads we win, tails you lose is the rule. The average rent demanded is in the region of a thousand pounds a week against 20per cent of the box office takings, whichever is larger. OBS□ When a child does well at school it's because he's clever, when he does badly it's because we can't teach him. You' ll have to get used to the heads I win, tails you loss@ attitude of parents. O occas heads we win, as shown;attrib use a heads/ win, tails you lose attitude.heads or tails(?) [n+ n non-rev] the obverse or reverse side of a coin tossed or spun to decide an issue, heads often being the positive or win-ning side, unless sb is to get his choice, obtain an advantage, etc by first guessing correctly the side which will face upwards o Since neither of us can make up our minds, we' ll toss for it.Heeds we go to the cinema, tails we stay at home. □(tennis) ‘Heads or tails?’ their father asked, looking at Tony. ‘Heads.’‘Heads it is, so you get the first service.'o can be used as an invitation to settle an issue in this way. hear/ see the last of sb/ sth [V+ O pass] be finished with sb/ sth as a subject of discussion or argument; be finished with, having to cope with or being affected by, sb/ sth o The murders con-tinue to be the subject of books, magazine ar-ticles, newspaper stories: 'I don't think we' ve heard the last of Jack the Ripper. 'RT o' You haven't heard the last of this, Chadwick,' saidMr Purnell,' not by a long chalk you haven't.'TT□Well, he's gone to Australia right enough. Let's hope we' ve sgin the last of him.□Leaked or not,' copyright' or not, the ' Sunday Times' gave it wonderful publicity and the last has not been heard of it. NS □ usu neg; positive uses often expressions of hopes or wishes. one's heart bleeds for sb (informal) one feels sorry for, pity for, sb o My heart bleeds for poor old Mike. First he loses his job, and now his wife has gone off with his best friend. Pete. o'I'm just off to Mexico and Latin America——Iget so bored with these business trips!' My heart bleeds for you! I wish I had problems like yours instead of being stuck at my desk all day.’ o sometimes facetious. one's heart misses etc a beat a sudden surge of fear, hope or other emotion causes a break or catch, real or imagined, in one's heart-beat or breathing V: miss, △lose, skip □ For a moment she thought she sawa face looking at her through the window and her heart missed. a beat. o ' Now I know something about you,' saidCosmo Hines. Daniel's heart lostabeat. Some-one was going to recognize him at last, and for what he was. US D also pl Their hearts miss etc a beat. the heart/ root of the matter the essential nature, or the most important aspect of, a situa-tion, a means of doing sth, or a subject being 279 <280> one's heart sinks—— hedge one's bets discussed V: seem to be; contain, reach; get to o Then she had to investigate what seemed the heart of the matter. The mystery of Clemen-tine. DC o And then one thinks of Hill's books which, whatever their shortcomings, have—— in the phrase of Oliver Cromwell that Hill likes to quote—— the root of the matter' in them. NSone's heart sinks one feels despondent,disappointed, fearful etc D When this reviewer is sent a work dealing with the aesthetics, the theo-logy, the politics or the science of Ruskin his heart sinks. NSoI showed them a drawing of the animal, and everyone shook their heads over it and said sorrowfully that they had never seen it.My heart samk. BBo There was still a multitude of tasks to be performed before dinner was ready to be served and his heart sunk to see yet another visitor in the pantry. EM □ Here at last was Challowsford and with e sinking heartSarah wondered what kind of reception awaited them. Wi o also pl their hearts sink; variants feel one's heart sink(ing), with a sinking heart, make sb's heart sink. heart and soul [A(n + n non-rev)] energetic-ally; enthusiastically; devotedly V: devote,dedicate, oneself to; fling, throw, oneself into oThey made the governor think they were heart and soul on his side when he wouldn't have thought any such thing if he'd had a grain of sense. LLDR o This Greek composer has flung himself heart and soul into the life of his country. ST□ Josephine Barstow throws herself heart and soul into the part of Natasha, singing the lyrical music beautifully. OBS □ Miss Bates has dedicated herself to her profession heart and soul. o middle or end position.△ next entry.one's heart and soul[n + n non-rev] all, or a great deal of, one's energy, enthusiasm,devotion, sincerity of feeling det: one's, all one's, one's whole o He's a man whose heart and soul were clearly in the venture from the start.□Peter must make a success of this project and I hope with all my heart and soul that he will. o ' Isn't Jill bothered about her husband,then?' ' Not enough—— her heart and soul are bound up in that boy of theirs.’◇ △ previous entry. heart to heart [A (NP)] (informal) confiden-tially, sincerely, as between friends V: talk sth over, discuss sth o Did you ever think of discuss-ing these problems heart to heart with your hus-band? □ Then I had one of those big heart to hearts with the doctor who said if you go back you could lose your foot, RT o She takes up problems the day they' re presented, replies by return post. She finds the time by cutting out what she calls ' heart to hearts'— lunches with non-working girl friends. ST o end position;attrib use a heart-to-heart (talk). hearth and horne [n + n non-rev] (informal)home, esp a family house(the implication being home comforts and surroundings) o The farther her children were from hearth and heava in adult life, the more highly did my mother tend to think of them. a Aerial warfare apart, it's a long time since any Englishman has had to fight in defence of hearth and home on his own territory. (m) heaven on earth[Comp (NP)] a physical location,a place where one lives or works, a set 280 of personal circumstances or relationships,where conditions are ideal and lead to great happiness— or the extreme opposite V:△ be,become; make sth. n: heaven,△ paradise, hell□ The 175 acres of field and woodland at theChildren's International Village at Sedlescombe.Sussex, is a heaven on earth. o Why did he makeSaturday afternoon such hell on earth? Anger throbbed violently in her temples. LLDR the havens open rain falls in torrents oThunder rumbled around and it grew dark. We had just made it to the house when the haggers opened. o What we didn't need was for the herress to open—— and would you believe, come straight through the roof. TVT the heavy father the idea, or practical exam-ple, of a father as a stern disciplinarian, who controls the activities of his family as he thinks good for them V: come(over sb); play, act o But how about a man who preaches liberation and yet when his daughters are seeking marriage part-ners, can show himself the very caricature of the heavy Victorian father?NSo He takes very little notice of the children as a rule. It's only in public that he likes to come the heavy father; and the heavy husband too. for that matter. heavy etc going [Comp (NP)] difficult move-ment or work, eg over rough or steep ground,against currents, when carrying weights, etc;(fig) laborious or boring work or activity; sth,eg a lesson, piece of writing or music, that is difficult to understand or enjoy V:△be; make,find, sth. adj: heavy, ▲ hard, rough, tough oBEATIE : Still got your allotment, Jimmy? JIMMY:Yerp (= yes). BEATIE: Bit heavy going this weather. Ro Some days he had dictated like a man possessed for five or six hours. It had been pretty heavy going, but she had stood up to it.PPoI must admit that I found Mr Grigg's Welsh chapters heavy going. Lo(astrological predic-tion) It could be fairly tough going this week,and you could get depressed. Wi o But we' ll never know how well the greats of years ago would have fared in the football of today. I suspect they would have found the going much harder. TVT□ For teenagers the going is pretty tough; they are coping with themselves and at the same time with the transformed relationships with others.OBS O variants the going is heavy etc, find the going heavy etc. heavy necking/ petting (informal) caresses and fondling that are more intimate than kiss-ing or cuddling but that stop short of sexual intercourse o Prolonged kissing is more frustrat-ing than having sea-sickness and lockjaw at the same time. Then the heavy working and petting begins, and the next step is going too far. Ho Ididn't know this was a debate on marriage, Ithought we were just on about, well, heavy mecking. TGLY hedge one's bets [V + O] make a number of smaller bets to protect oneself from possible loss on a main stake(from gambling);(fig) not commit oneself to a single course of action, a definite opinion, etc o Diversification? You could call it industry's way of hedging its bets.o In fact, the committee had ge their bets at every turn, and the final impression is rather con-fusing. SC□ ' Scotland's people are looking for-ward— but they are looking back, too,' said <281> the height of folly etc— help a lame dog over a stile Fyfe Robertson, hadging his bets on his new show. ' Robbie'(BBC /). Lo One can find oneself using a range of stylistic tricks or ties--which are insurances, water-wings, crutches, face-savers, hedging of bets, playing safe. L the height of folly etc[Comp (NP)](an in-stance of) extreme foolishness etc V: △ be;think, find, make, sth o: folly, silliness, foolish-ness, madness; bad manners, cheek, arrogance,perversity o It would be the height of folly not to finish his course now, whether he wants to practise as a dentist or no 1. a The claim of theConservatives to be the national party is valid.and it is the height of silliness for those on theLeft to deny it. NS□ I call it the height of bad manners for a guest to tell one how to cook.口often in the construction be the height of folly(for sb) to do sth. hell-bent on doing sth [Comp(AdjP)] reck-lessly or blindly determined on doing sth V:△be; seem, appear. o: getting his revenge, making the trip, causing a sensation, climbing to the top o Hell-bent on getting his revenge he embarked on hard training for a return fight. □ She is hell-bent on winning Tsuda's total love and admira-tion because it would be intolerable to her to muke do with less. Lo(NONCE) It would be re-freshing if the social scene was graced and lit-tered by a few more people who weren't haven bent on being so utterly ordinary. NS (all) heil breaks/ is let loose fierce rioting,or a great amount of uproar and disorder,breaks out o If they should somehow find out that the rescue (space) ship had not, in fact, even vet been able to take off from Earth---that was when hell would start breaking loose. TST □Then I wrote right across the (examination)paper: If the next three hours are going to deter-mine my future then I'm not bothered. After-wards. I folded my arms and waited for he ll to break loose. TVToI realised that if they (twoIRA hunger strikers) died all hell would be let loose among the Catholics in Northern Ireland.L hell for leather [A (NP)] (informal) with the greatest possible energy and speed V: run, ride,drive, work, go (at sb/ sth)□ We' ve started them all right. A whole lot of mad March hares streak-ing hell for leather across the open country.ARG□ ' Do nightingales sing all day?'' All day, all night,’ Pop said. ‘Like everything else in the mating season, they go hall for leather.’ DBM□For some reason, absence of information often goes hand in hand with hell for leather expan-sion. OBS□She wrote the first draft in one hell for leather month. OBS □ end position; attrib use hell-for-leather expansion, a hell-for-leather hurry. hell has/ knows no fury like a woman scorned (saying) there is no one more vindic-tive than a woman who has been slighted (esp one whose favours or advances have been rejec-ted) o Heav'n has no rage, like love to hatred turn'd,/ Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn'd.THE MOURNING BRIDE (W CONGREVE 1670-1729)ﻥSo I said to myself, hell knows no fury like a woman scorned and it's, no use my tellingMuriel at this moment that I thought she wasElsie. That' ll only make her vicious. RM o(NONCE) Elated, George prepares. But hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn, the woman being his wife. Lil. TVT a/ the hell of a sth (informal) a considerable.remarkable, impressive etc sb/ sth o: guy.fellow, girl; lot, (long) time, speed, row,nuisance a Unfortunately we don't believe in eternity now, although they tell me the moment you' re atomized lasts a hell of a long time. HAA□' She must have beengoing at the hellof space.Teddy said. RATT a It must be something very important because there certainly seems to be a hell of a lot of it. HHGGo' She said you were the hell of a chap,' Viola remarked. ' Fighter Com-mand, three rings, and a chest full of ribbons.RFWaJO: Old Nick' ll get you in the end. HELENThank God for that! Heaven must be the hell of a place. TOH O occas spelt helluva. ◇▲one hell of a row etc. the/ to hell with sb/ sth (informal) sb/ sth doesn't matter, is not going to be considered or bothered about o: him, all such pessimists;work, the future; waiting any longer □ But I was sick and tired of being a tenant at the mercy of absentee landlords. So I threw my hands up and said : the hell with it, I' ll explore Brooklyn. LoAnd too many self-styled lovers of our countryside are concerned only with what they can see and do in their own lifetime—— and to hell with posterity. NS o To hell with what passes for local democracy if the consequence will be bad housing and bad environmental plan-ning for so many of our citizens. NS o used to express irritation, weariness etc. Hell's Angels (gangs of) young motor-cyclists who project a tough image of themselves by driving at reckless speeds on the roads and wearing black, decorated, leather clothes oItems range from the copper studs used in leather work which sell at 5p a dozen. ' We get rid of thousands to Hell's Angels for decorating their jackets.’ ST a Despite the leatherware on the cover, the four angels of the title aren't Hell'sAngels but a bunch of Texan teenagers who act and talk tough, but aren't really. NS□ The wind comes straight from Alaska and the Japanese equivalent of Hell's Angels can be heard at night weaving their way through the dunes. L o occas sing a Hell's Angel. help oneself' do what one can for oneself(rather than expecting or demanding help from others) o Oxfam, Christian Aid and similar or-ganisations devote as much of their funds as can be spared to supplying communities with the means to help themselves. □ Th e surgeons have done a wonderful job on your knee but you' ve got to help yourself now. △can't help oneself. help oneself serve oneself with food, or any-thing else offered to be used or taken away; take sth that is not offered, without payment, per-mission etc o The waitress only clears the table between courses. The food is all laid out on side tables and you help yourself. □ Di d you see him helping himself out of my box of cigarettes all evening? Cheek!o He's been helping himself to paint our of the store-room. help a lame dog over a stile give help to sb who is in difficulty or trouble o The charitable precept always to help lame dogs over stilles is shared by the world's major religions. o My AuntGloria surprised us all h y becoming a nun at the 281 <282> a hen party— hey presto age of sixty and founding the Lame Dog Society to care for the poverty-stricken, sick and home-less. a hen party a social occasion restricted to, or attended only by, women o The first time I was asked to do an act for a hen party I nearly didn't accept. ITV o (astrological prediction) A han party will be extremely successful. TVT O a stag party. the herd instinct the desire or compulsion to be like, behave like, seek the company of, other people, esp those of one's own age or social group□' Why don't some of this crowd go out by the side door?’‘Herd instinct I suppose.’□ The other factor behind these huge receptions is the herd instinct. People rarely do things in ones or twos but in groups of five, ten or a dozen. L here below [A(AdvP)] in this life (contrasted with heaven' above`)□(source) Man wants but little here below,/ Nor wants that little long.THE HERMIT (O GOLDSMITH 1728-74) □ If his (theAmerican plantation slave's) lot here below was miserable, he was encouraged to hope for pie in the sky. And he was freely allowed the consola-tion of religion. Lo I do not know the name of the lady who announces the trains at Victoria Sta-tion, nor do lexpect to meet her here below. NSo often facetious. here goes (informal) a signal or announce-ment that sth will start, that one is about to do sth, immediately o ' Here goes then. 'Davidsòn went to the lean-to, taking a torch from his trouser pocket, He ducked through the broken door and disappeared. PMo ' Here goes,' mur-mured the headmaster to his companion as the curtain started to rise on the yearly School Play.'I warn you that you' re going to be extremely bored.’ o Jack really tells this story far better than I do because I'm no good at imitating ac-cents, but since he won't oblige, here goes. Dfixed form, pres tense only. here and now[adv + adv non-rev] immediate-ly; in this place and at this moment; in present circumstances o If our funds had been in better shape nothing would have given us more pleasure than to present him, here and now, with a brand new bicycle. TCMoI'm telling you here and now to let this rubbishy idea drop. HDoJO: The time to have taken care of me was years ago, when Icouldn't take care of myself. HELEN: All right,but we' re talking about here and now. TOH oThose who work in news are, by the very nature of the business, ensnared by the here and now and they have little time for the more graceful enduring things of life. L o n form the here and now. here and there [adv + adv non-rev] in, to and from, various places; scattered about in a ran-dom way of Here and there under china animals.or French paper-weights, were neat piles of letters or press cuttings or thousand-franc notes.UTNo We still have the Lord knows how many hydrogen bombs stored here and there, waiting for some madman to set them off. EHOW o The words themselves became an obsession with him and he spent a longer and longer time each day staring at them and shifting them here and there. TCM□ It's dreadful. A pound here and a pound there and before you know where you are your whole week's wages are gone. o variant a 282 pound etc here and a pound etc there. ◇ △ next entry. here, there and everywhere in many dif-ferent places; all over the place; moving about;to or from many different places o Rumours fly from ear to ear of apparitions here, there and overywhere. NDNo I think you should get your-self a big filing cabinet, instead of having your papers lying around here, there and everywhere. o ' Don't you have a regular run then?’‘No, just here, there and everywhere,wherever there's a load to be picked up.'◇ △previous entry. here today and gone tomorrow(saying)a philosophical comment on the transitory nature of man, his works, or any forms of life;also said of sb who is always on the move or with whom one has only a brief contact oThat's the trouble with you office fellows. You all worry too much by half. After all, here today and gone tomorrow. DBM o Nick does come home to see us quite often, but you could easily have missed him. Here today and gone tomor-row is his style. □ You should be looking after your regular customers, Joe, not a whole lot of tourists who' ll be here today and gone tomor-row. here/ there we go (again) sth said or done before is, or is about to be, repeated o'I was engaged once but it didn't work out.' ' Why not?'Virginia asked with a slight sigh. Here we go again, He wants to talk about his love troubles.AITC o VAIZEY: Geoffrey Howe, do you believe that faster and more successful economic growth necessarily means greater fairness and equality?HOWE: There you go again! Greater fairness and equality; they don't necessarily tie up. L o in everyday use expresses exasperation, tedium or resignation that sth is about to happen. here's to sb/ sth a common form of toast o:you, her, us all; the bride; the success of our new venture o You' ll need a stiff whisky before your interview. Well, here's to you, and I hope you get the job.□ He raised his glass. ' Your mother,'he said. ‘Herg’ s to her.’ AITC hewers of wood and drawors of water[NP + NP non-rev] people or classes whose lot it is to labour at necessary, if often menial or unskilled, tasks for others o (source) And the princes said unto them, Let them live; but let them be howers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation. JOSHUA IX 21o(reader's letter) There will always be ' factory hands and the like'-- - hewers of wood and drawers of water. There is no such thing as the classless society, even in the Soviet Union. RTo(NONCE) In other words, the majority of children had no need of an academic qualification since they would be spending their lives hewing wood and drawing water for their grammar-school-educated masters. NS hey presto magician's or conjuror's phrase accompanying the successful completion of a trick; announcement of, or comment on, any-thing done with surprising ease and swiftness oNow you unlock it the same way——19-6-14——and hey presto, it opens. OMIHo They adopt the ultra-conservative remedy of Professor Fried-man and Mr Enoch Powell. Stop the rise in the volume of money and helpness to, all will be well. <283> the hidden persuaders— the higher you climb etc the harder you fali NS□ There was a brief pause for Ed to muster his army. Then hey prest o the furniture van arrived.OBS the hidden persuaders advertising and its techniques as they indirectly influence people to think, believe, or desire to have, things they might not otherwise have done(from the title of a book by VPACKARD1957)o But despite his long experience in films, on TV and on the stage,George Baker is finding it hard to break into the field of the hidden persuaders (TV commer-cials). OBS hide and seek [n + n non-rev] children's game with varying rules, but basically one seeker finds a number of hiders and brings them to a‘den’ within a stated time;(fig) elusive or teas-ing tactics with another person, group etc o Go on now, kids, hide and seek; now we are playing hide and seek; run away and hide. HSG□He would say in answer to pestering that he was to hold a ceremony at a particular time and place.While this game of hide and seek was still going on, a young man named Laduh fell ill. NDN high days and holidays[n + n non-rev] days when festivals, celebrations are held; special occasions generally o Fish, potatoes, bread and milk were our regular articles of diet, with a chicken or a piece of pork and a bottle of cheap wine on high days and holidays. o(NONCE) He goes back to sleep when the alarm goes off, for-gets even agreeable appointments and gets high datem and holidays wrong by just one day. OBSo high days, high-days or highdays. high and dry [Comp(adj+ adj non-rev)] above a water or tide line; (fig) abandoned, ignored,left in isolation, by changes of circumstances S:boat, dinghy; trader, merchant; firm, industry.V:△be (left); lie □I saw, in the sharp silver light of the full moon, that the mine was left high and dry by the ebbing tide. ARG□ After lunch they strolled down again to the beach. The landing craft lay high and dry far from the sea. RFW oHad the laughter receded only to leave me high and dry, staring through these windows, never wanting to go inside? HAHA high jinks (informal) fun and frivolity o... croquet on the lawn, theatricals in the great hall, the younger boys knocking up at cricket with the footmen behind the stables, high jinks in the servants' halls when the upper servants had retired. Lo High jinks at a camera club outing games didn't tell us anything about photography as a visual art and powerful modern mode of expression. RT high and low'[adj+ adj non-rev] of all classes,ranks o Listen, children of the world, both high and low, rich and poor. I shall speak the truth.HSG o London life, high and low, is drawn upon extensively, though the story about an old working-class woman seems to me the least suc-cessful. NS□ Troubles, like death, come to high and low. o usu follows n which it modifies; may function as [n + n], as in last example. high and low²[adv+ adv non-rev] everywhere;in every possible place V: search, hunt, look,scour o My Hairy Frogs settled down very nicely in their large tin. For many weeks I searched high and low to try to find some females to go with them, but without success. BBo Anyway.we' ve hunted high and low, boy, believe me. Not a bloody twitter. ILIH high and mighty [adj + adj non-rev] self-important and arrogant with a presumption of being superior to others o' Music is for people,'he says. Consequently he harbours no high and mighty ideas against music that is intended frankly for entertainment. RT□If Jenny had not had the fear of being thought high and mighty.she would not have hoisted and edged her way on to Patrick's lap. TGLY a And to talk about holidays abroad is one of the almost infallible marks of the stuck-up, the high and mighty,who are no better than they should be. RATT o attrib use a high and mighty attitude; may function as [n + n], as in last example. a high profile [O (NP)] a visible, active,presence in a situation V: adopt; keep, maintain o They specifically queried the high profile tac-tics which were adopted by the army over the weekend. Go The Chairman of Lambeth Coun-cil's community affairs committee criticised this high profile adopted by the police. Go The high and impressive profile maintained by the Chan-cellor of the Exchequer throughout the year has enhanced his chances of succeeding to the PrimeMinistership. I attrib use the high profile tac-tics. ◇a low profile. high spirits exuberant happiness, vitality,confidence etc o She had been a gay young girl,I believe, but by this time had lost most of her high spirits. ULo What had really gone were the jokes, the high spirits. OBS □ Bunder, who seemed in high spirits, was telling a story which he punctuated, as Charles approached, with bursts of laughter. HDo You are quick to spot bright ideas, so there should be plenty of enthusiasm and high spirits. TVT high summer the middle of the summer season, constrasted with early or late summer□ Mr Charlton stood there staring too, thinking of how spring had passed, how quickly the buds.of May had gone, and how everything now had blossomed with full, high summer. DBMa It was heavy and thundery outside; early August and beginning to get that washed-out feeling of high summer when the freshness has gone from the leaves. HD (it is) high/ about time (that) the time is(long) overdue when sth should happen or be done□ 'I' ve put those shelves up in the kitchen.'' High time——I' ve waited long enough.'□ So Ithink it is about high time that some organiza-tion applied some careful thought to deciding what kind of relationship between the House ofCommons majority and the proportion of votes cast for the different parties would be desirable.NSC□/ said it was high time you fell in love with somebody. pw□' Well, I'm waiting.'' What for?'' Don't you think it's about time you kissed me?"DBM o that-cl contains a v in the past tense;high/ about time, (too)! used as a comment. high, wide and handsome striking; im-pressive o The day was riding high, wide and handsome into the deeps of the incredible blue sky. LWK □ (film review) High, wide and meticulously handsome re-creation of Crom-well, his life and strife. RT the higher you climb etc the harder you fall (catchphrase) the risk of disappointment,disgrace or failure increases in proportion to 283 <284> the highways and byways(of sth)— hit and miss the height of one's ambition, position in life or profession V: climb, get, go, rise o Parents and careers masters tend to advocate the safe jobs and professions. The higher you climb the her-der you fall of course but the rewards for a youngster with guts and talent in striking a line of his own can be enormous. SCa It is easier for an employee in a business that has failed to get another job than the man who ran it. The higher you get the harder you fall. a (NONCE) The bigger you are, the harder you fall. MalcolmAllison has attracted more than the usual band of knockers—— people who consider him too big for his boots and gloat when he doesn't find success.TVT the highways and byways(of sth)[n+ n non-rev] all the roads or routes, large and small;(fig) the main forms or trends of sth, as well as its less well-known aspects V: explore; go(out)into. o: Wales; physics, comic verse, life, the printing trade o By lectures, excavations and other contacts, I took the museum into the high-weys and byways of Wales. SDo Is the Labour opposition so involved in the parliamentary processes that it does not think it important enough to go out into the highways and byways? NS hira and fire [v + v non-rev] employing staff,esp on a temporary and insecure basis, and then dismissing them o... an industry accustomed to on-site hiring and firing and much casual labour. OBSo Certainly in the first half of this century, one remembers the proprietors better than the editors. The tycoons naturally tend to survive the men they hire and fire. Lo(NONCE)Local government appeals to certain people part-ly because, unlike industry, it has no record of being a hiring-firing kind of place to work. OBShistory repeats itself (saying) sth that has occurred in the past, happens, or is likely to happen, again o History may repeast itself in a general way, as in the rise and fall of empires, but not exactly enough to enable us to learn from the mistakes of the past. oI, personally, do not sub-scribe to the theory of history repeeting itself and I think that a new march on Rome is out of the question. Lo But the tendency of history is to repeat itself in every way but one; and the new element is unfortunately and usually the only one that matters. L hit the bottle [V + 0 pass] (informal) drink too much habitually or over a period of time oI suppose every school has at least one master who begins fairly early to hit the bottle, ending up as a quiet soak. CONo She seemed all right for a while after her marriage but I'm afraid she's hitting the bottle again. D usu infin after begin,start, or in continuous tenses. hit the/ acore abuH's eye[V+ O pass] hit the small innermost circle of a shooting target,dartboard etc; hit, strike, any physical object with an accurate aim; (fig) make a successful diagnosis, judgement, choice, prediction $:darts player, marksman, archer; inventor,writer, critic o ' There's no chance of the Cloud missing the solar system, of it being a near miss?' That Cloud is going to score a bell's eye plumb in the middle of the target.’ TBCo Patricia High-smith is a brilliantly talented novelist and she has hit the bull's eye often in the past. ST 284 hit the coiling/ roof [V + O](informal) lose one's temper suddenly and violently; be violently startled or frightened o Phelan found out that the source of the leak in the Hughes organisation had been Gregson Bautzer. He gaveDietrich this titbit of information, and Dietrich hit the roof. STo Don't creep around so quietly!I nearly hit the ceiling when you spoke, a The mere mention of James Bond to Sean Connery at that time was enough to make him hit the roof without the aid of ejector seat or any other item of sophisticated Bond gadgetry. TVT hit sb/ sth hard [V + 0 + A pass] affect sb/ sth adversely 8: misfortunes, losses; administra-tion, disease, climate. O: nation, family; far-mers, workers; livestock; economy, industry oThe advent of commercially viable television hit the cinema very hard. a The recent rise in Nation-.al Insurance contributions for the self-employed will hit small shopkeepers hard. ST o Higher prices for food will increase pressure for further wage increases and better pensions for those hardest hit by the rising cost of living. SCo TheInstitute of Pacific Relations, hard hit finan-cially by the withdrawal of tax exemption, is leaving New York for a cheaper base in Vancou-ver, British Columbia. T hit the hay[V+O](informal) go to bed o / just said, ' Sure, let's hit the boy, James.' I set the clock to arouse us in ample time. BMa Don't wait up for me. The Greens have invited me to supper after the concert and by the time I walk back from there I' ll be ready to hit the hey anyway.hit etc the headlines [V + O] (informal)become important or prominent news; attract press notice and public attention $: story,report, news; actress, boxer. V: hit, △ make,reach o Although much of Malcolm Mac-Donald's work was done behind the scenes, he says he didn't mind. 'I' ve never wanted to hit the hendHnes anyway,' he says. RTo(the Sudan's civil war) There's been plenty of killing, hunger and suffering, yet it never hit the headlines like the conflicts in Biafra and the Congo. Lo Mean-while Diana Ross does attempt to show that far from being just a junkie who made the head-.lines, Billie Holiday was a very considerable art-ist, the greatest of all jazz singers. NS hit the jackpot [V+ O] win a lot of money at poker from the jackpot ie the pool of money staked in bets;(unexpectedly) make, inherit etc a lot of money; do, or produce, sth that is a spectacular financial success $; gambler, pun-ter; scheme, project; play, productiono Writers of dream-like fantasies take a big gamble. It is all or nothing. John Hawkes hit the jackpot,George Macbeth loses his shirt. Lo They (dress designers) hit the jackpot, fall from grace and just when you think they have sunk without trace.pop up again. SC o The subjects he chose were always interesting and the writing distinguished,but only one,' Invasion 1940', hit the jackpet. Lhit and miss [n + n non-rev] guesswork; ran-dom procedures which have some successes and some failures o FIRST COMEDIAN: Go for spontaneity. Just give the dialogue its head.SECOND COMEDIAN: This seems a damned hit and miss way of doing things. ARTo The problem is that authenticating old violins has always been something of a hit and miss business. STo Like <285> so many youngsters of the time his early educa-tion was hit and miss. 'I didn't really get stuck into any proper schooling until I was eight.’ TVT□ functions as a Comp, or attrib, as shown in third, and first and second, examples respec-tively. hit and run [n + n non-rev] the behaviour of motorists who do not stop after causing an ac-cident;(when the‘hitting’ as well as the running is deliberate) methods in guerilla warfare, gang wars, attacks by hooligans, etc n: driver, victim;accident, cases; tactics, action, attack o (news-paper report) Hit and Run. Charles Lumley(23) was admitted to hospital last night. This is believed to be another case of a motorist failing to stop after knocking down a pedestrian. HDoOh. we' ll manage this little old blackmailer.After all there have been much worse things in theTemplur family than hit and run drivers and blackmail. DC o The guerillas have clearly decided that there is no need to face the PakistanArmy directly, or even to disrupt their activities by ambushes and hit and run actions. Lo always attrib, as shown. hither and thither [adv + adv non-rev] from one place to another in a varying, or aimless.pattern of movement V: move; dart, dash;scurry, run o The water was clear to the bottom and bright with tropical weed and coral . A school of tiny, glittering fish ficked hither and thither.IFu He gave himself up to the surging sea of memory, washed hither and thither by the chance currents of the conversation that flowed around him. ASA hold (oneself) aloof (from sb/ sth)separate oneself in a superior way, keep apart(from sb/ sth) o The people who really had a genuine interest in art couldn't scoff and hold aloof because his pictures really were the freshest and strongest thing we had to boast of.CONo That region near The Boltons which is not quite of Kensington, lurns its back to Earl'sCourt, holds alooffrom Chelsea, and a hundred years ago was called New Brompton. AH hold one's breath [V + O] not breathe, for some practical reason, eg during a medical examination, under water, etc; not breathe because one's attention is concentrated on sth temporarily, one is gripped by wonder, fear etc o He held his breath and waited, tightening his grip on the chain. ARGo A miraculous evening.The sky broke like an egg into full sunset and the water caught fire. He held his breath. USD These little slapstick performances occurred quite frequently, during which everyone held their breath, for if they did not serve their purpose in promoting smiles, there were usually tears in-stead. Lo of Everyone held his breath and They all held their breath. hold court [V + 0] (formerly, a monarch would) preside at functions in his own court.receive guests, hear appeals, etc; (fig) be the admired, or respected, central figure in a gathering of people o Now at Calcutta the hos-pitable Caseys held court---oldfr iends with time for everything and everybody in years of un-paralleled stress. SDo In the kitchen, Jimmy andKay helped their father to make sandwiches while in the front room the new baby held court amid a circle of admiring relatives. □ The hit and run—— hold the fort professor could often be found holding court at a coffee table in the students' common room around eleven o' clock. o often humorous or derogatory. hold sth dear [V + 0 + Comp pass] value.cherish, sth O: customs, beliefs, institutions,traditions o This loose plot provides the excuse for short cartoon scenes which cheerfully frag-ment the myths we are supposed to hold dear. L□(cricket commentaries) Long may we enjoy the happy summer days, never for a moment missing one word of these fascinating and expert ex-changes on the game we hold so dear. RT□ The reviewer was scared stiff at the thought of the seething, inattentive masses of young Americans who were listening to, looking at, and reading the wrong things and paying no heed to all we hold dear. NS□ usu as part of a relative clause (that which) we hold dear. ◇ hold (one's) life etc cheap. hold fast to sth (informal) adhere, cling, to sth with determination or stubbornness o:principle, theory, belief, code o ' Just because she's a lady born,' repeated Briggs firmly, hold-ing fast to his antiquated creed. ' she's your superior, Susan-whatever she may have done.'EM□ When they(institutions) are constituted for the service of God, it is even more important to hold fast to what is best in them. AH hold the field [V + O] not(yet) be superseded or supplanted S: artist, scientist; theory, idea.belief, fashion o For some years I held the field,always with an appreciation of the hard fact that my position was the outcome of circumstance.not merit. SDo The years following World WarII saw a great change. Until then the political and economic assumptions of the 19th Century had,by and large, held the field. hold one's fire [V + O] not fire a gun etc im-mediately, because one does not know where one`s enemy is, to save ammunition, etc;(fig)refrain from saying or doing sth, esp of a critical or aggressive nature, until one learns more or until the right moment comes o Once he seemed to rush, but there was no shot. Evidently he had lost patience, but was holding his fire till he was certain. ARGo The IRA extremists seemed to he holding their fire, while the Vanguard forces ofUnionist activism were regrouping. L o ' He should have telephoned if he couldn't he here'' Well, hold your fire—— he may have met with an accident.’ hang fire. hold the floor [V + 0] speak, or address an audience, at great length or with determination to finish what one has to say; monopolize a conversation or discussion (the floor = where members of an assembly sit and from where they speak) o Politicians and farmers expressed the pros and cons of entry. But it was GeoffreyRippon fresh from the Luxembourg negotiations.who held the floor. Lo There was no interruping her tirade. She had the floor and meant to hold it. ◇△ take the floor. hold the fort [V+ O pass] take charge of defending, controlling, looking after, sth/ sb in the absence of others o She wanted me, for reasons of her own, to hold the fort all day, and her method of making sure that I did was to keep me a prisoner. UTN□Mrs Carstairs was speaking to Washington on the transatlantic telephone. 285 <286> hold good— hold the purse strings ' You know,I ought really to be there to look after you— Yes, dear, I know, and after all I am doing my little bit to hold the fort while you are away.'EM□ Your old man's sitting here holding the fort—— talking his head off—— and you don't back him up. YAA hold good be or remain true, valid, or applic-able; hold true (qv) $: statement, declaration;conditions; promise, undertaking □ Years ago there used to be a doctrine called ' MinisterialResponsibility’. As a ' convention' of our con-stitution that may no longer hold good. NS□As for the company's shares, they may well show some improvement. But we said last year that they were not for widows and orphans and that still holds good. ST o 'I' ve always managed to pick up a job when I needed one.''I know, but you can't depend on that kind of luck holding good.’◇ 小 hold water. hold/ stand one's ground [V + 0] defend and/ or maintain one's position in a battle, con-test or argument o (a herd of buffalos stam-pede) I stood my ground because, in some strange way, now that my uneasiness was ex-plained I was not afraid. LWK。 On the industrial relations legislation the Government seem re-solved to stand their ground and make no con-cessions of substance. SCo The witness stoutly hold his grand despite Defending Counsel's skilled efforts to confuse him and discredit his testimony. OBS hold/ stay one's hand[V+O] refrain, at least temporarily, from taking action o The DiamondDetectives held their hand. All went well, and deGraaf was on his way to the bus with a fortune in his pockets when the detectives pounced. DSo The landlord was persuaded to stay his hand till other accommodation was found for the occupy-ing tenants, o What did surprise me was the way the newspapers interpreted Wilson's temporary staying of his hand. They seemed to see it as the product of his desire to help the Liberals. NSo stay one's hand is more formal. hold sb's hand [V + O pass] clasp or grasp another's hand;(informal) comfort or support sb during a difficult or trying period o Come here, love, and hold Granny's hand till we cross the street.□Jack has to go to the Infirmary to have that sore eye examined and I know he' ll want me to go and hold his hand. o The industry can't expect the Minister to come and hold its hand every time it runs into trouble. ◇△ next entry. hold hands [V+O] sit, walk etc beside another person with both or nearest hands linked, usu as a sign of affection o We sat in silence then,hoking hands until the taxi pulled up at the cottage. RATTo It was a difficult courtship and there was relief all round when finally it was official and the pair could stop pretending. At least for the first time they could hold hands in public. RT◇▲ previous entry. hold one's head high [V+ 0 + A pass] have,show, confidence (or pride) in one's worth,good character, ability etc o Now he and Lind-say ' feel we can hold our heads high again.' But it will be difficult to forget they felt like ' lepers and social pariahs'. RTo India is now undeniably one of the world's leading industrial nations, so it has good reason to hold its head high in the 286 world. D also pl Now they can go about with their heads held high. hold one's horses [V + O](informal) go, or work, more slowly; wait a moment, to consider one's action or until sb else is ready; curb one's impatience, impetuosity, enthusiasm etc o JA-SON: Back to work everyone. TOM: Hold your horses. Where is Peter? DPM o Then all the people involved in the Commonwealth Archi-tects’ competition were told to hold their horses—— because time would be needed to or-ganise an exhibition in which the entries could be put on show. NS□ often used as check or warn-ing. hold it(informal) stop doing sth, or wait a while before continuing with it o ' All right, hold it,Bill. ' said Jane, looking at him sternly. ' We haven't started on the food yet.'a We may as well start. No, hold it— — I think that's John coming down the lane now.□ an instruction or warning.hold(one's) life etc cheep[V+ O + Comp]consider sth, esp a condition or quality usu valued, to be of little value or importance o:(one's) life, △ (one's) honour, one's good name, (one’ s) humanity o There's those that hold life cheep, but they' re not our kind. We' ve got to show we' re different from people like that.Ol o Even miserable wretches like these do not hold life so cheep that they will give it up without a struggle. o may reflect one's attitude towards others or oneself. hold sth dear. hold one's/ its own [V + O] keep what position or popularity one has; not be outdone or made to look smaller in competition or con-test with another or others S: industry, nation;cult, fashion; rider, runner o It was a decent background for the girl to have; she would be able to hold her own in feminine society in the Wes-tern District. RFWo How much of a start he had had he could not tell, but Nur Jehan (a horse)seemed to be still holding his own. ARG o In spite of the advances in recording technology some of the ' hit' records of the Big Band Era can hold their own with anything produced today.NS o‘When you consider the strong challenge from the hamburger,' said Lock, ' the sausage is holding its own extraordinarily well.'OBShold one's peace[V + 0](decide to) remain silent; not say anything, or pass an opinion,about sth esp when this would be unwelcome or cause trouble o Julius found himself under the cruel necessity of holding his peace about the subject which he most liked to discuss. EM o I' ll admit to you now, Jimmy, though I held my peace at the time, that it used to quite embarrass me. AITC ho id the purms strings [V + O pass] be the person who controls the supply of money, who decides how money is to be spent, etc o I hold the purse strings and they must come to me for money. ST o The hero of Moravia's new novel is an Italian filmwriter with pretensions to direc-tion, hampered by the need to keep in with a mogul who holds court and purse strings. LoMany a small child has been dressed up to the nines in the hope that, by tugging at the heart-strings of an elderly relative, he will loosen the purse strings. ST o unusual form in last example = ' be the person who, with control over the supply of money, decides that more <287> hold sb/ sth responsible (for sth)——a hollow laugh money will be made available', hold sb/ sth responsible (for sth) [V + 0+ Comp pass] think that sb/ sth is the cause (of sth); treat sb as the one responsible (for sth/doing sth to sb)(the implication being a duty or obligation that should be fulfilled) o: failure,accident, loss, theft, disappearance; abuse,misuse o The first question is whether the scien-tist can he held responsible for the eventual misuse of his discoveries by others. NS o If you take the car don't hold me responsible if you have a breakdown on the way. hold/ keep the ring [V + O pass] be in charge of a fight, contest or dispute; conduct and control a fight or dispute S: police, army; UNobservers; peace-keeping force o A diplomat's duty is not to the disinterested search for ' truth'.It is for others to hold that ring. Lo The federal government is doing its best to make the election fair and legal. A new Police Commissioner and a strong team from the Federal Elections Com-mission are holding the ring in a firm and much needed way. L hold sway be supreme in power, control, in-fluence or popularity S: monarch, government;creed, culture; idea, emotion. A: over half a continent; in men's hearts; among the rank and file □ It is doubtful if Alexander the Great could have held sway over the vast territories he over-ran and subjugated even if he had lived to try. oJames, our janitor, was the real boss of our school and held sway for thirty years while headmasters came and went.□To experts income tax figures have their elasticity; there is a con-siderable No-man's Land where the precision of mathematics does not hold sway. PW hold one's tongue [V + 0] say nothing;remain silent o Jo's little girl holds her tongue and glowers at the grown-ups. Lo If I hear any-thing about it (my engagement) I shall know where it comes from, so hold your tongue like u good girl for a few days. WDM□ Well let me tell you here and now, my lad, that you had better hrighten your ideas up. Now hold your tongué.TT o when imper, expression is either advice to say nothing, or sharp order to stop talking; also pl Tell them to hold their tongues. hold true remain true, or be consistent with all known facts S: statement, description, account;theory. model; hold good (qv) o (reader's letter) Yet the French police made no effort to prevent his leaving with the child, saying they could do nothing until an offence had been com-mitted. The same apparently holds true in this country. RT□ This theory of language teaching is supposed to hold true whatever the mother ton-gue of the children.△ next entry. hold water[V+ 0](informal) be sound, valid,capable of standing up to examination or test-ing S: theory, argument; explanation, reason,excuse; belief, need. det: much, a lot of o The tempting theory that he was a double agent does not hold water. Gehlen was, and is, a Nazi. NS□ Th e belief. say, that French garage men are ghastly doesn't hold water. RIo I could arrange un alibi, half a dozen of them for that matter,should that prove necessary. ' ' Yes, but would they hold water?”◇△ hold good, previous entry. hold etc the whip hand(over/ of sb) [V + O pass] have control, power (over sb); be in a position of special advantage or power (over sb)(the implication usu being that this is cal-lously or unscrupulously used to benefit oneself) V: hold, △ have, keep o He's doing it to take it out of me. Just to show that things have changed since he married me, and that he holds the whip hand now. NMo The other team, hold-ing the whip hand, seemed to relax midway through the first half. STo By Christ, I'd rather be like I am than have the whip hand over somebody else and be dead from the toe-nails up.LLDR o Newspapers are now for the first time entirely subordinate to advertisers. I see no way out of this impasse, other than by maintaining a great daily net sale and thus keeping the whip hand of the advertiser. ST (a) hole and corner business etc sth car-ried out secretively, furtively because those in-volved are doing sth dishonest or disapproved of; sth which for no very sensible reason the people involved feel guilty or ashamed about n:business, △ stuff, dealing; affair. method.proceeding o The selection conferences smacked of a piece of hole-in-corner business. NS □Whoever her companion was, he wasn't her hus-band but I couldn't imagine her having the kind of hole and corner affair that had to be conduc-ted in a dusty workroom. TSTo You have an abso-lute faith in democracy. You dislike holer-and-corner government, the stench of privilege and patronage which clings around Westminster andWhitehall. NS□Unfortunately, I can't indulge in this hole-in-corner stuff. I have to come out in the open and print my information. PP□In some respects their attitude towards sex activity does come from a long way back. But for them it is all rather scrabbily hole-and-corner. UL O func-tions as Comp in last example; variant a hole in(the) corner business etc. a hole in the wall a very small shop, pub etc.esp in a row of buildings o The Comrie Book-shop is as inviting a hole in the wall as you could hope to retreat into anywhere in wintry Perth-shire. sc holier than thou [Comp (AdjP)] self-righteous; self-admiring and slighting towards others $: attitude, manner; preacher, moralist.v:△be, seem; make sb□(source)I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people... which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. ISAIAHLXV2,50 I have decided to resign myself to being surrounded by prolific parents. The holier than thou attitude which they adopt towards anyone who doesn't have children is too deeply ingrained.OBS□ When those who earn their livings by (writ-ing for popular newspapers) find themselves under attack they counter-accuse their accusers of being ' holier than thou', of smugness, of hypocrisy. UL o(NONCE) Something odd happens to Englishmen who go to California. GeraldHeard, Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isher-wood went madly native, often more mystical than thou. ST o attrib use a holier than thou attitude; sometimes adapted, as in last example.a hollow laugh an insincere, forced or scepti-cal laugh V: give, produce o‘You’ re looking fit.’I said, after we had shaken hands. He gave e hollow laugh, said ' That's something to the 287 <288> a holy terror----hop it good, anyway, and quickly changed the subject.□ They held little sherry parties full of frenzied chat and hollow laughter, o I heard a Conser-vative Member give it as his opinion that Heath's chances of gaining the necessary majority first time round were three to one on. I gave a hollow knowing laugh. NS O variant hollow laughter. a holy terror [Comp (NP)] a formidable,dominating person; sb who makes himself a nuisance to others, eg an over-lively, naughty or impudent child V: △be, turn into, become o Pity anyone who tried to take advantage of my grandmother who was known as ' the holy terror'among the local shopkeepers and tradesmen. oHis first Commanding Officer ' was a non-drinker and non-smoker, but a holy terror if it cume to a rough and tumble.’ Lo Oh you! You' re a holy terror, yes, you are. You' re supposed to he a gentleman, and that's how you carry on! US□ also pl holy terrors. a holy war (formerly) a war fought to defend one's religion, or to force conversion to it;(fig)a campaign, struggle or contest which has, or claims to have, idealistic motives and morally or socially worthy aims o The banner of the newly-founded Dockers' Union depicted a doc-ker wrestling with the serpent of capitalism, and carried the legend: ' This is a holy war, and we shall not cease until all destitution, prostitution and exploitation are swept way.'oBS a home bird someone who chooses to spend most of his time at home because he is happiest there o But other than dining out, which I like,I'm a home bird. I'm not one for a big social whirl. ST o also pl home birds. home and dry[Comp(AdjP)] safe and success-ful after a struggle or negotiation to achieve sthV:△be; get(sb)□ Once McGovern acquired a credibility problem of his own, Nixon was home and dry. NS□Overall, Raynaud now has 23 per cent of the company in his pocket, and with the backing of Bolding directors he is as good as homb and dry. OBS□ The essentials(of a musical play) are technical expertise and unflagging vitally, and in these respects the production is home and dry. L o sometimes said in antici-pation of a success felt to be assured. a home from home [Comp (NP)] a place where one feels as comfortable, happy, wel-come etc as in one's home V:△ be; make sth,feel like a We don't run this hotel on a purely commercial basis. We try to make it a home from home for our guests. a A caravan, bought by sixth formers in the area, has been set up in the school's adventure playground as a home from home for these children — and their parents.OBS home in one[Comp(AdjP)] successful in a first attempt to reach, strike, find, guess, identify,sb/ sth W:△be; get(sb)□ My drive had taken me to the edge of the green. ' Now let's see you get home in one for a birdie (ie one stroke below par for a hole in golf).' said Mike. STo' You can munch this stuff at any hour of the day. It's a logical extension of TVP.'' Textured VegetableProtein?'' That's right. Nome in one.'L Homer sometimes nods (saying) even the best, or cleverest, of people have lapses, make mistakes (nod = fall momentarily asleep) o(sources) I am aggrieved when good Homer sleeps. (HORACE 65-8 BC) o We learn fromHorace, ' Homer sometimes sleeps';/ We feel without him, Wordsworth sometimes wakes.DON JUAN (BYRON 1788-1824) □ D J Hall's enor-mous ' Journey into Morning' appears to be the final working out of a too-intense classical educa-tion: Homer nods and so do I. OBS□Occasion-ally Homer nods. It isn't enough to account for the expatriate Highlanders' support of GeorgeIII during the American Revolution with the statement that it is puzzling. It isn't. RT honest to God/ goodness(1) [Disj] honest-ly; truthfully a She was a silly cat if ever there was one. I can assure you. Homest to Godf She was a sight for sore eyes. TOH□' We want to trust you while you are in this establishment, ' he said.' If you play ball with us, we' ll play ball with you.'(Honest to God, you'd have thought it was going to be one long tennis match.)LLDR□I'm an honest to God real, live human being. RT oNaturally the dissidents are furious, and none more so than the Medical Practitioners' Union which has been an hongist to goodness union for 57 years. NS□I must have looked like CharlieChaplin imitating a penguin. The whole house rocked with honest to God belly laughs. TVTo in Disj use, uttered as a cry of disgust or exas-peration; in attrib use = ' real, genuine'. honesty is the best policy (saying) honesty is not only a moral virtue but has practical ad-vantages; it is safer, and often more profitable,for a man to be honest than dishonest o 'I could knock 5p or 10p off their change and they'd be none the wiser’' It's not worth the risk —honesty's the best policy.'o Would it not have been kinder in the end to tell the woman that her baby had no chance at all of being born? That would have been honest; but he doubted whether the coiner of the phrase about honesty being the best policy had known a great deal about expectant mothers. TST (there is) honour among thieves(saying)law-breakers, cheats etc may have certain stan-dards of conduct of their own which they will adhere to □' Somebody must have helped him carry the stuff away but he's sticking to it that he did the whole job himself.'‘Honour smong thieves, eh?'o The contractors are all trying to do each other out of business and will use any mean trick they can turn their minds to. There's more honors money thieves. hook, line and sinker [A (NP)] (believe sth)completely either because of one's own credu-lity or because of the skill with which one has been deceived (from angling, a fish swallowing not only the baited hook but part of the tackle as well) V: swallow, take, accept, believe, fall for, sth. O: the bait; his story, this old trick; the new product o Their attitudes and my father's eventually made me critical too at about 15. Up to then I had swallowed Nazi teaching, hook,line and sinkes. RT o It was a poor excuse butMary swallowed it hook, line and sinker. o The island (Isle of Man) is rather poorly policed against fraud. ' Our trouble is we' re very sus-picious of honest people but we fall hook line and sinker for con-men. ' Lo always in order of headphrase. ◇ △ bag and baggage; lock, stock and barrel. hop it (informal) go away, esp to avoid sth un- 288 <289> pleasant or on the orders of sb who wishes to get rid of one. o I can't have you kids playing here when I'm working. Go on, hop it. □ I'm warning you. Kevin, take a tip from afriend, hop it' Get out! TK D often imper. hope against hope (that) continue to hope(that sth is the case, will happen, etc) though one's reason tells one this is useless, foolish o It was then I heard Phuong's step. I had hoped against hopethat he would have gone before she returned. QA □ There is another kind of truth,which counts blessings and hopes against hope and which has quite often been proved right in the long run. L hope deferred (makerth the heart sick)(saying) the experience of not having one's hopes fulfilled or realized (makes one depressed or discontented) □ (source) Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life, PROVERBSXIII□Hope deferred maketh the heart sick, as the Book ofProverbs tell us, but so do other feelings or emotions and there would appear to be no way of shortcircuiting the horrid connection. WDM□(a castaway) There was illness of the body, effect of exposure. There was food-poisoning that made the world a mad place. There was solitude and hope deferred. PM hope springs eternal (in the human breast)(saying) feelings of hope are natural to mankind; one rarely accepts that the worst is inevitable o Hope springs eternal in the human breast;/ Man never is, but always to be blest. AN ESSAY ON MAN (A POPE 1688-1744) □ /remember with the batteries, we'd try the old ones time after time. Even when we were quite sure they were as dead as a doornail. Hope springseternal, that's what it is. When nothing else does. TGLY o(imprisonment) All the time you think you' re not going to be there as long as you' re supposed to be. Hope springs eternal,you know. ST hope and trust (that) [v + v non-rev] hope(that sth is the case, will happen, etc), one's hope being strengthened by belief or an optimistic conviction o We have observed the changes all over Africa as a result of the policies of your Governments. We hope and trust that these changes will affect our own deplorable state. OBS□We have arranged for you to take up your appoiniment on 30th Sept in the hope and trust that you will have fully recovered from your illness by that date. 口 occas used as a n, as in second example. hopping mad (about/ over sth) [Comp(AdjP)] (informal) really annoyed and angry(about sth) V:△be, go: make sb □ We have a rough and tumble tradition of politics in this country that perhaps offends the sensibilities of more civilized nations. A lot of people inWashington are hopping meda bout this. Lo I' ll he hopping mad if I' ve gone to all this trouble to make lunch, and they phone to say they' re not coming. o Cruelty to animals is a subject upon which Mr Adams holds passionate views. I feel bitterly angry,' he explained, looking bitterly ungry. ‘Makes me hopping mad!’ OBS a horn of plenty an unlimited, or copious,source of supplies (from the Latin cornucopia.a ram's horn overflowing with fruit and hope against hope (that)—a hot line flowers, an emblem of plenty) o The morsels offered by '1001 Jokes and Anecdotes for EveryOccasion' make singularly cheerless reading but doubless the book will be a horn of plenty for after-dinner speakers up and down the country.□I need help and am not going to be assisted byTV pictures of cheery credit managers showering£5 notes out of a horn of plenty. ST □ occas pl horns of plenty. a hornets' nest [O/o(NP)](provoke) attacks,criticism、 abuse from or quarrelling among several people V: rouse, stir up; bring about one`s ears o I have never regretted stirring up hornets' nests. The first time I did so was short-ly after the Second World War, by defendingWilhelm Furtwängler against accusations ofNazism. OBS o I wonder if the reporter knew,when he quoted the learned judge's remarks, that he was going to rouse such a hornets' nest.□ Amerger of the departments would certainly save money but you' ll bring a hornets' nest about your ears. a horse of another colour [Comp (NP)] a person, matter or affair of a quite different kind det: another, a different, the same. V: △ be:find sb□(source)SIR TOBY: He shall think, by the letters that thou wilt drop, that they come from my niece, and that she is in love with him. MARIA:My purpose is indeed, a horse of that colour.TWELFTH NIGHTII □ You can't have friends shar-ing the room for the same rent, but if you want your brother to stay for a week or so, that'sa horse of another colour. □ After eight years Iknew what was thought of Charles Hill by theBBC. T hope, ' I said,' that he will recognise that we are a horse of a different colour. NS hot air fake rumours, empty boasts, threats or promises not likely to be carried out o If the merger rumours are just so much hotair. then the shares have been artificially inflated, and we can expect a scramble for the exit in due course. OBS□He posed, he postured, he talked a lot of hot air.PW□He's just a hot-air merchant who wouldn't say boo to a goose if it came to a fight.□ Political prophets and creative drama departments have in common the ability to generate considerable quantities of hot air. G o attrib use a hot-air merchant. hot at sth (informal) (quite) accomplished or able in a particular activity, skill, branch of knowledge, etc V: be, get, become. adv mod:pretty,(not) so, quite, rather, very o Ask Jimmy about it. He's pretty hot at diagnosing engine troubles. □ Here Julia—— since you' re so hot at crosswords, try this one. o He's good at English and languages but not so hot at Maths. o not so hot a (self-) deprecating reply to such questions as How are you feeling? What was the film like?How's your French? ◇ △ hot on sb/ sth. (all) hot and bothered [adj + adj non-rev](informal) harassed by the need to hurry.pressure of work, anxiety, apprehension etc V:be, get (sb), make sb o And Pat was coming up from the bottom, all hot and bothered, unbut-toning her coat. TT □(official secrets) ' Nothing very serious has got out, has it?'' lf one thing gets out, another can. That's why we get all hot and bothered.'DM a hot line a secret and special telephone link, eg between a head of state and a supreme military 289 <290> hot on sb/ sth— how crazy etc can you get? commander o' People seem to think that I have some hot line between here and Jerusalem,' saidMrs Golda Meir's sister. STo There are double-and triple-safe precautions against any maniac getting on to a hot line and blowing up half the world. hot on sb/ sth (informal) an enthusiastic ad-mirer of sb, devotee of sth; well-informed on a subject V: be, be considered, think oneself. adv mod:(not) so, not too, pretty, quite, extremely o I was also hot on cross-country running. Iboxed in the RAF, too, and I'm a bit of a tennis nut. RT□ I always thought he was pretty hot onKenny Brown's sister.□I' ll help you if I can butI'm not too hot on Income Tax law. ◇ △ hot at sth. the hot seat [0/o(NP)](informal) the electric chair as a means of executing criminals;(fig) a position in which one is esp open and vulner-able to criticism, attack, questions etc, as in TVor public press interviews, radio phone-in programmes V: occupy; sit in, be in □ Not here.If he's for the hot seat he' ll be transferred to another prison. a Somehow WOSU (= a radio station) manages to get spokesmen of authority to occupy the hot sects and deal with questions thrown at them. Lo If you put yourself in this hot swight, you are asking to be shot down. So we got thrashed at the outset by the critics. ST a hot spot[Comp/o(NP)](informal) a difficult or dangerous situation V: be (in), find oneself in, get sb into a I remember seeing the Comman-der of the Guards Division in a very hot spot in a place called Happy Valley, not far from where the tank battle took place. Lo I would be in a hot spot if the payment didn't come through before he tried to cash my cheque, but I had to risk that.o also pl hot spots. hot under the collar [Comp (AdjP)] (infor-mal) embarrassed, indignant, or annoyed; in a worked-up excited state, esp in an aggressive way V:△be, become, get, grow; make sb□ TheVicar, despite years of practice, still got hot under the collar when she addressed him like this. ASA□If you do get stopped, remember that most policemen enforce the law on the basis of common sense and just about the worst thing you can do is to get hot under the collar. ST o If a client enlarged on the iniquities of the income tax, and grew hot under the collar, Harold's eyes would stray towards the door. PW a house etc divided against itself (can-not stand》(saying)a family, nation, political party, etc that is weakened by internal dissen-sion, quarrelling or fighting (cannot survive,will be easily overcome by others, etc)m: house,family, nation o Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; andevery city or house divided against itself shall not stand. MATTHEW XII25aA band of rebels thus divided against themselves could not second against a secure government. a house of cards a house, tower etc built by balancing playing-cards; (fig) an imaginative,over-ambitious project that cannot be realized;a state of affairs that exists mainly in sb's imagination or wishful thinking oBut theFederation is like a houw of cards: disturb one and the whole structure wobbles. OBS o The trouble with any such elaborate pretence is that 290 if you expose one detail the whole hows of cards comes tumbling down. o Soberly con-sidered, Fest's psychological reconstruction (ofHitler's character and career) falls to pieces like a house of cards. OBS o often follows like. a household name/ word [Comp (NP)] a name, eg that of a prominent public figure or a widely-used product, which is so well known that it is part of the currency of ordinary con-versation V: △be, become; make sb/ sth □ He talks about the big companies which are household words and of the smaller ones too.ST □ Becoming a household name, however,brought its problems for Slater with his every move being headline news. OBS how/ what about (doing) sth?'(informal)invitation or suggestion to do or have sth o:(having)a cup of tea?(painting it) pink?(calling him) John?o ' How about having a cup of coffee with me?’‘All right,’ she said. Ho What about a drink? It's nearly opening time. UTN o What about asking a busload of these orphans to see the horse run. Banks said to Piggott. SCo' How about bringing your own father round to aMarxist way of thinking?' I asked. Ajit laughed—— nervously. You can't teach an old monkey new tricks.'OBS how/ what about (doing) sth?² (informal)request for information, assistance, explana-tion; reminder that sb/ sth should be remem-bered, done, or taken into account o: the return journey, money to pay for it; carrying my bag,letting them know; the daft things you do your-self o‘Thank you,’ jotting down the flight times to Dublin. ' How about getting back, Saturday or Sunday?’□When he told me we were agroundI said, ' Splendid. Now, what about a boat to put me on shore?’ MFM□ You' re the last one to talk about wasting electricity! How about all the times you fall asleep with your bedside lamp on all night? how about it/ that(?) (informal) exclama-tory question asked about sth just done,discussed or discovered; challenging remark,often made to sb with whom one disagrees, or whose behaviour one wishes to change o' They' re going to publish my novel,' he said,how about that?’ a If you start working in earnest, you might just pass. Sonow, how aboutIt?o'I can park here if I like.'' And your car can be towed away if you do, so how about that!' how come(that)?(informal) how does/ did it happen(that)? what is the explanation(of sth)?D' How come he was a Red(= communist),then?’‘It’ s been the romantic thing to be for a century now.'PP o He was told that the whole edition had been sold out. He asked the book-seller: ' How come?' And the man replied:' These days people want to forget, so they read books.'L how crazy etc can you get?(informal) you,are being completely crazy; is there any limit to how crazily you behave? adj: crazy, stupid, sel-fish, pompous, hypocriticalo' Here's a man had his dog's teeth crowned with gold.'‘Really, how crazy can you get?’ o How pompous can you get? You had me under your spell for a moment. Now you' ve broken it. EGD o ' GoodGod!' Bob broke out at last. ' What a conversa-tion! How viclus can some of you womenget?’ <291> how dare you (do sth)— the human predicament how dare you (do sth) shocked and re-proachful reaction to wrong, presumptuous or impudent behaviour V + 0: say such things,speak to your mother like that, use this room o' I don't know what you' ve pinned on those two boys, but you cane either of them, and I' ll drag you down to the Divisional Office myself. " How dare you, Mr Golding! I will not be talked一'TI a At the heart of all her disillusion and anguish there was a nerve that throbbed with hatred,How dere he treat her so, how dare he? PW o also with other pronouns, as shown. how do you do? form of greeting when being introduced on first meeting a Veronica, this isMr Lockwood whom you remember my having mentioned so often. This is Miss Roderick.'How do you do?' said Lockwood bemusedly.HD□ Run out to the garden, Gillian, and tell your brother I want him to come and say how d' you do to Mrs Smith. o more formal and distant than (I`m) glad to meet you`. how the hell etc? (informal) how? in what way? n:(flaming/ merry) hell, △ devil, blazes,heck, dickens o MYRA (furious): How the hell did I come to have such a tenth-rate little snob for a son? EHOW o usu indicates the speaker's bad temper, hostility, scorn etc. ◇ △ what the hell etc? where the hell etc? who the hell etc? why the hell etc? how many times/ how often do I have to do sth? complaint that one's opinions, state-ments, requests or orders have not been heeded or remembered; complaint that one has heard sth more often that is necessary or desirable cl:do I have to say it, must I tell you, do you have to be reminded; must I listen to that story, do we hear the same excuse □' But I don't know the man, he shouted, losing his temper at last. ‘How many times do I have to say it?'o Turn round,Gladys, this minute. Yes, my girl, how many times do you have to be told? HD□Iknow I was wrong and I' ve said so. How often do we have to go over it? how on earth/ in the world? (informal)how? in what way?o But how on earth do you propose to equip yourself with this information-carrying capacity? TBC □ emphasizes ques-tioner's bewilderment, indecision etc. ◇△what on earth/ in the world? where on earth/ in the world? who on earth/ in the world? why on earth/ in the world? how right/ wrong you are(!) you are abso-lutely correct incorrect in an opinion or assess-ment o No after-dinner speech should last lon-ger than ten minutes.' How right you are!'o(I)wondered if radio could really add anything toOlivia Manning's subtle and exciring master-piece. How wrong I was/ L o also with other pronouns as shown. how's the world been treating you? (in-formal) a polite inquiry on meeting a friend or acquaintance after not too short a space of time o MRS ELLIOTT Oh come in, Mr Stuart. You know everyone don't you? GEOFFREY: Yes. Good evening everyone, And how's the world treat-ing you, Mr Elliott? EGD□ Hullo, Jane. I won-dered if you'd be here. How's the world been treating you since I saw you last? a howl/ storm of protest etc[0/o (NP)]strong and usu widespread protest against, or objection to, sth ordered or suggested V: raise.set off, start up. o: protest, △rage, anguish □German officials and newspapers had treated the killings with discretion. Now, however, the lid was off. The Puchert ' execution' set off a howl of protest from Hamburg to Munich. TO □ It must be clearly understood that those bland words amount in many cases to a sentence of death. The Labour Movement should raise m storm of protest. NS□ This view will doubless be greeted with howls of enraged anguish atEssex. NS a howling success[Comp(NP)](informal) a very great success; sth that receives much praise and (loud) acclamation V: △ be; turn into,make sth o His first lecture was a howling suc-cess with the shop stewards and with my dear co-director Simpson. ASA□ His second play was not the howling success he was confident of but attracted quite large houses in the provinces.□I' ve done a bit of amateur operatics myself,though I' ve always described my singing as a howling success' . RT O sometimes with fa-cetious double meaning, as in last example. a howling wilderness a desolate tract of country without amenities or beauty; a place,period or sphere of life without attraction or interest o He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness. DEUTERO-NOMY XXXII 10 o The hospital was an enormous building, a howling honeycomb wilderness of white tiles and dark green paint. o CulturallyBradford was not the howling wilderness I had been led to expect. a hue and cry [n + n non-rev] general outcry and alarm, often with shouting, searching,chasing o They couldn't find you. I tell you there's been abig flap on, not to speak of the hue and cry going on in camp. BM □ There were no threats, no checks, no hue andcry. I was a stran-ger with no passes or credentials, yet no one even noticed my coming or my going. OBS O hue(old use) refers to the sound of a horn. huff and puff [v+ v non-rev] speak or act in an important or threatening way but, finally, be indecisive or ineffective (from‘I’ ll huff and I’ ll puff and I' ll blow your house down' spoken by the big bad wolf in a children's story, THETHREE LITTLE PIGS); puff and blow (qv) o In short we badly need the finest élite that we can get to cope with all the changes in the way that we live and work. The masses can huff and puff but they are powerless to alter the way things are. NS□ So there's a fair amount of huffing and puf-fing in Mr Mintoff's attitudes. But his perfor-mance is matched in London. L humand ha(w) [v+v non-rev] make inarticu-late noises, indicating nervousness, indecision etc. before or while speaking;(fig) take a long time to make a decision or to say what one really means or wants to; waver in one's inten-tions□(film review) John Fraser and James Fox flounder miserably and Derek Nimmo hums and ha's with quiet desperation. RT□ When RichardBuckle organised the gala performance for the' Save the Titian' fund, Richards and Piper were quick to act, while others hummed and howed.ST o variant um and ah. the human predicament (cliché) the com-plexity of man's life in general, esp as a quasi- 291 <292> humanly possible—I beg your pardon philosophical study o Secondly, if we are to be convinced that the rigid Victorian marriage was a better frame for dealing with the human pre-dicament than current licence... Lo Christians are those who actually celebrate a death and see it as a fertile extinction, a seed sown, not a lamp quenched. In the next week (Holy Week ofEaster) Christians are preoccupied with the human predicament at its point of high intensity. G humanly possible [Comp (AdjP)] at all pos-sible for humans to do; possible according to any natural law V:△be, appear; think, regard sth as o Even twenty years ago, many of the sports records recently achieved (and doubtless soon to be broken) would have been thought not humanly possible. o' Perhaps they' ll make up their quarrel and things will be as they were before.' ' It's humanly possible I suppose, but- - knowing them both - - most unlikely.’ o(reader's letter) And it is to be hoped that his programme will stimulate greater interest.Would it be humanly possible to obtain ' a copy of the script? RT o often neg or with neg implication. hunger is the best sauce (saying) nothing stimulates the appetite better than hunger o But if we listen to working-class people at work and at home we are likely to be struck first by the degree to which they still draw on oral and local tradition. In three minutes two women used these phrases: ' If it's not there y' can't put it there.'' Well, "unger's t' best suce.'UL the Hungry Forties the period in 19th cBritain (before the repeal of the Corn Laws)when poor people often went hungry owing to the high price of flour and bread o I have not forgotten the experiences of the‘HungryForties' of the last century; but I think also of the Russian serfs and of the Italian attitude towards civil servants even today (early 1950s).ULo Industry is a vital prop to the whole domestic economic structure, says ' The Review', which adds that possibly as a legacy of the hungry thirties, there is an extreme element among the precocious intelligensia which almost believes that industry is the enemy of the people. To can be adapted, as in second example. huntin', shootin', fishin' (facetious) pres-tigious pastimes of the moneyed, leisured or aristocratic classes o Kennedy has been on holiday up in North Scotland. ' We took a I I ask you (informal) have you ever heard any-thing so ridiculous?□ The most ridiculous look-ing women go up to her and tell her their old men(= husbands) think they look just like her.They' re covered with paint, they have navy blue hair roots. I ask you. TVT o Throwing money about, that's all she's doing. Twelve pounds eighteen on flowers! I ask you!TCB□ addition to statement or question, inviting the listener to recognize how difficult, surprising or ridiculous it is, rather than expecting an answer; front,middle or end position; stress pattern ,I ' ask 292 fortnight and I' ve been having a real huntin',shootin', fishin' kind of holiday.'RTo' What do they talk about then?' ' Oh, a bit about local affairs, bul mostly huntin', shootin' , and fishin', as you'd expect.' o the omission of‘g’from the participle imitates the clipped enun-ciation ascribed to these classes. hurt sb's feelings [V + O pass] injure sb's self-esteem by criticism, neglect, misunder-standing, by insults either intended or taken as such o He sometimes writes letters like that when he's working hard to get rid of people without hurting their feelings. ST a Mr Blake has always been a good friend to you. It' ll hurt his feelings very much if you go off to Canada without paying him a farewell visit.□JO: Don't go, Geof! I'm sorry. Please stay. Geop: Don't touch me. JO: I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. TOH hurt/ injure sb's pride [V + O pass] lessen or take away sb's estimation of himself, his worth or abilities□(astrological prediction) You could easily say the wrong thing or reveal a secret.Your partner will be touchy, and pride can be easily hurt. H o He gets furious on these occasions, not because he's lost money but because it injures his pride that he's been conned. ST husband and wife [n + n non-rev] man and wife; a married couple (the implication usu being the stability, closeness etc associated with marriage)□ We stopped being lovers; we became husband and wife. RATT o I'm sure they can settle this difference themselves. It's not for you to come between husband and wife. □ This is a book of jaunty travellers' tales by a husband and wife team who covered 12,000 miles fromLondon to Australia by scooter.□ Their cartoons and jokes(which are often very funny, when they forgot the narrow run of husband and wife bickerings) are in the new sophisticated style. ULD attrib use a husband and wife team. hustle and bustle [n + n non-rev](situation when one has to) do a number of things in a hurry, with some fuss o ' And he's never on time.God, the times I' ve waited for him.'' Well,' saidClyde, smiling. ' It's all this hustle and bustle.I don't like that.'STo' You can easily finish your report while I pack, and we can post it when we go. ' 'I can't work with people huxtling and bustling round me.'o also functions as [v + v],as shown. you. I beg to differ (formal) I am afraid I must disagree o Sir Julius has characterized the events which we have recently witnessed as un-English.Respectfully, I beg to differ. This could only have happened in England. It is, indeed, an es-sentially English crime. EMo' England has one of the worst climates in the world!''I beg to differ!'□ polite but firm expression of disagreement;first person, unless in reported speech. I be g your pardon I must object, disagree; Imust have misheard, misunderstood, you <293> (because if I did hear you properly, then I am offended)□ ' Of course, I' ve always thought thatMahler's best work was his Fifth Symphony.''l beg your pardon, most people would hold that the Ninth was incomparably greater.’ a‘How that dangerous idiot ever got on the committee,I shall never know.''I beg your pardon, he hap-pens to be a friend of mine.’ o in this meaning of the expression there is a fall-rise tone on pardon;I beg your pardon? (formal) with a high rising tone on beg, or Pardon? (informal) with a high rising tone, is used in conversation to mean· Please repeat what you have just said'; I beg your pardon'(formal) with a low falling tone on pardon or Pardon! (informal) with a low falling tone is used in conversation as an equivalent toExcuse me' or Sorry! to mean'I apologize for what I have just done said'. ◇△beg sb's par-don. I(' ll) bet (informal) I don't believe you, what you say;I very much doubt it(esp in comment-ing on what sb says he will do or has done)□ 'I' ll be home early tonight, darling.' ' That' ll be nice,'she answered mechanically, and, as the door closed, added, 'I' ll bet''o' He says Chelsea will win the Cup next year with their new team.''l bet! They' ll be lucky to stay in the FirstDivision'' o stress pattern ' ll bet. next entry;△ bet sb anything/ what he likes (that); you (can)bet your (sweet) life (that). I(' ll)/ you bet (that)(informal) I am convin-ced, certain (of sth); I emphatically agree (that sth is the case); bet sb anything/ what he likes(that)(qv): you(can) bet your(sweet) life(that)(qv) cl:(that) not many people earn £50,000 a year: (that) you didn't know that o When manufacturers make up mothproof material into suits and coats. why don't they add mothproof lining?I be t there are many others, like myself,who have perfectly good tweed suits with moth-eaten interiors. TO□ You ask anyone in this house what their secret is. I' ll bet you find they' ve all got one. DC□ALISON:I'm sorry. I wasn't listening properly. JIMMY You bet you weren't listening.LBA □ ' Veronica,' he said aloud. ' You didn't know, you didn't know.' ' You bloody well bet /didn't know,' replied Bunder. who had not caught the first word. HD o stress pattern 1(' ll)/ you ' bet;when present, O clause usu without that. ◇previous entry. I can tell etc you an addition to a statement,expression of opinion, etc which underlines or reinforces it V: can tell, △(can) assure, (can)promise o ' Are you sure you want to stay here?It's very quiet. After your interesting life—'' Interesting! '' When I could never get over being scared. I can tell you, this will be heaven.'DCoIt' ll be a damned long time,he gets another offer of help from me. I front,middle or end position. I can't/ couldn't say (that) a more polite.less blunt, way of making a statement neg, eg‘Ican't say I agree'='I don't agree'$:I, you, one o Well, you are entitled to your opinion but Ican't say I agree with you. o I can't say that Iliked the new machine with its thick wings and its enormous Sabre engine. RFW□ He had plenty of faults but you couldn't say he was mean. I can't tell you I cannot adequately say, in-dicate, express O: how glad I am, how upset I I(' ll) bet-I don't think was; what pleasure it gives me of just can't tell you how glad I am to see you. I just can't tell you. You' re the first human face I' ve seen for ages. UTNo Dear James, she wrote, I have just heard of your wife's death. I can't tell you how'sorry I am. I dare say [Conj] I suppose; it seems to me safe to say; I think it likely, probable etc o He doesn't like me-- - I dare s à y he suspects me because I refuse to treat him either as a clown or as a tragic hero. LBAo 'I hope it hasn't put your housekeeper out, Mr Alexander, having three extra suddenly thrust upon her.' ' Oh. I dere sayI shan't lose her because of you. Miss Isbister.She is devoted to me.' WIo I can be with him in thought, of course, prompting him, encouraging him. I daresay your wife's thoughts are with you now. Pw o front, middle or end position; dare say usu two words. (well) I(do) declare(i) (dated informal) an exclamation of surprise, dismay, or disbelief□Well, I declare, ' said Mrs Hatchett, ' You should have had your tea long ago. I thought the nurse was looking after you.’ DC□And this young lady is Brenda? Well declared How time passes.to be sure.□Ooh, now I do declare, we' ve got him rattled. TGLY o usu with either well or do.! don't know (that)I am not sure, am doubt-ful, would be inclined to disagree(that sth is the case, would be correct, suitable or possible etc);not know about (Vol l) (qv) O: that I agree.that he's right o I don't know that being called to the Bar is going to help me much. RFWo'I had not thought you cared. ' ' I didn't, ' said Ella. 'Idon't know that I do even now, for James.'HAA□‘He’ s ruined his chances of promotion.’‘Oh. Idon't know,' said Miss Ferguson. I don't know what the world's coming to a complaint, serious or humorous, about(changes in) present-day conditions, morals etc o What with strikes and rising prices everywhereI don't know what the world is coming to. oMR GREEN:(after a customer tries to get goods without paying for them) Clever bloke—— aren't you —— get away from my stall. MRS GREEN:What's the world coming to—— it's full of lousy good-for-nothings. DPM o variant what's the world coming to? I don't mind if I do (catchphrase) used when accepting sth, esp an alcoholic drink(popularized by'ITMA', a radio programme of the early 1940s which featured a Colonel Chin-strap who was very fond of a drink and used this phrase)□ This is the best Highland malt (ie malt whisky).' Carter said across the table,'l don't mind if I do.'OMIHo And he took out his case and offered them (ie cigarettes) round.' Senior Service?' Chadwick said, 'I don't mind if Ido.’ TT□Jury foremen were usually chosenby someone saying :' Here Bill, you have a go,' andBill saying he didn't mind if he did. NS o usu first person, but occas used in second and third,as shown. I don't think (informal) contradicts an im-mediately preceding statement by oneself or sb else, in order to emphasize either that it was ironically intended or that one does not really believe it a 'I believe our hostess has planned guessing games for after supper.' ' That' ll be great fun. I don't think.'□ Of course. I' ll have 293 <294> I, for one——I(' ll) tell you what made my fortune by then, I don't think. □(of geriatric day care) They must like my pretty face,I don't think, to bring me so often. G I, for one I definitely, certainly pron/n:I, you,he, she; Mrs Jones; my uncle o Being a natural-ist and ornithologist I am always hooked by ' TheLiving World'(Wednesday, Radio 4). This time the listeners have their go in‘Talking Point’, andI, for one, won't miss that! RTo When Bill got killed it was the end of everything for me. I never thought about it being the end of everything for other people—— for his mother, for one. RFWoPatrick made up his mind to be as nice as possible to Lord Edgerstoune. It was up to him to show the old boy that he for one was not given over to any unworthy prejudice. TGLY D stress patternI for ' one. I like that! an exclamation of astonished protest, esp about sth said or done which is felt to be untrue or unfair o 'I mean we' re quite all right in our way, but nobody's going to mind what happens to us. 'I like that I' Harold exclaimed.' Jeremy and Janice (the children of the two speakers) would mind. I hope, if anything hap-pens to us.'PWo BOY: I'm trapped in a barbaric cult--matrimony. JO: Trapped! I like that! You almost begged me to marry you. TOH O stress pattern I like ' that! I may/ might suy/ add it is perhaps appropriate、 helpful, informative etc that Ishould tell you this(ie what is said in a preced-ing, or following, statement) o‘Veronica will never communicate with you any more. I may say, in case you' re puzzled, that this little gift of mine, he waved his hand to indicate the room and its furnishings, ' was made at her request.' HDoCome, children, show your mother your new things. Sarah,I might say, would have given her eyes for a ballet dress. DC□Fireworks, for exam-ple, were once no more than bonfires (and to this day,I may add, a good bonfire on a dark night remains one of the most magical of spectacles).HAH O may/ might interchangeable. I mean (to say)(!) (informal) accompanies(and usu precedes) an explanation, or justifica-tion, of sth one has said or done o Of course you should type it out again!I meen to say, just look.at it/ on We walked straight out again and found another hotel. I mean to say, if you' re going to pay £30 for bed and breakfast you expect the place to be at least clean, don't you?o It's a hell of a tough game,(rugby) League. I mean they don't care, you know? OBS o first person only. I must/ have to fly (informal) I must leave immediately and hurry off to where I ought to be, am expected, etc□' And by the way, I must be off.' He glanced at his watch, ' Yes I mustfly.'PWo/ wish we could have finished this discussion.but I must fly. O have had to always substituted in future and past time constructions; usu first person subject. I must say it is appropriate, or sensible, for me to agree with sth, comment on sth, or point sth out; the preceding, or following, statement is forced from me by surprise, anger, sudden pleasure, etc o ' That depends on how much energy is required to heat the Cloud,' remarkedWeichart, ' And on its opacity and a hundred and one other factors, added Kingsley. 'I must say it seems very unlikely to me that much heat will 294 get through the gas.’ TBC□ They can't eat their words fast enough about Donald. I must say he seems to have been very tactful all round. ASAo'I just thought Mr Templar might have cheated.'' Well, that's a nerve, I must say,' Uncle Saun-ders declared. DC o'I must say I'm surprised at you, Michael— isn't your mother one of the school cleaners?'' Yes, Miss, ' he said.' And what do you think she and your father would say if they knew they had a liar for a son?’ TT o first mean-ing of expression (first and second examples)stress pattern I must ' say; second meaning of expression (third and fourth examples) stress pattern I ' must say. I say(!) mild exclamation; or as an introduction to a question, suggestion, reproach etc(associated with upper-middle class speech habits, and often used by writers as a caricature of them)o'l say. Jane,' she said, crossing to the window. ' What a wonderful outlook you have here.’ o‘I say, mother,’ said Lavinia, ‘Well, darl-ing?' said Lydia. 'I really can't help not liking arithmetic, mother. Do you and father mind?'WDM□ Simon Stern, a freelance illustrator of children's books, does admit to once turning down a book about a horrible dog. ' It was full of things like“Jolly good show” and"I say,chaps''.'OBS I should say/ think so etc(!) I absolutely agree/ approve; I think that the situation, or action, described is appropriate or desirable A:jolly well, certainly. O: so, not; it is, they can't,I won't, you ought to o 'I'm sorry I was so rude to your friend.''I should think sol What a way to behave!’ a‘You’ re not going to accept this offer. are you?'' I should say not! The farm buildings alone are worth£50,000.'o Might have helped?I should jolly well think so but he wasn't there to ask. O stress pattern I should ' think so;not, I won't etc echo a neg statement or question expecting answer‘No’. I should worry! (ironic) why should I worry?I won't worry□SAM: All my life I worked in the open air and you bet your life, I'm going to die there. BESSIE(off): All right,I should worry/ It's your funeral! HSGoOne or two of the sheets were rather greasy. He should worry. The cold had affected the membranes of his nostrils so that he couldn't smell anything. HD. I shouldn't wonder (informal) I would not be surprised;I think it possible or likely o How you come out with all this,a detective, a man that has to mix with criminals—— and bringing them to my house before long, I shouldn't wonder.HD o / shouldn't wonder if Alan was over at your father's house now, getting in his own ver-sion of the story. □ used in end position as a comment on sth one has supposed or predicted might happen, or in front position to introduce if-cl. I(' ll) tell you what (informal) introduces a proposal, suggestion or piece of advice oDAVIES: No, no, I never smoke a cigarette. I' ll tell you what, though, I' ll have a bit of that tobacco for my pipe, if you like. TCo Tell you what!’ he cried excitedly, ' Come to my place in town next Sunday night.'HDo/ tell you what,my darling girl. If you nag at him this time when he does come back, next time he may not come back at all. AITC <295> I won't say no(to sth) (informal) a formula for accepting sth offered o: that; a drink. a lift o I don't mind walking home. as a rule, but if anybody offers me a lift tonight I won't say no.□DAVIFS Well, it don't fit too bad. How do you think it looks? ASTON Looks all right. DAVIESWell,I won't say no to this then. TCa I daresav he wouldn't say no to a brandy. I want one too.BFA□ He's never said no to cake vet. and I don't suppose he' ll start tonight. AITC D usu first per-son, but also in reported statements as shown. I would if I could but I can't (catchphrase)I would like to do sth worthwhile. but I am unable to oJASON Sonia, marry me while there's still time. SONIA I would if I could but I can't.because you' ll be burying me tomorrow. DPM□' Have some sense, and stop scoffing. The cakes' ll still be there tomorrow. 'I know. I would if Icould but I can't . ' o used as a confession. I' ll be bound I am perfectly sure that sth men-tioned is the case, will happen. etc as He's got some other reason. I' ll be bound.' You mean it's part of his plan for marrung Myrtle?SPLo Bob won't spend the whole evening collecting sub-scriptions. He' ll he in the puh by now, I' ll be bound. □usu end position. (well,) I' ll be/I'm damned etc! (informal)exclamation of pleased, or displeased, astonish-ment Comp: damned. △ darned, hanged.blowed o ' Well, I' ll be damnedl' he exclaimed when he had unwrapped Susan's gift . Tive been trying to get a copy of this book for years.'a'I' ll be blowed. ' said Jill. ' That's the Browns' car now and I distinctly told them not to come before6 o clock.'尐 △ next entry, be damned etc. I' ll be/I'm damned etcif(informal)I`m una-ble, or determined not, to do sth; it certainly is not the case that Comp: damned、△ darned.hanged, blowed. cl: if I do, if I understand you.if it is, if they will o ' You must agree that their terms are very reasonable.'I'm demned if I do.□Iknow I have that receipt somewhere but I' ll be blowed if I can find it. □ They wanted to leave their caravan sitting in her garden all winter and she was hanged if she was going to let them .□usu first person.△previous entry. be damned etc. I' ll be seeing you(informal) a form of leave-taking or of signing off a letter to sb one meets fairly frequently or is likely to meet again soon□ ' Don't you need your key?' ' Got a pass key. I' ll be seeing you.'OMIH□I' ve got to ring off now.………… The baby's woken up. Be seeing you. o oñci. with I' ll omitted. I' ll beirave it/ that when I see it (saying)until I have proper evidence (eg by actually seeing it), I remain very sceptical o If there is any temptation to make a practical demonstra-tion of this weapon— on the whole I shall believe that when I see it-then the scientists are likely to have their own views. NM o In the meantime they transferred Sister Burstead, on the first of January, to another ward. 'I' ll believe it when I see it, said Granny Barnacle.She saw it before that weekend . MMo ' Did you tell your mother I'd be around with the car to pick her up at seven sharp? ’‘Yes, she said she’ d believe it when she saw it, but would be ready just in case.'o usu first person and sing but third person in reported speech as in last example. I won't say no (to sth)—I'm sorry (but) I' ll eat my hat (informal) (the situation is so ridiculous. sth is so unlikely to happen etc that)I can promise to do something equally ridiculous such as eating my hat without really expecting that I will have to do so o They re always late--if they get here a minute before eight o' clock. I' lleat my heï.□(critic's comment after quoting an excerpt from a book) If that isn't long-winded bosh, I' ll go eat my hat. NSoJenny keep a secret' She' ll have told a docen people by now, or I' ll eat my had. I' ll live/ survive(informal) sth which has hap-pened isn't going to bother or affect, me much o ' And you thought John was your friend' He doesn't hehave much like one. ' Oh . don't go on about it. I' ll live. o ' We' re so late this morning that you' ll have to go off without your sand-wiches now. I'm terribly sorry.' ll survive,' he answered drily. o also he' ll, you' ll etc. where ef-fect is more dismissive of sb`s interests, and sometimes callous. I' ll say it is an emphatic form of agreement with an immediately preceding statement O: it is, I am, you are; she does; they won't o ' It's a pretty dull programme , don't you think?' ll say it is. Shall I switch off or try another channel?SML □ ' Estelle isn't going to the disco unless she gets a proper lift home. 'I' ll say she isn't, her father agreed. I' ll see you in hell first(informal)I defy you.I will never agree to what you are ordering or proposing I should do O: you, him, them: the lot of them, you bastards o I won't keep my mouth shut, and you won't buy me off. I' ll see you in hell first. o ' Perhaps, for the sake of peace, you should go and apologise. 'I' ll see her in hell first.'o always first person, or third in reported speech. I'm afraid a tag expressing regret or apology.and added to a piece of news or information which is expected to be unwelcome or un-pleasant o I can put you up for the night hut you' ll have to sleep on the sofa,I'm afraid.□I'm sorry, Mrs Gaye — I'm afraid Nicky is being difficult this morning . DCo' She hasn't broken her leg. has she?''I'm afraid so.'o' Have you got two tickets for tomorrow night's performance? 'I'm afraid not, madam.'o so and not, in last two examples, refer to a preceding clause. I'm all right, Jack (catchphrase) I have been lucky、 clever, or careful enough to make sure that I am safe, comfortable etc. and I don't care what happens to you or anyone else (orig Fuck you Jack,I'm all right but usu as shown below)o (reader`s letter) If the 'I'm all right, Jack'philosophy is to disappear then those who propose the remedies will have to show how they would be called upon to endure the same hard-ships that they prescribe for others. To ' He's no need to worry about redundancies. Most weekends he gives the boss a hand in the garden.' Looks like a case of I'm all right Jack. 'o not usu used by person who has this attitude but by sb else who assumes it in him. I'm sorry(but) usu expresses no real apology or regret but emphasizes that one will stick to an opinion, policy etc whether others can acc-ept it or not o ' Only a fool could think there was any advantage for Scotland in devolution. 'I'm sorry but I don't agree.'a Humphrey Burton 295 <296> the (very) ideal— if ever there was out replies(to a reader's letter):I am sorry but lam absolutely unrepentant about the way Iintroduced the Leeds Piano Competition. RTthe (very) ideal what a preposterous, insult-ing, unsuitable, ridiculous etc idea, way of behaving, etco Hemight find himself in the same(regiment) as Ned; and this might mean having to obey him as an officer. The idea/CONo What!Me go off to a party and leave you here on your own? The very idea/□She'd beenfurious. All day she kept exclaiming, ‘The very idea, the very idea,' over and over, TSMP if any if, indeed, there is any/ you have any oWhat happens to the surplus, if any? It belongs to the local committee who can dispose of it as it sees fit. TO o In many small private schools teachers were recruited from the genteel poor and their qualifications, if any, were of the lowest.□ I'm afraid you' ll just have to appeal to his generosity, if any. o follows n to which it refers. if anything if anything, or something, definite can be said, this is it o The painting she was working on was a good, vigorous action picture;if anything I think she was a better draughtsman than a painter. RFW□' We used to look very nice then, didn't we, Charles?' said Evelyn Ramage,as she showed the old snapshots. ' My dearEvelyn, you look if anything more beautiful now, ' answered Charles Murley. HAA□ He had not, it is true, displayed any overt hostility. His behaviour had been, if anything, rather casual.UTN o front, middle or end position; accom-panies description or assessment of sb/ sth,often contradicting or correcting a previous suggestion or assumption. if anything happens to sb if sb should die,be killed, suffer a (fatal) accident o Always at the back of the wife's mind, though probably not consciously, is the knowledge that if ' anything happens' to the husband she will have to manage on her own. ULa lought to tell you. Mr Wormold,that I have saved enough money to leave Milly in comfort if enything were ever to happen to me.OMIH□ I felt it in my bones that something had happened to him. o He should have been here hours ago; I hope nothing's happened to him.o variants something happens to sb, nothing hap-pens to sb used similarly but without if-cl. if at all if, indeed, sth is to happen, or sb can do sth, at all o In Harold's plans for the evening, this stage was to have come later in the conversation if at all. PW o As soon as he (the witness) is interrogated, he may have to deal with features of the original (story) which he can recall but vaguely if at all. MFF * if at first you don't succeed, (try, try again) a moral maxim, of the kind that used to appear in old-fashioned copy-books for schoolchildren o (source) ' Tis a lesson you should heed,/ Try, try again. If at first you don't succeed,/ Try, try a###. TRY AND TRYAGAIN (W E HICKSON 1803-70) o (reader's letter)About seven years ago he applied to becomeLabour candidate, got an interview but was fur-ned down. His aim has always been to become anMP. If at first you don't succeed—— but spare us the forced grin. NSa Armed with the maxim he had once sung every day for his schoolteacher mother——' If at first you don't succord, try. try, try, again'—— he achieved his three goals one by one. RT if one believes that, one will believe any-thing (catchphrase) if one accepts the truth of sth extremely unlikely (that has been referred to), one is easily deceived, has no critical judge-ment o There is a story about the Duke of Wel-lington, who having been approached by a stran-ger with the words' Mr Jones,I believe?' replied.If you believe that, you will believe anything.’o It was put out that the first statement was entirely true because at that time there hadn't been anything going on and I say, if you believe that, you' ll believe mything. St if the cap fits, (wear it) (saying) if anyone thinks a description, or piece of advice or criti-cism, applies to himself, he should accept it, and be warned by it D I have noticed that there are some classrooms where the pupils have been in at least five minutes before their teacher appears. Iwill name no names but, if the cap fits, wear it.o‘You shouldn’ t have ranted on so much. Jenkins might have thought you were getting at him.'' Well I f the cap fits, let him water it; if not, he doesn't need to bother, does he?' if one dies in the ettempt(do sth) however much trouble, pain, danger etc is involved oShe could still look attractive in the right clothes.and she made up her mind that one day, if she died in the attempt, she would have them again.AITCo He could have followed at his own pace but he was determined to keep up with the rest I f it killed him. o TONY: What's wrong with mother?MILLY: She's tired. Come on, we' ve got to be gay if it kills us. EHOWo That settles it. I' ll get you sacked if it's the last thing I do. HD o sometimes implies the risk of one's life but usu just an expression of determined intention;variants if it kills one, if it's the last thing one does;usu first person or reported speech in second variant. if ever' if at any (other) time; if on any (other)occasion o Ifever I offended you, it was entirely unintentional, o 'I won't be using the oil stove.'Well, If every ou do, be sure to keep the children well away from it.'o order of S and ever may be reversed eg If over I offended you.../ If I ever offended you.... if ever² if anything ever happened, was ever seen(etc) at all, then it/ he is a prime example o' Then he's ill.''III? Ha! Ifever I saw a gentleman in the pink——(= excellent health). 'US o The effort to prove that the deceased was a superman often took the form of saying that ' if ever there was a born soldier'—— or ' saint on earth', or' leader of men'—— it was he. AH o Really, Nick!Ifever there was a stubborn idiot, you' re a prime example.□ They seemed destined to follow utter-ly different paths if ever two youths did. CON o usu front position.◇ △ next entry. if over there was on d of that there is no doubt; that is certainly true口JO: And then he ran off with that landlady's daughter. HELEN: She was a silly cat Hever there was ond. TOHo ThenI had a meeting with the miners' agent, MrTrevor James—— there's a good man # there ever was ond. STo Dunkirk,a complete military defeat if over there was one, became - inPriestley's terms—— the saga of the little ships. L□She hadn't spent hours slaving over a hot stove! 296 <297> That was a shop-bought cake if ever I saw one.o order of ever and there may be reversed; usu end position; variant if ever l/l ever saw one. ◇△ previous entry. if God did not exist, it would be necess-ary to invent him from the French EPITRES(VOLTAIRE 1694-1778)□ (reader's letter) Don't let the 'NS'( = New Statesman) become a destruc-tive killjoy. If the Jubilee had not existed we should have had to invent something to celebrate. NS□ If colour film had not existed when Paul Newman hit the screen it would have been necessary to invent it. The blaze of those blue eyes made him an overnight heart-throb.IVT □ often adapted or parodied, as shown. if one has done sth once one has done it a hundred etc times one has warned people. given advice, etc very many times cl:(if)I' ve said it, I' ve told you, he's warned them;(if)it's happened, I' ve had it explained to me. det:a hundred, △ fifty, a thousand, a dozen o l knew we'd have an epidemic sooner or later. IfI' ve said it once I' ve said it a hundred times.□Give him a warning, did you say? If he's been warnedonce he's been warnedtwentytimes.Tomorrow morning he gets the sack.□(reader's letter) Why do we have so many previews? If they are shown once they are shown a dozen times. TVT o often serves as reproach to, or complaint about, sb who repeatedly forgets or ignores such warning or advice; occas com-plaint about having heard something more often than is necessary or desirable. if he/ it is a day used to make confident claims about sb's age, or about time that has elapsed□ Why do you keep referring to him as ' young DrMorton', mother? He's forty if he's a day. □'Ican't remember when I last played a game of golf. It's a long time anyway. '' Fifteen years if it's a day, ' his wife said. I immediately follows n denoting age, time etc. if I'm any judge (of sb/ sth) if I am com-petent, or qualifed, to know about, or give an opinion, on such matters oWhy do you feel this personal interest in me? If I'm eny judge at all,you' re not a man with a big streak of inquisitive-ness. HD□If I'm any judge of children, that boy is going to grow up to be a real headache to his parents. a I thought the violinist was the best of the lot - - - - not that I'm any judge. O accom-panies assessment of sb's/ sth's nature, worth etc and usu implies speaker's confidence in his own judgement; front, middle or end position;variant, indicating greater uncertainty, not thatI'm any judge. if/ when in doubt, do sth if you are in doubt(ie not surc what to do in circumstances), then do as indicated a Don't ask others whether they think you are fit to drive. When in doubt, don't.□(espionage) You will find us in different makes and colours of car. If in doubt, look at the num-ber. It will add up to twenty-three. ARGoAccord-ing to Paul Gallico, the two main maxims a cat gives to her kittens are ' never stay where you are put', and ' when in doubt, wash'. O brief, pithy way of giving general or personal advice; main ci usu short imper construction. if it wasn't for sb/ sth(doing sth) if sb/ sth did not exist, had not stepped in to help or hin-der V: wasn't, were not, had not been o If it if God did not exist...--if only wasn't for her, you wouldn't be alive today.□If it hadn't been for the storm, they could have rowed over to the mainland to collect their mail.□ They said he would never have done it if it hadn't been for me talking him into it. LLDRoMy two youngest aren't on their own feet yet.Were it not for them, I'd retire tomorrow and make do on my pension. o variants were it not for sb/ sth, had it not been for sb/ sth; main clause states what might have happened. if one knows what is good for one a threat accompanying advice, or an order, to do or not to do sth □ I'm going up to see her. ' she said.‘Stay away, if you know what's good for you.’AITC□ Nah(= now), listen. You better, if you know what's good for you. PE if one likes that kind/ sort of thing (usu derogatory) implying the speaker's indifference to, distaste or disapproval of sth which may interest or attract others, eg a (type of) book,entertainment, social function o HELEN: Have you seen a picture of the house? Do you like it?JO: It's all right if you like that sort of thing andI don't. TOH□ There were fields and orchards as far as the eye could see. No doubt, if you like.that sort of thing, it was all very beautiful and peaceful. D ' Jack thought the show was very funny.'I daresay if he likes that kindof thing,he would find it funny'a ' Oh, it was a very good performance for those who like that sort of thing——I'm just not very keen on ballet.’ o usu second person; usu middle or end position;variant for those who like that sort of thing. if (my) memory sorves me right if Iremember correctly o I think he had been mar-ried before——a short and unhappy affair in his early twenties, if my memory serves me right.RToI was paid, if my memory serves me right.six shillings for the mid-week meeting and seven shillings for Saturday nights. RTO front, middle or end position. if need be if it was/ were to be necessary or advisable o ' How many men were employed to erect it?'' We would use a thousand, ten thousand if need be.’ TBC□ She wanted someone to look up to, he wanted someone to look down on,protectively and if need be patronizingly. PWoCommerce is another field of critically important activity which has always shown an ability to develop outside the law, if need be. L o front,middle or end position. if only' if for no other reason or purpose, or in no other respect or manner, than the one specified A: because I prefer peace to getting my own way; to please my wife; for its sentimental value, for a change; temporarily a' Do you think he is telling the truth?’‘Yes. I do; if only because it's too strange a story for a simple fellow like him to invent. 'o CONNIE: They expected Russia to attack the United Nations plan if only to upset the West. Power politics! CSWB□It was months since he had burst out of the strait-jacket of his upbringing--here was a chance to benefit by that escape if only in a small matter. HD o reason, manner etc indicated by following A.if only² if it were possible that; provided that cl:he would help; they hadn't left; we'd answered in time o If only I could get away for a bit from all this work and muddle! a If only he suffered.them (illnesses) in her care, then she was spared 297 <298> if there is one thing sb hates...— if you know etc what I mean the intolerable deprivation of losing him. NMoIf he had only(or: If only he had) taken my advice,he might have been a rich man today.□expresses desire for particular event which is unlikely to happen, or which has not happened yet; ex-presses vain regret about sth in the past which one wishes one had, or had not, done. if there is one thing sb hates etc, it is there is one thing sb dislikes very much, or finds distasteful, offensive, intolerable etc V: hate,△detest; can't bear, can't stand; won't allow; like,enjoy o If there was one thing Myrtle hated it was to be told she ought to go to bed earlier. SPL□ If there's one thing I can't stand, it's kids jumping down from their chairs when they' re sup-posed to be having a meal. o If there's one thingI enjoy it's a cup of tea in bed before I get up. o usu derogatory and often expression of tem-porary annoyance. if one values one's life if one wishes to remain alive;(fig) if one wishes to avoid serious unpleasantness, a quarrel, etc o Never speak a word of this to a living soul. If you value your life, never say one word.Wi□'I don't know thatI' ve anything smart enough to wear,' she said pursing her lips; this was to make me contradict her, which if I valued my life I had to do, but fast. CONo may be said seriously, but often(esp in second person) merely exaggerated threat accompanying order, or advice, to do sth. if and/ or when at such time as sth may hap-pen, esp sth which is expected to take place but which one does not wish to be too definite about □ And I N and when you and I do get mar-ried, we' ve somehow to keep old Waggett safely parked in the Outer Hebrides. RMo ' Of course he' ll get a higher salary eventually.'' If or when he qualifies.’ o if and when non-rev. if wishes were horses, (then) beggers would ride(saying) everybody would be rich,talented, successful, popular etc if wishing was all that was required o‘His parents think he should go to university and do computer science.’' I f wishes were horse. beggers would ride.That boy had the greatest difficulty in passing Olevel Maths.’ o ’ Some unknown relative might die and leave us a lot of money.'' And if wishes were horsef, then beggers would ride. Now think of something practical.' if the worst/ it com· s to the worst if cir-cumstances become too difficult, troublesome or dangerous; if a project, plan etc fails o Surely it's more important for Tony to be free than to fuss about some bricks and a roof — if it comes to the worst you' ll always take me in.EHOWoI adopted Paula's attitude, saying that if the worst cern e to the worst we could make our way across the river into Brazil. DFo Things look very black. Should the worst come to the worst there will be civil war within a month or two. o main clause states what could, or should,happen; variant should the worst come to the worst. if you ask m=(informal) as I understand it; if you care to know what I think o And what would they want all those towers and wires for?If you ask me, it' sa death-ray that they' re build-ing. TBCo' if your ask me,I think he's an escaped loonie(= lunatic),' said the second woman. UTN□‘My dad used to say that only fools read books.’ 298 ' He only said that because he didn't know how to read. He was jealous, if you ask mo.’ LLDROfront, middle or end position. if you can't beat them, join them (catch-phrase) if a rival faction, political party, busi-ness firm, foreign power, etc continues to be more successful than one's own, it is better to go over to their side and get what advantages one can from the alliance o All too often, the attitude of the workers' representatives, heavily outnumbered, has been ' if you can't beet them,join them. They' ve had to dance to the bosses'tune. Lo The Celts were early exponents of the principle,' If you can't best ' em(= them), join' em.' By the second century AD, nearly three-quarters of the Roman army of occupation ofBritain consisted of Celts. RT if you can't stand the heart, get out of the kitchen (catchphrase) if the pace of life, dif-ficulties or tensions produced by important work etc, prove too much for you, don't com-plain but get out and leave it to others(orig said by President Truman c1950) o The idea seems to have gone around that he is responding toHarry Truman's famous dictum: ' I f your con't stand the hent, get ourt of the kitchen. ' Since he is not winning, he is returning to the easier pickings of British golf. OBS□A cool and rational approach was essential, but an academic with no experience of the hest of the kitchen' would be written off as a mere word-spinner. RT o often used allusively, as in second example. if you don't mind' (informal) if sth doesn't inconvenience, or displease, you; do you mind'(qv) $; you, he, they; your father, the neigh-bours o Oh----that's something Prissie is going to post for me. Prissie, I f you don't mired. DCoI' ll have to leave a little of this, if you don't mired. You gave me an enormous helping. D polite addition to request or proposal, often when objection not really expected. I stress pattern if you don't' mind. if you don't mind² (informal) an angry, or sarcastic, request or rebuke; do you mind²(qv)□‘If you don’ t mind!’ said Jack, swiftly retriev-ing his glass before it reached Patrick's lips. o' You' re making an awful fuss about a few pence.''£3.75 # you don't mind, and I want it now.'o stress pattern if you ' don't mind. if you know etc what I mean (informal)added to a statement, sometimes when the speaker feels he has been rather obscure or im-precise, but often as a verbal habit V: know,△see, get o Over there I' ve been offered a television chat show, which could be very interesting and a lot of fun. But I'm sorry it had to be American.if your know what I misshn! RTo He's emotional.and it doesn't do to be emotional if you' re not married, if you see what I mean. PWoAnd whenGeorge Devine was around he would always at least find out if one was still alive, if you know what I amen. ST o Oh no, I wouldn't say Jack's attractive. He's handsome, but he knows it, Hyou get my morning. o I won't say my last secretary wasn't good at her job, but with the new girl all the work's done faster and everything seems more under control. You know what Imman? o middle or end position; person who uses expression probably does so frequently;variants if you get my meaning, you know what I <299> mean? (latter as separate sentence). if you lik@(informal) if you want an example;you must agree; that's certain etc oJIMMY And there's Hugh's mum, of course. I'd almost for-gotten her. She's been a good friend to us, if you like. LBA□Eighteen years faithful to an unfaith-ful man; there was a proof of staunchness, if you like!PWoI was a Red myself once. I even sat at the feet of Waterman and he was a phoney old prophet if you like. PP O stress patterns there was proof of staunchness, if you ' like, he was a phone y old prophet if you like. if you must know(informal) added to a piece of information given to sb who has been asking for it inquisitively, tiresomely etc□ This, if you must know, is a child I knew in the hospital. DC□(a telephone call) ' Is anyone with you, Hassel-bacher?'‘Yes, friends.’‘What friends?’' If you must know, Mr Wormold is here.’ OMIH o‘Where did you meet him? ’ If you must know,I met him on a number eleven bus.’ UTN a front,middle or end position; stress pattern if you must know. if you please' formal, or anxiously, polite request o Now where shall we all sit? Mrs John-ston, over here if you picas@, and Andrew next to Mrs Johnston!□‘Shall I sit you up a little?’‘If you plag%g, nurse.’ o And Jenkins— knock at the door if you pleese the next time you inter-rupt one of my classes. o usu abbreviated please;sometimes, spoken in a peremptory tone, more an order than a request. if you please² (ironic) what do you, what would anyone, think of that? (the reference being to a situation or proposal that seems to the speaker to be unjust, unreasonable,ludicrous etc)□(Walter's father has forbidden motor cycle racing) And we' ve had one or two almighty scenes already. Nothing of that sort tillI'm twenty one, if you plays@.HDo Then there.are the parents, who want some say in the fate of their children, and these days even the children themselves demand to be heard, if you please.NS if you will' (formal) if you are willing, able or free to do sth o Mrs Allen sat down again. ' You may bring me a small glass too, if you will.'AITC□ Oh,I nearly forgot, sir. Mr Wickham said he had the Tranter documents ready for you to sign.' ' Good. Go and ask him to bring them in now if he will.’ o usu just polite addition to request or suggestion; also used in third person,as shown. if you will²(formal) if you wish to go that far in describing, or criticizing, sb □ No, you are wrong there. The old Prof was a snob and a bore,a pretentious ass, if you will, but as far as his work was concerned not a charlatan. a A number of distant relatives were always present ——camp-followers or hangers-on, if you will. if you' ll pardon/ excuse the liberty (dated or ironic) added when sb feels that what he is doing — or esp saying —— may be thought presumptuous, interfering or over-familiar o 'Idon't know. Angels are funny people—— if you' ll pardon the liberty. ’ She bobbed her head towards the corner of the room, where she had laught Virginia to believe that her angel stood to guard her. AITCo' If you' ll excuse the liberty,Miss,' the housekeeper said. 'I think you should if you like—— in the absence of sb/ sth change for dinner. Mr Robert's parents would expect it.' ifs and buts[n + n non-rev] conditions, object-tions and exceptions sometimes contrasted with a firm policy, a clear statement of opinion,etc o Ifs and buts are the stuff of politics, MrParkinson. As a scientist I am concerned with the facts. TBCo It is the resentment that gives rise to the nagging ifs and buts (in the 36th NationalDemocratic Convention). NS ill at ease[Comp(AdjP)] nervous, worried, em-barrassed, dissatisfied, awkwardly shy, etc S:visitor, stranger, guest. V: △ be, feel, appear,make sb o With men of his own sort(ie business men) he was sometimes ill at ems●, especially with the bigwigs. They made him deferential. PW□A young man stood in a curious attitude, half arrogant and half obsequious, by the girl's side.He was obviously rather ill at ebee. HDo But by and large (domestic) employers have become timid, ill-at-@@富睿, and guilt-ridden.They no lon-ger feel that they have a right to have their work done for them. NS□ as Comp only, even when hyphenated. the ills etc that flesh is heir to the numerous diseases, pains, griefs, disappoint-ments, accidents that mankind is liable to suffer n: ills,△shocks, pains, afflictions□(source) To die: to sleep;/ No more; and by a sleep to say we end/ The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks/ That flesh is heir to... HAMLET IIIIoThe longer Christmas holiday brought the mildest weather for a decade, and a blessed ap-parent break from the daily national ilis thatBritish flash has been hoir to since the end of the Second World War. Lo Jesus did not live a cloistered existence nor was he spared the shocks that flesh is heir to. G imagine things [V + O] have illusions; sup-pose on a particular occasion that sth is so when, in fact, it is not o Mummy's sick, darling.She imagines things. DC o ' Look at that policeman. What shall we do?’ ' That dick's((slang) = policeman) not after you. Don't start imagining things.’ AITC□ Was it a face he had seen peering between the reeds or was he starting to imagine things?□ usu continuous tenses or as to-inf after start, be inclined etc. improve the occasion [V + O pass](formal)use an existing situation to obtain some advan-tage, or point out a lesson to be learned from it□ Dad was in a spending mood, so I thought Imight as well improve the occasion by buying.something useful, o When a child has had a bad shock it's no time to improve the occasion with a moral lecture on road safety. o sometimes facetious, as in first example. in the absence of sb/ sth [A (Prep P)] when.or where, sb/ sth is absent or lacking o The for-mulas of politeness tend to become meaningless in the absence of good will. SC□In the absence of more solid evidence most of his admirers will prefer to think her mistaken—— if not, indeed,malicious.□ The difficulties of bringing up a pair of spirited boys in the absence of a father were beginning to weigh her down.□Julia was always more relaxed and communicative in her father's absence. o Our typewriter was frequently in pawn and in its absforce we had to make do with pen and paper. o variant in sb's/ sth's absence 299 <300> in the abstract—— in all homesty/ sincerity refers to sb/ sth that does exist but is tem-porarily absent of in the absornce of a father and in her father's absgince. in the abstract [A (PrepP)] as an idea, theory etc, and not related to specific persons, objects,facts, figures or examples V: consider, examine,contemplate, study, sth o Harold paused in his unexpectedly sympathetic analysis of Alec's character to consider emotion in the abstract.PWo I don't care for moral problems, posed in the abstract, or for fictitious examples either. aWe acknowledge that 20 thousand light years away is a greater distance than 12 thousand light years, but only in the abstract. Neither figure has any real meaning for us as a concept. o occas also modifies a preceding n. in accordance with sth [A (Pre p P)] con-forming with and/ or acting upon sth; according to sth (qv) =: the law, the rules of the Society;established procedure, an old custom; your ex-pressed wish a Trespassers may be prosecuted in accordance with the law. o When asked whyHer Majesty's Ambassador in Paris was described as Ambassadeur de l' Angleterre, the reply was that he was only so described on his personal invitation cards in accordance with long-established tradition. SCo(a business letter)Dear Mr Brown,/ in accordance with your in-structions of May 27th, a transfer of credit has now been arranged whereby you may operate your account from the Mill Street, Richborough,branch of this bank. in addition(to sth) [A(PrepP)] also; as well(as sb/ sth) (qy); over and above (qv) o Two main kinds of waves travel outward from the centre of an earthquake. In addition, there are surface waves. NSCa In addition to the general plot which I have just outlined, I had also made it clear to the Eighth Army that ' bellyaching'would not be tolerated. MFM o front, middle or end position. in advance [A (PrepP)] before, or for a future period or occasion V pay, book, prepare; warn,know, sth o The rent will be£20 a week, paid in advance. o There's always a Morro crab to start with at the Nacional (a restaurant). That's prepared in advance. OMIH o There's always a great demand for tickets. You'd better book your seats well in advance. o No one can possibly know in advance how he would react in circum-stances like these. Lo attrib use (an) advance payment, booking, notice. in an advisory etc capacity [A (PrepP)]being present, or acting, only in an advisory etc function or manner V: act, write, speak. adj:advisory; official, unofficial; general, menial,professional □ Though he was no longer strong enough for the heavy handling work in the Yards they retained his services in an advisory capam-city. a He avoided all social contact with women and tolerated their existence only in a special capacity. o Roy Fuller is a Governor of the BBC:he writes here in a private capacity(ie not as a spokesman for the BBC). Lo I have flexes run-ning under carpets at home myself though, in my capacity as a fire prevention officer, I frequently warn people not to. C variant in one's capacity as sth. In agreement (with sb/ sth) [Comp/A(PrepP)](be) of the same opinion (as sb about 300 sth);(do sth) as a result, or indication, of agree-ing(with sb about sth) V: be, find oneself; act.O: colleague, committee; proposal, recom-mendation, suggestion o I take it we are in agrowment? a I find myself so completely in ogreement with your letter of 18 September that I cannot believe there is any great difference in our concepts. MFMa In sgreement with this suggestion we all set off for Bournemouth the following morning. a Peter nodded in agree.ment, drew the curtains and switched off the ceiling light. in(the) aggragate[A(PrepP)](formal) when added up; when considered together instead of separately o Those pension increases will in aggregate cost the country an additional £5ma year. o No one of his faults was very serious but in the aggregate they made him an unbearably irritating person to live with. o Domestic con-sumption of coal has certainly decreased. In the aggregate, however, demand is still high. o usu front or middle position. in all/ total [A(PrepP)] altogether; all together/told(qv)n: fifty-six,a hundred, adozen; twenty persons, forty items a I did quite a lot of flying at the London Aeroplane Club, I did about a hundred hours in all. RFWo It seemed we were to be a cosy round-table party, fourteen in all. PPoIn total there must have been twenty vehicles in the pile-up, o often modif ies a preceding n, as shown. in all/ everything but name having all the qualities and functions of sb/ sth specified, al-though not (formally or legally) called so n:president, monarch; husband, wife; prison; the same product o Within his own fiefdom a feudal overlord was a monarch in all but many. oThey' ve been living together a good while. You would say they' re man and wife in everything but nwim. I usu modifies a preceding n. in all conscience [Disj (PrepP)] certainly;surely; it cannot be denied o This moment (in the play) is not as hilarious as, he aNcomsclerve.it should be; it is awkwardly staged. OBSo And we discovered shortly that the gallant Eighth Army though destructive enough in all comscience,was not our only foe. SCo She began as a straight novelist in her early twenties and hit a blank spot.'I'd read enough thrillers in all conscience, so my husband suggested I tackle one.'sc o often gives special emphasis to statement containing enough, (not) much, (too) many, plenty (of);middle or end position in clause or phrase. in all one's/ its glory/ majosty [A (PrepP)]in a beautiful, magnificent, finely dressed, etc state; displaying power, importance, fame etcV: appear, arise, emerge; parade□(source) And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.MATTHEW VI 29□ Was it really on HampsteadHeath that Linnaeus fell on his knees at the sight of gorse blooming in all its youry? To Alcatraz(once a big American prison) can now be inspec-ted just like any other stately home or palace anywhere else in the world, totally untarted up,in all its crumbling glory. OBSa But the husband in all his majosty is singularly backward in a number of intellectual situations. TO O occas modifies a preceding n, as shown. in all honesty/ sincerity [A (PrepP)] com- <301> pletely truthfully, sincerely V: say, declare, ans-wer. promise; act, do sth o A few students ans-wered this correctly , und a few abstained from answering, but the majority declared un-hesitatingly and in all sincerity that the man returned the book to the shelf. MFF□Ca n you in all honesty claim that none of this has been your own fault? in all probability/ likelihood [Dis] (PrepP)]very probably; more likely to happen, or be the case, than not □ Any day Jenny half expected a bowl of soup, garnished in all probability with a bit of chalky underdone rice and a piece of string or two, to turn up as evidence of the cock's death.TGLY□ Why should we go so far out of our way to visit somebody who in all likelihood moved out of the district years ago? in all shapes and sizes [A (PrepP)] (occur)variously formed or produced V: come, grow;find sth o Feet come in all shapes and sizes which the average manufacturer tends to over-look. SC□Tropical orchids. on the other hand, are found in all shapes and sizes and have a wide colour range. in all weathers [A (PrepP)] in all kinds of weather (reference being to esp outdoor life and work in variable climates) V: be out; work,fly, sail; deliver sth o He was a van boy on a dray working in all weathers for twelve hours a day.OBS□ Her father was a powerful fifty-year-old,with the grainy red brown complexion of a man accustomed to being out in all wasthers. O an all-weather aircraft is one that can fly in all weathers. in answer/ reply (to sth) [A (PrepP)] as a verbal answer, or other response(to sth) V: say,declare □ ' Fergus hasn't given me anything yet,'she said lightly , in answer to Guy's question. DC□I threatened to set the dogs on them and after flinging a few ill-aimed stones in reply, they scrambled back over the fence. □ In answer to this summons I presented myself at theMagistrates' Court at 10 a. m, the following morning. in any case/ event [Conj (PrepP)] whatever happens or is done, regardless of any (other)fact or circumstance; anyway; anyhow; come rain, come shine(qv);(in) fair(weather) and/ or foul(qv); wet or fine(qv)□ Such murders, more-over, are often committed by the palpably insane who are, in any cose, automatically immune from the death penalty. OBS □ Admittedly his microphone was not working, but in any event most of the 1,000 delegates did not seem in the mood to listen to the vice-chancellors. NSa The owners should be compensated especially as the state will be taxing them in any event. NS口 case is more informal than event; front, middle or end position. in any shape or form [A (PrepP)] (informal)in whatever way, form, sth appears, is presen-ted o Never again did he sample tobacco in any shape or form. DF □ She behaved as if she couldn't welcome sex from me in any shape or form; and I took her at her face value. RATToYou can give me eggs as often as you like. I'm very partial to them in any shape or form, o often modifies a preceding n. in as/ so much as [Conj] to the extent that; in so far as(qv)aI never claimed perfection for my in all probability/ likelihood----in a body father. In as much as we are all fallible, I sup-pose he was too. a One can actually take infant mortality as a crude index of social well-being generally (at least in as much as good feeding.healthy surroundings, good medical care and freedom from violent stresses are important to social well-being generally). Lo The captain's' little blow up', in so much as the waves were from 6 to 18 feet high, was what I'd have called a storm. o introduces subordinate clause. in bed [Comp/A (PrepP)] resting or sleeping;confined because of illness; as a sexual partnerV; be; rest, lie; snore o I hope I haven't rung too early. Were you in bed?□ You should be in bed from the look of you, Miss Smith. Don't come in tomorrow unless you' re feeling better. □ Brigit had one fierce unhappy qualm that perhaps being ill in bed gave Nicky an aversion to her. DC o Ilove Alice. She loves me . I'm happy with her. Not just in bed either. RATT in the best/ worst of taste [Comp/A(PrepP)] polite impolite; conforming/ not con-forming to the rules of polite society; according to what is most/ least acceptable and admirable in current conventions of furnishing, decora-tion, dress etc o I thought his remarks about her were in the worst of taste.□His behaviour was not in the best of taste. He swore, slurped his soup, didn't attend properly to what people were saying to him, and kept breaking in on other people's conversations.□ Wilson's flat was small,but decorated and furnished in the best of teste.□ in the best of taste often neg. in a big/ small way [A (PrepP)] extensively;importantly; seriously/ modestly; on a large etc scale(qv) V: invest, do business; become invol-ved, fall for sb a They' re receivers of stolen goods in a big way, but the countries where they operate don't care, so long as they take a cut in taxes and import licences and so on. DC o Her father was a poultry breeder in a smell way. Idon't think there was ever much money to spare□ The Army has gone into business in a big way.investing in construction firms, agriculture, and tanks. OBSa It was now fairly clear that we were heading for trouble in a big way. MFM□/ fell forIrma in a big way. Harold. PW□ Always assum-ing that spring is the right description of this chilly season, Nature dictates in a big way at this time of the year To also modifies a preceding n as shown. in black and white [A(PrepP)] in writing or in print; as black letters on white paper (esp as clarification or confirmation of sth said verb-ally, as more legally binding) V get, have, sth;put sth down, state sth o This letter's from your mother saying she agrees to your coming with me. Now we have it in black and white. SPLoThis view, indeed, has become so much a com-monplace that one feels almost ashamed of pul-ting it down in black and white again. SNP o' Perhaps I could have it all in what's called black and white from the family solicitor,' he said.HAA in a body [A (PrepP)] all together at the same time, as if many or a number of persons were one S: audience, crowd, assembly; department,faculty. V: rise. leave; resign o I asked them if they were all prepared to resign in a body, led by me, if anything less than eighteen months' Na- 301 <302> in sb's book--in confidence tional Service with the Colours was decided upon by the Government. MFMo The audience rose in a body and cheered him to the echo. in sb's book [Disj (PrepP)] (informal) as sb thinks; as information, experience and tastes lead him to believe; in sb's/ one's opinion (qv),in sb's view (qv); to my mind(qv); to sb's way of thinking(qv) o Donald Burton insists on al-tering his appearance for each role he under-takes. In my view, quite fatal, They must know who you are and what you are going to do as soon as you step on the stage, in my book. OBS□ Here(ie in a film) she was teamed with Dana Andrews and Henry Fonda. ‘Which should she marry?’asked the posters rhetorically. Neither, in my book, because both were miscast. RT (never) in(all) one's born days[A(PrepP)](never) at any time during one's life, before a particular occasion (the reference often being to sth seen, heard or done that is unpleasant or regrettable)o A man who came level with them on the same side called out derisively: ' Did you ever see such a game?' ' Never in all my born days,' Fred replied. LLDRo They get on my tit-ends, they do straight. You' ve never met such a bloody shower in all your born days. TTo She's a fine one to preach self-denial! Never in all her life has she had to do without anything she really wanted. □ variant (never) in (all) one's life. in brief/ short[Conj (PrepP)] briefly; in as few words as possible; as a summing-up; in a word(qv)o in brief, the evidence purported to show that animal (or saturated) fats increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood and increase the likelihood of coronary thrombosis. T o It would need a book to tell properly but, in brief,she started an extra-mural diploma course and got a place at Bedford College, London, four years later. ST o front or middle position. in broad daylight [A(PrepP)] in the full light of day(esp thought of as providing(un) suitable or (un) likely conditions for sth to happen) V:happen, take place; shoot, rob, sb o We were walking along Holland Park Avenue. It was broa d daylight and the mist had cleared. UTNo' Nothing happens to awoman imbroaddaylight,'he said. ‘She’ ll turn up.’ DC in sb's case[A (PrepP)] in the particular in-stance or example provided by sb etc(the im-plication often being of a contrast with other people of a roughly similar group) det: sb's,sth's; that, this; some,(a) few, (not) many oBriefly, in my own ces●, two matters cannot have been right. MFMaI never forget a face, but in your case I' ll make an exception. G MARXoBut in the cege of Scotland they(these facts) are tragic because we cannot afford such wastage.SC o In sogu colour are seen. In others there may be vivid recalls of past experiences. HAH◇△ in that case.in the cause of sth [A(PrepP)](formal) in or-der to support, defend, or promote sth o:liberty, one's country, justice for all o Mr Her-ter could find no better reasons for going to Paris than the desirability of living up to PresidentEisenhower's offer to go anywhere in the cases of peace. SCo The idea of a hero's death in Eng-land's cause rated pretty low with any of us. o(printed beneath an advertisement reading:Don't let the extremists wreck our freedom and our economy.) Issued by Aims of Industry in the cángo of free enterprise. NS in Christendom [A (PrepP)] anywhere;everywhere o He said, 'I think I am the happiest man in Christondom, ' and I think he really felt that way. Lo Rich American visitors, served byArab waiters, pay Israeli pounds to eat interna-tional breakfasts while looking through huge pic-ture windows at what must be the finest view inChristendom. L o‘You’ re exactly what theAmerican's call a" sad sack", isn't he Geoff?"'Ishould just say he is, ma' am, the biggest god-almighty sad sack in Christendom.'TBC o usu modifies a preceding n, as shown. in/ under the circumstances [A(PrepP)] in the special situation (determined by one's relationship to other persons, things, events that have occurred or are likely to etc) det: the,no,(not) any; such, certain, these□ Could firms be forced to move against their wishes? In such circumstances they might decide not to expand at all. SCo To tell a white lie, he thought, was excusable in the circumstance.□OId People's homes vary considerably in the standard of care they offer, but I would not under an y circum-stasses send a relative of mine to that one. Dfront, middle or end position. in cold blood[A(PrepP)] calmly; deliberately;callously; without (the excuse of) passion,enthusiasm etc V: shoot, kill; plan, consider oThe ambushes and pitched battles were fought in fury. And afterwards, prisoners were shot in cold blood. PPo Secondly, thank you for all you say about my new adventure in the East. In cold blood I'm sometimes a little terrified when Ithink of the immensity of the task. SD o often used in collocation a murder in cold blood/a cold-blooded murder. in common etc parlence [Disj/A (PrepP)](formal) (using) part of the vocabulary of ordinary people, or of a more specialized group adj: common, vulgar (= common); medical,schoolboy,16th century o If an expression is in common pariance one tends to use it regardless of strict accuracy, as a woman will talk of' hoovering' her carpets though her vacuum cleaner may be of a different name and manufac-ture altogether. o ' What is the cause of these black-outs (fainting fits)?' ' Cardiac arrest—— in corrision parlence, temporary heart failure.’ o' in wuigarperience,' said McNeilamiably,' whatChris is saying is that individuals in the Cloud, if there are any, must be highly telepathic.'TBCoAnd Mr Rawstorne's yacht has the reputation of being what in partical pariance is called a lively craft. D I don't think I understand more than about half of the contract we had to sign when we bought our house. It's all written in the parlence of lawyers trying to sound highly skilled and mysterious. o variant in the parlance of sb. in common with sb/ sth together with, like,sb/ sth o Tony, in common with many of his generation, had no very clear idea of what he wanted to do in life. o The main issue is that of compensation for United States interests expropriated — in common with Cuban interests—— in the agricultural reform. SC in confidence [A (PrepP)] confidentially; as a private message, confession etc V: say(sth), tell(sb), be given sth. adj: strict, absolute, total o 302 <303> ' Naturally,' she added, ' all that I say to you now is in confidence. 'UTNo Olive had promised to write and tell Eric in strictest confidence about his difficulties with Mrs Pettigrew. MM□' That would make a good story for your paper. ’ Too true, it would. But I cannot use information given me in confidence in that way. " in confusion' [A (PrepP)] in a disorderly, or muddled, state or manner V: flee; break up,collapse; begin, end o The room had been thoroughly ransacked and the contents of drawers and cupboards lay in confusion on the floor. □ The once orderly ranks now fled in con-fusion. a Unhappily there is more than one inter-pretation of the Labour party's drama. The week opened in confusion. OBS in confusion² [A (PrepP)] muddled in one's ideas, perplexed or embarrassed V: look on,listen o ' They' ve altered this part of the town completely since I was here last, he complained,peering through the windscreen in confusion. oOh dear,' he gabbled to the naked figure.' wrong room, I'm so sorry, ' and scuttled out again in considerable confusion. in conjunction (with sb/ sth) [A (PrepP)]acting, working or planning together (with sb/sth) o The Ninth American Army attacked northwards on the 23rd February, in conjunc-tion with the Canadian Army attack. MFM□At least two other pre-school centres built and finan-ced by private trusts and administered in close conjunction with the Inner London EducationAuthority are in the pipeline. □ Planning teams were set up under the nominal leadership ofBrown but were told to work in conjunction. in connection with sth [Conj (PrepP)] aris-ing from sth; about, concerning, relevant to sth det: this, that, the same, another,a different. o:that; the alleged theft, the catering arrange-ments; what you' ve just said D Preventive deten-tion orders have been made against 12 more people, ' in connection with an alleged conspi-racy in the Volia region’. OBS□‘I want to see the manager,' she said, laying an envelope on the counter, in connection with this letter l received from him yesterday.'o' Your tenants are not giving you any more trouble, I hope?'' No.I' ve come to ask your advice in another con-nection.' o Some people need their illnesses.Cure them and you deprive them of an excuse for inadequacy. In that connection (or: In con-nection with that), consider my father-in-law. Oif with is omitted, this, that etc must be used. in contrast(to/ with sb/ sth) [Conj(PrepP)]contrasted with(sb/ sth); being opposite or dif-ferent (from sb/ sth) adj: marked, sharp, strik-ing, great a in contrast to the subterranean life which Granny Walton lived, Granny Trill's cot-tage door was always open and her living-room welcomed us daily. CWRoIn marked contract to the normal response to a cut in Bank rate, prices on the Stock Exchange drifted lower after the news. To In desert lands a puncture is rare.(This.in great contrast to the thorn bush of theSomalilands where thirty punctures in a day,three or four at a time, are common enough). BMin the course of sth [A (PrepP)] during a specified period of time or activity; while engaged in (doing) sth o: his life, the month;their researches, their inquiries; listing the con- in confusion— in (the) dead of winter tents □ These tıdal waves have hardly any effect on ships in the open sea, since there is only o very gradual rise of perhaps a few feet on the sea's surface in the course of several minutes. NSCuIn the course of preparing a half-hour film report for 24 Hours' on the Army in NorthernIreland I had a long interview with him at his headquarters. L in the (normal/ ordinary) course of nature etc [A(PrepP)] as part, or as a result of a natural or inevitable process or progression o: nature. △events, things o People will dose themselves for minor ailments which in the course of nature would clear themselves up in a few days. □It was no special treat for John. He gets more than enough of dining out in the ordinary course of events. □ Sinden, in fact.could well be next occupant of one of the great theatrical thrones, that eminence where Sir JohnGielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson now stand but cannot, in the course of nature remain for many more years. TVI in one's cups [Comp/A (PrepP)] (when)drunk, under the influence of alcohol; in drink(qv) o I' ve come to know him pretty well these last ten or twelve years. And odd facts drop out when a man's in his cups. PP□ My mother was merely a horrified looker-on, my father in his cups already predicted the gallows for me. SToMr Hughes employs as guards four or five Mor-mons,a group he admires for their integrity (you can't pay them to talk) and their sobriety (they don't spill anything in their cups). OBS in sb's day/ time' [A(PrepP)] at the time when sb was alive, or young, or in the prime of work-ing life, or in a position of authority □ The kind of light entertainment put out now is not nearly as good as it was in my day. RT□ The place is not kept as it was in your grandfather's time. It would break his heart to see the garden now. oLung cancer, traffic accidents and the millions of miserable alcoholics are facts even more certain than was in Dante's day the fact of the Inferno.DOP O stress pattern in ' my day, in your' grand-father's time. in sb's day/time² [A (PrepP)] at a period, or periods, in one's past life(esp used in claims to have done, or experienced, sth specified)o TheAuberge did not satisfy the artistic and creative soul of Monsieur Bonneval. In his day he had been a great cook. ARG D Dorothy was more boring than even Daniel, who had met some bores in his time, could have believed possible. US□ Ialso have been deeply moved into bad poetry in my day and no critical response could match one's own embarrassment when one is left with some poor words on the printed page. NS o stress pattern in my day/' time. in days of old/yor● [A (PrepP)] (formal) in ancient times; in times long past o It's a pastiche historical romance of the' in days of old when knights were bold’ genre. o I believe, sir.(palaeontologist) is the word for one who studies the fossilized remains of the prehistoric monsters that used in days of yore to roam the earth. RMin (the) dead of winter in the severest part of a winter season(esp in a cold climate where growth of vegetation ceases and people's out-door activities diminish or are difficult) o ' It's a wonderful house, Frank,' he said, ' with great 303 <304> in depth— in the event gardens ablaze with all the colours in the rain-bow.' That's not likely in dead of winter. ' saidFrank, and his little mouth pursed tightly. ASAoIf you had to live here in the dead of winter, you.wouldn't think it so delightful. We were snowed up for weeks on end last year— that's why we store up fuel and provisions every autumn. in depth [A (PrepP)] thoroughly and exhaus-tively(esp contrasted with generally, broadly or superficially) V: study, treat; deal with, go into.O/o: field, topic, subject □ In this fourth Stock-ton Lecture I have decided to interpret' education for corporate responsibility' broadly rather than in depth. STo Mr Linklater. whose more recent works have taken him into studies in depth ofScottish history, breaks new ground with his ex-cellent analysis. SCoI think that everybody who has helped other people with personal problems,and who has pursued the study in any depth comes to the conclusion that there are inter-actions going on within the mind itself. Lo attrib use in-depth treatment, analysis, scrutiny. in detail[A(PrepP)] with every detail, item etc of sth included, mentioned etc V: recount,examine, enter, render, sth o In future,a claim for expenses must be rendered in detail and ac-companied by receipts.□ The Princess was taken to see the cardboard vessel which had carried off the lovers during the final chorus. She inspected the rigging in detail. STo Just give me the gist of what he said, I haven't time to listen to the whole thing in detail. in drib s and drabs (informal) in small irregu-lar amounts; piecemeal V: get, impart, reveal,sth; approach, deal with, tackle, sth o Wales have given British soccer many great players.But always in dribe and drabs. If only they had all arrived in the same generation, then Wales would certainly have been potential world cham-.pions. TVT □ Certainly there is an illiteracy problem in Britain by the old measure——a read-ing age of the average nine-years-old. It is tack-led at the moment in drabs and drabs,a volun-teer teacher scheme here,a local authority class there. NS a She had concocted the whole story from dribs and drebs of gossip picked up at back doors and in the shops. o dribs and drabs non-rev. in drink [Comp/A (PrepP)](when) drunk (the implication often being only slightly, or parti-ally, so); in one's cups (qv)o It was spoken in drink, but it happened to be true. Half drunk myself, I loved him for it. NMo' Was he drunk at the time of this accident?'' Not what you'd call drunk. I would say he was in drink---a bit happy,maybe had a glass or two.’ in droves[A(PrepP)] in large numbers n: fans,supporters, shoppers. V: come, arrive, go(by)o When he collects the rates all the women come in drowes. They pay twice over to have five minutes longer with him. RATTo There' ll be a big crowdat the match. They' ve been going down the road in drawes. of had to shut the windows. The flies where coming in in drowes. in due course[A (PrepP)] at a proper and suitable time in the future; eventually in a natural, or inevitable, sequence of events oNaturally, I have that possibility (poisoning) in mind. I shall search the deceased in dug course.EMa In due course the Bill became law; the first 304 election under the new Act took place in August1872, at Pontefract. SC□True pyrotechny began with the use of combustibles in sieges and naval battles. From war it passed in due courmio to entertainment. HAH D front, middle or end position. inearnest[A(PrepP)] serious(ly) and not light(-ly) or joking(ly); heavily; fiercely V: speak,argue, fight; sleet, snow, blow. adj: dead(ly),sober, grim o !! is not surprising that Jeffrey besought Carlyle not to be ' so dreadfully in our.nest'. The rugged Carlyle did not attempt to hide his contempt for Jeffrey's social charm. SCoIonce knew a military man who was heard to say,not humorously, not in a moment of exaspera-tion, but in deadly earnest, I must say I can't stand civilians!'AH□The snow did not start to fall in expresst until after darkness had set in. EMoIjust wanted to give the boy a fright, but I' ll be angry in earnest if he does it again. □ No more playing at soldiers, it's war in ghromed. o may modify a preceding n or adj, as in last two examples. in effect [A(PrepP)] really; actually; as proves to be the case in practice; virtually DI stood on the tarmac at Rabat Airport to see Colonel Gad-dafi greeted by King Hassan of Morocco and to observe what was in effect his baptism in international affairs. Lo The procedure could in effect deprive parents of their right to be represented legally before a court. OBS o This ingenious arrangement safeguards against over-turning and in effect allows the machine to float on its two driving wheels so that it behaves like a front wheel drive tractor. NSC o LeI the unions,the editorial said in effect, work out their own destiny--and let socialists and politicians leave them to it. NS D usu middle position. in the end [A(PrepP)] at the end of a period of time; finally; after other possibilities, choices,lines of action, have been tried oJO: Which knob do I turn? HELEN: Turn ' em(= them) all, you' re bound to find the right one in the end. TOH□ They tried very patiently to teach me to glide, to use every muscle sinuously. In the end they con-fessed to failure. TO o The more he dithered(about accepting the offer of a job) the more desirable to the others the appointment seemed,but in the end he said No. NM o front, middle,or end position; used to introduce or refer to a further and last statement about sth. in essence [Disj (PrepP)] essentially; if one confines oneself to the essentials or gist of a matter o The two stories (in the‘WashingtonPost’) were in essence what the‘New YorkTimes' would have published on Wednesday andThursday if it had not been prevented. OBS o In ossference therefore both BBC l and ITV had to adopt competitive policies if they were to remain in a50-50(audience) position. Lo front, middle or end position. in the event [Conj (PrepP)] as actually hap-pened at the time, contrasted with what was expected to happen o Someone was bound to go100 far, to overstep the mark, to let everyone down. In the event no one did. NSo I'd been warned by an anxious press lady(= woman journalist) not to bring up politics, which MrBennett apparently considered a very private matter. In the wright, he seemed anxious to set <305> in the event of sth—— in the first etc person the record straight. RT o usu front position. in the event of sth [A (PrepP)] if sth specified happens or is done a: war, his death; his resignation, his refusing; a successful outcome□ He gathered that in the event of war with theUS, Pearl Harbor was to be the first target. OBS□(a ` Miss World’ rehearsal) They tried on the crown for size over their rollers and practised kissing each other in the event of victory. RT oThere seemed to be no more certainty of StPeter's Hall getting the land in the event of the council's scheme being accepted than otherwise.10 I' ll try to get a joint of lamb for Sunday, but the butcher may not have any left by now.' In that event, I'd like chicken—I haven't had any for ages.’ a ' What will be done if the report says the roof of the school hall is in a dangerous con-dition?'' In such an event, the hall will be closed and it won't be used again until the necessary repairs have been carried out.'o if of is ormitted,that, such an must be used. in excess (of sth) larger, greater, heavier.longer etc than a specified amount adv mod:far, much; greatly, slightly, little. O: figure.total; speed, rate o Trains now travel at speeds far in excess of those which a motorist can at-tuin on the M1. NSC□ This is slightly in exces of the comparable total for the preceding year at£54,860. To You may eat less than me but if you ' re fa t you' re still eating in excess of your body's requirements. I may function as Comp,or modify a preceding n. in the extreme extremely; to a degree (qv) oChristopher Seaman has been conducting for many of the world's top soloists. It's no easy task either. They can be capricious and eccentric in the extreme. RTo(sports match) Time and again movements broke down through passes going astray, and much of the play was scramb-ling in the extreme. ST o always modifies a preceding adj. in (the) face of sth(although) faced with sth;in defiance of sth; despite sth o: danger, ob-stacles, opposition; all the evidence o He had resolved to be patient in face of the many dif-ficult situations that he knew must arise during the Christmas visit. ASA o Now he intends, in face of all the obstacles, to take ' a quiet look atFrance' for his next travel film. RTo We have a long sea journey, and at the end of it we will have to land on an enemy coast in the face of deter-mined opposition. MFM □ No such view can be maintained for one moment in the face of the evidence. SNP in fact [Disj (PrepP)] really; truly; to be strictly accurate; in point of fact(qv)o You believe that you are careful and efficient, but in fact you are not good at organisation. WI o ' You look tired,Jilly.'I am tired, in fact.' a I want your frank opinion. Is he in fact likely to recover? □ often accompanies correction of sth believed by sb else to be true; front, middle or end position. in sb's/ sth's favour [A (PrepP)] so as to recommend, support or defend sb or sth V:speak, testify; say a word, allow this much; be one point a I am sure, headmaster, it would help if you would speak in his favour when Tom's case comes up. □ The old couple haven't a word to say in their daughter-in-law's favour. She can't be as bad as all that! o... as fairly and persuasively as a scientist will present the case in favour of a particular belief he holds. Lo△next entry. in favour of sb/ sth [A (PrepP)] so as to favour, or give preference to, sb/ sth other than the person or thing previously mentioned V:decide, vote, opt; work, operate. o: expansion in other directions; making useful social con-nections; younger men; bigger boats o WilliamWells's miffed (# offended) feelings at being passed over in fevour of John Stonehouse have now brought the whole issue out into the open. NS□ It may be that in industrial districts the high wages that can be obtained at an early age have reduced the attractions of postponing wage-earning in favour of a university education. SCoThe modern Army looks, not for' cannon fodder',but for intelligent and motivated young men. Any selectivity there is in recruiting operates in their favour, o variant in their favour. △ previous entry. in fear of one's life[A (PrepP)] fearing that one may be killed; (fig) feeling alarm at (the possibility of) being scolded, punished, bullied etc V: go; live, work o At the far end of the open space a stream of people came running in as though in fear of their lives. NS a A surly old bear, that's what he is! Why should we all be creeping about in fear of our lives because he mustn't be disturbed?□I don't know how you can live here. I'd be in fear of my life every time Istepped outside the door.□ often used with go,as in go in fear of one's life(Vol 1)(qv). in fear and trembling[A (PrepP)] in a fright-ened, or cowed manner, V: be, go; approach,wait o (source) ... but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trombling. PHILIPPIANSH12□ But when he got to Belgrade, he found that Tito had just broken with Stalin. ' larrived in fear and tremb-ling. I was also followed everywhere by the sound of breathing, the heavy breathing of the JugoslavSecret Service.’ RTo Tim, though not without fear and trembling, had defied his father and no great harm had come to him.口 preps with,(not)without occas used. in the final/ last analysis [Disj (PrepP)]ultimately; undeniably and most importantly;as the end of an examination, or line of reason-ing, shows; in the last resort²(qv)□ Plants get it from sunlight, and animals get it from plants,or from other animals of course. So in the last analysis the energy always comes from the sun.TBCaIn the last analysis, you do want the thing to work and what works for other people ought to work for you too. OBS□In the final analysis the West Indies lost the series because their bat-ting failed at two crucial moments. OBS o usu front or middle position. in the first instance[A(PrepP)] at the begin-ning; as a first step; first of all' (qv); to begin with' (Vol 1) (qv); in the first place' (qv); to start with'(Vol l)(qv)o It's very good of you to come to the rescue like this. Why I didn't ask you to take charge of the arrangements in the first instance I can't imagine. □ The problem was solved by heating alone, and refrigeration was used only to dry out the buildings in the first instance. NSC 口 usu end position. in the first etc person [A(PrepP)] using the 305 <306> in the first place—— in the future first, second or third personal pronouns in speech or writing adj: first, △second, third oFormal invitations are usually issued and accep-ted in the third person.□ The afternoon brought a note from the hotel, in the third person,' MissMerlin has been invited to give a lecture this evening and thinks it might interest Mr Skipton to attend.' us in the first place'[A (PrepP)] as a first step;before anything else or further is done; anyway;first of all' (qv); in the first instance (qv); to begin with'(Vol l)(qv); to start with'(Voll)(qv)o ' What Chris is saying is that individuals in the Cloud must be highly telepathic. ’ Then why didn't he say so in the first place?'TBC oWith better site supervision many of the things that lead to complaints could not happen in the first place. OBS □ They were punished by being ignored and excluded. Of course, they needn't have gone there in the first place. OBSo middle or end position. in the first place² [Conj (PrepP)] first and foremost; first of all² (qv); for a start (qv); to begin with²(Vol l)(qv); to start with²(Voll)(qv) □ In the first place, as Boswell urged,Christ's death was intended to appease God's wrath and thus to reconcile Him to admitting sinners to Heaven; while in the second place, such a God would be so evidently morally contempt-ible that to worship Him would itself be an act of gross moral cowardice. Lo In the first place he feared another act of treachery on the part of theLeadership of the Movement. He also saw inLansbury the good-natured but woolly-minded pacifist. Thirdly he saw the hand of the ' intellec-tuals' in this. OBS o accompanies the first of a number of statements, reasons or arguments;usu front position; often followed by in the second place/ second(ly), etc. in a flash [A (PrepP)] quite or very suddenly,quickly; in a space of time too short to be measured; in a trice(qv) V: disappear, vanish;cure sb□ Flynn sliced through the defence of the two England centres.In@ flash he was past them and clean over the England line. SToIt is advis-able to keep greyhounds leashed in parks because small dogs could prove too much of a temptation.and they can kill in a flesh. TVToIn a flash she realized how superficial, and in a sense how vul-gar, her reaction to the book had been. PW o front, middle or end position. in the flesh [A (PrepP)] in one's/ sb's bodily presence; in person'(qv)□ John Ogdon is play-ing Tchaikovsky 1, which is a bit predictable, but as he plays it better than anybody else I' ve heard in the Flesh, I suppose the choice is justified. RT□ Their idol is appearing for only 10 or 12minutes, but their appreciation of him in the fleash is such that they have converged on BelleVue tonight from Newcastle, Peterborough,London, Bristol, Birmingham. TVT in for a penny, in for a pound (saying)having spent some money, gone to time and trouble, decided on some action, one may as well etc go much further (than one originally intended) a The new carpet made everything else in the room look so shabby that it was a case of in for a penny, in for a pound and we ended up with fresh wallpaper and new curtains, too. o‘Look here, Lydia,’ said Colin,' don't tell me that 306 Effie and Ruby are going to London,' adding rather coarsely that if they did they would be bound to get into double trouble; in for a penny,in for a pound. WDM O may be uttered (follow-ing oh well) before taking action. in full [A (PrepP)] to a complete amount; with nothing omitted; verbatim V: pay, report,recount, sth; publishing he has ever borrowed from me he has always repaid in full.□ Crossman (a Government Minister) boldly decided to publish the report (which was highly critical of the Government) in full. NS o(reader's letter) One must of course withhold judgement on Bergamini's book until it has been published and read in full but on the face of it, its allegations must seem utter nonsense. SC in full etc medium[A(PrepP)] abundantly;in ample quantities (the implication sometimes being that there is more of whatever is referred to than is desirable) adj: full, △ good, ample oThere were possibilities of trouble and they descended on the North-Eastern front in fuMmmow more. MFMo For two years they knew happi-ness in full messure and then Jane fell ill. o If you like folk singing you' ll get it in good mysure tonight. ◇ A in a measure. in full view of sb/ sth [A(PrepP)] wholly and clearly visible by sb/ from somewhere o The owners were protesting against the proposed erection of storage tanks in full view of the hotel. I t was bad enough to have his mother come to see him off at all, and to be hugged and kissed in full view of his grinning classmates was the last word in humiliation. in the fullness of time [A(PrepP)](as is like-ly or bound to happen) when sufficient time has passed V: re-emerge, take over; grasp, realize,sth o in the fullness of time, when the album was stuffed to overflowing. new pictures were placed between pages in strict chronological order. L□ Iknew you'd be back for them, Sefton,in the fullness of time. ARG O front, middle or end position. in fun [A (PrepP)] not seriously; as a joke V:speak; say, do, sth o 'I know Celia will never see forty again.’‘Oh come,’ I said. ‘She was exag-gerating when she told you that. She was in fun.'CONo Grandpa didn't mean he was going to eat your ice cream, you silly girl. He only said it in fun. O often preceded by only or just, as shown.◇ △ (just) for fun. in future [A (PrepP)] from now/ then onwards(as the occasion arises) D‘You could have in-sured your luggage, you know, for quite a small sum.''I know, and that's what we' ll do in future.'□ Oh, Peter—— in future, when I have a client in the office with me, please knock before you come in. o That was when he decided that in future he'd better carry an extra gallon of petrol in the boot. o front, middle or end position. ◇in the past;△next entry; at the moment; at present.in the future[A (PrepP)] at a time or times, or during a period, still to come adj: near, (not too/ so) distant, immediate, foreseeable o He foresaw that he was going to have some anxious times, some very awkward moments in the near future. PE o The sun's heat will eventually destroy the earth, but that's in the distant future,by some millions of years. o It is fear of the unknown which frightens the businessman who <307> in general... in particular----in high places has to rely upon a number of constants when making his plan for expansion in the immediate future. SC□A little work at French and German plus a little influence and charm will make you manager in the not-so-distant future. HAA O in the past; △ previous entry; at present; at the moment. in general…… in particular broadly speaking or considered, without specifying or taking into account individual cases or exceptions,contrasted with singling out a special instance or example of its kind o The authors, who areDanish, clearly intend it as a kind of manual to guide the under-17s in their dealings with adults in general, and with teachers and parents in particular. SC□ About midnight I came to and realized we'd been talking about the world in general and nothing in particular. PP o In general the demonstrators have learnt from one another. OBS□HELENA: It's almost as if he wanted to kill someone with it. And me in particular.I' ve never seen such hatred in someone's eyes before. LBA o used one after the other, usu in order of headphrase, or separately with implied contrast; end position as a n modifier, usu front or middle position as a clause modifier. in a good cause[Comp/A (PrepP)] for a good purpose; in order to achieve sth worthwhile or valuable v: be; fight; suffer, be wounded oMedical research volunteers can console them-selves that not only are they suffering in a good cause but they are actually being paid to be ill.□ Noel said his evening and his wife's digestion were going to be ruined, but he supposed it was in a goodcause. WDM□And when his Mum went away for a few days it was all in a good course—— she was probably making an attempt on theJohn O' Groats to Lands End cycling record. TVT□ sometimes facetious or ironic. in good/ bad faith {A (PrepP)] sincerely;gènuinely/ with insincere purposes or aims V:act, intervene, negotiate, do business o The police would have found it difficult to inspire con-fidence unless they were negotiating in good faith. □There was a record of broken promises.of deals handled in bad faith. (all) in good part[A(PrepP)] without becom-ing angry or offended; not annoyed or provoked(by what sb says etc)V: take, accept.O: criticism, banter, his remarks; it, everything o I thought her uncle's teasing remarks might have upset her, but no, she took it in good part.□ ' And some damn heated to-and-fros(= argu-ments) we have too, I can tell you. You ought to hear us at it—— well, you already have, haven't you?’‘Yes, I——’‘All in good part, naturally.’TGLY in good time[A(PrepP)]a little, or well, before an appointed time or date, esp so that one can be ready for unforeseen difficulties or use the time to do sth else V: arrive, return; examine,consider, plan, sth o D-day was to be on the 5thJune and I had to be back in good time. MFMoThe train doesn't leave till 10.20 a. m. but you' ll need to be there in good time if you want a corner seal. o The matter should be quickly settled so that it can be considered in good time by the constituency parties and the trade unions in readiness for next year's conference. Ttime³,² (all) in good time[A (PrepP)] after a reason-able or appropriate space of time, long or short,but not immediately o ' Oh Harold,' she ex-claimed, ' why all this mystification?'' You' ll find out in good time, ' he said grinning at her as he might have grinned at Irma. PW□‘Tell me all about yourself and Spencer and your house and everything.''I will in good time. Right now,I'm only interested in getting you out of this pigsty.'AITC□ ' It's not a bed I want,' Brigit cried out in anguish. ' It's (the use of) my own two feet!' 'Iknow, darling, I know. All in good time.'DC o always said in response to sb's wish, or demand,for sth now. ◇ △ in time ¹,². in one's heart(of hearts) [A(PrepP)] as one would, or should, admit to oneself if not to others; actually, if secretly V: know, believe;regret, hope. adj: inmost, secret o in his heart he wept for his own guilt and failure and for the echo of her words which he would spend the rest of his life trying to refute. WI o Was he in his heart of hearts beneath that assuming English exterior, beginning to worry? NSoI think officers and men knew in their hearts that if we lost atAlam Halfa we would probably have lost Egypt.MFM□ Oh, I knew you'd take it like this, ' Milly said, 'I knew it in my heart of hearts.'OMIHOfront, middle or end positions; adj used only with in one's heart. in the heat of the moment[A(PrepP)] when extremely, though temporarily, angered, ex-cited, enthusiastic, upset etc o He was sure that my anger, roused in the heart of the moment by an unfortunate remark, would be forgotten just as soon as the remark itself. MFMo They were all shouting at me to hurry up and in the heart of the moment I forgot to pick up the envelope with the tickets. □ What the students were demanding in the heat of regional debate is probably less im-portant in the long run than the spirit which in-forms their outlook. L o similarly in the heat of the argument, chase, struggle, excitement, etc as in last example; front, middle or end position. in the heyday of sth[A(PrepP)] in/ during the time when sb/ sth was most popular, successful,or highly thought of o Munich, which in the heyday of the Nazi period was to be honoured as the‘Capital of the Movement’, was then the focal point of all the forces of nationalism, right-wing radicalism and Nazism. OBS□In the huyday of banner art no trade union branch had ' arrived'until it possessed its own Tutill(manufacturer’ s name) banner. OBS□(greyhound racing) The dogs' heyday was when they were the only place a working man could regularly legally bet. L in high places at the top levels of government or administration; among people of power and influence n: corruption; friends, allies a I had sacked a peculiarly incompetent and indolent off-icer who had friends in high places. SD a The idea that she was murdered seems a little less extraordinary now. We know more about theCIA, the right wing of the FBI, blackmail and counter blackmail in high places today, don't we?STo I tried to develop radio as an art form in its own right, and nothing could be more cal-culated to induce apoplexy in High Pleces than this. NSo Insurance agent Kirby has stumbled on corruption in high places-information he can sell to the British Civil Service. TVT o usu 307 <308> in sb's honour— in lieu (of sth) modifies a preceding n, as shown. in sb's honour [A (PrepP)] out of respect or admiration for sb or for his achievements, ser-vices; as a compliment to sb V: write, compose,paint, build, sth; name, call, sth o The new municipal building is to be called the Sir JohnBolt Hall in honour of Sir John's many services to the community.□ There were three small pic-tures hanging on the far wall:‘Especially chosen in your honor.’ Mrs Thompson said. RATToThe feline hero of this memoir already enjoys the distinction of having a poem in his honour in-cluded in the ' Oxford Book of Modern Verse'.OBS o may modify a preceding n, as in last example. in the hope of sth/ that [A(PrepP)](do sth)because one hopes that a favourable result will follow o: better luck next time, a good feed;finding a partner, attracting a larger audience.cl: that you' ll agree, that nobody would notice,that their sins will be forgiven o The American company have been drilling in the WesternDesert in the hope of striking large reserves similar to those in neighbouring Libya. SC oWriters will write what they want, in answer to the need within them and in the hope that there is an audience who wants to see their plays. RT in a hurry'[Comp/A(PrepP)](be) hurrying;(do sth) hurriedly (the implication being that there is insufficient, or barely sufficient, time for the activity etc suggested) V: pack, dress, revise.det:a, no,(not) any, rather a. adj: great, terri-fic, tremendous. Inf: to catch the bus, to get there first, to finish by 5 o' clock o ' Did you speak to Jack about getting a job for me?' ' He was le n Averty to catch a train, but he' ll see me on Monday morning.'o I'm not in my special hurry, except that I' ve to collect Julia from ner-se ry school at 12.15. o I'm sure to have forgotten something. I always do when I have to pack Iw盘hurry. o Art restoration is finicky work. You simply can't do it is a hurry. o to-inf often, but not always, used after be. in a hurry² [A (PrepP)] (informal) quickly;easily; willingly; perhaps ever(again) V: forget,come back, cross me again, re-marry o '/t seems to have made a profound impression on you.'' It's not the kind of experience you forget in a hurry.ILIH a He spoke about her as if he was going to murder her. T' ll give her something she won't forget in a hurry.' he said. CON o His remarks didn't bother me but I doubt if my wife will for-give him in a hurry. o I smashed him up all right.He won't want to come and fight us again in a hurry. LF o And she said, ' Their Mummy has found someone she likes better than the master,and she won't come back in a lurry.'PW O usu in constructions with won't/ wouldn't. in one's imagination/ fency[A(PrepP)] not in actual fact but in contemplation, daydream or illusion V: contemplate, picture, envisage,see o I have to admit that the Venice I saw was not quite up to the standard of the Venice I had visited so often im my classification, ofnfancy he was on the mat in the yellow drawing room trying to explain to his wife why he had not immediately asserted himself as a father. RM in itself/onese# considered, or judged, in isolation —— ignoring causes, results etc n:honour, courage; an evening's entertainment, 308 the meal o Not only is the success an honour in itself, but it means that the team will be Scot-land's representative in next season's EuropeanCup competition. SC□Jullien's conducting was an exciting performance in itself. OBS o ' They show,' said Miss Murphy, 'a certain courage.Courage in itself should be worth something.’ARG o placed immediately before or after n referred to. in a jiffy etc[A (PrepP)](informal) very soon;quickly; almost immediately; in a moment etc(qv); in two twos/ ticks(qv) o: jiffy, ▲ tick o‘Where’ s Irma?’ one of them asked. ’ Just gone out to powder her nose, I think. She' ll be back in ajiffy.'PWoI asked him that conundrum you told me and he had the answer in e tick. in kind' [A (PrepP)] (pay sb) with goods, or services, instead of money o He's paid £70 a week beside what he receives in kind--a rent-free cottage, firewood, milk and potatoes, and so on. □ At various other times French television teams were allegedly given payola(= bribes) in kind to put Hava's clients in a favourable light. L inkind²[A(PrepP)] with the same kind of treat-ment, language etc as one has received or been subjected to V: pay back, answer, retaliate oAbba Eban is probably just the right kind of figure to stand up to the extreme provocation of some of the hotter challenges. He never replies in kind and always tries to defuse the situation. ST□A fat lot of good informing the police will do.if there were no witnesses. I'd have paid him back in kind with my two fists. in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king(saying) even a limited, or partial, abil-ity gives one an advantage over those who have none a In effect, he (a racing commentator)makes the (TV) picture second best, and, in so doing, continues in a quite remarkable way the work of those who used to broadcast on sporting events via Daventry, and when in the realw of the listening blind, a one-eyed commentator could be king. L o often adapted, as shown. in the last report' [A (PrepP)] as the only thing left to try, do or accept in difficult circum-stances; if nothing else succeeds; (as) a/ one's last resort (qv) o Until now direct rule (for Ul-ster) from Westminster has been assumed to be the ultimate deterrent, the policy to be imposed in the last resert. NSo I can, if I really want to get nasty, run the court meetings on strictly procedural lines. In the last resort I can adjourn meetings. SCo front, middle or end position.◇▲ the last ditch. in the last resort[Disj (PrepP)] as an examination of the facts, or a line of reasoning,finally makes clear; in the final/ last analysis(qv)□ In the last resort the battle is won by the.initiative and skill of regimental officers and men. MFMo We all need to remember that in the last resort there is no such person as ' the com-mon man'. UL o Tavener's ideas are usually strong ones and are carried through with convic-.tion but in the last resort it is difficult to avoid afeeling of thinness of invention. Lo usu front or middle position. ◇△(as) a/ one's last resort. in lieu(of sth)[A (PrepP](formal) instead (of sth); replacing sth o: rent; quarters, accom-modation o The statement in Parliament that married personnel received quarters, or an all- <309> owance in lie u had caused intense irritation in theArmy because it was untrue— the allowance in lie u being inadequate to get any reasonable acc-ommodation. MFM□' Don't bother about any pay tonight, ' he said. ' Keep it in lieu of notice.' HDin the light of sth[A(PrepP)] according to the way of seeing, or understanding, sth which is suggested V: consider, think of, analyse, sth. o:reason, common sense; subsequent events, your remarks, the evidence; a parent's concern for his children o When people are going through difficult times they don't always see things in the light of reason. oln the light of our own general expectations about events, we construct, out of a few elements, an account of what was likely to have occurred. MFF□ ' In murdering anyone you have to avoid scandal!''I hadn't thought of it in that light before. ' OMIH D variants, with reference to sth said earlier, or in contrast to it,in this, that, another, a different light. in the long/ short run [A (PrepP)] eventually;ultimately;(considered) over a long period and reaching an eventual solution or result (con-sidered) over a short period V: agree, co-operate; help, benefit, sb o‘Mrs Pettigrew keeps the whisky locked up.' Alec made a note.' Do him good in the long run,' he commented.' He drank too much for his age. ' MM o Dublin,London and Belfast are all concerned inNorthern Ireland's future and in the long run tripartite agreement must be sought. SC□ We were always beginning jobs and then being forced to break them off, which in the long run wastes more time than the odd ten minutes spent smok-ing. RATT o In the short run, he' ll get very sick;in the long run, he' ll get fit and strong again. Ofront, middle or end position.◇△ next entry.in the long etc term [A (PrepP)] looking, or planning, ahead for a long etc period, esp when considering what policy, action is possible,most suitable or effective adj: long, △ short,medium o The conditions in which some of the travellers(gypsies, people in show business, etc)have been forced to live have long caused con-cern. In the long term permanent accommoda-tion is the best solution. SC o Such a reorganisa-tion (of alliances) could only come about as the result of changes in our society so radical that they are unimaginable in the shortterm.□More seriously, the dockers would perhaps have hazar-ded the long-term future of their own port and their jobs in it. STo Forms of saving or paying in advance for short-terminifrecurrent purposes, as with the payings-in for Christmas or holidays...ULo Britain's North Sea oil reserves will ease her financial problems in the short and medium terms. D The long-term effects cannot be predicted——100 much depends on the interna-tional political and financial situation. o front,middle or end position; attrib use a long-term investment,a short-term advantage, medium-term growth. ◇ △ previous entry. in a loud etc voice[A(PrepP)] loudly, hoarse-ly etc V: proclaim, declare, announce sth. adj:loud, low, hoarse, piercing; cold, angry, cheer-ful o (stage direction) Takes letter and reads contents in a dead flat but loud voice—— as though it were a proclamation. R o Ever sinceChristine's death, he had been reserved and silent, only speaking to George when it was in the light of sth—— in the mountaintime necessary and then in a cold voice. PEo ' Of course not, Dolly, he said in a voice that tried to express an infinite sufferance of human stupidity.RMo describes either physical quality of sound,or mood, attitude conveyed by speaker;sometimes followed by clause as in last example, in which case adj usu omitted. in the main [Disj (PrepP)] mainly; generally;usually; almost always; for the most part¹,²(qv)o In the main, the art of the potter has been a secular art —— but a secular art which its in-numerable devotees have treated with an almost idolatrous reverence. HAHo Though General deGaulle's visit to Canada and the United States will be in the main a State occasion, like his visit to this country, there are a number of important questions which he is likely to raise withPresident Eisenhower. SCo Some days of course,she's still very unwell. But in the main she's hideously bored,I'm afraid. HAA 口 front, middle or end position. in the making evolving or being made n: his-tory, nation; writer, artist; neurotic misfits; a new deal,a TV series o Dickens' depiction of theAmerican scene in ' Martin Chuzzlewit' was deeply resented over there, and indeed he did not allow for the fact that he was observing a nation in the making. □ I could have taken a different literary example-namely, what a critic does when he looks at a first novel and says: ' Here is a great writer in the making.' Lo Hopefully,a new philosophy of medicine, less heroic and in-dividualistic, more logical and democratic, is in the making. OBSo usu modif ies a preceding n.but see last example. in a murner of speaking [Disj (PrepP)] (in-formal) as could be said; as one way of putting it would be o' What are you doing hanging about there?’' Well, sir, hanging about is my job,manner of speaking. My card, sir.' And Robert found himself reading: ' Metropolitan Police,Special Branch'. EMo Rose thought he had gone for his paper— which he had in a summer of speaking. He had it under his arm and grapes in his other hand. TSMPO accompanies statement,esp description or definition of sth. in the muner to which one is accus-tomed [A (PrepP)](catchphrase) matching a standard(of living) no less comfortable, refined or luxurious than one is used to V: maintain,keep, support, entertain, sb o A Victorian suitor would be expected to satisfy a girl's father that he could support her in the manner to which she was accustomed. □ Sh e had to find herself a job. She did— as a telephone operator. It was hardly calculated to keep her in the morner to which she had become decondomed. OBS oThat most prestigious of dog shows, Crufts,takes place next week and Tim Heald finds out what it costs to keep a champion dog in the manner to which he is escustomed. RT in a matter of minutes etc[A (Prep)] in a relatively short time o: minutes, △ seconds,moments;(a few) hours, two weeks o It could have been captured in a matter of minutes and its defence soundly organised with time to spare.MFMoIn a matter of hourm, the assailant's car was identified. TO in the meantime [A (PrepP)] meanwhile;meantime; during a previously defined, or un- 309 <310> in a measure---in the nick of time derstood, period o Prissie in her clear self-possessed voice (was) saying that she could take over very well, at least in the meantime. DC oOnly the blindest optimism would lead anyone to believe that Ulster will find peace for many years.In the meantime the continuation of any kind of coherently ordered existence depends almost entirely on the arity. NS o front, middle or end position. in a measure[A (PrepP)] (formal) partly, or largely, but not wholly det:a, some; great, no small o There is a theory that there are' murder-ees', people themselves in a marginure responsible for the crimes committed against them. o The success of Mr Kruschev's farm programmes depends in great museum on the production of these lands. OBS o Large charitable organiza-tions, that get no funds from national govern-ments, finance their international aid programmes from money given by private citizens. This work in no small my exter helps raise living standards in the world's poorest countries.△ in full etc measure. int he middle/ midst of sth[A(PrepP)] while sb is engaged in (doing) sth (the implication often being that he is busy or harassed); while some activity, or action, is in progress o:(all)this noise, hubbub, disturbance; activity, move-ment; breakfast, lunch o In the mids t of all this, Jimmy had to go and get his finger jammed in a keyhole. □ He hadn't taken two spoonfuls when the Emergency bell rang. ' Damn it,' he said, ‘Why do I always have to be interrupted in the middle of a meal?’ o He found it almost impossible to concentrate on business details. In the middle of reading something, his attention would wander. PE in one's mind [A (PrepP)] mentally; in one's thoughts V: see, picture, sth o Prissi e would make a wonderful wife for Guy. No doubt al-ready in her mind she was admiring this house as its mistress. DC ○ △ next entry. in one's mind's eyd [A (PrepP)] as pictured mentally V: see, picture, behold, sth o The summers I look back on myself all, in my mind's eye, turn into 1959 which was so hot for so long that reservoirs turned into patches of cracked mud. Lo Frowning, he saw the chart now in his mind's eye but not clearly. PMo Edward Burne-Jones, then a very young undergraduate, wrote describing what he had seen in his mind's eye—— the abbey and long procession of the faithful.OBS φ▲ previous entry. in a moment etc[A(PrepP)] very soon; quick-ly; almost immediately; in a jiffy etc(qv); in two twos/ ticks (qv) o: moment, △minute, second□ Just rest, dear. The doctor will be here in be moment. DC□ Oh, please come in and wait forJack. He' ll be back in a moleverty.E in one's more sober etc moments [A(PrepP)] when one does, or can, think more calmly, realistically etc V: realize, admit, ack-nowledge, recognize, sth. adj: more sober, more lucid, gayer, less optimistic o Thus the driver who has his new car scratched by an incompetent lady may be moved to call out some deprecatory remark concerning women drivers, without, in his more sober moments, necessarily endors-ing the anti-feminist position implied. SNPo She did sometimes in her glocabeler information to des- pair of ever completing the task she had taken on.o I couldn't remember how I knew he was an adopted child. Perhaps in one of his more com-monicative moments he had told me so himself.in name (only) entitled to bear a name, or dignity, but not functioning or behaving as such o Finally a compromise was arrived at.Nura would marry Rati, but be a husband in n& and only. TOo Well, he may be a minister, but he's a Christian in name only if that's how he treats people. o usu modifies a preceding n, as shown. in the name of sth/ sb [A(PrepP)] naming or using sb/ sth as an authority, precedent, exam-ple, justification etc o: freedom, religion; theCompany, his master o There have been more wars, persecutions and massacres perpetrated in the name of religion than from any other single cause. o ... the encouraging precedent of theClyde Steamer services, which at one timeBritish Railways wanted to contract in the name of the company. SC o These duties will require your direct contact in my name with the several governments, military staffs and agencies of NATO nations. MFMo If what has happened to Dr Verwoerd awakens disgust, how much more disgust is awakened by the things now being done in his name. SC D in the name of sb/ sth common when n refers to a group or organiza-tion; in sb's/ sth's name common when his a pron or denotes an individual (specified by name or function). ◇ △ next entry. in the name of God etc used as an oath,expletive or exclamation; for goodness . etc sake(!)(qv)o: God,△heaven, all that's holy oNow, why does he want to come busting in here,in God's name?o' It's almost time to go and try again. Does anyone want to?’‘in heavers’ s nænso, no!’ said Leicester. TBCo Johnny! In the wǎng of all that's holy! How did you get here?△ previous entry. in the meture of sb/ sth [Comp/A (PrepP)]like sb/ sth; similar (to sb/ sth); as having the character of sb/ sth o Of course, underground explosions are more in the nature of simple out-ward pushes on to the surrounding rock. NSC oThe ease with which he found the stones came in the nature of an anticlimax. ARG o I hoped they would look upon me in the future of an adviser and helper rather than as an overseer or critic.◇△next entry. in the nature of things [Disj(PrepP)] things,circumstances being what they are; as is likely or inevitable, either generally or in particular circumstances o Some productions were, in the na tive of things less good than others and occasionally a kindly critic would give a timely warning. NSo Although in the nature of things it was unlikely that any other baby could have been as sweet as little Stephen, any baby at all would have been better than none. TGLY o His relations with his clients were also cut and dried,very little personal feeling could in the nature of things come into them. PW o front, middle or end position.△ previous entry. in the nick of time[A (PrepP)](informal) at precisely the right, or most opportune, mo-ment; just in time not to be too late (to achieve or avoid sth) V: arrive; save, rescue, sb o Hess(Hitler's deputy) was convinced that there must 310 <311> he statesmen in Britain who could be brought to see reason in the nick of time. NS□On the other side are those who (think) that we should con-tinue as we are going now and that technology will come to the rescue in the nick of time, as always. Lo I nearly cooked a chicken for supper last night but I remembered in the nick of time that Jack's a vegetarian, so we had a cheese souffé instead. in no time (at all) [A (PrepP)] extremely quickly; very soon o GEORGE :I'm all right, I'd like a cup of tea though. MRS ELLIOT: It's all ready. And I' ll get you something to eat in no time. EGD□In no time at all they were buckling on their safety belts and coming down to Wood-hourne Aerodrome, WI o In less than no time Iwould be standing, clammy and paralysed, in front of a group of earnest students. BM□DAVIES:I' ll give you a hand! We' ll put up that shed together! See? Get it done in next to no time! TC□ no may be modified by less than or next to, as shown; front, middle or end position. in no uncertain terms etc[A (PrepP)](speaking) plainly and emphatically so that no one can be mistaken about one's meaning etcV: say so, explain; protest, resist. n: terms,△fashion, manner a l broadcast a printed manifesto forbidding the practice in no uncei-tain terms--and even that did not completely stop it. SDa You see he went on to do what Granny would have called ' coupling your name' withTerence Lambert's and im no uncortain terms.HAA □ This island monster clearly has no con-nexion at all with the Loch Ness Monster and Ihave said as much in the columns of the ' DailyTale' in no uncertain fashion. RMo The word no' didn't exist for her in English: but she had shaken her head in no uncortain fashion. PW in a nutsheli[Disj(PrepP)](informal) in a brief and concisely worded form o Incredibly (when you think about it), the President was running on his record. He was governing and seen to be governing, and that in a murthell was the cam-paign. NS□…… this problem which, in a nutshall,is a problem of the relation between body and mind generally. SNPO often used with v put, as in put in a nutshell (Vol 1)(qv). in one piece [A (PrepP)] (informal) safe and unharmed V: return; escape; be retrieved o We never mixed it with German fighters if we could avoid it, for our main duty was to get home in one piece. RFWo Usually, depressed adolescents endure a few grey years and emerge, more or less in one piece, into adult life. SToI was so glad to see the car back in one piece that I forgoi to ask him if he had filled up the tank again. in sb's/ one's opinion [Disj (PrepP)] as sb thinks; as information, experience etc lead him to believe; in sb`s book (qv); in sb`s view (qv);to my mind (qv); to sb's way of thinking(qv)□But a surgeon specialist at the same hospital said later that he disagreed. He said:' I n my opinion,the vertebra is compressed not fractured.'DMoIhave now much pleasure in announcing the winner of the entry which was, in the unanimous opinion of all the judges, the best. in opposition (to sb/ sth)[Comp/A(PrepP)]fighting, contending, arguing against, sb/ sth;contrary to, or defying, sb/ sth V: be, stand:leave, resign; marry, write o The two wings(of in no time (at all)—— in the past a political party) would not do so well separately and in opposition to each other in an election as they have done together. SCoIf Jenny chooses to marry you in opposition to my wishes. I cannot of course prevent her. in order to do sth so as to do sth; with the aim of doing sth; so that sth will happen, be done,become possible a In order to make these cal-culations it is essential to have as much informa-tion as possible about the terrain through which the road is to go. NSCo Three ministers in theSouth African Government yesterday gave aPress Conference in order to put their side of the case. SC□' Why did we leave so early?'' In order that the old man might go to bed.'o variant, in order that sb may do sth, less often used. in the ordinary way [A (PrepP)] normally;usually; according to(one’ s) usual habits □ You were lucky to find me in . In the ordinary way I'd have been off to work by now.□(advertisement)And although in the ordinary way these books would cost f4,f5 or more, members of the Club are privileged to buy them for only £1! o usu front or middle position. in other words [Conj (PrepP)] put a different way; differently expressed; that is(to say)'(qv)o Without compassion people become self-centred and greedy—— in other words subject to all the Seven Deadly Sins. TO□ Pressure on the surface of an object varies with the depth of the object below the surface of the water. In other words, the farther down you go, the greater the pressure. D front or middle position. in one's/ its own right because of what one is in oneself (by nature, character, achieve-ments, interest, usefulness etc) and not because of a relationship, or connection, with sb/ sth else o There were some prominent Masons in theNational Assembly, but they were influential in their own right rather than as Masons. L oAmong Reich's fellow students was Annie Park,whom he married in 1921 and who later became a well known analyst in her own right. OBSo IfFife is to become a regional authority in its own right, Kirkcaldy is likely to become the ad-ministrative centre for the county. SC o The packaging of goods for sale has become a large industry in its own right. NSC o usu modifies a preceding n or adj, as shown. in passing [Disj (PrepP)] incidentally; in addition; by the way(qv)V: note, observe(sth);state, remark o In passing I would claim that such programmes might well prove what I have always suspected—— that nothing would make more compulsive viewing than the ' unpacking' of the human mind. Lo I note in pussing that it was the judges, who now condemn it, who invented the ritual in the first place. L in the past [A (PrepP)] at a time or times, or during a period of time, before the time of speaking or that has long ago elapsed adj: re-cent; dim and distant o If any of these things were true Guy would not have given up so easily.In the past he had had more tenacity than that.DC□ The fact that rock layers exist which have been folded into mountain ranges demonstrates the action of these forces in the past. NSCo The seal-woman bore seven sons to that exiled son ofClan Donald and thus populated the island withMacroons in the dim pest. RM o In the recent 311 <312> in peace— in/ with regard to sth past there have been unmistakable signs of strain in certain parts of our economy. ◇ in future; in the future; at present; △ at the moment. in peace [A (PrepP)] undisturbed; unharassed;quiet(ly) and free(ly), esp to do as one likes V:live, die; sleep, work o The main object of the couple's lives, the one thing they still had to do before they could die in peace, was to guideRobert into a job where he'd be safe from the sack. CONo ' Oh, there's a man sweeping leaves.'' That's all, dear, Just a man with a barrow. So you can sleep in peace.’ DC in person' [A (PrepP)] physically present, as distinct from being simply known; in the flesh(qv) V: be acquainted with; meet; see, sb□ And when he appeared in person, his conversation continued in exactly the same tone as his letters.AHo She has a charm that more beautiful women often lack. But until you actually meet her in person you can't know what I mean. in person² [A (PrepP)] oneself personally, in contrast with sb else, esp sb acting as an agent or substitute V: attend to, sth; see, interview,consult, sb o You must go yourselʃ. Dr Kingsley will be flattered if you go to see him in person.TBC□Sorry not to look after this in person; I'm madly busy getting ready to go to the States.UTN in a pig's ear [Disj(PrepP)](slang) never; not likely o'I will drive of course. You may sit behind me. In a pig's·aI l may sit behind you, Bowen thought to himself. ILIHo 'I'm sure he's an honest fellow.'' Honest? In a pig's ear! You' re a poor judge of character.’ a‘As a local resident you’ ll be expected to give a donation.'' In a pig's earl will! Let the church-goers see to their own church roof.' o precedes or follows repetition of an immediately previous request, proposal, ex-pression of opinion. in place of sth/ sb [A (PrepP)] instead of, to replace, replacing, sth/sb□(recipe) Make it up in exactly the same way but substitute I level tablespoonful of flour and used vanilla essence in place of the lemon essence. Wi o Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coron-ury arteries has been tried. NSCo The agency have rung up. Do you want another girl sent along in place of Miss Lewis?o Jill has gone to another job. Whoever comes in her place will find it hard to match her efficiency and flair. in plain English [A (PrepP)] bluntly, or straightforwardly, expressed V: express oneself,make one`s point o What I meant in piain En替-lish was that it would be easier to stand him a meal if he was on the spot: but I didn't put it that way. CON□ If you want the flat to yourself for some reason this afternoon, why don't you say so in plain English? ◇ △ plain speaking. in point of fact [Disj(PrepP)] as is actually the case, the truth, a fact; in fact (qv)□ There had been rumours of a Turkish invasion, Now in point of fact the rumour of the arrival of theTurks was entirely true. BNo ' In point of fact. "he told me, ' it's not strictly true that I still have to pick up the checks. Quite often I get a free lunch.' Sfo He looks more like a great musician.a famous surgeon even, than anyone's idea of a painter who is also a genius. In point of factKandinsky began by studying law at MoscowUniversity. Go front, middle or end position. in principle [Disj (PrepP)] (considered) as a general idea, belief, theory, plan (omitting details, special circumstances etc) V: admit, ac-cept, agree (to sth)o Though he(the Minister ofAgriculture) had agreed in principle thatCharollais bulls should be imported at a con-venient opportunity, this would not be done for the time being. To A programme of positive eugenics is unthinkable in a society which res-pects the rights of individuals. But it is in prin-ciple possible. Lo At home she had always been in rebellion against her mother. In principle she accepted and even applauded her. Pw◇△(as) a matter of principle; on principle; on the principle of sth/ that. in private[A(PrepP)] privately; when or where alone, or with one other person V: argue, fight;discuss, arrange, sth o It's when a man—— or woman—— starts to drink a lot in private that he's in danger of becoming an alcoholic.□ I could feel that he was waiting for Luke to leave. He had something to say to me in private. NM ◇ next entry. in public [A (PrepP)] publicly; able to be seen,or heard, by anyone V: argue, brawl; debate,discuss, sth o She could have thrashed bothJames and Bernard for losing their tempers in public. HAA□ He had made his views known in public on many occasions, so his decision not to vote along party lines should have come as no surprise. ◇ previous entry. in(question involved, or already being discussed n: person, gentleman, young lady;affair, publication, travel agency o He asked,‘How’ s Timothy?’' Beginning to fall in love at last,' she said. Gerald asked, ' Do I know the girl in question?’ ASA□ The gentleman in question has had a few brushes with the law in connection with property deals.□ At last the object in ques-tion is usually knocked down(= sold at an auc-tion) to some outsider for ten times the price either student could pay. BM o always modifies a preceding n, which is always common (rather than proper), though the person etc may al-ready have been specifically named. in the raw unrefined; not made to seem more pleasant, acceptable etc than it is n: life, nature,warfare o I admire Ibsen's stagecraft but I find it more and more difficult to sit through hours of life in the rew. HAA□Just in case you leap to the conclusion that the title (‘Savage’) indicates a film about primitive life in the raw, perhaps it should be said that it's no such thing. TVTo usu modifies a preceding n; esp in the collocation life in the raw. in reality [Disj (PrepP)] really; actually; factu-ally, or (more) accurately, considered or defined o The Prime Minister (of France) is responsible to Parliament, but is not in reality head of the Executive. OBS□ The courts call what he does ' breaking and entering'; in reality it usu-ally means pushing in a poorly bolted back door and taking a few pounds set aside for the milk-man. OBS o front, middle or end position. in/ with regard to sth (formal) concerning.referring to, sth; as far as sth is concerned; with respect (to sth) (qv) o: request, application;report, notice, statement o Marshal Tito delivered a report on the tasks before the alliance in regard to the further development of Social- 312 <313> ism in Yugoslavia. SC n With regard to your request for an additional assistant,I can only say at this stage that this is being considered. o Iforesee no difficulties in that regard. 口 variant in this, that regard. ◇△ in terms of sth. in respect of sth (formal) with special reference to (a particular cost, item, time etc)o:rates, water charges, equipment, lighting; the current quarter, financial year o (They) an-nounced that the amount to be expended in res-pect of the current year under the trust deed is£19,157, I on. .. and on the other hand a tendency for like to marry like in respect of intelligence.Lo Substantial increases can be now expected in respect of gas and water costs.◇小 with respect to sth. in response (to sth) {A (PrepP)} as a verbal answer, or physical/ emotional reaction(to sth)o: question, inquiry, appeal; encouragement,provocation D In response to Brigit's question he admitted that they had had fun catching the kitten. DCo If you treat a child with consistent care and kindness you are bound to get some trust and affection in response. □ Money sent in re-sponse to the broadcast appeal will be used to buy blunkets and medical supplies. in return (for sth) [A (PrepP)] as payment.recompense or retaliation (for sth received, or done to or for one) o: your kindness, his in-solence, benefits received o ' She likes to feel one is doing something for her. ’‘And what does she do in return?” PWo Let me buy the gin in return for all your kindness while I have been staying here. □Sarah, plump and placid, gave her a wide friendly smile in return. DC in the right etc spirit [A (PrepP)] with the correct, or a suitable, mental or emotional at-titude or response V: approach, accept, view,interpret. sth. adj: right,△ proper; wrong aMen of first-rate ability described transcendent-al experiences which come to those who, in good health, under proper conditions and in the right spirit, take the drug. DOP□ You' re approaching marriage in the wrong spirit if you' re already making arrangements in case it doesn't work out.□ I would rather have done the job myself but nevertheless accepted his offer of help in the proper spirit. □Ghost stories are perhaps the only kind of folk tale which we can still take in the spirit in which they are offered. O variant in the spirit in which sth is intended/ meant/ offered.in the round [A(PrepP)] in entirety, including all aspects and qualities; solidly; in three dimen-sions V: see, view; describe, capture, sb/ sth oWe do need literary popularisers like Rowse whose enthusiasm for, and love of, Shakespeare communicate themselves to the reader, firing his imagination and making him see the plays, the lines, the characters vividly and in the round.OBS□ One does not expect from anyone's diary history in-the-round. What, however, one is entitled to ask for is some kind of easily recognis-able impression of the author. NSo In a country place characters emerged' in the round' and in variety. AHoMONTY: For her the world is black and white. She can't see shades in character—know what I mean? She can't see people in the round. CSWB in a row successively, one after the other over a long or short period of time o Which jockey in respect of sth---in a sense rode 11 winners in a row in the 1959-60 NationalHunt Season? IO□(of a rugby match betweenScotland and England) It's the fact that we are going for a fourth win in a row over England that makes it important for us not to take them light-ly. RT O usu follows n referring to a number of incidents etc. in the same way [Conj (PrepP)] similarly;likewise adv mod; much, exactly a She swears she didn't mean to leave Nurse Ellen down there to die. In the same way she says she only preten-ded to kidnap the children. DCo Young athletes need encouragement. In much the same way.young artists need the guidance of established performers. in the same etc way (as sb/ sth) [A(PrepP)] using the same etc methods, displaying the same etc features, conforming with the same etc rules or laws, (as sb/ sth) adv mod:quite, just, much, exactly. adj: the same, a dif-ferent; other, various □ One of the hallmarks of ideological Junatics is that they do not use words in the same way as other people. SC□Two child.ren born of the same parents and brought up in exactly the same way may grow up to be very different in character.。 Fred was handsome too.though in a different way, having fair hair and blue eyes. a ' How does this coffee grinder work?' In much the same way as the old one, only it's electric so you don't have to turn the handle all the time. in search of sb/ sthlooking for and hoping to find sb/ sth V: come, go; travel the world oBecause baboons roam widely during the day in séarch of food we do not use hides. NSCo MrBlearney and several of the guests came in search of him. HDo The more people who visit the island in search of peace and quiet, of course, the less likely they are to find it. in secret[A (PrepP)] secretly; without the knowledge of others, or of anyone outside a small group of people who have the same in-formation o First in secret she had to practise walking until she was reasonably strong. DCoThey pretended that they had broken off their relationship but continued to meet in secret.□1daresay that they turned to older religions in times of stress - - - and not entirely in swiet either. in self-defence[A (PrepP)] in order to protect one's life, reputation, rights etc o Any disaster in their view must be the work of terrorists, gang-sters and intimidators. Africans shot in the back must have been shot by the police in self-defence. SCo I felt I had to leave home in self defence. I simply wasn't being allowed to grow up. o legally admissible excuse for killing.wounding, striking sb- - if there is sufficient provocation; legal formula to plead self defence. in a sense [Disj (PrepP)] if interpreted, under-stood, considered, in one way rather than in any of several other possible ways det: one, a certain, another; this, that; not any; some, every□ In a sense, Beaverbrook was not a character of the first imporiance. He wasn't a serious character, he wasn't an Archbishop of Canter-bury or a Home Secretary. L o Thus the con-clusions to be drawn from the list of executions are in no sqrse scientific. Much more detailed 313 <314> in the shape/ form of sth/ sb----in(great/ the grand) style evidence is needed about the background to the murderers and their crimes. OBS Although the father earns a high salary the family would be better off in many s·n;●s if he had a lower-paid job in Britain.□ He is a small, mean little man.Small in every ems@ of the word, with a small man's aggression. EGD o can be used to em-phasize preceding adj, as in last example. in the shape/ form of sth/ sb specifically; in particular (introduces a word or words which provide a particular instance of a general idea introduced earlier)o No provision whatever for advanced level work in the shape of a labora-tory or practical room (had been made). NSCoThis walking stomach (a young racoon) had a quarter of a pound of minced steak or heart, and fruit in the shape of bananas, guavas, or paw-paws. DF o The following morning the boss an-nounced a pleasant surprise in the form of a two-day holiday with pay. □ After facing these dan-gers, he was trapped for us by what he considers a worse hazard—— an interviewer, in the shape of Jim Crace. RT in silence [A(PrepP)] without saying anything o She handed him back the manuscript in silence, with her remarks written between the lines and on several attached loose sheets. TCMoThey sat there a moment in silence. 'I suppose—-' he began. ' We'd better go——' she said at the same moment. WI in a similar etc vein [A(PrepP)] a similar etc mood, manner, style; dealing with similar etc subject matter V: go on, continue, ramble on;work, paint, compose, write. adj: (a) similar,(the) same, (a) different; (a) lighter, popular,melancholy o Many other stories in a similar vein could be quoted from historical writings of many countries. SNP o There were many more tributes in the same vein. We tend to overpraise the dead. NSo’ Those big pop eyes of yours are glinting with lust,’ Charles would have said. ‘Is it the girl or the car?' We would have continued in this vein for some time, becoming more and more outrageous. RATT□ The poem opened with the description of a night out in the vain of' Sweeney Agonistes' (a poem by T S Eliot).designed to show the mastery of vernacular whichEliot felt a modern poem required. ST o often modifies a preceding n as shown; variant in the vein of sb/ sth. in/ into the (wee) small hours [A (PrepP)]in the first few hours after midnight, often as prolongation of the day before V: continue, go on, sit up o Dick Thompson was shot last night,or rather in the small hours. TGLY□So far I had not mentioned to anyone the signal I had received in the small hours of that morning. MFMoIt is not surprising that the discussions that went on into the we e small hours in Craigcrook became increasingly unprofitable. SC in so far as [Conj] to the extent that; in the sense that; in as/ so much as(qv)o But in so far es we are animals, our business is at all costs to survive. DOP□This small boy was something of an exception to the rule in so far as he appeared to seek knowledge rather than profit. BMoInsofar,then, as I was concerned, the ground force com-mand' problem was closed by the end of 1944.MFM O occas written insofar as. in so/ as many words [A (PrepP)] clearly; 314 explicitly; in exactly the same words as are claimed, or reported, to have been used o‘Have you told her definitely that you' re going?'' Not in so my way words.'SPLo No one's said anything,in so many words, but it's fairly clear that you have found some way of improving on the job from the money point of view. HDoI thought he was being a selfish, little pig and I told him so in es my way words. o often neg or neg implica-tions. in the space of sth [A(Prep)] within, during,a period not exceeding a specified period of time o: five minutes, two years, a few hours o(about a series of television films) This week it'sNorway. Then Germany, Denmark and Iceland,all in the space of the next five weeks. RTo There she was sitting talking to me, just her usual self.and then in the space of a few minutes she was dead. □ One can't expect a newly independent state to have solved its economic difficulties in the space of only two years. in spite of oneself (do sth) compulsively or only half willingly, esp contrary to one's for-med opinions, real wishes, etc V: laugh, cry,shudder; go back; watch, listen (to), forgive,envy,sb□' You see,'(and in spite of herself she couldn't help half smiling), there is a woman,a happy, who has got her claws into him.'PWoI' ve seen him settle down in front of TV and be so tired that he falls asleep in spite of himself. a It takes a certain kind of courage to be so ruthless.In spite of myself I almost admire him. in spite of sth [Conj] despite, notwithstand-ing, sth; succeed although opposed or hindered by sth;(fail) although supported or aided by sth o: one's inclinations; poverty, wealth; many warnings, the dangers involved, all the doctor's efforts o The waiting list for Chelmsley (a hos-pital) is 150 and in spite of the over-crowding.in spite of the 40-bedded children's wards,they' re going to try to accept them. NS□Britain.in spite of her wealth and power, was beginning to sense the danger of standing alone in a more hostile world. OBS□ ' The Government can make enormous mistakes and we can still survive.'' As long as we have our Civil Service?’‘No, no. Even in spite of it.'L in (full) strength [A (PrepP)] with force and vigour; with all the resources and/ or personnel available; in large numbers V: attack; be present, turn up o If Rommel attacked in strongth, as was expected soon, the EighthArmy would fall back on the Delta. MFM □(reader's letter) The civilian population used to turn out in strength every evening to watch our guard mounting parade in the town square. RToThe Robinsons from Westhill Farm were there in full strongth down to the latest grandchild. in (great/ the grand) styld[A(PrepP)] on a very lavish scale, or in accordance with high(or perhaps false) standards of social behaviour V:live, entertain, travel, get married □ Phrases like' very fancy' and ' doing it in style'—— that is, in the style in which posh folk are hazily assumed to pass their every day—— strike the same note. UL□ He was born in a seedy area of Manchester and can remember moving(house) with the family belongings piled on a handcart. Now he's doing it in style. TVT□ He and his wife live in style. He is very proud of his children. SPL o Wilders Fer- <315> gus, then a rising man of business, married ElviraSummerfield and set up house in the grandstyle.Lo If this is provincial Rep (= repertory theatre), it is being conducted in the grandstyle.ns o often used in expression do it/ things in style. in succession [A(PrepP)] one after another in an unbroken sequence adj: quick, rapid, swift;unending; monotonous o The tray (of drinks)came past again, and this time I took a couple. In rapid succession I tossed them back. COND He lost three more (fish) in quick succession then handed the rod to Koji without a word. BM oThis' ll be the fourth year in succession that we ' ve not had a proper holiday. O may modify a preceding n. in sympathy (with sb)[A(Prep P)] because,or in order to demonstrate that, one shares the feelings, or approves the attitude or actions etc of others o If she could shed tears in sympathy with a child she would not be able to lie in her own bed and listen to him cry. DC□ During theGlasgow bus strike, transport employees in various other towns declared 24 hour strikes in sympathy. in the teeth of sth battling against, resisting or overcoming sth o: the gale, the wind; the opposition, the evidence; his parents'disapproval o We'd be quicker trying a zig-zag course than rowing in the teeth of this wind. oThe whole idea of these lectures was a pet one of mine carried through in the teeth of a good deal of opposition. ASA□ She won a travelling fellow-ship to Turkey in the teeth of stiff competition from fifteen men. SC in ten etc seconds etc flat [A (PrepP)](in-formal) in a period lasting a few seconds, or as otherwise indicated, but always implying a sur-prisingly short time adj: ten, △ five, eight. n:seconds,△minutes, days, weeks o It was worse than Deadly Nightshade. It would kill us in five seconds flat if we were to eat it. LLDR □ She spent 9 months on the first half of her novel, and then she came back early from holiday and finished the rest of it in three weeks flat. in terms of sth as far as sth is concerned o The new plague is a tic called ' in terms of', which is a bureaucratic substitute for any preposition of real meaning, or simply a way of padding out intellectually thin copy. ' In terms of public opinion,' one paper announced recently, the government's anti-inflation policies are proving popular.' In other words, the government's anti-inflation policies are proving popular. NSo There seems to be no real attempt to ascertain what industries cost the nation in terms of (= in)foreign exchange for imports of raw materials.SC□Th e Social Democratic and Labour Party action, while it can perhaps be explained in terms of(= by) the pressure exercised by theParty's supporters, in fact marks a significant shift by the Party back towards Nationalist poli-tics. Lo In recent weeks, in spite of losing 2-0 toAustralia, West Indies cricket has begun to rebuild itself in terms of strength(= rebuild its strength). OBS o It's a better job in terms of money(or: in money terms)(= a better paid job), but doesn't carry the same prestige.□These figures expressed in terms of a percentage(or:in percentage terms)(= expressed as a per- in succession— in time centage) minimise the situation emotionally.△in/ with regard to sth; with respect (to sth). in that case[Conj(PrepP)] since, or if, that is so (the reference being to a state of affairs, in-cident, line of argument, etc previously men-tioned); at that/ this rate (qv)□ When I say thatI have no references, his face falls. ' in that caseI fear we cannot take you on, he says. STo 'I'm very fussy about tea.' ' You had better make it yourself in that cass.'o front, middle or end position ◇ △ in sb's case. in their hundreds etc[A (PrepP)] in large numbers; abundantly V: come, arrive; die,emigrate; be published. n: hundreds, △thousands, dozenso(advertisement) This is one reason why so many women find a regular glass of Lucozade a comfort in the business of coping with life. And write to say so in their hundreds.To Instruction books on how to sail come in their dozens, most of them routine, dull, dreary. SCoI'm covered in midge bites! They were out in their thousands tonight. in theory…… in practice [A(PrepP)] as sb/ sth should behave, perform, function(according to general principles or laws) contrasted with what sb/ sth actually does, or is only able to do o ' That's all very well in theory,' Gerald ans-wered, ' but it won't be so easy in practice.'ASA□' And you finish work for the day at 5.30 p. m?'' Yes, in theory, but seldom in practice.'o In theory anyway, the missile might be fitted to quite different types of aircraft —— perhaps slower-moving machines with great endurance.NSC □ In practice, mind you, Dawson clearly loves a Lord although he's such an egalitarian in theory. o two parts of expression used together, or separately with the other implied.in this day and age [A (PrepP)] (cliché)nowadays(esp when there is a reference to con-ditions, beliefs or behaviour felt to be suitable or unsuitable in modern times)o There are too many at very low levels of pay and it is not right in this day and age that a significant number will still be earning less than £20 a week. Lo ' Any-way,' Stanley said, squirming, ' it's nothing to worry about. Cataracts don't make you blind,not in this day and age.'TSMP in this respect [A(PrepP)] with reference to a particular factor or feature (or particular fac-tors or features) det: this, that; no, (not) any;every, some, all, certain, other o He was u‘majorities’ man, and was impatient of minorities. In this respect, of course, he ran counter to one of the most important traditions in the Labour Party. OBS□ But forces adequate in strength for the job in hand could be supplied and maintained provided these forces had com-plete priority in all respects as regards main-tenance. MFMo She's rather too severe with the children but an excellent teacher in other res-pects. in time' [A (PrepP)] at, or before, the right or proper time; not too late V: come, arrive, leave;diagnose, find, stop, sth. adv mod; just, precise-ly. A: for dinner; to catch the bus o ' Your parents must be very glad to see you home again.'I nodded. 'I'm glad I came in time to help them out with this.’ RFW a The realisation came ——somewhat belatedly but still in time—— that it was fundamentally a political war. NS□One has com- 315 <316> in time—— in vain pletely lost a crippling backache, another had visited the healer just in time to avoid a gall-bladder operation. NS ◇△ in good time; (all) in good time. in time² [A (PrepP)] eventually; gradually throughout a period of time V: disappear; be solved, resolved, healed o Could one garrulous old lady reduce her niece to desperation? Per-haps, in time, she could, DCo This is a sad and rather comic misunderstanding, but one which will no doubt be cleared up in time. NS o front,middle or end position.◇ △ in good time; (all)in good time. in time (to/ with sth/ sb) [A (PrepP)] main-taining the same rate and rhythm (as sth/ sb) V:sing, dance, sway, pull, stamp. o:(to/ with) the music, each chorus, the chiming of the clock;(with) the conductor, the soloist, each other oSince Miss Brown takes the trouble to play for you, we want you to march out smartly in time to the music.□ He looked on, quietly humming to himself in time with the chug-chug of the engine.□ Th e old sea shanties served a useful purpose in that they helped men hauling on ropes, winches and stays to pull in time with each other. in time of war etc[A (PrepP)] (formal) in/during a period characterized by war etc(esp with reference to conditions which affect na-tions or large groups of people o: war, peace.trouble; famine, hardship, prosperity □ My mother could not come twelve thousand miles from Australia in time of W er to meet Bill's girl.RFWo That's right. It's in time of trouble you find out who your friends are. □ There's a good deal of unselfishness shown in time of adversity.□London was supposed not to be safe for children in war time so I was sent to live with a family in the south-west of England. o more informal variants in war time, in peace time; their attribuse peace-time conditions, war-time conditions. in/ into a towering passion/ rage in/ into an uncontrolled, or frenzied, state of anger V: be(in); get. go, fall, fly,(into); push, put, send sb.(into) o in a towering pass ion at having his new car damaged he dragged the other driver from his seat and punched him several times about the head. □Just being contradicted can put him into a towering rage, but I' ve never known him to sulk or to bear grudges. in a trice[A(PrepP)] very quickly; often in one short swift movement, action, decision etc; in a flash(qv) V: disappear, vanish; be healed o In a t rice Weston had picked up his own special piece of equipment, and nipped swiftly up the steps in time to bring up the rear of the party. To□ The yardsticks by which we can measure these events and judge them cannot be conveyed in a trico. L in true naval etc fashion/ style [A PrepP)]in typically naval etc style or manner adj: naval,military; rustic, man of the world, schoolgirl oThey got off the bus and headed towards GrantAlexander's car. Terry, in true boy fashion,whistled when he saw it. ' Gee! What a beauty!"WID We should have set off an hour before, butAngus in true West Highlend style said there was no hurry and would we not be the better for a dram in our stomachs first.□Birmingham-born but London-based, Carol got her television break in trug evory-book fashion. 316 in turn [A (PrepP)] in succession; one after another; in an orderly sequence $/0: par-ticipants, shoppers, suspects; questions, ans-wers o The younger children came forward in turn to be given a present from the Christmas tree. o Bottwink and Briggs were then searched.in turn, without protest and without result. EMoHe put his left foot on one end of the twisted cloth and screwed the other with both hands. He did this in turn to each piece of clothing and spread the lot in the sun to dry. PM o usu end position.△next entry. in (one's/ its) turn [A (PrepP)] as must hap-pen, or can happen, in the course of events, in a natural pattern of life or work; (act) back-wards and forwards, one person or thing op-posing another o Here, when Spring in its turn does come, there are no false starts. OBS□MrsMaugham was her godmother and she in turn became godmother to the poet and critic JohnLehmann. Lo He never lost his concern for the paper, and we in our turn were totally delighted when he agreed to start writing regularly for the paper again. NS □ He struggled to free himself from the twisting weeds which in turn wrapped themselves more and more closely round his legs.o front, middle or end position. ◇△ previous entry. in the twinkling of an eye [A (PrepP)] in-stantaneously, or very quickly V: change;vanish, disappear 口 (source) …… but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. I CORINTHIANS XV 51-2 oHer moods could change from sweet to sour, in the twinkling of an eye.□I want to win (a bet on a horse race) but I don't want the savings of a lifetime wiped out in the twinkling of an eye.G MARX 口 front, middle or end position. in two shakes (of a lamb's tail) [A(PrepP)] (informal) quickly and easily; almost at once □ As I thought, it's just a loose connec-tion. I' ll have it fixed up for you in two shakes of a lamb's tail. a Don't worry about the money.In two shakes I can be on to Fred about a loan.□ front, middle or end position; sometimes first part can be used alone. in two twos/ ticks [A (PrepP)] (informal)quickly; within seconds or minutes; willingly,or eagerly, and without delay; in a jiffy etc(qv);in a moment etc(qv) o (reader's letter) I don't like to hear people sneering at positions and titles they'd have accepted in two twos if they'd got the offer. SC□ Would I bother the doctor about a little thing like that? Yes I would. In two twos!Go Jim didn't expect the water to be so cold. He was in and out again in two ticks. in u nison (with sb) [A (PrepP)] together(with sb) and at the same time (as sb); in close association (with sb) V: act; speak, shout; con-demn o Once in a while they would act in unison and move a spanner on a particularly difficult nut and bolt. ART□The Church of England, through its leaders and in urison with the Church ofSouth Africa, has constantly denounced the evils of the policy of apartheid. sc o middle or end position. in vain [A (PrepP)] vainly; without achieving a desired result V: die, sacrifice oneself, suffer oThe turnover of tyrants has been frequent and quick enough to ensure that very few freedom <317> fighters can be seen to have died in vain. NS□In vain Sarah had striven to reassure him. WI□It's an enchanted place - - I rack my memory in vain for its counterpart in literature; perhaps you can think of one. p w o front, middle or end position. in sb's view [Disj (PrepP)] as sb sees, under-stands or estimates; in sb's/ one's opinion (qv);in sb`s book (qv); to my mind (qv); to sb's way of thinking(qv)□In the editor's view there was nothing in the article that went beyond legitimate comment und so he printed it.□The films seem to draw on a force somewhere in one's psyche …that's why they really are demoniac in my view.【a In the Russian view diets rich in animal protein are b ud for three reasons — NSC□ BruceMcFarlane, in the view of many fine judges. was the greatest English historian of his generation.ns o front, middle or end position; used in form in sb's view with prons, attrib adjs, and in-dividuals specified by name or function (as in first three examples); form in the view of sb used with nouns denoting a functional or profession-al group, as in last example. in view of sth because of sth; considering sth;bearing in mind the fact or possibility that o /had told Alexander privately that in view of my promise to the soldiers, I refused to attack beforeOctober. MFMa In view of the success you were having, why didn't you stay there? Lo In view of the numbers expected to attend, special parking facilities have been urranged. in sb's/ sth's wake [A (PrepP)] fairly closely behind sb/ sth; following sb's/ sth's path or progress; after sb/ sth in time, usu though not necessarily as a result V: come, follow, leave oIn the wake of the Events of May 1968 theFrench Government found itself obliged to offer something in the way of concessions to its rebellious students. Lo They are artists pure and simple. In their wake come younger artists still in the chrysalis stage, profiting by their inspira-tion. OBS o The article was illustrated by photographs of the damage and destruction the hurricane had left in its wake. o' Come and talk to her, ' said Lucy, and she clove a way through the crowd, Lord Mellings following in her wake.WDM in a way [Disj(PrepP)] not exactly or wholly; if one considers some aspect(s) or detail(s) of a situation etc. det:a, no,(not) any; some, several.many o 'I suppose you are going. ' said Lydia.' Yes, we are, ' said Lady Pomfret. ' I wish in a way we weren't' WDM □ The absent-minded professor--is that the role you cast me for.Sergeant? Well, it is true enough in a way Isuppose. EMo It has always been accepted that the Emperor Theodore was a mad dog let lose.and so he was in many ways. BN□Except for the lighting and the normal technical requirements of a filming session the programme was in no way' staged'. OBs a front, middle or end position. in its/ one's (own) way [A (PrepP)] if one accepts that it/ he has a special character; in a perhaps unusual way which is characteristic of itself/ oneself V: shine, excel, be admirable; love,value, appreciate sb/ sth □ JIMMY:I'm not talk-ing about Webster, stupid, He's all right though,in his way. LBA□ In their own way they are as heavenly as are the great masterpieces of land. in sb's view--industrial action scape painting. HAH□She must have loved him in her way: hadn't she been fond of me and hadn't she left me for Pyle?QAo I still have faith in God in my own way,' he says. OBSo front, middle or end position. in the way of sb/ sth such as sb/ sth; as regards sb/ sth; by way of sth²(qv) n: nothing.not much; something, anything; little, a great deal. O: new staff; change; fresh vegetables.drink; organized planning、 nursing invalids a It won't be very easy for him to absorb many in the way of new staff. OMIH□ There appears to be an absence of strenuous or routine activities in dreams---there is little in the way of working.buying or selling, typing and so forth. SNPu Most of my life is spent in hot climates so I don't need much in the way of clothes. TVTo We have no-thing very remarkable in the way of scenery round here. I' ma fraid,□In the wake of the Events of May 1968 the French Government found itself obliged to offer something in the way of con-cessions to I ls rebellious students. L o usu modifies a preceding n. in a whisper [A(PrepP)] whispering instead of using one's normal voice V: say, confide, an-nounce. adj: low, loud,hoarse□ ' Don't you find it awfully irritating? '' Actually I do, ' AuntAnnubel confided in a whisper, giving a quick.nervous glance towards her husband. DC□T' ll tell you, mate; only keep it under your hat,' he said in a hoarse whisper. BB□ It is a stage convention that other actors do not hear remarks made in a loud whisper for the benefit of the audience. o almost always end position after v. in a word [Disj(PrepP)] briefly; in as few words as possible; in brief/ short (qv)□ From the day our schooldays began, we were taught implicitly,that every other boy was a potential rival. We had, in a word, the perfect training for career·ists. CONo You certainly picked the right person for that job, James: In a word, she's the best engineer this firm's ever employed. o usu introduces summing-up or different wording of sth already described or explained; not to be understood literally. in word and(in) deed [A(PrepP)] not only as one claims, or promises, but also as one does □(source) ... let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.1JOHNIII8□TheVictorians viewed all this with that odd blend of humbug and charity that marks them in word and deed. Lo He's just another of these hypo-crites who are pacifists in word hu l not in deed.□ commonly varied in structure, as indicated.in a year's etc time [A (PrepP)] after a year etc(precisely or approximately) has elapsed n:a year's,▲a year or two's,a couple of months',a week's, two hours' o There may be some action for you, Rose, not now, perhaps in a year or so's time. NM□ The bomb, set to go off in two hours'time, was placed behind a large waste container.□I' ll see you again in a couple of weeks' time.Mrs. Smith. Ask the receptionist to make an appointment for you, on your way out. industrial action [A (NP)] strike, go slow.work-in, esp one backed by a union. V: take.thrcaten; plan, propose □ If the industrial action takes place, it is right that the public should know that the Government stand ready to take whatever action is necessary. STo Perhaps 317 <318> injured innocence----iron rations the progressive Swedes regard it as ' reactionary'not to allow army officers to belong to a trade union, with the right to take industrial action and the risk of being locked out if fellow members of their union are ordered out on strike. SC injured innocence [0 (NP)] attitude of sb wrongfully attacked or blamed o ' Did I see you throw a half-smoked cigarette over the wall just now, Jones?' ' What me, sir?' he replied, the very picture of injured innocence.□(cricket) There was prolonged applause once when he stopped 20paces from the wicket and put down a marker.Proctor revolved with the astonishment of the injured innocent, and took another 12 paces to his usual mark. OBS o usu ironic; variant the injured innocent. innocent of sth' [Comp(AdjP)] not guilty (of sth); completely without an unpleasant qualityS: suspect; loiterer, layabout. V: △ be, seem,appear. O: action; offence, crime; malice oWhatever else Fisher had done he was innocent of that particular crime.□ Even a three year old child may not be innocent of deceit. innocent of sth²[Comp(AdjP)] without, lack-ing, sth; devoid of sth(qv)V:△be, seem, look o She glanced at the plain wooden door, inno-cent of knocker or bell, but made no move to knock or open it. HDo The untarred road wound away up the valley, innocent as yet of motor cars. CWR the ins and outs(of sth) [n+n non-rev] the details, intricacies, complications of sth O: af-fair, procedure, profession o At the back of the announcement that ' Ah (= 1) keep myself to myself there can be a hurt pride. It is difficult to believe that a visitor from another class could ever realize all the ins and outs of one's difficul-ties. UL □ Since the in e and outs of racing——cunning, subtlety, villainy and sheer common-sense—— are so complex they merit a programme to themselves. NSo I knew there had been a tremendous row between them but I never did hear the ins and outs—— not that I want to. inside every fat man there's a thin man trying to get out (catchphrase) a fat man feels he presents a distorted image of his true self to the world□(source) Imprisoned in every fat managementain one is wildly signalling to be let out. THE UNQUIET GRAVE(C CONNOLLY 1903-70)aThey say that inside every fat 游乐 in there's a thin one trying to get out—— and I feel much happier since I lost a couple of stones. o(NONCE)William's barbs are in fact an expression of af-fection and concern for his fat friend, part of a campaign to bounce a thin friend out of her. NS·□(NONCE)I would, however, be the first to admit the validity of the comment‘that inside esch hardened sceptic there is a superstitious old wife crying to be let out.'SC□ But Lord Lamb-ton thinks that playwriting was a second choice not to farming but to politics: ' Like Cyril Con-nolly's fa t men, there's a politiciars struggling to get out of William (Douglas Home). 'sт оadaptation common, as shown here. an interested party a person, or group, who will profit or lose (financially or otherwise) by a business deal etc and is therefore not likely to make an impartial judgement or decision about it o Perhaps he held no shares in that particularCompany, but if his wife did that makes him an 318 inter@ sited party.□(reader's letter) Of course Iknow that the interested parties— builders.speculators or whatever —— can always turn round and tell me that someone deposited a plan somewhere that would have told me all sc into the bargain [A (PrepP)] as well; as sth added to what has already been done, received,given etc o We do the thinking for a bunch of nitwits and allow ourselves to be pushed around by ' em(= them) into the bargain. TBC□ We got away all right, and had a good feed into the bargain. LLDRoIknow it's a bit thick to rob you of a cheroot and then grill you with personal questions into the bargein. HD o usu end position. inverted snobbery the practice of identifying oneself with the lower classes, less educated people, vulgar tastes, etc for no sensible reason,or from affectation, or from fear of being thought a snob o Hence the aggressive ' plain man', the embattled low-brow tone of many columnists and leader-writers; the inverted snobb ery of those film critics who insist that they are ' simple and ordinary men in the street'.ULo She seemed to think every man in a suit was bourgeois, which was just inverted snobbery of the worst kind. the Iron Curtain the Westernmost boundary of the group of Eastern European states politi-cally and economically dominated by theSoviet Union o The phrase‘Iron Curtain’ was first used just about a quarter of a century ago(ie1945) but behind that Iron Curtain there are millions of other small ones that have been an accepted part of the Russian social scene for a great deal longer than that. Lo I just wanted to record my personal conviction that one should meet writers and scholars from behind the iron curtain whenever possible. T o attrib use iron curtain policy, countries, secrecy. the iron enters (into) one's/ sb's soul sb becomes emotionally affected (esp hardened and embittered) by (his own or another's)suffering o(source) .. Joseph, who was sold to be a bond-servant; whose feet they hurt in the stocks: the iron entered into his soul. PSALMSCV 17-18□ He seemed to have recovered from the death of his wife, but the iron entered his soul and he never wrote a note of music again. o‘AScandalous Woman' is a collection worth read-ing. But it will reinforce the iron in the soul of any lady who feels she is getting a raw deal from life. NS an iron fist/ hand in a velvet glove firm control or severe treatment, either applied with such skill that it is not resented, or hidden under apparent courtesy and goodwill □ ' Bernard,'says Lady Dartmouth, ' this kind lady and I are just discussing whether I have an iron hand in a velvet glove. What do you think?’ STo(NONCE)Does that velvet voice (I wonder) conceal m tongue of iron? Has he threatened his cast with dismissal if it does not constantly increase productivity? NS o may be used in part, or allusively. iron rations small pack of food in a fairly con-centrated form carried by soldiers, explorers,climbers etc for use in emergencies □ It was rather like waiting to go out on a raid into enemy territory; we had our iron ratiger, our rope- <319> sb/ sth is dead, but he/ it won't lie down—— it is all in the day's work soled shoes, pocket compasses, our faces were blacked and we had been given full instructions.CON sb/ sth is dead, but he/ it won't lie down(catchphrase) a person, institution, feeling,belief, topic etc continues to exist, exert some influence, or demand some attention, even when he/ it has outlived any real function, or is thought to be destroyed or forgotten o The supermarket killed off his trade but his shop's still there. They' re dend but they won't lie down, both him and the business. □ Twice he dismisses with scorn Professor Wollheim's query: do you or don't you want for ordinary people a higher standard of living? But the query won't lie down. L O (NONCE) Penda died in AD655 and it was not many years after that beforeEngland was fully Christianised. Yet the old dark demon of Penda's England refuses to lie down.RT it/ sb beats me (informal) I cannot under-stand, cope with, sth/ sb cl: why they keep it up;how they do it; what she sees in him o ' Now.what d' ve (= do you) think of the idea?'' It beats me, that's what I think about it.' HD aHaven't you got these dishes done yet? It beets me what you people do with your time. HDo 'l can 't get rhubarb to grow in my garden.' ' Well,why that should be so certainly beets me.'a His teacher at school seems to be able to handle him but he beats me. O weary or baffled comment on events; inversion possible, eg it beets me why he does it = why he does it bests and. it can't be helped there is nothing one can do to improve a situation, undo a wrong or foolish action □(advertisement) Sufferers from indiges-tion have surprised me by suggesting that it can't be helped. DMo They(new nations) may well he more conformist and allow less scope for individual liberty. It can't be helped. Each na-tion must make its own history. RT o You need reussurance from another person. But if it's not there it can't be helped and you must manage on your own. TVTo usu advice to oneself or others that one should resign oneself, forget about sth,go on to sth new, etc. it can't happen here etc(catchphrase) we are safe from sth unpleasant, unjust, dan-gerous, terrifying A: here,△ there; to me, to us□ Years ago when we read of the terrifying range of drug-addiction in the US we thought it can't happen here. Well it hasn't yet (quite). SC□ The word cancer was never mentioned in these early tests and though I did wonder I always thoughtOh no, it can't happen to me.'OBS□Nobody is immune against misfortune. To declare ' It carn-not happen to us.’ is to ask for and to get trouble. Go The invasion of the Falkland Islands has left red faces on those who insisted that it could never happen there. a People who smuggle pets into Britain ignore the very real danger that those animals may carry rabies back to this island. They need to remember that it can happen here. □ esp an expression of blind or smug optimism: variant it can happen here occas used as corrective or warning. it/ that (all/ rather) depends[Disj] perhaps;possibly o ' Would you marry him if he asked you? " Well, I wouldn't like to say. It depends.c 'C' an we watch the football on TV?' the children asked their father. That depends, he replied.' Have you finished your homework?'o' Well, are you coming to dinner on Thursday?" Bill asked teasingly. O occas used, without further ex-planation or elaboration, as vague, or deliberately teasing, answer to question or sug-gestion, as in last example. it does not do to do sth it is not advisable,socially acceptable, to do sth, to take some course of action Inf: to refuse; to be too modest,friendly, talkative; to dress shabbily o‘Mind you. he said confidentially to Gerald. ' it doesn't do to be too modest. You can pass a lot of busi-ness up that way.'ASA□ In the old days it would never have done for a professor to be on such familiar terms with his students. o' How old did you say?'' Seventy-five. Seventy-nine to theCouncil. '' Of course,' said Alec.' Doesn't do to let on too much.'o used as warning or advice.it/ that figuras(informal) it/ that seems right,reasonable or likely a ' Somebody told me he'd won money on the pools. ''I never heard that, but it figures. They certainly have more money to throw around than they used to.'o She finds it difficult to adjust her style of expression to the various narrators. Such phrases as‘That figures, from King Henry are at odds with the carefully studied period background. SC o ' He hasn't taken long to forget Carrie. " Who says he has? I think it figures that a man who has been happily married is more likely than another to want to fill the gap.'o also it figures that as shown. it ill becomess b to do sth(formal) sb's own character, status, record, makes it unsuitable,or even wrong, for him/ her to do sth ad v mod:ill, well; little, hardly, scarcely. Inf: to com-plain, object, criticize, condemn o He had elec-ted eo many years ago(for a life of) scholarship on solid dividends, it would ill become him now to criticize the source of his misspent indepen-dence. ASA□(reader’ s letter) It ill becomes aScottish newspaper, valuing Scottish identity, to decry the right of the Ukraine, a nation of some47 million people, to a seat at the UN. sco ex-pression of somewhat smug disapproval. it/ that is all according(informal) dependent on, related to, a previously stated or implied circumstance, or a likely outcome o Fair enough; but was it worth coming something over a thousand miles to look at this harbour and think these thoughts? Ah, well now, that wes all according, wasn't it? ILIHo I don't know what time he' ll get back. It's all according. O con-sidered substandard. it is all/ as much as one can do (to do sth)one can do sth only with difficulty; to do sth is as much as one is capable of doing in a given line of activity o ' Will you be wanting more pie,Jan?'' Thanks, but it' ll be all I can do to finish what I have.'o No crops were planted. Except in north-west Europe and the far northland it was all Man could do to exist. TBC□' This time last year. he said, it was as much as you could do to get a word out of that girl.'TT it is all in the day's work it is a task or job that one expects, or is accustomed, to do in the course of one's work or duties that is therefore not burdensome or demanding (though per- 319 <320> it is (not) for sb to do sth— it is a question of haps considered so by others) □ But that's hardly fair on Carmichael. Brownsworth object-ted. ' Forget it, ' Carmichael said. It's all in the day's work, for me.'RM□ Despite the problems they insist that it's all in the day's work. TheAbbey puts on about a dozen weddings a year forRoyalty or ' near' Royalty. RTo The warden has proved himself able to bring the best out of the most difficult people. It was all part of the day's work. TCM it is(not) for sb to do sth(not) sb's function or responsibility to do sth o ' When will I be allowed to go home, nurse?'' Towards the end of the week, I should think, but it's for the doctor to decide. ' o it is not for Hanoi to criticiseSaigon democracy but it is a pity all the same that manipulation has robbed the election of credibility. SCo It's not for me to say whether you can borrow the car or not, tonight. You'd better ask Eric.□What people might be driven to do in such terrible circumstances is not for us to judge. □ often neg. it is/ has(just) gone midnight etc it is just after. or within a short time after, midnight or any other named time of day n: midnight,△ten o' clock.5p. m., noon o It's gone midnight and we' ve all got work to do in the morning. o We tried going to a party last Saturday night. I say tried, because it was gone ten before we finally got there. WI a It had just gone nine o' clock when I got into the office but Rankin chose to consider that I was late again. □ pres or past simple tenses. it is idle to deny etc(that) it is mistaken,foolish, or serves no useful purpose, to deny etc sth V: deny, protest; hope, expect, suppose. O:that I'm flattered; his ability; anything better.otherwise o It would be idle to deny that whenLydia had a letter from Lady Pomfret asking if they would dine at Pomfret Towers on Saturday week, she felt slightly uplifted, wDMo It is idle to suggest that Cymediethas yr Iaith (a WelshNationalist Movement) has won more sympathy from ' magistrates' benches' than it has from the public generally. NS it/ that is just as well it/ that is fortunate or desirable (that a situation is, that sth has been done or has happened, as described) cl: that Istayed at home, that I didn't say anything, that you can't understand Spanish o ALISON:Mummy made me sign everything else over to her, when she knew I was really going to marryJimmy. HELENA. Just e: well. I imagine. LBA□Helen says we' re sailing on the eleventh of May.I shan't be seeing you much longer. ' ' Just me well for you. he said. ' Ending this is probably the most sensible thing you' ve done. 'AITCo As a revolutionary. Buchner was a failure. Perhaps that is just as well, or we shouldn't have had the play's. Lo HELEN. I' ve come to look after you. It's just is well by the look of things. TOH□It is just# s well that the schoolteachers themselves are not expected to participate in this refreshing .ordeal, because some of them would not fare too well . SC o often used alone as an elliptical reply,or comment on sth already mentioned; variant it is just as well that.◇△ as well do sth(as do sth else); may/ might (just) as well do sth. it is (just/ quite) like sb to be/ do sth (in-formal) sb acts as his character or usual habits . would lead one to expect o Then he offered me his cigarette case. It was like him to carry cigarettes for his visitors, though he did not smoke himself. NM□ Ned smiled as if it were just like Robert to forget who his real friends were.CON□/ tisn't like me to come empty-handed, butI' ve been down in the cow sheds with the men.WDM o We got into Ned's car without another word. It wasn't like Ned to be so taciturn. CONit is more than one's job is worth (to do sth) to do sth would mean being dismissed from one`s employment Inf: to let you in without a pass, to tell anybody that, to falsify my report o Strict regulations, sir. It's more than my job's worth to let you in without a pass.o... stuck in freezing dressing-rooms, pacifying the ' jobsworths'- - theatre hands who always tell you it's more than their job's worth to do anything at all—— and ending up exhausted. TVTit is no wonder (that) it is/ is not surprising(that) det: no,(not) any;a; small, little o He was lucky to get off with shock and afew bruises. It's a wonder he wasn't killed.□it's nowonder you can never find anything when you want it. What's the good of having filing cabinets if you won't use them?□ How cold and gloomy it is in here. No wonder you had a nightmare. DC o The Austin wasn't up to much - - - and no wonder after seventeen years' misuse. RATT□It is smallwon-der that attempts have been made to use posi-hypnotic suggestion as a curative agent. SNP oMost of the audience left before the performance ended, and little wonder. o variant no/ small/little wonder(can be used as comments on some earlier statement). it is not/ has to be it (usu an unwelcome event or situation) is unavoidable, must be accepted,is ordained by fate, etc o Although I don't look forward to the children growing up and leaving home I know it has to be . □ It was a big change to go over to basing our defence organisation on nuclear weapons; but it had to be. MFM o He might well have been defended by a far worthier pen than mine. It wmis not to be, however, for,worn out with his valiant struggle for peace,Lionel Stokesay died in 1940. ASA口 pres or past simple tenses. it is only a little one (facetious) an illogical reason given to excuse or mitigate sth(illogical beca use size is irrelevant to its(un) suitability)o(source—— referring to having given birth to an illegitimate baby) If you please, ma' am, it with8 very little one. MR MIDSHIPMAN EASY (FMARRYAT 1792-1848) □ Perhaps it is not for this reviewer to talk, since he produced a book onJohnson himself, but as the girl said, it was only a little one,a wicked published me, andI have promised never, never to do it again. NS□It is not only the piano that is grand (and its owner would clearly scorn to plead that it is only a little one); here is a hint of the grand manner as well—— and that is something that is rare in contemporary life. To stress pattern it is only a' little one. it is a question of what is really involved is;the essence of the matter is; a matter of(qv) adv: only, all, chiefly, simply, just. o:atmosphere, compromise; what I want; getting him to accept, restoring his self-confidence □' You see,' explained Simenon, ' it's all a ques- 320 <321> it is a woman's/ lady's privilege to change her mind--it/ that will never/ won't do tion of atmosphere. The story counts but people count more. I watch people. I read. I think. Bit by hit the characters build up.'RTo And in this case the interests hadn't even been conflicting; it was just a question of acquainting each party with what the other wanted for full agreement to be reached. Pwo'I didn't see that the man was vul-gar in any wav. '' It's not aquestion of that. You don t understand. Americans. if you' ll forgive me, Spenser, don't understand the difference bet-ween being a gentleman, and just not being one. "AITCG‘Where would you like me to book you a room?"I'm afraid it's not a question of whereI'd like you to book me one, but whether you can book me one that I can afford.'o I can't tell you if James will be free to help you this summer. It's a question of whether he's accepted for this training course or not. it is a woman's/ lady's privilege to change her mind (saying) reversing, or changing, a decision previously made is tolerated when done by a woman more readily than when done by a man □ NORAH:I thought you were going to the club. JOSIE: It's e woman's privilege to change her mind. EGDo'I don't like this wallpaper after all. Is it too late to change my mind? '' It's a lady's privilege,isn't it?'p first part can be used alone alluding to second part, as shown. it never rains but it pours (saying) in-cidents, troubles, visitors, business orders, etc tend to come together in large numbers or in rapid succession o '(Your) classroom's been mucked up.' 'I would be late this morning of all mornings.’ And it's all over the School,' she said,' You were supposed to be on playground duty.'' Christ Almighty! It never bloody rains but it pours! I quite forgot.’ TT it pays to do sth it is profitable, or advan-tageous, to do sth; one is wise; or sensible, when one does sth adv: always, never, sometimes oAnd so the chain went on, and because it pays to advertise, and all good goods are advertised goods, the advertisers were happy, the readers were happy, and the editors may be. PPo' They certainly cause some damage.’ But the French find it pays not to complain. English day-trippers have brought the unfashionable Channel ports a taste of big business. TO。 There probably wouldn't be a mike in a place like this, but it's the drill, you know, that counts. You' ll find it always pays in the end to follow the drill. OMIHoIt never pays to believe you must be cleverer than your opponent. ◇ crime doesn't pay. it/ that remains to be soon sth is not yet known or decided cl: whether it will succeed;how it is to be managed; what the reaction will be o What Mr Laird is trying to do— and it remains to be see n whether he will succeed----is to reduce the risk of waiting for trouble. SCoIt remains to be sén whether I would ever again he able to hold a conversation with Hugo. UTNo' They' re taking action. But how effective it will be and how long it will last remains to be seen,said an official. SC o 'I think I'm your man.Professor Neave.’‘That remains to be seen,Neave answered. ART O usu followed by clause beginning that, what, how, when, or esp whether,or with such a clause replacing it as S, cf it remains to be seen how long and how long remains to be swn. it shouldn't happen to a dog nobody should have to suffer such misfortune, punish-ment, pain, abuse etc S: it, that (kind/ sort of thing) □' Echoes of a Summer': glutinous slop about a kid dying of a bad heart and her divided parents; shouldn't happen to a dog, certainly not to Jodie Foster. NS it so happens (that) by chance it is true, it is the case, that o Something gleamed palely on the fist. It so happened that Charles had never seen a knuckle duster before, but he recognized it. HD□ He would have been travelling on the train that crashed if it hadn't so happened he'd been work- ,iing late that night. o if it hadn't (so) happened he'd been working late = if he hadn't happened to he working late. it takes all sorts etc(to make a world)(saying) people vary very much in character and abilities and this is necessary and desirable n: sorts,△kinds, types□ People have their own ideas. Some like danger. Some like security. It takes all sorts to make a world. PPo Palmer said icily that fire-irons weren't iron. they were brass. ' Seems funny to me calling them iron then,' said Ruby. ' But it takes all sorts to make a world.'WDMa 'I don't understand Bill. How can anyone spend so much time fiddling with a car?’' It takes all kinds— he probably thinks you' re silly spending every Saturday afternoona t afootball match.'o sometimes a(tolerant) com-ment on sb's peculiar habits or nature; first part can be used alone alluding to second part, as shown. it takes one all one's time (to do sth) one can just manage, and no more, to do sth; one does, achieves, sth with some difficulty Inf: to do the housework, to keep the weeds down, to manage the accounts o Our collection had reached such proportions that it took us all our time to cope with it. DFoHELEN: Anyway, it's your life, ruin it your own way. It takes me all my time to look after myself, I know that. TOHo emphasis may be on time it takes (to do sth)or on effort expended. it takes two to do sth some actions or situa-tions are such that one person alone cannot be entirely responsible— another must share the blame or credit Inf: to make a quarrel, to build up a happy marriage, to call a truce o Remem-bering that it takes two to make a quarrel I held my tongue, a Had we parted or not? It seemed like it, yet somehow I felt sure that Myrtle had not. It takes two to make even a parting. SPLoIt appears that she found him uninteresting in bed. Well it takes two to make a marital failure.NS it/ that will never/ won't do a comment on an occurrence, situation or state of affairs that is unsatisfactory and should be remedied--in-dicating either sympathy or an intention to en-sure that matters are improved o Mr Charlton confessed that he had no car. Pop was stunned.' No car, no car?' he said. ' Thet' ll never do.'DBMo It has not escaped my notice. Miss Ross.that you' ve been coming in late every second or third morning. What you may not realize, and what I am now pointing out to you, is that it just won't do. c In 1864 Theodore had clapped in chains one of Her Majesty's consuls. This clearly 321 <322> it's all in the mind— it's the thought that counts would not do and a British rescue mission was mounted with a field-marshal at its head. OBSit's all in the mind (catchphrase) mental at-titudes, not physical conditions, influence one's state of health, behaviour, reactions etc$: it;travel-sickness; whether you' re too old at 40 oYou could get high on water if you believed it was whisky. It's all in the mind. o(professional footballers over 30) Whether you carry on or not is all in the mind, not the body, and some of the blokes around today prove that. TVToIs there an organic difference that explains why some people get seasick and others don't or is it all in the mind? it's as simple etc as that(informal) no other explanation, or reason, is necessary adj: simple,△easy, straightforward o I' ve an open mind. If you believe in them (angels), that makes them believable. If you don't, not, It's as simple as that. AITCo The advertisement said ' Satisfaction guaranteedor your money back' but, in the event,it wasn't as straightforward as that. oPEPPER:After all, what happens when a boxer gets knocked out in the ring? He's lost the fight. It's as simple as that. ART O often neg. it's the gipsy etc in one it is that gipsy-like part of one's character, (developed by back-ground, upbringing etc), which makes one behave in a certain way n: gipsy, Puritan, ideal-ist; Frenchman; journalist, artist oJO: I'm never at one school long enough to show them some-thing. HELEN: That's my fault, I suppose. JO: You will wander about the country. HELEN: It's the gipsy in me. TOH o ' He's married now but he's still got a roving eye.’' It must be the Latin in him.'o I'm in love with you, and that's as plain as can be. You and you alone bring out the gipsy in me. POPULAR SONG it's an ill wind (that blows nobody (any)good)(saying) few situations, or events, are so unwelcome or disastrous that nobody at all gets any benefit or profit from them, “one person’ s misfortunes may be another's good fortune o(Already redundant) scientists and engineers from the factories in the West of Scotland are looking to the teaching profession which may find that it is an ill wind which blows nobody good. SC□But for whom is any weather ' worse'?Sunbathers? Skiers? Tomatoes? Ducks? Ob-viously any weather is good for some people and purposes, so why label it? it's an ill wind. OBS□sometimes first part can be used alone with the rest implied. it's later than you think (catchphrase) there is less time, or opportunity, left to achieve sth,or avert disaster etc, than one deceives oneself into believing□(source) Ah! the clock is always slow;//t is later than you think. SPRING (R WSERVICE 1874-1958) o Enjoy yourself! It's later than you think. POPULAR SONG o There's still a hard campaign ahead for those who see the need for persuading the rest of us that it is later then we think. NS it's a long road/ lane that has/ knows no turning (saying) nothing goes on for ever;there is sure to be a change some time that will give relief, or improvement o We didn't reach it after. But we will. Very shortly. It's a long road that has noturning, as they say. THH□(reader’ s letter) I hope that these children may grow up 322 into a different community in Denby (as anEducational Priority Area). The process may be slow, but it's a long, long lane that has no turning. L it's love that makes the world go round(saying) usu a comment on love between people as both desirable and necessary (translated from an anonymous French song) o And the moral of that is—— Oh it's love, ' tis love, that makes the world go round! ALICE IN WONDER-LAND (L CARROLL 1832-98)□ As the squat mauve figure walked off with her chin pressed close toEric 's shoulder, they reminded Bernard of Alice and the Duchess. It's love, he thought, that makes the world go round. HAAoIt's not love,but money that markes the world go round for the villains in ' The Sweeney'(TV series) on Mon-day. TVT it's never too late to mend (saying) it is always possible to (try to) improve one's character, habits, attitude to others, however long one has been wrong or at fault o' Do you think I should go back and live with Rob again?‘You can try. It's never too late to mind and the breakup may have made him see sense.’ it's not what you do etc, it's the way that you do etc it (catchphrase) the effect,impact, of an action depends on the style,manner, in which it is performed V: do, say, use,wear, play o ' Listen to him trying to convince himself,' said Goldy.' Ever hear that Fats Waller song, “It's not what you do, it's the way that you do it''? Well them's(= those are) my senti-ments— some can, some can't.’ TT o It's not what I say to people. it's the way that I say it.People believe me when I say something 's going to be great. OBS□It's not what you wear, it's the way that you wear it—— meaning that you don't necessarily have to spend a fortune to look good. TVTo' What do you suggest I write about,then, to stand a chance next year?' ' It isn't so much what you write as the way that you write it.’ ST it's a small world (saying) one is likely to meet, or hear about, someone one knows or has some connection with, however distant,anywhere one goes o ' That's all right, MrsSouthcott,' he said. ' You know my name?'' It's asmall world,' he said. TTo When I boarded the train at Milan the only other occupant of the compartment was a neighbour of ours in Leeds.' Well, well it's a small world,' I said as we shook hands. a I remember suddenly looking up over Robert's shoulder and seeing two familiar faces. ' It's a small show,'I said. I think I meant to say ' It shows what a small world it is.'CONit's (quite/ really) something (informal)it's an important, valuable achievement,possession etc o It's something to have a family after all, nuisances though they can be at times. PWo Her last novel he calls one of the very few significant modern works of fiction'. D SSavage is a hard man and coming from him that is really something. L o Being independent is quite something. o in second example, that refers back to earlier statement; last example =It's quite something being independent;variant it's no small thing. it's the thought that counts (saying) the goodwill, or affection, that lies behind an <323> action, gift etc is more important than the action etc itself □ (Boy gives Jo a ring) Jo: Did it cost very much? BOY: I got it from Woolworths!JO:I'm not proud. It's the thought that counts.TOH o 'I came down to help you cut the sandwiches, but I see you' ve done it already.'' Never mind, it's the thought that counts.' an ivory tower studies, interests(esp academ-ic or artistic) that cut one off from the realities,struggles of life; observation and imagination in place of direct experience (first used by theFrench critic, SAINTE-BEUVE(1804-69), about the poet, de Vigny, en sa tourd' ivoire)□ There were indications that the chief constable lived some-what in an ivory tower, barely able to accept that men under his command could be guilty of truly infamous conduct. To SARAH (posing the real question): What's wrong with socialism that you have to run to an ivory tower? The city is human beings. What's socialism without human a jack in office(derogatory) an official, esp in a public or administrative post, who feels his position makes him very important and often behaves in a way that causes him to be resented by subordinates or clients o But he really must repair the damage. If he doesn't use the authority that becomes him, all the little jacks-in-office and the ignorant arrivistes(= upstarts) will win.HAA□Busy Mr Creevey, the Whig diarist, tes-tified with equal fervour to the Duke's amazing naturalness and absence of pride: ‘considering the impostors that most men in power are—— the insufferable pretensions one meets in every Jack in Office-the uniform frankness and simplicity of Wellington makes him to me the most interest-ing object I have ever seen in my life.' Sto capital or small J. Jack is as good as his master(saying) an employee is not, or need not necessarily be,inferior to his employer; an employee's worth is equal to that of his employer o(reader's letter)At least these programmes prove one thing: the touching of the forelock days are over, and Jack is as good as his master--and more power to his lungs on this type of show. RTo The Member(of Parliament) is no longer to be regarded as the superior person whom the constituency should be jolly grateful to have. This almost egalitarian,Jack's-as-good-es-his-master spirit informs the whole report. NS o attrib use a Jack's-as-good-as-his-master spirit, attitude; always capital J; may be used ironically to deplore trends in modern industrial relations; the ex-pression more power to his lungs is a play on more power to his elbow(qv). a jack of all trades (and (a) master of none) (saying) sb who can do varied types of work; sb who has knowledge and ability in varied skills and crafts o Wolfenden described the background of a typical rural policeman.' He has to be a Jack of all trades. For minor crimes like petty theft, he sometimes has to change into civilian clothes and act as his own CID (=Criminal Investigation Department) officer.' an ivory tower—a jaundiced eye etc beings, tell me? ITAJ□ The ivory tower it would seem is close to being a sweat-shop, and the academic tots up nearly as many hours as the average senior business executive for very much less pay. SC a She is not interested in ivory-tower couture but designs clothes that the ordinary woman can wear and look good in. RT□ attrib use an ivory-tower mentality, detach-ment etc. the ivy League the group of older US uni-versities (including Harvard, Yale、 Princeton,Columbia) conferring academic and social prestige on those who have taught or studied there □ Even if McGovern had been underplayed by the British press, why should that be a matter for Ivy League professorial rebuke? NS o You would be a party surrounded by fellows with theirIvy Lengue suits and dreams of safe havens inIBM or some other secure corporate body. RTOattrib use an Ivy League campus, professor etc. TVT o (NONCE) This is a malpractice, I have noticed, to which historians talking about literature are particularly prone, sometimes evenChristopher Hill, that highly distinguished jack of all trades and Master of Balliol. Lo Her father, Reuben ' Buck' Clafin, was m feckless.loutish jack-of-all-trades who wandered theMiddle West, in and out of jobs. OBSo(NONCE)/was a jack of all subjects and a myster of none, but General Papers(in exams) went down before me like ninepins. NS□Natural prostaglan-dins are such jacks of all trades that unwanted side effects tend to be numerous and severe. NSo(NONCE) Maybe it's because of her parentage thatStacey Gregg who plays Lynn Baxter in ' Cross-roads' is such a Jill of all talents. 口 capital or small J; sometimes hyphenated; sometimes derogatory implying no real ability in any of the trades; occas a Jill of all trades(and (a) mistress of none) used to describe a woman and derived from the traditional pairing of Jack and Jill, as in the nursery rhyme of that name. jam tomorrow(catchphrase) the promise of,or confidence in, better conditions of life, work,pay in the (near) future; pie in the sky (qv) o(source) The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday— but never jam today. THROUGH THELOOKING-GLASS (L CARROLL 1832-98)□ With the most promising movies one or two months hence,it' sa case of jamtomorrow. But make a note of' Theatre of Blood' opening in London on May31. ST □ There remained just one major uncer-tainty. It was the state of the domestic economy and the extent to which its difficulties might over-shadow the jam-tomorrow prospect of theCommon Market. L o There are other sharply observed characters, notably Peter's richBelgravia parents, father a fascist-minded brigadier, mother a White Queen with thoughts of jam yesterday. L o attrib use a jum-tomorrow attitude, prospect; last example con-tains allusion to source. a jaundiced eye stc [O(NP)] a way of con-sidering sb/ sth characterized by (prejudiced) 323 <324> one's jaw drops--& Job's comforter disfavour, disgust or disillusion V: have, cast...on; take; look upon with. n: eye; △ view, out-look □ Perhaps I was still looking at the world through jsundiced eyes, but I soon become unable to concentrate, to feel enthusiastic about the exam, or to see any future in the medical profession at all. DIL a In the past most schemes have failed to reach their target profits because the prices kept falling below forecast. So a more jaundiced view is now being taken of forecasts.ST □ ' You' re back!' said Lily and cast a jaun-diced eye on him. ‘What do you want this time?’one's jaw drops one's face shows astonish-ment or disappointment, perhaps by gaping a little o People's jews drop when Don Ferguson(composer of sentimental verses for GreetingsCards) tells them what he does for a living. 'l often hear a muffed ' Oh my God,' and some people even walk away from me.'TVT o Dennis had insisted on paying for the meal but his jew dropped when he saw the bill. (a/ Dr) Jokyll and (Mr) Hyde [n + n non-rev] sb who has, or seems to have, a dual per-sonality, who shows two apparently contradic-tory aspects of his character (from DR JEKYLLAND MR HYDE (R L STEVENSON1850-94), a story of physical and mental transformation by a mys-terious drug) o ' Alec, are you the man who is making the anonymous telephone calls, or not?"'I don't know,' he said. ' If so,I am unaware of it.But I may be a Jokyll and Hyde, may I not?'MM□ There is the haunting fear that behind the urbane face of the Turkish Government's DrJekyll lurks a Mr Hyde. That a duality exists inTurkey's psyche, creating complex internal ten-sions, is undeniable. OBSo So who (or what) isJohn Smith (= any average person)? This an-cient question can be as perplexing for the in-dividual himself as for the sages who try to under-stand the Jekyll and Hyde character of human life. RT□ attrib use the Jokylla nd Hyde charac-ter of life. the jet set(informal) people who on business and/ or for pleasure can afford to travel frequently and far (ie by jet aircraft) and live expensively and luxuriously in other respects also o Building luxury hotels at £100 a night for the jet set is not what I call industrial develop-ment for the benefit of the islanders. o' What's his line?’‘Earth-moving machinery — GeneralManager in Singapore and points east for a world-wide company.' Oh, one of the jot set.'o(opera) I suspect, but have no proof, that this is not laziness but due to the fact that the power of visiting get-set singers is such that nobody dares to direct them, even if there is time. NSoWANDA:You think I look like a jot-setter? But I'm not!I'm a part-time housewife, part-time mother and parl-time actress. RT o attrib use a jot-set life-style; n compound a jet-setter. the jig is up (saying) all hope of success in a scheme, plan or deception must be abandoned o (of the film industry) To hear some people talk, you might think that the jig wesup; annual admissions halved since 1963. the number of cinemas reduced by a quarter. OBS□A week or so later, w han the spokesman finally had to admit that the jig was up in the East, one local news-man conceded to me that perhaps the BBC hadn't been lying after all. L ▷ △ the game be up 324 (Voll). the job etc in hand [O/o (NP)] the task or occupation one is already engaged upon, that is one's immediate concern V: tackle; get on with,get down to, cope with. m: work, △ task, busi-ness, matter a He could do far more for his chosen profession in getting on with the job in hand than by interfering in the detailed scholar-ship of a period that was not his own. ASA □' Engineers, ' Douglas Birkinshaw explained,have a habit of concentrating on the job in hand.What one thought of most was getting the best out of the equipment-at that time.’ OBSo... swel-tering and freezing alternately, grumbling,throwing up hands in despair, and somehow get-ting through the job in hand. Lo The proceedings were then opened by Lydia who briefly stated the business in hand, namely to choose a secretary and treasurer for the Committee. WDMoJustin's mind, as so often, is occupied by thoughts other than those appertaining to the practical matter in hand. BM a job lot [Comp (NP)] a miscellaneous collec-tion of persons or articles, usu approximately all of a kind but not differentiated or sorted out according to their value or usefulness V: △ be,seem; find sb/ sth o While this conversation was going on the rest of the company had been look-ing through the properties(= costumes etc for amateur theatricals). They were rather a job lot,lent with an enthusiasm that hardly made up for their deficiencies. WDMo' What a beautiful old plate!"' Yes, it was the only thing worth having in a job lot of crockery Ipicked up at an auction for£12.50, but a bargain at that.’ o The extra student helpers were the usual job lot you'd ex-pect after scraping around at the last minute. a job of work [Comp(NP)] a difficult, impor-tant task or commitment; sth worth doing or that has proved to have been well done V:△be,become; look like. adj: real, hard; good, satis-factory, splendid □ An assignment is a job of work that overrides any personal feelings a reporter may have. DM□(They) shuffled in and out of the Ministry under Mr Healey's awful eye,and hoping to God that they would move on soon to a pòst where there was a real job of work to be done. ST o To vary the pace and tone of your reading to suit a wide range of stories over almost half an hour is a hard job of work. L o The surgeons did a good job of work on my smashed knee-cap and I was able to get about fairly easily after a couple of months. a Job's comforter sb who perhaps means to sympathize with a depressed or unhappy per-son but who depresses him/ her further by pointing out the hopelessness of his/ her case,that worse may still be to come etc; one who offers' cold comfort'(qv)o (source) Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all. JOBXV!1-2 o When the marathon talk-in at No 10 Down-ing Street(residence of the British Prime Minis-ter) finally broke up without agreement, it then became open season for the chorus of Job'sComforters and the massed prophets of gloom(if not doom). Lo ' Well, do exactly what the doctor says. A cousin of mine ended up losing the sight of an eye over an infection like that.'' Thanks very much! You' re a proper Job's com- <325> forter, aren't you?' jobs for the boys the provision of paid em-ployment for favoured groups within a hier-archy, profession, administration etc(the im-plication being that the work of these groups is not really necessary) □(advertisement) At the same time they' ve turned the old feudal, pater-nalistic structure upside down so that it's no lon-ger soft jobs for the boys but work for those who are able and ambitious. ST o And he would not run it like a museum curator. No more jobs for the boys in the BBC Scottish SymphonyOrchestra, allowing them to bow 'n blow us their repertoire of TV programme theme music. LoLook, Dad, I'm really keen on the engineering course. The days of teacher, librarian or other jobs for the girls and then with luck a quick marriage are over.口 last example ironic play on headphrase.◇△a soft job. jog/ nudge sb's arm/ albow(to do sth) [V+ O pass] touch or push against sb's arm with one's own as a signal that he/ she should notice sth, do/ say or not do/ say sth;(fig) remind, per-suade, pester sb to do sth o I' ve told your hus-band he' ll have to book in good time, so you jog his arm when he seems to be forgetting.□ Jane nudged my arm when they asked if anybody spoke French but I didn't want to be involved in the argument.□Th e Department have been jog-ging my elbow to get all the reports in before the new Director takes over, o He jogged the waitress's arm and she dropped the heavy tray she was carrying. Bits of china were scattered everywhere. o last example shows literal mean-ing of expression ie‘give a slight knock to sb’ s arm/ elbow`. jog one's/ sb's memory[V + O pass] remind sb of about something; help or stimulate sb to recall sth o Never heard of anybody called MaryWoodson, eh? Well, here's a snapshot of her and you together at Newmarket that might jo g your memory. o He emptied his pocket of the notes and scraps of paper he had used to jog his mm-ory and document his story over the previous days . DS□'I think Alan's forgotten all about that fiver I lent him.’' Then I think it's time you gave his memory a jog.'o variant give sb's memory a jog; also p l give their memories a jog. John Bull the English nation; a nickname for,and a burly symbolic figure representing (in political cartoons etc), the typical average Eng-lishman o John Bull at any rate went about his empire-building without troubling his head over universal ideas. Lo ' It'd be better all round if you'd take that thing off your eyes, Mr Lamb.and get on with your work, ' he said, the honest,bluff John Bull. CONa This is Shaw the Irishman speaking: and, if we wish to be reminded why his other island(= Ireland) continues to hold JohnBull in such loathing, we should listen. o last example refers to the play JOHN BULL'S OTHERISLAND (GBSHAW 1856-1950). a Johnny-come-lately a person who has recently joined a social admin istrative or working group (which does not like him to presume equality with or superiority to existing members) □ ' Long-distance driving used to be a specialised job, John explains. ' But now the roads are crowded with new, young“Cowboys”out for a quick buck.' What angers the old hands jobs for the boys— jolly well most is that these Johnny-come-latelys, with their heavy drinking and brawling ways, give lorry drivers a bad name. RTo We simply stand dumbfounded before these natural cathedrals(canyons in Utah, US). Here man himself is aJohnny-come-fately. Lo It is a sad, but safe,bet that when the first Nobel award is given for research into extra-sensory perception it will not go to any long-serving member of the Society forPsychical Research but to some Johnny-come-lately convert.NS o attrib use a Johnny-com@-lately convert. join the fray [V + O] become a participant in a fight, contest, argument(or simply some fair-ly lively activity) that is already taking place oWe passed a dog fight. Buster was only too eager to join the fray but I had him on the lead and hurried on as fast as I could.□(an electoral con-test) Mr Kudal had a lot of influence in certain low quarters. That is why people get worried when they hear Kudal has joined the fray.'STo‘What's happening?’‘Billy’ s birthday party.Come in and join the fray. ' But Mr Bolton ex-cused himself, saying he would call again another day. jolly good(1)(dated informal) exclamation, or emph comment, of approval or admiration o '/think he's gone and extended his sick leave. Since he saw the doctor. Going to stay another week or two.' ' Perfick (= perfect). ' Pop said' Jolly good.' BFA□' We' ve planned a picnic, if you want to come. '' Oh, jolly good! When do we start?' a jolly good dinner etc(informal) a very,thoroughly good dinner etc; thorough, com-plete, punishment etc n: dinner, meal;discussion; dressing-down, hiding(= beating)o You know from the way he talks about the kids and his work that he must be a jolly good teacher. aI know several restaurants where you can get a jolly good menl for less than £5 a head.□' You do that once more' his father said, looking up from his paper, and I' ll give you a jolly good hiding.'o And we can control a whole area from this height. We have a jolly good search every night before the guard goes on duty. ST O in last two examples, good means‘thorough, com-plete’; in all examples jolly intensifies adj good.jolly hockey sticks (catchphrase) a manner or language suggestive of schoolgirl life and interests, esp the breezy, athletic style once associated with English public schools for girls o The first impression is a manner which would do well opening the choicest of country fêtes, and a vocabulary rich with ' chum', ' crumbs' and bags of jolly hockey-sticks advice. Go Fiona Monro-Crighton brings a touch of jolly hockey sticks,St Trinian's style, to the opening of an exhibition of lithographs by Ronald Searle. SC□(headline)Not so Jolly Hockey Sticks: Glasgow SherriffCourt was told that Mr Purba, who plays for one of the Indian hockey sides in the city, grabbed his hockey stick from under the counter and chased the masked youths from his shop. SC o hockey sticks may be hyphenated. jolly well' [A (AdvP)](informal)(do sth) very well, ably, satisfactorily o My grandfather's not one of the helpless kind in a house. He can cook a meal and iron his shirts, and do it jolly well.too. I end position after v. 325 <326> jolly well- - - - just about jolly well²[A (AdvP)] (informal) certainly,most emphatically (do sth) o ' Will you come back for me?’‘No. If you don’ t want to come now you can jolly well walk home.'□He is both grate-ful for his good fortune, and convinced that he has jolly weH earned it. NSo Don't keep saying thatTom couldn't have been there, I'm telling you he jolly well was. o middle position only betweenS and v. a jot or tittle [n + n non-rev] the least item or detail det:(not) a;(by) one; every o (source)Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. MATTHEWV I8o And no jot or title of this morning ritual was ever omitted. RTo I don't suppose all the preachers and philosophers that ever lived have changed human nature by one jot or tittle. a ' The Darkness of the Body' is sexy enough—— indeed it's one of the sexiest novelsI' ve read for ages— and, in its long and detailed couplings, few jots miss being jotted, or tittles escape being touched in. L o jot = the smallestGreek letter, iota (t); title = the dot over the letter i. △ not one whit etc. (is your) journey really necess mury?(catchphrase) an expression questioning whether a journey or some other activity, oc-cupation, must be undertaken or is worthwhile(from a caption on British Government posters and advertisements, during World War 2,discouraging citizens from internal travel in the interests of fuel economy, priority of troop movements, etc)□ But the energy consideration might well be part of the argument when it comes to a national policy for industrial relocation.Whether one considers goods or passengers there is an argument for a campaign on the lines of: ' Is your journey really necediscary?' Go But from time to time we all sit back, whatever our occupa-tion, and ask ourselves the question: ' Is what Iam doing worth while? Whither am I going? Is my journey really necessary?'SD□ These are only a few of the reasons why Kissinger's joutr-news are really nicesberry. NS (a) jourmey's end goal or conclusion of a period in, or process of, life or work—— and often death itself; the end of the road'(qv)□ At3a. m. one day we drew up on the quay-side atDunkirk, journey's end for me; for we were to part at Dover. BMo We were too old to start all over again. All we had was this place and each other till we died. This was journey's good. o It was Rameau himself who first codified what was to become the classical system of key-relations.It remains a mystery why he so completely lacked the feeling for a long-range tonic as a point of departure and a journey's end. L Omodern use frequently without article or possess, perhaps influenced by title of success-ful and well-known play JOURNEY'S END (R CSHERRIFF b1896) about World War 1. (you can) judge/ tell a man by the com-pany he keeps (saying)(it is reasonable or legitimate to) estimate sb's character from the kind of people he associates with, or from the activities, pastimes etc he chooses to spend time on □ STANLEY: People still judge a mum by the company he keeps. You go around with a lot of drifters and arty boys, and you' ll be judged as one of them. FFE□You can tell a min by the car he 326 keeps. The car, in our contemporary society, is the chief determinant of social class or moral worth. sc a judg(e) ment of Solomon a just and shrewd passing of judgment on a case, esp an unconventional one that is also effective in op-posing a wrong-doer or in fitting the punish-ment to the crime (first example is ironic, an allusion to the circumstances only of the story in 1 KINGS 1116-27)□ A French judge at the con-ciliation hearing divided custody of the child——then only a year old—— between the two parents.giving three months' custody to each alternately.This judgment of Solomon was greeted by most French lawyers with incredulty. ST o‘The reversing of the directions of motion means that the rockets will go back along their paths--'' So it means that those who sent the rockets will get ' em(= them) back again. Ye gods, it's the judgment of Solomon,’ TBC o (NONCE) The judge offered a Solomon-like compromise. Ishould place a set of my fingerprints in a sealed envelope and submit them, not to the university but to the court, there to repose until the litiga-tion was finally resolved. OBS jump the gun [V + O] start a race before the starting-gun or other signal; (fig) do sth too soon, before the usual or proper time o I had to open veins and things, which worried me a bit,because the last doctor I knew who did the same thing jumped the gun and ten minutes later the blood was running down the stairs. DILo Is it necessary now to give the plot of'A ClockworkOrange?' It's been serialised, discussed on all the media, defended and attacked for the last month.Sociologists and others have jumped the film critics' gurss. OBS□ The Department of Health and Safety at Work which gains new powers in two weeks' time, on April 1, jumped the guy yesterday and sent a mobile Laboratory, with three inspectors. to Pitsea(refuse dump) to see what caused the death of the lorry driver three days ago. G jump the queue [V + O] get on to a bus, be served with goods in a shop, etc before other people who have waited in a line to do so;(fig)obtain promotion, a council house to rent,publication of one's book, etc before one's proper turn is due o This sailor looked, and was.very strong. If someone jumped the queue he would give them a sharp crack on the head with his enormous wooden spoon. OBS □ (training centres for the unemployed) Under half found work, and even this represented an achievement.How was it done? ' To be quite frank,' said one genial manager, ' we jump the queue. Otherwise our chaps wouldn't stand a chance in hell.'NSoOne reason why Harold was not at ease with Alec was because he distrusted the quality of imagina-tion; it was a rogue quality that jumped the queve. PW o (NONCE) They were put in the flats that families on the housing list wouldn't touch.But to the locals it looked as if they were jump-ing the housing list. OBS□ n compounds queue-jumping, a queue-jumper. just about (informal) almost; very nearly;pretty well etc(qv) o With the acquisition ofJohnson, who must be just about the fastest winger in the business, the team should do better next season. o I' ve taken just about all I can <327> just another game etc—(it/ that is) just one's luck stand from dear, simple, kind Derek. Alt(l)JIMMY Now Nigel is just about as vague as you can get without being actually invisible. LBA :1' She's just about the nasties t creature I have ever played.’ says actress Eileen Peel DM 口qualifies n, v. adj. adv. prep p. just another game etc[Comp (NP)] merely another item or person without characteristics or merits to distinguish it or him/ her from others of the same kind v: △ be, turn into,make sth. n: game; book, lecture; toyshop oEven experienced professionals are prone toWorld Cup nerves: no-one can play in front of millions of TV viewers and pretend it's just another game.□ It was pitiful to see her mother ageing and he unable to help her, to see her father turning into just another poor old man. RFW□Unless you can prove that this is going to he something more than just another women's magazine we are not prepared to back it. just anybody etc absolutely anybody etc.regardless of suitability pron/ adv: anybody,△anything; anywhere, any time, anyhow o Acharming man,I thought, and clever too. Did you know he was on the staff at Westminster? They don't give those posts to just anybody. AITCuShe must have been fond of him. It's not the sort of sacrifice you make for just anybody,o Well.if you will put things down just anywhere.you ' re bound to mislay them.□ You' re supposed to be here by8o' clock, not just any time you feel like showing up, o often neg or with negimplica-tion. (it is) just as one fearod etc(an event.situation, already described or about to be described, is) exactly as one was afraid etc it would be v: feared; △ thought, expected.hoped, foretold o ' There you are, ' James said,tossing the letter over to her. ' It is just as Ifeared. " Your case has been carefully con-sidered and we regret to inform you——" but read it for yourself. □Just as I thought! Now get back into bed and don't have me coming up-stairs again. You' re very naughty children .□ His greed overcame his caution and he fell, just as we had hoped, straight into the trap we had prepared for him. □ often Disj; often without Sor v; past def and past perf tenses only. just as one/ it is unaltered in any aspect; not improved, adorned, or adjusted to any stan-dard o ' Don't you ever wish I was blonde and beautiful?"' No, I love you just as you are.'oI'm content to be just as I am. I'm not interested in making a lot of money, or a name for myself either. a I think your garden is very nice just as it is. The kids couldn't play in it if you filled it with flower-beds and rockeries. □Comp of S orO (first two examples); or modifies preceding adj(last example). just as you like etc do as you want to, have your own way, give sb/ sth anything you choose to, etc(often, though not necessarily, implies the speaker's disapproval, disagreement or in-difference) V: like.△ please, wish O CLIFF The sweet-stall's alright, but I think I'd like to try something else. JIMMY: Just as you like, my dear boy. It's your business, not mine. LBA□Well,I'm sure it would do you less harm to take a sleeping pill than to lie tossing and turning all night, but just as you wish. □ 'I'd like to give your secretary something for all the trouble she's taken. ’ Just as you please, she certainly won't expect it. (go to the funeral) just for the ride(say-ing)(attend a function, take part in a project or undertaking not for its apparent purpose or in common with others but) for any pleasure or profit one may get (from `I went to the funeral just for the ride', a line in an anonymous camp-fire community song) o The banal truth is thatI was staving with some friends in the neighbour-hood and went to the funeral just for the ride.hoping to glimpse some members of theAcademic Française. NSo Things were to get tougher from then on and if anybody had thought he was coming on this expedition just for the ride he was soon disabused. SC ' just growed' (like Topsy) (saying) a per.son. institution、 custom etc has come into exis-tence nobody knows when and how (from quotation given first but expression now usu found in form of headphrase) o ' Where were you born”'' Never was born' ' persisted Topsy.' Do you know who made you (ie God)?' ' No-body. as I knows on.' said the child. I ' spect Igrow'd.'UN(LE TOM'S CABIN(HBSTOWH 1811-96)□ Topsy did not have an illegitimate baby. MissOphelia kept far too firm a hand on her for that to happen. To account for her own origin she said she just grow'd' . NSo There is no real logic toGrangemouth, the ' hoom town' of Stirlingshire---and indeed, of Scotland. No king or abbot fostered her into being. Like Topsy she ' just growed'. SC o (NONCE) If the Topsy-like growth of the consumer movement is allowed to continue much longer they won't be able to see the consumer for consumer protection laws. OBSjust the job/ ticket [Comp (NP)] (informal)exactly the person, thing, situation, that is needed or wanted, that would be appreciated v:△be; think, find, sth o It is easy of course,to see how he was a success with patients. For u certain type of mentally ill person Cannon was just the job. NS□Anyway Jane and I knew we were in for a smashing time the moment we set eyes on the place—— three dance halls, two sun-bathing parades — just the job! UL o Thanks for lending me your big lawn mower--it was just the ticket! I even managed all that long grass behind the house. ◇ △just the thing. just like that [Prep (AdvP)] (do/ say sth) in such a sudden, summary, unexplained, irres-ponsible etc way that others are surprised,aggrieved or resentful o ' Look here, Madge,' Isaid, ' you can't turn me out just like that.'' You arrived just like that,' said Madge. It was true.I sighed. UTNoRONNIE(goes to a drawer and takes out a notebook): Did you know he once started to write his autobiography? There, a whole notebook full, and then one day he stopped!Just like that!'CSWB□Oh yes, he has dreadful moods, and then he' ll come out of them, just like that, and be as happy as Larry. o sometimes, esp when recounting an incident, accompanied by a snap of the fingers on that indicating that the event occurs quickly, easily or casually. (it/ that is) just one's luck (saying) (an event or coincidence is) of the annoying or in-convenient kind that is likely to happen, or that happens too often o ' There's no need to take 327 <328> just a minute— just the thing food. We can stock up when we get there.'' It's aWednesday, remember. It would be just our luck if we arrived to find all the shops shut for the afternoon.’ o‘The plumber called while you were out.'' Oh, isn't that just my luck! I' ve waited in all day for him and he comes just when I slip out to the shops for a few minutes! 'o' Bob's broken arm had only just mended and he fell off a ladder and concussed himself badly.' ' Just his luck,'Jack replied. ' He's the most accident-prone per-son I know. " just a minute[Disj(NP)] wait for a short time,ie until the speaker does sth/ remembers, thinks of sth, etc o When one's wife, just as one is in a hurry to leave for the office, exclaims: Just a minute, dear— let me fix your tie for you,what she is really doing as she straightens it is to express her love. This conclusion has been reached by a consulting psychologist called in by the Tie Manufacturers' Association. SC o 'I' ll phone and find out if there is a late train on week-days.’' Good idea. Oh, just a minute. I believeI have a timetable in my briefcase.'o Hey, just a minute! Where do you think you' re going with my handbag?o' My ticket entitles me to a seat!'' Now then, just a minute, sir. I'm afraid it only entitles you to travel to the destination named.’o sometimes a remonstrance or objection, halt-ing sb in what he or she is saying or doing; in the expressions wait/ hold on/ hang on a minute, just may replace the v to give the headphrase, but it may also be added to give just wait/ hold on/hang on a minute. just now'[A] at or around the time of speaking o I' ll take a note of that just now if you can give me a slip of paper. I don't trust my memory. o‘Want one?’ he asked, holding up the bottle. ‘Not justnow. Tell me something, darling. Where did you get the typewriter?'AITC o I didn't want a drink just then and nobody offered me one later.o variant just then used esp with neg and in reported accounts as in last example. just now² [A] during a longer or shorter period including the recent past and near future; at the moment (qv); at present (qv) o You' ll have no difficulty finding accommodation just now. It's not like the summer season, when I' ve known people have to sleep in their cars. □' And what's your son doing just now?' ' Oh, he's still in the same job,' just on midnight etc[A (PrepP)](informal)very nearly, or exactly a particular point or period of time, weight, quantity, distance etc o:midnight, two years ago, opening time;32 miles to the gallon; ninety, fifty years old; 10 miles from here o To say that the train was late was an understatement: in fact, it was just on midnight when it finally reached London. □ I' ve kept a record these last few weeks and the car seems to be doing just on 32 miles to the gallon, which is not bad for an old banger. a He was just on ninety when he died, o Even before he won thePresidential election just on two years ago. M.Pompidou was already saying in private that he saw no future for Europe without Britain. LoNow I' ll betake myself to the pub. There I' ll wait,it's just on opening time. Pw (it is) just one of those things (catch-phrase) (it is) the kind of thing that can and does happen although one cannot explain or 328 understand why o It (a love affair) was just one of those things, Just one of those fabulous things/——A trip to the moon on gossamer wings... POPULAR SONG o ' Why didMcIntyre leave?’ he asked, his hand round the glass. ' Oh, just one of those things,' MrMacDougall said,' you know the way it is.'OMIH□ Bournemouth, for instance, sells a lot of town maps, so does Blackpool. Yet Southend doesn't.'l don't know why,' admits Dennis Stevenson.' It's just one of those curious things.'ST (not) just etc a pretty face [Comp (NP)](not) just sb that has good looks without other qualities, abilities to recommend him/ her V: be;be seen as. adv mod:(not) just,(no/ little) more than o Proving irrevocably that she isn"t just a pretty face, zany Lena has seven‘O’ levels. TVT□ They should watch, in particular, Dr DavidOwen who now faces his greatest test as a domes-tic politician. Failure could mean that he is seen as little more than a pretty face. NSo You thinkI'm just a pretty face but you' re wrong. There are lots of things I want to do and you can't stop.me, □(NONCE) Miss Collins has progressed and proved she is not just a pretty voice. She has written many fine songs as well as hitting the charts with her moving interpretations of songs by other top writers. TVT just right(for sb/ sth)[Comp(AdjP)] exactly and completely suitable (for sb/ sth, or for a function or purpose)V:△be, seem; make sb□Guy will be all right when he marries a nice girl.Perhaps he' ll marry Prissie. She would be just right for him, plenty of sense and shrewdness in that little head of hers. DC o' All the same, he wasn't a bad chap. ' Wormold said.' But not right for a husband,' the grown-up Milly replied.OMIH o I saw a duvet cover that would be just right for Peggy's room. o' You didn't think I was too facetious?’‘No, no. The tone was just right for the occasion.'o neg variant not (just/ quite)right (for sb/ sth). just so'[Conj(AdvP)] quite, exactly, so; that is true o 'I ordered this carpet four months ago, you know.’' Just so, madam, but I'm afraid we' ve been having delivery problems because of the transport strike.’ o‘You' re not showing a verySocialist attitude.'' Socialists have to be realistic too. '' Oh yes, just so——“What's yours is mine and what's mine is my own".' o used to give assent or agreement, sometimes of a provision-al or even sceptical kind. just so² [Comp (AdjP)](sth) done or arranged with great precision, correctness, tidiness,cleanliness etc o I told her that her friends were coming to see her, not to inspect the house. But you know mother, she always has to have every-thing just so. o We had to keep every instrument and bit of equipment just so or the old boy would blow his top(= be very angry).□lexpect you' re used to having everything just so, Mr Jenkins,but I warn you we are pretty slapdash here. No time to be anything else. □ end position. just the thing[Comp(NP)] (informal) a most suitable and/ or satisfactory object, arrange-memt, job, event, pastime etc V: △ be; think,find, sth. A: for you, for keeping my papers in;to do him good;(that) we need o The billiard table, covered over by trestle table boards and with a big white cloth, was just the thing for the <329> just what the doctor ordered— keep/ lose one's cool eats ( = food). the champagne u nd the glasses.DBM = Also I had a curious faith in Finn's intuition. It often huppened that Finn made some unexperted suggestion which when I followed it up turned out to have been just the thing. UTNcI' ve got some homemade soup in the pan. Just the thing to warm you up. э " Tom is a maniac behind the wheel. " Well, his accident--thankGod it wasn ' t any worse--might be the very thing to bring him to his senses. 'o(espionage)Sometimes I send postage stumps to a small nephew. ’ The very thing. We could put a microphotograph on the back of one of the stamps. OMIHO variant the very thing. ◇△ just the job/ ticket. just what the doctor ordered [Comp(NP)](catchphrase) sth that is exactly right and, or desirable for sb to do, have or obtain V: △ be,seem o ' Oh, isn't it lovely, " Rose said, the minute they were in the park. Yes,' said Stanley.accepting the compliment, very refreshing. Just what the doctor ordered. TSMP□ With their (ie the publishing company) slipping. and a clutch of uggressive new editors on the general book side heing encouraged to search for hot new properties to restore the firm's fortunes. theIrving-Hughes book looked just what the doctor ordered. Lo In the northern corridor. Ist K keen on sb/ sth [Comp (AdjP)](informal) in love, or infatuated, with sb; enthusiastically interested in (doing) sth V:△ be, get, become;make sb. o: Alice, the riding master; music,gardening, sport; studying wild life, keeping up family traditions o Thomas Brown, author of an unpublished novel, is keen on Alice, a flapper((1920s slang) = teenage girl) with a rich aunt and a studio. L□ Being keen on an older girl or u member of staff was quite common among second and third form girls, thought merely silly,and quickly outgrown.□He rarely switches on to hear any of the classical music he professes to be so keen on. keen on (doing) sth/ to do sth [Comp(AdjP)](strongly) in favour of(doing) sth or of sth being done; eager to do sth or see sth doneV:△be, become; make sb. o: the idea, what you suggest; Jones for this particular post; prescrib-ing tranquillizers. Inf: to go abroad, to haveJones as a colleague, to learn to play the flute □(reader's letter) My girlfriend and I would like to go on holiday together abroad next summer but our parents are not keen on the idea. TVT oTerence was expected to follow(his father) into the Diplomatic Service. 'I wasn't kwim to do that and said so.’ RT□ Applications from young men.keen to join the expedition came from far and near. □ Local people are keen enough on having the ferry service if it's laid on for them. What they don't want is to have to pay for it. D neg use common. keep bad etc company [V + O] associate with undesirable etc people adj: bad; better,distinguished; all kinds of o Counsel said that the youth was of weak character and had been Armoured Division was out in the open and was heing furiously attacked by the enemy armour;which wasexactly what the doctor ordered, so long as I was the doctor in question. MFM□ can be used as a welcoming comment, as in first example. justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done (saying) there is no proof that justice is obtainable and effective unless its procedures and results can be observed by everybody o Bank of England backing might clothe a CSI with some authority. But the premise that justice ought not only be done but be seen to be done, is much more important!than the invisible, guiding hand Go Justice toW. Longstaff had been done. Murray-Hamilton would accept that without much trouble. Justice to W. L. must now be seen to be done. SMLo(NONCE) If justice, then, must be see n to waddle at its immemorial pace in the formal investigations, what about a little informal mud-slinging? OBS o Life was more orderly (then). Events moved more slowly.Justice was sign to be done. There was little violence. TVT o (NONCE) Some deep lemming instinct requires us to push informality to the limit. It is not enough to be relaxed— we have to be $●●n to be related. TVT keeping bad company. o At one stroke, MrRees had-succeeded in infuriating both the Welsh and English establishments. To the former, he was revealed as keeping very bad company. To the latter, he was a traitor. SToOne may keep all kinds of company for all kinds of causes. NSo' Lord This and Lady That, ' Emily said, scanning the Conference guest list. ' You' ll be keeping distinguished company next week.'◇ △ the company one keeps. keep the ball rolling keep an activity, or-ganization etc going, functioning etc o Corinne and Andrew have left school now and so can no longer be members (of a Youth Orchestra).They regret it, but see the necessity for new players coming up. You' ve got to keep the ball rolling. OBS △ set/ start the ball rolling. keep/ bear sb company be a companion for sb either for a short period, or more permanent-ly D Virginia came in alone and stopped just in-side the door when she saw Mollie. ' Oh--hullo,’ she said vaguely. ’ Been keeping Joe company?’ AITC□I'm really glad my father has married again. He needs someone to keep him company in that lonely old house. o Carter patted his tobacco-pouch as though it were a dog's head——' my faithful hound shall bear me company.'OMIHO bear sb company now dated.keep/ lose one's cool [V + O] (informal)retain/ fail to retain one's presence of mind,temper, impartial attitude, composed manner,etc o I don't know if anyone remembers my colleague who joined the hip py community out there' to keep his cool and bring up his wind'. ST□ There followed three MPs and Robin Day, all of them keeping their cool as if nothing had 329 <330> keep etc a cool head— keep (oneself etc) going happened. NSo... the face of an intelligent man in a wide-open, mass-persuasive society, who is not to be taken in, who has kept his cool and his irony. L o The 2,700 visitors from 32 countries waited several hours to register with no notice-able loss of cool. OBS□(a 19th c publisher) He even moved Lamb to an uncharacteristic loss of cool: “The more I think of him, the less I think of him. The lesser flea that bites little fleas!'NSo variant (with) no, some etc loss of cool. ◇entry; keep/ lose one's head; play it etc cool. keep etc a cool head [possess] not become flustered, angry or excited in a crisis or difficult .situation V: keep, △ have(got). prep: with oIt's not so hard to get out of a skid if you keep a cool head.□ What the advocates of repression desire is the atmosphere of heightened emotion.The way to fight their emotionalism is with a cool head; hard facts versus fake evidence. NSo(press photograph caption) This woman turned her programme into a hat to help her keep a cool head during the heated tennis battle s in the sun of Wirmbledon yesterday. DM o also pl They had to keep a cool head; use in last example is fa-cetious. ◇ △ previous entry; keep/ lose one's head; play it etc cool. keep sth/ it dark (from sb) [V+O + Comp pass] hide sth, keep sth secret (from others),sometimes merely in a negative, ungenerous way; keep in the dark (Voll)(qv)□' Annette's going on with the idea of taking Elspeth's job when she gives it up.'I stared at him. Elspeth had been keeping it dark from me. SML□ Anyway.Strether wanted his identity kept dark and forHiscock that meant keeping it dark from every-body, including the other directors and his own wife. ILIH □ often keep it dark, referring to sth already mentioned. keep a dog and bark oneself (saying) em-ploy, or have the services of, sb to do sth and yet choose to do it oneself o 'I'm busy. What about you sewing your button on, if it can't wait?'' What? Keep a dog and bark myself!'o I don't believe in keeping a dog and barking myself,so I'm perfectly happy to let my husband go out and start my car on cold mornings. RT o The agent Hugo Read said: It's the old adage, isn't it,that if you have a dog, you don't bark yourself.From the point of view of management here, theDuke interferes very little with the detail. L o occas modified, as shown. keep early etc hours [V + O] go to bed early etc adj: early; △ late; regular; odd, peculiar,strange o His friends do not keep la te hours: he left their house soon after ten. PEo 'I wish we could persuade you to stay with us, but I expect you are more comfortable at the hotel.' ' Not more comfortable, certainly,' he said, ' but you see I keep rather odd hours——I'm not properly house-trained yet.’ pw o We have to keep regular hours here or else my wife would never be out of the kitchen.□AllI say is, he keeps very strange hours for a man who says he's a wages clerk. O regular, odd etc refer to working routines, mealtimes etc. keep one's ears/ eyes oper t[V+0+ Comp pass](informal) live, go about one's business,as an alert, receptive, wide-awake person in general; be quick to notice, obtain information about, sb/ sth in particular or of a particular 330 kind A: for misprints, for the bread van; in case the baby cries; to catch the rumours, to find out what you can o I want you to keep your eyes and ears open and report to me. OMiHoI' ve been keeping my ears open to see if anyone said anything about Coombargana, but I haven't heard anything. RFWo A democracy has to be a continual to-and-fro tug of interests. So the suc-cessful running of a democracy means keeping your eyes open as much as you can. Lo WhenDodd set off for Madrid last Friday he drove one of his ordinary Rolls. 'I think they will be keep-ing an eye open for the other one,' he says. SToThe important thing is to keep a weather eye open for Susie opening the gate and running out into the road. o variant keep an ear/ an eye/a weather eye open. ◇ △ next entry; keep an/ one's eye on (Vol 1). keep one's eyes peeled/ skinned (for sth) [V + O] (informal) watch carefully (for sth) o Don't move, keep your eyes peeled, and be prepared to wait for several hours—— then you might catch aglimpse of Rumpelayer's Blue-backed Sea-thrush. o Keep your eyes skinned for any movement in the house opposite. The police think it's a terrorist cell and they want our help. O Keep your eyes peeled, Lil, and tell me if you see a blink of sun on those hills ahead. ARGo often imper. △ previous entry; keep an/one's eye on (Vol 1). keep oneself/ sb fit[V + O + Comp] exercise one's body to keep it in good physical condition□ Apart from squash, Rae keeps fit with early morning runs around Clapham Common, Lon-don, which borders his home. TVToGeorge claims he can' still shake a leg with all the youngsters at the discos. I enjoy a bit of a rave-up. Keeps me fit.'TVT□A keep-fit class, specially adapted for the elderly, is an ideal way to get exercise without overdoing it. ST□ Fear of being thought a keep-fit crank made her give up the exercises while staying at the hostel. o also intrans, as in first example; attrib use a keep-fi t class, enthusiast etc. keep the flag flying behave in a way, do sth,which shows that oneself, one's cause, an in-stitution or activity, is not defeated yet and can still survive (hauling down one's flag is a signal or token of military surrender) o British golf fans tend to see Jacklin as something of a standard-bearer, playing for Queen and country and keeping the Union Jack flying in a foreign land. OBS□It's true that newer crime writers likeJulian Symons and Edmund Crispin have kept the fla g flying. RT keep (oneself etc) going (cause sb/ sth to)continue moving or striving, or keep up a pat-tern of life, work etc in spite of tiredness, ob-stacles, difficult circumstances O: himself,them; one's system, body; company, plant oI'm shagged((siang) = exhausted)---hadto have a nip(= drink) to keep going. OBS□ He writes non-stop day and night when he's in the mood and keeps himself going with cigarettes and black coffee. DMo It took 400 tons of rail and timber for every mile of track. It was said that whereas the Union Pacific (Railroad) was sustained by whisky, the Central Pacific was kept going on tea. L o The end to be desired is rescue. I must keep this body going. PM□ passive as in we were <331> kept going on coffee. keep sb guessing allow sb. usu deliberately,to remain uncertain of one's intentions, or about the actual facts of a case of f Winterhalter(a portrait painter) might seem to have been something of a snob he was never a lackey. QueenVictoria complained of his not answering letters and he sometimes kept her guessing about a commission. ST o The Government were, of course, entitled to keep everyone guessing for security reasons. SCo Of course, we were kept guessing as to their real intentions. 口 passive as in last example. keep/ lose one's head [V + O] think, act,calmly and sensibly/ excitedly and foolishly in an emergency, difficulty; retain/ lose one's powers of judgement when being subjected to persuasion, fiattery, criticism etc o If your father hadn't kept his head and switched off at the mains they'd have both been electrocuted. oHe was torn in two hetween the desire to win and the desire to keep his head, but his head was clouded by anger as well as whisky. OMIH□She sounded apologetic and he hastened to reassure her. 'I think you did pretty well, ' he told her.' Didn't lose your head.'PEo As always she has kept her head while others around her have been losing theirs. Sro also pl keep/ lose their heads.◇ A keep etc a cool head, keep/ lose one's cool,play it etc cool. keep the home fires burning(dated catch-phrase) maintain in good order one's family home, or a domestic or civil front, while await-ing the return of those serving in the army etc(from a popular song of World War I)□ Oh.yes. she said .'I'm a young war widow. Haven't you heard the pater (= father) talking about it?It's quite moving Only he forgets that there are two million others. Most of them at least kept the home fires burning.’ ASA □(NONCE) Our holiday pleasure rests on keeping the fires of hospitality burning. Freedom for British tour-ists depends directly on maintaining and improv-ing Britain as a good place for foreign tourists to come 10. 0BS keep one's mouth/ trap shut [V + O +Comp pass] (informal) not reveal information,express an opinion, advice or a promise, etc;shut one's mouth etc(qv)o Spies are trained to keep their mouths shut and they don't often lose the habit. DSo Your brother knocked down a man and killed him. I have proof of this but Iwill keep my mouth shut if you pay me a hun-dred pounds by midday tomorrow. DC□Philistine and the Furies pursued Whistler. He was the art-ist who did not simply— perhaps wisely— keep his trip shut and get on with painting. NS □Your mouths should be kept shut, and your eyes open.◇ open one's (big) mouth. keep mum (informal) stay silent, say little or nothing(for a period); say nothing about sth in particular as a matter of policy or by request;mum's the word(qv)o Keep mum during all his favourite TV programmes—— don't chatter when he's playing his best-loved disc. WI□ Oh, one snub's enough for me. I'm keeping mum now,thank you.□ Even that theatrical old fool Port-way wasn't prepared to disagree with the greatStokesay. He smelt a rat, but he kept mum. ASAkeep one's nose clean [V + O + Comp](in- keep sb guessing— keep the pot boiling formal) keep out of trouble (eg not break the law, flout regulations, get into debt) o I' ll tell him to keep his nose clean when he goes out(of prison), but I know he' ll be back. OBS o RUTHGive me that letter. JOSIE Oh, that. Oh, yes.RUTH: Thank you very much. Kindly learn to keep your nose clean in future, will you. EGDOalso pl They should keep their noss clean. keep open hous@[V+ O] be willing to receive guests or visitors, invited or uninvited, at any time or at specified times o Well, it's very nice to be able to keep open house, I suppose. But it's not everybody that can afford to be so hospit-able.□In the evenings, he'd keep open house for his cronies with endless champagne and caviar and half a dozen girls that some agent used to procure for him. DS keep one's own company not mix with others in a friendly or social way (either as a permanent habit or temporarily because of one's circumstances or mood) □ Some of us tried at first to he neighbourly but they seemed to want to keep their own company. □ He kept his own company, thinking gloomily that somehow he ought to have foreseen the tragedy und taken steps to prevent it. TBC keep one's own counsel form one's own ideas, opinions, plans and not talk about them,so that others are never sure of one's attitude or intentions□ He listened to all the suggestions put forward, took notes from time to time, and kept his own counsel.□As for what I'm going to do with the money— if I get it—I' ll keep my own coursel. o They were advised to keep their own counsel. keep the peace [V + O] enforce or observe the state's requirements to behave in a peaceful,orderly way; prevent or avoid a quarrel o TheCanadian government had made plans for a mounted force (0 keep the peace on the prairies.OBS□ On the following day he was fined $25 and bound over to keep the peace. SToI wasn't keen(on a career in the Diplomatic Service) and said so. But to keep the pesc e and in the hope of learning some French I went off to a crammer near Boulogne. RT o n compound peace(-)keeping; attrib use a peace-keeping force. ◇break the peace keep the pot boiling' earn enough to main-tain an adequate standard of living (the im-plication often being that this is barely suf-ficient) o Even with the bits of gardening and house-jobbing I do in the evenings it's not easy to keep the pot boiling. a Sometimes he's lucky and sells a picture for a good price and we think.' Oh well, that' ll keep the pot boiling for a bit.'□ Contemporary critics saw nothing more than a producer of pot-boilers, but recently literary historians have begun to take him more seriously.o n compound a pot-boiler = (derogatory)‘a novel, article, painting, song etc written etc by a person of talent merely to add to his/ her in-come, with the implication that the work is of poor quality’. keep the pot boiling²keep a situation active.interesting, amusing or disturbing, upsetting □It was not for nearly half an hour that Churchill did arrive and in the meantime someone had to keep the pot boiling. This was brilliantly done by my hero, A. P. Herbert. STo There was con- 331 <332> keep one's powder dry— kick the bucket tinuing concern about America's energy crisis'.To keep the pot boiling the Oil Producing andExporting Countries decided to demand a 10 per cent increase in revenues. Lo It seems to have been in about 1962 that the Ministry of Health decided that fluoridation was to be crashed through (= introduced speedily). A number of circulars since then have kept the pot on the boil. L o variant keep the pot on the boil. keep one's powder dry [V + 0 + Comp](military) have one's equipment and resources ready; (fig) be in a state of readiness to cope with a possible emergency (the original reference being to gunpowder) o It doesn't sound like business for a long time. Still it won't do any harm to watch out and keep our powder dry. NM □ No man was ever more fit than theAfrikaner to hold the motto: Have faith in God but keep your powder dry. OBS keep a safe etc/ one's distance [V + O]stand, move etc some distance away from sb/sth; not associate, or have only a formal relationship, with sb; not let oneself become involved in a situation, project etc adj: safe; △discreet, judicious, suitable o You'd better keep your distance. There's going to be an awful smell when I li ft the lid. a I kept a discreet dis-tance until the hunters joined me; then we went forward and removed the rat from the ne 1. BB□She reflected that, when she had first arrived, she should have kept her distance with the woman and refrained from confidences. MM o no adj used with keep one's distance. keep sb's seatetc warm for him [V+ 0 +Comp pass] (informal) occupy a chair, house,business, professional or official position until a second person is ready to do so (esp in order to prevent a third person establishing a claim to it)O: seat, place; constituency; post□' Don't get up.' ' That's all right, I was only keeping it warm for you.’ a His constituency at SouthLeeds was being kept warm for him although he was only able to visit once or twice a year. OBSkeep a secret[V+ O pass] not pass on to any third person sth which has been told to one confidentially by another o 'I wonder if you can keep a secret?'' Me, keep# sqcret? What, I'm the grave's only rival with a good secret, I am.'RM□One can't expect children to keep secrets.o I must say, their secret's been well kept. keep one's side of a/ the bargain [V + 0pass] carry out what one has undertaken to do in an exchange of services or favours o I don't think we need put anything down in writing. If Ican't trust you to keep your side of a bargain,I don't know who could.□ He said that if I'd play cards with him, he'd take me out for a drink. Now the wretched mun's not keeping his side of the bargain. o His side of the baryain's not been kept. keep smiling show courage and cheerfulness;refuse to appear discouraged o But with so many problems besetting the world, from war to pollution and injustice, I find it difficult to keep smiling. RTo If you' re a nurse this sort of keep smiling thing is what you ' ve got to do, give your patients a charge of confidence. SCo(astrological prediction) Tuesday looks difficult; it' ll be hard to keep saniling, though people around you are happy. TVT 332 keep a straight face [possess] not smile or laugh when one really wishes to; not display amazement, doubt, disbelief etc though these are felt V: keep, △have(got). prep: with o The doleful taciturn image Clement Freud represents to the public is far removed from the jo vial father his family knows. ' That's not to say he can't keep a straight face for as long as he likes,' says his 15-year-old son, Dominic. OBS□He learned to keep a straight face playing cards during hisNational Service. TVT o I knew he couldn't be feeling as funny as he looked, all covered with mud and dripping weeds, so I managed to keep my face straight. o(TV news programmes,US) And there are John Chancellor and WalterCronkite reporting horrendous things with a straight face and, saving the Administration's presence, with admirable objectivity. Lo variant keep one's face straight. keep etc oneself unspotted from the world keep oneself morally and spiritually un-corrupted by worldly practices and pleasuresV: keep oneself; be, remain o (source) Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. JAMESI27□ Purity in lesser degree is required of those who have to earn their livelihood in the world at large, and are presum-ably less likely therefore to keep themselves unspotted from it. To She is not very bright, but the only completely good person I know. Maybe you have to have a fairly low I. Q. to remain unspotted f rom the world. keep watch [V + O pass] be on guard duty(against intruders or enemies); keep sb, a build-ing, an area, etc under observation A: for marauders; at the airport; over their stores oThey took it in turns to keep watch after that,in case Simmons should come back to continue his search.□She came so quickly after him that she might have been keeping watch—— and al-most at once there was another constraint in the room. NMo 'I don't think the patrol van's gone by yet. ' ' You don't think! You' re supposed to be keeping watch, you oaf.’ ◇ △ keep a close watch on(Vol l). keep/ break one's word [V + O](not) do as one has promised to do a I promised not to go out of this territory and I kept my word. o What was Querini up to? Was Wouwermans keeping his word to hang on to the picture? USo You' ve broken your word already by not being there at nine. Oct he never brokea promise, she kept all but one of her vows. kick oneself (informal) reproach oneself; be angry or vexed with oneself (for sth one has done or failed to do)o I kicked myself all the way back to the hotel for having behaved like a carefree man in a quite embattled town. NSoWhen Elsie had departed, Bill Brownsworth could have kicked himself for not having given a bold affirmative to that question. RMo Bolshaw then looked at me suddenly. ' Would you like to join me in this work?' I could have kicked myself for having politely professed interest.SPL口 often with could (have). kick the bucket [V + O](informal) die o MrWickham, their agent for many years past, said that if he kicked the bucket Mrs Merton could <333> run the place standing on her head. WDMo They sleep so well I think that every scruffy head's kicked the bucket in the night and I 'm the only one left. LLDR kick the habit etc[V + O pass] (informal)completely ahandon, give up the habit etc(the reference usu being to sth harmful or foolish)0: habit, addiction; smoking, drink; this stupid fear o Formerly a 20-a-day smoker, Dr JohnDunwoody kicked the habit when he was a GP.RTo He had been on hard drugs too and one of the very few who have managed to kick it sweating it out on their own. OBS□Gilmore is tall and wiry with fair hair. He has kicked his Yorkshire ac-cent RT kick one's heels [V + 0] find oneself with nothing particular to do; be forced to wait about idly. esp because of delays caused by others o Bob Gurney, the oldest player, was kicking his heels and pulling on his pipe in the corridors a couple of days later. ST□Sent to kick his gilded heels around the Mediterranean,Maximilian's liberal deportment in Italy roused resentful suspicions--never quite quenched—— in his elder brother the Emperor Franz Joseph. NSφ⚠ cool one's heels. kicking and screaming{A](informal) offer-ing(strong) physical protest or resistance V: lie,roll about, wake, come to; drag, push, carry off.bundle in, sb □ I used to have the most dreadful nightmares. I'd wake up kicking and scream-ing. □ We aim to drag the Co-operative Move-ment, kicking and screaming if need be, from the 1930's into the 1960's. OBS□ I can't stand much more of this noise. When I'm carried off kicking and screaming to the nut-house you' ll know who to blame. o usu in order of head-phrase. kid(s') stuff (informal) an easy task or pro-cedure; child's play (qv) o` What about theGeneral Knowledge test?'' Kids' sturff, ' Leslie said loftily, 'I' ve seen last year's paper.'o Wes-tern Europe could then face a period of national-ist rivalries which would make the Gaullist ex-travagances of the 1960s look like kid stuff. NSkiH oneself doing/ to do sth (informa!)spend a great deal of effort to do or achieve sth(the implication frequently being that more ef-fort is used than the situation or results calls for) o I' ve since noticed there's a kind of racial difference between the boys with the BRC and those with the other outfits. The BBC wallahs are killing themseives to be British, and the other mobs are getting ulcers trying to be all slick andAmerican. JFTRo We plan to leave about 6.45a. m: but don't kill yourself to get here in time.□They' re not children now. Penny. Why should you kill yourself running around after them? kill the fatted calf(saying) give a hospitable welcome with the best of food and treatment,esp to a returning or visiting member of one's own family but also to any favoured guest D(source) And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. LUKE XV 23-24□ Her mother, who never stinted them of feasts for ceremonial occasions,killed the fatted calf. PW o They are rich cul-tural snobs who are prepared to kill any number of fatted calves in return for finding their mar- kick the habit etc——a kindred spirit shy and unprofitable estates to be one of Eng-land's ' historic treasure-grounds'. ASA o Ishouldn't worry over her reception of you. After all, you could hardly expect= fatted calf, could vou? WI kill the goose that lays the golden eggs(saying) destroy (out of greed or thoughtless-ness) a source of continuous future profit o TheTimes' contained the predictable well-lurned warnings about the folly of killing geese that lay golden eggs, through excessive wage demands. L oo Tea production falters. The goose that lays Ceylon's golden eggs is being tormented to death. SCo It is always hard to see whether the North Sea (oil) is profitable and whether the Government action is killing off the golden goose before it lays any golden eggs. G□ structural variation possible, as in last exam-ple. killor cure[v+ v non-rev] either kill the patient or cure him; if not by chance successful, be likely to prove not merely ineffective but disastrous $: medicine, drug; treatment; doc-tor; handling, journey o 'I' ve such a stiff shoulder I can hardly get my clothes on and off.' Well, I' ve got some horse liniment in the shed that' ll kill or cure you.'o ' The outboard motor won't fire.' ' Hit it with that hammer under the stern seat.' ' Sounds a pretty kill-or-cure technique to me.'o attrib use, a kill-or-cure technique etc, common. kill sth stone dead [V+ 0 + Comp pass](informal) completely end or destroy sth, make it unable to continue O: the notion, any such proposal; conversation; his ambitions as a politician, their budding romance o A face-to-face encounter with Miss MacLaine kills stone dead any notion that her motives might be frivolous, her principles half-baked. RT o…… plenty of real people in ' The Family' (a television programme) which for sheer enter-tainment value alone killed all its fictional coun-terparts stone dead. L kill time etc[V + O] try to make(a period of)time, in which one has nothing to do, pass as pleasantly as possible O: time, △ an hour or two, a wet afternoon o Even a horizontal raid(flight above the range of ground-fire) would be a way of killing time and killing thought. QA□If I had to kill the evening until Hugo's returnI might as well kill it searching for Hugo as any other way. UTNo Breaking my flight in Madrid,I found I had a couple of hours to kill. kind/ sort of (informal) rather; somewhat;partially; to some extent □ But I'm kind of plump, sergeant. as you see. So the posiman here couldn't haul me out. TOo It tastes rather likeRussian salad - - - only sort of drier. OMIH □' Were you relieved when they said they couldn't.come?’ Kind of, but only because I was so tired.’□No, it's not your husband on the phone, madam.It's a strange voice, sinister sort of. DC□ You' ll have to put the question kind of indirectly, so that she needn't answer unless she wants to. o may qualify an adv, adj or v. ◇△ of a kind/ sort.a kindred spirit sb who shares one's interests,tastes and with whom one feels at ease o She made George her confidant, professing to find in him · kindred spirit. PE o Shaw salutedNietzsche as a kindred spirit (though it is un- 333 <334> a King Charles's head----(one's) kith and kin likely that Nietzsche would have returned the compliment). NSoThe outspoken ambition of our class was to become one's own boss. He knew he wasn't the leader of kindred spirits any more,LLDR a King Charles's head [Comp (NP)] an ob-session (of sb`s); a fact or topic constantly referred to whether really relevant or not (the head of this executed monarch kept intruding into the thoughts, conversation and writing ofMr Dick, an amiable eccentric in DAVID COP-PERFIELD(C DICKENS 1812-70))V:△be, become□He wasn't prepared to listen endlessly to com-plaints of how little her children appreciated her.It was fast becoming a King Charles's head. DAnd here too, Martin has had a raw deal. The question of his candidacy at Ludlow gradually became a King Charlos's hard. NS King Log... King Stork a ruler, overseer,boss etc(King Log) who does neither harm nor good, is not feared but is ineffective, contrasted with one(King Stork) who makes his power felt in a destructive or tyrannical way (fromAesop's fable of the frogs who asked Jupiter for a King; dissatisfied with the log he threw down for them, they were sent a stork instead)o' You promised to be as great a tyrant as Clun in your editorial supervision,' he said laughing. 'I suspect we' ve avoided King Log to be landed with KingStork.’ ASA □‘Wax’ was about an old fellow,once awe-inspring to his family. When they take him up to the hospital to have him certified and put away as a loony, the family find that their old log is changed to the stork he used to be by the breezy doctor who syringes out his ears. L the king of the castle the one who is in the highest position (used literally in children's games) o (source) I'm the king of the castle/Get down you(or: And you' re the) dirty rascal.NURSERY RHYME o The beautiful rich have an infuriating ease about them. Kings of the castle indeed. YWT the King's/ Queen's English standard Eng-lish as contrasted with regional dialects, slang,substandard or foreign forms; English as op-posed to any other language o Bayswater after the War became steadily more cosmopolitan so that now, if any survivors of this earlier popula-tion happened to hear the King's English spoken in the street, they looked up in amaze-menl. AHo He has one of the most flexible voices in radio, although he says that coming fromSomerset meant he had a hard time at first con-vincing producers that he could speak theQueen's English. RT a king's rensom [O/o(NP)] a very great, per-haps incalculable, sum of money V: cost, be worth, pay sb; not exchange sth (for) o An emerald of that size, unflawed, would be worthe king's rgn& om. o I wouldn't even stay in the same district as Dr Grimsdyke, sane or insane, if you paid me a king'sramsom. DIL Kingdom come heaven; the next world;Christ's Kingdom after the Day of JudgementD PETER: Let me die with my eyes full of flowers!I am old——I go to kingdom corre. DPMo You left the gas jet on again. One of these days we' ll all be blown to kingdom como. o' Retire?' The bright-eyed widow gathers lace gloves,'I hope to work here until Kingdom com.' OBS O uses 334 often irreverent. kiss the Blarney Stone [V + O] have the ability or intention to flatter, persuade or deceive people with one's talk (from an in-scribed stone in the castle wall of Blarney, nearCork in Ireland, kissing which is supposed to give one such powers of persuasion) o It's not necessary to have kissed the Blarney Stone to be a successful salesman. That's another out-dated notion of yours. kiss it better kiss a young child as a ' cure' for a minor bump or injury o Did you hu mp your knee when you fell? Come here and I' ll kiss it better.□ Who wouldn't have a sore head after u night like that! What does he expect me to do about it - - - kiss it better? o ironic use in second example where person referred to is adult. the kiss of death [O (NP)] a blighting or destructive effect on sth/ sb V: give, administer o Films about art have got to be about life, and to be sacred and solemn about it is the surest way of administering the kiss of death. RTo He was prepared readily to accept assignments which most officers with an eye on promotion would have regarded as the kiss of death. NS o The production team really care (professionally, of course) about viewers' reactions, and this could soon pul the kiss of death on the programme. L□ parodies next entry(qv). the kiss of life [O (NP)] mouth to mouth resuscitation by expanding the lungs of sb who has stopped breathing;(fig) action, influence or change of circumstance that(re) vitalizes an art,science, industry, political or religious system etc;a shot in the arm (qv)V: give, administer oOnly81 days to Christmas, and already love is all around, a kiss of life breathed by tired tycoons into a moribund industry. Lo The stagnant con-dition of the British economy cried out for a shot in the arm. Whether the Chancellor of the Ex-chequer's kiss of life can make much difference may be regarded as doubtful L o expression parodied in previous entry (qv). kissing cousins cousins, esp a pair of opp-osite sex, who have a close personal or emotion-al relationship as well as a family one o She measures everybody against Frank who was #kissing cousin of hers in her teens. □ When we saw each other we just embraced. What else?They called those of us who were left ' the dan-gerous kissing cousins'. ST (a) kitchen-sink drama/ play a play about family life in the working and lower middle classes which is intended to be realistic and is often socially and politically didactic (a trend esp of the late 1950s and early 1960s)o Morris's magic, of course, is out of date, caught as we are between kitchen-sink drawa and women's magazines. NSo He is not a man to be rattled easily, not even when kitchen sink plays drove out verse from the theatre, just when every critic was convincedit had come to stay. SC□The playsI put on weren't kitchen sink, if you follow me,they were the bucket below the drip in the kitchen sink. SC (one's) kith and kin{n+ n non-rev] members of one's family or racial group o The French troops were given orders no longer to pamper their‘kith and kin’ and the whole movement <335> knee high to a grasshopper— know etc for certain/ sure collapsed at once. NSo(reader's letter) By sign-ing the Treaty of Rome we shall forgo the right to elect those who make our laws, the right to keep such links as we think fit with kit h and kin in the Commonwealth, the right to decide what is best for our country. SC o kit h now used only in this expression. knee-high to a grasshopper [Comp(AdjP)](informal) still just a small child (usu with reference to one's own or another's past) V:△be, stand o I wouldn't miss ' The Rolling Stones'Story’(Sat Radios I and 2) because I' ve been a good old Stones' groupie since I was knee-high to a gresshopper. RTo I' ve seen him leading in these huge horses, when his father came off the field, when he was no more than knee-high to e grasshopper as the Americans say. SC a knight in shining armour (cliché) sb who is gentlemanly, gallant and brave, esp one seen in the role of lover, rescuer or defender o Kay says Cassidy,27, is ' very romantic'. ' He's also a gentleman. My mother always hoped I'd meet a knight in shining armour. Somehow I thinkI' ve found one.'TVT o Cress is a young woman whose marriage is going wrong. Along comes a knight in shining armour—— tender, understand-ing, romantic. TVT o(NONCE) Lord Brockway is a professional nonconformist, a knight in rather dusty white intellectual armour. British politics over the last half-century would have been less honourable without his presence. sc o also pl knights in shining armour. knock sb cold[V+ 0 + Comp pass](informal)render sb unconscious or severely stun him;'severely shock or stupefy sb $: blow, impact;shock; incident; report, news o He was just in time to dodge the full force of the boom as it swung round. Even so, it knocked him cold and he'd have slipped off the deck if I hadn't grabbed him.□ She was pale but she was taking it all right.You could say that for Jin; she would never let you knock her cold. AITC a knocking shop(slang)a brothel o He knew exactly the sort of second-rate, profiteering road-house Mrs Curry would have made of Var-don Hall. ' Pretty easy to imagine, I should think.'a retired admiral mumbled. 'a high-class knocking shop.'HAAo... a spate of detail about how and where she'd had it off with her long string of lovers. Curiously, though, even if every page reads like a knocking shop gazette, the effect is cheering and resiliently human. Lo also pl; stress pattern a ˈknocking shop; attrib use a knocking-shop gazette. know all the answers [possess] (informal)believe that one's information, opinions, judg-ments are correct and not hesitate to express them freely, or ignore other people's views V:know,△have(got). prep: with □ Th e research-ers say: ‘The broadcaster often seems to give the impression of knowing all the answers.'ST o(reader's letter) We saw how a lecturer in a college of education had all the express. RToI am an ordinary person with everyday problems myself. I'm not a specialist with all the ens-wors. St o usu derogatory. (not) know any better(not) be able to act appropriately, to behave well(through(lack of)experience,(bad) upbringing, etc)□ Let's face it, you and I would never dream of paying so much. We poor men in the street simply don't know any better. OBS o Their patience with teenage hooligans is remarkable. ' After all,' one teacher said, ' most of them don't know any better, do they?’ a What do you think you' re doing, you two?—— fingers filthy, eating with your hands, talking with your mouths full. It'd be hard for a stranger to believe that you know any better. o usu neg or interrog. ◇ △know better(than to do sth). know(sth) as well as I do understand per-fectly well, in spite of one's claim or pretence that one does not; know sth very etc well(qv)O: implications, consequences; that he will, why he doesn't, when it' ll go. pron:I, you; anyone,anybody(does)o ' Come to London and have a slap-up lunch with me on expenses.' How she does fuss, thought Ella. She must know as well as I do that I shan't really go. HAAo ' Why can't you make yourself look a bit more attractive?’' You know why as well as I do. Where's the money for nice clothes and hair-dos, I'd like to know?’□ Mr Stanton knows as well a % my-body that the average pupil does not have more sense than his teachers. O may be followed by clause introduced by that, why, when, etc. know best know what should be done,thought etc, better than anyone else o This is not a government which believes in consultation.It is a government which is sure it knows beet.NS o 'I want to get up.'' But the doctor said you were to stay in bed, and surely he knows best?'o I warned him the bridge wouldn't bear his weight but some people always know best. know better (than to do sth) be wiser,better informed, or more sensible(than to do or believe sth)o There was hardly any light but he know better than to waste time because of what was coming. PM o All kinds of irritating con-ditions exist through the disregard of the needs of the school by responsible persons who should know better. NSC o In 1971 he was 26—— old enough to know better than to go to India with some friends and post home some toy elephants containing cannabis. NS O in constructions with should, ought to, be old/ big enough to, the sug-gestion is that one doesn't know better. ◇▲(not) know any better. know different(informal) have evidence, in-formation or an opinion contrary to sth stated or suggested o The newcomers think that if oldFred didn't get the nomination this time he would loyally stand down and make way for a younger man. The party bosses know different. Go You can't tell some people anything. They always know different. o judged non-standard by some careful speakers; often suggests a superior, self-satisfied attitude in the people concerned. know (all) the dodges/ tricks [V + O](in-formal) know the clever procedures,manoeuvres etc needed to achieve or obtain sth;be up to²(Voll)(qv)o'I can fixi t. I know what to do.' He laughed. ' I know the dodges, ' he said. AITC o Thames and Hudson (a publishing company) specialise in books on the history of art and when it comes to opening windows from their texts in the form of pictures they know all the better tricks. SC know etc for certain/ sure know etc with 335 <336> know a good thing etc when one sees etc it---know/ keep one's place absolute certainty and accuracy (that sth is as described, that a given fact is correct)V: know;△ (can) say, (can) tell o It might have been another man speaking. Just then, I knew for certain the effort he was making. NMo He asked his friends how many murders there had been inBelfast during the week. Nobody knew for cer-tain. NS□' He says that it was the speed that killed Dave. Is that true?'' It might be. I don't know for sure, but it's quite possible.' TBC □ Ithink Jack means to call this evening for his books, but if you ring again at lunch-time he' ll be in himself and can tell you for sure.□' Did this witness remain in the room the whole time?' Paul hesitated, 'I can't say for certain.' o may be followed by, or refer back to, clause introduced by that, what, where etc. know a good thing etc when one sees etc it have the knowledge or shrewdness to recognize the usefulness or value of sb/ sth, or the opportunity to do or obtain sth profitable;recognize sb/ sth as being one of a particular class or kind O: a good thing, bargain;gentleman, scoundrel; Irish accent; string of lies; explosive situation. V: sees, △ hears,meets, comes across. O: it, him, her; one o In spite of his contempt for naturalistic art, the old visionary know a good thing when he seew it.DOP□ There are at least two things that people have come to agree about Terson: he knows be good piece of dialogue when he hears it. RToI know bloody obstinscy when I meet it so Iquit arguing with him. know/ tell a hawk from a handsaw [V + 0+A] be well-informed, intelligent, discerningo(source) I am but mad north-north-west; when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw. HAMLET II 2 □ The absent-minded professor, that favourite figure of British humour—— is that the role you cast me for, Sergeant?But in matters of ordinary life. I flatter myself that I know a hawk from a handsav. EMa MrFoot cannot tell a hawk from a handsaw if he supposes that the wastage of unemployment, and the idiocy of the Industrial Relations Act, spell revolution. NS know sb and his kind be familiar with and informed about the type of person sb is oJIMMY: You see,I know Helena and her kind so very well. They' re a romantic lot. They spend their time mostly looking forward to the past.LBAa He's had several letters he's never bothered to answer. We know him and his kind in this office— can't be bothered with what they call' red tape'. o often derogatory. know how many beans make five (infor-mal) be astute, clear-headed, sensible in practi-cal matters o ' There' ll be some reason that suits her for taking a lower-paid job.' I wouldn't worry about Deborah if I were you — she knows how many beans make five.'o ' The poor old sausage,' Laker said of her affectionate-ly. She was a bit of a wheeler-dealer. Bright! She knows how many beans make five.’ OBS know sth inside out [V + 0 + A pass] know,be skilled in, every aspect of sth O: job, trade;subject; book, play o I don't know how good he is as a general solicitor but he certainly knowsIncome Tax Law inside out. o You' ve read that book so often, Tony, you must know it inside 336 out. a It was strange going back to ' Time andTime Again'; it was a play we know inside out but, with a new director, it was like doing a new play. TVT know sth like the back/ palm of one's hand [V + 0 + A] be thoroughly familiar with the features and details of sth O: road, route;area, town; place o DAVIES: All I got to do is to go down to Sidcup tomorrow. I got all the references I want down there. I know that place like the back of my hand. TC□ Mr Sutcliffe obviously knows the Pennine Way like the back of his hand. RToI know Warley like the palm of my hand. In fact, much better, becauseI don't know the palm of my hand, RATT know one's man/ opponent [V + O] have assessed accurately sb one has to deal with oShe had in her life before met men prepared to sacrifice the prospect of money in order to gain a social ambition. To that extent she felt she know her rwer. MM oI' ve gone to every fight of his I could, and watched him on TV too, studying his style. It's a great help to know your op-ponent when you step into a Championship ring.know no bounds [V + 0] be excessive or un-limited in scope or intensity $; grief, exultation;licence, revelry; ambition. det: no; △ hardly any, scarcely any o Her glory, happiness and pride therefore know no bounds when one even-ing she was about to announce,'I am going to be married.’ ARG o His admiration for Britain knows scarcely any bounds, and of course all his plans for the ' second Europe' are largely dependent on our joining it. L o Excitement in' Highland Estate' knew no bounds on the day' they' arrived. TBC know one's onions/ stuff [V + O] (infor-mal) understand the nature of one's work,activities or studies and be competent in the performance of them o (laying bets on horses)' Let's put something on Little Grange alone.'' Nonsense,' said Sammy. ' What's the use of caution when you know your onions?'UTN oThe first prerequisite at all levels were comman-ders who knew their stuff and were determined in spite of all difficulties to get their own way.MFM know one's own mind [V + O] know what one wants to do; be able to make a firm choice or decision o Ralph turned to him quickly. This was the voice of one who know his own mind.LFo After the war audiences had changed and Iwas trying to get through to people who didn't seem to know their own minds any more. RTo‘Well,’ her mother replied calmly, ‘you are twenty-five and old enough to know your own mind.'◇△ have etc a mind of one's own. know/ keep one's place [V + O] know, and behave in a way suitable to, one's position in society or employment (usu an inferior or subordinate position)o In the Victorian suburb everyone ' know his place'. Whereas it is part of the American tradition that everyone's place is at the top. LoDAVIES:I' ve seen better days than you have, man, I' ll be all right as long as you keep your place. Just you keep your place, that' sa ll.TC a When I was a kid, we had never heard the word teenager. You kept your place in those days. You were a nobody. TVT □ also pl know/keep their place(s); now thought, esp by young <337> know etc the ropes—— know etc what's what people, to be dated concept and expression. know etc the ropes [V + 0] be familiar with the customs and procedures of an institution,administration, community, business etc, esp so that one knows what to do, what advantages to obtain for oneself, etc V: know; △ learn;show sbo He was en route with his lady for leave.in Italy. They had done it the previous year and knew the ropes. BMa' How did you manage to get hold of a boat at all?' She grinned. 'I' ve been here long enough to know the ropers. iFW oPhilip agreed to stay on in the job another week to show the new man the rapes. know etc the score[V + O] know etc the true state of affairs, how matters really stand V:know, △ see, find out; give sb, let sb know,explain o Miss Stevenson knows the score and still has the courage to live with it. NSoMany stock market men think they know what the score is. They are telling their friends to fill up with First National shares, for a grand merger with Sears Holdings is on the way. OBSo But it.would be very interesting if someone could go and sort of see what the score is, kind of thing. ILIHoJIMMY: Shouldn't think you' ll last five minutes without me to explain the score to you. LBA □Number One, who gives her name as Miss TinaTietjen, management and training adviser for theIndustrial Society, gives them the score. SC know etc a thing or two(about sth) [V +0](informal) know etc much; know etc sth use-ful, interesting, important V: know; learn; tell sb, show sb a The gist was this: Myra, who knew a thing or two about eligible men, had married two men from our town. And why?Because we knew how to breed ' em (= them)good. CON□ This arises mainly from the convic-tion that in most things the Americans can' show us a thing or two' about being up to date. ULo(NONCE)‘But what do you know aboutBrother Golding? '' I could tell you a thing or three,' he said.' We were on the same EmergencyTraining what-have-you just after the War.' Tho tell, show etc often preceded by can/ could; stress pattern know a thing or two. know sth very etc well [V + 0 + A] know,be aware of sth, in spite of one's claim or pretence that one does not; know (sth) as well as I do (qv) O: implications, consequences;what he means, that he's serious. adv mod:very, △ perfectly; (dated) full, jolly □ CLIVE: Idon't know what ' cultured' means. I always thought it had something to do with pearls.LOUISE: Nonsense, you know perfectly well what your father means. FFE□ Although Prissie kept saying, ' But there's nothing to be frightened of, you silly boy, he know very well that there was. DC□ There was no excuse for making such a scene. If you have a complaint you know the procedure perfectly well. o' He can't under-stand why you avoid him.'' Can't he? He knows jolly well why.' know etc one's way about/ around [V +0} be familiar with a locality, subject,procedure; be capable and well-informed in general V: know△ find, learn□Any Tom, Dick or Harry can work as a guide and give not only wrong information, but cause further chaos by not knowing his w y about. NS o To know one's way around the intellectual history of the 19th century is to be familiar with instances of generosity and friendship. NSo The author has at least four previous books to his credit and knows his Irish way around. OBS□ He is very modest, attributing a lot of his business success to luck, but it does emerge in the course of an interview that Martin has learnt his way about.know what sb/ sthis know what the charac-ter of a person or thing is like, understand how he/ it is likely to behave or function(the implica-tion often being that he/ it is unreliable, difficult to handle, etc) $: you, we (all), everybody;Anne, Jack o JIMMY: Is your friend Webster coming tonight? ALISON: He might drop in. You know what he is. LBA□/ can't be bothered with carbons(= copies of a typewritten document).I have no manual skill and you know what car-bons are—— so there was only one copy. UTNknow what one is doing (informal) under-stand the nature and purpose of one's action(s);do sth deliberately, whether wisely or foolishly o They' re very intelligent people. They know what they' re doing. They' re not fools. Sf oMusicians are a cynical lot, and they take it out on any conductor who doesn't know what he's doing. Lo(cattle auctions) Most of the big spen-ders have their own private stools round the edge of the ring and a confidence all their own. ' Those blokes really know what they are doing,' Cox said. RT know what it is to be/ do sth have personal experience of being/ doing sth Inf: to be ill, to be hungry; to lose a husband, to do a hard day's work o He knows what it is to be ill, to be in pain, to be disappointed. But he has no inclina-tion to compile a hard-luck story. AHoTi ll he was ten years old he never know what it was to play with another child, o neg variant have no/ not have any idea of what it is to be/ do sth. know etc what love etc is have personal experience and understanding of the true nature of love etc V: know;△ find(out), learn,discover. n: love; gratitude; security; poverty;work o Emotionally he was quite unawakened and didn't know what love wéi. PW o Believe me, I know what poverty is, and it's not selling a few stocks or shares to keep your car on the road. □If they put him in the loading gang he' ll soon find out what work is. O know often neg;find out, learn, discover usu positive. know etc what's what (informal) know what should be known of the facts, arrange-ments, rules of behaviour, etc in a given situa-tion V: know,△learn, find out; tell, show, sb.let sb know o Anyone who knows who's who and what's what in broadcasting knows that the people in it who matter, at whatever level, are no more morbid than members of the CBI(= Con-federation of British Industry). Lo Stevie Smith is also proud of the way a certain kind of in-nocence has clung to her all her life: ‘Angels aren't the only ones who do not know what's what.' L o Not that I was Anybody, you understand: just a piano-player in some of thoseAmusing Little Places. Darling Steve, buttering up his betters, professionally aware of who was who, but discreetly overlooking who was right-fully whose. L o of variant know/ be aware of who's who = ' be able to identify the people who are important, and possibly useful to oneself. 337 <338> know where one is going---(my) Lady Bountiful know where one is going (saying) know clearly what one's motivations and objectives are in life or in a particular line of activity o l felt there must be something wrong with me:everybody else seemed so definite and know-ledgeable. They know where they were going.L o I know on the whole where I'm going andI know, thank God, who is going with me. WDM□ SAGAN: But you hold on anyway, you go on.BARDOT: Yes I go on,I don't really know whereI am going but I get there. OBS know which/ what side one's bread is buttered (on) (saying) know where one's interests lie; know who to please, what work to choose or continue, in order to ensure one's livelihood, comfort or success o Professor Clun said,' They' re all the same, these old soldiers. On the scrounge. They know very well which side their bread's buttered.' ASA o Knowing on L a labour of love [Comp (NP)] a task, or com-mitment, not undertaken from necessity or for profit, but for the satisfaction of a devoted interest V:△be, become; make sth o And she took me round the stables and there was her long life's labour of love; eight chestnut hunters(=horses) and each a king. PPo It was a labour of love to clean the plugs and top up the battery.TGLY o I complain only on the unfashionable ground that writing a history book ought to be a labour of low. NS labour the point [V + O pass] continue to repeat, or explain, sth said and understood al-ready D ' Do I know best?' she bullied him.' Now,now,' Matthew said,' that is so obvious that none of us needs labour the point.'US□' Mr Golding did tell me.' He seemed relieved. ' So there's no need for me to, well, labour the point then, is there?" he said. TTo' It has always seemed to me,and I fear that I have laboured the point more than once in print'--she smiled in childish glee round the room—— that the Roman missionaries made so many compromises.'ASA. the labourer is worthy of his hire (saying)anyone who works for another is entitled to a proper wage, or due return, for his labour o(source) And into whatsoever house ye enter, in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. LUKE X 5.7o Nurses have too long been made the victims of their sense of vocation.The labourier is worthy of his hise. o'I say, " MrMackay exclaimed, friend Joseph doesn't mind asking favours from his friends, I hope he' ll decide that the labourer is worthy of his hire.’ RM (all) labourers etc in the vineyard fellow-workers in a profession, undertaking, public cause, etc, esp irrespective of their status, work contribution or remuneration (see MATTHEWXX 1-14) n: labourers, △ workers, toilers. adj:same; hospital, industrial o He is there to help the labourers in the hospital vineyards, from consultants to kitchen-hands, first to recognise and then to solve, their problems. NSo I said‘Ah 338 which side their bread is buttered, they (the people of Eire) now like the English, who allow them to enter the UK freely and make money. NS□' He didn't come near us, said Godfrey, ' so why should he come to see you?"' At least,' she said,'I should have thought he know what side his brand's buttered.' MM o Her mouth twisted.' You' re a timid soul, aren't you?''I know which side my bread is buttered on,' I said. RATTo(NONCE) You must expect literary and academic people to lose some respect for you if you' re going to go on churning out twaddle for the popular press. You can't have your bread buttered on both sides. O can be used as (part of) a cynical comment on sb's motives; variant you can't have your bread buttered on both sides in last example possibly influenced by have one's cake and eat it (too) (qv). well, Father Macalister, we ollwork in the same vineyard.' And then he gave one of those affec-ted sighs of his and said' Very true, Colonel, but we planted it.’ RMo... which, in the jargon of theAct, apparently means the British Medical As-sociation, and the BMA alone, would be able to speak for the workers in the medical vineyard in any negotiations with authority. N$ a It (ie being a TV commentator) seemed, and still seems to me, a cheaply gained celebrity, if celebrity is what you want; the more so if you have toiled so many years in the increasingly barren displays of fiction. L 口 variant (all)labour/ work/ toil in the vineyard. ladies first(saying) a reminder of, or allusion to, polite procedure in serving food or drink,entering a room or vehicle, etc o And then MrCollins pulled open the doors from inside the Hall—— and the noise seemed to be switched off.' Now,' he said, ' Ladies first—— let yours come on in please, Miss Elliot.' TT o' Look, Mummy's tasting your medicine and it's quite nice. Here,Bobby, you can take yours and Janice will see there's nothing to make a fuss about.'' No,' saidBobby. ' It's always ladies first.'o often ironic or jocular.· ladies and gentlemen[n + n non-rev] a form of address (often as an introduction to a speech) or a descriptive reference(cf' men and women', ' husbands and wives') a I don't thinkI quite understand what is being said here—— if you could repeat your argument again, very slow-ly this time, ladies and gentlemen, and define the terms you are using. TCM o... where some ladies and gentlomen of the Press were hoping to waylay him. SC (my) Lady Bountiful [Comp/O (NP)] a woman (or source of supply personified as such) who dispenses charity, gifts, favours etc(the implication often being, in the case of in-dividuals, a condescending patronage (from a character in a 18th c play))V: be, see oneself as;play, act. det: my; the, a; no o I resent her coming round to play Lody Bourtifall. Tell her we' re not so poor that we can't feed and clothe <339> ourselves. u And several of Goldy's lot (=schoolchildren) were making a great to-do of taking her case off the seat and opening the johnnα (= piano) for her— might have been the Lady Bountiful lobbing out tanners. TT oTheir living is hard wrung from the soil DameNature is no lady bountiful in these regions. a lame duck [0 (NP)] a disabled or disadvan-taged person, ship, vehicle etc; an organization.or business firm、 not able to function effective-ly, esp because of financial difficulties V: aid,assist, bail out □ You' re always getting yourself involved with lame ducks who have enough gumption to know a soft mark when they see one.□ Rolls-Royce has gone bankrupt but the cost of picking up the pieces and avoiding massive redundancy is as yet incalculable. Now another lame duck, the Harland and Wolff shipyard inBelfast, is to have further help from the Govern-ment. SCoUCS had been labelled by the Govern-ment as a prime species of lame duck which unless it took steps to get up and walk, would be cut down as an example to the rest of industry. Lo attrib use a lame duck industry. ◇ △ a dead duck. a land fit for heroes to live in(catchphrase)a country, nation that can reward those who have fought in its defence with good conditions of life and work as civilians (based on the first quotation but used now in the form of the head-phrase) o (source) What is our task? To makeBrutain a fit country for heroes to live in.LLOYi) GEORGE (Prime Minister) NOV 1918o In1914 Great Britain went to war, and the men who came back from the war found quite quickly exactly the opposite of a land fit for heroes. Lo But if the United States is hardly today, asNorth Vietnam or even perhaps China are, &land fit for heroes to live in, it is at least now once again a plainly more secure ground than these for itinerant academics and scriptwriters. L a land flowing with milk and honey a place of abundant resources, easy living; a/ the promised land (qv) □(source) And I am come down to deliver them unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. EXODUSIII8□Around the time that Huck-leberry Finn decided that he should light out for the territories. California became, once and for all, the land of milk and honeyfor gold-diggers,waitresses wanting to be discovered and EastCoast ucademics. NS□California is the land of milk and honey----milk by the gallon and honey by the quart. Everything comes in extra-super-giant-economy packs. TVT o variant the land of milk and honey. (in) the land of Nod (have gone to) sleep(perhaps originally a pun on dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 'GENESIS IV 16)□' Father's in the land of nod, I think. '' Well,leave himbe; he's had a tiring day. And don't turn off the TV or he' ll wake up.'o Let's get you bedded down and off to the land of Nod. TGLYo usu facetious; with or without capital N. larger than life [Comp (AdjP)] larger in size than the person/ object represented; dramatic-ally exaggerated, so as to seem more impressive than he/ it is S: model, portrait, figure; actor.statesman, incident, event. V: △ be; appear,make sth o These masks were a little larger a lame duck—— the/ one's last gasp than life and this fact accounted for the extraor-dinary impression of closeness which I received when I first opened the door. UTNo Fergus---Ihave the Templar blood, the blood of robbers and murderers and...’' Just forget that blood and thunder stuff. will you? I'm sorry to be so lacking in melodrama, but honestly your ancestors were probably painted larger than life.’ DC□ Trivial incidents of his childhood began to flood his mem-ory with a significance larger than life. ◇(as) large as life. (and) last, but not/ by no means least[Conj (AdjP)](cliché) precedes the final item in a cited list of people, or things, in order to em-phasize that sb/ sth is no less important than the others previously mentioned o Large numbers of medical personnel had to be employed, special hospitals had to be set up, psychiatrists had to be employed to determine the degree of incapacity.and last, but not least, a considerable financial sacrifice was involved in boarding out men under this category. SNPo They thanked every member of the Committee by name, and similarly every-one who had sent a donation, and last, but not least, the caretaker of the Hall whom the cater-ing and cleaning arrangements had kept early and late at work, for over a week. a I have ven-tured to bring with me a selection of his books:' Happy Days Among the Heather', ' Wandering in Wester Ross’ , and last but by no means least one of his earliest books, ' Land of Heart'sDesire'—a gem, Mr Carmichael. RM the last ditch [Comp/o(NP)] the last resource,the last remaining position one can use in order to resist or counter-attack military, political or social pressure; the last effort one can make to ensure one's safety, or to avoid/ defeat in a con-test, argument etc V: be; fight to/ in, resist to/ in,make one's stand in/ at; □ It is all very well for politicians who are spared the sufferings of those they claim to lead and represent to talk of resist-ing oppression to the last ditch.□ All this has no doubt bred a reasonableness,a remarkably quiet assumption that violence is the last ditch. ULoAn Army spokesman said: ' Whether it's a last ditch effort or not we cannot be sure. But they are certainly pulling out all the stops. "STo The attitude 'I won't have a television in the house' is dying; but there are still a few last-ditchers holding out against what they are content to dis-miss as the goggle-box or idiot's lantern. NS o attrib use, a last ditch effort, may or may not be hyphenated; n compound, a last ditcher, may or may not be hyphenated ó Δ(as) a/ one's last resort; in the last resort¹. the/ one's last gasp [o (NP)] one's last few breaths before death; (fig) (when people,machines, sources of energy or supply show,give) a last sp urt of action, or effort, before exhaustion (the implication being that it is either too late, or only just in time, to be effec-tive) prep: at, to, until o Society clings to its irrational attitude that you must on no account die until you have exhausted all and every artificial means medicine has invented to keep you ticking over to the last gssp . RToI hope you brought another torch or a spare battery. This one's at its last gesp. □ The story of what has happened to ' Collier's', ' Saturday Evening Post'and, more recently, ‘Look’ is familiar. They all 339 <340> the last lap— the last thing one wants etc(to do) had huge readerships right up to the last gasp but they got their sums horribly wrong. Lo'I wish you had consulted me a year ago when this trouble started,' the doctor scolded her gently.' Some of you women will wait until the last gasp. the last lap [O/o (NP)] the final circuit in a race;(fig) the final stage of a journey, contest,course of study, long-term undertaking, etc V:enter, reach. prep: in, on, at o As they entered the last Imp Johnson was still running third.□IIhas become something of a favourite pastime to gather at the quayside and watch tipsy trippers cover the Issel ap back to the ship. TOo' He has had good grades until this year.'' Agreed , but it's the last lap that counts and he is not working as a final-year student must.'o It has been a hell of a business completing this contract. Thank God.we' re on the last lap now. o Here in Basrah, in sight of safety, he felt instinctively sure that the danger would be greater than during the wild hazards of his journey. And to fail at the last lap----that would hardly bear thinking about. TCB one's last penny etc each detail of one's in-come or expenditure, esp(down) to the last remaining (small) unit of currency; all, or all that remains, of one's money n: penny, △half-penny; bob, dollar, dime o I want justice for my son, if it costs me my last pemmy. o When Fergus arrived and said, ‘Everything all right?’ she would answer, ' Well, Nurse Ellen did fall down that awful hole, and Nicky was chased by some-one called Clementine who doesn't exist, and a blackmailer has taken our last penny, but other-wise, yes, everything is all right.' DCo Virginia felt sure that she knew exactly the price of every-thing on the list and would count the change to the last halfpenny when she returned. AITCoBefore the invitation came to review novels for the‘Listener’(which he carried on for no less than II consecutive years) he was down to his l est 30 bob·((slang) bob = shilling, formerly unit of British currency). o literal uses of ex-pression usu specify a precise amount in an appropriate unit of currency while fig uses usu take form of headphrase. the last rites/ sacrament(s) a religious ceremony performed at a time of impending death, a burial etc; anything which is seen as acknowledging, or symbolizing, the end of sth.□' What is your feeling about the service?' saidTempesit. Godfrey looked round at the waitresses.' Very satisfactory,' he said. Tempest closed her eyes as one who prays for grace. ‘mean, ' she said, ' poor Lisa's last rites at the crematorium.’ MM□He blamed everybody in rurn for the high mortality rate in the ward, often ingeniously, as in his idea that the sight of the priest constantly arriving with the Last Secre-ment might frighten people into their coffins. L□(reader's letter) Humphrey Littleton read the lest rites over half an hour of Wednesday night's jazz programme. Another nail in the coffin! RTthe last shall be first(and the first, last)(saying) those that are despised, or un-derestimated, may prove superior to their sup-posed betters a(source) But many that are first shall be last; and the last shell be first.MATTHEWXIX30□It is not equality, as they claim,that most revolutionaries seek but that the last 340 should be first.□ He seemed the least promising of my pupils— but there you are, the last shall be first and the teacher's darlings pass into oblivion. o now used in order, and with em-phasis, of headphrase. one's / its last etc state is worse than the first (saying) an attempt at change, or im-provement, may leave sb/ sth in a worse con-dition than before adj: last, △latter, second o(source) When the unclean spirit hath gone out of a man, then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. MATTHEWXH43-5□So do we not do better to proceed gradu-ally, to persuade rather than to bully, to avoid a violent reaction that will leave our last state worse than our first? OBS□Many an employee who has thought it would be more profitable to go into business for himself has found his latter state worse than his first. O By the time Stan-ley had finished tinkering with the clock its second state was worse than the first for it struck twelve at every hour of the day. the last/ final straw [Comp (NP)] an additional burden beyond endurance V: △ be;find sth; prove to be o I suppose my resistance to illness had become weakened during five years of war, and the aeroplane crash was the last straw. MFMo(NONCE) Thiseasy assumption that a cook's day off could as well be one day as another may have been the is xt straw that broke the back of her patience, but Mrs Rob-bins declared that she had been going to give in her notice anyway.□ His Christmas at Warbeck,he felt, was becoming a whole series of disagree-able surprises. The presence of yet another unex-pected guest was the last straw. EM□' Don't even have ketchup,' he said, as if this serious gastronomic omission were the final straws. BFAa headphrase is reduced form of the less com-monly used saying it's the le ast straw that breaks the camel's back. last thing (at night) [A (NP)] immediately before retiring to bed or falling asleep; at the latest possible or reasonable time (the implica-tion being that other matters have been atten-ded to) o (advertisement) Just one spray when you get up and that glorious morning-fresh feel-ing and heavenly perfume are still there Ig:t thing at night. Ho The next thing they decided(about chocolate), however, was that it was good for loving. This idea is, of course, pretty well explodedby now even among those who like a cup of cocoa last thing. TVT O first thing (in the morning). the last thing one wants etc(to do) a most unlikely, unsuitable, or personally disagreeable object, person, state of affairs.action to take, etc V: wants,△wishes, expects;needs. inf: to do; to happen; to see; to discuss o Reform, in a sense, is the last thing that theIRA (= Irish Republican Army) in either itsProvisional or its Official manifestations, actu-ally wants. Lo His real name wouldn't mean anything to you and the last thing I want to do is to throw a man's past in his face unless he's a double-dyed villain. SDo Even when I felt that the gallery stove was the last thing / wanted to see again, there were few days when I didn't have at <341> last one's time-laugh till/ until one cries etc least one proper meal. SC□Infact,a completerest is often the last thing one needs. To continue to be active but with a change of occupation may he far more beneficial. ST o The last thing he expected of the stranger was that he would be travelling first-class with a third-class ticket. PWo The subject of his wife's illness was the last thing that Bernard wished to discuss at that moment, his brother-in-law the last man with whom he would discuss it any time. HAA last one's time [V + 0] continue to exist, or be sufficient, during one's own lifetime, al-though perhaps not much longer $; it; the present régime, the reservoir, the carpets we have a The roof will last our time, Mary. I'd ruther spend the money on making things a bit easier for us. □ As long as they see it lasting their time and probably that of their grandchild-ren, not too many people are going to spend sleepless nights worrying about the run-down of natural resources. o may imply selfish outlook which disregards prospects of others or of future generations, but may simply indicate practical outlook; stress pattern , last ' our time. one's last will and testament [n + n non-rev] a legal document—— superseding any other previously made—— which gives instructions for the disposition of one's property after death,sometimes including general remarks, recom-mendations etc which are not legally binding oThe doctor's ' Well, how's Granny Taylor this morning? Have you been making your last will and test—' would falter when he saw her eyes.the intelligence. MM o ... featured the fighter pilot, Richard Hillary, whose book‘The LastEnemy' was akind of Last Will and Testement for the British who fought in the Second WorldWar — for those, at any rate, who thought about it at all deeply. L the last word (in sth) [Comp (NP)] sb/ sth that, of its kind, cannot be surpassed (ie is as good, or as bad, as it is possible to find), or that sets a new standard as yet unchallenged V: △be; become, seem; make sth. o: women; com-petence, luxury, laziness o She's always going on about women's feelings and intuitions as though she was the last word in women. ASAoDon't talk to me about untidy kids. I' ve got two at home that are the last word. o(advertise-ment) The luxurious interior sprung mattress is guaranteed by the manufacturers for 5 years against fair wear and tear and is the last word in night-time relaxation. OBS o‘Yield to theNight’ : A sombre condemned cell drama focussedon convicted murderess and understand-ing prison official. Until ' Room at the Top', this was the last word in British cinema realism. RT◇△ have etc the last word. (famous) last words a (recorded) utterance that was the last sb made before dying; a foolish, misjudged or boastful remark, or opinion, passed before an accident, reversal of fortune, etc o There is also a fatalistic note; the victim of the crime, in her last words, declares,quite unprotestingly, that it is what she expected.AH□' Poor bird,' said Sir Alex sounding genuine-ly concerned. When I asked what his parrot's last words were he looked rather shocked. OBS□(Another published me to write a book for children about the stage on the strength of the ' Whicharts' . My owneditor said I could certainly do so, but warned me that there was no money in children's books. These were femous last words, weren't they? RT □ ' Of course, they' re edible, he answered cramming another handful of berries into his mouth. I hoped it wasn't going to be a case of famous last words. O when expression is used to refer to a foolish remark it is given in full, and use in such a context is frequently facetious. late in the day [A (AdjP)] later in time, after more delay, than is appropriate, desirable, or likely to produce good results adv mod: rather,much too; a little, somewhat, not too o I am sure we all appreciate Mr Isaacson's anxiety to complete this work in the best possible way. Ifeel, however, that it is rather la te in the day to call in new technical advisers. PLo I'm an old man. Your offer has come too late in the day for me.□ Without Hitler's approval he was nobody.Hess does not seem to have thought of that till remarkably late in the day. Lo This is the second book in which he has unwisely, and too late in the day for comfort, remembered things better now forgotten. NS□ almost always modified. the/ one's late lamented sb/ sth (formal)sb fairly recently dead and still mourned; sb/ sth that no longer lives, or exists, for whom/ which the speaker may not necessarily feel regret n:mother, chairman; Himmler oI hope you will do so. It was your late lamented mother's strongest wish for you. o In the presence of his widow, of course, any criticism of the late lemented was studiously avoided.□I'm not talking about actual complaints against the Government: you go to prison for that. Do you know who trained our secret police, that fine body of men? The late lemented Himmler, with personal supervision.ILIH□ I don't really like my new car. It's very economical on fuel but it isn't nearly as comfort-able as my late lamented Morris Minor. O n may be omitted, as in second example, when expression is used literally. later on [A (AdvP)] later (the implication usu being later within an understood period or process)o It was uncertainty on this issue which was to lead to trouble later on. MFMoJames had to visit a patient but he hopes to join us later on.□' He doesn't mention a price. ' ' Oh yes he does.but later on, near the end of his letter,'o front,middle or end position. ② early/ earlier on. laugh like a drain (informal) laugh noisily.raucously □ (of a television programme) Take' Faulty Towers', for example:I hated it first time round, but when it was repeated this year on BBC1. I laughed like a drain. L o MademoiselleDupont was horrified. Ma, on the other hand,started laughing like a drain. BFA laugh till/ until one cries etc laugh so long,or so hard, that one's eyes water, one becomes almost hysterical A: till one cries, △ until the tears ran down one's face; so much one is al-most crying o The Riley Kestrel(a car) ended its days stuffed in the Michelmores' kitchen door-way. 'I was trying to teach Jean to drive in it. We laughed tillw@ cried.'RTo Sometimes when I'm writing something for the script I phone Warren to tell him and we' re both laughing so much we' re almost crying. RToI regret to admit thatI could do nothing more sensible than sit down on 341 <342> laugh and the world laughs with you—a lay figure a rock and laugh until the tears ran down my face. BB laugh and the world laughs with you,(weep and you weep alone)(saying) other people are more willing to share your joys and successes than to help, or sympathize, in your sorrows or failures; people want cheerful, not melancholy, company o (source) Laugh and the world lughs with you;/ Weep and you weep alone;/ For the sad old earth must horrow its mirth,/ But has trouble enough of its own.SOLITUDE (E W WILCOX 1855-1919) o The banner-motto for the whole paper is‘Smile DammitSmile!’ Laughandthe world laughs with you’,Ella Wheeler Wilcox's lines have hung on the walls of unnumbered working class living rooms.UL□(NONCE) Smile and the world smiles with you may work in London or Leeds. Smile inCambridge and see where it gets you. ST the laughing academy (informal) a lunatic asylum and institution for the care, education etc of mentally handicapped, or mentally ill,people o Well, if I worried about that sort of thing I'd end up in the Laughing Academy in one of those waiter's jackets with the arms sewn together. JFTR□(a film review) Any questions about the dubious taste of mocking the insane is dispelled by the unreality of this particular celluloid laughing scademy. OBS laughter and tears [n + n rev](a display of)amusement and sorrow/ pity contrasted or mingled o(a radio programme) The next half-hour or so will be full of laughter and tears. To The sudden relief from strain had left her in a tremulous state between tears and laughter. the law is an dess (saying) a legal procedure,judgment or enactment is stupid or unjust o(source) ' You indeed are the more guilty of the two, in the eye of the law; for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction.'' If the law supposes that,' said Mr Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, the law is a8$$——a idiot.’ OLIVER TWIST (C DICKENS 1812-70)□(advertisement) The law is an ass. Minimum office temperatures are clearly laid down by law.Maximum office temperatures are not. It can top100°F in the office (as it did in many last summer) and the law offers employees no word of comfort. ST□ You may be stopped from doing something innocent, which will make you think the law's my ass. TVTo On camera, they make you believe the law is an a mis, and worse, when it comes to dealing with people of the incorrect pigmentation. NS the law of the jungle self-preservation; the survival of the strongest, or most unscrupulous o The Robens Committee of 1972 had been told,in writtenevidence, by W H Thompson,a leading union solicitor: ‘The only law that rules in fac-tories is the law of the jungle, and it is a jungle where innocent persons are maimed and mutilated and their lives laid waste.’ Go The chiefFrench grumble about Dr Kissinger's speech is that he is applying ' the law of the jungle' or' the doctrine that might is right'. OBS the law(s) of the land the law as enforced in a particular country at a particular period oThe success was because in those days, and up to1961, there were no betting-shops. The law of the land said you could only bet at a racecourse. 342 L o Same with judges — you stick them in a uniform to make it clear that it's the laws of the land you' re up against. and not just a prejudiced old man. OBS the law of the Modes and Persians any established and rigidly followed code or prac-tice □(source) Now,O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it be not changed, ac-cording to the law of the Modes and Persians,which altereth not. DANIEL VI 8□ She could be flexible. After all, it's not a law of the Medes and Persians that afternoon tea must be drunk at four precisely.□(NONCE) Nurse, who after theMode and Persian code of the nursery quite rightly held all education to be superfluous,having got on very well without it herself... WDMlaw and order[n+ n non-rev] maintenance of,uniformity with, the laws under which the members of a society, community, nation are governed and protected V: establish, maintain,uphold□ ' One outstanding advantage left behind by the old colonial regime in Sierra Leone,' saysSiaka Stevens, ' is the establishment of law and order, without which no progress would have been possible.'RTo In this situation it is common to say that nothing can be done until law and order is restored. But intransigence in NorthernIreland on both sides makes it necessary to take the long view. SC□And yet, if abused,' law and order’ become the strongest (because the official) forces for oppression. NS a law unto oneself [Comp(NP)] sb who does as he wishes, sets his own standards, etc regard-less of the rules or conventions of a community,social group, profession etc V:△be; become,remain o Abd-el-Rahman, the ruler of Darfur.had died, and the tribes who inhabited that vast province were now largely a law unto them-selves. BNo If Sam Silkin has any self-respect,he will demand the demotion of police officers who decided to act as a law unt o themselves.NS□I' ve been in this business for thirty years; Iknow everything about showgirls; but I don't know Tillie. She's a mystery; she's a law unto herself. PE◇△take the law into one's own hands(Vol 1). lay sth bare [V + 0 + Comp pass] expose sth fully to the eye, or to the light of day; reveal, or communicate, sth fully so that it can be known and understood O: his chest, the original sur-face; one's soul; the facts, their motives oProfessor Eric Birley, Robin's father, leid bare the headquarters of the fourth-century fort in the1930s. ST□ There is little that any further inquiry could discover that was not leid bere by theRoyal Commission on the Press. To He laid bare his soul to her in a way he would not willingly have done had he been entirely sober.□ Here we have all the elements of the prophetic dream—the strong emotion indicating the importance of the dream, the symbolic way in which the in-formation is wrapped up, and the special skill of the interpreter who can lay bare its innermost meaning. SNPO in active constructionsOalmost always in end position. a lay figure [Comp (NP)] a jointed wooden frame used by artists instead of a living model for arranging garments, draperies, on; (fig) a person given, or performing, only a nominal function V: △ be; see, regard, sb as o The <343> lay a/ one's ghost etc----a leading/ lesser light/ luminary realisation had come to her slowly; the Queen was a lay figure, lacking even the power to dis-miss a maid-of-honour without the King's approval. Wi o ' Sometimes I think you treat your agents like lay figures, people in a book. It's a reul man up there— isn't it?' ' That's not a very nice thing to say about me.'OMIH lay a/ one's ghost etc[V + O pass] exorcize a supernatural spirit, rid oneself, or another/others, of a threat, obsessive or irrational fear,doubt, suspicion n: ghost、 sp irit, bogey.demon □ Included are ancient recipes for every-thing from curing warts to laying ghosts.□ But a series of tests carried out by multiple screening at a single visit lays the ghost of a number of diseases and furnishes a healthy profile. Lo TheAgheila bogey had been laid and we were leaguering as an Army beyond that once-dreaded position, where hitherto only our advanced patrols had penetrated. MFMoI discovered a ten-dency in myself to be unwarrantedly sharp towards those features in working-class life of which I disapprove. Related to this is the urge to lay ond's ghosts; at the worst, it can be a temptation to ' do down' one's class, out of a pressing ambiguity in one's attitude to it. UL lay sb/ sth low [V + 0 + Comp pass] knock.bring down sb/ sth into a horizontal, flattened position; reduce, or lower sb/ sth in esteem, im-portance; weaken or destroy sb/ sth o Crops had been destroyed and many buildings laid low. oWe had a bad time last winter. The whole family was laid low by the flus(= influenza) epidemic.The house looked like a hospital for weeks.□ Acurrent advertisement tells us of an author , who' tukes on the greatest evolutionists of all time,Charles Darwin, Desmond Morris. RobertArdrey, Konrad Lorenz— and lays them all low.’ L lay oneself/ sb(wide) open (to sth) [V +0 + Comp] invite, expose oneself to criticism etc o: attack, criticism, exploitation, ridicule o Not to defend oneself would be to lay oneself, and one's children, open to oppression, slavery or extermination. AHa One can, however, admire a researcher who lays himself open to, and suffers, attack from his subjects. SC o I was pleased to see how the ineptitude of the drawing laid Davies wide open, a good thing about drawing is that it's difficult to fake things with it.OBS a Of course, you' re (ie comedians) always laying yourself wide open, and that's half the fun—— though it still frightens me. We' re always walking the knife-edge between being very funny and very silly. RT lay sth wast@ [V + 0 + Comp pass] destroy sth; render sth useless O: crops, fertile country,houses o The emperor vanished with his army into the wilderness of the Ethiopian plateau, mur-dering, torturing, and laying waste the country as he went diong. Bno... factories where innocent persons are maimed and multilated and their lives leid westo. Go There was a time, after all, not that long ago, when children seemed quite cap-able of walking past a golf course without being seized with an overwhelming desire to lay waste to it. SCo variant lay waste to sth. lead sb to believe (that) cause sb to believe(with or without intention to deceive) that sth is true, is a fact, when this is false or, at least, uncertain: give sb to understand (that)(qv) □Bolshaw had led me to believe he was at death's door. SPL□ This will take time; only the blindest optimism would lead anyone to believe that UI-ster will find peace for many years. Lo The report reveals that even this relatively informative com-pany last year did not tell shareholders that profits were much less than their record dividend led them to believe. ST o But my father was already dead these ten years or more, or so I had been led to believed. □ pass as in last example.lead a busy etc life [V + O] be continuously.or characteristically, or for a particular period,a busy etc person adj: busy, active; idle; dan-gerous; lonely; sober; downtrodden o To say you lead a busy life is not an answer to whether you take enough exercise. a Little boys lead a lazy life. Little girls work, feeding the fowls.NDNo' Who 's the Red Vulture?'' Captain Segura of course.' Dr Hasselbacher said. ' What a shel-tered life you lead.'oMIHo(of oil-rig workers)Insurance premiums are extremely high in view of the dangerous lives they lead. sc▲ bear etc a charmed life; lead/ live a double life/ two lives. lead sb a dance [V + 10 + pass] make sb follow one in bewilderment from place to place;subject sb to the vagaries of one's way of life;cause sb a lot of unrewarding exertion or worry det: lively, fine. pretty, awful;a hell of a, no end of a o Also an acute tactician, he led the RoyalNavy a lively dance before they finally pinpoint-ed and sank Atlantis. OBS□ Nosey is the nick-name of a young Arab stallion who has just featured in a film shot on Dartmoor, leading aBBC crew the dance of its life in the course of it. RT o They marvelled that a man so brilliant could be so difficult. He led them a hell of a dance. STo Helen, the youngest, led her family a dreadful dance in which drink, opium and con-version to the Church of Rome all figured. NSlead/ live a double life/ two lives [V + 0]alternate, or combine, two roles in life each with its own activities, colleagues or acquain-tances; esp, but not exclusively, do this illegally or secretly(under an assumed name, with intent to deceive, etc) o It was hard to imagine the respectable Mr Archibald loading a double life,but the evidence of the photograph of M. JeanDupont (which could possibly have been a freak likeness had the French passport not been found in the said Archibald's possession) was incon-testable.□She was free to go to London when she liked. She was no longer pricked by guilt, her double life had become second nature to her. Pw□ Mother spent several odd years in that village pub, living her double life, switching from bar-room rages to terrace meditations, and waiting while her twenties passed. CWRo Sonia is leaving to get married. She's not going to try and live two lives. It isn't easy, I know. I' ve seen plenty of girls before you wear themselves out trying to run a house and a job. AiTC ◇ △ lead a busy etc life. a loading/ less@ r light/ luminary sb whose position in a community, profession etc is pre-eminent/ respected (but less so than sb else referred to)o ... to solve a murder which relates to the activities of a gang of brutal London crooks and, eventually, some of the leading lights of the small town where the action takes 343 <344> a leading question/ remark----leave sb cold place. NS□ Entries would be accepted only from writers' sponsored' by others already recognised in dramatic circles. ' Well, of course, anyone would do, really. Say a lending light in the local amateur dramatic society.’ NS o J F Peabody,that lovable old drunken critic praised my novel.A lot of the lesser lights followed his lead, and because it was written in the first person they snuffed at autobiography. JFTRo(reader's letter)The prisoner in the dock was not Wal Han-nington at all but a less@r luminary of the Na-tional Unemployed Workers' Movement. NSaleading question/ remark[O(NP)]a ques-tion asked, or worded, so that one can hardly avoid giving the answer or showing a reaction that the questioner hopes for V: △ ask, put oSecondly, Decca argues that (during trials of a navigating aid) the Agency asked pilots leading questions which invited critical answers. o PierAngeli, when asked a rather reading question,slapped her interviewer on his left cheek and flounced out of the studio. L o' Of course, Iwouldn't ask your mother out alone. I mean, not unless it was sort of—— well, in a family way——Imean, if she was my mother-in-law.’ He looked so scared when he had said this.' It sounded like a loading remark. It wasn't meant to. My God,I' ve only met you a few times.' alTC a leap/ shot in the dark [Comp/O (NP)] an action, diagnosis, answer etc which is risked in the hope that it is correct V: be, seem (leap/shot); make, take (leap)o We are calling for a halt to progress, for prevention and preservation,for safety first and no leaps in the dark, because.it's all that we are capable of. NS o It has always been usual for a new kind of work to be con-sidered in an unacademic manner, realising that a just estimate requires a certain generosity, a readiness to take a loop in the dark, or risk a rash generalisation. L a Give your poor old restricted brain a new lease of life with what DrEdward de Bono calls ' lateral thinking'. For what we all need, he maintains, is a little less logic, and a bit more creative, imaginative. learp-in-the-dark headwork. RTo' Irma?'' Yes, Irma;you' ve seen her, haven't you?' Harold had no means of telling whether this was a shot in the dark. Having hesitated, he saw that he was lost.' Well,I have seen her,' he admitted in a low voice.PW□ attrib use leap-in-the-dark headwork.◇△ lo ok before one leaps. learn a/ one's lesson [V+ O pass] learn from sth that one has done, or that has happened to one, what (not) to do again in similar circum-stances o He also learned an important làséon.Having warred for his first four years with the' Leicester Mercury and Evening Mail', he gradu-ally took on board the idea that good press rela-tions were essential. STo The trouble was that he expected everybody to be as honest as himself,but I think he's learned his lesson now. o For every £ 1 saved on helping them to live at home,£5 is spent to help them live in hospital. This is the lesson that is now to be learned by national,as well as local, government. NSo 'I am doing this,' he had told her, ' for moral reasons. I believe——I firmly believe, it will do the old man good.Teech him a lession.’ MM O variant teach sb a lesson =‘make plain to sb that sth he has done,has said, or believes to be true, is wrong or 344 misguided (the realization usu coming as a result of unpleasant experience)'. the (very) least one can do [Comp(NP)] an action that is the minimum that duty, gratitude.courtesy etc requires of one V:△be, seem; feel,consider sth o But now that she was at home,with the children likely to come in at any moment and everyone being so kind, she felt that the least she could do was to keep bright and cheer-ful. DCo But if MPs do demand, as they should,a little trust from those of their party workers who toil to put them in office at each election,then the level they can do is to come a little cleaner about themselves. NSo CLIVE: If we can't afford a chateau in Brittany, if we can't install scholars in our library, because we haven't got a library, then the least we can do is get in a young charming tutor for the girl, someone with tone, of course. FFEoI insist. Giving you a lift home is the very least ican do after your stay-ing so late to help me. least said, soonest mended/ forgotten(saying) lengthy recriminations, explanations,excuses, are often a mistake as they tend to exaggerate the importance of a(perhaps trivial)mistake, misunderstanding, quarrel etc□ In most (phrases) the note is one of cheerful pa-tience: ' you' ve got to take life as it comes',' grin and bear it', ' ah well, least said, secondst men-ded'. ULD What has happened is an illustration of my belief that' fourst said, soonest mended'.Because I made some off-the-cuff remarks on prices, which were misinterpreted as a pledge or something of the kind, I have had to bear up under a good deal of abuse. NS□' Oh dear,I must apologise the next time we meet.' ' Oh, I don't think she took what you said at all seriously, and perhaps learst said, somest forgotten.’ leave/ let sb/ sth alone [V + O + Comp pass]not take, touch, interfere with sb/ sth; not try to influence, or alter, sb/ sth; next entry (qv) □Among the botanical jewels of those forest rides are profusions of orchids. As some species take up to fifteen years to flower it is, to say the least,good manners to leave them sione. L o MrsThatcher, who seems unable to leave alone any-thing that is going along well, must be longing to get her interfering hands onto this educational success story created under Labour. NS□Some of the spectators went out to meet the cricketers,Horace's mother in the lead. He told her, several times and loudly, to leave him alone. TGLY o All this turmoil of emotion makes me fearfully sick——I can neither eat nor sleep. If he doesn't soon let me alone he' ll be the death of me. TCM□ O usu middle position but end position if Ois clause or long phrase, as in second example◇ △ leave/ let well alone; let alone. leave/ let sb/ sth be not interfere, or tamper,with sb/ sth; previous entry(qv)□JERRY: Good morning. (Cairy ignores him.) JEAN: Say good—CAIRY: No! JEAN: Le her be. YAA□Some treatments are administered without any certainty that they will prove helpful and some,I believe, are actually riskier than fet-ting the patient be. ◇ △ leave/ let welf alone; let alone. leave sb cold [V.+ 0 + Comp pass] not interest, amuse or excite sb adv mod: rather,quite; completely o Instrumental music, oddly <345> leave sb holding/ to hold the baby etc----leave undone those things... enough, left me rather cold. DOPo He was then the guest of Lord Rothschild, who's invited him over to view several fine gardens, which leftMr Streeter cold. OBS o (book review) IfMr Chips makes you melt. this misspelt.irreverent uccount of japes and whizzes will leave you cold. OBS□ Red scare-mongering may even persuade a few small colleges of education to disaffiliate, but this banging of the anti-communist drum will leave most students quite cold. NS leave sb holding/ to hold the baby etc[V+ O + Comp pass](informal) cause, or allow, sb to be burdened, or inconvenienced, by an un-welcome duty or responsibility; cause, or allow,sb to take the blame for sth n: baby; △ bag.parcel o ' Is it a character reference the FinanceCompany want?’’ No. Alan's asking you to be his guarantor. In other words, if he can't complete his payments you' re left holding the baby. o' And you would leave us to hold the baby?Dave was incoherent with indignation. You go off to Puris and leave here your stolen property to be found by the police, no?"UTNo This was what Kissinger and Nixon, their various minions and dimly remembered predecessors, laboured so fervently to siave off. Nobody wanted to be the one caught holding the bag. NSo It reflects a subconscious reluctance to be left holding the parcel. They don't want to be in government at this particular moment, thank you very much,and reckon that so long as Heath is their leader,they stand no danger of it. NS leave one's/ its mark [V + 0] have had an influence on, caused a change in, sb/ sth that can be seen and recognized A: on the school; wher-ever he goes; here o The gentry took over the house in turn; a painter,a mad poet, then some-one retired from the City. Each left his mark,brick floors were covered with boards, doorways blocked up or altered to make way for unheard of luxuries such as bathrooms. ARGa In Philip's life. however, there has been no exact equivalent of the philosopher-courtier, Baron Stockmar,who largely formed Albert's views on monarchy.The most comparable figure is Dr Kurt Hahn,Philip's headmaster at Salem and Gordonstoun,whose ideas have manifestly left their mark.OBS ◇ △ make one's mark. leave much to be desired [V + O] (formal)be unsatisfactory, inadequate; be less than, fall short of, a required standard det: much, a lot,a good deal, a great deal, something o(reader's letter) The way in which the evidence was hand-led may leave much to be desired but this does not necessarily mean that the evidence is unconvincing or that the ' allegation' is fake. NS□ Her entrunce with bare feet was silent, and so the armadillo (whose sight apparently left much to be desired) was unaware of her presence. DF□' We'd best get ourselves seated.'Graham said. 'I should suggest near the back.The acoustics of this place leave a great deal to be desired,'TGLY leaveno/(not) any stone unturned [V + 0pass] (cliché) search for and examine every possible solution to a problem, any means of accomplishing sth; explore every avenue(qv)oOnce faced with a loss of initative the Govern-ment left no stone unturned in collecting data for ' The Times' solicitors to use in defending its cónduct before the Commissioners. SC a It was suggested that further leaks (of privileged in-formation) might subsequently have taken place.Mr William Whitelaw promised that no stone would be left unturned, but again this did not soothe all doubts. Lo So obvious is their sym-pathy and good faith, and so convincing their depiction of this obsessive recluse that the in-quisitive reader must ultimately applaud them for their refusal to leave any available stone unturned. L leave the room [V+ O] go to the lavatory to relieve oneself o ' All right. I must just nip down to the toilet first—— didn't get a chance what with the meeting and everything.'' Yes.' he said,' you can leave the room——I' ll mix the neces-sary.'TTo Before sleep, the subject leaves the room, gets into bed, and may remain mentally active for as long as ten minutes. MFF□ euphem-ism used esp by children in a classroom asking permission to go to the lavatory. leave sb speechless[V + O + Comp pass] so astonish, delight or outrage sb that he is incap-able of responding, objecting etc, or cannot do so adequately □ Yes, it's for sale if you can afford it, the dealer replied, mentioning a sum that left him speechless. □15-year-old AdrianDannatt has amazingly adult views one verything from girls to money. Since he left me speech-less, I' ll leave him to explain in his own words.IVTo'I suggested to Mr Collins,' she said,' that you ought to marry Miss Elliot.’ And this decision on my part would improve the moral climate of the School?''I think so. ' she said, and she really did,' don't you?'' Richie, you fewer me bloody speechless.'TT leave sb/ sth standing[V + 0 + Comp pass](informal) exceed sb/ sth in speed, ability,worth, popularity etc so greatly that his/ its own progress, achievement, seems negligible (from racing) □ He started swinging his way uphill at a pace that left the others standing. □ MikeMansfield doesn't attempt to compete with the wilder dressers in his world. He doesn't need to.Wearing today's classics with confidence and colour, his own special supersonic style leaves most men standing. TVTo Field mushrooms are difficult to obtain but for flavour leave the cul-tivated commercial product standing. ST leave undone those things which/ that one ought to have done sin, or act foolish-ly, by omitting to do what is right, necessary or advisable, esp in stated or implied contrast to,or in conjunction with, doing things which one ought not to do det: those; many, a host of;several; a single a (source) We have left un-dome those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER□ This is the time of year when his sins both of omission and com-mission begin to catch up with the average back-green gardener. Not only has he not done those things which he ought to have done, but the mistakes as well as the triumphs of former seasons are emerging relentlessly from the decent obscurity of their winter retreat. SCo The one-sided contemplative leaves u ndone many things he ought to do; but to make up for it he 345 <346> leave/ let well alone—— the less/ least said the better refrains from doing a host of things he ought not to do. DOP o 'I think it is quite dreadful aboutPomfret Towers, and so seriously did she speak that Lord Pomfret wondered if he had left un-done one single thing that he ought to have dome and came to the conclusion, that, humanly speaking, he hadn't. WDMD often facetious; usu adapted. leave/ let well alone [V + 0 + Comp] not interfere with, or try to improve, an already satisfactory or adequate arrangement, state of affairs, standard of working or production, etc□ Alexander let me run this private war in my own way and supported me to the hill; we gave him success all along the road and he was content to leave well alone. MFM□In almost every sen-tence the translators could not leave well alone.To The living room is well furnished, and almost aggressively expresses Mrs Harrington's per-sonality. We are let know by it that she is aPerson of Taste; but also that she does not often let well alone. FFE◇ △let alone; leave/ let sb/ sth alone; leave/ let sb/ sth be. leaven the (whole) lump [V + O] enliven,transform,a company, community, state of aff-airs of which one/ sth is only a part □(source)Know y e not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole jump?ICORINTHIANSV6□Communes are not for every man. They are not Gardens of Eden.They will not revolutionise society. But they help to leaven the lump. They reproach. They stimulate. They cry aloud that man need not be a slave. OBS□It is good for slow learners to be in a class of mixed ability. A few bright and interes-ted minds can feeven the whole lump. one's left hand does not know what one's right hand is doing(saying) one acts secretly, or for reasons not known to oneself, or in a way that seems haphazard or contrary to one's interests or principles □ (source) Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: But when thou doest alms, let not thy left handknow what thyright handdoeth.MATTHEW V11.3□ You could be leading a double life at the moment, not letting your left hand know what the right hand is doing. TVTo' NewScientist's' editorial left hand obviously didn't know what its publicity-conscious right handWhi s doing. NMo Certainly the Dorset business is an illuminating instance of a governmental right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. ST□ We both knew the temptations of action, and how even clear-sighted men did not enquire what their left hand was doing. NM Oadjs may be reversed, as in one's right hand does not know what one's left hand is doing; variant not let one's left hand know what one's right hand is doing, in which adjs are similarly reversible. left and/ or right [A/o] both sides or all direc-tions (the implication being ' alternately',` simultaneously’ or‘indiscriminately’ accord-ing to context) V: look, turn; lie; converge, dis-perse. prep: to; in; on; at; from a But she soon saw it was all just fun, and really she felt quite proud of Ron's adaptability—— he was giving the old one-two look left and right. HAA□ThenI set off running at random down one of the avenues,looking to left and right. UTN□A sudden breeze blew in, scattering the papers right and left. □He was at that time being attacked left and 346 right for his views. □I' ve tried to make this rag into a decent newspaper and I can't have the people who represent it going about insulting everybody right and left. AITC□I' ve been up and down the High Street twice and neither left nor right is there any such shop as you mention. o may be preceded by verbs look, turn, lie with or without prep to; rev. ◇ △ next entry. left, right and centre[A] everywhere; at, to,or from all, or many, points; in all respects □ In the Council Offices they were tearing what was left of their hair and putting up notices, left.right and centre about what was not allowed to the ' tourists'. TSTo The poor were sacrificed left,right and centre to make money for a privileged few. RTo ' No sign of yours(= your class) yet,Dusty?' ' They' re a right lot —— let you down right, left and centre.'IT o usu in order of headphrase; centre always end position. ◇previous entry. a left-handed/ back-handed compliment an ambiguous compliment; a compliment that the recipient might not think flattering, or that is qualified by an additional comment that displeases or amuses o 'I was quite nervous about meeting you—— but here you are, just a nice ordinary person I feel quite at home with. "Esther smiled to herself at the left-handed compliment, but understood well enough what her mother-in-law meant.□I felt quite flattered when Jane said that she knew her father would like me. Then I found out that he likes plump women who believe men are superior beings——a bit of a back-handed compliment,I felt. o also pl. lend one's/ an· ar[V + O] hear, listen to sb/sth, esp in response to an appeal or request to do so o Most people are only too keen to talk about their disabilities to anybody willing to lond an over. NSo'I'm afraid I' ve been running on(= talking continuously) about myself again.'' Well, I should think so.' ' It's you lending your pretty little ea r in sympathy that does it—'TGLY the length and breadth of sth [O/o (NP)]the whole area of the land, or in most or many places within it V: travel, journey, walk prep:throughout, through; across; over n: land; is-land; Britain; airfield; sb's estates □ Throughout the length and breadth of the land, people were shivering in ill-heated houses as they read the morning papers, ate their breakfasts, and grumb-led about the weather. TBCo Just before the ' off the race-reader takes over, and his stride for stride account of the event goes to Manchester where other voices disseminate it, with only a few seconds’ time-lag, the length and breadth of the country. OBS□In an age of sport, with playing fields so much in demand over the length and breadth of Britain,... SCo But now, still eagerly talking. Illich has led me through the length and breadth of the gardens, and finally up to the roof, where he is to conduct his Tuesday seminar.OBS□ Sh e let the words stay, and we walked the length and breadth of the station. Then we hegan to talk again but the words were stilted. PPo prep may be omitted after a v, as in last example. the less/ loast said(about sb/ sth) the better(saying) sb/ sth is an unpleasant subject: <347> the lesser of two evils— let (oneself) go little, or nothing, can be said in sb's/ sth's favour o I think the less said about this battle the better, for I fancy that whatever I do say will almost certainly be resented. MFM o The less said about Arnold Wesker's ' The Old Ones' at the Royal Court, the better. In the past, Wesker has done good things with the Jewish comic tradition but this time he falls sadly short. Lo(of a football match) Tommy Docherty and JackCharlton, who had so much to say before this game, ran out of words after it. Docherty was almost laconic. ' The least said the better, ' he rapped.σ the lesser of two evils [Comp/O (NP)] sth little better, or more welcome, than the alter-native offered or available V: be, seem; choose,prefer □ (astrological prediction) In business you may have to choose between the lesser of two evils— pick the one which does least harm.TVT o It was considered that this alternative would be the lesser of two evils. MFM o(reader's letter)I now see the truth of Mr HaroldWilson's dictum at the lu.. : general election that the choice before the electorate is the lesser of two evils. Lo A loss of land would be compen-sated by a greater measure of political support.For Israel it is a choice of evils, but there is no point in pretending that the preservation of the status quo is likely to be a happy solution. SC□variant a choice of (two) evils; in last example a choice of evils suggests choices available are equ-ally unattractive. to let available for hiring, for renting □ To let:rooms, flats, houses, caravans. Contact Swindle and Crook Co. Ltd. o used of accommodation.◇△ for sale. let alone[Conj] how much less likely, less prob-able(is it that one would find, do etc this thing than the one just mentioned); much less (qv)oNo hot drinks, let alone sandwiches, were avail-able. SC□ You would not hurt an earthworm, let alone a big dog. UTN□At the time, however, Icould not begin to read the words, let alone trust myself to sing. ST o ... the Ministry, whose ex-perts seem never to have entered a chemistry laboratory, let alone worked in one. NSC□All in all, it is difficult to imagine a biography ofRichardson more definitive than this one, let alone more readable. Lo The professor must be confusing me with some one of the same name.I' ve not missed a lecture once, let alone often.□usu in neg construction; precedes n, v, adj or adv. ◇ △ leave/ let sb/ sth alone; leave/ let sb/ sth be; leave/ let well alone. let bygones be bygones (saying) allow old or former mistakes, offences, causes of con-tention to be forgotten; bury the past (qv)o Don't you go worrying your little head about that. That's all over—— finished and done with, as they say. Let's let bygones be—— what's that word? Oh yes! bygones. TGLYo Well ahead of the tourist deluge, Chopin chose Majorca for a winter holiday. It was a calamity. The islanders today are happy to let such bygones be bygones--they treasure the composer as an immortal asset. OBS□Sender hasn't let bygones be bygones without a murmur. He has laid down stringent conditions for the end of his self-imposed exile. L let the dead bury their dead (saying) it is better to concern oneself with the living, with present and future life and work, than with the remembering of rituals connected with people,institutions, events, customs that are dead or finished o (source) And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me;and let the dead bury their dead. MATTHEWVIII21-2□' Stop picking on the poor man.' Virginia continued to bang the broom against the skirting-board as she swept. ' It's done with. Let the past bury its dead, Helen. 'AITC o One does a great writer no service by raking out and publishing his juvenilia unless they have some intrinsic merit.Let the dead bury their dead, and let ghouls not disinter them. □ Sunday night's ' Brother, CanYou Spare a Dime?' (BBC 2) was a prizeAmerican example of how to let the deed bury the dead with a bit ot toe-tapping on the edge of the grave. NS O often adapted or allusive, as in second example. let the dog see the rabbit (catchphrase) do not get in the way of another who wishes, or whose job it is, to see or do sth □ Pop went up to the steps of the hotel and gave MademoiselleDupont a prolonged parting sample of amorous affection that even had the children cheering from the car. ' Here, stand back and let the dog see the rabbit!’ Ma called. BFA o ' There's a whole lot of connections going in under here. Idon't know which is the speedometer cable.'' Well, get your head out of the way and let the dog see the rabbit.'o facetious. let' em all come(catchphrase) a response to the intrusion, competition or opposition of others that may express open welcome, resign-ed acceptance, or determination to defy them o'I never thought we asked this lot,' Ma said,' Hardly enough stuff to go round.' ' Let ' em all com@.’ Pop said.DBMo‘Don’ t worry, Mollie,’said Joe, trying to laugh off his resentment.' Why didn't you bring Paul? Let' em all come. We' re having open house.’ AITCo He was a mean-gutted rat, and if he's a measure of the coming revolutionary I'd say let ' em all com. PPO' em=. ‘them’; stress pattern let' em ' all come. let fly (at sb) (with sth) aim, throw sth(at sb/ sth) vigorously or recklessly; express one's resentment, criticism (of sb/ sth) without restraint o:(at) opponent, critic, pupil; (with)one's fists, a stone, a faster ball o One of these gas-bullets that hit the Moon three months ago would finish us. Sooner or later the Cloud will probably let fly with some more of ' em (=them). TBC o (of a tennis match) When New-combe held a game point for it Smith let fly with an ace so fast and accurate that the Australian had no chance to return it. OBS □ His voice was louder as he let fly at Francis Getliffe, Luke, me,all liberal-minded men. NMo 'I'm sorry, ' she said,' Sometimes your cold-blooded look does some-thing to me and I have to let fly.'PP let (oneself) go allow full expression to one's mood, inclinations, feelings, esp temporarily□Victoria had been entertaining the three other typists and the office boy with a vivid perfor-mance of Mrs Greenholtz paying a visit to her husband's office. Secure in the knowledge thatMr Greenholtz had gone round to his solicitors,Victoria let herself go. TCB□ I cried for about 347 <348> let oneself/ sth go-let(her) rip ten minutes when I got back to the Wrennery butI suppose it does one good to let go. RFWo Myrtle was a little vulgar, and I must say that I like it.People who cannot let themselves go on occasion will not do for me. SPL ◇ △ next entry;let sb go; let/ leave go(of sb/ sth). let oneself/ sth go[V+ O + A] allow oneself,one's appearance, business, house, garden etc to deteriorate; run to seed (Vol 1) (qv) o She would be a good enough looking woman yet if she hadn't let herself go.□' You' re letting yourself go, my girl!’ her father told her, eyeing the dowdy skirt and jumper, her lustreless hair. ' Your mother would always keep herself a picture though she had four to look after.'o'/ was vexed,'said Alice, ' they' ve fairly let the place go sinceDad was gardener there.’▷ △ next entry;previous entry; let/ leave go (of sb/ sth). let sb go release one's grip on sb; release sb, an animal, from captivity; allow sb to proceed on his way of took the wrist with the watch upon it.and twisted it. ' Jake, you' re hurting me, ' saidAnna. I let her go and lay heavily upon her breasts, completely limp. UTN o Sometimes the web caught a wasp by mistake. Then the spider had to dismantle the web. The wasp had to be let go, because it was dangerous. HD□ The police had taken Bates in for questioning but, after having established his identity and made a few routine inquiries, they let him go. □ Well, if you' ve a train to catch we'd better let you go. I' ll get the rest of your news another time.◇△next entry; previous entry; let (oneself) go. let/ leave go (of sb/ sth) release one's grip(on sb/ sth)o You' re mad, Robert! For heaven's sake leave go of me! EMa His fingers were so numb and quivering. In a few minutes he would have to let go and risk breaking his back or limbs on the rocks below. o You cross the road withGranny, Sue--and don't let go of her hand till you' re on the other pavement. ◇ A previous entry; let (oneself) go; let oneself/ sth go. let sb/ sth go hang not bother oneself about sb/ sth either through carelessness or through defiance V: family, friend; job, project □ From now on he was going to please himself and let the world go hang. □ Your average modern playwright feels obliged to don his philosopher's cloak and shout out moral conclusions when he tackles such a subject; Sherriff prefers to give all his attention to particular characters and places,and philosophy may go hang. NSo' But Billy said he might want to go, and if so there won't be room for me in the car.'' You come if you want and letBilly go hang. He's had plenty of time to make up his mind.'o variant sb/ sth may/ can go hang.(not) let/ allow the grass (to) grow under one's feet (not) be inactive, or waste time, when one should be doing sth necessary or helpful to oneself o He says his publisher tells him there's a lot of advance interest in this book—— he's working on the publicity side himself.making the right contacts and so on, Oh, he's cute, Alec is. He doesn't let the grass grow under his feet. PW o Court Line, who areBritain's biggest package-tour airline as well as the stock market's hottest take-over tip at the moment, are not letting the grgism grow under their feet. They are currently hoosting their jet fleet from 10 to 12. SCo The directors themselves 348 allowed the gress to grow under their feet after international defenders Paddy Mulligan and Johnny Fulham were transferred for almost£30,000 a couple of seasons ago. ST let it be said as one may as well admit, or make known□(a job) It suited him because in an era of form-filling and letter-writing there was no.paper work to be done, for, let it be said, Joe had difficulty in reading and writing. TBC□ Here amI turning out to be right again, which causes me no surprise, let it be said. TGLYo Inside each ofEdna O' Brien's stories is a full-length novel:quiescent, let it be said. Lo usu middle or end position; almost always within commas or parentheses. let it go(at that) not choose, or bother, to say or do anything more about sth which might be thought to require further examination, atten-tion, action o Either the slight gloss of irony which I put on the words had escaped him al-together, or he preferred to let it go; I could not tell which, at the moment. CONoI went carefully through the dead man's personal records yetWaterman was still a man in a mist as far as I was concerned. But something attempted, something done, I told myself and thought I would let it go get that. PP let it etcride(informal) let a process, develop-ing situation, take its own course, continue as it has begun; ignore or take no action about sth said or done O: it; △ things; the matter oSome time that night we should have to (discuss tactics); but just for this brief space we put the tactics out of our minds, we gave ourselves the satisfaction of letting it ride. NM o Could the doctor after all be depended on to understandRose? Might he not take it too seriously and have her taken away? It might be better just to let things ride for the moment. TSMP let me see I am thinking, trying to remember□If the insurance company pays up I might invest in—— let me see—— Guy, what do you think of these Bolivian oil rigs? DC o 'I'm the professora from England.' ' Oh, the professora from Eng-land! Forgive me—— it's so very hot—— now let me see: Senorita Elena Lawrence?’ BMo I think it was in August, '64 we were there. No, let me see, that was the summer Julia was expecting our eldest and we didn't go abroad at all. It must have been '63.口 used to allow speaker, in course of main statement, to slow down for considera-tion, more exact definition or identification;front, middle or end position. let me tell you let me assure you; you can be quite sure of this o Let me tell you, when you' ve caught your food for four flaming days with a filed-down can opener, two bootlaces and a flam-ing hat for a fishing-net, it kind of gets you after a while. BM□She isn't as feeble as she makes out.let me tell you. I' ve watched her when she didn't know I was watching. She can move about quite easily when she likes. MMo Your mother's quite right —— you do always look a mess. And that old mac, letmetellyous, is going into the furnace before the week's out. o used to emphasize a preceding or following statement, threat,promise etc; front, middle or end position. let(her) rip (informal) allow, or arrange for,a vehicle, machine to proceed at full speed; let a plan of action be carried out with speed and <349> vigour; do/ say sth without restraint or modera-tion O: her, it, them. A: with the machine-guns,with a vol ley of abuse; in private □ For the next two days the radio astronomers were hard at work on the aerials. It was late in the afternoon of 9 December that a crowd assembled in the lab to watch results.'OK. Lether rip,' said someone.1BC□(reader`s letter) He was particularly con-cerned about what was actually said by GeneralEisenhower when he triggered off the D-Day in-vasion. 'OK! Let' er(= her) rip' was agreed as probable hul needed confirmation. L o JackieCharlton's singing voice is so awful that he daren't even let rip in the bath. RT O O and Anever used together. let sleeping dogs lie (saying) do not provoke, disturb or interfere with sb/ sth that is giving no trouble though he/ it might, or could,do so a For the time being there was no fear of public alarm, and for this reason the PrimeMinister resolved to let sieeping dogs lie. TBC□ For although we all go on so much about oppression we give little thought to its varieties;and there are clear similarities between the ' fet sleeping dogs lie' tolerance of Horthy's and ofKadar's Hungary, both autocratic rather than totalitarian. Lo(NONCE) I started talking about the Golden Section. This was silly as it roused the sleeping dog in L. W. ST o(NONCE)‘Who’ d like to go for a walk round the yard?’ l could not have said anything sillier in the circumstances.Any schoolmaster will tell you, even I can tell you, that you should always let sleeping boys lie. SPL let sth slide allow sth to remain unattended to and esp to decline or deteriorate O: things,everything; matters; work, research o We are trying to get more people in the UK to eat herring in some form or other. The home market used to be a big one. I think the British market has been let slide and we must get back into it. SC a As an author he (G B Shaw) controls everything from the renting out of his own electrotypes to the width of his margins and the fonts of his title-pages. Nothing, but nothing, is let alide. Lo ' It is kind of you to offer,' she wrote,' and there will be plenty for you to do in house and garden if you come, I' ve had so much to do looking after my two invalids I' ve had to let everything else slide.'o pass as in first two examples. let sth slip' fail, esp through delay, negligence or misunderstanding, to obtain, enjoy, make use of, sth O: opportunity, chance; occasion. A:between/ through one's fingers; from one's grasp o He's a born cadger—— never lets slip an opportunity of getting something for nothing,aBut you' ve always wanted to see Venice! It would be crazy to let a chance like this glip.□ When in' Habit' Jeannine says, 'I want last year,' her im-possible request is poignant: but in sorrow she is able to value at last the love she has so casually let slip. Lo Tell me more about this profitable transaction I'm supposed to have let slip through my fingers.□ pass as in The chance was let slip. let sth slip² reveal, stupidly or carelessly, in-formation, an opinion etc that one does not wish to be known; say sth casually, or indirect-ly, though hoping it will be noted O: …… it...(that you were leaving); anything; remark oNow remember you told the Carsons you'd be out let sleeping dogs lie---let's face it of town last Friday, and don't let it slip that you weren't. D You should have brought Jack's present when the children were in bed. One of them is bound to let something slip before tomor-row. o' What makes you think Mrs Fraser lent them the down-payment?'' Oh,a remark she let siip herself about it paying them to keep in with her.’◇ △a slip of the tongue/ pen. let themeat cake(catchphrase) unrealistic or flippant suggestion for remedying the lack of a basic necessity, eg by suggesting sth still harder to get (often attributed to Queen Marie-Antoinette, 18th c, when told that her subjects had not enough bread, but actually an older saying)□ One of the exceptions, wife of a formerAmbassador at Moscow, thought the miners should show a little ' Russian' patriotism. I don't think she said' Let' em(= them) eat cake'—neither did Marie-Antoinette for that matter—but it didn't seem far from her thoughts. Lo ' Let themeat cake.' It is, naturally, in Harrods thatMarie-Antoinetle is taken seriously. There,£1.50 buys admission to a schoolboy's paradise:the buffet tea, eat as much as you like, on the fourth floor: 75p if the schoolboy is under 11. G□(NONCE) Until the war, no self-respecting Cam-.bodian ate dogs. Dogs were for the Chinese, and paddy rats for the Vietnamese. Cambodians en-joyed snake-meat (' Let them get snakd!' said the queen, or as the great Khmer poet put it....)NSo(NONCE) Let us assume that on the first ballot the candidates are Mr Heath, Mr du Cann andMrs Margaret (' Let ' emeat Spam') Thatcher.NS let us say' let us agree that; do you agree that?o We both seem rather uncertain about our movements. Letues say that we will meet here for lunch on Sunday, and ifeither of us can't manage we' ll let the other know. o' What fec would you want for your contribution?’' I prefer people to offer me a fee, and then I' ll tell them if it's not enough.''£50 then, let wig say, and your ex-penses?' o introduces, or invites confirmation of, a proposal or suggestion; front or end position. let us say² [Conj] introduces, or refers back to,an example; for example(qv); for instance(qv)o Don't you sometimes feel it was a stroke of bad luck for you to be born with a well-to-do father who's got ideas about educating you—— when if you were son of, let's say, a chimney sweep you could have been happily employed as a garage hand? HD o If the wave-length was too short the radio waves would stream out of the atmosphere away into space instead of being bent round theEarth, as they must be to travel from London toAustralia, letussey. TBC o front, middle or end position. let's face it [Disj](cliché) let us speak frankly,boldly; let us admit that what I say is a fact o(reader's letter) Let's face it, 90 per cent of the world swears. If the odd 10 per cent doesn't,that's OK with me, but when they start creating hell because the majority do swear they are nut cases. RT o I can't help noticing how little space in this vast compilation my friends and I occupy.Let's face it---we aren't Whitaker's Almanac people. Lo We' ve both had affairs which have seemed important at the time---well, let's face it, any relationship is important isn't it. whether 349 <350> the letter of the law etc----lie low it's a physical one or a mental one?STo Why did he come to bingo? ' Let' sface it,' he said,'I come here for the money I might win.'OBS□Any wed-ding list(of guests), let's face it, is going to have omissions. L D usu front or middle position; al-most always in parenthesis to a main statement which is often not very revealing or challenging.the letter of the law etc[O/o (NP)] the law literally and rigidly defined or enforced (esp in stated or implied contrast to the spirit of the law,ie its general purpose or desired effect) V: ob-serve, uphold; stick to, abide by. adj: strict,exact. o: law; constitution; agreement; one's promise□ A policeman, if he is to do his job well,cannot abide by the strict letter of the law. He has to be familiar with his neighbourhood and abide by its ethics to some extent. SC□In claiming that an unbaptised child could not be countedChristian, the rector of Akenham stuck callously close to the letter of the law on theological grounds. NS□ But to More and othersits rejection heralded the divorce of politics from morality. It was no comfort to More that Cromwell observed the letter of parliamentary legislation. L o(price freezes) A manufacturer who wants to honour the letter but not the spirit of his pledge simply has to bring out a whole range of slightly improved products—— and he can jack his price up. OBS□ Codes of ethics in advertising, for in-stance, should be adhered to in spirit as well as in letter. NS o ' The new edition,' say Kestrel,' maintains the spirit es much as the letter of the original work.'I find it hard not to take this remark as ironical. Go variants in letter observe/maintain the spirit as much/ as well as the letter of the law etc, in spirit and/ as well as in letter. Liberty Hall a home, institution etc where people can do as they please o' But I' ll tell you this, he says, waving a hand in the direction of the main prison, I'd rather be here than there.'Not that the hostel is Liberty Hall. The prisoners function under a system of rules. RT o Bert is always carping or nagging at his wife or kids about something though he honestly believes his home is Liberty Hall. lick sb's boots/ arse [V + O] (informal/taboo) behave in a servile, todaying way to sb one hopes to please or conciliate, esp sb ranking as one's superior or sb whom one fears o He caved in straightaway. If you just spoke roughly to that chap, he was licking your boots the next moment. RATTo... a new series about an up-and-coming executive who suffers all kinds of humiliations, tests, frustrations and tediums in his route up the ladder, licking the boots above,stamping on the fingers below. STo MONTY:I bet we have a revolution soon. Hitler won't stop atSpain, you know. You watch him go and you watch the British Government lick hisgræ, until he spits in their eye. Then we' ll move in. CSWB□Daniel felt fury that snobbery like this should exist, that the duke's descendant should be prized above the great artist. He thought of Shake-speare's boot-licking to Southampton, and was ashamed both for Shakespeare and himself. US口n compounds a boot-/ an arse-licker, boot-/ arse-licking; attrib use a/ an boot-/ arse-licking attitude. lick/ smack one's lips/ chops [V + O](in-formal) show (greedy) enjoyment, or anticipa- 350 tion, of sth, perhaps by the action described oThe children, licking their lips, watched while the cake was carefully cut into equal portions. oMaybe the old man has left all his money to charity. It's too soon to be licking your lips. D' Honest, mam, I can't tell you one half of what went on, because you wouldn't want to hear it.'(Not much, I thought, I could see her as large as life licking her chops.) ‘Tell me it all, my lad,’she said. ' Get it off your chest.' LLDR o Don't apologise to Max because we had that argument when he was there. He loved every minute——Icould almost hear him smacking his lips. o The whole thing is an odd mixture of insistent lip-smacking hedonism and pert comedy, pleasant enough to read in an English mid-winter but not really adding up to anything. OBS 口 lick one's chops suggests crude or vindictive enjoyment;attrib use dip-marketing enjoyment; often con-tinuous tenses. a lick of paint[0/o(NP)] a coat of fresh paint(the implication usu being a skimpy job of renovation instead of thorough repair or treat-ment) V: need, want; apply, put on o Most amateur sailors are familiar enough with the business of making do with what they have got.Our boats are lucky to get as much as a seasonal lick of paint, G o It's wonderful what half a pound of putty and a lick of point will do. lick one's wounds [V + O] brood, console oneself, or try to restore oneself, after any form of defeat, injury or loss o ' Where's George?'‘Gone off home to lick his wounds, I expect.You were pretty severe with him.’ o EssexUniversity this week resembles a battlefield from which the chief protagonists have temporarily departed, bloody and battle weary. The senior administrators remain, licking their wounds and sharpening their claws for the inevitable ferocious battles to cóme after the Easter vaca-tion. NSa We have got to have peace—— peace to lick our wounds and make a new world—— and to do that we must try to understand each other.TCB lie awake[V + Comp] be unable to sleep though having gone to bed for that purpose oI' ve not much sympathy with him. He spends half the day snoozing and then complains because he lies awake at night. o In reality, it was LisaBrooks who had black-mailed Charmian so that she had been forced to lie awake worrying throughout long night hours. MM lie doggo (informal) remain in hiding or inac-tive, esp temporarily; next entry (qv); play possum(qv)o We are cheered by the discovery of a chemical dip for stopping the needles coming off Christmas trees. They can lie doggo in a cushion for months before popping out to pierce their chosen victim in his tenderest spot. SCo... a snake clambering along a length of twig, bliss-fully unconscious the twig is another kind of in-sect lying doggo. Lo As for his(President Car-ter's) money policies, Wall Street was lying doggo for a while, and the stock-market trod water, until it saw what kind of a wild Liberal we had in there. L lie low remain in hiding or inactive, esp as a temporary policy; previous entry (qv); play possum (qv)□ He could get out of London, lie low for a bit, living on the fat of the land in <351> life begins at forty etc— life is (not) worth living George's house. PE□ But nobody up here believes that our dear old monster was killed by this flying saucer. We think it's lying low. RMo As for the theatre, he says, ' The period of serious theatre is past. It's back in the hands of the frivolous people. We have to lie low and wait.'RTlife begins at forty etc(saying) people of 40are mature but still fit, will generally have established their values, be freer from emotion-al, financial and career problems, respon-sibilities of child-rearing, etc adj: forty, △thirty-five, sixty o ' Any Questions ' came fromBrussels. with Marghanita Laski, RichardCrossman and others bandying about answers to questions on English sex-life and hot-water bottles, does life begin at 40, and how is public opinion to be converted to preserving the environ-ment. RT o Nordin stressed that women them-selves, instead of just thinking ' Isn't there more to life than this, what about being well and happy?' need to be more assertive and go along to their doctors and say so, The ad age that life begins at forty could he less of a bad joke and more of a reality to many women. RT□At 35 we need to settle down to our lives and shed fan-tasies. To the despondent / whisper, as one who knows, that real life begins at 60. ST o chiefly humorous or consolatory, but sometimes serious; other ages may be substituted accord-ing to speaker's wishes. (a matter etc of) life and/ or death [n + n non-rev] that which determines whether one lives or dies; that which is crucial to the success.or survival, of sb/ sth in a function or field of activity n: matter, △question, issue o What might be a reasonable measure of precision in a small matter might be quite unreasonably lack-ing in precision when it is a matter of life and death. SNPo Mr Wilson also spoke about theGovernment's handling of Ulster: this has been sacrificed a little to keeping votes for the Com-mon Market — an issue of literally life and death to hundreds of thousands and to British soldiers there. Lo(consultant speaking) Con-sidering what we are expected to put into society.considering that we have to be available night and day, and ready to accept responsibility for life and death decisions, society is just not giving us a good enough return. Lo There was a time when people would go to the cinema to see almost any.thing. Now you either make a good film that's commercially viable or you don't make anything at all. As simple as that— life or death. RT oASTON: You' ve got to have a good pair of shoes.DAVIES: Shoes? It's life and death to me. I had to go all the way to Luton in these. TCo attrib use a life and death decision. life is (not) a bed of roses (saying) life (for certain people, in certain circumstances, etc) is(not) easy or pleasant o I felt that I should ex-plain to them that life here is not a bed of roses.NSa ' Life is no bed of roses' , they assume, but' tomorrow will take care of itself' : on this scale the working-classes have been cheerful existen-tialists for ages. UL o No. I can hardly call our relationship a bed of roses, even at the end. DS□ With all due respect to Mr Hamer, if he imagines that the one broadcast a year which is the most that many juzz musicians get enables them to wallow in a bed of roses then he is ignorant of some rather crucial realities himself.Lo She sees mouths, she says, everywhere. Her husband, for whom life is not ull roses, has grown used to his bedroom slippers saying good-night and the newspaper singing. OBS a used in whole or in part but always including roses. life is hell (cliché) usu an assessment of, vr grumble about, specific circumstances rather than expressing a pessimistic view of life in general A: for them; when she is here; on wetSundays□ ' If you automatically fell in love with the most attractive woman you saw, in the first place your life would be hell.' 'I see what you' re getting at, I said. 'A man who's on the way up is continually raising the standard of the women he can fall for. 'CONo All right, he can come. Life is hell anyway just now—— one more or less to cater for isn't going to make much difference. oHaving failed to get Turner the suck, the overseer determined to make life hell for him instead.□For the young commercial artist life in the Bent-ley Colliery near Doncaster was hell. OBS □variant make life hell for sb. life/ it is one (damn(ed)) thing after another (catchphrase) life is a succession of tiresome incidents, duties etc o(source) Life is just one damned thing after another. F wO`MALLEY 1875-1932□/'m sincerely sorry for that poor guy. He loses all his money in Cuba, and then this happens to his son. It's been one thing after monother. STa Most life in retrospect is one damn thing after quother, and we are more geared to accepting this in art as well than we used to be. NSo That, the theory says, is why life is ' one damn thing after another' because known brain mechanisms prevent any particular sensory mode from activating the pleasure areas for very long. ST life is too short (for sth/ to do sth) (say-ing) no part of one's life should be wasted on sth(in the speaker's opinion) so unnecessary,tedious, frivolous, profitless etc o: that, vain regrets; doing what a machine will do for youInf: to study everybody's foibles, to be fussing about a few specks of dust o (advertisement for dishwashers) This is insane—— every day I wash up dozens of dishes. Not to mention knives and forks and pots and pans. In a year, it must run into thousands. Life's too short. OBS□The game has a great fascination for some people but as far as I'm concerned life's too short for playing chess.□ Do you think I'm going to worry about what somebody said somebody else had suid about me? Life's too short for that. life is (not) worth living one gets(no/ little)satisfaction or pleasure, perhaps temporarily,from the way one has to live o If people wasted nothing and lived with carefully calculated econ-omy, they might be able to save a modest amount.It would mean a bare, oatmealy sort of life, for very little at the end; life ' wouldn't be worth living'. ULo It was my only one-and-three(Is3d,former British currency) and I was saving it for a packet of tips(= cigarettes) this morning——Iwas reckoning on it for getting me through today because I don't think life's worth living without afag, do you?LLDR□II was one of those beautiful spring mornings that made you feel IN' e was really worth living. a It exaggerates the issues of survival to the point of obliterating the over- 351 <352> life and/ or limb— the lights are going out all over Europe whelming significance of justice and of liberty.After all, survival is not enough; what matters is a life worth living. Lo Ilove the autumn. Those clear days when the air is crisp and the trees are such lovely colours —— it makes life worth living. □ often, but not exclusively, neg or neg implications; variant make life worth living. life and/ or limb[n+n non-rev] one's survival and/ or preservation from accident or injury V:threaten, endanger; risk o (in New York)Meanwhile, the burnings go on. Teenagers throw bottles at firemen as they risk life and limb to put out a blaze that nobody cares about. OBS o As many of these cavers were perched high on the friable rock-face, the fact that the search was conducted without loss of life or limb is remark-.able. OBS o The railway train, that threat to life and limb of the Victorian age, is now almost 200times safer than the motor car. RT O variant a risk/ threat/ danger to life and limb. the life and soul(of the party)[n + n non-rev] sb who by his high spirits, wit, social as-surance, etc animates a party, or gathering, and thus tends to keep everybody interested and lively V: △ be, seem; make, think, sb o Last week we had an office get-together and, as Joan was ill, she wasn't able to come. Tom was there.though, and was the life and soul of the party.Ho With a grin that dares you to keep glum when he's around, Bruce Forsyth is, every affable inch of him, the life and soul of the party, the host who keeps pouring even if you' re not thirsty. RT□ The two children are cousins, William andJanet, observing huge adults, loathing a life-and-soul uncle, admiring a riding-instructress.Lo There was all this agonizing over going and then once there, she was the life and soul. TSMP□ sometimes ironic or derogatory; unusual attrib use a life-and-soul uncle. one's life and times[n+ n non-rev](the story of) one's life including, and in relation to, con-temporary conditions, events and personalities o On her general views of her life and timesMiss Hellman can be frail and evasive. One could wish her to have been less elliptic about the larger issues. OBS□Anthony Murphy plays Tom Brown.' To me it's Anthony Murphy's Schooldays', he says, though in fact his life and times at West-minster in 1971 have little in common with TomBrown's days at Rugby in 1828. RTo This was the signal for guests to take up viewing positions around my mother, who slowly turned the pages,delivering an informal lecture on the life and times of each portrait. L (one/ another of) life's little ironies (an instance of) events made sad, vexing, or pos-sibly comical by the circumstances in which they occur o ' Not that the little fellow won't be loved of course, but they only had a fourth child in the hope of a daughter.' ' There you are, andJim and Maureen would give everything for a son—— Iffe's little ironies again.'o ' It really is one of life's little ironies that the roles I play on television are nothing like the work I do away from it,' he said. TVT O can be used alone as sad,mocking etc comment on events. (not) lift/ raise a finger[V + O] be, or feel oneself to be, incapable of the slightest physical effort; not bother to, or be prevented from try-ing to, help sb A: to help himself, to save his 352 friends; on their behalf o They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmother from the Ravenous Bughlatter Beast of Traal without orders in triplicate. HHGGo There has been no indication that American Servicemen resent being stationed in Europe. But it is a costly com-mitment in terms of money rather than blood.Western Europe has not lifted a finger to help the US in Vietnam. SC□He explains: 'I can't call myself a pacifist any more. The Government only lifts a finger when the situation becomes unten-able through action.' Lo If they raise a finger in protest they make themselves liable to punish-ment under emergency powers. SC the light of day[0/o (NP)] daylight contras-ted with darkness or artificial lighting; circum-stances of seeing and/ or being seen, of being exposed to notice or for use; the stage at which a difficulty, problem, mystery etc becomes clarified or resolved V:(not) see; emerge into;be exposed to o And now, this spring morning.with the honest light of day on the world, my neighbours and I were watching the young naval lieutenant and the fair-haired rating at work.ARG o A surprising number of colleagues are reluctant to accept Alec Issigonis as a serious engineer. They cite for example his three years atAlvis between the Minor and the Mini, which he spent working on a car which never saw the Hght of day. STo The truth of the matter has been the exact opposite—— certainly since President Pom-pidou took office. But the truth has only now begun to emerge into the light of day. Lo Now the job was done, the main leaks plugged, the final arrests made, and Blaize was on his way out of the shadows and back into the light of day.DS △ see (day) light; see the light. light relief [Comp/O (NP)] a short respite in the midst of serious work, instruction,discussion V: be, prove; provide, afford,offer□If they were not to be regarded as serious programmes, why waste the excellent speakers who made up the panels each evening (even if on at least one occasion there was introduced—— for light relief?---a woman really unfitted to speak on the subject)? RT o I daresay he thought that passing round his holiday snapshots would prove some light relief for those mourners not serious-ly upset by the recent ceremony. lightning never strikes in the same place twice (saying) an unusual event, or sth that happens by chance, is not likely to be repeated in exactly the same circumstances or to the same people o She says ' What's the use of buy-ing another car to have it stolen again?'' Tell her lightning doesn't strike in the s wa place twice. She's had hers.'o Fifty years ago my housemaster at Wellington College summoned me to his study and sent me packing. ‘You’ re not looking well, boy. You need a holiday,’ he told me. I am a great believer that lightning can, and often does, striketwice in the; mm place, but,alas, no one has ever again speeded me on my way in such a totally unexpected fashion. OBS the lights are going out all over Europe(catchphrase) (Europe's) civilization, culture etc is in decline, is about to perish or be destroyed□ Folk-memory, let alone contempor-ary history, has attributed to Edward Grey one memorable phrase. On the morning war broke <353> out in 1914, the Foreign Secretury looked out of his office window and noticed the gas-lights ofLondon being extinguished. He observed, with a touch of that melancholy which marked him in-creasingly as he approached old age, that the lights were going out all over Europe and would not be lit again in his lifetime. Lo(NONCE)(reader's letter) Listen to our lady of the green ink (obscure reference), Clivo, alivo, and remember her when the lights go out all over your European culture circus. You could do worse, artistically, than the‘Sydney Bulletin’. L□(NONCE) These were the years when the big circuses disappeared. Chipperfields decamped for South Africa, Bertram Mills, the greatest circus of all, dissolved itself. The coloured bulbs had gone out all over Britain. RT□Mar-cel Boulesten was the first TV chef in the world.In the early pre-war days of television he was a great success. When the lights went on again,Boulesten was dead: but the BBC were still not convinced that an Englishman could do the job.L o variant (when) the lights go on used to refer to the end of the Second World War and itself alludes to the words of a popular song We' re going to get lit up when the lights go on inLondon. and one's like and people like him, her etc oIt's all very well for you to sneer at her for a do-gooder. There's many would be a lot worse off without your Aunt Agnes and her like. o ' You and your like are trying to make a war with the help of people who just aren't interested.' ' They don't want Communism.' ' They want enough rice,' I said. ' They don't want to be shot at.' QA□ often used in either praise or blame.◇△ next entry. and the like and so on; together with things, or people, of approximately the same kind □ They use the money to buy food—— rice, millet, and the like—— but it is so hard to get protein that the children are seriously malnourished. NSCa ' At supper parties and the like, says Colonel Allen,the Princess is often placed not necessarily with the most senior but instead with the younger of-ficers and their wives.'RTo(reader's letter) Per-haps my children will one day be ' factory hands and the like' , but in common with any mother who cares I want the very best for my children,which includeseducation. RT◇△previous entry.like anything [A (Prep P)] (informal) very much; very quickly, loudly, ably, successfully etc o I wanted this pair of white Oxford Bags(trousers of a particular style) like anything.which I would never have thought of a year ago,and this skinny top too. OBS□ Joy is a warlike chatelaine: 'I shoot a starting pistol at them(trespassers) and they run like anything.’ LoGive it to Robert to do. He can add up figures like anything.□ He'd laugh like anything when you told him,I expect?□ end position after v. like attracts/ calls to like (saying) one tends to choose the company of, or feel a preference for, sb of the same class, upbringing or charac-ter as oneself; birds of a feather(flock together)(qv)□I thought, moving away from the district,and sending him to a good school, he'd have a chance of making a new and better set of friends.But like ettracts like wherever you go. □ The facts he reports imply that like calls to like and and one's like— like a bull at a gate that a member of a middle-class healing profession is instinctively, if unconsciously, en-couraged to make his greatest efforts on hehalf of the kind of people whose daily practical.intellectual and emotional problems and ex-periences are most recognisably similar to his own. NS like a bad penny [Comp/A(Prep P)] again and again, when not wanted or liked, but usu dif-ficult to avoid etc(like the damaged, or coun-terfeit, coin one may continue to find in one`s change) V: be; turn up, keep turning up o l purposely didn't introduce you to my sister-in-law at the party, because once she gets an entry into anybody's home she keeps turning up like a bad penny. a The conditioned response, once it is firmly established, can be extinguished dozens of times, but it will always return, like the proverbisi bad penny. o variant like the prover-bial bad penny. like a bat out of hell [A (Prep)] (informal)quickly; at top speed (qv); like a bullet out of from a gun(qv); like a shot(qv)V: go, rush out be off o Then I put four hundred crisp smackers(= £400) in my wallet, and heaved myself out and on to the 3.20 train that went like a bat out of hell towards Euston. JFTR□ When I saw him tearing out of his front door likeabat out of hell and into the phone-box I thought his wife or one of the kids must have taken ill or something. □also pl like bats out of hell like a bear with a sore head [Comp/A(PrepP)] in a surly, irritable way V: be; go around, act o ' My friends were telling me how much they enjoyed Bill's company at the club dinner. They should come and see him now.He's like a bear with a so re head in the morn-ings.'a' Do hurry up. You know your grandfather gets es cross. ssabear with a sore heed iflunch is kept waiting. like billy-o(h) [A (Prep P)] (informal)vigorously; successfully V: go, run; burn; sell oI play a mass murderer whom nobody would sus-pect, and I' ve been going around killing people like billy-o. TVT o Maxwell Reed and DinahSheridan act up John Gilling's script like billy-o.Co-writer/ director Robert S. Baker pulls out all three stops as the storm mounts to a teacup frenzy. RTo The home-made jam and cakes and sweets sell like billy-o and the garden produce too, but there is always a fair amount left on the soft goods stalls at the end of the Sale. like blazes etc[A (Prep P)] (dated informal)vigorously; as fast, hard, loud, violently etc as possible V: run, row; try; blow. n: blazes,△the devil, hell o When I rose at 7 the next morning the wind was still blowing like blowes. □ A skiff went by with a burden of charming girls rowing like blaves in tight white shirts and tight white shorts. USoDon't blame me. I tried like hell to dissuade him.□ When I first shot him he jumped out of the gig and ran like the devil. singing out that he would deliver all he had if I'd only spare his life. OBS like a bullata gate[A(PrepP)] in a headlong.vigorous or aggressive way; without care.finesse or tact V: go, charge, at sth; barge into sth o Try to approach her the right way. She s dead scared of policemen and you' ll get nothing out of her if you go at it like a bull at a gate . u 353 <354> (like) a bull in a china shop—— like father etc, like son etc ' Maybe there's some more,' I said, pulling out half a dozen drawers. ' No,' he said, ' this is the lot.'' How do you know, you lousy sod?' He barged past me like a bull at a gate. ' Because Ido.’ LLDR O also pl like bulls at a gate. (like) a bull in a china shop [Comp/A(PrepP)] in a way that is too clumsy, rough,coarse, vigorous etc to suit one's company or surroundings, or to handle a delicate situationV: be, feel; behave, barge about O JEAN: I wishI could mark everything fragile, that's how I feel,tucked in here. Listening to her, I feel like a bull in a china shop. YAA□JO: Start barging around just like a bull in a china shop. You don't have to let her push you around. TOHo His method is the time-honoured one of the bull in the china shopping at everything. pillaging anthropo-logy, psychology, the natural sciences, and any other source conveniently to hand in a mad quest for evidence, ' insight', or anecdotes. NS o(NONCE)I broke a thermometer and he told Sister he did it. He's really awfully sweet, you know.But he does make me feel like a piece of china in a bull shop sometimes. DIL like a bullet out of/ from a gun [A (AdvP)](informal) at once; swiftly; at top speed; like a bat out of hell(qv); like a shot(qv); V: be off;come, speed(ahead); answer o Well, as soon asI read that bit in the ' Daily Tale' about the LochNess Monster being seen in Little Todday andGreat Todday I was off like a bullet out of a gun. I mean to say, I don't want to miss seeing this monster. RMo' Would you care to take on the job yourself?' His ' No!' came like a builet from g guen. like a cat on hot bricks [Comp/A (PrepP)](informal) restless(ly); nervous(ly); unable to sit/ lie still, settle one's attention V: be; fidget,bob up and down o Jenny, you' re like a cat on hot bricks. I wish you'd either sit down with a book or some sewing. or go out for a walk. oIdon't know when he' ll get the results of his exam,but he' ll be like a caton hotbricks until he does.□Iknewinothing would make eleven o' clock come any sooner but I was as restless as a cat on hot bricks and couldn't sit the concert out. o variant as restless/ nervy as a cat on hot bricks. ◇ Δ(as)nervous as a cat/ kitten. like the cat that stole the cream[Comp/A(PrepP)](informal) smug;(self) satisfied; gloat-ing V: be, look; smile, have an expression o' This is one of Esther's old school photos. Can you spot her?’' I think that must be her holding the Cup and looking like the cat that stole the cream.□(NONCE) From that moment the debate was lost. Churchill sat up, gloating at his critics with a discreet twinkle, likeacat presented with an unexpectedly large bowl of cream. L o frequently adapted. like a cat with nine lives [Comp/O (PrepP)]hardy; with unusual powers of survival; for-tunate in one's escape(s) from accident or deathV: be; act, behave o Jamieson has had several severe illnesses in the last number of years, each of which could easily have finished him off. But he's like a cat with nine lives and will probably live to see ninety. □Th e daring things that boy gets up to would make your hair curl. Fortunate-ly he seems to have nine lives, like a cat. o It's not just a case of having nine lives with that old 354 cat--it's more like ninety-nine! □ variant have nine lives (like a cat). (like) Caasar's wife (like) sb who is pure,chaste, honest etc o I know that as a class they(barmaids) have a name for being chaste. That's why I said it would be the first thing people said about them— if they weren't, I mean. Every-body would be on the look-out. They have to be like Cassar's wife. PWa(paid leave of absence for maternity) Cumbria Education Committee has recommended that a distinction (between married and unmarried teachers) should be preserved. As one of its advocates explains:Like Camesar's wife, the village schoolteacher has to be above suspicion.' st o Nowadays HerMajesty's judges are treated as though they wereCaesar's wives and we should be unsuspicious.This is nonsense. NS I can be used of either sex.like the clappers [A (PrepP)] (informal)noisily; busily; quickly; with gusto and vigourV: go, be off, move,run□(photo caption) ' Star-studded entertainment' at the Three Tuns withClive at the organ and one of the regulars, Frank,going like the clappers on the bones(bones, as sometimes spoons, used for percussion). RTo 'l wouldn't surrender to anyone else but you, you big strong man,' I could feel her thinking, but seeing it's you, I'm going to surrender like the clappers.'CON o The doctor's run off with the minister's wife, eh? The village tongues will be going like the clappers this morning. □ I didn't wake till8.30. It was no breakfast and off down the road like the clappers for me this morning.□' She(the car) really feels hungry for speed and goes like the clappers of hell,' he says. TVT (like) the curate's ogg sth that is good and bad in parts, is of mixed quality (from an illustrated joke in‘Punch’ in 1895, showing a nervous curate breakfasting on a boiled egg at his bishop's table:'I'm afraid your egg is bad,Mr Jones.’—‘Oh no, my lord, I assure you!Parts of it are excellent!`)□ Religious broadcast-ing. like the curate's egg, is good in parts; but much of it seems to swing uneasily between intellectual trendiness and drearily undevotional bathos. □ This is a British film of no mean sig-nificance; it has more than its moments; it has frankly terrible lines like' We' re contemporaries in a common grief', or words to that effect; it is your curate's egg, but home-laid. NS□ RCA has a new album due out next week. It's likely to be the usual curate's egg, but no one with a serious interest in popular song will be able to ignore it.OBS like a dog with two tails [Comp/A (PrepP)]delighted(ly); proud(ly), esp because one now owns, or has achieved, sth; (as) pleased asPunch(qv)V: be; run around, hop about □ The old chap's been like a dog with two tails since he got the news---wants everyone to know his grandson is being called after him, too. o Some men feel or feign indifference about their suc-cesses, but Paul is as pleased a s a dog with two tails that he's been chosen for the award. o variant as pleased as a dog with two tails. like father etc, like son etc(saying)a child turns out to be like its parents in character,tastes, opinions, habits etc n: father... son, △mother... daughter; master/ man... maid o It was intellectual dishonesty again. Like father. <355> like a fishwife—— like the look/ sound of sb/ sth like son, I bet you he knew all about it. ASA oJean-Claude is acquiring the respectability that quite rightly eluded his father. But if there is any real threat to the power of the Duvaliers, no one doubts that it will be a case of like father, like son. Lo(advertisement)LikeFather,LikeSon.The standard set by ' The Times' Correspondents of the past is the standard we set ourselves today.STo It's a good, old-fashioned craftsman's busi-ness. The old man's spent his life making beauti-ful furniture with meticulous care and all his wor-kers are the same—— like master, like man. oLike mother, like daughter. Two year oldJoanna Hayes—— as you can see here--looks like growing up to be a little girl just like her mum, eternal teenager Wendy Padbury. TVT Oalmost always comment on particular pair and on particular aspect of similarity. like a fishwife[Comp/A(PrepP)] loud(ly) and vulgar(ly), abusive(ly) (from, formerly, street-sellers of fish crying their wares) V: scream,shout(at sb); behave, act, carry on o And good-bye to Alice. I could see her now screaming at me like a fishwife, naked, with her figure beginning to submit to middle age. RATT□I used to act like a fishwife and scream and shout and I got it out of my system. TVT like a fly in amber [Comp/A(PrepP)] forever fixed, preserved (the implication being perhaps a lack of function or development) □ The little scene so briefly glimpsed may have had some significance for me that I cannot guess at now.All I know is that my memory retains it, like a fly in amber, to this day.□At times, he had been envious of those who found stardom. But then those were actors who mainly had to go on repeating themselves. He might have been stuck like a fly in amber. ' Success is not always the same as fulfilment,' he said. TVT like greased lightning with great speed (the reference esp being to a single act or direction of movement or motion) V: run off, go past,ride away; draw one's gun; throw the switch oThere was a phone call. Then he ran down the stairs like greased lightning, jumped on his bike and rode off. □ Dave Rio practises daily to maintain his position as the fastest draw (=drawer of a gun) in the British Fast Draw As-sociation. 'I like people to think, don't tangle with Dave Rio, he's greased lightning.’ OBSlike/ the hell it is etc(informal) it isn't, you aren't, they can't, etc V: it is; you are;I will; they can□ HELEN : The house is half mine. PETER: Like hell it is. I could throw you out tomorrow. TOH□' She' ll be nice to you.'' Like hell she will.' He leaned over and ground out his cigarette on the egg-smeared plate, ' The old girl hates my guts.AITC a‘The window cleaner’ s asking if he can come tomorrow afternoon.'' The he ll he can.I'm giving a bridge party.'□'I' ve decided to come in on this deal with you after all.' The hell you have. Now, isn't that great. I must ring and tellSimpson at once.’ o expression emphasizes speaker's negative reaction, with rising tone on will, can, etc; the hell it is etc may also be used to express relief, surprise, disbelief, disappoint-ment etc of the other speaker's remark as in last example, with falling tone starting on hell. like it or lump it(saying) whether willingly or resentfully; next entry (qv)o I' ve explained al- ready. While you' re staying with your grand-mother you go to church on Sunday mornings.like it or lump it. □' John won't enjoy that daily journey by public transport.' ' He' ll have to like it or lump it, I'm afraid. We can't afford to run a car any more.’ o 'I don't like you smoking so much, Beryl.' Then you must lump it. I don't see myself giving it up.'o like and lump non-rev;variant (if sb doesn't like it,) sb must lump it. like it or not/ no[Disj] whether one likes sth or not (the implication usu being the latter); ob-viously; inevitably; previous entry (qv) o MrStewart should be made to realise, like it or not,that he is about fifty years behind the times. SC□(reader's letter) World governments were more vitally interested in Nixon's economic policies and what the devil he was doing to the inter-national money markets. Like it or not—— and many palpably did not —— other industrial countries had to make sacrifices to bail out the dollar because there didn't seem to be any alter-native. Lo All wars end eventually but like it or no some of us are not going to survive this one.o HELEN: There' ll be money in the post for you every week from now on. JO: Until you forget.HELEN:I don't forget things. I'm going to see you through this whether you like it or not. TOH oFor the days of private patronage are over, and most field archeology now comes directly out of our rates and taxes, whether we like it or no.SD o front, middle or end position; variant whether one likes it or not. like a (hot) knife through butter/margaring[A (PrepP)] easily; without meet-ing resistance or difficulty V: slice into; cut into;go in o ' There you are—— like a knife through butter,' said the demonstrator as the powered shovel swung back with its load.□I never wanted to notice much while running in case it put me off my stroke so I wasn't far now from going into that last mile and a half like a knife through margerine. LLDR □ To watch him you'd think splitting the slates was as away as cutting butter with a hot knife.□ The ' trio of baptism'is as fine a trio as Verdi wrote until the last act of ' La Forza'. It goes through you like a hot knife through butter and was gorgeously sung on this exciting occasion. G o variants like/ as easy as cutting butter with a hot knife; margarine rarely used. like a lamb [PrepP)] obediently; submissively;without protest or complaint; (as) meek as a lamb(qv) V: come, go; follow, take sth □ He went up to his solicitor's office like a lamb, whileMrs Pettigrew waited in the car below. He did not even attempt to circumvent her wishes, as he had half-hoped to do. MM a Billy's been such a good boy, Mrs Smith-never once got out of bed and took his medicine like a lamb. □ also pl like lambs. like the look/ sound of sb/ sth [V + O] be favourably impressed by what one has seen of/heard about sb/ sth o Sillitoe liked the look ofDesmond and believed him. DS□ We can stroll past anyway and if you like the look of the boatI can arrange for you to inspect it and have a trial run tomorrow. o... just because you don't want to leave this man you' re running to all the time,John, Jack, whatever his name is. I don't like the sound of him. AITC□'I hope they' ll find at the 355 <356> like mad/ crazy—(like/ as) sheep etc to the slaughter hospital that there's nothing seriously wrong.''Ihope so too, but I don't like the look of him.'oYou'd better take your mac with you——I don't like the look of that sky.'o neg constructions may express opposite meaning, or indicate worry about sb's health, the running of a machine, weather conditions, etc. like mad/ crazy [A (PrepP)] (informal) with much, or the maximum of, effort, energy,enthusiasm, concentration etc V: try, swot,struggle; dance o Most of us have experienced that excruciating pain when our calf muscles double up into a knot. We rub the calf like med and the pain gradually eases. DM□I have been gardening long enough never to decry any unusual tip: that pot plants flourish best on theTV set; (and) that tea leaves make hydrangeas grow and flower likemed. OBS□ Apart from poor old Mabel's spotty face, there's her owlishness— always got her head in a book and peering like med. UL □ (tennis) Holmberg said later:' Whenever I got him in trouble he served like crazy. There was nothing I could do. He played too well.’ DMo The trouble is that a self-absorbed masochist, over-compensating like crazy, would almost certainly bore you stony-eyed in real life.LO △ next entry. like a mad thing[Comp/A(PrepP)] like a mad-man; acting as a madman would; not trying to behave sensibly, or with suitable restraint V: be;rush around, carry on, shout and scream o The champion was in real trouble as he got up glassy-eyed and bleeding from the mouth, and Patterson chased him like a mad thing round the ring. DM□ We both struggled with the bottle, broke a glass, and sat on the floor laughing like mad things and toasting each other. UTNoAs soon asTom put his nose in at the door his wife started raging at him like a mad thing. ◇ △ previous entry. (like) a new man/ woman(like) sb who has gained, or regained, happiness, good health, etcV: be, become; feel; look o There's nothing to be frightened of. Mrs Smith. Let me arrange for you to have these infected tonsils removed and, I as-sure you, you' ll be like a new womar in no time.□' Retirement didn't suit John,' his wife went on.' He was getting so depressed, you'd hardly believe it. It's not much of a job he's got, but keeping busy for three hours a day and feeling he's useful has made a new man of him.'o variant make a new man/ woman of sb. like nobody's business[A (PrepP)] (infor-mal) with unusual intensity, excess, frequency etco Naturally, if you' ve been oppressed for 300years by a bunch of white slobs you are going to hate whites like nobody's business. Lo God knows where he's got it from but he's been spend-ing money like nobody'a business for the last three months or more. o The boat's probably going like nobody's business. So you get on top of it and sort of haul, haul all the canvas up into a great packet. LO△be nobody's business.like/ as one of the family [Comp (PrepP)]accepted into a family group though not closely related V:△be like; count as, look upon sb as.adv mod: just; more o MRS ELLIOT: You' ve metGeorge, haven't you? GEOFFREY: Oh, yes, we' ve met several times, haven't we? MRS ELLIOT: Yes.He's been here a long time now. GEOFFREY: Like 356 one of the family, in fact. EGD□I' mglad yougot the job but I'm sorry you' re leaving. You' ve been more like one of the family than a lodger. □'Ithought you said you'd had enough of entertain-ing guests this summer.’ ‘Oh, but I don’ t mindPeter! He counts es one of the family. We don't have to put on any style for him.’ (like) a red rag to a bull[Comp/A (PrepP)]sure, or extremely likely, to provoke resent-ment, attack, violent action V: be; act o The word ' family' was like a red rag to a bull for a section of the audience. ' Family, Family?'shouted a man. ' What is this thing called" family"? It is the root of all our trouble.'NS□Our Mike seems to feel that the very notion of profits is a red rag to the bull in the machine shop. and suggests that this information ought to be imparted more delicately. G o When their kisses reached one of its climaxes she felt, as she often did, like making some little satisfied,appreciative noises, and was only held back by the thought, based on experience, that such noises were liable to act like a red reg, or rather a green light, to a bull. TGLY □(NONCE) While discussing the current promiscuous scene,George is accused by his former shipmates of being ' past it'. Saying that to George is like www.a pair of red panties at a buH.TVT oYou should know by now that Geoffrey always loses his temper if you let the conversation get on to politics.You might as well www.red rag at a bull. o variant wave a red rag at a bull. like Rip van Winkle like sb unaware, or only recently conscious, of changes in himself,others, circumstances, world affairs (from the story of the same name by WIRVING in which the main character, Rip Van Winkle, slept for 20years)□ I came back then to find the association which had sustained me in war and prison ir-revocably dissolved and I wandered, like a kind of Rip Van Winkle, into a strange new world with nine years of unshared and uncommunicable experience separating me from it. LWKa But few share Prendergast's faith in the ability of his union. ' Like Rip Van Winkle, it is still fast asleep, ' says a broadsheet issued on Monday. NS□I had taken my degree in law at Oxford, but Ihadn't enjoyed it much.' It was a bit like Rip VanWinkle, Dad,' I said. 'I was so much older than the others, and things had changed so.’ RFW like a snck of potatoes [Comp/A (PrepP)](sb's physical appearance is) shapeless and un-wieldly; in an ungraceful manner V: be, look;walk, waddle along o The poor thing has a figure like a sack of potatoes, anyway, and a tubular dress is the last thing she ought to wear.□ There must also be realism. A man doing a fall from a building and who is supposed to be unconscious or dead has to fall like a sack of potatoes. TVTlike a scalded cat [A (AdvP)] reacting to a sudden pain, panic or fear by flight V: run, tear off; fly out, jump o At the sound of the shot one little boy ran like a scalded cat for the horizon but the other jumped up and down eagerly shout-ing, ' Where's the dead rabbit? Where's the dead rabbit?'□ That girl's a bag of nerves. I just gave the back of her hair a fick in passing and she was out of her chair like= scakded cat. (like/ as) sheep stc to the slaughter[Comp/A (PrepP)] (as) unwitting and helpless <357> like a ship without a rudder—a likely story victims n: sheep, ▲lambs; a sheep, a lamb. V:lead. drive, sb; flock o(source) He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. ACTSVII132□Many(of my fellow-students) perished in the 1914-18 war.to which my generation flocked like shrap to the slaughter. SD□John Reid, whose team was full of green young things led the Canterbury lambs to the slaughter by Laker and Lock. STo The Jeremiahs are already on our backs. warn-ing us against intervention and shepherding us.lambs to the slaughter. towards the indefen-sible stupidity of another statutory incomes policy. NS like a ship without a rudder [Comp/A(PrepP)](in an) unmotivated or unguided(way)V: be: drift (about), be borne along o His ap-pointment was in my judgement a great mistake and under him the Army drifted about like a ship without a rudder. MFMo He lapsed into a state of fatalism and, likes rudderless ship, allowed what would to befall him. □ variant like a rudder-less ship. (like) ships that pass in the night (be, or do sth, like) people or groups who meet briefly and probably for the only time in their lives o(source) Ships that pass in the night, and speak to each other in passing; Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness. TALESOF A WAYSIDE INN (H W LONGFELLOW 1807-82) □Like ships that pess in the night, Sybil and I,for all the passing and re-passing which practi-cally amounted to a regular service, were still now no more than a couple of ships alone in the night. SML o Not for her the lines about ships that pass in the night. It was certainly unfor-tunate that the young man should prove to be just on the verge of departure. TCB like a shot[A(AdvP)] immediately; with great speed; like a bat out of hell(qv); at top speed(qv); like a bullet out of/ from a gun (qv);willingly; eagerly V: be off, go; accept sth; buy sth o That dog's getting deaf. He used to be off down the path like a shot when Charlie tooted his horn.□ You'd be glad to be back in the RAFin another war, and you know it. If it happened again,I'd be back in the Wrens like my shot. RFW□Young people like to be together, don't they. At least in the stage you two are at at the moment.Anyway——I'd be into that flat like a shot if Iwas in your shoes. TGLY like etc the sound of one's own voice [V+ O] be in the habit of talking a lot or too much(the implication usu being lack of attention to,or impatience with, other people's information or opinions)V: like;△be fond of; like listening to o HELEN: Have you got your breath back?Because there's some more I' ve got to get off my chest first. JO: You don't half like the sound of your owayavoice. TOHo The interviewer was too fond of the sound of his own voice. His guests could hardly get a chance to speak a word for themselves. a Brian's an interesting talker if you like. In my opinion he likes the sound of his own voice too much to be called a good con-versationalist. like a stuck pig [A(PrepP)] in the manner of a pig that is being killed V: △ bleed; scream,screech, squeal o I was bleeding like a stuck pig and it would have been all over with me, if Mike hadn't given me first aid until the ambulance men turned up.□ The dignified and elegant peacock,when it opens its mouth, screams like a stuck pig. like/ as a thief in the night [A (PrepP)] un-foreseen and/ or unobserved V: come; creep in;steal away □ (source) For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh &s a thief in the night. For when they shall say,Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them. ITHESSALONIANSV2-3□' Oh,'he said to himself, ' these erotic throes that come like thieves in the night to steal my HighChurchmanship.’ MM□ One day, perhaps, you glimpse a figure in a mirror, and realize, with a shock, that the funny little woman is you. The years, like a thief in the night, have stolen what you were. O use of as now unusual. like a ton of bricks [A(PrepP)] with physical weight, violence, force or noise; with severity,pressure or criticism; totally; overwhelminglyV: descend; burst in; be, come, down on sb □The fondest father does not welcome his off-spring landing on his bed like a ton of bricks at5.30 in the morning.□IfI print it,I shall have theHome Office down on me like a ton of bricks.SML o If the evidence is available against them,you can he absolutely certain that the profession-al tribunal will be down on them like a ton of bricks. L o She gave Arthur a pleasant smile which settled on him like a ton of bricks. HHGGlike water off a duck's back [Comp/A(PrepP)] making little, or no, impression;having no effect $: advice, reprimand, criticism;experience; it. V: be, seem; act o I keep telling the boys not to bang doors but it's like water off a duck's back. o I went as a stagehand at theWinter Garden working on the Folies Bergère.We all used to say that being surrounded by aFrench company of nude girls was like water off a duck's back but that was a lie. I can remember every one of them to this day. NS□ Had he ever seen Mummy on television? ' Like water off m duck's back.' said Felicity. ' He never watches anything I'm in.'TVT like wildfire [A (PrepP)] rapidly and exten-sively V: spread, travel, go through o The weakened refugees had little resistance to infec-tion of any kind and cholera spread through the camps like wildfire. OBS□Ina community where everybody knew everybody else's business the news that John Thomson's wife had dumped him in the horse trough to sober up travelled like wildfir@.□ Th e incident started when two police officers went into the club to arrest a man. TheAppeal Judge said that as they tried to take him out pandemonium broke out. ' Everyone got ex-cited. Hysteria and aggressiveness travelled like wildfire, he said. G a likely story (ironic) an improbable version,account, of sth that has happened, of sth that one/ sb has done or may do o MRS PARADOCK:And what happened about the government? Did you agree to form one or not? MR PARADOCK:Iwasn't approached. MRS PARADOCK: That's e likely story. ARTo Who would have the power to fire this hybrid arrangement? The FrenchPresident? The British Minister? Both by agree-ment, perhaps——a likely story. NS□ Did you get your typewriter back, then?'' No. He said he'd jammed the slide and had to put it in for 357 <358> (one's) likes and dislikes (of sb)—— one's lips are sealed repair.' ' A likely story! He's probably pawned it till next pay day.'o often used alone, or with that's, as an exclamatory comment; stress pat-tern a ' likely story. (one's) likes and dislikes (of sb) [n + n non-rev] people or things, which one likes contrasted with those one doesn't; fads and foibles in general, esp when these are many or obsessive, or are a nuisance to other people oHe had been brought up to think that in business matters, and in most other matters, his likes and dislikes didn't count—— just as he had been taught to eat what food was put before him. PW□ If I' ve had any success I believe it's because Ihave the taste of the ordinary man. In my likes and dislikes I don't feel any different now than when I was struggling for work as a dancer, 50years ago. OBS□ The housekeeper is catering for250 students on a pretty tight budget: she can't study the likes and dislikes of every individual.the likes of sb(informal) people like us; any-body of our humble, privileged, criminal,intellectual, handicapped etc class or kind o: us,him, them; the Sinclairs o It's not for the likes of us, who' ve never had to go without anything we really needed, to condemn them. oSYLVIA: The bloody nerve—— how dare you. I'm a respectable girl——I'd never mix with the likes of you. DPM□ What I say is, council houses were never meant for the likes of the Sinclairs. They' re being sub-sidised off the rates working people have to pay.o ' The judge gave him six years.'' Not half enough. People have got to be protected against the likes of him.'◇ △no t have seen etc the like(of sth)/ sth's like; not see etc sb's/ sth's like(s)again. one's (own) line of country sth one knows a lot about, or can do well o Since then I' ve had a variety of jobs in my own line of country——deep drilling in Brazil, and I' ve been up the Gulf with an oil concern. ARGo Well, infant care is not exactly my line of country, but I expect Keith would survive a couple of hours of my looking.after him. the line etc of least resistance [Comp/O(NP)] the easiest course of direction or action;the procedure that gives one the least trouble though another may be more suitable or effec-tive V: be; take, choose, follow. Comp/O: line,△path, way, course o The line of losst resis-tance backed up by cloudy visions of gain, had brought him here, rather against both his better judgment and his conscience. ILIHo' There has been slightly too much criticism of this project to be comfortable. It may have been a mislake,' saidRose, ' not to take the course of least resis-tance, and pack them all off to America.’ NMoIf you succeed (in remembering your dream)then turn on the light and write it down. Because if you take the path of fe ast resistance and say: ' Aha,I have the dream and I' ll remember it in the morning,' the chances are you won't. L line one's (own)/ sb's pocket(s) [V + O]make, or gain,a lot of money, esp by some easy,cunning or dishonest method; cause, or allow,sb to do this o They used public appointments to.line their own pockets. They combined fraudulently during elections to keep the plum jobs in the hands of their families and their friends. Lo But what incensed his contemporaries 358 was that he accused Sir Humphry Davy of lining his pocket at the Society's expense. OBS□Theo-retically, ITV-2 could appease its critics and line its pockets at the same time. No one has yet demonstrated that it can be done. OBS□ Some provincial man, doing well, with a comfortable wife and children in a suburban house. Just the type who lines the pockets of the vice racketeers on his business trips to the metropolis.HD one's/a line of thought a way, or system, of thinking; a chain of reasoning or speculation;one's train of thought (qv)V: take, follow, pur-sue o Those essentials are: (a) A religion; (b)An education élite, who are not afraid to take an independent line of thought and who will not merely follow the ' popular cry'. MFMo Now, wait a minute—— if I take on the assignment, then I' ll need a camera-man, and that could be Philip who you' re so keen to give a start to—— is that your line of thought? o also pl different line s of thought. a lion in the path/ way a difficulty or obstacle(real or supposed) given as a reason/ excuse for not doing sth□(source) The slothful man saith,there is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.PROVERBS XXVI 13o Would it be so easy to ask?But if lions in the path thought they would have an easy job with Harold they were mistaken.Once his mind accepted its new orientation it would go on boldly. PW the lion lies down with the lamb (saying)peace and goodwill prevail; enemies are recon-ciled; the aggressor ceases to attack and the victim to fear(adapted from ISAIAHX16-7) □ InMartin Luther King's dream, not only was the llon going to lie down with the lamb, but white was going to be brother to black. Lo Fenner, a conchie(= a conscientious objector) in the first world war, gave the impression he really believed the lion could be made to lie down with the lamb under nothing more compelling than the hypnosis of goodwill. NS□(NONCE) The whole ofEngland was now in an orgy of Coronation Com-mittees. Temporary differences were forgotten in the common cause, Parish Councils lay down with Town Councils, nor were the Mothers'Unions unheard. WDM the lion's share (of sth) [0/o (NP)] very much the largest and best portion of sth; the whole of sth (from AESOP'S FABLES, in one of which the lion claims threequarters of his kill and allows a quarter to any animal brave enough to fight him for it) V: claim, get, grab;keep; end up with o Polanski subscribes to the view that life is a jungle and so long as society makes sure that none of its members is actually starving, he sees no reason why the lion's share of the spoils should not go to the most talented.ST o Scotland must stake a firm claim for the lion's share of the oil proceeds because she is entitled to benefit from the exploitation and because her need is the greatest. SC□ This misuse of the nation's money is partly due to the deter-mination of specialists—— the aristocrats of the profession—— to keep the lion's share of medi-cal practice under their control and within the hospitals where they reign supreme. NS one's lips are sealed (cliché) one will keep silent, give no information away about an un- <359> a litter lout--little pitchers/ pigs have long ears derstood subject o ' This salmon was illegally come by. I'm afraid, so don't tell anyone you got abit.'' My lips are sailed 'o Disclosing that sort of information was very wrong of him. On such matters a doctor's lips should be sealed even to members of a patient's family o Mind over matter, or magic? Watch ' into the Unknown' and judge for yourself. Hooper's little package which enables me to emulate the feats of Uri Geller cost me£2 and for this price my lips we sealed. TVT a litter lout a person who leaves discarded ar-ticles anywhere out of doors instead of dispos-ing of them properly o For the litter problem surely results from laziness and selfishness —few litter louts act out of deliberate anti-social spite. SC□ ' Litter lout!' Jane said tartly, as he tossed the empty packet out of the car window. a little bird told me (that) (facetious) l know (that) but will not tell you how, or from whom,I know o 'I do paint a little, but only as a hobby. How did you know, unyway? Oh little bird told me.'o That was your boss's wife with a beautiful hunch of roses from her garden.It seems a little bird had told her it was my hirthday . o The bike' ll be safe enough for the time being, Miss Gittings, he said.' You are MissGitings?’ Why, yes, but — well—’ A little dick! bird must have told me, he said, and pushed his cap back on his head. TI o in last example, dicky bird is a child's word for a bird.used here facetiously by an adult. a little (sth) goes a long way a particular substance is economical in use; a good quality.attitude. action etc may be effective beyond the degree to which it is shown or given; a short experience of sb sth is as much as is good for one or ds much as one can tolerate n: trust,perfume, paint; kindness. A: with me; in your case; at our age □ The price of this exquisitely-shaped little bottle had been ludicrous, but how reassuring the saleswoman's ' A little goes a very long way, madam.’ WIo She gave me back my confidence in myself. A little trust go es a long way sometimes. I DOCTOR: I think we'd better tactfully put an end to the evening now, a little kicking over the traces goes a long way at this age. THH□ Because a little of it goes such a long way you actually save money by buyingDiamond Floor Polish instead of cheaper brands□I have few old friends, only one from OxfordI don't need people very much, frankly. A few people go a long way with me . ST o used as comment or judgement on sb/ sth; variants a few go a long way,a little of sb/ sth goes long way. little green men (facetious) extra-terrestrial beings o What possible natural object could be launching signals like this? You begin to ask一is it intelligence from a planet? We really did think of little grgin mem. RTo Personally I have enough on my mind without worrying about another Ice Agê, anti-Christ, or Earth being taken over by rats, ants or little gregn program. Ooccas sing. (just) sb's little joke [Comp (NP)] sth said.or done, that irritates or offends though (per-haps) not intended to do so V:△be, regard sth as. adv mod: just, only, merely o On Floor Nine,' we research into the instruments that do the research'— Mr Henderson's little joke. RT o' Jimmy's not a bad boy, just too high-spirited.' his mother claims.' Well, be sure to remember if ever he slashes your tyres again that it's just his little joke.'oI was told I wouldn't grow if I gave way. Besides I'd get deaf and have to wear glasses. And, gentle readers. I' ll thank you not to draw any untoward conclusions from the fact that I'm five foot six, slightly deaf in one ear and am getting my spectacles strengthened next year.That's merely one of God's little jokes. G O used as ironic comment on events or circumstances.a little learning/ knowledge is a dan-gerous thing (saying) partial or superficial knowledge, information, leads to more serious errors than complete ignorance o (source) Alittle learning is a dang' rous thing:/ Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring. AN ESSAYON CRITICISM (A POPE 1688-1744) □ That's what comes of trying to be your own lawyer. A little learning is a dangerousthing.□They(political leaders) know what they' re doing. They' re not fools The public, now-they' re not trained to11 . Your average man's not educated you see.He's mis-educated. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So I think we' re in the right hands really. ST o 'A little learning is a den-gerous thing. as the saying goes. In fact, it's very dangerous when Selwyn is involved. TVTthe little man the under-dog as a type; sb who does not expect, and is not expected, to achieve a desired and acknowledged status financially,socially or professionally o In strip-cartoons, in magazine short stories, in the intimate gossip-columns, the hero is the little man: ' Just Joe', as a song title has it. ULoSo a lot of shopkeepers are self-employed. Value Added Tax is a headache for the little man. ST□ Even Chaplin's earliest film appearances show the actor working at his art. The character of Charlie the little mmn, the baggy-trousered bowler-hatted tramp, can be seen evolving behind the surface gagging, the energetic slapstick of the day. OBSo 'I'm the little man's man. I' ve always stood up for him,'says Robbie who himself stands six feet two inches in his stockinged feet. RT a little of what you fancy does you good(catchphrase) periods of enjoyment resulting from pleasant pastimes of one's own choice are beneficial (from a music hall song sung byMarie Lloyd 1870-1922)□ There was a coherent economic philosphy in the Macmillan era: #little of what you fancy does you good. NSo' Come on, drink up. A little of what you fancy does you good.’‘This will do me nicely, thank you. “Little” is the operative word in my case.”□ Learn to walk today, and the energy crisis of1990 won't hurt so much. Eat less meat. and evenBrussels has less power to annoy you. But per-haps after all, a little of what you don't fancy does you good. Some of you, at any rate. NSOexpression sometimes used with sexual innuen-do and often as excuse for drinking, but neither of these should be assumed in uncertain con-texts. little pitchers/ pigs have long ears (say-ing) people, esp children, often listen to, pick up and understand, what they are not meant to hear o Now. now, James. We' ll leave that till later, if you don't mind. Little pitchers have long ears.□(staff quarrel in a school hall) ' You make me sick,’ said Kathie. ' If only you— 359 <360> the little woman—— one lives and learns ' Keep it down. ladies and gents, only little pigs have long ears. 'ITo allusion in headphrase is to handles of a pitcher; esp used as warning.directly addressed to particular person(s); pigs(old usage) =' earthenware vessel such as jug,pitcher. bed-warmer`. the little woman (dated or facetious) sb`s wife; the married woman, esp viewed in a stereotyped domestic role o MILLY: On Sunday afternoon Jack went off to play golf and the little woman hung some new curtains in the living room. EHOWo(a vacuum cleaner) Runs on a motor like a lawn-mower. No effort by the little women. No tubes trailing all over the place. OMIH live to fight another day have another chance to engage in a fight, contest, confronta-tion etc, either because one has not been too badly beaten to try again or because (as in the full quotation given first) one has avoided or not finished it for the time being o(source) He that fights and runs away/ May live to fight another day. ANONYMOUS(17TH C MISCELLANY)□ He saved the men of the BEF (British Ex-peditionary Force). And being saved they were able to fight again another day: which they did to some purpose, as the Germans found out. MFM□(test matches, 1972) So England got away.Good. I'm delighted for you, The Australians hooked you but they couldn't gaff((angling) =land) you. We live to fight another day. ST o(NONCE) The Army's entry into the ' no go' areas forced the MPs of the main Opposition party into a particularly difficult position. How could they make the protest expected of them, yet live poli-tically to talk another day?L live happily ever after (cliché) the stock phrase used at the end of a children's/traditional/ fairy tale, romantic novel, etc to ex-press the assumption that the hero, heroine etc will in future enjoy a life of unflawed happiness o With the average English novel, though, the puppets are paraded before us and then packed away in their places to live happily ever after—— or to pay the penalty for what they have done.NSo He told himself that one day he would live in a palace, and drive the biggest, most expensive car in the world, and marry the most beautiful girl in the world, and they would have a family and live happily over after. OBSo Well, what with the frock and the wedding and all the fuss.there's only one thing left. The living happily error after. That you have to do yourself. ST o In fact, of course, most intelligent adults have enough sense to realize that it takes more than a touch of love fever to set them on the road to happily ev er after. ST live and let live [v+ v non-rev] (saying)tolerate others, and refrain from ruling on, or trying to direct, the way they run their lives a 'l like life to be happy and cosy, you know.'' Do you?' said Ella. ' Well,I'm afraid it isn't.' ' It can be if we make it. It's just a question of live and let live, really, isn't it?' Mrs Curry reproved.HAA o Thus with‘permissiveness’. Even if it means ' Live and let live, ' which is perhaps more what sensible people, like Tony Crosland, might mean by the term ' permissiveness', it is too general and begs too many questions. OBSoMAR-TIN: And as for Joe and Betty Turner, well, they' re not the neighbours I'd have chosen and never will be, but we live and fe t live. Ol O used alone as recommendation to practise tolerance etc. live etc the life of Riley (informal) have, or enjoy temporarily, an easy, carefree, pampered or luxurious life V: live、△lead; have; enjoy oAnd I am not going to be assisted (to cut down expenses) by ten-page colour spreads persuading my beloved family that they can live the life ofRiley (or possibly Nubar Gulhenkian) for 2p down and eternity to pay. STo This ' mustering'duty, no joke at all, made me abandon the notion that these sheep farmers led the life of Riley.OBS□ Discotheque stuff with jet-setting birds is rubbish. But people seem to think I'm either doing that or suffering and looking for MissRight. I'm not looking for Miss Right. I have the life of Rifey. TVT live to see the day survive until the time when sth happens often (the implication being that one may die first instead)□' Things will be easier for you when youretire.'' If I live to see the day!'□ Even now, the youngest of us may live to sag the day when almost all our food will be processed from vegetable and mineral proteins. oThe Jacksons are finding life hard now that MrJackson's been made redundant. May I never live to se e the day when that happens to us.□Christ Church, until recently the only Oxford college that specifically stated women could not be members, has just gone co-educational. Inever thought i'd see the day- - - but I'm glad Ihave. O variant never think to see/ one would see the day; may I never live to me the day ex-presses wish that sth unpleasant may not hap-pen in one's lifetime. live etc to tell the tale survive an experience so that one may tell others what actually hap-pened, (the implication being that one might have died in the course of it) V: live,△survive,be alive o This enormous study, which occupied him for ten years, was completed by Solzhenitzyn six years ago: it is dedicated to those who did not live to tell the tale'. ST o The small band of kinsmen were soon observed, superbly stalked,and finally massacred by the Matabele at dawn of a very still day and only my mother's mother.her sister, brother, and coloured nurse miraculously survived to tell the tale. LWK aWe can see the funny side of our detention now,having lived to tell the tais, but it wasn't very amusing at the time. a live wire a wire through which an electric current is passing;(fig) a lively, active person o... designed so that the power is automatically cut off before the live wires are exposed should the cable be dangerously damaged or cut. STo' We haven't had any(written reports) yet. Per-haps I rather over-emphasized the need of secur-ity.'' You can't. No use having a live wire if it fuses.'OMIHo For two such live wires as Roger and Lamb to loaf across the finishing line just behind a small boy—— naturally it made the ef-fect all the better. Con o word play on lit and fig senses in second example. one lives and learns [v + v non-rev](saying)one picks up many useful or surprising pieces of information, has often to adjust one's opinions,in the course of one's life S: we, one, you (im- 360 <361> personal)o You were in luck, my lad. It must be your bonny blue eyes, though—— all she likes as u rule is having a lot of money spent on her and being promised she 's going on films on TV. Well.we live and learn. TGLY o RAMBLER: There's meant to be a path coming out here. FARMER: Are you sure? I never knew that. RAMBLER. Quite certain. It's here on the official map. FARMER: So there is. One lives and learns. OBSoWelive and learn and it's never too late,I suppose, to add to one's towering storehouse of knowledge, but Inever though that, so late in life, the information would reach me that Sir Richard Burton had a morhid fear of honey. NSD usu comment on an occasion of doing this. lo and behold see! notice! o He dramatically presents the five accused with their platefuls of rice. Lo and behold, four of them proceed to eat it. The fifth however is moving his jaws des-perately in a vain attempt to swallow at least some of the rice, but without success. SNPo The dectrines were pur into practice, and, lo and behold, the inflation became worse than before,while unemployment rose. ST a... a complete medieval group around the church at Cogges——the kind of thing that survives in only a handful of English towns. And I o and behold, it is all to disappear— something unique destroyed for a handful of villas and a bit of road space. ST o expresses and/ or invites surprise about state-ment it introduces. (all) a load/ lot of (old) rubbish etc[Comp/O (NP)] (informal) mistaken; nonsensi-cal: not worth serious consideration; worthless nonsense S: it, you; sb's opinion, sb's views;book, play, programme. V: be find sth; talk. o:rubbish、△ nonsense; garbage; (taboo) balls,cobblers, crap o The idea of the classless society is a load of old rubbish. John Carrier is one of the many sociologists who maintain that the withering away of the class barriers is a contem-porary myth. STo If you think that astrology is nothing more than a load of old nons●arse, how do you account for the fact that……? NS□ Most leading theologians claim that this argument is m load of dingo's kidneys. HHGG □ Modern psychology, it had explained, was replacing the old Freudian ideas of the unconscious by a sim-pler, more common-sense control of thought by action. Bernie had said it was all balls. HAAo' Jack knows a lot about computers, doesn't he!'' Garbage! He knows the jargon and he shouts louder than anyone else in an argument, that's all.’ o variant, all rubbish, garbage etc! used as dismissive exclamation. (the) local colour [0 (NP)] geographical,architectural and social details that give authenticity to the setting of a novel, play, film etc; people, customs, dialects etc typical of any given place, esp as sought by writers, artists,photographers, tourists V: use, seek out; sup-ply, provide□ Like Scott, Macaulay used local colour. Like him, and like Carlyle, he travelled over all the historic scenes about which he was writing. L o(the speaker meets a novelist in a public park) Why, hello. I didn't expect to see you in this place. Looking for local colour. Isuppose? HD □ We all used to go with our notebooks, writing down dirty street rhymes,skipping games, commercials from Radio lo and behold—— lock, stock and barrel Luxembourg, and all the rest of the local colour which would prove invaluable in later life. NSthe local rag (informal) a provincial, or district, newspaper (often a‘weekly’) which gives a lot of space to items of purely local interest; (facetious) any newspaper published and printed outside London, New York,Washington o The majority of the members of the Council wouldn't have noticed if the entireTown Hall staff had gone to work naked. But there were some who, for the sake of publicity in the local rag. appointed themselves as scourgers of the pampered bureaucracy. RATTo When does a man start collecting cuttings on himself? The poet when his first slim volume gets pecked at by the week-end critics? The politician when he gets his first one-inch notice in the local rag? PP the local talent (informal) the girls/ young men in any particular place that are available to` chat up`(Vol 1) (qv), be danced with, taken about as holiday companions a And because most publishers had realised the best way to attract custom to their booth was to have a beautiful girl sitting in it, the whole place teemed with local and imported talemf. ST o ' There's a disco in the Town Hall tonight.'' Then I daresay the boys will take the chance to look over the local talent, but I' ll settle for an early night.' lock etc the stable door after the horse has bolted etc(saying) take precautions too late to be effective; having suffered theft、damage, loss etc, try to avoid a repetition or worsening of these V': lock;△shut, bolt, close.V²: bolt; run away, gone, disappeared; escaped;been stolen o Also, although the family's remaining valuables are now lodged with the bank, he has installed an electronic 999 dialling system. ' It can be expensive, locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.’ RT□ Between1968 and 1969 the average price of tea at Colom-bo auctions dropped by 13 per cent. A govern-ment takeover of plantations would be one more case of bolting the door after the prize-winning horse has escaped. NS□ How you fare during.the demolition of adjoining property will depend largely on the attitude of the firm involved. The police have no power to halt proceedings, though they will shut the stable door for you, attending promptly if a fire breaks out, or someone is hurt.OBS O bolt = ‘fasten with a bolt’, and bolt =` run' are never used together in any variant of the expression. lock, stock and barrel [n + n + n non-rev]the whole of sth already named, or understood;complete with all parts, items, possessions etc(from the three component parts of a rifie) V:sell sth; dispose of, get rid of, sth o It was theSaigon pied-à-terre of a rubber planter who was going home. He wanted to sell it lock, stock and barre!. QAo' So you' re moving out tomorrow?'' Lock, stock and barrel. Leave not a trace behind!’ RT o There is increasing talk in theUnited States about getting Government support for cultural institutions. The problem is how this may be done without destroying the private citizen's interest and turning them over lock,stock and barrel to the state. Ta The 12,000acres include two villages owned by the estate,lock, stock and barrel, vicarage, pub and school— and two villages partly owned. Lo functions 361 <362> (all) Lombard Street...— the long and (the) short of it etc as A. ◇△ bag and baggage; hook, line and sinker.(all) Lombard Street to a China orange(saying) heavy odds in favour of sth; a strong likelihood that sth will happen or be done V: be;lay, wager o It's Lombar d Street to a China orange that they bring in a verdict of unsound mind. a(NONCE)(Liberal Party politics) They didn't vote on it, of course, and it's all CyrilSmith to a China orange that someone will try to reopen the issue before long in one of the party's myriad committees. G a lone wolf/ bird [Comp (NP)] sb who lives,works, as far as is possible, without the social support of others; sb of solitary habits V:△be,seem; find sb□ Here's one little boy that can look after himself. He was at once the lone wolf and the boy who got to the top though everyone tried to kick him down. HAA□ Perhaps a certain kind of shyness had helped to make him a bachelor.He is in some ways a lone bird but he cannot be called lonely. UL□ also pl. (Mr/ Miss) Lonely Hearts person(s) in need of love, friendship, sympathy (the implication usu being that one is too shy or inhibited to find it for him/ herself) o WDR-TV in Cologne present a programme in which three or four lone-ly men or women appeal for a partner in mar-riage. Newspapers condemned the idea, but for the lonely hearts themselves. the programme has drawna n enormous response. TVTo Contents seem to have been reminiscent of women's mags today: fashion news and drawings, cooking hints,sentimental stories with happy or moral endings,and even a lonely-hearts question-and-answer service. NS□ Nevertheless it would be a mistake to cast her in the role of Miss Lonelyhearts.Her pathological lack of trust in others was amply compensated in herself. I on attrib use a lonely hearts service, column etc(ie one which attempts to deal with personal problems of cor-respondents). thelong arm of the law etc the far-reaching power and influence of the law etc o: law;Washington, the Vatican; the Mafia o He had been living in Switzerland, under a false name.for several months when the long arm of the law finally caught up with him.□ Although I' ve no doubt that the long arm of Washington could extend as far as Nortonstowe, I can't believe that our Government can relish being told what to do on their own territory. TBCo TheAmerican police have found it difficult to combat the Mafia. Persuading former members to give evidence against the organization is nearly im-possible—— the Mefia has a long arm, and most of those who help the authorities are murdered.D variants the law etc has a long arm, the law's etc arm is long. a long haul [Comp (NP)] a long journey,voyage or flight, esp one involving transport of passengers or goods; a continuous, sustained,or protracted process or endeavour v: △ be;prove; make sth o My forces were based onBenghazi and Tobruk, and it was a long haul by road from them. MFM□ While European cruise fares have been rising substantially the long haul fly-cruise ones have become more com-petitive. SC□ That's something . which is only just beginning. It's all going to be a long haul, but Iknow of no more worthwhile and exciting chal- 362 lenge. OBS□It 's like when I go to the race-track.Sometimes I am up at the end of the day,sometimes I'm down. But over the long haul, on balance, I don't win. OBS□(air transport) This,coupled with the higher unit cost of flying, meant that once again there was a hiccup on short-haul. Go variant a short haul is usu confined to transport as in last example attrib use short-hau f services. long in the tooth [Comp(AdjP)] ageing or old(originally said about horses) V:△be, get. adv mod:a bit; rather; too; so o And when's that nice girl, though she' sa bit long in the tooth for that,Margot Phelps going to get married? WDM □' Would you like her yourself, Reggie?'' My God,would I not! She's terrific. A trifle long in the tooth, mark you, but she has style, real style. "RATT o ' Journalism is great fun when you' re young,' he said.' But I'm getting a bit long in the tooth to be jumping in and out of aeroplanes.’RT a 'I think it's time you went in for something less strenuous than squash.' ' Come, come. I'm not as long in the tooth as that, surely?” o variant (not) as long in the tooth as that/ sb. a long line of teachers etc[0/o (NP)] a succession of people representing a family, type or profession V: found; come from; be one/ the first/ the last of. n: teachers, miners, doctors oHe does not see himself as particularly' progressive'. He comes from a long fine of vigorous non-conformist teachers. NS o TheMP, Norman Pentland, whose death caused this by-election, was the last of a long line of minors to represent the constituency. NS long live the King etc may the king etc live a long time; may sb's/ sth's presence and in-fluence continue $; the King, the President, theConservancy Board; sentimental feeling; hunt-ing the fox □ So the village school stays open, for the time being at least, and long live our present incumbent. SC o (Arts Council maintenance grants to artists, poets etc) I can think of few things less likely to reap dividends in the shape of an art that is vigorous, self-confident, and authentically uncoopted. So, for the young author, long live confusion, emergencies.humiliation, and (brief) periods of penury! OBS□(NONCE) An elderly American woman, one of hundreds of thousands of foreigners who visitCanterbury each year, wonders if Becket will grant her an audience. You tell her he was assassinated 800 years ago. Thomes Becket is dead. Long live Thomas Becket. TVT o ex-clamation of loyalty to superior, or of approval of sb/ sth one wishes to remain, enjoy, see effec-tive; variant, the King is dead, long live the King,which is used to proclaim simultaneously the death of a ruler and the succession of his heir,is parodied in last example. the long and (the) short of it etc(infor-mal) the essential information about a situa-tion, event; the main point, or final result, of a discussion, argument, descriptive account, etc o: it;△ the matter, the affair o When he return-ed with the drinks he said, the long and short of it is this. Bunder and them(= those) pals of his aren't bad at the job. They could do all right if they were content to stick to it and do one job at a time. But they aren't. HD o Your mother went with him; it was a mad thing to do, but they did <363> 11. Anyway, the long and short of it is, they never got to Glasgow. They crashed near Don-caster, and your father was killed. PEo' So we are to expect no help from the Council?'' That's the long and the short of it, I'm afraid.'o often Sor Comp of be; long and short non-rev. a long shot [Comp (NP)] an attempt to hit a very distant target; an attempt to achieve sth that may, but is not likely to, be successful; a guess that has some, but not much, chance of being correct V: △ be, seem; think sth. adv mod:a very,a pretty; quite a, rathera□ Cuspatt and Pforzheim are both very keen to start other excavations that might throw up the same thing,though it's a very long shot. UTNo Their com-mittee had read ' Journey's End' and were lukewarm, but one man urged Sherriff to send it to George Bernard Shaw for an opinion. It was a long shot, but worth the risk. RTo It was a desperately long shot, but the Transvaal is closely linked with Holland and when I got back to Oxford I addressed a letter to the Postmaster of Settlers, Too long a shot because I never got an answer. RFW◇ △ no t by a long chalk/ shot. long time no see(informal) I haven't seen you, we haven't met, for a long time o ' Hi,Kathie!'' Hi there!' she said. ' Long time no see.'TT o‘Hello, Peter. Long time no soo.’‘Well,don't blame it all on me. You know where I live.'look as if/ though butter would not melt in one's mouth appear demure, incapable of anything other than correct behaviour □ One of the children ate the bar of chocolate I left in the cupboard, after I'd told them not to touch it, Ithink it must have been Tom—— he looks es if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. and that's always a bad sign.□I knew John had left his wife but not that he was living with Anna. You can't mean it! She always looks as though butter wouldn't melt in her month. look as if/ though one has been dragged through a hedge backwards (informal)look untidy, dishevelled; look as if/ though one has slept in that suit etc for a week (qv) □ And the women in those tight slacks and not bothering with soap and water. And their hair looking es though they'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. TGLY□Joyce,I just don't know how you manage to get yourself so untidy. You look as if somebody's been dragging you back-wards through hadges all the way home from school. o variant look as if/ though sb has been dragging one backwards through hedges. ◇ look as if/ though one has (just) stepped out of a band-box. look as if/ though sth has been stirred with a stick (informal) look untidy, in a muddle, in disarray o I'd been away one week-end! And he had the kitchen looking as if it had been stirred with a stick. □ We can't inviteJack and Moira for supper tomorrow evening.The house looks as though it's been stirred with a stick and there isn't enough time to get it tidied up for them. look as if/ though one has seen a ghost look pale, shocked, frightened o ' Is anything the matter, John? You look is if you' ve soon a ghost.'' May I sit down a minute? I' ve just had some bad news.’ o ' There must have been a bad accident along the road—— there are two badly a long shot— look bad etc(for sb) damaged cars and there's broken glass everywhere.'' Yes, somebody's been seriously in-jured. Helen was passing just as it happened and she came in looking like a ghost.' o variant look like a ghost. look as if/ though one has slept in that suit etc for a week have crumpled clothes;look untidy, dishevelled; look as if/ though one has been dragged through a hedge backwards(qv)O: that suit,△ that dress, those clothes; it,them o You can't go for an interview in that suit.It looks as though you' we been sleeping in it for a week. oI'm rather sorry I bought this dress.A three-hour car journey and it's so crumpled it looks as if I' ve been sleeping in it for a week.□ Th e ' Sandwiches Picasso' were served to friends by that valiant pair, Gertrude Stein (con-stantly lookings s though she had been feed-ing hens in the rain') and Alice Toklas. NS Dvariant, look as if/ though one has been feeding hens in the rain, has form and meaning similar to headphrase. ◇ next entry. look as if/ though one has(just) stepped out of a bandbox look neat, fresh, well-groomed o I don't know how you manage it,Jean, but whatever you' ve been doing you always look as if you' ve just stepped out of a band-box.□ Mrs Clark's three little girls always look very pretty—— fair curls and as though they'd stepped out of a bandbox—— but, at their age.they should be running around and getting into mischief, not behaving quite so beautifully. Obandbox =‘light cardboard box for millinery’.D look as if/ though one has been dragged through a hedge backwards; previous entry. look bad/ not look good not be convention-ally correct, and likely to make others think badly of one $: it... not to attend the funeral;it. .. to neglect the others; it... if we didn't give a subscription D 'I wouldn't worry about that.Dad,' I said. ' It's not as if she was a young girl that you were responsible for. She was a grown woman.’ I know,’ he replied. ‘But it looks bad all the same. As if we didn't care.' RFW a' Wouldn't look good if she sued, ' he could say(saying ' it wouldn't look good in the Press' is the best way to cloak an altruistic urge in any boardroom). OBSo‘What’ s the hurry? They’ re not in your way, are they?’ ' No, but it looks so bad, if anyone calls, having the breakfast things still lying on the table at 11 o' clock.'o So theScottish Labour MPs are looking for ways out.The obvious one is an emergency meeting of theSLP, to reverse the ruling. It would undoubtedly' look bad' but it is a necessary exercise. NS圡next entry. look bad etc(for sb) be ominous; suggest probable failure, trouble or disaster $: it;things; the situation; prospects. adj: bad, △black; not(too) good; worse; better. o: the men under arrest, the fish trade, Manchester United o' Lots of girls run away from home of their own accord.”“Not this kind of girl, Sergeant, and not from this kind of home. It looks bed.'o A year ago, when things looked so black, I might have spoken differently, but I really feel that 1918 has turned the corner for us. ASA DI wouldn't say yet that their marriage won't break up, but things are looking a little better than they did six months ago. o He had been unsure of his welcome at 363 <364> look before one leaps— look sharp etc Sandings all along and it certainly didn't look good that none of the family had bothered to come and meet him at the station. ◇△ previous entry. look before one leaps (saying) don't act rashly, without considering what the result may be o The virtues and faults of both writers are those of their protagonists: Emily watchful. fas-tidious, ruthless but lacking in life; the vital,vivacious Vivienne, needing to look more care-fully before she leaps. Lo The super-activist will always feel annoyed when asked to look before he leaps— one cannot help that. NS◇ da leap/shot in the dark. look one's/ its best [V + Comp] look as specially attractive, beautiful, healthy, tidy etc as possible $: complexion, hair; garden, lawn;house o Virginia wished that she had brushed her hair and renewed her lipstick before coming up here. Millie never lost an opportunity to tell you when you were not looking your best. AITCo If you ask me, I think your family worries you. All this running in and out of your room——I don't think the doctor would approve. And he's coming this afternoon, so you must be looking your best. DC□ We don't have much time for bedding flowers. The garden looks its best in spring when the fruit trees and lilacs and so on are blossoming. look black [V + Comp] show no sign of hope,or improvement, in the future $: things; life; the future o 'I know things look black at the moment,’ said William, seeking to console his son. ‘But who knows what’ s round the corner?’□ Not even alcohol could change his gloom;without a doubt everything —— his job, his marriage, life— looked extremely black from where he stood. (not/ never) look a gift horse in the mouth (saying)(not) look for, or point out,faults in sth freely offered (examination of a horse's mouth reveals a lot about its age and condition) □ ' He's settled the proceeds of this new book of his on Jeremy and Janice and on— on any other children we may have.' The pause grew longer. ‘What makes him think that this book is going to be a success?' she asked again. ' Darling, I don't think we ought to ask that question. Isn't there something about not looking a gift horse in the mouth?'PWo' Why did you let Nora stay on after I'd gone?' ' Why look a gift horse in the mouth? The poor girl didn't have much fun though. My heart wasn't in it.’ AITCo I was just trying to decide whether it would be a good thing to make my way to the pub with him or not — it was one of Mother's maxims never to look a gift-horse in the mouth—— when he started making little nibbling noises again with his lips, and I ran away. HAHA□They gave me a sachet of it(bath lotion) after,but I looked like a walnut for days. The next time you get a gift horse give it a good look in the mouth. NSo Being one who always looks gift horses in their mouths. I will be contrary enough now to argue about the purpose of the huge amounts of money which the Levy Board are dishing out to racecourses in Scotland. sc o expression frequently adapted, as shown. look here pay attention to this; listen to me; let me explain o Look here, my good fellow, I told 364 you that you'd got to put your nose to the grind-stone. That meant this kind of thing has got to stop. SPL o ' Just a minute, dear—— let me fix your tie for you.' Look here, honey, lay off my tie, and give me a kiss.’ SCo‘For myself—’ He paused. Daniel waited. ' Look here.' said Cosmo briskly,' seeing is all very well, but for my own part, I like my amusements a bit more active.Can you direct me to pleasant pastures?' us o front position. look, no hands(informal) see how skilful and daring I am (originally from children showing off that they can ride their bicycles without holding the handlebars) o (driving test)Another lady was fond of giving a hand signal and changing gear at the same time—— look no hands. She did it during the test. OBS□ What woman (what man) could plod through JulietMitchell's latest offering, ' Women's Estate',with any pleasure other than a certain ' look, ma,no hands' pride that a woman can write a book every bit as jargon-ridden as a man? NS o 'Iwouldn't want you to strain yourself,' she said.' Nostrain,' he said.' Look'—— and he spread them,' no hands.'TTa(NONCE) Look, no script! Ox-ford historian A. J. P. Taylor gives the first of six impromptu talks (10.50 BBC 1) on ' The WarLords'. RT o often now used in mocking reference to assumed cleverness of others. look the other way turn one's eyes,deliberately or by chance, to look in the op-posite or a different direction from sb/ sth;(decide to) ignore sb/ sth that invites or demands one's attention; turn a blind eye(on/to)(Voll)(qv)o‘Would you mind if I took one of these books—— as a keepsake?’ I' ll look the other way. 'QA o' Who started the fight, Jen-kins?’'I don't know, sir. I was looking the other way when it began.'a But so many of the reports(on pollution) told the other story. Of faciories belching out ugly fluids, in complete indifference.Of everyone looking the other way. STo There is no capital punishment there—— and no punish-ment at all, it seems, for officials who look the other way. OBS□ Other men spotted where his weakness lay. The British security system, how-ever, appears to have been looking the other way as ' Vassal —— Master Spy' leaped in and out of bed, filmed his documents and pocketed the roubles. SC look/ feel the part[V + Comp] seem to others or oneself suitable in appearance or face to a real or pretended role, function o ' The success-ful business man's well-groomed wife! Do I look the part?’ she asked, parading herself before him. o I don't think the music-making is always as good at the Albert Hall(as at the Royal Fes-tival Hall), but I love the atmosphere and if pos-sible I stand with the rest of the Prommers. The majority of the people in the Proms don't look the part but they' re all extremely knowledge-able. RTo(yoga exercises) And I began to feel extraordinarily supple —— though whether this was the influence of leotard and rights I don't know. There's nothing quite like a leotard and tights to make you feel the part. Even if you don't quite look it. TVT look sharp etc[V + Comp] hurry; be brisk,active in doing sth adj: sharp, △ alive, lively o‘Finish it later,’ he said with a threatening look. <365> ' The fire needs making now. so come, look sharp and get some coal from the cellar.'LLDRoJASON: Back to work, everyone. JOHN: Come on.break it up. JACK: Look lively, get cracking.DPM o Get a couple of hands (= men) to sing these bags on board, Mr Pearson- - and tell them to look alive. We' re due to cast off in 10minutes. □ ' It was there six months ago and no mistake.' replied his master. ' You'd better look sharp and find it, else you' ll soon know what' ll happen to you.' ns o usu direct or indirect imper forms. look sb's way look at sb, esp glance in his or her direction □(stage direction) Segal is offen-ded and sits back and reads a newspaper, and through the next scene he is very interested,though every time Daniel or Sam looks his way he quickly reverts to the paper. HSG o The head-master speaks to us, and knows our names and that. In my last school if the head passed you in the playground or in the corridors he'd never even look your way.□ Leslie was careful not to look his father's way when he suggested this, in case his mother would guess that the two of them had thought it up together. O neg often implies deliberately ignoring or snubbing sb. (the) loose ends/ threads [O (NP)] minor matters which prevent a project, investigation,story, argument etc from being thoroughly or satisfactorily completed (from finishing off neatly a piece of weaving, sewing, knitting etc)V: tie up, tidy up o Nor was there ever much editing to do after Ford had finished a film——no loose ends for the front office to start mon-keying with. L□ Nothing will be held up, for-tunately. Johnson completed the survey before he had to go in to hospital and his assistant is tying up the few loose threeds.□Andso IDSO wound up its activities and prepared to disband. The next few months were spent in tidying up loos●ends and discussing with De Beers the retention of a skeleton organization to keep a watching brief. DS□A nasty husband and in-laws and a suspiciously keen police inspector are sketched in, but too many threads hang loose at the end,and it's hard to care about any of it. NS loose talk unconsidered statements, gossip,about people or affairs; careless release of privileged information o Dormitories were con-sidered undesirable, perhaps as encouraging loose talk at night. The upper servants had their own rooms, the lower servants slept if possible no more than two to a room. Lo I'm not saying there's a serious leak of information — a bit of loose talk in the pubs would have been enough.the/ one's lord and master[n + n non-rev]sb who has control over, and commands the al-legiance of, a feudal, political, religious etc group;a husband as the dominant partner in a marriage o This job on the drill was a dead loss but it was worth it to have Jin so pleased with him, and making so much fuss of him when he came home, treating him like the lord and mes-ter he should be if this marriage was going to amount to anything more than a lot of glorious.tumbles in bed. AITCoI should be very interested to see whether she sticks to her own ' TrumpetVoluntary' or whether she bows to the wishes of her future lo rd and master and orders ' TheWedding March'. Dil o second meaning ironic look sb's way— lose/ take heart or facetious. Lord/ Lady Muck (facetious) a (type of) per-son with pretensions to grandeur, importance,gentility, superior habits and tastes o ' Well,'said Madame Houdin(a procuress) bleakly, Isuppose he's got to have a choice. He' ll takeLouise, they all do, but he' ll want to feel he's theSultan, the great Lord Muck, he' ll want to walk slowly up and down their serried ranks.’ US□Acting beyond the idea of the group,' being stuck up(= conceited)', ' turning y'(= your) nose up at other people, ’‘acting like Lady Muck’—— all these are much disliked and not very sensitively discriminated. UL the lord(s) of creation mankind (fromGENESIS I 27-29); men contrasted with women;races/ classes who may think themselves, or be considered, superior to others □ Except inNorth-west Europe and the far Northlands it was all Man could do to exist. No initiative could be taken. The Lord of creation was beaten to his knees by his environment, the environment that he had prided himself on being able to control.TBC□ As well as domestic tasks, women cleared and tended the garden patches, carried water, fed the pigs and fowl, while the lords of creation.when not hunting or fighting, took their ease. o expression ironic or facetious. lose/ save face [V + O pass] suffer/ avoid a humiliating loss of prestige o So if the Fascists want to go through the Highway they' ll have to fight for it. But we guess they' ll want to stick to the main route so as not to lose face---you follow?CSWB□He was content to warn Bullivant to behave himself, seeing that no face had been lost by either side in the equal contest. LLDRoBut now that we can go into what's called a man's world, we have certain advantages over them.We' re not so concerned with saving face as men are. We find it easier to say we' re sorry or ask for afavour. Men are afraid to do this les t other men think they' re not up to the job. ST□ Virginia did not argue. If Helen wanted to lie her way out of the situation to sensher face with Eldredge, that was all right. AITCo We shall have to merge some parts of our national sovereignty; but this is progress in international relations —— a step taken for mulual benefit, not a loss offace. o It must make him (Colonel Gadaffi) a problem.and even a danger, for President Sadat who is seeking a face-saving way out of the MiddleEast deadlock. L o adj compound face-saving;variant a loss of face. lose one's grip [V + 0](have to) let go of sth one is grasping;(fig) lose one's ability to under-stand and deal with either matters in general or a particular situation o When they were hanging upside-down, the locust gave an extra hefty kick,and the galago's feet last their grip, so that they fell through the leaves clasped together. BB oThere (where the agè of retirement has been fixed at 60) we are told, people are found to lose their grip, in some degree, at the age of 57. PLo(a football match) Ahead by 2-1, Barrow show no signs of losing their grip. It is Newport who lack the effort and are doing all the flustered.careless, bad things. OBS lose/ take heart [V + O] feel one's courage,hope, enthusiasm weakened/ strengthened A:(take heart) from that, from these words, from 365 <366> 学科 lose one's life---lose/ find one's tongue his example o She is doing quite well, I must admit that—— but so was Golding, and one day something like this will happen to her, and she' ll lose heart like the rest ofus. TTo The SupportersClub fell from 7,000 to 2,000 last year. " Well, the way the team played up till Christmas you couldn't blame anybody for losing heart. But it' ll be back to 10,000 next season. "ST a We all know those people with powers of total recall who can identify any quotation and remember the names of all the horses who won the Derby. So let the Watsons' boys who don't shine in general knowledge take heart. Knowledge assumes many forms and so does ignorance. SCo Yet all over the world whenever I spoke of the Bushman a look of wonder would come into the eyes of ordinary people and I took heart from that.LWK lose one's life [V + O pass] die in warfare or a natural disaster, as a result of an accident or criminal attack 口 As a young man he had nearly conquered Kanchenjunga, where he failed to prevent some fellow climbers from losing their lives. STo In 1953 large areas of the East Coast were inundated and there were more floods inLondon's East End. Altogether 300 people lost their lives. SCa British observance of ArmisticeDay is not just, or mainly, a celebration of war and death. It is primarily a public promise that a country's Government and private citizens will work to promote peace, to make sure that all those lives were not lost in vain. a Although earthquakes that are large enough to be regis-tered by instruments occur almost daily in some parts of the world, those which are so severe that they cause loss of life are comparatively rare.NSC □ variant {a) loss of life. lose/ keep one's/ its looks [V + O] not be/still be as good looking as when one was youn-ger, when sth was newer o I know how it is, old man: Christine's older than you; she's f ost her looks; and you get restless. PEa'I think he's strikingly handsome still.'' Beginning to forse his looks, though—— too much soft living. 'o (up-holstery) Hide, almost prohibitively expensive,will keep its good looks through years of hard wear with the minimum of attention. SC lose one's marbles [V + O](slang) no longer possess one's senses or wits o Perry told Sherry,‘You and I are acting,’ which came as a huge relief for most of us temporarily convinced that the two lads were losing their marbles for real.OBSo ' Maybe I am an old woman,' she says, ' but that doesn't mean I' ve lost all my masbies.'NS◇ have (got)/ with all one's marbles. lose one's nerve [V + O] lose one's courage or self-control; panic D In the 1950's Labour may have lost the battle but only because it first lost its own rerrow. NSo Anthony Butt's death had been double, in its cause and in its details. To the very last he never lost his nerve.AH□Zeman(the goalkeeper), once so polished and authoritative, played like a man who had lost his nervo, running about his area like a chicken with its head cut off, utterly confused by crosses (= cross kicks). ST D neg usu not lose rather than keep. lose/ weste no time(in doing sth) [V + Opass] do sth quickly, without delay det: no, not any; not much, little o Ford was coming, the 366 papers said, and would be recruiting Irish tech-nicians for this was to be the start of an Irish film industry. I lost no time in seeking out the Irish producer of the film. Lo The Government seem resolved to waste no time in getting their proposals for reorganisation of local government finalised. SCo But national prosperity is in the interests of unions as much as it is in those of employers. Once Mr Barber has announced hisBudget proposals no time should be lost in having another exchange of views. SCoAfter all,largued, if you take over someone else's wife, the chances are that he won't loss much time in coming round to chew the fat (= argue) a bit.CON◇ △have etc no time to lose; waste not, want not. lose one's rag(informal) express one's anger,irritation, impatience etc in an uncontrolled way o His wife says: ' Barry's really very good-tempered. It's very rarely that he loses his rag.And I pick at him a lot, expecially after a hard day with the hotel and the kids.'RTOcflose/ keep one's temper/ cool (qv). lose one's shirt[V+ O](informal) lose every-thing one has; suffer a severe financial loss, esp in gambling or speculation o (audience re-sponse) It is all or nothing. John Hawkins hits the jackpot(= wins everything), George Mac-beth fores his shirt. L o Not many industries manage to run up a near-record order book and then proceed to lose their shirts. But BritishShipbuilding has. OBS ◇ △ put one's shirt on(Vol 1). lose/ keep one's temper/ cool [V + O]express/ not express one's anger, irritation, im-patience etc in an uncontrolled way □ She frowned. 'I shall home my temper. You' ll make me lose my temper. Why do you hide so much from me?'HDo I didn't lose my temper because time can be expensive. I used to, but the leading ladies always cried and it took half an hour to put back their make-up. SC o He was extremely in-sulting— and very silly too. I don't know how Imanaged to keep my cool. O of lose one's rag(qv). lose the thread (of sth) [V + O pass] fail to maintain, or fail to follow and understand, a consecutive or logical line, pattern, in sth o:story, narrative; argument, debate; remarks,conversation o He stopped and, for a moment,appeared to have lost the thread of his remarks.ASA □ (reader's letter) Surely someone as ex-perienced as Martin Jenkins should know that in a radio play the listener should never be puzzled—— while he is working things out the action has gone on, and he lower the thread completely. Lo Nevertheless,' All God's Dangers' is a rare and remarkable narrative. Nate rambles but he does not lose the thread. G o Conversation is dif-ferent. It rambles, material overlaps, statements aren't always clear, the thread gets lost. OBS◇△ pick up the threads(Vol 1). lose/ find one's tongu●[V + O] be reticent,or silent, when expected to speak/ reply after being reticent or silent o ' Now, ' she went on,you must call me Aunt Flo and we shall be great friends.' But the boys, faced with this flamboyant and somewhat terrifying figure, had lost their tonguses. oSTANLEY:I tell you, children are the most selfish things in the world. So he drinks. I <367> drive him to it. So I hear.(Walter says nothing.)Well, have you lost your tongue? FFE□ At first when I arrived I was a catalyst to a little company bored to death with each other who found their tongues again with a stranger arrived from home, NSφ the cat got sb's tongue. lose one's touch [V + O] lose some of one's former ability to do sth eg hold an audience,attract the opposite sex, make pastry o' Pretty little thing, eh? Very jolly, Ormerod was saying reflectively .' Knows how to get herself up at in-considerable outlay. Not very communicative on the other hand, and went off to bed after about twenty minutes. I must be losing my touch.’IGLY□ Th e infant seemed to know it was in com-petent hands and quietened down surprisingly quickly. 'I see you haven't lost your touch.' her son-in-law said. □ also pl lose their touch. a lost cause [Comp/O (NP)] a project, aim or ideal which a group has devoted itself to sup-porting, and which is not likely to receive, or has not received, sufficient support V: be,prove; support, champion, further□ Then lean-ing towards his brother, he said deliberately.' She's incurably romantic, of course. The avant-garde's a lost cause and that's enough for her.'ASA □ ‘Good evening, all, ’ she said. ‘Guess whoI' ve brought.' There was of course a dead silence.Mrs Villars, used to championing lost causes,said was it Mr Churchill, which went down very well. WDM a lost soul [Comp (NP)] a wandering spirit of the dead which cannot find a home in heaven.earth or hell; a sinner, unbeliever, who has put himself beyond the power of redemption; an unhappy, defeated or bewildered person V:△be, feel, consider oneself o Outspoken agnosti-cism was a rarity then and my mother grieved for me as a lost soul and prayed that God in his goodness would lighten my darkness. □' But a professor is such a distinguished position,Marie-Hélène protested. ' Oh, said Kay, ' to giveDaddy his due, he couldn't live on distinction.He's far too much of a lost soul for that.'ASAo also pl. a lot to ask (of sb) [Comp (NP)] greater or better than one is justified in expecting or hoping for V:△ be, seem; find sth. pron:a lot,a great deal; not much, little, o: anyone, him;a friend o ' What do you expect me to do, miss—unpack all the boxes?’' Could you?' She wanted to have her possessions round her. ' Be a lot to ask.' He shook his head. AITC□' Would it be too much to ask what you feel it's worth?’‘Could take a squint at it tomorrow,' Pop said, ' and let you know. 'DBM o 'I only want him to write or phone home occasionally to tell us where he is and if he is well.' ' It's little to ask of a son.certainly.'a A chance to earn a fair living and a house for yourself and your family doesn't seem a lot to week. a lot of/ much water has run etc under the bridge (saying) much time has passed,much has happened, many things have chan-ged, since a particular event occurred V: run,△flowed; gone, passed. A: since then; in 20 years;during the interval o I mean, they start handing.out their impressions of life, and one thing and another, not realising a lot of water has run under the bridge since they were young. Lo Ac- losione's touch--love is blind cording to those who should know a lot of water has already passed under the bridge and the problems are beginning to recede. Go I wonder what he thinks when he looks over at the manor and the estates that once belonged to him? A lot of water can run under a lot of bridges in ten years. RMo In 1970 they played the match at StGeorge's again and Pat Marston and I walked round together. Much water, and a certain amount of other fluids, had passed under the bridge in the intervening 39 years ST o(NONCE)Without ungallantly going into too much detail,Lucille Ball was a leading Goldwyn Girl inRoman Scandals' in 1933, and if she could dance and sing in those days, then, as Sam Goldwyn himself used to say, we have all passed a lot of water since. L o last example a pun on usu meaning of pass water =‘urinate’. loud(ly) and clear(ly) [adj + adj/ adv + adv non-rev] public(ly); unambigous(ly); for all to hear and notice V: ring out, go out; give the message; state sth; get the message □ An d if that is indeed what has been happening in Britain,then the drum-beats ring out loud and clear--militancy pays, brothers, and not just for a few privileged hot-heads, but for the working popula-tion at large. STo The Israeli electorate said two things loudly and clearly last Monday. NS□Are we getting our money's worth? That is a crude,vulgar question, a question that tends not to be popular with educationists. But an eminent educationist is now asking it loud and clear. SC□ A voice, loud and clear but not strident, sud-' denly rose above the noise of the argument and started to preach sense to the hotheads in the group. O loud and clear also used adverbially, in third example. loud and long [adj+ adj/ adv+ adv rev] loud(-ly) and continuous(ly) for a few seconds or minutes V: be; laugh; cheer, applaud; hold forth o Asked if he had really said that, he opened his mouth and laughed loud and long. NS□' What's that rope for, mate?' He called back: ' It's to ' ang mesen wi'(== hang myself with), missis, and she cackled at his bloody joke so loud and long you'd think she never heard such a good un(=one). LLDR□As the audience consisted mainly of the children's parents and relatives, the applause for each item was loud and long.□ Carlo, dan-cing triumphantly on the seat of the cart.whooped long and loud to tell the other peons we had been successful, and when they galloped up we all gathered round our quarry. DF o usu in order of headphrase. love at first sight falling in love with sb(or of two people, mutually) on the first occasion of seeing or meeting; an immediate liking for sth o ' Love's Labour Lost' was one of Shakespeare's early plays and it's brimming over with the ex-citement of love at first sight. RT□ Th e couple first met in 1968. Phillips was still a cadet atSandhurst and the Princess appeared more interested in the older, debonair Richard Meade.It was not, in short, love at first sight. RT o(NONCE) He wasn't by any means brought up on wine. He'd scarcely tasted it until, playing hoc-key for Oxford in Germany, he had a half-bottle of hock put before him. It was love at first taste.sro often Comp of be. love is blind (saying) being in love with sb 367 <368> love sb and leave sb--lower/ raise one's sights blinds one to shortcomings in the loved one oLove is blind , and lovers cannot see/ The pretty follies that themselves commit. MERCHANT OFVENICEIi6o' His wife's not just plain. Where were his eyes when he met her?'' Ah well, love is blind,vou know.’ love sb and leave sb (catchphrase) have a short-lived romantic attachment to, or relationship with, sb, have a passing affection for sb/ sth □ Her son. the legacy of a Gl who'd loved her and left her was now about thirty years old. a' It's a case of love me and leave me with the tourists and summer visitors,' the village postmaster explaIned. ' They don't put anything into the place.□ Well, Jenny, I'm afraid I shall have to love you and leave you. Something rather urgent's come up at the office. TGLY o in last example I shall have to love you and leave you used as facetious form of leave-taking. love me, love my dog(saying)(some people think that) true affection, regard for sb should extend to everybody and everything closely connected with that person o ' She'd take it as a personal insult if I said those regular Sunday visits to her parents were getting a bit of a bore.’Love me, love my dog, eh?'□The mangy beasts of voters, normally good for no more than a kick up the rump, are treated like royalty. Love me,love my dog. In the last few days I' ve patted the heads of numerous unsavour y hounds. NS□ I'd like it very much, of course, if Marjorie shared my love of music, just as she' d like me to enjoy gardening and pony-trekking, but we' ve never taken a‘love me, love my dog’ line with each other. love not wisely but too well love with good but misguided intention, or to such an excessive degree that one suffers for it o (source) Speak of me as I am.../... then, must you speak/ Of one that lov'd not wisely but too well. OTHELLO V2□(It is) a small, young, and poor organisation of lay volunteers and sympathetic clerics of all creeds, which gives advice and comfort to couples who love each other well, but not wisely. Go(NONCE) It is easy to water not wisely but too well. More houseplants die from over-watering than from any other single cause. the love of money is the root of all evil(saying) all, or most, of the evil done, or suf-fered, by mankind arises from greed for gain o(source) But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare. For the love of money is the root of all ovil. I TIMOTHY VI9-10□ There is a good deal of truth to the injunction that the love of money is the root of all evil, but when the theme is sung by a chorus of multi-millionaires one begins to wonder if there isn't something phone y about the message. SC oMoney may not be the root of allevil, but it can produce the sort of problems that will pressure even the most stable of marriages. o sometimes shortened form, money is the root of all evil, is used, as in last example. Tyt love's young dream the blissful state of young people in love, esp for the first time o No,there's nothing half so sweet in life/ As love's young dream. LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM (T MOORE1779-1852)□MR FISH: Look at them, love's young dream. MR GREEN: If I had a fiddle I'd play' Hearts and Flowers'. MRS FISH: Real romantic. 368 DPM □ ‘Well, and how’ s love’ s young dream?’Sheila asked Jenny. ' Aren't you the lucky girl?My, but you look radiant.'TGLY O may refer, as in second and third examples, to the young lover(s); often facetious. a loved one sb with whom one has a close,affectionate and usu continuous relationship(esp in context of death or of actual or possible separation) o ... the effect on unyone who has had a close relative or loved one who took their own life. ST□ The manner of singing is traditional and has fixed characteristics. It aims to suggest a deeply felt emotion (for the treachery of a lovedone, for example) but the emotion has not the ingrown quality shown by the crooners. ULoThe idea was that there was nothing for you out of Bermondsey. The place to be in is Bermond-sey, with your loved ones. Go and work at the factories which are on the doorstep. L a low profile [0 (NP)] an unaggressive,unassertive, self-effacing attitude, way of behaviour in conducting one's life, work or a particular undertaking V: △ keep, preserve,maintain; adopt, cultivate o I admire the brisk creativeness of American English.' Low profile'is a perfect vivid phrase for ' conciliatory demeanour’ . NS□ Here you have a genuine Un-derground Press, of low profile and high seriousness: a placid flow of original research and pottering scholarships. ST o Mr Heath has told friends that he plans to keep a low profile and that he wants to avoid putting himself in the position of stealing the show from Mrs Thatcher.SCo Such ideas excited medieval man and led to such gigantic projects as building WinchesterCathedral. Today's practising Christians tend to adopt a lower profile. There is a search for the essentials in the faith in greatly changed con-ditions. OBS□ The incident was significant, how-ever, for what it suggested about Army tactics.The ' low profile' attitude of recent weeks was being abandoned and military rather than politi-cal factors were now dominating the situation. Lo attrib use a low-profile attitude; use of com-parative or superlative forms of adj, as in fourth example, unusual. a high profile. the lower orders(dated or facetious) people of the lower social classes o Working-class people have not only improved their lot, acquired more power and possessions, but no longer feel themselves members of ' the lower orders' , with a sense of other classes, each above them and each superior in the way the world judges. ULoThe local swimming pool was an agreeable place,with a high entrance fee imposed to keep out the lower orders. SPL lower/ raise one's sights [V + 0 pass]lower/ raise one's standards; be content to achieve less/ determined to achieve more than one had originally hoped or expected to (from adjusting the device on a rifle, telescope etc that helps one to aim or observe) □ ' What are you trying to prove?’ said Chadwick. ' Nothing,wacker, nothing at all—— only that we ought to lower our sights a bit and chatter less about" professional status".' TT o Unless political leaders can raise their sights to match the situa-tion, there must be acute anxieties for parliamen-tary government in the next few years. NSφ▲set one's/ sb's sights high. <369> one's luck holds---make an/ one's appearance one's luck holds one continues to have good luck a 'I haven't had to see a doctor for over twenty years. ' Well, let's hope your luck holds for unother twenty,'a My luck continued to hold and at sundown I managed to bring off another extremely difficult shot. LWKoI' ve never seen so little traffic on this route. If our luck holds we shan't be late after all. the luck of the draw (the way in which)chance, fortune, decides what some people may be, do, get or suffer, and others not (from drawing lots with straws or marked papers to select who will do, or get, sth) o The French-speaking Belgians usually get rather short commons in such catalogues, because Maeter-link is hardly big league, and Hergẻ(the creator of Tintin) and Simenon are not quite respectable.But that's the luck of the draw. NSo But the luck of the draw ordained that Billy had the auburn curls, and his sisters their father 's lank locks.◇△ next entry. (just/ all) the luck of the game the element of luck, as opposed to skill, that operates in a game, research, scientific activity, etc o I'm no better than him really. It was just the luck of the game— if we went on now and played another set, he'd probably beat me. o Doctor(he looks at the retort): Oh my God: coagulated. The whole damm thing's coagulated. Clear it out,clear it away, it's three weeks' consolidated work, oh no, it's nothing, no—— it's all the luck of the game, isn't it? THHo often said to make M madetc(at/ with sb/ sth)[Comp(AdjP)](in-formal) angry, annoyed, with sb about sth V:△be, get; make sb. adj: mad, △furious, wild □It's my big brother's ball. He' ll be made at me for losing it. o It wasn't the happiest of occasions.They'd forgotten to advertise his lecture in the press and he was pretty wild at that, for a start.SCa Well, if he's as stupid as you say there's no use getting mad at him about it, is there? made to about sb/ sth [Comp (AdjP)] (infor-mal) keenly or excessively interested in,enthusiastic about, sb/ sth; mad on sb/ sth(qv)V:△be, become. adj: mad,△crazy, wild, nuts□ Queen Charlotte was mad about watches and kept 25 of them in a case beside her bed. Lo They were wild about Marty. Girls? Thousands of them, mobbing him at stage doors. Ho He wasn't exactly crazy about being visited, because near-ly three weeks had gone by before I got a post-card with the scrawled message, ' Come if you like.’ CONo Dick was then eleven, full of go and football crary(ie crazy about football). □ He said the modern generation was money med or pleasure mad(ie madabout money etc), or only interested in what they could get out of life. TGLY□adjcompounds football-crazy, money-mad etc.a mad dog a dangerously or foolishly violent, irresponsible or eccentric person o It has always been accepted that the Emperor Theodore was a mad dog let loose, a sort of black reincarnation of Ivan the Terrible.□It's not mad dogs, but men who can calculate the risks and bide their time, light of one's success or excuse defeat. ◇△previous entry. lucky at cards, unlucky in love (saying) a superstition about card-players □ ' And Icouldn't concentrate on beggar-my-neighhour(a card game). Merry would have won in any case.Lucky at cards, unlucky in love is her mollo,isn't it , Merry?' Miss Merriman, with her usual calm, said she had never had time to consider love. WDMo‘Never mind, Felicity, ’ her grand-father said, ' Unlucky at cards, lucky in love,but Felicity obviously thought her brother's 15p win was the better hargain. □ comment made during or at end of, a session of card-playing;usu facetious; variant unlucky at cards, lucky in love also usu facetious. a lucky dip a bag, box etc of wrapped articles from which sb takes sth, either as a gift at a party or for a fixed price at a sale, fair, toy bazaar, etc; a situation where what one gets,what takes place or what happens may chance to please one, be useful, etc or not □ Among other film seasons the National Film Theatre's lucky dip of over 100 films from Paramount is to be scrutinised attentively. NS o‘Why not take your holiday somewhere you' ll be sure of some sun? '' It's a lucky dip, wherever you go.'a But for the last month they have been delving into a lucky dip of political ideas, pulling out a strange array of disconnected decisions. The people wait,hungry for action. NS□ occas pl. that we need for a project like this.□ Kingsley got up and paced the room, talking as he walked,' Even so, it's a mad-dog scheme. Consider the objections. TBC□ attrib use a mad-dog scheme.mad on sb/ sth [Comp (AdjP)] (informal)keenly or excessively interested in sb/ sth; mad etc about sb/ sth(qv) V: △ be, become o Be-tween all this, Carole Adden also manages to bring up a 13-year-old daughter and a son of 11(' both med on horses, which helps in this home'). ST a maid etc of all work a servant expected to do, or help with, all domestic duties; a general drudge n: maid, girl; man, boy, lado Lennie was their assistant. Barman, pot-boy, maid of all work, he had worked in the Olive Branch since he left school. AITC□He charged into the kitchen.bellowing loudly for Celeste, the kitchen maid,and Bragon the mywn-of-will-work, her lover. Ao may be used unaltered for both sexes, though boy, lad may be substituted for maid; sometimes hyphenated; stress pattern a maid of' all work. make answer/ reply[V+ O](formal) answer;reply o ' What did you do before? she asked. 'Iwas a student of history, I made answer. PP□He presented an Address from the House ofCommons to which Her Majesty was graciously pleased to make reply. T make an/ one's appearance [V + 0] be vis-ible; come into view; join a company; be present at, take part in,a public or formal occasion adj:public; welcome; unexpected o ' Mrs Hatchett, 369 <370> make a beginning/ start--- - make sth clear/ plain (to sb) just what are you talking about?’‘My ghost,madam. In the past he has only made his ap-pearances at night, and silently.’ DCo It was a rare event for Jim to make an appearance before noon, any Sunday morning. □ Already a very ill man, he made his last public ap-pearwirce at a CND(= Campaign for NuclearDisarmament) rally in August, 64. NS make a beginning/ start [V + 0 pass] begin a task, project etc; achieve a starting point from which to continue a course of action or study,a profession or trade, a relationship; make a start(on)(Voll)(qv) adj: good, bad; small oThe only practical way is to make a small beginning and then try to extend it. o You' ve made a start, anyway. If your clients are satis-fied they' re likely to bring you more business. □He hadn't won our confidence yet but a goodish beginning had been made. make bold to do sth risk doing sth; dare,have the courage to do sth Inf: to say; to ask,to inquire; to deny o I make so bold to sayBobby Jones's feat of the so-called Grand Slam will not happen again because today golf has turned into a money-making industry. Lo The only person to whom a Question(= a question asked in the British Parliament) could properly be put down was the Prime Minister, so I made so boldast o do so. STo variant be/ make so bold as to do sth. make one's bow/début[V+ O pass] appear,be shown, in public or before a particular audience, for the first time S: actor, dancer;play o ' The Dream of Peter Mann' made its bow at the Edinburgh Festival which is about the only affinity between Bernard Kops and T. S.Eliol. DPMoIt was not till her father's death that,at the age of eighteen, she made her début in a small part at the Lyceum. MM make bricks without straw [V + 0 + Apass] do sth without proper or sufficient material, information etc□(source) Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves. EXODUS V 7o Sheila has lovely hair anyway. The best hairdresser in the world couldn't do much with mine. You can't make bricks withoutstraw.□He quotes them exten-sively nevertheless, together with other equally suspect evidence, because otherwise he would have no straw with which to make his bricks.OBS□ The alleged romance was a triumph for the bricks-without-straw school of British jour-nalism and a harmless enough distraction whileMr Heath made up his mind about the next phase of his fight against inflation. Lo attrib use the bricks-without-strew school of journalism. make a cat laugh (informal) be especially comic, ludicrous or incongruous o (‘Nairn’ sJourneys`, BBC l) To see Nairn waddling through the Zurich woods dropping hints about his amorous past would have made a cat laugh.L o You should hear the upper-class accent she puts on for the benefit of customers. It's enough to make a cat laugh. O usu with would, or preceded by it's enough to. make certain/ sure' check, verify, that one is fully and correctly informed about a fact, situa-tion or state of affairs □ Before you sign up for a course, make sure ! hat the school is attached 370 to an established model agency, for agents are often unwilling to take on girls trained elsewhere.Ho'I think Mr Brown has gone out,' the landlady said ' but I' ll run upstairs and make certain.'o A' full' service should include attention to ignition timing, carburettor adjustment and the air filter.If you are in doubt, the short answer is to make sure by asking. OBS□Check that the price of your package tour includes medical insurance.Making certain of that before you go on holiday can save you a lot of money later. O expression refers to previous sentence or is followed by that-cl; variant make certain/ sure about/ of sth. make certain/sure²ensure a particular result$: government, industry; decision, move; take care (not) to do sth (qv) o The original MrParker was an 18th century lawyer who made sure that Shirburn remained in the family, which now devotes itself to farming and running theOxfordshire County Council. NS□Stalin whole-heartedly approved the ' Dragoon' landing. It made certain that his forces would get to Vienna before ours! MFM o Simpson has withdrawn.’' Then that makes Edward's election certain:most of our members distrust Bolton's radical views.’□ expression has NP in middle position or is followed by that-cl; variant make certain/sure of sth. make a change' [V + O pass] bring about an alteration, esp one meant as an improvement to existing conditions, arrangements etc det: any;no; some; a lot of. adj: slight; sweeping, funda-mental, extensive o You haven't half made a change here, Mrs Black. You must have worked very hard to get the place cleaned up like this. oHaving checked over the leadership problem and made the necessary changes, I was satisfied that I had a team which would collectively handle the task. MFM□I promise you there' ll be some sweeping changes made if I take over this department. make a change²[V + 0] be a contrast to, or relief from, what is usually said, done or used adj: welcome, pleasant. A: from the usual, from a fish and chip diet, from greasing axles. o' Sorry about those,' Patrick said, indicating them with one hand while he found his key with the other. This meant that he had no free hand to touch Jenny with, which made a change. TGLY□She only twisted her head round as I passed and grinned and said: ‘Been gallivanting?’‘That’ s right. Makes a change.’ Ho Harvey Weiss’ s' Gadget Book' is perfect for unhandy men. with the sort of instructions that get you there in the end. His gadgets too, make a good change from the usual ' craftsmen only' things. Lo not pl. make sth clear/ plain (to sb) [V + 0 +Comp pass] make sth fully and unambiguously understood O: attitude, position, view; that he was in no mood to argue, that he was opposed to change. adv mod: abundantly, quite, very oThe title of his last work ('I turned round and looked at the injustice which was done under the sun') completed shortly before his death makes his attitude at that time abundantly clear. Lo MrWilson added:' What I hope I have made clear is that I have not become a rich man since leavingNo.10 (official residence of the British PrimeMinister).' L o We made it quite clear to him that they must include a visit to all or any <371> diamond mines in Liberia. DS□Once the intention to do no such thing (ie get legal aid) was made plain they gave all the help they could. STo He has certainly made plain the principles on which the Budget had been designed. St make sb's day [V + O] be an experience, oc-currence, that makes one feel the day has been especially satisfying or significant $: you; it,that. A: just, certainly, really o(reader's letter)It makes my day when somebody actually takes the trouble to pick up a pen and express apprecia-tion. OBS□(cricket) Like Jack Parker I reveredSurrey and idolised Jack Hobbs. To hear Jack talking of the great man and of my other child-hood heroes made my day. RT□That just makes my day. Everybody's talking about me, and the police have been grilling Cindy, and I'm the only person who doesn't know about it. PE 口 often ironic, as in last example. make etc a decision [V+ O pass] decide, esp after previous consideration or doubt V: make;reach, arrive at, come to. adj: final, firm; hasty□ Having made a decision Mr Wilkinson would have been wiser to admit frankly that the millions lost on Blue Streak were part of the cost of re-armament. SC□' Sorry.' he would say in answer to questions about his future, but I'm not making any major decisionsjust now.'HD□The girl watched him seriously; it seemed to him that she was considering the whole of the situation and any decision she reached would be final and call for immediate action, OMIH make do (with sth) manage with sth, accept sth, although it is not adequate or satisfactory or desirable □ I didn't have time to buy any food today. You' ll have to make do with the left-over coldmeat from yesterday.□When we reached the cottage we found that neither beds nor bedding were provided, so we made do with sofa s and curtains.□ Sorry! Only potatoes left now. You' ll just have to make do. o often preceded by have to. make do and mend (a policy whereby one continues to) manage with equipment, cloth-ing, furnishings, machinery etc which one al-ready possesses, esp by repairing or adapting them o The short term dominates every decision.and in the short term Donovan can always make do end mend, always muddle through. OBS□ For these are not people who control their lives, ex-cept in the immediate sense. That is one thing they share, the other is their need to make do and, if possible, mend. NS□I know I could do the decor in a big way—— far better than the old make-do-end-mends that are at it now, but the right people don't know it. HAA o In the slump that followed, the Government poured out propaganda of the make-do-and-mend variety,exhorting workers to economise and find new ways of using up waste. OBS□ n compound a make-do-and-mend; attrib use the make-do-and-mend variety. make an effort (to do sth) [V + O pass]exert oneself physically or mentally; try, or show willingness (to do sth) det: some, every;little; no,(not) any. adj: determined;(not) the slightest. Inf: to appear willing, to co-operate,to smile o BEATIE: Oh yes, we turn on the radio or a TV set maybe, or we go to the pictures——but isn't that the easiest way out? Anything so make sb's day—— make a/ one's fortune long as we don't have to make an effort. RoSome woe appeared to be weighing her down,though she was clearly making an effort to bear up. SPL□Ned realized that he had been a fool to start provoking Robert by insinuating that he had no time for his old friends, and he made a lame effort to back out. CONo(reader's letter)His property is not fenced and though I make every effort to keep the dog confined, I feel that he should put up some sort of barrier. TO make (both) ends meet match expenses to income; live reasonably well without getting into debt o I have to keep writing if I'm to make ends meet and when I am homeless I can settle down to nothing. UTNo What was it like to be aRoman legionary? Just how did a medieval peasant make ends meet? RTo I also took odd jobs— telephonist, clerk, so on. Eventually, Ijust couldn't make both ends meet and I had to go back home. OBS make/ pull a face[V+ O] grimace in order to show dislike, disgust, impudent defiance, or in order to amuse, anger, or frighten sb□ Joe took a drink of whisky and made aface. He was at the stage when alcohol is repulsive and essential at the same time. AITCoI pull a face and say ' Do you really have to go? and she pulls a face and says she does. RT□ Wormold began to make faces in the glass. ‘What on earth are you doing,Father?' 'I wanted to make myself laugh.'OMIHo make/ pull faces(pl) may imply either a variety,or repetitions, of grimaces. make one's farewells[V+ O pass] say good-bye to sb; see, visit, people to say good-bye before leaving a district, job etc□ As he was making his farewells,a photographer (clearly by pre-arrangement) leaped out of what looked like a cupboard in the Senator's office. NS□ By the evening she had made all her ferewells,including the most difficult of all. Pw make (sth) fast [V + 0 + Comp pass](esp nautical) fasten, tie up, attach etc securely O:boat, her; door, gate o We went up between the mud flats till we came to a tumbledown jetty.Janet brought the boat alongside this and made her fast, and went ashore. RFWo Make fast to the turret(of a submerged tank) if you can. RFW□ The butler had gone the rounds of the ground floor as usual about 1 1 p. m., making all fast for the night before he, too, retired. o in nautical contexts, O often omitted. make one's flash creep/ crawl [V+ 0 +A](informal) cause one to feel fear, loathing, aver-sion, nervous anxiety; give sb etc the creeps etc(qv); make one's hair stand on end (qv)□ I was woken up in the middle of the night by a weird,high-pitched, monotonous wailing that made my flesh creep, sent my heart-beat rocketing and caused me to break out into a cold sweat. o He makes my flesh crawl: his cat-like walk, his husky voice, his black clothes, his perpetual grin—— there's something really sinister about him. make a/ one's fortune [V + O pass] earn, or gain by other efforts, much wealth adj: con-siderable, immense; small o He has made a for-tune, bought his family a fabulous house and' had a ball'(= had a wonderful time). Ho He made a small fortune, intent on marriage and settling down. OBS□Fortunes are being made by creating flavours, smells and textures as sub- 371 <372> make sb free of sth--make the grade stitutes for the real thing in processed and synthetic foods. OBS □ sometimes an exaggera-tion. make sb free of sth allow sb full rights in, or free use or enjoyment of, sth O: guest, visitor;child; student. o: house, pantry; books o He kindly made me free of his library to pursue my researches. CWR□ Whooping and cheering, they escort me to the city, bring me a beer and a big chop, make me free of their homes. TCM make free with sb/ sth be over-familiar with sb; treat, use, sb/ sth casually or presumptuous-ly as if belonging to oneself adv mod: too, very,rather. o: wife, secretary; belongings; food,drink o His idea was that it didn't do for an offi-cer to make too free with the men under his command.□Mrs Carstairs was breathing heavily in indignation. ' This gentleman seems to have been making free with your pantry in a remark-able wav, Briggs.'EM□ The second christening.which took place in church, was a somewhat rowdy affair;I was three years old and I cheeked the parson and made free with the holy water.CWR make/ win friends and influence people(catchphrase) refers to business or political friendship and influence (from the advertising slogan for Pelmanism, a commercial course for memory training、 personality development) o(book title) How to win friends and influence people. (D CARNEGIE 1937)□ I must confess thatI do not believe that cancelling luncheon engage-ments is a very good way of making friends and influencing people, or indeed, a substitute for a European policy. SC□ For my face is, not inno-cent exactly, b ul unused. I mean unused by sex,by money, by making friends word influencing people, hardly touched by any of the muck one's forced to wade through to get what one wants.RATT□ Nobody ever takes me seriously, or pays the least attention to what I say. Sure, I can make friends—— but I can't influence people.□(NONCE) The magic words are‘Labour Party’,guaranteed to lose friends and fail to influence people—— certainly in the cost-accounted 95-per-cent mortgage four-bedroom detached belt. Why do we bother to canvas here anyway? NS o usu humorous or ironic; stress pattern make/ win, friends and ' influence people. make good do well in life and work, contrasted with being unable to rise from the lowest social or economic level, or with being an idler, rogue or criminal; achieve a desired and acknowled-ged status financially, socially or professionally□ It is probably due to his protection and advice that I remained at Sandhurst, turned over a new leaf, and survived to make good. MFMo'I sup-pose it's a small price for getting rid of him.'' It's a small price for ruining the lad's chances of making good. I' ve no doubt at all he' ll get into worse company now.’ ASAo He was the white-collar one of the family, the one who was going to make good and redeem all their fortunes.CON o They give an exotic atmosphere to the story of the bullfighter who dreams of the glory,tastes failure, and finally makes good. OBSmake good sth' carry out, fulfil, sth O: one's promise, threat, accusation o They' ll probably realize that I might be bluffing but while there's just the possibility that I could make good my 372 threat, they' ll lay off the strong arm stuff. TBCoWith the 1938 Munich agreement, the guaran-tors of Czechoslovakian independence, led byGreat Britain and France, had refused to make good their word. OBSa He made many other fine promises that have still to be made good. □ Ofollows an adj Comp; usu in end position. make good sth²supplya need; repair, restore,or compensate for sth O: loss, waste; damage,deterioration a Dr MacInnes is much concerned at the underequipment of the Glenelg team, and regards making good the lack of a stretcher as particularly important. SC o The tragedy and waste of the last year— the growth forgone, the thousands unemployed—— cannot be made good.NS□In addition to the fee , any expenses incurred hy me really ought to be made good.□O follows an adj Comp. make good one's escape/ flight effect,complete satisfactorily, an action or procedureO: escape, flight o I had had more than my fill of her boring chatter and when Tom and Louise came up I was thankful to make good my escape. □ O follows an adj Comp. make a good death/ end [V + O] die with dignity, courage, pious resignation, etc.□(source) I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died. They say he made a good end. HAMLETIV 5D You could say he made a good end. A shell-burst caught him as he was ferrying wounded across the river. o' Did she make a good death?' 'I don't know. Agood death,' she said, ' doesn't reside in the dig-nity of bearing but in the dispositions of the soul. "MM make a good etc showing [V + O pass]behave, perform or function creditably etc;appear to be satisfactory etc in amount or qual-ity adj: good, splendid; satisfactory; poor, un-satisfactory o Christ can only help you through your will to help yourself. How do you think you have made such a good showing with your life so far? AiTC□He made a very poor showing inParliament during the debate on the NationalService Act. MFM. o It is an interesting question whether the various parts of the country make a contribution to the university population in proportion to their share of the general popula-tion. It seems that this is not so and that some parts of the country which might be expected to make a good showing fail to do so. SC make good etc time walk, drive, fly etc or complete a journey quickly etc adj: good, satis-factory; disappointing, slow o I did not talk to him till we were clear of the houses and making good time on the highway out to BacchusMarch, RFW□I made slow time down the steps but once on the flat I was all right, of course, and walked over to the enclosure. RFW make the grade [V + O] (informal) reach a desired standard in ability, education, social or popular acceptance, etc S: manager, executive;husbánd, lover; athlete. A: for an ad-ministrative post; in show business; with his wife's friends o The graduate knows that the first degree has been devalued simply because of the increased number of qualified students apply-ing for a static number of jobs. Only those students who can pass through the finest sieve make the grade. ST o The other wives looked at <373> make great etc strides—— make itself felt him with approval, as at u husband who had made the grade; with their eyes and sometimes with their tongues they complimented Isabel on him. Pwo She wasn't a bit happy when she went off with the hout this morning. She was afraid she wouldn ' t make the grade with you. RFW make great etc strides [V + O pass]progress, develop, improve rapidly adj: great.△tremendous, terrific, enormous□ Due chiefly to the great strides made in the field of prosthetics (ie artificial limbs,valves,pacemakers etc) much can be done to help those children to lead more comfortable or active lives.SIuI specialised in guided projectiles, which were then in their infancy. I had the very great honour1 0 work under Sir William Penney. We made enormous strides. Lo I thought Johnny was just stupid but he's made such tremendous strides since he went to his new school, I'm sure the teaching must have been at fault before. make one's hair stand on end cause one to feel extreme fear, dread, horror; give sb etc the creeps etc(qv); make one's flesh creep/ crawl(qv) o Steve and Jack gave a talk about theirIrek across the Polar ice cap. It was very interest-ing hu t it made my hair stand on end just to hear about the dangers they faced.□ Jane's gone rock climhing with her new boyfriend once or twice. She says that it makes her hair stand on end when she looks down at hundreds of feet of empty air. make haste hurry; move, act, or carry out a task, quickly a I shouted ' Hey!' and Finn came slowly on. He never makes haste. UTN. a 'I'm not ready. ' ' Well then you had better make haste u nd be ready. 'AITCo I wish she 'd make haste to finish it. O sometimes followed by to-infa s in last example. make hay while the sun shines (saying)make the best use one can of opportunities.favourable conditions, etc, as long as these last o I' ve heard about making ha y while the sun shines but it's a bit mean to start chatting up your brother's girlfriend while he's in hospital.□(NONCE)(Patrick is having affairs with two girls)I must say Patty-boy does seem to be going in for some pretty dedicated haymaking while the sun shines. Only snag is there's going to be a spot of rain spreading from the west before very long. TGLY□For years stockbrokers complained they could not make the City function because of the Labour Government; now after three years ofHeath's laissez-faire, make-hay-while-the-sun-shines measures they still complain bitterly of the hurvest they haven't reaped because others have not sown it properly. OBS o attrib use, a make-hay-while-the-sun-shinesattitude.unusual. ◇△ make hay of(Vol 1). make headway [V + O pass] move forward in an intended course or direction; progress satis-factorily; make progress (qv) S: boat. dinghy;project, scheme; student, trainee, det: no; little;some. adj: rapid; slow; noticeable □ On some narrow stretches they made such feeble head-way against the current that it saved time to carry the canoes and walk.□A course of Thacke-ray, that's my prescription, soon weed out these little faults. Then you might make some real headway. HD□ He said that the total defence expenditure must be reduced to £600 million. No headway was made on this proposal. MFMmake sb's heart bleed cause one/ sb to feel extreme sorrow and pity □ But you should have seen poor old Jim. It would have made my heart bleed, if I hadn't guessed he'd been such a sod-ding fool, getting wed with a nice ta rt and then making a mess of it all. LLDR□The quiet pain and loneliness he suffered after his wife's death made his daughter's heart bleed. o pl make their hearts bleed; sometimes ironic. make history[V+ O pass] have done, or taken part in, sth important enough to be recorded in the world's or one's country's history; do sth unusual or important, esp sth never done before, in an art, science, profession or sport adj: medical, legal; racing, golfing o We were deeply stirred. Then Churchill stood up, his eyes full of tears.' We have made history tonight, he said. Lo' Some people are going to make history and some aren't,' Taffy said. 'I think this' ll go down in the history books. It deserves to.'STa It is, no doubt, an enviable life: travelling the world,staying in first-class hotels, being at the centre of events, watching history being made. Lo Then there was a confused reference to the Beard case.which made legal history back in 1920. RT uFloyd Patterson made boxing history at thePolo Grounds here tonight by sensationally defeating Sweden's Ingemar Johansson and becoming the first man ever to regain the world heavyweight title . DM make it [V + O] (informal) achieve what one intends, plans or hopes to do or obtain o l should be up at hulf past seven tomorrow morn-ing. I' ll never make it. I' ll just have to be late.TOH□Often, on holiday, the travelling turns out.to be the best bit. Arriving has a certain brief triumph— Well, we made it'--but made what?SC□ He left me in February 1955 to take up an appointment as a scriptwriter with the BBC. Iwas very sorry to see him go and I told him that he could have a job with me any time he wanted it, because I didn't expect him to make it. RToYou know that film stars have made it when theirPress officers start protecting them from Press exposure rather than courting it. SToI want to be taken seriously as a short story writer and, byGod, I hope I make it, L o objectives achieved range from arriving on time to realizing a life's ambition. make it one's business to do sth be deter-mined, or be careful, to do sth thought neces-sary or desirable o If Ned had known you were in this kind of state, he'd have made it his busi-ness to help you. CON□ There is this old aunt inPuiney. I shall make it my business to call on her. DCo I made it my business to know all commanders and to insist on a high standard.MFM make it snappy (informal) be quick to do or in doing sth required, requested etc o Micky slapped a pound note down on the counter. ' Make that three(ie drinks),' he ordered. ' And make it snappy.’ PEa ' May I ask a favour of you?'' Ask away, but make it snappy. I should have been out of here five minutes ago.’ o often imper. make itself felt cause one/ others to be keenly aware of sth S: emotion; power, influence;move, action o He was having his tonsils out,which is a severe operation for an ageing man; 373 <374> make etc(sb/ sth) a laughing stock— make etc mischief but even his fear did not make itself felt in any marked way. HDo In another few weeks the full effects of the shortage will make themselves felt both in industry and at home. a Dislike of a person can make itself felt even if never ex-pressed.◇△ make one's presence felt. make etc(sb/ sth)a laughing stock [V +0 + Comp pass] make a person, institution or object appear ridiculous V: make; be, become oMike said that once the papers had really established my character they weren't going to explode it all later and make themselves a laughing-stock. JFTR□ He and his attempts to revive the old customs are just a local laughing stock.□I couldn't argue with a man like that in public. He'd make a laughing stock of me. Dvariant make a laughing stock of sb/ sth. make (sb's) life a misery [V + 0 + Comp pass] cause sb to be miserable, unhappy or to suffer pain, discomfort in daily life □ HELEN:Don't worry, you' ll soon be an independent work-ing woman and free to go where you please. JO:The sooner the better. I'm sick of you. You' ve made my life a misery. TOH□The lives of those women, already far advanced, were made a mis-ery by the Matron who treated them with unremitting despotism. UTN□ Terence Bendixson hates cars. They are a vicious enemy—— smell-ing, roaring, spewing out pollution, and generally making life a misery. NS make sth (look/ seem) like new clean,mend, polish etc sth so well that it looks as it did when new o Between them was a card on which was written: ‘The Marks’ Dry Cleaning ServiceMakes Your Clothes Like News.’ PE□There are no dents in the body——a re-spray will make your car look like news. ◇ △(as) good as new.make a/ one's living [V + O] gain sufficient money, esp earned income, to support oneself(and one's family) adj:(a) good, comfortable;meagre, bare. A: by writing; off the land; in some other way □ SARAH: Dave is making fur-ni ture by hand. MONTY: He makes a living?SARAH: They live! They' re not prosperous but they live. CSWB□ The outer world is what we wake up to every morning of our lives, is the place where, willy-nilly, we must try to make our living. DOP□ Company executives travelling by air are notoriously indiscreet —— you can over-hear enough on air planes to make a good living if you know how to make use of it. RTO▲earn one's/ its keep; earn a/ one's living. make oneself/ sb look etc a fool etc do or say sth that directs the amusement, criticism or scorn of others upon oneself/ sb; make a fool of(Voll)(qv); make a fool of oneself (Voll)(qv)V: look, △ seem, appear. Comp:a fool, △an ass, an idiot o Having been made to look a fool torments some people far more than conscious-ness of having done wrong ever could.□ The prac-tical question, therefore, is whether theAmericans will make themselves look silly by wasting their substance (= money) on prepara-tions for another manned flight. NSC o variant make oneself/ sb look etc foolish/ silly/ ridiculous etc. make a loss/ profit [V + 0 pass] lose/ gain money in a financial transaction o Although so far this year Exeter's Theatre Royal has still made a loss, its future is much brighter than 374 earlier in the year when there was talk of closing down. T o It is a Working Men's Club, run as a non-profit making concern. D adj compounds loss-making, profit-making. make one's mark [V + 0 pass] become suc-cessful and well-known generally or in certain circles; especially contribute to or influence an art, science, sport etc A: in his chosen profession; on the stage o Bellew quickly made his mark. Within a few years of his return fromIndia, he was reckoned the most popular Church of England preacher in London. L o Malcolm,who is a quiet but determined young rider has now made his mark on the international show jumping front. STo Perhaps expectations were too high after the mark made by' Revival' at this year's Dublin Theatre Festival. OBS□ Will the international school make its mark in educa-tion? ST o also pl They both made their mark.◇△ieave one's/ its mark. make a match [V + O] arrange or effect a marriage adj: good, excellent; unhappy. A: for his daughter; between them; of it □ In order to make a good match for his daughter a downy of a score or so head of cattle was required. SC oKnow where he's gone? Off again to see that ex-wife of his in Ostberg. Mark my words they' ll make a match of it again some day. US□He had only met the dowager once; but that did not diminish his need to improve his finances by making a match of convenience. NS□He was still a bachelor despite the efforts of all the village matchmakers on his behalf. o Oh, don't takeLucy too seriously. Matchmaking is definitely her favourite hobby. Just warn your new boyfriend about her. D n compounds a match-maker, matchmaking. make matters/ things worse [V + 0 +Comp pass] worsen an already dangerous, un-desirable or awkward situation or condition oThey were born expressly to hate and destroy one another, and the fact that they maintained a crude ceremony in their manners only made matters worse. BNo To make matters worse,Harvie, in part two, goes on to cast doubts on the very probability theory on which the experiment was based. SC□' That's the best I can do,' she said,her deliberate patience no way to stop his grumb-ling. And the fact that he detected it made things worse. LLDR 口 often to make matters/things worse in front position, expressing result (not purpose). make merry be lively, boisterous, in a sociable way— laughing, talking, singing, dancing, eat-ing, drinking etc— when celebrating a festive occasion o JASON: Wake up, make it lively. This is a wedding. Bring out the bunting, make merry.look alive, if you can. DPM□ Henry and I(twins)looked alike, dressed alike, thought alike, did everything together as kids. We were a bit of a handful at school, and naturally made merry blaming each other for any spot of bother. TVT口n compounds a merrymaker, merrymaking. make etc mischief [V + 0 pass] play(provoking) pranks; do or say sth calculated to upset or annoy others, to disrupt arrangements or proceedings; provoke misunderstanding or hostility betwen people by malicious gossip or lies V: make,△do, cause o He would have been happier if his cargo had consisted of more freight <375> and tewer passengers. Passengers. having north-ing to occupy them. were always making mischief one way and another. TST o He had never in the past hesitated to make mischief if it served his curiosity. MMo She had a tactless longue, but it came from an honest heart, not from a desire to do mischief. AITCoI advise you to ignore Ada's insinuations about your sister-in-law . She's a known mischief-maker. D n com-pounds a mischief-maker, mischief-making make money [V,+ 0 pass] earn money, or acquire it by other means. eg speculation. in-genuity, dishonest practice det: some, a bit of:a lot of: (not) much, (not) any . A: out of the deal, from sub-letting, by writing novels: for theCiub o People think so much of money these days that they underrate women - - or them-selves-if they' re not actually making it. RT a.The way he saw it, Ned was making him a bit of a sermon, to clear his own conscience for being a business man and making money. CONo You' re u Templar You must know ways of making money. They all did didn't they? DC□/ like the wav you edit this magazine, hu t you' ll never make any money. Lo Today golf, too. has lurned into a money-making industry. SC口 adj and n compound money-making. make a move [V + 0 pass] take some action det:a. any. some, no; a single o The high sales target is less important than the methods br which the target is supposed to he hit the cannv manager has to be fully satisfied on both counts— the means and the end—— before he makes a move. OBS□Iknew that the guys might try to get me. I was trying to find our what was going on in town before I made any move whatsoever. OBS□II seems that we were both anxious to patch up our quarrel hut were each waiting for the other to make the first move. make a/ one's name [V + O] become famous.or well-known in certain circles; make a name for oneself (Vol 1)(qv) A: as a novelist: in the legal profession: with his invention□ linfallibly know that I shall make a name and that soon.But I should like to he a legend. Lo Livingstone had been exploring since 1849, and back in the mid-1850s made his name as the first white man to walk across Africa. OBS□ Born in New York.Mr Condon certainly made his name over here with his novel ' The Manchurian Candidate'. SCOalso p l make their names(s). make no mistake (about sth) [Disj] do not be misled by appearances into believing sth that subsequent events or further information will show to be untrue or not the case □ Alison looks very quiet and retiring huí, make no mistake about it, she's a very determined career woman.□ Most Britons believe that this country could never have the sort of race riots experienced in the United States in recent years. Makeno mis-take, it could happen here. 口 imper. make no odds [V + O] not affect an issue,argument, result or probability (from betting):what's the odds?(qv) det: no: △(very) little.not much. A: whether he's there or not: how it's achieved; which way we do it o With talented children it makes very little odds which method is used. They will learn to read by, or in spite of.any method, o ' You should have tried to dissuade him. ' I t would have made no odds if I had.' make money— make one's point make old bones[V + O] live to be an old man or woman □ Slightly underweight people of active habit have a better chance of making old bones than their well-covered brothers and sis-ters.□ I have a feeling I won't make old bones.you know. I take after my mother's people and they were a short-lived family on the whole. oWhen not admiring the clothes , I made a mental note of the faces that would make beautiful old bones. sco often neg. (one can't) make an omelette without breaking eggs(saying)(one cannot) achieve a desired victory, reform, or other(important)aim without sacrificing sth, causing loss or damage to sb/ sth involved o (reorganizing theIndian Archaeological Department) It is not difficult to count both the losses and the gains.You can't have omefettes without breaking oggs, and I have no doubt that the omelette which eventually emerged justified the breaking of a good many eggs. SD□(NONCE) The one thing the experiment demonstrates, if such proof were necessary. is that broken eggs do not in them-selves make an omelette. Lo(NONCE) It was all in a good cause—— perhaps—— as my favourite political slogan has it you can indeed break eggs without making an omelette. NS □reversing the phrases make an omelette and break eggs(as in second and third examples) changes the sense to give meaning disruptive change does not always lead to the desired end’. make or break etc be crucial in making sb/ sth either a success or a failure, kindly or unkindly thought of. etc V; break. △ mar. destroy. O:boy; reputation; firm; enthusiasm □ The women's tongues ruled the neighbourhood. They could make or break a character. AITC□ WhenBritain comes into Europe, the shock of facing reality will either make or destroy her. OBS□The Itinerant Theatre scheme of the GreaterLondon Arts Association will be made or broken within the next two weeks. ST D Those who really know in the movie business know thatHomer K. Pringsheim is the power behind the throne and the maker or breaker of many a film career. UTN o Terence Hodden is an English hachelor and some sort of ' middle manager' who is being given a make-or-break chance with aRoman firm. T o n compound a maker-or-breaker; attrib use a make-or-break chance. make a/ one's pile [V + O pass] (informal)amass a fortune or a great deal of money, esp in business o ’ Think of all the philanthropists you have ever known!' ' They didn't start being generous till they had made their pile.' said MrsEastwood. PWD Sometimes self-made men would have Grade Ten wives whom they'd been hooked h y before they'd made their pile. RATT make one's point [V + O pass] propose, and usu gain acceptance for, a particular opinion.argument etc det: one's; a, the; one. adj: ob-vious, additional; important; minor o Dr Both-wick with the air of a debater who has made his point, sat back in his chair complacently enough.EM□ A comparison of the layout of a magazine in the older style with one in the newer style makes my general point even more forcefully.UL o I' ll just make the obvious point that the mere fact of being brought up in a town where everything was shabby, dirty, dwarfish, peeling 375 <376> make one's presence felt - - - make a (big/ tremendous) splash and generally lousy was another thing that helped to make most of us competitive. CONo Hingley also seeks to contrast the realfacts of Stalin's life and the legends. This, too, is quite a good idea which becomes rather tedious when the point has been made. OBS◇ △ take etc sb's point; miss the point (of sth). make one's presence felt [V + O + Comp]make others keenly aware of one`s presence or existence by force of personality, superior abil-ity, aggressive behaviour, etc o At this point their father, out of a desire to make his presignce felt, told the children to sit up and behave themselves. o (race-horses) And even before the halfway stage of the season, the new flow of American-bred youngsters are already making their pressence felt in our two-year-old races. OBS□ Most constructive criticism in any society comes from a minority and, since the democratic way of making your presunce felt is to speak, rather than go out in the street and start throwing things, the minority are ' vocal'. L◇△ make itself felt. make progress [V + . O pass] move forward;advance further towards success or completion;make headway (qv); improve in one's health after injury or illness $; convoy, column; sur-vey, project; patient, wounded (man). det: no,(not) any; some; little,(not) much. adj: good.better; rapid; slow o The snow here was firm and smooth but not icy and so we made better programment con-versations seem to be making no progress and might as well be suspended now. SCo Though not a brilliant scholar, James is making steady progress in most subjects. o At the hospital, the two survivors were making progress but were not well enough to be questioned. o Some progress was made towards agreement. make the punishment fit the crime(catchphrase), punish sb as nearly as possible in the way he caused others to suffer o(source)My object all sublime/I shall achieve in time----/To let the punishment fit the crime——/ The punishment fit the crime, THE MIKADO (W SGIL-BERT 1836-1911)□ It's the old story of making punishnments fit crimes rather than in-dividuals, already seen to be wrong in relation to child offenders and anyone still open to refor-mative influences. NSo ' Molese over-reacted——but then so did Julius Rudel in firing him. Did the punish的●nt really fit the crime?' he asked. Lmake the running[V + 0 pass] in a race, take the lead and/ or set the pace which other com-petitors must maintain if they hope to win;(fig)take the lead in a conversation, argument,course of action, forcing or encouraging others to conform and compete $; competitor; firm,industry o Johnson after having made most of the running previously had left himself with nothing in reserve for the last sprint.□At dinner he talked little; but he opened up readily if you made the running. MFM□ With the cool rela-tions that exist between the airlines and the BAA(British Airports Authority), the danger is that all the running will be made by the unions,goaded by ' subversives'. OBS□ Excellent results from Sir Jules Thorn last week focused stock market attention on other electronics firms,which as a sector can hardly claim to have made 376 the running this year. STọ At the tea party Alec certainly made the running with Irma. PWmake oneself scarce(informal) go away, esp leave a group or company because it is wise or tactful to do so, either in one's own interests or sb else's □ The only way I could have punished them was by keeping them in after school, and Ihad every intention of making myseH scbrce the moment the bell sounded. SPL a HELEN:I' ve come here to talk to my daughter. Can you make yourself scarce for a bit? TOH□ The assistants know exactly when to appear with a ready-heated piece of glass, when to make themselves scarce. OBS make a scene [V + O pass] display, to another person or publicly, one's anger, disapproval,opposition, grief etc in a noisy, unpleasant or embarrassing way o I could hardly face the thought of seeing Magdalen at once. She would expect me to make a scene and I didn't feel energetic enough to make a scene. UTN o He longed to escape from Caroline—— her whining or scolding importunities, and the dreadful public scenes she made. OBS σ She was terrified she would burst into tears and mark e e scene.Somehow or other, though, she managed to get up calmly and walk with David towards the lift.Wi make sense' be intelligible; convey a meaning$: remark, comments; sentence, text; painting,sculpture. def: no,(not) any. adj: grammatical,logical, musical o I wrote out the advertisement on the back of an old envelope and read it aloud to see if it made sénǎe. PPo You have to wait close on three extended movements for one of its(a musical composition's) major inspirations,which wouldn't make :★7%# without them. LoOften, what a child tries to say at that age makes no sénée to anyone but his mother. o often neg. ◇ △make sense of(Voll). make sgnse² be or seem sensible, wise, correct$: behaviour, rule of conduct; arrangement,procedure; it...(to do sth). det: no; little;a lot of. adj: good, sound o It makes sense to have better advice and selection. L a Only the top division of 12 clubs should operate on a national basis; the other three sections should be regional.This makes a lot of some. OBS□ They all have their peculiar notions of reward and punishment which never seem to make s mys a to the outside world. NS make etc a speech [V + O pass] speak form-ally to an audience on a specific subject and/ or on a specific occasion; speak to sb as if one were speaking formally to an audience etc V: make,△ deliver, give. adj: long, short; after-dinner;boring, amusing D I made some eighty speaches in four weeks, most of them impromp-tu and all fully reported. MFMo Cindy made a sincere little speech in which she thanked every-one for their kindness, especially George. PE □The man with the screwdriver sat down on top of the ladder and began to make a speech. OMIHOspeak may have the same meaning, as in I' ve been asked to speak on Founder's Day; n com-pounds a speech-maker, speech-making. make a (big/ tremendous) splash [V + 0pass] (informal) do sth conspicuous and ex-travagant, esp spend a lot of money on a social function, a treat for oneself, etc o In all these <377> acts one is aving (= having) u go. a fling.making a splash . It is a short-lived splash. hul a good one, because most of the rest of life is humdrum and regulated. UL o He hadn't much appetite for the feast he had insisted on provid-ing. It wasn't simply self-indulgence, the wish to compensate himself for the lean times he'd been having: nor was it, wholly, the desire to make a splash and assert himself in front of Ned. CONmake/ take a stand[V + O pass] resist and not flee the enemy forces, or a physical attack;(fig)adopt and make known a firm attitude of defence against. or opposition to, sb/ sth adj:last, firm, determined. A: against their pursuers;at that point, on this issue o The Americans swung in between us and the Indians, hunched them like sheep into a compact body. How they wailed and cried for the poor Indian felt he had made his last stand. OBS□ We'd like to have you on our platform . " Bernard thought that the mo-ment had come to make a stand. 'I'm afraid that 's quite unlikely. ' he said. HAA□ Which is not at all to say that when a stand has to be made on some clear issue of principle one is without means. Lo He shook his head. He had taken his stand, and he was not going to be persuaded to change his mind. AITC D take a stand usu fig. make sth stick (informal) prove, substan-tiate, validate, or make effective, esp sth said about or against sb/ sth O: charge, accusation;agreement; decision o I believe that under theBritish system of government, a Minister can take an unpopular decision which he believes to he right and make it stick. Lo Ahove all, there was the question: could the Provisionals make a cease-fire stick , or were there breakaway groups who would carry on the fight? Lo The word' ruth-less ' also comes up, but is never quite made to stick.'I can understand people saying that,' said an acquaintance, but to be ruthless one must be aware of doing harm, and I am sure that is beside the point.’ SIu The charge is that the producers of the programme either deliberately misrepresented its nature, or foolishly slid into changing its purpose during production - - - - or both. Of course, it is a matter of judgement whether the charge sticks (or: is made to stick). L make sb tired [V + 0 + Comp] (informal) be or appear tiresome, exasperating, difficult to understand or deal with $: argument,discussions; manners, ways; he, you □‘Why did you agree to come here with me, then?''I thought you were a gentleman.' ' You make me tired.'Take me home please.' PM o If I thought you believed it I might argue with you but that kind of so ppy condescending talk just makes me tired . □ O often me, us. make/ cause trouble [V + O pass] show or stir up physical violence, or other kind of dis-turbance; cause difficulties, friction etc in the lives of others det: more; a lot of;(not) any. A:for anyone; between husband and wife □' You seem to have come here, the professor said ' with the sole purpose of making trouble 'OMIHo It wasn't clever to make a pass at the secretary like that. She can make trouble for you with the boss.□I' ll go. I don't want to cause any troubleGod knows I didn't come here for that. AITCoIdon't say that she's a trouble-maker by inten- make/ take a stand——a man about town 110n, but trouble arises wherever she's around for long. O n compound a trouble maker make oneself useful do useful work; do a specific, perhaps small, task to help or oblige sb□ Tom spent all his summer holiday in the fields.making himself useful in the hope that his father would relent and allow him to leave school.□ HELEN If you' re going in there take these flowers with you and put them in water. You might as well make yourself useful. TOHoNow.if you want to make yourself useful will you grind some coffee and put it in the percolator?□often part of a direct request to do sth. make one's voice heard be audible when one speaks; have others consider or accept one's opinion, decision, protest etc o I tried to warn him but couldn't make my voice heard above the roar of wind and water. o'I'm surprised the Professor hasn't opposed these changes.' Don't worry, he' ll make his voice heard yet.'cPeople won't do as they should - - simply get moving and work through one of our political parties. They should make their voices heard.G make/ pass water urinate o ... Robert stand-ing in the lee of a slag-heap making water while two nuns look the other way. CON□' Do you have any pain when you pess water?' the doctor asked. make sth work cause sth to function effective-ly O: machine, car; scheme, arrangements; sys-term o He found no faults in any of the parts but.still couldn't make the wretched lamp work.□IfColombia reverts to more conventional democracy, the rest of Latin America will be waiting to see if she can make it work. OBS □Simpson resisted the appointment very strongly and he finally told Jenkins that his advice remained against it, but he would accept it and try and make it work. ST o passive as in It can be made to work. a male chauvinist(pig/ swine) man whose attitudes and behaviour towards women are governed by the assumption that his is the superior sex (catchphrase of the early 1970s,associated with the women's liberation move-ment) o Under no circumstances will I watch' Miss United Kingdom'(Friday, BBC1). I have been a male chauvinist pig,I admit it. But I am at last gaining a sneaking respect for women andI think these contests are degrading. RTo I am writing this review whilst coping with howling children, and therefore am sensitive to being dubbed a male chauvinist pig. Lo Jack's e real male chauvinist swine. Both he and his wife work full-time, but he refuses to help with the housework. o The Unions. sometimes accused of being strongholds of male chauvinism claim with some truth that women workers themselves are singularly unenthusiastic about membership,support or office-bearing. STo I envy my wife's unvarying progress through tea, half a grapefruit, a boiled egg, coffee, bread and lime marmalade. As I stamp around the kitchen preparing these things (no male chauvinist pigs in our sly) a mad menu of possibilities flits through my mind. NSo variant male chauvinism.am an about town(dated or facetious) a man.esp of the upper classes, who is knowledgeable about and habitually frequents the restaurants, 377 <378> a man etc after one's own heart——a man of action clubs, theatres and other social meeting places of a city □ Bellew's (a Church of England clergyman) name appears in many mid-Victorian memoirs, but rather those of authors,journalists, bohemians, man-about-town, than of ecclesiastics. Lo' Quite the man about town you' ve become, haven't you?' she said scathingly.' with your talk of decent little eating-places and sharing jokes with critics at a preview.' a man etc after one's own heart [Comp(NP)] sb etc of exactly the kind one likes best,because he etc matches an ideal V:△be, seem;find; reveal oneself/ itself to be. n: man, woman,companion; house, village; occupation, task oJohn's a man after my own heart: he likes music, poetry, wine and long-distance walking in the mountains.□To Pop, it now began to seem that he might have met a character after his own heart and kind. DMB□ Near Huelgoat, in the middle of Finistère, we found an oppidum(= a Roman fortified town) after our own heart. SD the man at the top the head of an administra-tion, or of a financial, industrial, or trading concern of some size and complexity— either as an individual or as a type□ Lewis had created a situation whereby it was possible for the mean at the top to fiddle elections, embezzle union funds and do away with potential rivals. ST o(aircraft construction) Inevitably new inventions during the development period would suggest modifications on the whole design. Mid-course decisions have often proved unfortunate forBritain, and more depends on the judgement of the man at the top than on any other single factor. SC□In the case of unusual complaints, it is best to try to go straight to the main at the top.man and beast[n+n non-rev] the human race and all animal kind contrasted either with vegetable and inanimate matter or with each other conj: and; or, nor o The birds may be drawn to casual death against the wings and into the engines of aircraft. This phenomenon can be fatal to both men and beast. OBS□ In Antarctica the sea is the source of life and food. Lichens spread on stones during the milder season but nothing to support man or beast. o When the wind is in the east/' Tis neither good for me m nor beast. POPULAR RHYME(ANONYMOUS) man bites dog (catchphrase) a definition of what constitutes‘news’, sth worthy of being reported, esp in the popular press □ (source)When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a mèn bites a dog that is news. C ADANA1819-97□ Deviation from the norm is, by definition,interesting and newsworthy. This crude rule of thumb seems to play a considerable role in shap-ing the output of the mass media, and, in simple cases of the‘Man Bites Dog’ variety, probably works quite well. NS□(reader's letter) That sort of thing, though it undoubtedly descends to the level of‘man bites dog’ journalism, is perhaps unavoidable nowadays. Lo The hourly snippets of news had left one with the impression that, war or no war, there wasn't much news; no dog had been bitten. L o pass, as in last example,unusual and facetious. man and boy [n + n non-rev] for all or most of one's life; from the time of speaking back to when one was a boy o Bert Thomas has worked 378 for British Leyland, Longbridge, man and boy for 30 years. RTo If anyone has been with theBBC man and boy it's Charles Chilton. He told how he joined up before Broadcasting House was even opened. Lo functions as an A(of duration).the man for the job sb whose qualifications,ability or temperament are suitable for a post or special task □(advertisement) Whereas in Spain it has been usual to employ people who are friends offriends, in Rumasa(wine growers and distillers) they take on the best man (or rare indeed in Spain, woman) for the job. ST o(cricket) In three tests Greenidge opened withFredericks without ever looking quite the mmn for the job. OBS a man etc in his position a man etc wielding the power, holding the responsible post, earn-ing the large income, etc that he does n: man,△woman; anybody; people. det: his, her, your,our, their o What's man in his position doing playing around with a bunch of gamblers and crooks? o I'd have thought a man in your position would be travelling First-Class. O pl men in their position; stress pattern a man in ' his position; not the same as in his, your etc position(=' in his, your etc particular circumstances as an individual') as in In his position, I'd prob-ably have done the same. the man in the street the average citizen, esp that category of people who do not have the special knowledge or skills appropriate to sth being discussed; the common man (qv) o The miners are talking about the possible necessity of strike action to defend their industry, This puzzles the man in the street. DMo The man in the street never learned of the existence of life in the Cloud, for as time went on events took such a turn as to make secrecy quite imperative. TBC□All major brands (of petrol) have comparably high quality: ' The man in the street cannot discern the difference and doesn't want to be able to.'ST ◇ △ the common man. the man etc one most lowes to hate[Comp(NP)] sb or sth that one takes a positive pleasure in disliking, despising or criticizing V:△ be, become; make sb. n: man; actor,politician, announcer; show, programme o For every viewer who ' mustn't miss him tonight' there is another for whom he is the my one most lovesto hate.□Enid Blyton, the most materially successful children's writer ever, has become the writer parents, teachers, librarians and even her own ex-readers most love to hato. NS o(TV news bulletins) Longer versions of the same inserts are interspersed with comments from, on or against one of the Men You Love To Hete,often Enoch Powell. Lo On the other hand, the loud-mouthed, over-confident types can serve a purpose: as thos @ contestants the public loves to hate. TVT a man of action sb with physical or practical prowess, who engages in vigorous exploits; sb who is swift and decisive in doing things or getting things done, in implied contrast to sb who plans, debates or weighs circumstances carefully o Success, of course, is infectious, and in every age intellectuals have always been charm-ed by literate men of action. BNo Alan, eager to prove himself a man of action, was for breaking down the door without waiting for the police. □ <379> a man etc of few words—(every) man, woman and child The deadly nyloned legs, high-kicking in slow motion, evoke an atmosphere offetishism which,even in a film that is constantly hopping about between action-man stuff and ragged farce,comes as a rather surprising change of tone. OBS□ attrib use action-man stuff. a man etc of few words[Comp(NP)] a man etc who does not talk much at any time, and who, when he has something to say, does so as briefly as possible V:小 be: regards bas. n: man,△boy, woman, girl □ BOY: I'm a man of few words. Will you marry me? JO: Well, I'm a girl of few words. I won't marry you but you' ve talked me into it. TOH□ Commander Beasley,who always described himself as a men of few words, said he remembered hearing about it.WDMo(NONCE) Be a good girl and fetch me anew sheet of paper. Engineer Cifuentes is a man of many words. OMIH a man of God an ordained priest, minister,clergyman etc of a Christian Church o (decay of cathedral buildings) And yet who's to blame?Surely not the Dean and Chapter. Theologians,mild men of God, they must rely on technical advisers; conservation is not their job. NS□ ACongregationalist minister from Ipswich tried to hold an impromptu ceremony. The rector sallied out to object . There were high words between the two men of God. NS□A rabbi was not considered really a man of God. He was considered a man who knows the law, ie the teachings of the Tal-mud. They went to my father to ask all kinds of questions about the law. L the man/ lady of the house the (co-)householder, esp of a family home o SARAH:Look at him! The man of the house! Why don't you talk to me? I'm your wife, aren't I?CSWB□If it's the lady of the housgyou want to see, that's my mother-in-law and she's not in.□Sir WalterScott built himself a mansion, Abbotsford, in theScottish borders, so that as his literary reputa-tion grew he would have the satisfaction of feel ing himself masterofasuitably imposing house.o variant (formal or facetious) master/ mistress of the house(ie a large household with servants).◇▲ master/ mistress in one's own house. a man of letters (formal) a writer of essays,poetry, criticism, novels etc intended, or likely,to be of lasting literary worth o When one meditates on the material and personal disadvan-tages with which Samuel Johnson started, and simultaneously reflects on his achievement as man of letters and a moralist... Lo All at once respectable men of science and letters can think of nothing so exciting as to go off on a military expedition to Egypt. BN a man etc of (many) parts [Comp (NP)] a man with a (wide) range of gifts and interests V:△ be, become; make oneself. n: man, △lad,(young) woman □ This is Francis Crawford ofLymond, a hard-riding, hard-living man of parts, and something much more complex than a mere iron-fisted soldier. SC □ (paperback' thrillers') Not an author gets through to print who is not 's man of many parts' , and if he has not been a pianist in a brothel or a cowboy on theSouth American pampas, he is at least a RegiusProfessor of Divinity. NS□It follows that a good psychologist must be a man of several parts. He must be original and creative, but he must also be critical and destructive. SNP a man etc of substance[Comp(NP)] sb who owns a considerable amount of money.property, or land V:△be, become; make sb. n:man,△woman; person, citizen, country square□ You have made a fine acquisition and I shall not be the last to envy you deeply. If I were a man of substance, I am afraid I should not have brought it to your attention (ie I'd have bought it myself). US□Ideally, the candidate we'd like to put forward would be a man of some substance.already known in the country. O man is n usu used; also p l men of substance. a man/ woman of his/ her word (Comp(NP)] sb who keeps promises, does as he/ she says he/ she will V:△be; find sb; regard sb as oYou' re a women of your word, I see. Most people would have made this weather an excuse not to come so far to visit a grumpy old man.□There was no point at all in the death of this pretty young woman, except that Buffet pre-sumably wished to demonstrate that he was a man of his word. NS □ also pl men/ women of their word, aman/ woman of the world [Comp(NP)] sb with much experience of different types of soci-ety, public affairs, business etc and esp one in-clined to take a practical, tolerant, or perhaps cynical, view of most matters V:△be, become;think sb □ MICK: I mean, you' re a man of the world. Can I ask your advice about something?DAVIES: You go right ahead. TCo He belonged to a good club but Harold was man of the world enough to know that obscurity was sometimes a safer passport to a club than fame. Pw o Byron had gained the friendship of Lady Caroline's mother-in-law, the Machiavellian Lady Mel-bourne,a fascinating though elderly woman of the world. OBS□The boatman smiled nervously.shrugging into it a men-of-the-world laugh.YWT o attrib use a man-of-the-world laugh. a man or a mouse [n + n non-rev] brave.determined, as a man should be, or timid and evasive like a mouse□ Are you men or mice that you give up your lands and rights so easily?a(report of a trial in court) MR DURAND:' Did she say anything after you had punched and hit her?”' She said: "I am glad you did that——I wanted you to show me you are a man, not emouse''. "to usu with be, and often interr. man proposes but God disposes(saying)we may declare our intentions, make plans, but it is God, fate etc that decides whether they will be realized or not o In life, man proposes, God disposes. In the plastic arts the proposing is done by the subject matter; that which disposes is ultimately the artist's temperament. DOP□We were told after 1937 that never again would the people of the Mississippi River be at the mercy of heavy rains. Well, Roosevelt and the ArmyEngineers might propose, but this spring God disposed of their cunning precautions. Lo He always lets her have her say, but in the end you' ll find that Linda proposies but Peter disposes.o often adapted or parodied, as shown. (every) man, woman and child [n + n + n non-rev] every living person o I fear you will be preparing for a situation in which every man,woman and child will meet their death, in which not an animal, nor any plant will remain alive. 379 <380> man's inhumanity to man— mark/ mind you IBC□ You'd better ask Miss Bates about that.There's not a man, woman or child in the village but she knows their whole history. man's inhumanity to man (catchphrase)(the problem of) people's capacity for maltreat-ing or exploiting others □(source) And man,whose heaven-erected face/ The smiles of love adorn - - - / Man's inhumanity to man/ Makes countless thousands mourn! (R BURNS 1759-96)oThe basic job of ' The Tonight Show' is to enter-tain. if our ten million viewers thought we were going to do 90 minutes of man's inhumonity to man every night, they'd rather watch test pat-terns. L a man's life [Comp (NP)] life and work that is suitable (only) for strong and active men V:△be; regard sth as o At Coldfield, new recruits are allocated to their regiments—— it's a man's life in today's professional army, but if you don't want to be in the infantry, tough luck. NS□A few had wives who'd stuck it out but it was a morning's life really in the lumber camps. o used as part of a recruiting slogan by the British Army(echoed in first example). a man's man [Comp (NP)] a man fond of masculine pursuits and masculine company,and less attracted by domesticity or the society of women. V: △be; think of sb as D In many ways he was limited. He was a man's man who thought that the roar of male laughter was one of the sweetest sounds on earth. L many are called but few are chosen(say-ing) although many persons may wish to quali-fy for entry into an élite or private group, only a few will have the ability or good fortune to succeed o (source) And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment... Then said the king to the servants, ‘… cast him into outer darkness.’... For many er e called, but few are chosen.MATTHEW XXII II. 13,14o Many are called and few are chosen, we know, but 38% is too great a second year drop-out for any university.□In theGipsy kingdom the ' rai', the wholly acceptable non-Gipsy friend, is a phenomenon. As with that kingdom many grecalledbutfewarechosen. Lmany hands make light work (saying)many helpers get a task completed more easily and quickly than one person working alone oWe'd have to clear the lounge for the painters coming in the morning. The children can help too: many hands make light work. too many cooks spoil the broth. many happy returns (of the day) the form of greeting to sb on his or her birthday □ On 21December, Dame Rebecca West was interviewed on Radio 3 for her 80th birthday. Dame Rebecca coped with devastatingly destructive tact. Many happy returns to her. L (for) many a long day (for) a very long period of time □ Bowed shoulders and apprehen-sive glances showed an office working as it had not worked for many a long day. SDo He made his way sadly downhill, knowing he was not likely to see her again for many long day. o' Women,sighed Grimsdyke reflectively.' Well, there's one thing, ' I told him firmly. ' It's going to be many a long day before I get involved with another one.'DIL many a mickle makes a muckle (saying)380 small amounts of money, property, time, effort which are trifing individually can add up to a lot a Prudent and earnest savers, well schooled in the doctrine that many a mickle makes a muckle, and that if the pence are looked after the pounds will look after themselves, find that... T□ On the principle of many a mickle makes e muckle' you could probably improve your fin-gering technique by devoting even 15 minutes a day to serious practice. many moons ago [A] a long time ago, esp referring to an earlier period of one's life V: be;happen□ And I tell myself the tale again as I told it to myself those, many moons ago. PPo l weighed no more than him myself at that age, but that was my moons ego. many a time [A(NP)] many times; frequently;next entry(qv)o That post-box has always been there. You must have passed it many a time. o front, middle or end position. many's the time many times; frequently;previous entry (qv) o My wife used to day-dream rather a lot at one time you know.Many's the time I' ve opened a door or come round a corner, just like that, and seen her---miles away. TTo' He says he doesn't drink much.`' Well, many's the time I' ve seen him hardly able to stand.'o front position. a mare's nest [Comp(NP)] a reported discov-ery, event, situation of a wonderful or startling nature which proves to be a hoax or a misinter-pretation of true facts V:△ be; find, consider,sth o Can you imagine what your position would be, Professor Kingsley, if you were responsible for public alarm over what turned out to be a mere mare's nest? TBC o Visit of A. S. seems perfectly above board. Showed no uneasiness or consciousness of being followed. And if you ask me I think it's all a mare's nest! TCB mark time [V + 0] (military) move one's feet up and down in a marching motion without moving forward;(fig) make no advance, take no action for the time being, possibly until a suitable moment arrives o The soft-drinks makers have sociology on their side. The drift from the pubs, the lure of TV, and the new generation of rich teetotal teenagers have all helped them to go up, while beer marks time.OBS□ After all, life is a matter of taking risks.stretching yourself to limits and maybe finding you can go further than you first thought. The rest is marking time. RT (you) mark my words (you) notice and remember what I say, am telling you o MRSELLIOT: But he' ll have his own way in the end,you mark my words. He' ll show them all----and you. EGDo Know where he's gone? Off to see that ex-wife of his in Ostberg. Mark my words,they' ll make a match of it again some day. USOusu imper form used as a warning or confident forecast; front or end position. mark/ mind you[Conj] let me remind you(and myself); nevertheless; all/ just the same(qv); at the same time²(qv) o In fact I do not know anything; so I do not bother to say anything any more. I used to once, mark you'HHo ' Mark you,'said Blaize, ' occasionally it happened that an entirely innocent trader came under suspicion. "DSo Colossal (house), isn't it? Mind you, they don't use half of it . RATT o If the insurance com- <381> pany pays up and mind you,I don't expect them10. ...10(`o imper form used to draw attention to a fact, point of view, etc that contrasts with,or modifies, a previous statement; usu front or end position. a marked man [Comp (NP)] sb whose conduct or reputation makes him liable to be distrusted,avoided, or perhaps hunted, captured or killedV:△be, become; make sb□ Th e facil that he'd been convicted was a much more serious blow. It meant that he was now a marked my an inRhodesia, which was his field of operations. DSoSmithers had made one financial blunder too many . From then on he was a marked man in the organization. □ also pl. a marriage of convenience a marriage ar-ranged in order to strengthen the political,social or financial position of one or both par-ties u Friendship. amorc lasting commodily thun love, is as likely to result from a marriage of convenience us from any other. □ He might marry again for convenience(ic make a mar-riage of convenience). Elderly widowers often do. □ also pl marriages of convenience; variant marry for convenience. the marriage of true minds (formal) any alliance or relationship based on mutual res-pect, identity of interests, beliefs held in com-mon o (source) Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. SONNFT 116(SHAKESPEARE) o RUTH: Yours should look an intriguing couple on the dance floor tonight. I'm tempted to come myself. GEORGE: Why don't your rUTH . I should hate to break up this mer~riage of true minds. EGD marry in haste, repent at leisure (saying)a marriage hastily entered into is liable to result in one's regretting it over a long period o(source) Thus grief still treads upon the hoels of pleasure:/ Marry'd in haste, we may repent at leisure. THE OLD BACHELOR (W CONGREVE 1670-1729)a ' Marry in haste, repent in leisure, ' she thinks. But how much and how often will she disappoint him? Lo use of in, as in second quote,is rare. marry money [V + O] marry a wealthy person(implication is not necessarily that financial gain is the only reason)a' She made a fortune.Godfrey remarked. ' Retired in 1893 and mer-ried money both times. I wonder what she has left?' MM o ' Who is she?' ' Her father owns a factory neur Ledderford. He's on the WarleyCouncil.' She looked at me with a curious pity.Money marries money, lad. Be careful she doesn't break your heart.'RATT O money marries money(second example) is a saying =‘sb who is wealthy is likely to choose as a marriage part-ner sb else who is also wealthy'. (not) the marrying kind etc[Comp (NP)](not) a person who would enjoy, or be suitable for, married life V:△ be, seem, appear. n: kind,△ sort, type o ' But marriage with Terence---it's so difficult to say. ' She gave a high-pitched laugh. ' He's what 's called" not the marrying kind'', I suppose.' HAAa ' Why is it so strange?'Virginia asked. Mollie shrugged her shoulders,as if it were obvious, ' Because he's not the marrying kind, that's all.' AITC o So far as women are concerned, some are the marrying type, some are not. Wi a marked man---(as) a matter of course master/ mistress in one's own house[Comp (NP)] in fact as well as in name, the head of one's household, whose decisions etc must be accepted V: △ be, remain; make oneself o The point of departure for an understanding of the position of the working-class father in his home is that he is the boss there, the master in his own house’. ULo The garden is to be closed no one may enter, and no one from the house may leave. Please note that I am not joking, and that from now on I intend to be the master in my own house. NS□ There is one thing that has to be made clear-- - that while I am her daughter-in-law in her house. I am mistress in my own.◇ the man/ lady of the house. a matter of sth {Comp (NP}} sth as the main factor; dependent mainly on sth (some con-dition or (factor); it is a question of (qv) V:△be, become; make sth. adv mod: just, only.mainly, simply. o: patience, will-power, luck;economic viability, finding the right backers.adjusting the intake-valve, knowing when to take a chance o But it has never been simply a matter of economics either for the promoters of the Common Market or for Britain. The inspira-tion of the Common Market was largely politi-cal. SC□ Her physical condition was improving.With that back to normal this curious paralysis would leave her. It was merely a matter of shock to the nerve centres. DCo 'I' ve no idea when I' ll set up as a director; it's not the sort of thing you can put a time limit on.' And he adds, ' It's very much a matter of finance too.’ RTo The school teachers felt it was all a matter of their being levelled up to university status, and wanted degrees in higher education. NSoI had done it straight on to the typewriter; I' ve translated so much of Jean Pierre's stuff now. it's just a matter of how fast I can type. UIN a matter of concern etc[Comp(NP)] a state of affairs, problem, topic about which people feel/ do not feel concern V:△be, become; make sth. adj:(concern, interest) national, general:some, considerable, the greatest; (indif-ferance) complete, utter. n: concern, △interest; indifference o Mr Patrick's admirably vivid account of his experiences with the YoungTeam are of importance as an intelligent discussion of what is, or ought to be, a matter of national concern. NS□ When and if local com-mercial radio comes in, the amount and quality of its serious programmes will be a matter of constant concern. Lo One object of gerontologi-cal studies is the prolongation of useful and enjoyable life: surely e matter of interest to most people? SC a ' Eric comes of a very good family. "' Who a man's forbears were is a matter of complete indifference to me.’ o also pl matters of concern etc. (as) a matter of course[Comp/A (NP)] (in accordance with) a natural process or usual procedure o We, in these times and climes, take a child's survival into adulthood as a matter of course. By grace of inoculations and antibiotics.many if not all of the killer diseases of childhood have been eliminated or reduced. OBS □ He thought it would be a matter of course for the sons of former pupils to receive preferential treatment instead of having to compete on equal terms with other entrants. o It was a country. 381 <382> a matter of fact— may (very) woll Shaw maintained, writing of his 1860s boyhood(in Ireland), in which Protestant and Catholic despised, insulted and ostracized one another as m matter of course. Lo The pill may have made sex for young women more widespread, more matter-of-course, but it doesn't invalidate the urge to get married. What it might rule out is the old pressure to marry the first boy that gets them pregnant. STD adj compound matter-of-course.a matter of fact sth precisely known, prob-able, measurable; sth felt (by sb) to be true,unarguable o It's one thing to debate matters of opinion, but foolish of you to argue about ascer-tainable matters of fact. o No man can take it out of himself at your age as he did when he was twenty or thirty, and that's a matter off act you should accept for your own good.□ The security.the calm, the matter-of-fact tenderness which came from her—— that is what was important.RATT□ Although one was aware in ageneral sense of the pollution, danger, noise, for which the motor car, and oneself the buyer, are responsible,some details he matter-of-factly delivers are enough to make you put a match to your AAcard. NSo With a matter-of-factness that robs the remark of offence, Albert Bressand observes:' We are considered the cream of our generation.'OBS o adj compound (attrib) matter-of-fact means‘fiat’, ‘unemotional’, ‘unpretentious’;adv compound matter-of-factly; n compound matter-of-factness. a matter of opinion. a matter of moment etc[Comp (NP)] an enterprise, task, state of affairs, problem of considerable importance V: △ be, become,seem. det: some; great; little; no. n: moment,△importance, consequence o My ' standing'whilst on this tour therefore became a matter of some moment in Whitehall. MFMo/ was silent,a poor partner for both my partners(= people seated on each side of me), but that seemed a matter of no moment, for the blonde had at last got the financier all to herself. PPoI was dealing with an emergency and had matters of greater consequence on my mind than how to address a superior officer. a matter of opinion [Comp (NP)] sth about which opinions are likely to differ, that cannot be evaluated, measured, known, with certaintyV: △be; regard, treat, sth as o Playing football is best. Watching football is next best. Almost everything outside the act of playing or watching football is, indeed, a matter of opinion. Lo ' The sprouts are half-cooked again. ''I call them per-fectly cooked nice and crisp. It's all a matter of opinion.’ o also pl. ◇a matter of fact. (as)a matter of principle [Comp/A(NP)](in accordance with) a rule of conduct or procedure which is often ethical and may be either generally accepted, or adopted by an in-dividual for his own guidance a I had no inten-tion of shooting anything, Sir.' ' Quite, quite. Iappreciate that, but自愿 感恩 matter of principle,I like people to ask my permission before they land on Pillay.''I'm sorry sir. I hadn't realized Iwas trespassing.’ RMo He had made it a matter of principle to rise at six and put in two hours work before breakfast. o ' It is sometimes kinder to lie.’‘You mean you don’ t think that telling the truth at all times is a binding matter of prin-ciple?'◇△ in principle; on principle; on the prin- 382 ciple of sth/ that. a matter of time [Comp (NP)] sth that is inevitable sooner or later $: it... before he dies,it... before they close. V:△be; seem. adv mod:only, just, simply, merely o He became more and more daring as the path got worse, until I felt it was only a matter of time before he fell. BB□She talks of getting better but I think she knows it's just a matter of time. □ He thought anAustralian republic was inevitable: it was only a matter of time. Lo It will only be a matter of time before the company finds itself in the knacker's yard along with Rolls-Royce andUpper Clyde Shipbuilders. OBS □ He has yet to prove that he can bowl consistently well anywhere else, although he has so much ability that this should be merely a matter of time. OBSo it as S can refer back to a previous sentence etc. one may/ might as well be hanged/ hung for a sheep as a lamb(saying) if the penalty for a more serious crime, offence, act of foolish-ness, etc is no greater than that for a less serious one, then one may as well continue in one's criminal, foolish etc behaviour o At least they had big splendid vices, not mean little ones. After all, you might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. DC o I pushed her back on to the pillows. She made a feeble resistive movement. Iwas deciding I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. SPL□(Victoria has no money to pay her hotel bill) Deciding that she might es well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb, she went down to the restaurant and worked her way solidly through the entire menu. TCB may/ might (just) as well do sth consider-ing the circumstances, it is reasonable to do sth,no harm will come from doing sth o Since no one else has applied for the job, we may just as well give it to Kevin. After all, even though he hasn't got the right qualifications, he's been working in the field for over ten years now. oImight as well go home. I don't see why I should stand around waiting. He's over an hour late already. D precedes or follows clause or sen-tence explaining the action. ◇ △ as well do sth(as do sth else); it/ that is just as well. may/ might la sk what etc? rhetorical ques-tion, sometimes merely a formal accompani-ment to a query, but often ironic, challenging or dismissive O: what,△ who, why, when, where,how? o Fergus's arm tightened round Brigit.‘And what, maylask, is this song of hate in aid of?'DCo'I used one of your library tickets.'' Did you? May I ask who gave you permission to do that?’ o But we don't have any real use for a caravan —— and where, might I ask, do you propose to keep it? o what etc may precede or follow may/ might I ask; might used less frequent-ly than may. may(very) well may possibly, or probably, be or do sth modal: may, might, could D Her inten-tion may well be to instil respect by creating apprehension and suspicion. SC o At this point a hypnotist will remind us that if a patient goes into a trance, or if he goes only into a reverie, he may very well see visions within and a transfigured world without. HAHoOne of the major civil liber-ties battlegrounds of the seventies could well be the struggle to publish the secret rulings vouch- <383> … safed to some civil servants which affect the rights of many million people. ST o I merely mourn the temporary loss to the Labour Party of a man who might very well have become its next leader. NS one may well ask one is reasonably, or entire-ly, justified in asking, wondering (about sth) oWhat then, your way well ask, happened to poorWillie Whitelaw, whose expressive, lugubrious face we used to see earlier? NS□ Readers of this shabby but disturbing story may well ask how much connivance in high places allowed this remunerative racket to be carried on for so long.SC□ ' Miss Wildewinde! Where are you going?Well may you ask!' she said furiously. DILo DidI think there was any chance of Robert marrying her— well might Annette ask! SML o often in parentheses, or in reply to a question already put; construction beginning with well, as in third example, used to make forceful comments etc. mean business [V + 0] be serious in one's intentions, determined to carry out sth one has planned to do o From the moment the AfricanHeads of State stepped off their planes here last week, they showed they meant business. OBSoTempest rose, pushing back her chair as if she meant business. MM□It was reassuring to my ego to be with a woman who was within my reach,who wouldn't egg me on unless she meant busi-ness. RATT mean it etc be fully serious when making a promise or threat, announcing an intention or opinion O: it; △ every word (of it), what I say□ If you tell the police about this I' ll kill myself.I mean it. DCa Sometimes I think he's parodying the ordinary kind of political pomposity, and then, God help me, I see he means every word.EHOWa They must surrender unconditionally all their forces in the areas I have named; if they refused, I would go on with the battle. They saw at once that I meant what I said. MFMo My old lady gave me bones to chew and I used to get dog biscuits as well. No,I mean it. Dog biscuits are full of calcium. TVT mean well have kindly intentions in general or in doing/ saying sth in particular o I find her terribly interfering. It is not enough that she mywn s well. □ JAMES: But there's just a chance一 perhaps they in exam well, perhaps they' ll come back with a new saw and a decent plough and a pair of goals. Ol o To my mind, programmes like this do more for racial understanding than all the well-morning speeches in a hundred Han-sards. RT o often used as a damning or dis-missive comment on sb; adj compound well-meaning. a/ the means to an end (simply) the way(s).method(s), or process(es) that need to be adop-ted in order to achieve a particular result oHarold felt that conversation should either be a means to an end, a business deal, or taking soundings for one. PW□ The secretary who had proved so susceptible to his charm was his direct link to a senior executive. For him, she was no more than an attractive means to a more desir-able end.△the end justifies the means. meanwhile, back at the ranch (catch-phrase) returning, or turning our attention back, to the main location in a story, field of one may well ask—— meet one's match activity, etc(from the screen captions indicat-ing change of scene in silent‘Western’ films)oThe week has been marked by increased cordial-ity in Brussels. Dublin and Moscow towards MrWilson. Memwhile, back at the ranch, MrsThatcher has succeeded in replacing Mr Heath,and ousting other likely candidates, as Leader ofHer Majesty's Opposition. NS□Meanwhike, as the Inspector pursues his special mission in Am-sterdam, back at the ranch his pupil and protégécomes under suspicion of bent practice. RT measure one's length [V + O] fall, throw oneself, flat on the ground etc A: on the floor;at the foot of the stairs; in the pool o They dance pretty rough here. You' re not the first to have mossured his length in the course of an eight-some reel.□ The dog's leash got round my ankle somehow and I measured my fangth in the mud.meet one's and [V + O] die or be killed; be destroyed o There was a bullet wound in the left shoulder, but death was due to drowning. That is how my brother came to meet his end. RFWa He died in his sleep — shock to the relatives of course, but there are worse ways of meeting one's and. a ' Where's that Dresden figure that used to stand on the muntelpiece?’ ' It met its end at the hands of our cleaning woman.’ o euphemism. meet sb half-way [V+ O + A] in return for a similar concession, give sb sth that he wishes,or demands. so that both parties may agree, or establish,aworkingarrangement□Unprogressive managements which had made little attempt to meet the workers half way and sort out real grievances would be driven to put their house in order. SCa I think I' ll cut the whole remark out. '' That would be meeting the HomeOffice more than half-way.'SML meet etc sth head on [V + O + A pass] meet etc sth directly, head first, in physical contact;(fig) approach and deal with sth directly V:meet, tackle, confront, deal with, crash into,collide with. O: wall, post; issue, problem, de-cision o It was as if we'd been fused together.melting into each like amoebae, but violently,like cars crashing head on. RATT a Lord JohnRussell dodged the decisions that Peel, so the nation felt, would have met head on,NSo Critics have found them to he somewhat lacking in emotional depth; skirting round problems rather than meeting them head on. STa But as a report on women's changing status, ' Working to theEnd ' is unlike anything I have read, and tackles the broadest issues head on. SC口 stress pattern meet sth head on; attrib use a head-on crash. meet one's maker[v + O] die; be destroyed o‘The Frost Programme’ added nothing to our knowledge of the death penalty, despite having aMr Don Reid, who had seen many a man meet his maker in the electric chair. Lo(replacement of worn banknotes) As these tired old notes meet their maker in Essex, a new load is on its way into our pockets. TVT o euphemism; often facetious, as in second example. meet one's match [V + O] encounter sb who can equal, or perhaps outdo, one in combat.argument, strength of will, etc□ The fellow was not as flashy as he looked and I hegan to fear Ihad met my match. a In me he'd met his match and I'd never give in to questions no matter how 383 <384> sb's memory is green—— milk and water long it was kept up. LLDR□If she hoped to rouse her father by this slight impertinence she had met her match, as Lord Pomfret paid no atten-tion to her at all. WDM sb's memory is green sb has not been for-gotten after death; others have not allowed their memories of sb to fade or die o America may be withdrawing from the paddy fields ofSouth Vietnam, but the war is still not over, and the memory of those who died is very green. L□She ought to be proud to gather in the facts while Waterman's memory's green In a month's time he' ll be as dead as cold cod. PP□The tiny churchyard is scarcely able to contain those who gather there, some still to mourn, others out of community feeling and to keep memory green. RT O variant keep (sb's) memory green. men etc may come and men etc may go(but I etc go on for ever) (saying) men etc leave, die, perish, and are replaced by others(but other specified people or objects are not)s':men, dictators; fashions, philosophies.$²:I, he;civil servants, farmers; stone walls □ (source)For me mmy command men may go,/ Butigo on for over. THE BROOK (A TENNYSON 1809-92)□Styles my com mand styles may go but the' little black dress' goes on for ever. SC oDetectives may come and detectives may go,but George Dixon(a TV policeman) outlasts them all. RT o often adapted in structure and vocabulary. (all) men/ women of goodwill (cliché)right-minded, progressive, peace-loving people□TONY: ……a record of murder and misery. Yet on you go, all jolly and optimistic that right will prevail. MIKE(with great sincerity): It's a ques-tion of getting agreement between men of good-will everywhere. TONY (laughing incredulous-ly): Good. Let's drink to that. EHOWo It is ab-viously hoped that all men of goodwill in the party would be willing to work together to give the Labour movement the unity, stability, and sense of purpose that it has been lacking. To It now became increasingly apparent to all wonmen of goodwill (for in Northbridge the male ele-ment was on the whole not much considered) thatMrs Noel Morton must be the right person (to become President of the Coronation Commit-tee). WDM□ It is also a novel of ideas, by turns ironic and challenging, which illuminates the predicament of any man of goodwill who finds himself a prisoner of the political stresses and incurable human obviousness of this or any time.ST O expression is associated with political speakers, etc. mend one's munners [V + 0 pass] be,become, more civil or refined in speech and behaviour o I will implement my promise to send you twenty-five pounds, but not until you write to me in a proper and civil strain. So come off your high horse and mend your manners, and send me something remotely publishable. USo She's not an attractive child. Her munners need mending for a start, and when she's not noisy and silly she's probably sulking. ◇ △ min d one's manners. (Robin Hood and his) merry men the leader and companions-in-arms, attendants,followers etc of a rebel or guerrilla band or of any fringe or anti-establishment group (from 384 Robin Hood, a legendary outlaw‘hero’ in12th-13th c England) o He is not Robin Hood and the Mamelukes were scarcely e merry lot,but they were men fighting for what they believed to be their rights. BN□ / wondered where she might have gone. A Dover postmark might mean anything. Even back to Tito and his merry man.PP□ expression often adapted, as shown. might is/ makes right (saying) having the power to do sth gives one the right to do it;a plea of justice or fairness is ineffective against a superior force □ The chief French grumble about Dr Kissinger's speech is that he is applying' the law of the jungle' or ' the doctrine that might is right'. OBS□ There are two lessons to be lear-ned from the miners' strike. The second is that,however justified a union's claim, industrial might alone makes right. NS□ Let us have faith that right mekes might and dare to do our duty as we understand it. ABRAHAM LINCOLN (in speech, 1860)o rev only as a rallying call, af-firmation of faith in one's cause, etc as in last example. a mile off[A] across a considerable separating distance; clearly and unmistakably V: hear, see,smell; sense. O: ship, target; uncertainty,interest, greed, anxiety o‘Does baby cry a lot?’'I couldn't say that, but when he does you can hear him a mile off.’□ Of course she’ s in love with Eric. I should have thought anyone could see that e mile off. □ If he tries to be ' pally' with working-class people, to show that he is one of them, they‘smell it a mile off’, they can im-mediately detect the uncertainty in his attitudes.UL o main v often used with can/ could. milk/ suck sb/ sth dry [V + O + Comp pass]obtain from sb all the money, help, informa-tion,(emotional) support etc he has to give O:parent, teacher; subject, topic, theme; soil, land□ If Kipling was interested in a subject or a way of life he could fasten himself on a man and milk him dry of all relevant information in an hour or less. L o They' re nomad cultivators, never replenishing the soil. When they' ve milked the land dry they move on somewhere else. oIt's hard work keeping him amused: I feel sucked dry after an hour in his company. (full of) the milk of human kindness(full of, characterized by) kindness, affection and goodwill towards, others □ (source) LADY MAC-BETH: Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o'the milk of hurmen kindness/ To catch the nearest way. MACBETH15□Only a man full of the milk of human kindness could have con-tinued to befriend the proud and obstinate young man. SCo... a man in whom experience had somewhat soured the milk of human kindners.NS milk and water [n + n non-rev] sth that is inoffensive but feeble or colourless n: person;attitude, doctrine, opinion, manner o They(popular fiction) claim to be stirring, but are as milk and water compared with what one may find in almost any sex-and-crime novelette. ULoThe clergy subscribe to the new pragmatism in religion, their approach is conciliatory and their sermons are milk and water.□Caute claims to destroy the myth that the fellow traveller was a milk-and-water communist who lacked the courage to join the party. NS□ Yo u wouldn't look <385> the mills of God grind slowly—a miss is as good as a mile twice at any of his paintings— milk-and-water stuff, reproduced by the dozen for suburban par-lours.□attrib use a milk-and-water communist milk-and-water stuff. the mills of God grind slowly (but they grind exceeding small) (saying) the processes whereby reforms are brought about,virtue is rewarded, crime is punished, etc are often slow but the end result may be perfectly achieved □ (source) Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small.(H W LONGFELLOW 1807-82) □' As a result of the findings of the commission of inquiry a high-up civil servant was severely reprimanded and post-ed to the Ministry's branch depariment at Ban-gor.'' Well,' said Gerald,' the mill grinds slow-ly. 'ASA□ The Home Office is naturally chary of haste in these matters. But even if the mills are grinding slowly, I hope they are grinding in the right direction. NS one's/ the mind/ imagination boggles one cannot accept, imagine, conceive an idea, sug-gestion, supposed incident or state of affairs A:at the idea; to think of it o To take one example.the mind boggles at the idea of having to do a sum of multiplication or division by Roman numerals. OBS□ Steve looked at me. ' Imagine what it's like to be in my place.'' For once, Steve.my imagination boggles.’ SPL□One of our most eminent senior knights in a crash helmet doing a ton? Mind-boggling. Of course it's mind-boggling,' says Sir Ralph indignantly. RT o As usual, the styles (of plot and sub-plot) don't mix.Songs include such mind-bogglers as‘AMessage from the Man in the Moon'. RT o also occas boggle the mind as in The quantities of bad amateur verse written and printed boggle the mind. BBCR; adj compound mind-boggling; n compound a mind-boggler. one's / the mind goes blank one's brain does not act; one cannot remember, think, answer etc□ Each time she tried to imagine what it would be like on Saturday afternoon her mind went blank. TGLYo As long as I was in the busI was safe. I tried to make my mind a blank as it speeded up on the main road. RATToI had such a struggle to keep from thinking about my own worries that I found it best to keep the mind a complete blank. CON□‘Impossible to remember,’she replies candidly. ' My mind's a blank, 24hours after I' ve finished a programme.' tvt o variants one's/ the mind is a blank, keep/ make one's/ the mind a blank, make one's/ the mind go blank. mind one's manners[V+ 0] remember, take care, to be polite, courteous o Mrs Robertson isn't really used to children. I hope you told them1 0 mind their manners. o(reader's letter) DavidWatkin should mind his manners before sneer-ing at magazines that don't go out of their way to cuter for his own particular interest in architec-tural history. NS◇ △ mend one's manners mind over matter the mind as opposed to the body, or physical objects or phenomena □ The power of mind over matter, and the ability of one mind to communicate with another, are perennial topics of speculation and experiment.1 □ Phrases which we commonly use like ' mind over matter' and ' higher nervous activity' imply that there is something going on on top of some- thing else. RT□It's quite common for dice-players to concentrate their will on throwing a six,though they know very well it' sa coincidence and not a triumph of mind over matter if they do.□often preceded by the power of,a/ the triumph of.mind one's own business[V + O] concern oneself with one's own affairs, one's own life and work, without being unduly curious about.or interfering with, what others do; never mind²(qv)□ He earned his bread at an honest, useful craft that he had taught himself without being helped, and minded his own business, and looked the world in the eyes. HD□ The English love of minding other people's business was being indulged and meetings were held ' in sup-port of the persecuted Armenians’. AH o TONY(slowly): He's staying here? MYRA: Tony, mind your own bloody business. I' ve never inter-fered with anything you did. EHOW□' Will you get your men out of the place before they succeed in killing someone.’' Perhaps it would be better,sir,' the foreman replied, ' if you were to mind your own business. 'HAA o variants mind your own business!(imper) =‘that’ s my affair’, ‘keep out of this’, mind other people's business. mind/ watch one's p's and q's[V + O](in-formal) be very careful and correct in one's procedure, speech or behaviour(p's = pleases.q's = thank-yous)o Matron's not very keen on a man for this job, so you'd better mind your p's and q's if you want to keep it. o If we had been minding our p's and q's we would have been referring to Mr Histop as Professor Hislop, for that is his correct title in Sweden. SC口 often with need to, ought to, must, had better. a mine of information a person, book etc from whom or which much information on a subject or various subjects can be obtained adj:(mine) absolute; unexpected; veritable. adj:(information) useful; valuable; miscellaneous□ Constance Cruikshank does not deal with this subject in her excellent ' Lenten Fare and Food for Fridays', though it is a mine of information on all other matters to do with food for vigils and for feasts. OBS□ We can now disclose, with the indispensable help of the ' Daily Mail's' sports page (what an undetected mine of informs-tion!), why Leeds lost such things as, in 1965, the league title. NS a ministering angel a benign angel;a woman who serves the needs of others with tenderness and care□(source) LAERTES(Ophelia's burial):A ministering angel shall my sister be. HAMLETv I o She hurriedly recombed her hair so as to make it less exuberant and more in keeping with the role of ministering angel and experienced traveller. TCB miss the boat/ bus[V + O] lose an opportun-ity to do or obtain sth o ' Did she think I would marry Sybil?' I enquired. Henry shook his head.'I think she's thought for some time that you' ve missed the boot!'SMLoI have an intense aware-ness of the opportunity the Open University offers to chaps who like me have perhaps missed the boat. RT o I think most French perfume houses missed the boat years ago because they become fixated on the belief that if a 114 oz bottle did not cost £4 to £5, nobody would buy it. STOoften with present or past perfect tenses. a miss is as good as a mile(saying) narrow- 385 <386> miss the point (of sth)— moan and groan ly missing success in doing or obtaining sth has the same practical result as failing completely;conversely, a narrow escape from failure, dan-ger, death etc is as successful as an easy escape o ' You couldn't have failed the exam by much,according to this list. ’ A miss is es good as a mile. I' ve got to do the whole year over again.'o‘Careful! You just missed that rock by inches.’' What of it? A miss is as good as a mile if you know what you' re doing. miss the point (of sth) [V + O pass] not grasp, or misunderstand, the meaning and/ or purpose of a remark, joke, lesson etc o: the joke, the whole affair, holding such a celebra-tion o Her husband was going to make a joke.She waited for it, her whole mind concentrated upon not missing the point when it came. RM□This capacity for missing the point has, of course, always been characteristic of philosophers. SNP□Some suggestions for livening up the (Edinburgh) Festival (such as pop con-certs on Arthur's Seat) seem less than helpful.They miss the point of the affair. L O make one's point; take etc sb's point. miss one's vocation [V + 0] not be doing,earning one's living at, the type of work best suited to one's capabilities o You have a mar-vellous way with children, Sue! Don't you think you may have missed your vocation, working in an office?□I'm not convinced Sam's right, butI can see he's missed his vocation. He should have been a lawyer. o sometimes said, not very seriously, to compliment sb on a talent not con-nected with his usual occupation; usu with present or past perfect tenses. sp find one's voca-tion. the missing link popular term for a primate at the evolutionary stage between the apes and the earliest species of man; a connection be-tween the parts or stages of a process, inquiry,argument etc V: be; look for; supply, provide o(Dyak myth) He(a man who had run away into the jungle) stayed there so long that he took the form of an orange-utan, and his children were like him. The wife, on this theory, is the missing link. NDN o The identity of the forger of theHughes letters was the only serious missing link in the investigation of the crime, ST mix one's drinks [V + 0] consume several different kinds of alcoholic drinks in the course of an evening, at a party, etc---with supposed-ly more harmful effects than drinking the same amount of one kind o He had consumed so much vodka, and had mixed his drinks to such an extent that it was considered by experts that it would be two days before he ' surfaced'. MFMo He wanted more than anything in the world to get drunk. Perhaps if he mixed his drinks suf-ficiently it might be enough. After the whisky, he could have a gin, and then, if he had any money left, a glass of stout ought to finish him off. HDa mixed bag etc[Comp (NP)] a group or collection of people, objects, items, stories etc of various kinds V: △ be, seem. n: bag, △bunch, lot o Now it is there (ie has been built),the village clearly offers splendid opportunities to its mixed bag of first arrivals. ST D The houses were a mixed bag, in every style from mullion.and half-timber to what, from its white walls and dark green roof and profusion of ironwork, I took to be Spanish. RATToThese poetry recitals—— from the British poets, from Shakespeare, or.mixed bags of prose and poetry, humour and pathos--occupied more and more of his time. L□We were a mixed bunch of 24 students of several nationalities and from all walks of life.NS □ His characters are m mixed lot, in back-ground, in class, in reaction to their situations.NS a mixed blessing [Comp (NP)] sb or sth which, though giving pleasure or benefits one would not wish to be without, still has some faults or disadvantages V:△be; make sb/ sth □You know how devoted I am to Jeremy andJanice; the only time I' ve ever felt they weren't an unmixed blessing was when they would behead the conversation. PW o Illich is now so influential in the US that he has almost attained the status of guru. This—— and his refusal to be specific about solutions—— make him some thing of a mixed blessing, even to radical reformers of Western society. NSo(NONCE) He realises that evils, like blessinds, are apt to be awkwardly mixed. OBS口 occas variant a not unmixed bless-ing. ◇ △ a blessing in disguise. mixed company a social gathering that in-cludes women, or women and children, as well as men, hence the need for a certain decency or restraint in speech and behaviour o CRAPE: All the things you want to do—— why you' ll bloody well have to set to and do them! HARDRADER:I' ll remind you, Crape, that you are in mixed com-pany. THH□Many of the acts that were put on for the evening's entertainment would have been thought quite unsuitable for mixed company,even a few years ago. □ esp with the prep in. a(crazy) mixed-up kid[Comp(NP)]a young person who finds it difficult to adjust socially,doesn't know what he wants, and may be pessimistic, neurotic or rebellious V: △ be,become; turn into a This is nevertheless a serious and moving book. Which is more than can be said of John Rechy's latest effort, which packs in just about every available cliché about crazy mixed-up kids. NSo Whatever pessimistic com-ment Wiseman has to make can be read in the faces of these truly mixed-up kids. OBSo‘You beautiful, uncomplicated brute.'' No,'I said. ' As they say in the films,I'm just a crazy mixed-up kid.’ RATT□ Perhaps I was a cray mixed-up teenager too. Only no one told me. TVT the mixture as before a gathering of people,or an event, entertainment, novel etc, which is a repetition of, or much the same as,a previous one;(from, formerly, chemists labelling bottles in this way when repeating a prescription for a customer)o ' Who's going to be there?'' Oh, the mixture as before, I expect —— Hay andBetty's sister, George and his current girl friend.You know, the usual Saturday night crowd.’□(a fashion show) This (discomfort) made one less than charitably inclined to see the mixture me before, only with different athletic accessories— motor-cycles, Olympic hurdles, boxing gloves.STo(NONCE) The British, at least that influential junior section of the comic-reading public who fork out their weekly 3p and 4p, prefer the recipe as before. OBS moan and groan [v + v non-rev] complain;grumble o He dresses pretty well for a man who's 386 <387> the moment of truth— more beautiful(ly) etc than ever always moaning and groaning about how little he earns. □ Well, sack him if he's so unsatisfac-tory. Why keep him on, and moan and groan to me?□ Anyway, I went through the movements with the minimum of moons and grosns and can now touch my toes without cheating. TVT o also{n + n non-rev], as shown. the moment of truth a turning-point or mo-ment of crisis when sb has to face the reality of his condition, moral or economic health, etc(from bull-fighting, the moment when the matador must successfully kill the bull with a plunge of his sword)□ (reader's letter) I was surprised that the English matador referred to by correspondents did not mention that in Spanish abattoirs the moment of truth' (slaughtering with a sword) is practised on captive cattle. RToBritain found herself so reduced in status that she had to knock on Europe's door. On the whole, MrMiddleton is, if anything, surprised that the mo-ment of truth did not come sooner. To That a man as much in need of thinking well of himself as Coleridge should be brought to make such a bleakly shameful confession is a measure of the havec that opium addiction can bring; but MissLefebu re sees this moment of truth as a sign that he had passed the crisis. NS money can't buy everything etc(saying)there are certain things in life (health, married contentment, etc) that cannot be bought O:everything; happiness, health, peace of mind o'/ wish I had a pound for every hundred he's got.'` You` re a lot better off than he is, son. I tell you,money can't buy you happiness.'□ Say you don't need no diamond rings/ And I' ll be satisfied./ Tell me that you want the kind of things/ That money just can't buy. CAN'T BUYME LOVE (P MCCARTNEY b1942) money for jam/ old rope (informal) money or profit easily earned or obtained; a task or undertaking completed with little or no outlay of money, energy, or time; a piece of cake(qv)□ If the house could keep itself clean we wouldn't be employing her, would we? What does she ex-pect — money for jam? □(a bank robbery)Weston nipped swiftly into the back of a large car that waited outside. It started immediately.' Gawd, a piece of bleeding cake!' ' Money for old ropa. TO money isn't everything (saying) in many cases, there are more important considerations than how much money sb has or can earn oFrom time to time people have genuinely believed that money ' doesn't matter', isn't everything,and so forth, but no one has ever failed, on being told ' Mr X is a millionaire' to look at him with keen interest. ULo Freddy? Well, he's not marry-ing the Greek. Emrys put a stop to that, said money wasn't everything. US money talks (saying) the possession of wealth enables one to get favoured treatment, exert political pressure, promote one's own interests,etc o He (the working-class man) sees a gulf between publicly professedmorality and the real-ity. He feels fairly sure that in the end the cash-nexus wins—' money talks' . ULo Why did theAttorney General not seek an order against the merchant banks as well? You can choose what-ever moral you like: that the pressure of public opinion is still irresistible, or that money still talks. NS money well spent [Comp (NP)] a sensible purchase or outlay of money, not only for its immediate financial value but for the use,pleasure, security etc one derives from it $: sub-scription, membership;£50; new engine. V:△be; think sth, regard sth as o Considering the weather, and that you have a cold already, I'd have thought that £2 on a taxi would be money wellspent. a So you bought the van for£200?I'd regard that as money well spent. o 'A PrivateEnterprise'(film) is a shade more public than its title suggests, being financed by the British FilmInstitute Production Board, and thereby proving our money can be well spent in the cause of art.NS monkey business/ tricks mischievous, bois-terous or fraudulent action or behaviour det:some; (not) any; a bit of; too much o Robert thundered after the kid and swung him up on his shoulder. He stood there with a benign smile, butI could see, as we hurried up, that he was holding him very tightly to prevent any monkey busi-ness. CON□ If that's all the profit that's shown,there must have been a bit of monkey business going on with the account books.□ This is dan-gerous stuff for amateurs to handle. So do exact-ly as I tell you, boys, and no monkey tricks! the monstrous regiment of women women as administrators, reformers, agitators,successful managers, etc—— and thus as objects of(male) resentment or scorn; women as a class or in unwelcome numbers □ (source) The FirstBlast of the Trumpet against the MonstrousRegiment of Women. JOHN KNOX(title of pam-phlet, 1558—— when Elizabeth I and Mary wereQueens of England and Scotland respectively)□(It) ieiates the story of the Empress Maud,daughter of Henry I. England was not ready for a monstrous regiment of women at the time of Henry's death, so the throne went to Stephen,Maud's cousin, rather than to the Empress her-self. OBSD now usu facetious. a moonlight flit/ flitting (informal) move house, decamp (with one's possessions), by night or secretly eg to avoid paying rent due, to escape creditors o HELEN: What are all these books doing all over the place? Are you planning2 moonlight flit, Jo? TOH o The business is plagued by moonlight flitting—— people moving out of a small business as soon as they' ve collec-tedenough down-payments on customers' orders.a moot point/ question [Comp (NP)] a sub-ject on which there are, or may be, different opinions, which can be debated or discussed but not, as yet, settled V: be, appear; regard sth as o Whether he could have bitten as successfully with his body stretched out was rather a moot point, but it was not the sort of experiment thatI cared to make. DF□' She'd be less neurotic if she had more to do.’‘That’ s em oot question.’ more beautiful(ly) etc than over[Comp/A] more beautiful(ly) etc than in the past adj:more beautiful, lovelier, livelier; more anti-social, noisier. adv: more beautifully, more gracefully; more grumpily, more insensitively;worse o I can't believe that Anna's 45 now—she's more beautiful than ever. o John's livelier than ever since he remarried.□ The last time I saw him he was drinking worse thanever. 387 <388> more by good luck than good management---more or less □Alec should have gone into politics. His speech last night managed to say his usual nothing at all more gracefully than over. more by good luck than (by) good management/ judgement [A (PrepP)]mainly because one has been lucky and not because one has used much care, skill or forethought V: succeed, win; survive, be rescued o‘You dirty bastard,’ his friend said,and tried to kick me in the groin. More by good luck than good management I turned sideways. RATT D We got the outboard engine working again but more by good luck than good judgement.□If this reception doesn't end up as a fasco it' ll be more by good luck than by good management. o front, middle or end position. more dead than alive [Comp (AdjP)] in a poor physical condition owing to illness, shock or injury V: △be; appear, look o It wasn't till the early hours of the morning that a policeman found him lying, more dead than alive, in the side street where he had been beaten up. ◇△dead and alive. the more fool you you are foolish pron: you,he, she, we, they o 'I insisted on paying my own share of the bill. '' The more fool you. He would just have handed it in and claimed the lot as ex-penses anyway.'o Fred told his parents that the new teacher didn't give homework--and the more fools they to believe him without checking with the school. o the O forms him, her, us, them also used; stress pattern the , more fool ' you. more(work etc) in it etc than meets the eye more involved in it than one might at first suppose V: (there) be; have, contain, do. n:work, skill, poverty, difficulties. A: in it, in their friendship; to all this; here o ' Remember that you have to adjust the washing-machine for me before you go. ' ' That' ll only take a few minutes unless there's more to it than meets they e.’□ Your smile may reveal a set of nice white teeth but there is more than meets the eye to real oral hygiene.□This brings us to the natural and endemic sin of investigative reporting. This is the tendency to write a prose which hints more than it says, which suggests there is more in things than meets the reader's eye. NS□ The required medical examination was so cursory as to be far-cical. If there was more wrong with anybody than met the eye it was not likely to be spotted.□A modern primary classroom may look like a free-for-all to the older fashioned of us but there's a lot more work done them meets the eye, o Disaffection may be more widespread than meets the eye on conducted tours of this sori.□ ' Janey said he's had a gin or two but was nowhere near drunk.'' He may have been more so than met the eye.'o variant more than meets the eye in it etc. more in sorrow than in anger [Comp/A(AdjP)] feeling more sorry than angry; feeling more upset than resentful—— though one might justifiably be angry o HAMLET: What, looked he frowningly? HORATIO: A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. HAMLET 12aI feel it my duty to speak out against the rape of the cinema.More in sorrow than in anger I have long time held my peace, but... NS□(NONCE) Pakistanis.schooled and moulded under the Raj, told me 388 more in anger than in sorrow how disgusted they were that traditional British standards of fair play had been so far eroded. Lo When it was all over, Vic Feather having decided that evasions and more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger tones were the best way to keep the temperature down,the vote was taken, Ns o front, middle or end position; attrib use a more-in-sorrow-thay-in-unger attitude. more means worse (catchphrase) allowing more people to have access to public facilities leads to a lowering of standards in education,the arts, commodity distribution, etc o (refer-ring to source) Throughout the sixties KingsleyAmis continued to campaign against what he sees as a deliberate erosion of educational standards.He coined the phrase‘More will mean worse’in 1960, while still following his academic career.It is constantly misquoted — ' More means worse'--which irritates him, and is taken as further gloomy proof of the decline of literacy.NS o Whether more miss worse or not it is certainly going to have to mean different. No government can afford to maintain the staff-student ratio, the residential, social and recrea-tional facilities of our older universities for such numbers. SC□ Perhaps an anthology, even of this kind, should be selective rather than represen-tative. Mord, as the man said, means worse. L□(NONCE) It was a bit of cheer for us 40-year olds.the news that the birth-rate is back to its record low level of vintage 1933. Fewer must mean better, I said to myself, wittily reversing Kings-ley Amis's old propaganda. NS the more the merrier(catchphrase) enjoy-ment will grow in proportion to the number of people taking part; anybody/ everybody is wel-come to come o' You' ll come, Mr Waggett, and your daughters and your friend there. Where'sMrs Waggett? '' ll go across and fetch her if Imay,' said Paul Waggett, who was much gratified by the invitation. ' Yes, of course, the more the merrier, what?’ RMoI had previously understood that it was not permissible to send presents to royalty and that they were always politely returned, but I was evidently wrong. The more the merrier seems to have been the motto(there were 2,583 wedding gifts to PrincessElizabeth in all) and if I had sent in half a dozen egg cosies and three boxes of Turkish Delight,they would clearly have been acceptable. NS more or less' [adv + adv non-rev]approximately; roughly; just about o Matters that are down to earth do not interest you. You manage to make your accounts balance more or less and that is enough for you. WI D By halfway through '55 we'd more or legs got the whole picture of what amounted collectively to the greatest smuggling operation in the world. DS□The station lies a mile more or less from the village itself, so someone will come to meet you.□ Looking down towards the three Rocks he planned the line to descend across the trenches.parallel more or less to the High Street. PMo In that way the benefits would be distributed more or less evenly. o may modify v(first two exam-ples), or a n, adj or adv(other examples). more or less i [adv + adv non-rev] in an amount, or to a degree, that varies slightly ac-cording to individual persons, occasions or con- <389> ditions □ Citizens will probably steel themselves for a further levy. It is a familiar experience ac-cepted with more or less resignation. SC D usu modifies adj or n in this sense. more or less³[adv + adv non-rev] virtually;practically□ ALISON: Hugh tried to seduce some fresh-faced young girl once, but that was the only time we were more or less lurned out. LBA oEddie , as the son of the eldest brother, was more or less the boss. OBS o I got through more or less unscathed, but Hugo received a blow in the eve. UTNo' About their education?' he said slow-/v. ' Well, we' ve more or less decided on that.haven't we?' pwo may modify a v(first and last examples) or a n. adj or adv. more power to his elbow one approves of what sb is trying to achieve and wishes him strength for, and success in, his efforts o Gay(homosexual) groups objected beforehand(to a violent TV thriller), with the support, it is stated,of Mrs Whitchouse who wished them more power to their elbows. Lo Some Members ofParliament of both parties are to ask questions of the Government about the unfortunate mishandling of Mr Cressett's market-garden.More power to their elbow, I say. ASA o.(NONCE)(reader`s letter) The working man is not prepared to he pushed around. Jack is as good as his master and more power to his lungs on this type of show. RTo usu used without a v, as here,to express a fervent wish or hope; last example includes idiom‘Jack is as good as his master’(qv). (one must not be) more royalist than the king (one should not strive to) outdo one's model. leader, mentorie in enthusiasm, loyalty,strictness, in adhering to dying customs, etc(translation of anonymous French saying II ne faut pusêtre plus royaliste que le roi)□(reaction to Rugby School, originator of Rugby football,having introduced Association football into their sports curriculum) What is one to do? One must not be more royalist than the king. TES□He' sa Catholic convert, and, rather oppressive-ly more papist than the Pope. □ She was aCornish girl but in forty years of marriage she's become more Scottish than the Scots. o In their passionate attachment to the monarchy,citizens of the Old Commonwealth often tend to he more British than the British. □ frequently adapted, as shown, sometimes with facetious intent. more sinned against than sinning having suffered more or greater wrongs than one has committed □(source)I am a man/ More sinned against than sinning. KING LEARIII2□ Was the root cause of his hopeless plight the epileptic fits he suffered as a child? The betrayal by his parents who helped to commit him to a Remand Home?Either is feasible. But was ever a man more sinned against than sinning?STo' However, in view of all you tell me, I am quite willing that she should, well, come back .'' More sinned against than sinning, said the CSM.' Never did like the looks of him.’ TTo(NONCE) James Prior must not he seen to plot or to leak (= let secret informa-tion be known) too openly; and indeed he is doing neither. If anyone is more leaked against than leaking, it is Prior. NS the more so because/ in that especially more or less— more than ever (before) because □ The considerable town of Sverdlovsk.formerly Ekaterinburg, was under snow when we reached it, beneath a dark grey sky. It was a forbidding aspect, the more so because one knew it to be the place where the Czar Nicholas ll and his family had been done to death. AH□I'm extremely angry with James for telling you this.and the more so in that he'd promised me that he wouldn't. □ stress pattern the ' more so because/ in that. more than anything (else) (in the world)[A] very much; above all V: want, need;(would)like; dislike, hate; miss o ' No,a whisky, please.Charles replied, for he wanted more than any-thing in the world to get drunk. HD□I accepted the beer but what I wanted more than anything was a cup of tea.□ Did you hear Harry put that pompous ass in his place? I enjoyed that more than anything. O More than anything else, Idislike people saying hehind my back things they wouldn't say to my face. o front, middle or end position. more than a bit/ little [adv mod] quite; con-siderably adj: drunk; nervous, excited, disap-pointed o Like everyone else, I was more than a bit curious to hear what he had to say. CONoIwas still more than a little nervous of my colleagues and superiors and very unxious to please. UTN o He gave Harold a nudge and a wink, and Harold realized for the first time that he was more than a little tipsy. Pw more than one can say/ tell[A] very deeply.keenly V: miss; love; be sorrier; be more gratefui□I don't know if you will miss me; but I will miss you more than I can say. MFM □ I'm sorrier than I can possibly say that you should have been brought into all this. o I'm her beau; she's my belle,/ And she knows I love her/ More thanI can tell. OLD MUSIC HALL SONG D usu end position. more than one can say for/ of sb/ sth[Comp (AdjP)] certainly not true of or applic-able to the person or thing in question V:△be.seem o Over-long and sometimes over-written,this is nevertheless a serious and moving book.Which is more than can be said of John Rechy's latest effort. NS□' You have everything. You' re even good-looking.’ Her dark eyes twinkled.' Which is more than one c umsay for your UncleSaunders.' DC□ John's not afraid of work, and that's more than you could claim for(or: more than could be claimed for) some of your brilliant friends. O variant more than one can claim/ say for sb/ sth; both as Comp after this/that/ which is; pass as shown. ◇ △ the most(that) one can say/ claim (for/ of sb/ sth). more than enough [Comp/O (NP)] consider-ably, or a great deal, too much/ many V: be.hear, take, suffer. det: enough, △ sufficient.plenty o I can't do more for Eric. I' ve done more than enough for Eric. Eric has ruined me. MM-You will hear more than enough on this subject in the pages that follow. UTN: Don't pass your problems on to your uncle. He has more them plenty of his own just now. more than ever (before) [A] to a greater extent, more often, than previously V: want.need, love; miss; dislike, resent o Prone in bed,plaster from waist to knees. Charles felt more than ever at a disadvantage in dealing with this 389 <390> more than glad etc(to do sth)— the most(that) one can say/ claim man. HD□He doesn't take proper care of himself,and he's smoking more than never in spite of what they told him at the hospital. o ' Does oldTom still come to see you?' ' More than over,now that he hasn't got his family within easy reach.' o front, middle or end position. more than glad etc(to do sth) [Comp(AdjP)] extremely glad(about sth); most willing or eager(to do sth); only too glad etc(qv)V:△be; appear; make sb. adj: glad, delighted; sorry;keen; ready. Inf: to help; to get rid of it o WhenPop was able to get to his feet again he was more than glad to observe that Charles was already in charge of things at the reception desk. BFA oPlease call on me if I'm needed, I'm more than ready to help. □ I never thought your magazine would succeedbut I'm more than delighted that it has.□ My husband's going into town anyway.He'd be more than glad to give you a lift.□often used when offering help or accepting offers from others. more sth/ more often than sb has had hot dinners(informal)(do sth) in great num-bers; very frequently o Mrs Duff has organised more marches than most of the legions of people she feels for have had hot dinners. NS□Look, lady, will you stop telling me what to do?I' ve clipped dogs for shows more often than you' ve had hot dinners.□ preceding v always in pres or past perfect tense. more than likely [Comp/ Disj (AdjP)] very probable; probably Inf: to arrive late, to give trouble o Frost and low lying fog are more than likely in South Eastern regions.□ Remember that there's a work-to-rule on and your train is more than likely to be late.□ You' ll find your grandpa in the pub, more than likely.□ I'd have thoughtDerek was the one to suspect, rather than any of the staff. More than likely that thought crossed his father's mind, and that was why he wouldn't call in the police. more than once [A] quite frequently o SinceI took up London cycling again, I have more than once found myself pedalling up a new one-way street the wrong way. Lo Bottomley rose and fell more than once, recovering from bankrupt-cy and exposure to become a popular idol during the 1914-1918 war. SC□ The true expert might even win some respect for his knowledge, how-ever inferior he might be as a teacher: I have seen this happen more than once. L o variants on more than one occasion, in more than one case/instance. more than welcome [Comp (AdjP)] warmly and hospitably invited or received in sb's home,a company etc; much needed and appreciated$: sister, visitor; advice, help; gift, offer; reform.V:△be, appear; make sb □ I wish you'd come down to Cornwall, I need hardly say you'd be more than welcome.□lam enclosing a copy of the script and any comments you care to make would be more than welcome.□ The banks have recently had plenty of heavy hints that a greater degree of restraint in lending would be more than welcome to the authorities. OBS o often used as formula when issuing invitations etc;often with will/ would. more to the point [Comp/ Disj (PrepP)] more important(ly), more relevant(ly),tothe discussion, the situation etc o Colin well knew 390 that it was wrong, and dangerous, which was more to the point. LLDR□ Ernest faced the im-plications of defeat and more to the point faced what would have been the implications if it had takenp lace. OBS□What is more to the point, theLondon firm can't give us any guarantee on deliv-ery dates. O which is more to the point in middle and end position, and what is more to the point in front position. more trouble than one/ it is worth [Comp(NP)] cause more trouble, inconvenience than is offset by the amount of use, pleasure or profit one gets V:△be; find sb□ I don't know if I could manage one (a servant) now— if we could find one. And some are more trouble than they are worth. PW□' Why don't they have tables here?'Patrick asked. 'I'm not sure, but I rather fancy they were more troubie than they were worth.TGLY D If you' re only cooking for two these electric blenders and mixers and things are prob-ably more trouble than they' re worth. more's the pity [Disj] unfortunately; one is sorry to say; it is all the more to be regretted when one considers sth previously mentioned oGirls do not, more's the pity, want to sleep with a man because he writes good novels. SMLo Apart from a few sentimental attachments like thoseI' ve never had a sense of personal identity with possessions, more's the pity. STo The lad fromHarringay, ' who had found typography without organised history or principles left it with both. "More's the pity then, that this finely produced book should not picture some outstanding exam-ples of his work. NS□ Decisions like these showed that the actions of the present Government were not all of a single tough-minded piece. The more the pity, then, that the verdict on United ClydeShipbuilders was delivered with such apparent indifference, L o middle or end position, unless introducing that-cl; variant the more the pity(usu followed by that-cl). the morning after (the night before)(catchphrase)(one's condition on) the morning after a previous evening's heavy drinking oHave you got any aspirins, Mary? I' ve got a bad case of the morning after the night before groaning in bed upstairs. □ Most of the cast look as though they were living through a perpetual morning-after. Lo The day dawns in typicalDawson fashion! Birds creaking on foggy roof-tops. Les and his wife Meg with that morning after feeling from a farewell party. TVTO n com-pound a morning-after; attrib use that morning after feeling. morning, noon and night [A] repeatedly throughout either a long(working) day or both day and night V: work, study, practise o By slaving morning, noon and night to turn his own little patch of England from wasteland into proud and self-respecting acres, Williamson was making his own gesture of support for Mosley's crusade. RT o They seem to be working night shifts at the factory so we have to put up with the thumpings and vibrations morning, noon and night. the most(that) one can say/ claim (for/of sb/ sth) the only praise or recommenda-tion (and that not much) which one can give sb/sth o Probably the most that can be sald of this week's debates on the Budget is that they have <391> one's mother's etc apron-strings----Mr/ Miss Right served to clarify the objectives which the Govern-ment have in mind. SCoI' ve not had a competent lab assistant since Joe left. This one brews a better cup of tea than the last but that's the most you can say. □ After that, Hoskins delivered an appallingly dull lecture. The most you could claim for it was that it only lasted 20minutes. I say may be followed by either for or of, claim may be followed only by for; often used with be... that-cl; pass as shown. ◇one can say for/ of sb/ sth. one's mother's etc apron-strings one`s mother's etc domination and influence V: be tied to, be free of, escape from, cut(loose) from,outgrow. n: one's mother's, △ one's wife's, a woman's o Phil took a dim view of Jim's coming marriage. It' ll make no difference,' I told him.' Jim's not the kind of guy that lets himself get tied to a woman's apron-strings.' ' Just you wait and see, Phil replied gloomily. □ Big boy now! But he' ll have to go a long, long way to escape mother's apron-strings. TVTo In 1887the white dominions would still stand by the mother country in the South African and twoWorld Wars, but they were already free of her apron-strings, and their industrial ambitions would in the next few years wreck Joseph Cham-berlain's dream of an imperial common market.OBS □ Teenage ideas about entertainment can lead to problems. Obviously you want them home at a reasonable hour, but you don't want them tied to your apron strings. TVT a mother's boy (derogatory) a boy or man whose character and conduct is too much mar-ked by maternal influence (the implication being that he is effeminate or has restricted scope for normal development) o And what have you ever done for him that's so wonderful,may I ask? I' ll tell you. Turned him into a snivel-ling little neurotic. A mother's boy. FFE o... quoting Freud: 'A man who has been the indis-putable favourite of his mother keeps for life the feeling of a conqueror!' What does that tell us?Millions of men have been Mummy's boys. Not all turn into Stalins. OBS口 variant (rather more contemptuous than headphrase)a mummy's boy.with capital or small M; in contrast, his mother's.boy, his father's boy, her granny's girl, etc refer to likeness in physique or character or a specially affectionate or valued relationship. the mountain labours and brings forth a(ridiculous) mouse(saying)(ridiculously)little is achieved after a great deal of effort,commotion and fuss (translated from a line of the Latin poet, Horace)a And to observe (him)making a veritably undistinguished little joke is to watch the mountain labouring and bringing forth not a mouse but a sort of jelly-baby(ie a child`s sweet). NS□One clause changed! All those meetings and paperwork to bring forthamouse!(if) the mountain will not come toMohammed/ Mahomet, Mohammed/Mahomet must go to the mountain(say-ing)(if) people or circumstances won't change or adjust to suit oneself, one must change or adjust to fit them; an assumption or course of action has been mistaken and one has to do the opposite of what one intended (Mohammed is said to have commanded Mount Safa to come to him as miraculous proof of the power of Islam; when it didn't he thanked God for preventing the destruction that would have been caused and said he would go to the moun-tain instead)□ The thirteen counties (of Wales)could not for a moment be expected of their own volition to focus on Cardiff; the last thing the mountains were prepared to do was to come toMahomet. It was for Mahomet to go to the mountains. SD□ I'm glad I haven't got to go back there,' said Victoria. ' Only if I don't go back, how can I get hold of Edward?’ Dakin smiled. ' If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, the mountain must come toMohammed. Write him a note now.’ TCB □Freitag has, he says happily: ' reached a stage in my life where I' ve stopped pushing. From now on.I' mletting the mountaincometo Mohammed.TVT D often modified, grammatically and/ or lexically, as shown. one's mouth waters saliva flows at the thought, smell, prospect of food; one's greed or desire to have sth is aroused to The mussels were bigger down there. Hunger contracted under his clothes like a pair of hands. But as he hung there,his mouth watering, a lump rose in his throat.PM□Gates(= number of spectators at a match)for the MCC Tour of India would make an Eng-lish county Secretary's mouth water. Lo I led her round the cages again and pointed out the specimens, some of which were so unusual that they made my mouth water just to look at them. DF □(advertisement) Mouth-wateringTassajara Bread Book —— Recipes fromTassajara, the first Zen Monastery in the wes-tern world. L o adj compound mouth-watering;vanant make sb's mouth water. move heaven and earth(to do sth) [V+0]make every effort, use all the influence or power of persuasion one has (to achieve or obtain sth)Inf: to change things, to win approval o Brezh-nev made a very fundamental change of policy back in about 1971, when they decided that theSoviet citizenry would be treated with better con-sumer goods— more food, more of the good things in life. And he is moving heaven and earth to get that accomplished. Lo 'I have two possible buyers coming this afternoon— one is from a national collection.' ' How much do you want? I' ll move all my bit of heaven and earth.’L move house [V+O] change one's place of residence, esp together with one's furniture and goods o At the time he was moving house: he had just been appointed to the BBC ScottishOrchestra. OBS□ They felt they simply couldn't face the bother of moving hourg again so soon.the moving spirit [Comp (NP)] the person who activates or leads others in a group, enter-prise, reform, revolution etc V:△be, become;make sb. A: among them; in the affair; of the enterprise; behind the revival o Nxou, who was not only the moving spirit among the three but the outstanding personality in the little commun-ity, was utterly dedicated to his hunter's role.LWK □ These two were the moving spirits without whom discontent might never have grown into rebellion. Mr/ Miss Right (informal or facetious) the ideal, or entirely suitable, person for one to marry V: meet; wait for o I used to think a lot 391 <392> Mrs Grundy— mud sticks about meeting Mr Right and the rest of it, but the way I look at it nowadays, I'm lucky if I can hold on to a Mr Not-too-bad. TGLY。 And don't tell us it (the reason you haven't married) is because you' re still waiting to meet Miss Right. A man meets a girl he'd like to marry just as soon as he wants to, and not before. CON□I could get mar-ried whenever I wanted but I'm going to make sure it's the right one. When Mr Right comes along, I' ll know all right. DPMo... that never to be forgotten moment —— the one that always cracks my heart in films—— the moment whenMiss Right and Mr Wonderful recognize each other. NS口 often in expression when Mr/ MissRight comes along. Mrs Grundy the personification of a narrow,disapproving and censorious attitude (from a character in SPEED THE PLOUGH(T MORTON 1764-1838)) o The dogs provided a bet for the working classes. In your town, in your free time, and notMrs Grundy or the police would stop you from having your bel. Lo We admit marital infidelity in theory, but have no way of coping with it in practice, which is quite as hypocritical as any-thing dreamed up by Mrs Grundy. NS a Mrs Mop (derogatory or facetious) a female house or office cleaner(from a character in theBBC 'ITMA' radio comedy series of WorldWar 2) o Ashton's own wife and mother earned their living as cleaners and he objects that Mem-bers of Parliament should worry more about sweat shops in Hong Kong and South Africa than about Mrs Mops in the House of Commons. OBSo Today's generation (of sub-editors) mono-tonously describe charwomen as Mrs Mops,rag-and-bone men as Steptoes and brash businessmen as whiz-kids. L much/ little as/ though one does sth[Conj] although one feels, desires etc sth very much/ very little V + O: admires one's parents.dislikes the idea, enjoys driving; wants to see them, should like to stay o Little as he liked the plan he would have to fall in with it if the others were all agreed. □ I felt that Hugo's personality.could very easily swallow up mine completely and much as I admired him I don't want this to hap-pen. UTN口 If he would feel freer at the hotel she musn't press him to stay in their hugger-mugger household, much as she would like to (ie like to press him to stay). Pw□ Little though I felt like it, I struggled out of bed and made my way down-stairs. O conj of concession — main clause states what one nonetheless thinks, feels,proposes to do etc. much good may it do sb may sb benefit from his actions; may sb's actions do him good oEach year is published a volume called‘BookAuction Records'. The dull and industrious may thus trace the ever-rising price history of any famous title. Much good may it do them for. to all except those who live by it, prices are a poor pointer to real value. NS□Oh, let him have the old mower if he says it's his — and much good my it do him. o 'I' ll get a lawyer and sue him.'' Much good it' ll do you. It costs more to collect a small debt than to let it go.' o ironic and dis-missive remark made about or to sb whose actions are mean and contemptible, or simply unfikely to achieve the desired result; occas used with it will/ will it, as in last example. ◇△ 392 do no good; no good. much less even less, not so much, as has al-ready been indicated; let alone (qv) o TheBrigadier, who couldn't remember the last time he had had a holiday at all, much less one inFrance, merely stood bemusedly in the rain. BFA□Dr Schlossberg says Kerwin gave him a pile of health forms and he filled out about 20 of them.without even shaking hands with the applicants,much less examining them. ST□She must behave very differently at her work, if that's what they say. At home she doesn't know how to be civil,much less obliging. o may modify n, adj, adv or v. much mistaken [Comp (AdjP)] greatly mis-taken; having made a greater mistake than one is aware of V: △ be, appear; confess oneself oUnless I am much mistaken, the attitudes described in this first part will be sufficiently shared by many other groups which go to make up ' the common people' to give the analysis a wider relevance. ULo You might think that he was a typical conscientious policeman. But if you thought so, you'd be much mistaken. O often with unless one is..., or one would be... if. much of a muchness [Comp (PrepP)] not greatly different from one another; more or less like one another$: doctors, teachers; standard,quality; care, treatment, service. V:△ be, ap-pear; find sth o And it is a matter of fact that to the well-trained reader, or eater, these judge-ments become pretty exact, people being much of a muchness. Lo Quite gross differences exist in the degree of sturdiness enjoyed by the natives of different parts of even so small a territory asBritain, despite the fact that the quality of medi-cal care is much of a muchness everywhere. NS□' Which photograph do you like best?' ' They' re all much of a matchness really.' much to one's relief etc giving one much relief etc; making one feel greatly relieved etc n:relief, △ sorrow, dismay, horror; surprise.delight □ The evening hadn't been a success, andBlaize had finally got back to his hotel at five in the morning after the girl, much to his relief,had parted with the also traditional ' Pas ce soir.Peut-être demain (= Not tonight. Perhaps tomorrow)’. SDo Noel said(it was)a very good idea and in his voice there was no trace of self-consciousness, much to his Lydia's relief. WDM□' Geoffrey passed his entrance exam, then?'' He did, much to everyone's surprise.’ o She snubbed him good and proper— Much to my delight, for George thinks he has women eating out of his hand. ofront, middle or end position.mud sticks (saying) an accusation against sb/sth, whether proved true, false or slanderous,has a damaging effect on one's/ its reputation that is not easily got rid of det: some (of the).a little, a bit of the o' No school would employ him now.'' But the court cleared him absolutely.'' All the same, mudisticks.'oIt would only be the word of a Mart(ian) against his own. Very likely they'd put her down as space-crazed. All the same, some of the mud might stick; it would be better to settle with her here and now. TSTo(air-navigation aid system) Both British air corpora-tions use Decca as standard equipment. The sys-tem has its faults and it cannot give pilots a clear picture of the ground over which they are passing. <393> but neither can any other navigationg aid now in use. Nevertheless, since some mud always sticks, the FAA's ((US) = Federal AviationAgency) criticisms can be extremely damaging to Decca's foreign sales chances. NSC a mug's game[Comp(NP)](informal)a habit,practice, occupation that is not beneficial to oneself, and is sth only a foolish person would(try to) do v:△be; turn into; find sth o If you tried to ' live according to religion', well, you would soon find it was'a mug's game'. UL oI'm not so daft as I would look if I tried to make a break for it on my long-distance running, because to abscond and then get caught is nothing but a mug's game, and I'm not falling for it. LLDROstress pattern a ' mug's game. mum's the word(informal) keep silent, don't say anything (about sth specified or under-stood); let's keep this a secret; keep mum(qv)o Now, when we get to the gate, mum's the word until I give you the signal. □ I'm not supposed to be here, you know, so mum's the word. o used as request or mild warning. mutton dressed as lamb a middle-aged or clderly person, esp a woman, who dresses, uses hair-styles and make-up etc, in a style suitable only for sb much younger□ Bohan, of the House of Dior, is pained at the spectạcle of mutton dressing as lamb, though he believes that the line between the older woman and the younger has certainly become less sharp. RT o ' There's absolutely nothing worse than mutton dressed as lamb. The sort of middle-aged or elderly trendies who try to get with it are digging a pit for themselves of no mean depth. A middle-aged don(= university lecturer) in a Beatle haircut is one of the most offensive sights known io man.' L o may be used, alone, as a scornful comment on sb's appearance. a mutual admiration/ congratulation(s)society [Comp/O (NP)] (facetious) a pair,group. of people who are engaged in compli-menting or congratulating each other V: be,become; conduct, form, make o There were many speeches and we developed into a sort of mutual congratulation society. MFMo You’ d think kids and parents and teachers had nothing to do with exam successes, the headmaster and the Education Committee chairman made such a mutual congratulations society of it. my/ one's country right or wrong(saying)(one will support, be loyal to) one's country at all times, even if one finds its policies or actions mistaken or morally wrong□(source, propos-ing a toast) Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; N anail in sb's/ sth"s coffin[Comp/o(NP)] sth that hastens, or further ensures, the death, end,failure etc of sb/ sth V: be; knock, hammer, into o (football) While Everton retain their narrow lead at the top, they go to the far north with the sad duty of probably knocking in the last nail ofCarlisle's coffin, a friendly club without the resources to live among the leviathans of this a mug's game— the naked ape but our country, right or wrong. (S DECATUR1779-1820)□(questionnaire) After each statement,you are requested to record your personal opinion regarding it. ... 13: ' My country right or wrong is a saying which expresses a fundamentally desirable attitude. SNP□ The fans have an absolutely single-minded loyalty that has not been common in Britain since its jingoistic days. My team right or wrong. Anyone who shows tolerance to the enemy is a traitor. OBS□occas substitution of another n for country. (all) my eye (and Betty Martin)(informal)completely untrue or nonsensical, esp of sth said that is intended to deceive or mislead one but does not do so o ' Maybe there's nothing in it after all. Maybe it's all my eye. 'I' ll go on for a bit. I' ll let you know soon enough if I think the whole thing's a front.'PP□This notion of earning an honest penny is all my eye. A man can work a whole lifetime and when he is 65 he considers himself rich if he has saved a thousand pounds.Rich! CSWB□ That was all my eye and BettyMertin about her having a headache. She just wanted to stay at home in case her boyfriend phoned, o usu Comp after it's/ that's; my always used regardless of S. ◇△ next entry. my foot etc(1) (informal) rubbish! nonsense!n: foot,△ eye; aunt Fanny;(taboo) backside,arse o The staff nurse was passionately angry and insulted that Charles should have said this was something she could not understand. ' Can't understand, my foot,' she said. ' That's the line all you dirty cads take,’ HDo‘Everything that was said this afternoon was plain, sober fact.' Sober fact, my eye/'TBCo ' Take for example all these Cockneys coming down (to work at pick-ing hops). Strictly, in law they ought to pay tax on that. I mean if the law is to be interpreted in the strict letter.'' Strict letters, my munt Fanny.Pop said. DBMo' You must speak to the doctor.Granny Barnacle,' said Miss Taylor. if you really feel you aren't getting the right treatment.'' The doctor my backside. What's an old woman to them, I ask you?'MM o scornful rejection of what another person has said (and usu following a repetition of his or her words).◇△previous entry. my God(I) exclamation of great astonishment,dismay, despair o TONY: My God, you aren'tRosemary? ROSEMARY: Yes, I am. Who did you think I was? EHOW a Marlowe directed the six-inch finder telescope on the Moon. ' My God,' he exclaimed, " it's boiling!" TBC o' Had you been afraid to take it (a car) into a garage to get(the bumper) straightened —— in case they should recognize the car?’‘No! My God, nol’ DC world. STo(reader's letter) Other nails in the coffin of science-as-organised-commonsense were knocked in by Planck with the quantum theory (1900), Einstein with... NSC □ ` Have one?' he said, proffering his cigarette case. ' No thank you, you can keep your coffin-nails for yourself.’ on compound a coffin nail. the naked ape man thought of as no more 393 <394> a name to conjure with— one's native heath than an evolutionary refinement, a special kind of animal o Jimmy Reid(a former Communist)says that he is more at home with Christians than with humanists, or rationalists ' who will see man in terms of the neked ape— man is not an ape';and he believes profoundly that ' good Christians are my allies'. NS□Other essays assault reduc-tionist accounts of men as ' nothing but' neked apes, territorially-minded geese and so on. L a name to conjure with [Comp(NP)] an in-fluential name; a name denoting a person,group, business undertaking, etc whose achievements, opinions, wishes etc are respec-ted v:△be, become; make sb/ sth □ Well, the great thing about ' Monsieur Diamant' is that he's completely respectable. He's a name to conjure with in many communities besides the diamond world. DSa His name, little known to the public, is one to conjure with in Hollywood.Those who really know in the movie business know that Horner K Pringsheim is the power behind the throne and the maker and breaker of many a film career. UTN o Hawick and BillMcLaren are names to conjura with in rugby.RT to name (but/ only) a few citing only these o Kenneth Harris, who this week reports on a visit to Barbados, is best known to readers for his conversations with celebrities—— Callas, Olivier,Piggott, Rigg, Thatcher to name a few. OBSoAtPalacerigg Nature Centre things get more un-usual. You walk up a path watched—— or more likely ignored— by wolves, foxes, deer, wild-cats, hadgers, to name but a few. RT□ precedes or follows short list of examples or instances which could be greatly extended. one's name is mud(informal) one is disliked;one has made oneself resented or unpopular,perhaps temporarily □ In fact only a few of the old regulars use it (Wheatley's pub in Heath-cote)—— most of them have decamped down the road to Northcote, where Wheatley's name is mud. OBS□ You know how much your family make of such occasions. Your name' ll be mud if you don't go down to Plymouth for this wed-díng. □ also pl their names are mud. the name of the game [Comp (NP)](catch-phrase) the real nature of sth; what one has most to do or consider in respect of an activity,procedure etc V: △ be, become o She relin-quished the part after eight months to broaden her scope as an actress. Sex is still basically the界岛行e of the gume, but at least the context of drama lends it a more legitimate ring. TVT□ The days of the get-rich-quick operators, grab-the-money-and-go boys, are over. Guarantee is the new name of the game and there are a lot of travel agents, tour operators, airlines, hotel and leisure groups whose interests are best served by making sure that the rules are observed. Lo If the name of the gyme is survival, our children's if not our own-and I believe it is-then it must be argued that the media presume to know too much about the issues which concern us and those which do not. L name (no) names [V +O](not) identify by name sb one is describing, praising, criticizing or accusing □ Now it is easy enough to write about such-and-such a politician's supporters but it is more convincing to running numnes. NS□ Mrs 394 Meir's (a former Prime Minister of Israel) own choice(of a successor) could be Sapir, but she's too sharp to name names. ST o His recipes for solving the problem — better education for young officers, greater integration between theServices, abolition of the Chiefs of Staff—— will bring a tired smile to the lips of some battle-scarred warriors, naming no names. OBSσI'd run a mile if some disc jockey asked me on their shows, I will ne me no names, but with JimmyYoung I feel he'd get me out of any difficulty I got into, he'd fill the gaps. RT a narrow escape an escape from danger, the unwelcome attentions of others, etc which is only just managed or contrived; a close call(qv);a close/ narrow shave/ squeak (qv);a near miss²(qv)o Returning to the mountain hut for the night, the climbing party had a narrow escape from falling rocks. □ Tim had a nurrow escape from the clutches of Barbara last year. Ihad an even narrower one this Christmas after she claimed I proposed to her at the office party.nasty, brutish and short [adj + adj + adj non-rev] without safety, comfort or refinement and too soon ending in death o(source)(in a state of nature)... the life of man, solitary, poor,nasty, brutish, and short. LEVIATHAN (THOBBES 1588-1679)□It's easy for a film-maker ofTarkovsky's skill to paint a horrifying picture of life in 15th-century Russia: mosty, brutish and short, at the mercy of ruthless and quarrelsome nobles, invaded by marauding Tartars... Lo DrAckroy d wrenches mortality figures out of the realm of tables and statistics and makes them begin to hurt by pointing out that ' People without food do not simply lie down quietly and die. The way to death is nasty and brutish and often not short.’ NS□Far from being mosty, brutish and short, the life of Gerald Potter is a saga of subtle personal and artistic frustrations. RT o(NONCE)From the days (' nasty, British and short,')when Africans were hunted as foxes, to the present time, any real progress seems inchlike and precarious. L a nasty piece of work [Comp (NP)] (infor-mal) an unpleasant, dishonest, dangerous,cruel etc person V: △ be, seem; find sb □ Sor-rowing over the fate of Hector at the hands ofAchilles, whom I classed as a rather nasty piece of work, I had nurtured a mild but lasting prejudice against things Greek. BMo‘Indeed Itried to raise objections to the situation, but it was no good. He's Inge's white-haired boy. Jagree with you, he added, ' he's anasty piece of work.’ ASA 口 also p l nasty pieces of work. one's native heath the country, district, town etc in which one was born, grew up, etc o(source) Speak out, sir, and do not' Maister'(=Master) or ' Campbell' me---my foot is on my native heath and my name is MacGregor! ROBROY (W SCOTT 1771-1832)□INTERVIEWER: Do you ever consider a return to the native health at all?PGWODEHOUSE: It's rather difficult; my legs have gone, you know. I don't know whether I could survive in the city any longer. Lo This led our discourse naturally into the realms of entertain-ment and the arts, our Caledonian((facetious) =Scottish) friend contributing a spirited defence of the traditional songs and dances of his native hewth. CON <395> nature abhors a vacuum---(or) the nearest offer nature abhors a vacuum (saying) just as, in physics, an unsealed vacuum is impossible to maintain, so, in life, a space, period of time,position, field of inquiry or study, etc will not be left empty for long o (source) Nature abhors a vacuum. ETHICS (B SPINOZA 1632-77) □Roskill hadn't begun his career as a Naval his-torian; there just wasn't anybody in the Navy or in the academic world concerned with it (modernNaval history) , and nature, as you well know,abhors a vacuum. Lo I filled the vacant place,nature thus waywardly expressing her abhor-rence of a vacuum. SDo(NONCE)A considerable part of nature regards Saturday afternoon television as a vacuum, and accordingly abhors it. The amount of time devoted to horse-racing is especially resented. L o variant nature's abhor-rence of a vacuum. the nature of the beast [Comp (NP)] (fa-cetious) what is characteristic and to be expec-ted of a (type of) person V: △be; consider,regard, sth as o A common attitude is that a girl must not be dirty and noisy but if a boy is. well,that's just the nature of the beast.□It is per-haps in the nature of the basts that public attention should light upon the broadcasting authorities, as distinct from programme makers,in moments of confrontation. L nature, red in tooth and claw nature thought of as a savage force;(a matter of) fierce competition o (source) Man.../ Who trustedGod was love indeed/ And love Creation's final law—/ Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw/With ravine(= seized prey), shrieked against his creed. IN MEMORIAM A H H(A TENNYSON 1809-92)□The spectacle of' naturered in toothandclaw'does not make cooperation a less relevant ideal.NS □ And possibly a first-night house(= audience), a late-night house a shade tired and hungry, is not the best group to present such a rending, tearing, future-red-in-tooth-and-claw compilation to. NSo(views about the busi-ness man's secretary) If she is not raising a laugh for being dumb, she is being attacked for being ambitious and red in tooth and claw—— or sexy.and black in bra and briefs. L o unusual attrib use a nature-red-in-tooth-and-claw compila-tion. the naughty Nineties the last decade of the19th c, seen as a period of freedom, laxity or decadence in social mores, entertainment and the arts compared with conventional Victorian standards o The Nineties in which Lady Chalk-ham had been a young woman, were cheaply referred to as ' gay' or' naughty'. I doubt if they were, except that wealth and over-confidence allowed some kinds of people in some ways to be frivolous and irresponsible. AHo Until the 1880s paid holidays were virtually unheard of , but by the Naugbty Nineties the working class was taking regular trips to the seaside, football grounds and music halls. RT nearand dear(tosb)[adj+ adjnon-rev] physi-cally or emotionally close(to sb) and valued (by sb)□ A natural irritability began to verge upon mania, as if the body itself had developed a neurosis. All this was disturbing to me, and must have taxed the forbearance of those who were either mear or dear to me, or both. AHo‘You realise the highway must go somewhere?' ' We can't see the matter with an impartial eye, I'm afraid. We' re fighting to save the amenities of a place that's neer and dear.'a There was no need for questions: she talked as any woman talks on that old, old subject nearestand dearest to her-self (ie her own experiences, feelings and opinions). PP o used as Comp, or modifies precedingn.◇△one's nearestand dearest. a near miss¹an attempt to hit, reach or achieve sth that very nearly succeeds to In this state he al-most derailedanearby couple, and when the man's hand shot out for revenge he felt the wind of ansar miss blowing by the side of his face. LLDR□(of an attempt to kill a team of foreign agents) So far they' ve only scored one out of three, and a near missofcourse. OMIH□‘4000miles?’’ That’ s suchm near miss,' the quiz-master said, ' that I think we' ll give you a mark. The correct answer is 3982miles.'o also pl. a near miss² a narrow and fortunate escape from, or avoidance of, death, injury, or other mishap;a close call(qv);a close/ narrow shave/squeak (qv); a close etc thing(qv); a narrow escape(qv)o Unfortunately, bottles, cans, toys,flower pots and, horribly, three cats, (reaching a speed of 100 mph, if from the top storey (of a30-storey block), by the time they hit the ground), have been landing in the playground below. Two near misses a fortnight ago were too much for the headmistress who felt she could no longer be responsible for this hazard. OBS□He did survive but whether he lives to be fifty or a hundred he' ll never have a nearer miss. TVT o' Your Aunt Ada was here till a few minutes ago.'' Wow! That was engarmiss. ThankGodIwalked upfr om the station.’ near/ close to the bone/ knuckle [Comp/A(PrepP)] too frank or inconsiderate in its ex-posure of a fact or truth; coarse or lewd to a degree that many people would find unaccept-able or offensive $: remark, criticism, question;joke, story. V: be, come, get, go; perform, act,play, sth. adv mod;(much) too; rather,a bit,a little (too), very o DAVE: Anyone would think it's your experiment that failed, you with your long face. RONNIE: O my God, how near the knuckle that is. ITAJ□Another pointed out that, in a recentBritish book, the therapist was said to have bathed his patient. This, he thought, was a bit near the bone. ST□To the charge that his jokesare nearthe knuckle, he innocently replies: ' Blue is in the eye of the beholder.’ TVToCreasey, who is frankly un-able to imagine which way the second programme might swerve, is intrigued. ' It's going out as live.We' re playing it very close to the bone.'TVTD in third example, ablue joke =‘an improper joke’.one's nearest and dearest [n + n non-rev](facetious) one's family, esp those one lives with□ We found later we shared many tastes, not least that for getting up at around six and then playingMozart piano concertos very loudly and thus making life a hell for our negresst and dearest.OBS□(space travel) It is rather perturbing to think of going off on a fast journey and returning con-siderably younger than one's nu crest and dearest who stayed at home. L△near and dear(to sb). (or) the nearest offer the highest price of-fered below one previously stipulated or sug-gested by sb offering sth for sale o MICK: Fur- 395 <396> a necessary evil— need sth like (one needs) a hole in the head niture and fittings. I' ll take four hundred or the nèprest offer TC□ I expected to have to come down a bit from£5000 but the nearest offer Igot was £3500 and I wasn't willing to let the car go for that.□abbreviated o. n. o. egin newspaper advertisements. anecessary evil[Comp (NP)] sth undesirable,imperfect or, in some respects, harmful that cannot be done without for practical reasons,or the complete lack of which would be worse than the ill effects that it already produces V:△be, become; make, find, sth□(source) Govern-ment, even in its best state, is but a nucressary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one. COM-MONSENSE(TPAINE1737-1809)□Scientists may still regard politics as an evil, but at any rate they no longer shut their eyes to it. They have been forced to recognise that—— at the very worst— it is a necessaryevil in which their very understanding compels them to play an inescapable part. OBSoMartin was a secretive man: but keeping scienti-fic secrets, which to Smith seemed so natural, was to him a piece of evil, even if necessary evil. In war you had to do it, but you could not pretend to like it. NMo' We askedeveryone we could, you know, we didn't discriminate. We had our per-sonal friends, of course, one has to have them.'Mrs Knighton spoke as if personal friends were a necessary evil. Pw o also pl. necessity is the mother of invention(say-ing) a lack, or need, of sth produces the will to supply it o (source) Art imitates Nature, and necessity is the mother of invention. RFRANCK 1624-1708 □ Necessity may be the mother of invention in evolutionary processes too, but if an animal has to evolve a liquid storage system, a maternal pouch, prehenside* tail, or whatever, in order to survive in its enviroment,then how did it survive to evolve it?□ He success-fully lied his way out of the situation with an invention born of necessity. o (NONCE)Necessity, I suspect, has been the mother ofSadler's Wells's concentration on production and scenic standards. Deprived, by the limita-tions of their charter and their finances, of great singers' services, they have been able to con-centrate on the opera itself. NSo(NONCE) Gamb-ling was born of necessity. ST o variant inven.tion is born of necessity. neck and crop [n + n non-rev] bodily; com-pletely o She was a Victorian servant girl who had been turned out neck and crop by her em-players when they discovered she was going to have a baby. o functions as A. neck and neck (with sb/ sth) [Comp/A(AdvP)] in equal position in a race; not able to get ahead of another; equal in ability, popular-ity, usefulness, cost etc(with sb/ sth) V: be; run,finish o They used to call it a draw, when two horses finished neck and neck. But with the sophisticated cameras and timing devices they have now they can almost always deciare a winner.。(The Oxford Book of Twentieth Cen-tury Verse) Eliot leads the field with 29 pages,with Hardy (25), Auden (24) and Yeats (21)not far behind. Larkin (the editor) himself is limited to a modest six pages (which makes him neck and neck with Day Lewis and two pages behind Graves). NS□ Sales analysis shows these two products still vying neck and neck to corner the market. ◇△ win/ lose by a (short) neck.(in our) neck of the woods (informal)(in)the place where we etc live, are etc((US) origin-ally a forest settlement) det: our, your; this,that; another. adj:(a) pleasant, (a) remote oThe audience was disgusted and some left before the end. We don't go in for wife-swapping too much in our neck of the woods.□/ see you are the representative from the Manchester Branch.How's business in your neck of the woods just now? □ A vast sign at Spokane's bustling airport says there will be only ' one great InternationalExposition' in the United States in the 1970s.With all the frustration and feuding which it has brought this usually placid ne ck of the woods.it may be just as well. OBSa At the end of Radio3's Italian Weekend, I felt as if I had been at a house-party whose host had organised a whirl-wind of visits for his guests so that we could meet everyone of any consequence in a most richly endowed neck of the woods, culturally speak-ing. L neck or nothing[n+ n. non-rev](saying) risk-ing death or injury in order to do or obtain sth;risking total failure in the hope of complete success o ' Well, it's neck or nothing, he thought to himself as he set his horse at a high windbreak hedge in the hope of outdistancing his pursuers. D A good climber takes only carefully calculated risks. The urge to go at it, neck or nothing, in a spirit of bravado is not uncommon in beginners, and is the first thing they have to unlearn. DAt the next throw he doubled his stakes in a neck-or-nothing bid to recoup his losses. □attrib use a meck-or-nothing bid. need etc one's head examined etc[V + 0+ Comp] (facetious) show oneself (in sb's opinion) to be stupid in one's behaviour,opinions, or tastes V: need, △ want; have; get.Comp: examined △ tested; examining; testing□ Any European who doesn't see the period 1945-1973 as one of striking tranquillity needs his head examined. We may live in a violent world,but not, at present, in a violent corner of it. NSo1, for example, went back to what everyone ac-counted a sor! of neo-Georgian poetry. Of course, it wasn't. Anyone who thinks my poetry is neo-Georgian needs their head examining. L□ 'I always think of you as being dashing and romantic and good-natured at the same time.Like Charles the Second.’‘What!’ George laughed. ' My poor child,' he said kindly,'I think you ought to have your head examined.'PEoThose commentators who have belaboured the point that football can do without George Best want their heads testing Of course it can do without him, but the real question is: what will it be like without him? NS need sth like(one needs) a hole in the head[V+0+A](informal) not need sth at all;be better, happier, safer etc without sth □The tendency for DDT to accumulate in the fatty tissues of mammals is not denied, but we are invited to console ourselves with the thought that there is no evidence to date that moderate accu-mulations do us any harm. I still can't help feel-ing that I need that DDT like I need a hole in the head. NS□They need four secretaries likel need a hole in the head. I mean these girls in short skirts look great but think about trading in 396 <397> need etc a long spoon (to sup/ eat with the devil)---- - a nervous wreck four of them for a little grey-haired old lady who knows how to type. SCu They ve got a billion dol-lars in it(supersonic travel) already. But,I must say, we need it like a hole in the head. Why do people need to get somewhere faster than they already can? L need etc a long spoon (to sup/ eat with the devil) (saying) need to keep at a cautious aistance, have some safeguard, or possibility of escape or withdrawal, or sceptical attitude,when associating with sb/ sth or involving oneself in an argument, decision V: need, must have. have to have, want o But how did he knowI had any whiskey left in the cave? It would be the Devil who was wanting a long spoon if he was taking brose((Scottish) = oatmeal gruel)with Father James. What a man! RM□There are no liberals dancing in the streets of America today because they did all that in 1968 whenLyndon Johnson admitted that they had defeated him. It was then- - it would almost certainly be now- - a premature celebration. Who sups with history must have a long spoon. NS oWeckend prime time ought to bring out whatever humility lurks within the religious broadcasting departments in all its full cringe. But it doesn't.Instead we have more than our quota of low can-ning, plain deceit and matey evasion. A critic really does need a long spoon to get most of it down his craw (= throat). NS o expression frequently adapted, as shown. need/ require no introduction [V+ O] sb`s work or achievements isiare well known in general or to a particular audience, company,group etc so no further explanation or informa-tion is needed A: from me; here; to Celtic scholars o Two fairly new faces and one very familiar one make up the trio of presenters. Bar-rister turned playwright Nemone Lethbridge andAlasdair Clayre, Open University don, poet,songwriter and much else besides, are the new people: Ned Sherrin, however, needs no introduction. RT o (review of books) IsaacBashevis Singer weeks no introduction from me, as they say. L (look for) aneedle in a haystack etc(look for) sb/ sth almost impossible to find, to distin-guish or isolate from the crowd or mass which contains him/ it n: haystack, △ bundle of hay,(old use) bottle of hay a Somewhere along that waterfront there might be somebody who knew'her. I wulked till the straps chafed raw places on my legs, and hardly felt them, but it was like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay, of course. RFWo There is an excusable feeling thatIrying to find any practical benefit from SALT(US-Soviet Strategic Arms Limitation Talks).or other set-piece conferences, is like peering through the wrong end of telescope in search of e needle that is not in the huystack. L o(NONCE)(a novel) ' The Odessa File' looks likely to pull off a very similar coup. The plot concerns another needle lost in another haysteck and our young hero has to find it before the balloon(or in this case a rocket) goes up. Lo(NONCE) AllI could do was to go on searching, alone, at ran-dom, like a man approaching a haystack with u piece of cotton in his pocket, ready to thread the fi rs l needle he finds with it. CON needless to say[Disj] of course; as you might expect; obviously □ The playing of the EnglishChamber Orchestra is superb. Needies to say.Peter Pears give a highly perceptive account of the hero himself. OBS□ The last Labour govern-ment made uneasy and often desperate attempts to curry favour with the City and big business establishments, and even to seek the help of their supposedly ' liberal' fringes—— needless to say.to no avail. NSa The grass on the lawn' was a foot high. David offered to remedy this by sprinkling some petrol on it and setting it on fire. He wasn't allowed to, needless to say. O front, middle or end position. needs must (when the devil drives)(say-ing) circumstances make it necessary or unavoidable (for sb to sth) o I could no more have climbed that wall, in ordinary circum-stances, than flown over it, but needs must when the devil drives. a I don't think the walls need re-painting; but needs must, I suppose, ifI'm to get any peace. o It's all in a good cause.grinned the photographer when one of the family expressed a mild qualm. " Needs must when the devil drives. □ elliptical construction with Sand main v of must understood; sometimes facetious. △next entry. needs must/ must needs do sth (formal)must necessarily, unavoidably do sth;(ironic)inconveniently choose or happen to do sth o'Alabourer! Your parents didn't send you to Oxford for that!'' Honours degrees are ten a penny now.it seems. And even a philosophy graduate needs must eat.`a It was abundantly evident that, as director of the new Institute of Archaeology which would shortly be opened in London, Imust needs have something more than paper-knowledge of the Near Eastern field. SD ◇△previous entry. neither fish, flesh nor good red herring/fresh meat [Comp(NP)](saying) vague; am-biguous; difficult to identify or classify V:△be;find sbo A man may consider himself an atheist.an agnostic or a believer, and good luck to him.But to call yourself a religiously-minded man without professing u religion is to be regither fish, flash nor good red herring. □ Another bout of leap-frogging next year could be fatal for the ' Mail'(a newspaper), whose hybrid formula,neither fish nor flesh, has so far failed to win it the two million sales it needs to break even. NS□As a business-man, journalist and writer. I was neither fish, fowinorfresh meat. So at the age of 45. I packed it all in(= stopped doing it) and we came up here. TVT neither hide nor hair of sb/ sth[O(NP)] no trace of sb's/ sth's existence or presence V: see;find, discover, reveal o As well as about 500British pilots, more than 280 Americans, Ger-mans, Indians, Canadians, Danes, Swedes, Is-raelis, French— even two Chinese (' came at the end of the War and neither hide nor hair of them again’)— have passed through the school.TVT o‘What do you mean? Hasn’ t he been in?”I' ve seen neither hide nor hair of him. "□ The place seemed to stink of cats, but I never saw hide nor hair of one all the time I lived there. Dhide and hair non-rev; variant never see hide nor hair of sb/ sth. anervous wrock [Comp (NP)] a person who is suffering psychological damage from, or has 397 <398> the net result— never mind (doing) sth broken down under, mental or physical stress;a bag/ bundle of nerves(qv)V:△become; turn(sb) into, make... of sb, leave sb □ His ex-periences in solitary confinement had left him a nervous wreck, incapable of concentrating on any task or mixing with strangers. □ This fellow is quite madly in love with me. He keeps calling and trying to get in at all hours, and when he doesn't call he rings up, and I'm just a nervous wreck. UTNo These constant changes of policy were making a nervous wreck of me. RT O also pl; often facetious or exaggerated. the net result the end or final result in a process, enquiry etc contrasted with provision-al or temporary findings o I never lied about my misdeeds; I took my punishment. For myself,although I began to know fear early in life, much too early, the net result of the treatment was probably beneficial, MFMo I tried to cultivate a small vegetable plot, but as the net result of my efforts was a row of lettuces without hearts and a few worm-eaten carrots it hardly seemed worth the trouble.□Do you mean that even if I undergo these two operations the net result may be thatI will be no better than I am at the moment?□ usuS of be. the nettle, danger (... the flower, saf-ety) a dangerous course which is the best or only way to ensure one's safety, freedom, suc-cess (from I HENRY IV II 3)口 (a football team,Tottenham Hotspur) Even at this late stage,Tottenham could take heart from that other Hot-spur who, admittedly while talking to himself,observed ' out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. ' Go The day after MrNeville Chamberlain had stung his fingers upon that nettle danger at Munich in 1938I stood in the foyer of the Café Royal in Regent Street.Beside me was a minor Secretary of State, and Ican still hear his words. ‘Today,’ he said, ‘I am ashamed to be an Englishman.’ SD never to be forgotten [Comp(AdjP)](cliché)unforgettable; memorable o... that memorable night in March, at the end of the jetty. in the howling wind, never to be forgotten, when sud-denly I saw the whole thing. The vision at last.KLToI' ve only once been more embarrassed, and that was on the never to be forgotten occasion when the bottom fell out of a seven-pound bag of gooseberries I had with me on the bus. o People as gullible as that are an encouragement to crime. There is such a thing, in the never-to-be-forgotten words of a legal friend of mine, as culpable innocence. o attrib use the newer to be forgotten occasion, the never-to-be-forgotten words. never cease to wonder etc(at sth/ sb)continue to be surprised (by sth/ sb) even after long familiarity V: wonder(at sb/ sth), marvel(at sb/ sth), be amazed (at/ by sb/ sth), be sur-prised(at/ by sb/ sth); ask oneself(why/ whether/how); regret sth; wonder (that), marvel (that),be amazed (that), be surprised (that)□ After a few days Madame Lebrun saw to it that I was provided with water or fruit-juice instead of wine at table, though she never ceased to wonder at this strange preference. □ I never cesso to be amazed by people who profess to be so ' furious and disgusted' by fox-hunting. Their compassion is admirable but misplaced. RT o The workmen 398 had a way of setting about their business as if nobody else were in the room, at which I never ceased to marvel. SML o While I do not feel responsible for the accident, I never comes to ask myself whether it could not have been foreseen and averted.□It isn't right for elderly people to cut themselves off from their friends.My parents retired to the country and have never cewised to regret it. □ It's a racket, of course, but it pays. I never cease to be amazed that people can be so easily deceived. never have etc a dull moment [possess](catchphrase) have etc no lack of interesting,exciting, amusing etc things to do or see V:have;△(there) be. prep: with o This can hardly be recommended as a book for sensitive roman-tics. Mutilations, human sacrifices and the wild excesses of Cartimandua, the voluptuous Queen of Brigantia, ensure that there is never a dull moment. SCo We listened to Radio 4 over most of the holiday and there was never a dull mo-ment and never a false note. RTo It was a very good play with never a dull moment all even-ing.□ He turned abruptly away and went quickly down to Prospect Cliff. ' Exhausted myself.Mustn't overdo it.' Plenty to do on a rock. Never a dull moment. PMo often verbless comment as in last example. never let it be said (that) (informal or fa-cetious) never let the criticism be made(that)□Don't measure yourself by others' successes and failures. Never let it be said you' ve done less than your best: that is the standard to set your-self.□' Would you mind if we thought it over?' l asked. ' But of course, Doctor, Think it over at your leisure. Never let it be said that we rushed a client into purchasing a property he didn't want.’ DILo‘You mean you want me to get out?’he asked tractably. ' Never let it be said that Iwouldn't oblige a lady.'AITC never mind' don't worry; don't consider(sth)important o You' re a naughty boy to frightenSarah like that, and to tell lies. Bul never mind,it was just a game, wasn't it? DCo' Could any girl be more unfortunately placed? Never mind,'thought Victoria, I'm alive, aren't I?'TCBo You might as well take the clothes away now. Never mind if you can't spare the money at the moment.You can pay me later. o I don't fancy the pub tonight, somehow. But go yourselves, and never mind me. I' ll be quite happy reading the paper or watching TV till you come back.□ imper, often followed by consoling or encouraging remark.never mind² don't inquire (because you won't be told); mind one's own business(qv)o ' How much was the bill?’‘Never mind—— what you don't know won't hurt you. I' ll get most of it off“expenses” anyway.’ a We got hold of a copy of the letter—— never mind how—— before it left the solicitor's office. □ ' Where are you going?' Sue repeated, running out after him. ‘Never mind,’he answered roughly.' You get back inside. I' ll be no more than a hour.'o imper, often curt, reply-ing to, or forestalling, question. never mind (doing) sth [V + O] forget about; stop, or don't start, doing sth O: the excuses, the apologies, the explanations; that,all that; worrying about that o' Since you' re here at last,' he said, interrupting her explana-tion, ' never mind the excuses—— start serving <399> never etc miss a trick/ move—a new broom (sweeps clean) the customers.'a' You' re snoring again, John,'his wife said, shaking him by the shoulder.' Sorry, dear.' ' Never mind saying you' re sorry.Turn over on your side, and stay that way.'o 'Icould give you a recommendation that would probably get you a job in a school.' ' Listen.George,' Charles said wearily. ' Never mind the missionary zeal. I don't want honest work. I'm like you, I prefer to be a parasite.'HD o imper.often curt, and usu followed by order or recom-mendation to do sth else. never etc miss a trick/ move [V + O](infor-mal) not fail to notice, or attend to, details (esp ones which, as an expert, professional etc, it is important to observe) $: director, conductor,teacher, coach. adv: never, not; hardly ever.rarely, seldom o You need something more than pictures. You need sports-writers you can rely on. Men who never miss a trick. TOoNotice the way they disguise the thinness of Twiggy's voice by putting a sax or strings in unison along with her. Conductor-arranger Peter Maxwell Davies doesn't miss a trick. ST (Billy Wilder) He's a perfectionist. He notices a flicker of an eyelid that isn't right. A speck of dust on a prop. I' ve never known anyone so alert. Billy never misses n trick, RT never put off/ leave till tomorrow what you can do today(saying) carry out a task or duty as soon as you can □ (source) Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.MAXIMS (B FRANKLIN 1706-90) a The feminist movement which emerged in France in 1970 was inspired with a sort of do-not-put-off-till-tomorrow-the-revolution-you-can-bring-about-today attitude. STo(NONCE) Like most of us, Byron's Don Juan believed in putting off till tomorrow what need not be endured today:' Let's have wine and women, mirth and laughter,/Sermons and soda water the day after.'NS□ ' The form doesn't have to be sent in till the 18th, any-way.' ' Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today— besides, if you stick it away in a drawer you might forget about it.'o sometimes facetious or cynical. sb/ one never said/ spoke & truer word(cliché) sb/ one was right □ Your lawyer should have told you you were making a big mistake.'' He did, and he never said a truer word. But Ithought I knew better.'o' Evening. Mr Lampton,and how are the town's finances?'' We' re solvent.'I said. 'A damned sight more than can be said for the country,' said the woolman heavily. ' By God,but you never spoke a truer word, Tom.'RATTo used to give emphasis to a preceding state-ment; seldom used in first person. never say die (catchphrase) don't despair;keep trying; keep your courage upo(Mrs Salad has to appear in court on a charge of shop-lifting) Gerald patted her shoulder. He could find nothing to say but ' Never suy die, Mrs Salad.It' ll be all over soon.' ASA o Now Warhol's distributors have a plan for inviting 100 people from cinema queues to a second Festival showing(of' Trash', a film not yet given a censor's cer-tificate) at lunchtime next Saturday, seats free,everything legaland above-board. Neversaydie.ST o Those gutsy ((slang) = determined,courageous) little ladies just never say dio. And with a special two-hour TV spectacular bouncing them back into their search for stardom, let's hope they make it there this time. TV T o The newspapers have given away their editorial bias.' The New York Post', which is the new-sey-die liberal evening paper, has had encouraging headlines every night. Lo attrib use the naver-say-di●(= determined, courageous) paper. ◇△do or die. never a word etc(formal) no word(s) etc; not a single word etc n: word, grumble; look,glance; thought a They watched and listened,but spoke never& word.□ Life was hard for my mother, but never a grumble passed her lips.[]If you choose to enjoy yourself and spend all your money with never a thought for tomorrow, you must bear the consequences yourself.□I have no sentimental feeling for‘Whiteoaks’, I would leave the place tomorrow with never a backward glance. o sometimes follows prep, esp with.sometimes used to give emphasis to a state-ment. new/ fresh blood [O(NP)] newcomer(s) and/or fresh ideas, skills, methods, likely to improve or invigorate an administrative body, business firm, institution, sport, field of study, etc V:have, get; need, want; infuse, inject, put, bring.A: in(to) the business; on (to) the stafT; here oInto this somewhat hidebound ' staff atmosphere'it was vital to inject new blood. MFM□ ' CaptainPrettyman's retiring as Master next year,' she said. ' You' re the sort of chap they ought to have.New blood to pep them up.'DBMo It is some six months since I last watched ' Coronation Street',and what a change for the better are the recent episodes. There's fresh blood in the show, andRay and Deirdre's marriage has brought into the programme an element of realism. TVT a new boy/ girl [Comp (NP)] a recently en-rolled pupil in a school (esp with the implica-tion of being unfamiliar with procedure and only partially accepted by other pupils); any recent member of a community, society, group of workers, etc V: △ be, feel; think oneself o l was unable to get my two colleagues to agree and,as I was then a ' new boy' in Whitehall,I did not force the issue at that time, being much occupied with other matters. MFMo Seven of the players in this list are regular members of the Test team,while Hayes, the ' new boy' . Willis, and the five extra players would add spark to the team. Lo'l have a comfortable room with an ice outlook, my aunt wrote, and the staff are very kind. But I still feel very much a www girl.’ a now broom (sweeps clean) (saying) sb recently appointed to office or a responsible post (starts with an energetic programme of reform and change, sometimes not welcomed by those already there)o Some officers from theWar Office were present at the conference; they evidently regarded me as a new broom and an unpleasant one at that. MFMoOur books and arts coverage this week has all been organised by him(John Gross) in his first week as the new LiteraryEditor. We welcome him not in any sense as m new broom but rather as a very old friend. NS□(NONCE) (The) new Assistant Commissioner at once embarked on a whirlwind programme of' new brooming' which, predictably, ended in an almighty row with the Commissioner. NS□ I' ve complained before about putting jazz under the 399 <400> a new deal—— nice work if you can get it rule of the same chap who hires comics. When inDecember Robert Ponsonby succeeds WilliamGlock as head of BBC Music, he should take the opportunity afforded by new broom' licence to inject some logic. L o attrib use new broom licence、a new broom attitude. approach. a new deal [O(NP)] a programme of political.social and economic reform (often New Deal,first used of President's Roosevelt's policy,1923-35, in the US); any plan or arrangement intended to improve others' life or work V:offer, promise, ensure; secure, obtain o At the start of 1935, Lloyd George launched his NewDeal', which proposed a National DevelopmentCouncil to revive the British economy and, by slum clearance, road building and restored agriculture, to eliminate unemployment. OBS oThe strike lasted four weeks, with no man daring10 cross the female picket lines and the bosses cowering in their factories. Eventually the Leeds ladies got a new deal; Is 2d on the basic rate(compared with Is Id for men). ST o Where are the Scottish Athletes' Club, that group which began in a blaze of publicity promising a new deal for the athlete? ST a new look an altered form, style, appearance given to sth whose basic function remains the same(from a fashion in women's clothing made popular by Christian Dior in 1947) o It's dif-ficult to say how you have an idea for a (beauty treatment) product. It could start as a problem you' re trying to overcome, or it might be a fashion idea to go with a new look. ST o‘The blades of the knives and the prongs of the forks seem very short to me.'' But that's the new look in table cutlery, the assistant explained. □ The reshuffle of ministry portfolios at the weekend gave the Cabinet its long-expected now look. L□(headline referring to the introduction of billiards, table-tennis, afternoon tea, etc as in-ducements to religious instruction) New LookSunday School Defended. T o attrib use a new look Sunday school. news from nowhere sth one/ everybody knows already; sth too obvious, or too trivial,to be worth announcing, pointing out o((source) book title News from Nowhere wMORRIS 1834-96) □ ' My colleague was most intrigued by your problem. He says it's a very interesting legal point.'' Well, that's news from nowhere!I was hoping to hear you could resolve it.’□ The lame conclusion to his embarrassing jaunt(ie documentary film) was that Cambridge is a pillar of the Establishment ('I still can't stand it, but that's my problem'), which is news from nowhere. NS the next best thing the most satisfactory sub-stitute available for sb/ sth that one does not, or cannot, have o The Hutchings Crusade are inBirmingham now because a local committee in-vited themas the next best thing after an unsuc-cessful attempt to book Billy Graham. TO o He wasn't the first person to make the wistful discov-ery that the next best thing to being creative yourself is to become, in one way or another,necessary to someone who is creative. CON□ In a cage, however, I could not provide the PouchedRats with a stream, so they used the next best thing, which was their water-pol. BB next door/ thing to sth [Comp (NP)] almost 400 the same as sth; almost as good, or as bad, as sth V:△be; regard, consider, sb/ sth as o I had given her the manuscript to read, and I strongly suspected that she had not read it. For Myrtle not to have read it seemed to me next door to per-fidy. SPL o I' ve never met your wife but anybody who can put up with you must he next thing to a saint. o'I never said it was a real diamond in the ring.' ' No, but when she assumed it was you let her think so. I call that next door to telling a lie.o As a medical examination it was next door to farcical, but I was passed Al. next to nothing[0/o(NP)] almost nothing;a very small amount V: know, understand, read;eat, live on o It has also been mentioned that next to nothing is definitely known either about the trace itself or about the way it continues to exist. MFFo He now sleeps for an hour or two in twenty-four and does rigorous exercises for five.He reads voraciously and writes copiously. He eats next to nothing. At 28 his hair is grey. LoHe knew a small printer in the street behind theFishmarket who, for next to nothing, had made a die for him with his letter-heading in small script. US□After that (ie drama school) there's the road and all the slog of touring with everyone mucking in, living on next to nothing, and smil-ing through a mist of tears. NS□ Because you areEnglish, you are so proud and stuck up. What does it mean to be English? Next to nothing.Here we spit upon the English. TCB nice one, Cyril (catchphrase) you' ve done well; you' ve gained an advantage for yourself(originally part of a football chant) o He earns thousands, just welcoming people to the night-club—— he got the job because his father knows the club's owner. Nice one, Cyril.□ Charlie Pin-ney runs heavy horse handling courses for theAgriculture Training Board--which means he gets free and sometimes nubile labour to work his farm, and gets paid for telling them how to do it(nice one, Charlie). ST o Cyril often used but may be replaced by any name; informal or ironic. nice and quiet etc/ quietly etc(informal)pleasantly and/ or suitably quiet(ly) etc adj:quiet; gentle; easy. adv: quietly; gently; smooth-ly o You' ll be the only one sleeping on this floor,which will make it nice and quiet for you. DCo' That's to say a received message would appear as words on a television tube.'' Well, what's the matter with that? It' ll be nice and easy to read.'TBC□Now, move the gear-lever into first position and let the clutch in nice and gently. □ nice and functions as adv mod(of degree, extent) of adj/adv it precedes. nice/ lovely wanther for ducks (catch-phrase) rainy weather, esp as a sarcastic com-ment with the meaning‘Very wet today, isn’ t it?`, ‘What a rainy day!’ etco‘Nice westher for ducks, said Jim when he arrived at last, soaking wet.' But since I'm not a duck, do you think you could lend me a change of dry clothes?" nice work if you can get it (saying) ex-pression of envy, commenting on what some-one has been lucky or clever enough to get or do o Mice work if your can get it. This week, PeterBarkworth stars in a play about a man, recently made redundant at his work, who makes a suc-cess on his own as a snail-farmer. RT o Nice- <401> Work-If-Can-Get-It Department. Where were my Lords Thomson, Kearton, McFadzean andRitchie-Calder last weekend? They were the per-sonal guests of the President of the LebaneseRepublic, no less, and flew out with wives for what was described as a ' glorious shindig' (=lively party) over the Whit weekend. OBS□I think it was Brian Howard who, not over-anxious for a crack at the enemy, protested to his conscrip-tion board: But I am the civilisation you are fighting to defend. ' Nicework, if you can get it.NS the nigger in the woodpile [Comp(NP)] the person responsible for spoiling sth v: △ be;regard, consider, sb as o He thought the EnglishRevolution was just around the corner. Then sud-denly he found you were the nigger in the woodpile. You could have got him run out of this country. Maybe even got him hanged. PPo as a result of changing social attitudes, many speakers find expression offensive. a (big) night out an evening of social enjoy-ment outside one's home at a restaurant,drinking-place. theatre, dance-hall, party etc□Ambrose, the bandleader, once looked back wryly: ‘We used to attract people from the provinces. It was their big night out. But unfor-tunately they drove the other people — high society—— uway. We were over-popular.’ NS □The hero, after anight on the town and various adventures, has a knife-and-bottle fight with a fellow-worker which ends in court. NS O variant a night on the town. night starvation (dated catchphrase)hypothetical reason for loss of physical or mental vigour (originally suggested by the ad-vertisers of Horlicks Malted Milk, a bed-time drink made from this product being recommen-ded as a remedy)□GEORGE . Behind that brood-ing cloud of mascara, she's got her eye onGeorge, Josie has, Because not only does she suffer from constipation, but night starvetion(ie no sexual life) as well. EGDo(NONCE) Draw-bell, whose Christian name no one had been known to utter, whose friends called him 'CF',had begun to sign himself ' Cyril Drawbell'. 'Abad case of knight starvation(ie he wanted to be made a knight), said someone. NM anine day(s') wonder[Comp(NP)]a person or event that attracts a lot of notice and is the subject of much talk for a short time but is soon forgotten V:△be, become; regard sb/ sth as oThe eye of the world is upon him. But that must be small consolation as the criminal settles down to a ten-year stretch. A front page splash (ie in the newspapers) may have made him a nine-day wonder, buí what is he to do with other nine years and 356 days? SC□ But if he were patient,some day he would be listened to in a way that did effective good. Not now. It would be a nine days'wonder, he would be ruined and powerless. NM□ If the General Strike of 1926 had been more than a nine-day wonder, Chancellor Churchill would simply have wanted to take the BBC over.L o also pl nine day wonders. nine times out of ten[A(NP)] almost always□ (of big winners of football pool prizes)They' ve all said, ' no publicity'. But straight-away, before you even knock, by the district, by the lock of the house, by the street, nine times the nigger in the woodpile--no chance out of ten you can predict who's going to play ball. STo It is very hard to argue from results in history. Nine times out of ten, the results of what anybody wanted to do in the past turn out to be not what they intended. L a nine to five job etc regular work as an employee, esp in an office, shop, factory n: job,△ day; mentality; man o I think sometimes of the friends who left school at the same time as me, when I made up my mind to go to art school.Some of them went straight to 9 to 5 jobs and within three months they looked like old men.OBS□ Peter would have hated being cooped up in a nine-to-five job. He's always loved daring physical pursuits sailing, motor-racing and fly-ing. TVT o Like good local newspapermen they have to be dedicated to this job: 8 9.0 to 5.0mentality is useless. RTo He is in the office by7.30 each morning, ready to start a 16-hour day.' It's the only way, ' he says. ' You can't get to the top and stay there with a nine-to-five mental-ity 'RTo Yeats's admiration for aristocrats, beg-gars and terrorists, and his complementary dis-taste for thrifty nine-to-fivers who ' add the halfpence to the pence', must have persuaded many a young hopeful that it would be not merely tiring but downright uncultured to get a job of work. L o emphasis may often be either on the restrictions this pattern imposes or on the freedom from responsibility outside these hours; nine to five may or may not be hyphenated; n compound a nine-to-fiver. nip and tuck [n + n non-rev] a situation in which failure, an unfavourable outcome, will only be, or has only been, narrowly avoided; be touch and go(qv)o Tell him that it' ll be nip and tuck if I manage to snatch a few minutes to see him at all on Tuesday, much less give him a couple of hours. a Waugh said he had a whole convent of Poor Clares praying it would be fine for the fête, and throughout the morning it was nip and tuck. Until the very hour of the fete we were not to know who would gain the day, thePoor Clares or the Powers of Darkness. TCMthe nitty gritty (of sth)(informal) the basic,essential, unadorned facts (of sth) o: modern living, student life; industrial relations, business management o All this of course is the nitty gritty of industrial relations. But what the politicians and the leader-writers want is the glamour stuff---a way of keeping the trains running, the lights burning and the dustbins emp-tied. NS□After such a rare exposure to the nitty-gritty of modern living, to plunge into the culture-cushioned limbo of JI M Stewart's world is like taking a sauna bath in reverse. ST o And because it's Jimmy Young doing the asking and the locals talking back, the series will be getting down to the real nitty gritty----are you conned in the supermarkets, and how? Can you do as well from National Assistance as from Life In-surance? RTo Major Macfarlane will be behind the TV cameras, explaining the ritual of Troop-ing the Colour. He' ll be there to ' add the humble nitty-gritty'- - which means everything from identifying major-generals and regimental marches to explaining why guardsmen have to go into training to wear their bearskins. RT o often preceded by (get) down to. no chance (informal) there is no possibility 401 <402> no/ not any distance---no good that sth will be done or allowed or will happen□A League(football) club taking on a lad when he'd been at work for three or four years? No chance-if he isn't taken on to the books while he is still at school. he has more or less had it today. TVT□' At all sorts of important meetings up und down the country people listen to what Ihave to say, but at home,' he shook his head ruefully, ' no chance.'o Peter and I wanted to persuade the others that there was no need for the stuffed shirt formality of previous years. No chance. We were both ordered to wear evening dress. NS o used as short rueful comment or reply. no/ not any distance [Comp(NP)] not far; a short or relatively short distance V:△be; seem,look o Let's walk there— it's such a fine even-ing and it's really no great distance. o The church was on the opposite side of the lake,a long w av round by road but no distance by water,and most families had or shared a boat. □ It doesn't seem any distance to the station now that I' ve got used to walking it. no end of a fuss etc(informal) a very great fuss etc V: cause, create, stir up. n:a fuss, a flap.a surprise, a disappointment, trouble o Dad likes his steak grilled two minutes on each side and he makes no end of a fuss if it's not just right. □ How nice to see you again! Jane will get no end of a surprise when she comes in and finds you here!□' You' re meeting some kind of a VIP,aren 't you?' Young Mr Shrivenham groaned again. " No end of a flap about this fellow. I don't know why. Even the hush-hush boys are in a flap.'TCB □ The police have had no end of trouble trying to track down mail bag thieves. To The other workers may see it as favouritism and that's something that can cause no end of dissatisfaction among them. o stress pattern, no ' end of a fuss etc. no/(not) any exception [Comp/O(NP)] sb/sth that conforms to a usual kind, rule, patternV: be, prove; allow a Helen Cresswell writes books that are impossible to put down, once star-ted. Her last one, The Winter of the Birds' is no exception. OBS□August is usually a wet month here and this year has proved no exception . oThe notice says ' Keep Out: That Means You', so why did you think you were my exception? no fear (informal) no; certainly not o ' Go up and see,' said Jack contemptuously, ' No fear!'‘The beast had teeth,’ said Ralph, ‘and big black eyes. 'LFo' Did you see Robert safely off?'' At half past six in the morning? No fear! We said goodbye last night.’ o‘Don't tell me you paid£100 for that old wreck!’' No fear. Twenty pounds, I said, take it or leave it.'o emph neg answer to an order, request, suggestion etc. no fewer/ less than sth as much as sth(the implication being that this is more than might be expected) o No self-respecting campus is.without its thesis on some aspect of the social implications, and, as a result of the Surgeon-General's Commission on Violence, no fewer than 50 further pieces of research are allegedly awaiting publication. L o Since 1955 no less than nine national newspapers have bitten the dust (= ceased to exist). L o Crimes involving robbery rose 3 per cent. This is disappointing as during 1974 there had been a drop of no lasic 402 than 7 percent BBCR□Out of 115 candidates no fewer than 108 gained their certificates. (of) no fixed abode/ address (legal)(having) no permanent place of residence, and no home or business address through which one can always be traced or communicated with o SAM:I, Samuel Levy, of no fixed abode,am being charged with loitering and soon I must leave London for ever. HSG□Some of the reality behind that coldly clinical euphemism of the magistrates' courts and social security offices— in o fixed abode’— is brought to life in a report published this week by the Notting HillSocial Council. NS□ address now more usu than abode. (there are) no flies on sb(saying) sb is as-tute; sb is well able to look after his own interests and avoid being deceived or taken ad-vantage of det: no, not any; not many, few oBoth men suitably reflect the Co-op's (= Co-operative Stores) image: grainy North-country business men, but who could be taken for lay preachers. No flies on either of them —— and both with handshakes like a vice. OBS □ DAVE:Look,I' ma bright boy. There aren't many files on me, and when I was younger I was even bright-er. ITAJoI have seen the same professor move in a single two or three-hour faculty meeting from being a pipe-ruminating, academic statesman, in his expression, his gestures, and even his voice, to a Northern, no-flies-on-Charlie, light-voiced urchin. Lo attrib use a no-flies-om-me business-man. (there is) no fool like an old fool (saying)a comment on an instance of foolishness in a person of advanced years, because he is expec-ted to think and act sensibly and, if he does not,probably cannot be corrected o ' Surely Tom's thinking of making a match of it with the tailor's widow, he goes there so often.'' Don't you believe it. It's the daughter he's after-no fool like an old fool.’ o (NONCE) There's no ghoul (=gruesome ghost) like an old g houl and the Devil is currently riding high at the box-office. NSno go [Comp (AdjP)] (informal) not possible;not allowed; not desirable V: △ be, seem, look□ A child could wriggle through the 20 inch gap,but it was clearly no go for a man of his weight.oI tried very hard to make him take some money for the fish, but it was no go. o As far as my parents were concerned, for me to hitch-hike across the Sahara was definitely no go. □' How did you get on with the boss?'' No go. I'm afraid.I can't take more than two weeks' holiday at once, so I can't visit my cousins in Hong Kong.'□ sometimes used as comment or response, as in last example.△ next entry. a no-go area/ district(informal) an area into which, or from which, movement is restricted;an area over which the police have no control etc□(of a ban on Gypsy encampments) ' Nogo'argas should be rarities and temporary ones at that: a solution to some immediate difficulty. LoUnder no circumstance, would we be prepared to contemplate no-go games in the United King-dom. BBCRo There is going to be no area inLondon which is no-go. G O ▲ previous entry.no good nothing good; no good result; an end condition without value, or positively bad V:△...come of, ...result from; come to..., result <403> in...o It's over. They' ve never even for one minute suspected me . And the chup's dead and he has no dependunts Absolutely no good cun come of my going to prison now. IOCa.., another of these food subsidies that result in no good to anyone . Thove who canno! afford to drink milk al 9p a pint can ' t afford it at 8p either, and those who can won't notice the difference. SCo He was derirful even as a child. I knew he would come11. no good. O usu functions as Soro, as shown.◇△ do no good, much good may it do sb. no half measures no compromise; no moderation, or medium standard, in behaviour er performance o We' ll pull the place down and re-build. No half snowessures. To I' ve seen many a thing like that happen with him. If you do have a disagreement with Ford, it becomes an all-out fight . He doesn't go in for half measures. RT□There' ll he nocxpense spared . When the Parkers entertain they don't believe in half measures.o There are no half measures with Gary Player.Like on c of the Grand Old Duke of York's fabled corps, when he ' s up he's up and when he's down he 's down. SC 口 variant not believe in/ go in for half measures. (with) no hoids barred (with) any form of gripping, handlıng or holding allowed in wrest-ling contests: (fig)(with) free use, in speech or action, of any methods one can employ in a contest, argument, quarrel etc;(fig)(with) dis-regard for conventions of honour, decency,fairness . courtesy etc o The Japanese wrestler,Anionio Inoki, said in Tokyo yesterday that he mighr break Muhammad Ali's arm—— just to prove his fight with ' no holds barred' against the world heavyweight champion was not fixed( = fraudulently arranged to give a previously agreed result). Go ' You' re making it just as hard as you know how, aren't you?'' You bet I am. No holds barred on this one.' TGLY o Thus with' permissiveness' . If it means ' no holds barred'or anything goes', then plainly a complete liber-turian position is as foolish as the fear that such all-out permissiveness is possible anyway. OBS□Surely a lot of these blokes would like to see u reul no-holds-barred nude show? TGLY O attrib use a no-holds-barred fight. no idle just[Comp (NP)] sth, often a threat,said with serious intention which should not be misunderstood as a joke, exaggeration etc V:△be: see, find, sth to be o She was doing this not only to save Guy's life (for she knew by the haun-ted look in his eyes that this threat to take his life was no idle just) but for Prissie too. DCa When the garage man said ' This job' ll cost you plenty in my time and your money. ' I just laughed. ButI t was no idle just. It took him three days and cost me £200. o gives emphasis, usu to S of preceding v. no joke[Comp(NP)] an arduous or unpleasant duty, state of affairs, experience etc V: △ be;find sth o Preparing fourteen pounds of meat when the temperature is over a hundred in the shade is no joke. DFo This ' mustering' duty, no joke at all, made me abandon my notion that these sheep farmers led a life of ease. OBS□It was often a case of sealing oneself into the tent to cook and sleep while the rain and midges beat their frustration on the roof Midge-bites were no joke. SC. no half measures—— no man's land no lack/ want of sth{Comp/O(NP)] plenty of sth det: no, never any. not any v: there be;find, meet, encounter; show, display, demon-strate o There is no leck of recognition of the apparent danger of pollution to human and animal life. DM□ Then I looked about for some-thing to use as a blanket. There was no lack of textiles. Urno' What cheek to go uninvited.'' Oh,George has never shown any lack of that!' o Aman with money to spend has no la ck of friends.□ With the house and the garden and three young children to look after, there isn't any want of things to do , I can tell you!. no laughing matter [Comp (NP)] a subject.siate of affairs, about which one should not be amused, nor which one should treat lightly V:△ be; think sth, regard sth as o For actors, the craft of creating comedy is often no laughing matter. RT o Pat laughed, but you could see it was no laughing matter. TI o It's not a good joke, I admit, but you must blame Julius for it,not me. In any case, I do not need telling that income-tax is no laughing matter. EM no less (a person/ place) (than sb/ sth) a person, place, occasion etc so famous, impor-tant, unexpected etc as to command respect.notice, surprise etc n: the Queen, the President;the Brighton Pavilion, Crufts o It will he a very grand occasion. No less a person than theQueen herself will perform the opening cere-mony. TVTo ' It's a stupid br ute of a dog she has.' Nevertheless, since it was breed champion last year at no less a place than Crufts it must be worth a lot of money.’ o They were the personal guests of the President of the Lebanese Republic,no less, and flew out with their wives—— cham-pagne en route. OBS o She reckons it's a great event for her . lan Hunter has invited the Mayer-Lismann Opera Workshop to the Brighton Fes-tival in May. At the Brighton Pavilion, no lemics.O8S a variant sb/ sth, no less. no/ not any longer [A (AdvP)] for no further.period of time; no more (qv) o But he could concentrate no longer on Prissie's feelings, for there was something in his pocket he had to show his father. DC o He took off his spectacles.Deprived of them, his eyes seemed paler and lar-ger and colder; his round red face wasn't jolly any longer. RATToI'm sure you' re all hungry. Idon't think we should wai t my longer for Bob.I can keep his meal warm in the oven. o My mother, no longer young, had lost the resilience that had helped her to cope with earlier misfor-tunes . o It had come to the stage where his parents could no longer believe a word he said. 口 front,middle or end position. no man is an island nobody lives in complete independence of others of(source) No mm an is an island, entire of it self. MEDITATION XVI1()DONNE 1571-1631)o It is mainly because in the first flush of romance, we like to pretend that ' mar-riage means independence of other people' that it so often goes sour. No man is an island, nor are a man and a woman. NS no man's land the area lying between two op-posing army fronts; disputed, unapportioned,or merely desolate territory;(fig) conditions of life, or a mental state, where one feels oneself to be confusedly without place or function o He was not clever and he did not bother about ad- 403 <404> no/ what matter (that/ if)---no news is good news ministration; his whole soul was in the battle and especially in the actions of fighting patrols in no-man's-land. MFM□ A beachcomber betimes, Ium fascinated by the lure of the shore at low water. That fluctuating margin between the tide marks, neither land nor sea, truly a no man's land. STo Ralph Richardson plays Hirst,a weal-thy hoozer with a mind so bombed that fantasy and memory, pretence and reality, even night and day, have elided into a in o man's land'populated mainly by fading photos and ghosts from the Thirties. NSo(reader's letter) For five years our house has been a battle field between my husbund and youngest son, now 19 years old.with me, as the little bit of ' no man's land' be-tween. TVT no/ what matter (that/ if) it doesn't matter;it's not important o 'I may not be able to leave the office in time to get your coat from the cleaner's.' No matter. I can pick it up tomor-row.'u HENRY Never met Ada, did you, or did you. I can't remember, no matter, no one'd know her now. Eo Indeed, the Inspector would almost certainly think that they were in collusion. But what matter. since apparently he didn' t care if they were. pw o short answer,parenthetical comment, or introducing depen-dent clause. no matter what' whatever person, thing,event, statement etc det: what; who(m); which;when how (many ways/ often/ much) □ I'm going to take next week off work, no matter what happens(ie as a result or as possible cause of prevention). o (advertisement) No matter what make of electric razor you use, you' ll findLectric Shave gives you a closer, smoother , and much more comfortable shave. DM o But no matter how he turned his head he could see noth.ing but a patch of darkness. PM□ Because we know so much about Johnson, and yet find he never lied or cheated, it is possible to feel a deeper affection for him than for any other English writer, no matter how great our differences of political or religious views. NS D introduces dependent clause. no matter what² despite what (is said, occurs etc) det: what, who, how(clever, greatly, often)o' There, my darlings!' she crooned(to her cats).There! You shan't starve, no matter what your wicked master says.'DC□ It's her house as well as her husband's no matter who the titular owner is. o But all the same Robert didn't like working for Ned, no matter how clever Ned was at not making him feel like an employee. CONoHe's such a sap I can't help tormenting him no matter how greatly I despise myself for it. o introduces dependent clause referring to sb/ sth the exact nature of which is known, rather than to various possibilities. no mean/ small feat etc[Comp (NP)] a con-siderable feat;a quite, or very, important, size-able, significant feat etc V:△be; find, consider,sth. n: feat, achievement; reputation; tribute;poet, batsman o Warwickshire have been in the doldrums for a few years now, but last month they drew with Worcestershire l-l, no meen feet, and the result of iomorrow's match will be watched with interest. To He saved himself by cimbing along the parapet, which would have 404 □Th e voice in question belongs to Jimmy Helms.a singer of no mymen reputation in his own right.OBS□ Th e adding offresh entries and some bits of pruning too are. very properly the work of JanetAdum Smith. No mean anthologist herself, she was wife of the late compiler and had a discern-ible hand in the original. NS o The team will be strengthened by one, if not both, of the all-rounders Julien and Boyce and also DerryckMurray who is no mean batsment. OBS o SirFrederick Ashton, the retired director of theRoyal Ballet, was so impressed with her(Maniyn Trounson's) dancing last year that he wrote a ballet, ' Lament of the Waves', especially with her in mind. No small tribute to someone who was only 22. OBS no more [A (AdvP)] for no further period of time; no/ not any longer (qv); not ever again det: no,(not) any, never(any) a l bore the pain till I could bear it no more and had to ask for another injection. DGriffith can't bring himself to condemn what he calls Irish activism' , He ex-plains·'I can't call myself a pacifist any more.The Government only lifts a finger when the situation becomes untenable through action.' LoHe had no interest in the place except to visit his old parents. After they died he never came back any more. alts no use (pretending) anym ore,I do love Fergus---I' ve lied to you about it, but now I'm telling you the truth. DC o usu end position. no more do etc I I don't either; I am your equal in that respect V: do;△have; can; would.S:I, you, he; Anne o My husband doesn't like having lodgers in the house, and no more do l.but we need the money and that's that. oCRAPEI' ve never heard of no (= any) MinisterialBounty. LETOUZEL: No more had I, Mr Crape.And the Doctor made it perfectly clear that I was not supposed to have done either. THH□ Don't be silly, Mary—— you' ll just hurt yourself. If I can't shift it, no more can you.□ 'I wouldn't have had the courage to say that.'' No more would Jack if he hadn't had a few drinks beforehand.'o follows immediately after neg statement. no names, no pack-drill(catchphrase) when no culprit, defaulter etc can be identified or named, no blame or punishment will follow;when criticism etc is expressed in general terms,both accuser and accused are safeguarded(from the military term, pack-drill =* disciplin-ary exercise carrying heavy equipment')□(cor-ruption in the Home Forces in Britain, WorldWar 2) There were many more such classic stories, of that we could be sure; but no 导动和密密,no pack-drill. Lo She was the very one to speak to poor old Miss Gittings, nice decent young woman, not like some, nonarways, no pack-drill.IT□(reader's letter) As a teacher I have often wondered how much anything said by any of us is remembered over the years. I would welcome examples. Of course - - - no names, no pack-drill. OBS o In a panic, feeling she would be lost to him unless he testified. Harold said: You were right. Alec. I am 一 well. I am interested inIrma.’‘Well, my boy. I congratulate you I won't ask you any questions-no names, no pack-drill--but go ahead, " whik"u luck. " pw no news is good news saying) no com-…ünication, information, from or about sb/ sth <405> (there's) no peace/ rest for the wicked--no/(not) any such thing tends to mean that all is going well, that no disaster or trouble has occurred, that no help is needed o She was too worried to go across the pessage for Mrs Batey's comfort. Mrs Batey would tell her that mo news was good news and that if there had been an accident, she would have heard about it all too soon. AITC□(a newsprin-ters' strike during the course of the longer dockers' strike, 1972) For such apparently self-sufficient men, the dockers' depth of resenlment over their public image is remarkable. They were glad there were no newspapers, they said. ‘No news is good news.’ NS (there's) no peace/ re st for the wicked(saying) fear, worry, harassment is the lot of wrong-doers o (source) There is no peace,saith my God, to the wicked. ISAlAH LVII 21 aHAVA Don't cry, because your husband is sleep-ing now.(spirit of)SAM Yes, but dreaming heavy --· no rest for the wicked. HSGu ' Oh dear, I' ll have to go.' Mrs Batey said equably. No peace for the wicked, they say.'AITC u No rest for the wicked, his mother always said. But I'm not wicked, he told himself. LLDR o But for actors,like for the wicked, there is no rest. People don't understand that when actors are not work-ing, they are not resting. TVI O often merely comment on being harassed, interrupted,required to do sth, with only a teasing, deroga-tory implication. no room to swing a cat (saying) restricted,or overcrowded, space to live or work in a I'd ruther live in this old house with all its incon-veniences than in one of those pokey bungalows where you haven't room to swingacat. oIt was supposed to be my workshed but there isn't room to swing & cat now, my wife's filled it so full of household gear. o(NONCE) Cats do mot get swung too much in Japan and by the same token the man who wants to swing a golf club has his problems. OBSo(NONCE) The crucial defect of this government's white paper was that it proposed to draw boundary lines tightly around the built-up areas of the conurbations, leaving them no breathing, no catswinging, no developable space. NS□(NONCE) For example, sets had rarely been used before in(Studio) Pres B and getting them up there was a bit like swinging a cat in a coal cellar. RT no/ not(any) secret[Comp(NP)]a matter of public or local knowledge V: △be; make of sth. .. o It was no secret that there was some anxiety about the business. The Ministry ofFinance had ordered an inquiry at the beginning of last year. NS□ My dislike of Jim Paterson is no secret round here but anybody that thinks I'd be capable of deliberately setting fire to his shop must be off his head.□It has been no secret that he carried out abortions in the provincial mater-nity clinic. SToI haven't made any secret of my intention to take business from him. He's had a monopoly, and overcharged, here long enough. no/ notanyslouch[Comp(NP)](informal) an able and effective worker, performer etc esp in some particular art, skill, activity v: △ be;regard, consider, sb as. A: as a writer; at playing the market; in the kitchen □ She shows discrimination and choice in her reading. And of course, as a writer, her father was no slouch.Eugene O’ Neill. RTo He proved himself to be no slouch at playing the market, quadrupling his£50,000 inheritance in less than two years. oHansen is a fine tender writer and is no slouch at plot-making either. SC o The three houses are all owned by the Church Commissioners who are no slouches when it comes to property. SToJOShe's a devil with the men. PETER. Are you,Helen? HELEN. Well, I don't consider myselʃ a slouch. TOH (there is) no smoke without fire(saying)signs, indications of sb's presence or involve-ment (but esp rumours, scandal etc) don't arise from nothing, always have some cause or basis det: no,△(not) any, never (any) □ Soon after sunrise the first column of smoke stood upright on the eastern horizon. My pulse quickened. No smoke without fire, no fire without man! Could it, by some miracle, be a sign of River Bushman?LWKo When her name and the Duke's were mis-chievously linked in the Press, the Duke en-couraged her husband to bring a libel action,from which he won £2000. Nevertheless many people shook their heads and muttered, ' No simple--'STu Bui there is seldom any smoke without fire and it was clear to me that the rumours (of looting by British troops) were being spread in London by a colonel that I had removed from my Tac Headquarters. MFM□My man and I had been married for seven years. We all know the myth about the itch (ie that after seven years of marriage the partners experience(usually temporary) discontent with the relationship) and we joke about it, but now and again I had my misgivings that there is never simple without fire. YWT no stranger to sb/ sth [Comp (NP)] well-known to sb; familiar to a group, in a locality,etc; familiar with, and having had much ex-perience of, sth V: △be, seem, appear o But of course Prissie was no stranger to him. No in-deed, he counted on Prissie for everything now.DC □ Sergiu Commissiona, no stranger to theRoyal Opera House orchestra pit, was conduct-ing an opera there for the first time. ST o WarisHussein, who directs, is no stranger to the suh-tler regions of the human spirit. RT o MichaelCarreras is the son of Colonel James Carreras,founding father of Hammer horror (films), and no stranger to the principle of leeching on to an established success and extracting the plasma that remains. ST o also pl. no/(not) any such thing' [Comp (NP)] not as just previously described V: △ be, seem □' That kid of theirs is a whining brat, anyway.'' He 's no such thing. He just wasn't well the afternoon you saw him. □Byron's name is there too, and Charles Greville's who gallantly calledHolland House 'a house for all Europe'. Of course it was no suchthing. NSo' That was a fine show of surprise you put on. ' No such thing! Iwas genuinely taken aback. no/(not) any such thing² [0/₀(NP)] not that which is ordered, suggested, planned, im-plied, or accused V:△do; say; agree to □JIM:I' ll take her back to her room. JEAN: I' ll callBrock, JIM You' ll do no such thing! JEAN:Iwon't have her left on her own. YAA o ' It's dead easy,' the ' bishop' had assured him. ' the bus drops you a few yards away.' The bus did no such thing. BMo Am I saying that the world is 405 <406> (there is) no time like the present— none the less too much with us, and it's incurable anyway, and that we should gather roses while we may? I'm not saying any such thing. I am saying that when the nations rage furiously together we should not be misled by their hullabaloo. L o' There's room for the machine at the back of your office.’’ What! And a couple of chattering lads to work it? I' ll agree to no such thing.” (there is) no time like the present(saying)now is the best time to do sth o The senior of the officials merely said:' Come on, there 's no time like the present.’ No platitude has ever sounded to me more profound and original. LWKo It's over in the office. Headmaster. I'd be very happy.to go and get it, but it would be easier if you'd--'' No time like the present.' TGLY o The way I' ve got it worked out is this. There's no time like the present. The booze is on the house,and it's good;I' ll get her tanked up and then take her out in the car. CON no/ notanytrouble etc(atall)[Comp(NP)]no. or very little, work, worry or inconvenience,or only as much as is willingly accepted V: △be; find sb/ sth. n: trouble, △ bother, problem□' You'd like the children out of the way, too,'Brigit said. ' Oh no, dear, they' re no trouble.'DC□Twenty years ago it wouldn't have been any trouble to me to slate the roof myself. But I'm too shaky to work on ladders now.□' Well, thank you for explaining it all so clearly. I' ve taken up a great deal of your time.' ' No trouble at all,Mrs Jones. That's what lawyers are for.'o Then the assistant kindly filled them (the suitcases)with tennis rackets and things so they could get the weight, and back and forwards they went again. No bother. TSMP□How does the ex-world champion adapt himself to the normal traffic conditions we all face every day? ' No problem,'says Damon. OBS口 part of clause or, in form of headphrase, used as short reply or comment. (there are) no two ways about it (saying)there is only one correct or suitable way to act,speak or think with reference to sth and that is the way indicated o What was my decision?There ware no two ways about it. I must try to get back my typescript at once. UTN□(a tennis champion speaks) You' ve got to make your op-ponent fear you, to take away his confidence.You have to hate your opponent—— there are no two ways about it. RTo (the manager of a chain-store bookshop speaks) A thief's a thief.No two ways about it. Don't give me any of this psychological nonsense. SC□ And as for educa-tion, there's no two ways about it. The chances of a working-class child going to Univer-sity are still minute, compared with a middle-class child. ST no way [Disj](informal) definitely no; definite-ly not o There was no way that vast treasures of wealth were going to be stored there. HHGGo' It's a small world. They' ll find you.' ' No way. I' ll disappear.'ITV□I don't like to see people who are neither politicians nor villains discomfited (inBBC interviews). That's not my scene. No way.RTo This(a fatal accident to a driver on a racing circuit) affected Jody Scheckter very badly and he said straight afterwards that he was going to quit, no way was he going to continue, he was too young for this sort of nonsense. OBS o S and auxiliary v following this Disj are reversed, as in last example; often used as short emph reply or comment. no/(not) any way of doing sth no means whereby one can do sth V: there be;(can) sec;think of. o: doing, telling, knowing, getting,stopping o Is the picture of an old man asleep under the eyes of a young girl merely that? Or is it of St Peter in prison being visited by the delivering angel? There is no way of telling.HAH□If there was any way of knowing what the weather would be like, I wouldn't have to pack so many different kinds of clothes. □ One may al-leviute the symptoms or hasten the cure, but once a cold has started there's no way of stopping it.□I needed a hundred and twenty pounds by that evening and saw no way of getting it that wouldn't land me in even greater trouble than Iwas in already. the noble savage the type or idea of(primitive) man, unrefined but also uncorrup-ted by civilization, education etc□(source) I am as free as Nature first made man./ Ere the base laws of servitude began,/ When wild in woods the noble savege ran. THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA(J DRYDEN 1631-1700) □ The Noble Savage: six programmes on the impact of white ' civilisations'on native cultures. RTo He was fonder of her than anyone, but her ' bright' simplicity, her self-confident censoriousness, would make her unbearable to live with. She was, he supposed his unattainable vision of the noble swage. ASA □She was all loving to me at first, but then she got sarcastic and said she couldn't stand the sight of me. ' Here comes the noble sarrage,' she called out when I came home. LLDR nobody/ anybody in his/ their right mind could/ would do sth no sane or sensible per-son would do such a thing (the implication often being that sth that has already been done,or that is being contemplated, is an act of a mad person, or, more usu, is stupid, irresponsible etc) o He must have been insane, temporarily at least. Nobody in his right mind could have reason to murder a whole family. □ I was in ex-cellent health, and none of the cinemas sported afilm that anybody in his right mind could want.to see. SPLaJO: Would you go and live with her if you were ' me, Geof? GEOF: No, I don't think Iwould. JO: Neither would anybody in their right mind. TOH O with anybody there must be expressed or implied neg. a nod is as good as a wink (to a blind horse)(saying) a hint, sign or suggestion can be accepted and/ or acted upon without further elaboration, public acknowledgement, etc o' We shan't forget what you' ve done for us, and it's time we did something for you.' Bevill went on: ' Now you can forget everything that I' ve told you. But a nod's as good as a win k to a blind hors@.’ NMo But, darling, you don’ t really think this League of his can be dangerous, do you?—No, no, of course one can't discuss it over the.telephone, but a nod's a: good a:e wink, andI promise I' ll be very careful. EMo Her eyes kept straying to the clock and, a nod being as good.8 3 e wink to a blind horse, I said I had an appointment to meet a friend, and left. none the less [Conj] nevertheless; in spite of sth said, done or occurring o I felt the lesson to be salutary, but was sorry, non e the less, that <407> 406 none other than sb--(we are) not amused it had had to be administered at this moment and in this form DOP □ The Government admitted that many discretionary trusts were set up for quite other reasons than the avoidance of tax.None the less, it will in future rarely be possible to establish such trusts without incurring heavy tax penalities. Go ' It's a bit early to send a child of ten to bed.'' She' ll go when I tell her to, none the less.'o front, middle or end position. none other than sb [Comp/O (NP)] a named person himself (the implication being that he is sb famous or important, or sb unexpected in the particular circumstances)V: be; find, discover,see o He had no son. His heir was none other than William Pitt, then Prime Minister andChancellor of the Exchequer. EM o The whole position (about lie-detectors) was put in a nut-shell by none other than Daniel Defoe, who in1730 published a pamphlet,…… SNPo Then, one day. I found a guardian for them in whose handsI could safely leave them while I got on with my work. This guardian was non e other than Pav-lova the Patas monkey. BB (there are) none so blind/ deaf as those who will not see/ hear (saying) people will not see/ hear what they are stubbornly deter-mined to avoid seeing/ hearing o None so blind as those that will not see. None so deaf as those that will not hear. COMMENTARIES (MHENRY 1662-1714) □ (reader’ s letter) There are none so blind as those who will not see. My microfilm of the Cavalli score has been available to any who wished to examine it and, unlike MrHicks, a few critics have taken advantage of this and acquired an idea of the many immensely detailed problems that arise when preparing the work for performance. Lo There are none so deaf as those who will not hearthe truth. Who has ever said that imperialism can be overthrown by a mere push of the shoulder? To' Can't he see that Mary can scarcely drag herself around?"` None so blind as those that won't see, It would spoil his holiday if he had to admit his wife was a sick woman. none/ not any too not very; not sufficiently adj: clean; clever; happy; likeable. adv. cleanly;easily; quickly; silently; surely o The lights in the roof of the compartment were non e too bright or could it be that at thirty-five he was beginning to need glasses? Pw o His suit of clothes, however,was none too well-fitting NS□ Her distressed,well-meaning, but none-too-bright parents are now convinced that the girl is a dangerous lunat-ic, so they take her to the doctor. NS□In the endI agreed, none too happily, to say nothing of the affair meantime, □ The occasion was the ArabSummit and he was then, at 28, the leader of a three-month-old revolution that seemed none too likely to last. L o used for understatement,adj/ adv used always contrasting with meaning of whole expression. none too soon [A (AdvP)] (almost) too late;later than is suitable or desirable V: leave, ar-rive; find, recover, sth o They were eventually spotted by a helicopter team, and none too soon,for when they were picked up one had already died from exposure and the other two could not have survived the night. o (a hallucinatory ex-perience) It was inexpressibly wonderful, won-derful to the point, almost, of being terrifying. And suddenly I had an unkling of what it must feel like to be mad. None too soon, I was steered away from the disquieting splendours of my gar-den chair DOP□ ' Try to put up with him--he' ll only he staying a few more days.'' All right, then.But, if he was leaving this minute, it would be none too soon for me. nooks and crannies [n + n non-rev] small spaces, sub-divisions, egalcoves, corners etc. in a location, building etc o In every major city there are students on camp beds in nooks and crannies and others ' crashing' on the floors of friends' flats. OBS o Peter Reiss runs theMathaser Bierstadt, a vast complex of halls.nooks and crannies, where you can drink for 14hours a day. RTu Every nook and cranny of this peaceful 18th-century house held tangible memories of Marceau. RToI decided that we had better spread out in a line across the stream, and wade up it turning over every movable stone and searching every nook and cranny that might harbour a Hairy Frog. BB 口 variant (in) every nook and cranny. not all/ always(that)/ what one/ it might be [Comp (NP)] imperfect; less satisfactory,suitable, efficient modal: might, △ should.ought to o ' Well, Amy,' he said as they hurried away, 'I may not be all that I might be as a husband but I' ve never knocked you about.'oHumphrey's intervewing was not all it might have been. He already knew too many of the answers, so his probing tended to be a bit oblique.OBS□In a place like this, where people are accus-tomed to a measure of autonomy in running the affairs of their own community, relations with the new metropolitan district councils are not always what they might be. Go We' re none of us all we should be. People's faults are tolerated in proportion to the degree of affection.we feel towards them.□ The Englishman abroad is no longer all that a gentleman ought to be.Along the once peaceful coast of northern France they' re calling our summer tourists ' The NoisyOnes' , to o all and what never used together;always and that never used together. not altogether not very; not particularly adj:happy; satisfied; indifferent(to sb/ sth)□ Do you think it wise of her to see so much of him? I'm not altogether happy about his influence on her as he's a good deal older and more sophisticated.o It seems to me that she's not altogether indif-ferent, but is pretending to dislike him because it's expected of her. o The Chief Constable said that he was not altogether satisfied with the proposed security arrangement for the Royal visit. I may be used for understatement, eg not altogether indifferent = ` rather interested`. (we are) not amused (catchphrase) one resents, or regards coldly, sth done or said o(source—a written comment on the occasion of having been imitated by a Groom-In-Waiting) We are not amused. Queen VICTORIA1819-1901 □ (lack of academic interest in feminist issues) Ms Oakley, as a professional sociologist and committed feminist, is, however, not sur-prised. Nor is she amused. NS□In place of the scholarly tom e that many people expected of him, Mr Maddox has produced a polemic, and not a very good one at that. As the woman said,wén not minused. NS 407 <408> not as/ so young as one used to be/(once) was— not do a hand's turn not as/ so young as one used to be/(once) was[Comp(AdjP)] old or growing old(the implication being that there is loss of vigour, good health or good looks) V: △ be;feel. look o The journey up to the West End might be rather trying for Mother who was not so young as she used to be. HAHAo' She used to change husbands like some people change jobs.but she and Henry have been together for seven or eight years now. '' Just as well---she mightn't find it so easy to get a fourth. She's not as young as she used to be.’ a‘You’ ve turned into a proper stay-at-home, haven't you? You never want to go anywhere or do anything.'I think you forget I'm not so young as I was.' not at any price [A (PrepP)] not at all; not for any inducement o The grumblers, who don't want to go on a picnic at any price... TO o l wouldn't want him on my staff at any price. Ostress pattern not at ' any price. not bad [Comp (AdjP)] quite, or even very,good; not half bad/ badly(qv) V:△be; find,think、 sb/ sth. adv mod; so; too; at all. A: for a beginner, for four hours' work; at all; consider-ing sth □' What price do you get for the scampi you land?''£2a pound, at the pier-head.'' That's notbad.’ o‘Notbad for a beginner,’ Andrew said as they left the court.' We' ll make a tennis-player of you yet.’ o He had the understanding that comes from ten years of early-morning break-fasts to know what is in my range and what is not.That's a great asset in a director. Not bad for a husband, either. RTo Next morning at breakfastCreevey joked about the tea not being too bad,considering it was country tea. No it was not,corrected the Duke with devastating candour, he had brought it specially from Paris. ST o The second mate took one look at me and he said: Up the rigging.'I was very frightened. The first part wasn't sobad. Pretty solidreally. Lo'A very nice wine, my dear.’ He took another mouthful, and added' Notbad at all.'oMRSTONE. How are you,Sam?SAM: Not so bad. How are you? HSGo' Nice place you have here, Mr Liversedge,’ he said admiringly. ‘Not too bad, not too bad,’ Jack said modestly, rather pleased by this tribute from someone with class. PE o may be used as com-ment or answer, as in last three examples. not/ never bat an eyelid V + O] show no surprise, concern, or alarm (about sth unusual that happens) o If Cosmia had spread out her arms and flown out of the window I wouldn't have batted an eyelid . JFTRo The sound of the crash brought everyone to their feet--except John who never even batted an eyelid and stolidly went on eating his dinner. not to be outdone in order to show oneself as good as, or better than, another A: by his sister,by the neighbours; in a matter of generosity; as a marksman o The Capri was launched to motoring correspondents in Cyprus in the spring of 1969: everyone who could possibly pen a line about the car was flown to the island. A year later, and not to be outdome, Rootes launched the Avenger. The company took 16 chartered jets.120 journalists. 400 dealers, and 40 cars toMalta. ST□Peggy showed off her new dancing steps and Walter, not to be outdone in a matter of entertaining visitors, his prowess at hand-stands, cartwheels and backward somersaults.□ 408 Carry and display your subscription list to date(= until the present time). Not to be outdone by their neighbours, people will often contribute more than they originally planned to. SC o front or middle position. not before time[A(PrepP)] at a time when sth is overdue, almost too late; (and) about time(too)(qv)o At the moment Australia is negotia-ting a(sugar) deal with Japan, and the present haggle is reported to be between £220 and£260per ton. It's certainly goodbye to cheap sugar— and perhaps not before time so far as the developing countries are concerned. NS□At about five o' clock she got up and went and found Dev in his kennel and got his supper for him. Then she got her clothes-brush from her quarters and gave him a grooming with it, not before time. RFWoIt all points to a wind of change blowing in the direction of the Ordinary shares, now 39p: and not before time either. OBS □ often end position, preceded by and or but. not a/ one (little) bit [A(NP)] not at all; not in any way o My ankle's fine since you strapped it up. It doesn't hurt a bit(or: it's not a bit sore)now.□She must be a cold-hearted creature. Asfar as I could see the news didn't upset her one bit.' You' ll be busy at something. I' ll take a walk tillJack comes home.’‘Notabit. Just come right in and we' ll have a drink and a chat.'a Don't do that ever again. You brought me up short and,I don't mind telling you. I don't like it one bit. TSMPo' They didn't like the idea one little bit,' saidAdrian Metcalfe, one of the organisers, but we coaxed them.'TVT o follows v; often short neg answer, esp in form not a bit. not a bit of it not at all o Sybil looked so likeMarlene Dietrich that you might have thought she would never have had a book in her hand, that nobody would ever even have shown her one. Not ab it of it Once during a lull when we were in bed she recited the whole of one of Hamlet's soliloquies. SMLo' Now what would you say was the future of a body like NISP?' ' To get more votes than any other party and make you PrimeMinister.’‘Not a bit of it!’ said Lefty trium-phanily. UTNO used as short emph denial of sth previously suggested or supposed. not by a long chalk/ shot not by any small amount, in any small degree (from, formerly,chalking up scores in games etc) □ And he dug the pot out of the cupboard, found the tea一and the C. S. M. was right, it wouldn't last the week, not by a long chalk— and began to or-ganize the cups and beakers and what not. TTo(reader's letter) Not every bank has abandoned the weekday evening session, not by a long chalk. NSo Asked if he was short of money, he said:‘Not by a long shot.’ He said that he had about £37 in savings. To 'I don't suppose' , she says resignedly, ' you can take me home with the first lot?'' Well, I don't know, Mrs B, ' says the ambulance man with a raised jolly voice.' It's not time yet by a long chalk.' Go used to emphasize previous neg statement. ◇△a long shot. not do a hand's turn [V + O pass] not, or hardly, do any work, or make any effort o His father had been something big in the City and had left him plenty of money so there was no need for him to do a hand's turn if he hadn't wished. □Her mother says Kate never does a hand's turn <409> not do a stroke (of work)--not for nothing in the house and I say, in that case. her mother didn't bring her up properly.□She's never done a hand's turn for me in her life. not do a stroke (of work) [V + O pass] not do any, or any item of, work o Every time she goes away, I never do a stroke in the house.Everything gets covered in dust - - - andMadeleine just accepts that. SI o The ' OlympicBravery' weighed 250,000 tons and was on her way to be laid up in mothballs in a Norwegian f jord without ever having done a stroke of work obsolete the day she was completed. TVTnot a dry eye in the house[Comp (NP)](fa-cetious) everybody in the audience or a com-pany is crying or deeply affected V:△be, find□ A Phılippe de Broca film gave us poor JeanneMoreau as a spinster art-mistress deciding not to pul her head in the gas open. Twenty years ago there might not have been a dry eye in the house. at Cannes there was hardly an open onc.NS□His closing peroration(= formal speech) is a funny parody of the worst kinds of sentimental-ity. fake patriotism, pseudo-religiosity, mock-humility. All a man can say is, here I am, and I'm saving it to you tonight.' Not a dry eye in the house.1. not eat you (informal) not actually terrifying.or likely to harm you(esp said as an encourage-ment to sb who appears frightened)□Co me on.dear, sit on Father Christmas's lap and get your present. He won't eat you, it's a man under all those clothes and the heard. □ I know he's got a reputation for being fierce, but at least you can try asking for a rise even if he doesn't give you one. He can't eat you after all.□Come in, come.in, don't hang about outside like frightened sheep. I won't eat you despite what you may have heard about me. □ usu with will/ can. not far to seek [Comp (AdjP)] easily and quickly found, surmised or ascertained $:reason, motive, cause, answer. V:△be, seem o(reader's letter) Gwynfor Evans drives him to a very unacademic frenzy. The reason is not far to seek. Mr Wright is a centralist; for him, Welsh nationalism is parochial, narrow and claustrophobic. Go' How can you put up with the noise?'' Itry to. But if I' me ver carried out of here stark staring mad the reason won't be far to seek.'□' How come all these sausage rolls were left?' ' Taste one and the answer's not far to seek.’ not fit to wash sb's feet [Comp(AdjP)] in-comparably inferior to sb (in allusion to JOHNX!115-16)V:△be; think sb, regard sb as oI never got over his savage piece of demagogy when he murdered poor old George Lansbury. NeitherBevin nor I nor any of us. Chris, were fit to wash George Lansbury's feet. L not for all the tea in China [A (Prep P)]refuse to do sth. no matter how great the reward, compensation o Old Ron said he wouldn't go up to London again for all the time in China, Rush and bustle it was the whole time.Lo It was great to see that officious bastard taken down a peg. I wouldn't have missed it for all the tea in China. a 'I wouldn't he saddled with this white elephant ( = useless, usu costly,possession) for all the tea in China,' announcesQunn, looking around the boat. OBS not for the first time[A(PrepP)] as has hap- pened sometimes, or often, before o She was telling herself, not for the first time, that there was a time and a place for everything- - and that the office was definitely not the place for imitations of the boss's wife. TCB□ On Wednes-day Mr Jenkins sat, cigar at ready, looking vaguely apprehensive. Mr Anthony WedgwoodBenn promised us a speech from him: but not for the first time Mr Benn was misinformed. MrJenkins sat tight. NS□(an ITV series) 'McMillan and Wife--The Face of Murder.' The police are buffled. Not for the first time. SallyMcMillan becomes personally involved. Yes, she gets kidnapped. TVT o front, middle or end position. ◇ for the first etc time. not/ never for a/ one (single) minute/moment [A (PrepP)] absolutely not/ never at all (do sth) V: expect; think, consider; believe.suppose□I would also like a cold shower, an iced drink, and about four hundred tons of D. D. T.,but I don't expect for a minute I' ll get them. DFoDAVID: Look, Dad, no one thinks for one mo-ment that you' re going to die. HSGo JIMMY: Ihope you won't make the mistake of thinking for one moment that I am a gentleman. I' ve no public school scruples about hitting girls. LBAoWhat! James put money into your business?I can tell you now, he wouldn't for one moment con-sider it.□Not everybody is going to agree with us.and if they don't agree with us they say:‘Well,you are being divisive-dividing the nation.’ Idon't believe that for a moment either. LoBiddy, it's all right now. It's over. They' ve never even for one minute suspected me. DCu It says a good deal for the buoyancy of Victoria's tem-perament that the possibility of failing to obtain her objective did not for a moment occur to her.TCBo ' You don't suppose he's changed his mind about me, do you?’' Not for a single moment.He's overworked and irritable as a result, but he's very much in love with you.'o can be used alone as emph denial; neg or neg implication,with v in middle or end position. not for nothing' . [Comp/A (PrepP)] not without cause or a reason V: be; argue; choose,elect, sb □ If you ask José Maria Ruiz-Mateos how it is that Rumasa has succeeded in a way that has become the envy of Spain, he replies that there are three main answers: ' Work, work and work.’ It is not for nothing that the bee (ie a symbol of hard work) has been adopted as their symbol. ST o(reader's letter) The worst evil lies in the training of performing animals. It is not for nothing that this is carried out in strict secrecy, protected by Acts of Parliament. RToThis tale comes near to being a masterpiece . Not for nothing was the author a sometime winner of the Grand Prix de la Nouvelle. SC □ The man himself. Standing there immaculate in jet-black silk-and-mohair evening dress. Mentally you note that not for nothing has the kid from the back-streets of San Francisco been voted amongAmerica's top 10 best-dressed men. TVT o may precede v for emphasis, as in last three exam-ples where S and v are reversed. not for nothing² [Comp/A (NP)] not without result or a definable consequence V: be; study,learn, sth; teach, prepare, sb□ lan was the best sniper we had. ‘You see,’ he used to say, ’ it’ s not for nothing I spent half my boyhood poaching 409 <410> not for want of trying— not harm/ hurt a fly deer.’□(an unsatisfactory marriage) For this state of things Isabel was herself a great deal responsible. Not for nothing had she studied the art of marriage and made it for her husband, and almost for herself, a pre-digested meal. Pwo He wasn't a schoolmaster for nothing; he saw corners of a room before he saw the centre. CONo may precede v for emphasis, as in second example where S and v are reversed; variant not a schoolmaster etc for nothing = ‘the person displays skills or talents particularly appropriate to being a schoolmaster or some other specified profession`. not for want of trying [Comp/A (NP)] not because one hasn't tried to do or obtain sth V:be, fail, lose sth o Sir John Donaldson never in fact fought as a Conservative parliamentary can-didate (there are those who fancy that this may not have been for want of trying). NSo He's taken hundreds of exposures. If he doesn't get a few first-class photographs to submit it won't be for want of trying. a When he has not won, it has not been for want of trying, or for want of doing anything that would have helped before the race.G not for worlds/ the world [A (Prep)] not on any account; not for any reason or purpose V:hurt, injure, offend, sb; give up, renounce, sth o ' No, darling,' she said, ' it's all settled. Iwouldn't have you give it up now for worlds.You need the opportunity it offers you.' HAA oNow Alistair was the kind of chap who wouldn't for the world have said anything deliberately to hurt anyone's feelings. not give sb/ sth houseroom [possess] not want to have, or not tolerate having, sb/ sth in one's house, place of business, or as any part of one`s surroundings or belongings o£70 for an old sagging settee that I, for one, wouldn't give houseroom to: ' o' Well, you have had an affair with Mr Golding, and then, before that, there have been Mr Moriarty and Mr Miller.'' Miller!'she said, 'I wouldn't give him houreroom.' TT□ Normally, I would not give this sort of luxurious introspection howseroom, reckoning,as I do, that,I or better or worse, the television is part of our lives and the children will make what they can of it L not give etc sb/ sth the time of day[possess] ignore sb; treat sb/ sth as being of no importance or interest V: give:△get sb/ sth; be worth o That's part of his holiday— mixing with the natives. If you ran into him in London with his posh friends he wouldn't give any of you the time of day. □ Ou r neighbours on the left weren't over-friendly from the first. Now, since we ' ve lowered the tone of the terrace by offering bed and breakfast we don't even get the time of day. Olt does not seem unduly harsh to argue that immigrants to another country should obey its laws, and that their children, if educated by the state, should speak its language. Beyond this, Icannot see why any Act of Uniformity should be given the time of day. NS□(film review) The fact is the rubbish I have seen this week is not worth your or my time of day. NS not grow/ get any younger/ thinner [V +Comp] grow or be old(er)/ fat(ter)o Your father takes on too much. He forgets he's not growing any younger.□' And how are you keeping, Miss 410 Gittings?" Well, I don't suppose there's any real cause for complaint, you know,' she said. ' None of us are growing any younger, are we?'TToI'm not getting any younger, and I can't afford to lend people money I may never get back in my lifetime. □He says to me, Marcus, you villain,Ihaven't seen you since 46. You haven't grown any thinner. TCB□ Earlier(she met) the Queen's mother, the Duchess of Teck,a jo vial lady weigh-ing 240 lbs. ' Ah, Madame Scalia, I see neither of us has grown any thinner since we last met.'NS o variant none/ neither (of them) grows/ gets any younger/ thinner. not half(!) (informal) very much so! yes, in-deed! □ ' You' ll be glad when you' ve finished that job, I'm sure.' ' Not halfi What a bore it's been!'□‘Was the weather bad in the South too, this Eas-ter?'' Not half it was. It never stopped raining the whole weekend.' o ' The garage man wouldn't have been trying to cheat me, would he?' ' Not half he wouldn'tI He'd cheat his own grand-mother for two pence.' o exclamatory affir-mative reply to a question or suggestion; a neg construction in the preceding sentence often repeated in verbal tag following not half; in last example, first sentence of reply means‘Yes, of course he would'. not half bad/ badly (informal) (be) quite good, really good; not bad (qv);(do sth) quite well, really well o I say, Daphne, this cake isn't half bad! You must bake another soon.□ John-ny's getting to be quite a little musician. He was playing a Chopin Study just before you came in,and not half badly either. o So here's this 35-year-old man, good on a horse and not half bad with a squash racket. TVT not half be sth [V + Comp] (informal) be sth wholly or to an exceptional degree Comp:funny; strange, odd;a nuisance,a bother,a trial o He may be a nice dog, but he won't half be a nuisance when we go on holiday!□Whata racket to be making in the middle of the might. There won't half be complaints from the neighbours tomorrow morning. □ It wasn't half dangerous with them(= those) tree trunks falling. LFo For such an angelic looking child she can't half be stubborn sometimes. not half do sth [V + 0] (informal) do sth wholly or to an exceptional degree o JO: You don't half like the sound of your own voice(= talk excessively). TOH o SARAH: He didn't half upset them; they wouldn't let him mess around with the radio so he started effing and blinding (= swearing and cursing) and threw their books on the floor. CSWB not harm/ hurt a fly [V + O] be kind and gen-tle in character and always unwilling to cause harm or unhappiness to others o One of the most dismal features of alcoholism is the way the character degenerates. It doesn't always happen;there are those quiet gentlemanly chronics who never hurt a fly, and even the occasional saintly ones. OBS□I want to sell your mother a beautiful memorial stone; one that would be worthy of your dear dead father. Such a fine, kind man,wouldn't harm a fly. I knew him well. HSG oWhile everybody has been moralising about Best.who hasn't hurt a fly though he may have hurt himself, nobody has as much as noticed the utter disgrace of our display in Berlin. Lo often with <411> not have etc a bean—— not have etc a word of truth in sth would(n't). not have etc a bean [possess](informal) not have any money at all A: not; hardly, scarcely.V: have (got), △ have left. prep: without o' Have you money left, Jack?' ' Not a bean. Ididn't realize it was going to be such an expensive.evening.'o I hardly ever have a bean on me and have to borrow most of the time. RT□So much for making their fortune in Canada! They came home again last month without a bean. not have/ without a care in the world[possess] be perfectly happy; have no worries or responsibilities □ BOY: Once, I was a happy young man, not a care in the world. Now! I'm trapped into a barbaric cult—— matrimony. TOH□ Because the future was uncertain and threaten-ing, he was forced to behave as if he hadn't a care in the world. PE o often follows as if/ as though; can also follow think, as in You'd think he hadn't a care in the world. not/ never have etc the foggiest etc idea etc[possess](informal) have no idea whatso-ever of/ about sth V: have (got), △get, give sb.prep: without. adj: foggiest, △ faintest,remotest, slightest; least. n: idea, △ notion,conception, clue o‘What’ s the time, Bill?’'Ihaven't the foggiest. 'a (choosing presents)' What do you think - an Arlesian doll or a quotation from Mistral in poker-work?’ and when she did not answer, he said again,' Which do you think, darling? 'I haven't the foggiest idem, she said violently. ASA□ My old lady used to say I lacked ambition. Maybe she was right.I wanted to do something but I hadn't the fain-test what. JFTR□ That was something poor oldFather never understood. He hadn't the fain-test conception of the forces he was up against.HAA o I' ve never had the slightest notion of becoming an actress, though many people seem to assume one will follow in one's parents' fool-steps. SCo ' How would you set about changing a tyre, for instance?''I haven't the least idea.'o n may be omitted after foggiest, faintest. not have a hope(in hell)(of sth) [possess](informal) have no chance at all of success o: it,compensation; of catching the train, of finding them o In the long run Mrs Thatcher's policy hasn't a hope. NS□ Our hero aims to coax his recalcitrant stunner into a better attitude: but he hasn't a hope. Lo Sounds fine: you decide you' re not going to sleep with anyone till you get mar-ried and so you don't. But you see, you haven't got a hope in hell. Not these days. TGLYo TheBritish have got the journalism they' ve been prepared to pay for—— and they don't like pay-ing much. What hope has a headline like ' MorePumps Needed in Maharashtra’ against‘SecondPeer in Call-Girl Scandal'? Lo 'I'm supposed to interview her,' Virginia said, ' for my newspaper!'' You' ve got a hope.'AITCo variant(ironic) sb's got a hope! with stress pattern ' sb's got a hope!,has neg implication; variants without a hope (in hell), what hope does sth/ sb have? ◇ △ what a hope! not have a leg to stand on [possess](infor-mal) have no convincing argument to offer in one's defence, or to win others over to one's side V: have(got),△leave sb without o Shut up and go away, and take your bloody bypass with you. You haven't got a leg to stand on and you know it . HHGG a It would sort itself out, he decided, no-one wanted a bypass, the council didn't have a leg to stand on. HHGGnot have/ without one penny to rub against another (informal) have no money(left)□ They can gamble until they haven't one penny piece to rub against another, but that's the end of it. There's no borrowing from the house here.□ They gave him an advance on his wages—— just as well, since he'd arrived with practically not one penny to rub against another. a(NONCE) Even poor old Bernie Corn-field, who was yesteryear's wizard of finance.hasn't got one billion to rub against another and has just got out of jail. OBS not have seen etc the like (of sth)/ sth's like not have seen etc anything similar previously; not have seen etc anything of its kind that is so good, bad, unusual etc before adv: not, never, (not/ none) ever. V: seen, △heard; known; tasted. A: in one's life; before o'I guess you' ve not seen the like of this before,'said Boles, openly enjoying the young man's discomfiture at the prospect of using the dry closet which provided the only toilet facilities. RT□Lead shots have been found, linked in pairs with pieces of brass wire. At least, that's what they appear to be—— but none of the ordnance experts consulted haveeverson their like. OBS□There are many social scientists who wish so to enlarge the consciousness of individuals and of com-munities that, if it were done, we would be dealing with a regenerate creature the like of which we have not previously seem. Lo Ah, boys, you never saw the like of what I was seeing. A great head was staring at me out of the wave, the size of a sack of barley with two eyes as big as pan-cakes. RM o Sixteen pounds that cabbage weighed! In twenty years of gardening and judg-ing shows I' ve never known the like.□ Did you ever hear the like of the cheek that boy gave his father? I'd have given him a damned good hiding.◇ △ the likes of sb; not see etc sb's/ sth's like(s)again. not have etc a thing (to do) [possess] have nothing(to do)V: have(got),△ther e be. prep:without. adj: single, blessed, blooming, dam-ned o They' re turning us out at the end of the month and there isn't a thing we can do.□ Just leave it to me. You heveron't a thing to worry.about. AITC□ On Tuesday we fished all day and came home without a blooming thing.□ ' What is the dress for, Prissie?’‘Guy wants to take me to dinner. And I hadn't a thing to wear. 'DC o expression not have a thing to wear =‘not have any clothes suitable, new or fine enough for a specified purpose’. not have etc a word of truth in sth[possess] be completely untrue V: have,△there be. prep: with not, without. o: it,them□ I don't know who started this rumour of us going bank-rupt but there isn't a word of truth in it. Busi-ness has never been better. o He looks so naive that he gets the tourists to swallow whole stories without a word of truth in them. □ JudgeClarke said: ' It has been suggested that she is being threatened by other inmates. I don't ex-press any opinion on whether there is a word of truth in this or not.’ Go It's my guess that the story didn't have a word of truth in it (or: 411 <412> not if/ though one lives to be a hundred---not know what to do with oneself didn't contain a word of truth). not if/ though one lives to be a hundred(informal) never in one's lifetime, however long that proves to be; next entry(qv)□' You' ll never be old. George.' the woman said.' Not if you live to be a hundred. PE o Leave it growing---it's a rare specimen. You may never see one again though you live to be a hundred.□‘You’ ll come round to a different way of thinking as you get older.'' No Iwon't, not if I live to be a hundred.'□They' ll tell you that such and such a thing could only happen once in a lifetime or that you'd never see the same thing again if you lived to be shun-dred. But of course things happen in duplicate.and even triplicate if you' re around enough in the right places at the right time. scoemph neg: usu repeats previous neg. not/ never in a hundred etc years (infor-mal) never, however long one tries, goes on, etc.previous entry(qv) adj: hundred, △thousand,million o In the end I told her to give up--that she was wasting her money and would never learn to drive, not in a hundred years. SC□ People will always find something to grumble about. It's human nature and you won't change that in a million years of progress. o I envied him his talent. I knew I could never paint a picture like that, never in a thousand years. O emph neg;usu repeats previous neg. not in the least not at all adj: stupid; cold:concerned. adv: stupidly; apologetically o It would be easy to think he was stupid. But that is where you would be wrong, for he is not in the least stupid. o It's not cold in the least.□ I toldSarah the dog seemed to be limping a little hul she wasn't in the legst concerned. o' Would it be inconvenient to have lunch half an hour earlier today?"' Not in the least.'o Half an hour before we were to meet, James rang up to announce, not in the least apologetically, that he couldn't make it. □ I would never have guessed you wereHarry's brother. You' re not like him in the least o modifies adj. adv, past participle or prep p; these may follow not or least; may be used alone to answer polite enquiry. not know anything about sth but know what one likes (catchphrase) have little knowledge about sth, not claim to be a judge of sth, esp an art or craft, but have one's own tastes and preferences o: music, painting,poetry; fashion o 'I can't think of anything more ghastly than all that fake Regency.' 'I like theRegency style, Robin said doggedly. ' Yes, dar-ling, you don't know anything about it, but you know what you like.'ASA□I may not know so much about music as you lot, but I know whatI like und I'm not ashamed to enjoy it. a But although many of the people who work for Shel-ter are---almost by definition--apolitical, they know what they don't like. And what they are determined not to like is the whole Martin ethosNS □ may be used disparagingly of people thought to have poor taste; variant know what one doesn't like. not know sb from Adam (informal) not know sb at all; have no idea who sb is; have never met sb(and would not, therefore, recog-nize him)□' Isn't that your old girl-friend Linda over there?’ ' Don't know her from Adam.'a' But surely you know Jack Simpson?-both of you being in the same line of business? ''I' ve heard a lot about him, of course, but we' ve never met. Wouldn't know him from Adam.’ not know if/ whether one is coming or going (informal) be confused in, and about,what one is doing, esp because one has too many things to attend to; next entry(qv)oMRSSTONE: How are you, Bessie? BESSIE: Don't ask me; what with one thing and another, I don't know if I'm coming or going. HSG o What a morning! I don't really know whether I'm coming or going. This is the first time I' ve sat down since arriving. TTo But he couldn't find it,and paused in the doorway of the lounge, uncer-tain how to look or feel. ‘Doesn’ t Daddy look funny?’ Janice giggled, ' He doesn't know whether he's coming or going.'PW not know if/ whether one is on one's head or one's heels be disorientated, con-fused, over-busy, over-stimulated etc; previous entry(qv)□ To tell you the truth the doctors have pumped her so full of drugs she doesn't know whether she is on her head or her heels half the time. a A few years earlier I should have lost my temper and argued furiously. I did have a faint sensation of not knowing whether I was on my head or my heels. However I pulled myself together. SPL o I don't think you know whether you' re on your head or your heels this morning. Sit there and calm down for ten minutes. □ variant (taboo) not know if/ whether one is on one's arse or one's elbow. not know one is born (informal) take life for granted without worry or inquiry; live in such happy and comfortable circumstances that one does not realize one's good fortune o ' One dumb Mart's (= Martian) costing me plenty.These hick Marts don't know they' re born.''H'm,' said the Agent. ' They act dumb, and the way their faces are makes them look dumb,' he said,' but they were a mighty clever people, once.'TSTo ALISON. I didn't have much to worry about.I didn't know I was born, as Jimmy says. LBA□ You could evidently threaten (her with) the doctor. the matron, or your relations, and she would say no more than, ' You people don't know you' re born,' und' Fire ahead, tell your niece, my dear.’ MM not know the meaning of the word [V+O] have no understanding, experience, of sth o' Poetry!' said Percy. ' Dylan Thomas didn't know the meaning of the word. It isn't poetry,it' sa leg-pull.'MMo Moriarty doesn't know what war is, doesn't knows the morning of the word.ITo I object to sitting listening to somebody who doesn't know the meaning of Christian char-ity talking about it. a Until 20 years ago, theAsmat people of New Guinea, had never known the meaning of work, still less the value of money or the sense of trying. RTO word may refer back to a n (as in first two examples) or refer forward(as in last two examples), in which case word may be omitted; frequently used for deliberate overstatement. not know what to do with oneself not know how to occupy one's time; be/ feel uncom-fortable or embarrassed o Oh, I like having a job. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I was at home all day.□ So she'd run out of the flat into the Fiat; but once in Warley she didn't 412 <413> not know what one is missing----not to mention/ speak of sth/ sb know what to do with herself. She turned upSt Clair Road with the idea of going home. RATT□The poor beasts were so tormented by flies they didn't know what to do with themselves.□ Agrown man and woman lisping and babbling at each other like that! I tell you, I don't know where to put myself when they start that baby-talk, o variant not know where to put oneself, usu meaning‘feel uncomfortable or embarrassed`.not know what one is missing not realize how good sth one dislikes, or chooses not to avail oneself of, really is a The British sport-sman shoots a good many native birds, too, but nothing like as many as he could. If pheasants,why not thrushes? From my own experience, I'd say the inconsistent Englishman doesn't know what he's missing. OBS□ This is the India that few people have or make the opportunity to see and appreciate. They don't know what they aro missing . ST a I regret all the years I could have been enjoying classical music. But I was ig-norant, you see, I didn't know what I was missing. not know where/ which way to look/turn one's eyes (informal) be embarrassed.awkwardly self-conscious, etc adv: not, hardly.scarcely a It would be historically more correct to picture the embarrassment, in that setting(Versailles) of those who came with the news of defeat at Blenheim. In a place resplendent with emblems of victory they can hardly have known which way to look. PL u A baby in the same carriage was bad enough hu t when the girl calmly opened her blouse and pulled out her breast to jeed it. the prim old hachelor didn't know where to look. o The child was ashamed of the affectionate fuss his mother was making of him in front of his schoolmates and didn't know where to turn his eyes. □ Her parents live inBerkshire where she was brought up. Now, when neighbours say they saw Pam on telly (=television) last night, her Mum doesn't know which way to look. TVT not know/ be sure where one's next meal/ penny is coming from live without security: live on the edge of poverty, want, or starvation o They would not have expected a man with a full belly to have the same look as one who did not know where his next meal was coming from. SML o Mr C G Baker, was a classic of the favoured ' ordinary' type of Pools winner--conscientious, hardworking and, up to that Saturday, never quite sure where his next penny was coming from. STo(NONCE) Palmer's foresight in his business affairs means that when retirement ultimately comes, he won't have any qualms about where his next set of golf balls is coming from. ST not know where/ which way to turn not know what to do, how to help oneself, or obtain help □ Every line of investigation had brought me to a dead end and I didn't know where to turn.□The prospective parents objected to blood trans-fusions, und the surgeon did not know which way to turn in order to save the child. OBS□ Aservice to Jura would require Government assis-tance. The islanders do not know which way to turn next, but they still live in hope that ships will again call at Craighouse on a regular basis. SCo" We' re so pleased to see you,' she said. ' Luckily there's no one much here at the moment sometimes we just don't know where to turn so as to fit people in.’ TCB not let the sun go down (up) on one's anger/ wrath (saying) limit one's anger or bad temper, not carry it over from one day to another o(source) Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath. EPHE.SIANS IV26□She' ll cry herself to sleep if she's not forgiven. Come on, James--don't let the sun go down on your wrath!a She's a very irritable old lady, my mother But she does try not to let the sun go down on her anger. D on now more common than upon. not (bloody) likely no; certainly not; not on your (sweet etc) life(!) (qv); not on your nelly(qv)o But the idea (of chasing after them) never occurred to me. In any case what was I to do?Knock him flut and drag Kathy back by the hair?Not likely LLI>R o ' Perhaps John will do the dishes for a change. ' she said, winking at her mother-in-law. ' Not likely. ' John said,' with two women in the house with nothing better to do.’ oJenny will write my speech for me.’ Not bloody likely! or even not Pygmalion likely! ’ saidJenny o short emph comment or reply; not bloody likely (taboo) may either give extra em-phasis, or be (facetious) conscious imitation ofEliza Doolittle's reply in py(iMALiON I I by G BSHAW 1856-1950. not a little quite; very adj: weary, jealous,wary, surprised adv: wearily, wildly a She was not a little weary of huving to cook Christmas dinner for ten people each year. In fact he was not a little surprised by the results of my work.and asked u number of question r which were forceful variants on the theme‘Are you sure?’.NSC□ So all in all there was quite a bit of work to do before he got through his pile of plates---work that was not a little tedious. TBCo He was shouting, not a little wildly, for someone to let him out. o used for understaterment. not long for this world [Comp(AdjP)] likely,or certain, to die soon, or have (had) a very short life V: △be; seem o Lord Warbeck was not long for this world. He had made that clear in his letter of invitation After him there would be more Warbecks of Warbeck Hall. EMoOf the children thus affected at hirth, most are not long for this world anyway and there is a strong.urgument for not subjecting them to painful and ultimately ineffective operations.□ Mrs Bennet sat with them for half an hour. a f rail presence not long for this world. not matter a damn etc be of no importance,consequence $: result, outcome; it. .. whether he came, it. .. how we did it. O: a damn, △(taboo) a bugger, fuck o It didn't matter a bugger to me which of them finished the job, so long as it got finished. □(NONCE) Ford Prefect knew that it didn't matter s pair of Dingo'sKidney s whether Arthur's house got knocked down or nol. HHGG not to mention/ speak of sth/ sb [Conj]and also; and as may be assumed; and、 perhaps;more importantly; to say nothing of sth/ sb(qv)o It was a vast territory. consisting not only of huilt-up areas, but also of fields, woods and a number of lakes, not to ment ion three airports.Lo A harrel of 500 large herring sold for £1-45. 413 <414> not mince matters/(one's) words---not on your (sweet etc) life(1) which would have bought a good supply of meal,not to speak of whisky, at that time. SC□ They sent a plane with food for you, but they couldn't find you. I tell you there's been one big flap on back in Fairbanks, not to speak of the hue and crygoing on in camp. BM□This gallery was to put on a one-man show and give everyone a chance to see my work and talk about it and make me famous, not to mention buy it and make me rich. CON D precedes last single item, or group of items, of pair or list. not mince matters/(one's) words[V+ O]speak frankly, bluntly, or coarsely o The HomeSecretary saw no reason to mince matters.' Any revelations you make, Professor Kingsley,will be regarded by the Government as a serious contravention of the Official Secrets Act. ’ TBC oA letter from Carson, written in his old age(1933) when he no longer needed to mince his words, tells it all. NS not a moment too soon [A(NP)] almost too late, or at a time already overdue V: come, ar-rive; happen; reach, get, sb o (reforms in the police force) Anger, dismay, open criticism all add up to a picture of morale so low that it is clear that Mr Mark's radical changes come not emo-ment too soon. NS a But if there is a genuine revival, Dr MacIntosh feels that it has come not am oment too soon. ' The situation is desperate for the preservation of Gaelic, it really is,’ he says. RTo‘Wegot him notamoment too soon,’the surgeon told me, ' the appendix was badly perforated.’ not much'(informal) no; certainly not o ' Murn was asking in the last letter if you were ever going to get a commission.' ' Not much, ' he said 'l get more fun this way.'RFWo' Shall we see you at theBaby Show?' ' Not much you will, What wouldI be doing at an affair like that?'o Some people think we' re a second-rate team now. Not much we aren't, as they' ll very soon find out. D often precedes short emph answer to previous ques-tion or statement. not much² (informal, ironic) certainly; very much so□' Honest, mam,I can't tell you one half of what went on, because you wouldn't want to hear it.’(Not much,I thought. I could see her as large as life licking her chops.) LLDR□ Chucked issen(= threw himself) from the hospital win-dow. Dead? Not much 'e aint(= he isn't). The brainless bastards had put him in a ward six floors up, which finished him off proper. LLDRo' Surely Jenny wouldn't lie over a trifle like that.'' Not much she wouldn't. Lying's second nature to her.’ not much cop [Comp (AdjP)] (informal) of slight, or no, value or advantage V:△be; look;think sth o(Davies tries on a pair of shoes As-ton has given him) DAVIES: They'd cripple me in a week. I mean, these ones I (= I' ve) got on,they' re no good but at least they' re comfortable.Not much cop, but I mean they don't hurt. TC o' What fee are they paying you?' £20.' ' That's not much cop. Take your Income Tax and your fares (ie travelling expenses) off that and you might as well stay at home.’ not much of a sth¹ [Comp(NP)] lacking skill,ability, value, competence V:△be; prove, find sb. n: mechanic, tennis-player, cook; gift,reason, treat o ' Tell me, do you service these 414 (vacuum cleaners)?’ ' I send Lopez. I'm not much of a mechanic. When I touch one of these things it somehow seems to give up working.'OMIHo Doctor! He's not much of a doctor if he's been treating you for three months for an illness you haven't got. □ Here's a sketch Robin did of his father. It's not much of a likeness, is it? not much of a sth²[Comp(NP)] sb/ sth that is unpleasant only to a minor or insignificant degree (the implication being that the event or state is not as disagreeable as might be expec-ted) V: △ be; prove, find sb. n: nuisance, bur-den, mess, disability, lie; complainer o 'I'm sorry to be such a nuisance, nurse.'' You' re not much of a nuisance, my dear. I wish that most of my patients were as easy to do for.'a Jim's not much of a fusser (= does not make a fuss)about his food so what Mrs Hodgkins was giving them must have been pretty awful.□' What have you been doing to yourself now?' 'I nicked my finger with the vegetable knife—— not much of a cut really. The bandage is just to keep it clean.'not need to tell sb/ say sb is already aware of sth being referred to; the information is already known, or can probably be guessed, by sb adv:not, hardly, scarcely o Well, the telephone ac-count has come in and I don't need to tell you it's a shocker. □ I need hardly tell you that if this story of yours becomes public there will be very grave repercussions indeed. TBCo If that's the company you were with you don't need to tell me who paid for the lunch.□We both wish you the best of luck and need hardly say how sorry we are not to have seen you before you sailed. ◇△next entry. not need any telling be already willing,ready, or eager to do sth which one is told,invited, or urged to do adv: not, never, hardly o ' Eat plenty, there's a lot more if you want it.But the men didn't need any telling, after their long day in the fields. o‘Watch carefully now,children,’ the conjuror said, but they hardly needed telling, so keen were they to catch him out if they could. a ' Look on the floor (=ground),' Bert called out. Colin needed little telling: snapped down to the gutter, walked a hundred yards doubled-up like a premature rheumatic, and later shot straight holding a packet with two whole cigarettes protruding.LLDR O variant need little telling. △ previous entry. not on your (sweet etc) life(!) (informal)certainly not; not (bloody) likely (qv); next entry (qv) adj: sweet, △ blooming, bloody oJASON: Marry me tomorrow and we will merge in every way. SONIA: Not on your life—— business and pleasure don't mix. DPM□' It would be very nice if you could come on the Committee,' saidLydia, 'I'm terrified of it.' ' Not on your sweet life,' said Mr Wickham with sad want of gal-lantry. WDM o In the worlds of commerce and industry, your secretary is your subordinate: in the Civil Service, not on your life. Rating in the hierarchy goes up thus: Assistant Principal,Principal, Assistant Secretary, Under Secretary,Deputy Secretary, Secretary! SMLo And so MaxFaulkner advises club golfers to think seriously about using women's clubs. But will you? Not on your life, and neither will I, because for some reason we'd find it an affront to our tatty <415> not on your nelly— not see etc sb's/ sth's like(s) again masculinity. SC□ short emph comment or reply.not on your nelly(slang) no; certainly not; not(bloody) likely(qv); previous entry(qv) □ PET-ER Playing chess? I' ll give you a game. ALEX:Not on your Nelly——I only play against myself.DPM o Pop asked with some concern if he shouldn't give him (the baby) a piece of fried bread to be going on with? Ma said Not on your nelfy, ' in a voice very near to severity. BFA□ They even had a meeting and asked me if I would release them from their obligations. I told them:Not on your nelly. All I want is the chance to prove you wrong.'RTO short emph comment or reply; capital or small N. not(the) one etc to do sth[Comp(NP)] not sb who, from character, principles or habit,would be likely to do sth v: △ be, seem; con-sider sb to be. n: (the) one, △a/ the man,woman, person o When her English butler,Robert, asks for an increase in the housekeeping,she refuses. However this British underdog is not one to take defeat lying down. TVT□ The HomeSecretary was not a man to offer a staunch defence to a losing argument. When an argument led him to an awkward impasse he simply chan-ged the subject und never referred to the old topic again. TBC□Quiet, genial and studious, Eric Var-ley, Minister of Energy, is not the man to waste public money. NS not one whitetc[A(NP)] not(in) the smallest amount or degree V: care, worry, upset, discon-cert, disturb, sb. n: whit, △ jot, iota o MrsThorpe seemed a bit baffled but it didn't faze(=disconcert) Mr Thorpe one whit. He took it good-naturedly in his stride, answering everyone,neglecting no-one. RT o Forgive me, my dear friend, for writing and accept my sincere gratitude for all you have done— this sad end to it cannot diminish that by one jot. HAAo Some of ' Amarcord' looks ' remarkably authentic—the village square for example— but tails quick-ly off into familiar bits of studio, the front offices,the canteen, the dubbing theatres, barely dis-guised by a few antique film posters. Of course it does not matter one iota. ◇ △a jot or tittle. not the only pebble on the beach [Comp(NP)] just one of a number of people or things equally available, suitable, or desirable V: △be; look like □ Peggy's just playing hard to get.Let her see she's not the only pebble on the beach and she’ ll act very differently. o(a res-taurant) We go in, come out, say hello, smile.Just one of the hundreds and thousands, just ofe little pebble on the beach to them, but they always do us well. STo' While you' re wondering whether it's worth the price, someone else may snap it up. '' So what? It's not the only pebble on the beach. There's a lot more people selling.caravans than buying them at this time of year.o variant just one pebble on the beach. not a patch on sb/ sth[Comp(NP)] not near-ly so good, bad, beautiful, funny etc as sb/ sthV:△be; think, reckon, sb. o: his father, your garden; what happened here a He's growing up a very nice boy, but not a patch on his father for looks. a Your aunt is eaten up with self-pity. No trouble anyone ever had is a patch on what she's had to suffer. not one's place(to do sth) [Comp(NP)] not within one's authority, the terms of one's em- ployment, etc(to do sth); presumptuous, inter-fering, over-familiar, of one(to do sth)V:△be,seem; think sth o 'I think it's a matter for her to decide, sir, ' said Briggs unreertainly. 'I'm sure Idon't want to stand in your way but it's not my place to give orders.'EM□ Don't let yourself be taken advantage of. You' re nurse-companion to the old lady, It's not your place to do personal washing for the whole family. O rather dated:sometimes used by servants etc in talking deferentially of the limits of their authority, as in first example not a sausage (dated slang) nothing at all oCan't hear you, old man, not a susage. Up a bit. I still can't hear you. PMoI thought Stanley would have to pay some of his expenses himself?"' Well, he didn't. Not a swisage.' o Fred was going to write to us regularly once he got settled over there, but that's six months gone by and not88M130ge. not say boo to a goosse be very/ too timid or gentle o I don't know why, but everybody in the yard expected to see some scruffy, half-baked,daft sort of piece that wouldn't say boo to #goose. LLDR o Rose's heartbeat quickened.Stanley couldn't say boo to a goose but he made her sweat. It was no good flaring at him—— his eyes were quite fixed and steady and she was losing. TSMP□Oh, she looks as if she can't say boo to a goose but some of these quiet little things can be wonderfully stubborn. O with can,could, would. not one's scene[Comp (NP)](informal) sur-roundings, company, employment, recreation etc not suited to one's temperament or abilitiesV: △be, seem; think sth □ The camp, we were told, was ' regimented', there was ' strict discipline', children were taken for walks' crocodile fashion', an atmosphere of ' uncanny.quiet' permeated the whole place. Now you andI may feel that is not quite our scene—— but I had supposed that good order and discipline —— to say nothing of peace, quiet and calm— were just the values it stood for. NS□ In 1974 he heard that the producer of the Tattoo was retiring. Ididn't think it was my scene but was persuaded to apply. And here I am.’ RTo(a BBC interviewer speaks)I don't like to see people who are neither politicians nor villains discomfited. It's all too simple to specialise in making people squirm.That's not my scene. RTo' These affairs always end up the same way, he grumbled, everybody looking to me to tell them what to do.' ' Oh? I'd have thought that was just your scene!’ o variant be sb's scene, used for emphasis or contradiction. not see it/ that happening not expect that sth suggested, promised or wished for will hap-pen o The islanders don't want to leave, and probably wouldn't if there were a subsidy to reduce freight charges. Bul they don't see that happening. a‘Will he really take things easier?’' He promised the doctor he would, but I can't see it happening.'□ esp after don't/ can't. not see etc sb's/ sth's like(s) again sb/ sth has been outstandingly good, able, praisewor-thy, impressive etc and is unlikely to be equal-led by anyone/ anything in the future adv: not,never, not ever. V: see, △ look upon, meet,come across□ (source) He was a man, take him 415 <416> not see the wood for the trees— not/ never suffer fools gladly for all in all,/I shall not look upon his like again. HAMLET12o(reader's letter) lenjoyed theGene Kelly interview on ' Film 74' (5 Nov,BBC1). Barry Norman can indeed shed a furtive tear that we will not see Kelly's like again. RT□The Seychelles are a blissfully forgotten corner of the earth , and if forgotten places appeal to you, they should be seen soon. I know I shall never see their like again. ST o In this country we shall not easily see the remote likes ofGreaves again--which is the problem: where are the exciting prospects a football season should produce’ Lo Of Lady Ottoline it may be said, in a phrase much hackneyed by amateur obituarists, that we shall not look upon her like again---but then, who had ever looked upon it before? AHO with shall/ will and usu first person.◇△ the likes of sb; not have seen etc the like (of sth)/ sth's like. not see the wood for the trees be unable to understand, deal with, a main subject, issue,problem etc because one is confused by, or too closely involved in, numerous or complex details o Whether viewers find this series as fascinating as I do is difficult to judge. I may not he able to see the wood for the trees, being involved in it DM□Th e second part is made up of separate chapters on Peake's individual novels.his shorter prose pieces and his poems. A criti-cism of his (ie the author's) method is that one cannot see the wood for the trees. SCoA wise historian usually stops twenty or thirty years before his time, because--like the rest of us--he can't see the wood for the trees. o(NONCE)His own research was devouring him. Even his friends thought he was in danger of missing the wood in contemplation of the trees. OBS o(NONCL) Distinguishing the wood from the trees is the task facing Scotland's rughy club delegates when they meet in Edinburgh on Friday to debate the formation of an ational league com-petition. SCo(NONCE) He never had time to think because he was always reading papers. He sew every tree, but never the whole wood. MFMOfrequently adapted, as shown, not/ hardly sleep a wink not get any sleep/get very little sleep □ Many said they would not sleep a wink but in fact they slept more soundly and exhaustedly that night than on most nights.MMDI hardly slept a wink all night because of that howling wind. not so/ too hot [Comp(AdjP)] (informal) not very good, healthy, satisfactory V:△be, look,feel o Beaumont runs in the fourth semi-final and goes out(ie does not qualify to run in the final race). ' Got away all right,' he says flatly. ' The rest of it wasn't so hot.'STo ' How are you feel-ing this morning? ' Not too hot, actually. My stomach's been upset these last two days.'a In other words, so long as a programme denouncing the evils of capitalist society is matched by one showing that things under socialism are not too hot either, once the heavy mob gets in charge,honour is satisfied. L not so much a programme, more a way of life (catchphrase) sth which becomes an obsession or a life's work, rather than the more limited, modest activity it may appear to be(from the title of a BBC TV series shown during the 1960s)o (NONCE) Well, we are used to ' Play 416 for Today' being not so much a drama, more a way of life, so that the gritty unlit quality(of the pre-credit sequence) should have prepared us for a gritty, unilluminated, long, hard look at our-selves. Lo(NONCE) ' Don't tell me you have a drink problem too?’ Not so much a problem, more a way of life . It's my friends that do the worry-ing.’ o frequently adapted, as shown. not so (as) you'd notice(informal) possibly,but, if so, not noticeably (the implication often being' not really',' not at all')oCHARLES Some people said that maybe the radiation was clear-ing. RACHEL : Do you think it is? CHARLES: Not so's you'd notice. Ol o Were dire warnings voiced by those omniscient organs, the ' FinancialTimes' and the ' Economist' ? Not so you'd notice. NS not a(living) soul[Comp/O(NP)](nobody at all V: there be; see, know, tell to sth o ADA: Is there anyone about? HENRY: Not a living soul.Eo'I was captivated by the life around here,' he says. 'I love the corner bakeries still making their own bread, the walks across the moors where you don't see a soul.'TVTo It's the truth. There's not a living soul of my kin left anywhere in the world. SC o ' You aren't expecting anyone, are you, Carter?’' No, why?' ' I thought---the way you watched the door--''I don't know # soul in this town. I told you.'oMIHo Well , the mon-ster's asleep in the cave and snoring like an earth-quake. But not a word of this to a living soul.Kenny. RM□ For close on two months he saw not a living soul. o... when you see how many items in any evening are recorded Sounetimes I wonder whether any living souls are actually insideTV's Tower of Babel at White City on any given night. ST o variant, if/ whether any living soul(s)、in interr sentences. not (know sb) to speak to not (know sb)well enough for an exchange of greetings, con-versation etc to take place o ' You know her, of course?’‘Not to speak to. After all, she’ s hardly of our square little circle down here.’ YWT o Iknow his work and had attended some of his lectures but had never met him to speak to before. □ Mary Ashley---she's the dark-haired girl in your office isn't she? I' ve seen her around but I don't know her to speak to. not speak ill of the dead (saying) not say anything slighting, or critical about sb who has died, esp to those who knew him(a free transla-tion of the Latin proverb mentioned in first quotation) modal: ought to, must, should oThe rational explanation for not speeking ill of the dead (' De mortuis nil nisi bonum') is ob-vious. We don't want to distress the bereaved,and the dead can't hit back. OBS o' Now, now.Mary. One is not supposed to speak ill of the dead.’ Why not. I want to know, if they deserve it?'o almost always neg. not/ never suffer fools gladly not be tolerant of, or patient with, people who are, or are assumed to be, stupid or foolish o(source)For ye suffer fools giadly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. II CORINTHIANS XI 19o Mark was ob.sessed with hard work and problems. He didn't suffer fools gladly and anybody not prepared to work 100 percent for Mark was a fool to him and he could be hard on them. STo This strange mix-ture of aesthete and athlete could scarcely be <417> not tonight, Josephine— not the whole etc story called stupid Liddell Hart, who never suffered fools gladly or otherwise.commented that he had a good intelligence and an exceptionally open mind'. NSo Who cares about grease on your lapel? '' I do.'' Well, the waiter' ll bring you some-thing. She sighed, as if it were a tremendous effort to her to suffer fools us gladly as she did.us o occas used without neg as in last example.not tonight, Josephine (catchphrase) fa-cetious way of delining an offer (supposedly said by Napolcon to his first wife, Josephine)oA small boy touting lottery tickets approachedHarry Bannion. ' Not tonight, Josephine,' he countered. ILIH a Silly, but fun all the same--pillowslips for couples who have a communica-tion problem at bedtime, if it's a case of not-tonight-Josephine (or Joe) you may put theNo-side up. NS not trust sb an inch/ as far as one could throw him [V + O + A pass] (informal)believe sb to be dishonest, unreliable, likely at any time to do sth criminal, wrong or foolish if not prevented o ' No offence, Steve?' And Steve laughed. ' Not between old comrades in arms,' he said, and backed out and along the top corridor away from a t yke you couldn't trust as far as you could throw him. TTo No, young Victoria.I'm going to have you right under my eyes. I'm noi going to take any chances on your running out on me. I don't trust you an inch. TCB o(NONCE) (racing) Of course. there are murky sheep in every walk of life, and in view of the money involved it is hardly surprising that there ure a few characters engaged in the sport who can not be trusted as far as you can kick a block of concrete. ST not turn a hair [V + O] not show fear, dismay,surprise, excitement etc in circumstances when such a reaction might be expected adv: not,never, hardly o It was a swingeing sentence he got but he didn't turn a hair as he sat in the dock.You 'd have thought the judge was talking about somebody else. o If they had fireworks at theGymkhana he would put one under Edith's skirts,just to see what happened. Probably never turn a hair, he thought. DBM□ He had tried to convey to her without other people's noticing it how glad he was to see her, and he had much admired the way his love was able to receive the quick signals of affection without turning a single fair hair.RM o With very little visible protest we ac-quiesced in having a European destiny thrust upon us, we even accepted the bankruptcy of per-haps our proudest national company without turning a hair. NS □ variant without turning a hair, not unduly worried etc[Comp (AdjP)] not very, or excessively, anxious; (ironic) not as anxious as it would be natural to be V: △ be,seem, feel. adj: worried, A disturbed, anxious.distressed n I discovered that he had not eaten anything I was not unduly worried by this, for some creatures when newly caught refuse to eat until they have settled down in captivity. BBo It was a bit of a shock to be declared redundant, but since I had a r idy sum of money saved I was not unduly anxious about finding another job im-mediately. o It was the Negro who had been sweeping the passage. He said, ' Policia((Spanish) = the police)!’ No one seemed unduly disturbed. The fat woman drained her wine, the girl who was called Teresu pulledon her second stocking. OMIH not want any part of sth [V + 0] not agree to take any part in, to be in any way associated with, sth o: it; this scheme; what you' re suggest-ing on Y Oh, Christ' Seven years or so of establishing oneself as a sound young man----/want to opt out, I don't want any part of it.EHOW□I didn't want any part of this silly recep-tion. It was all so crass. Cono usui n first person,variant (formal) want no part of it. not want to know(informal) deliberately not seek information about, contact with, sb/ sth that may involve one in worry, work, trouble etc o T'm advertising like mad for a housekeeper or a maid, but they don't want to know, do they?STo She must have suspected that some at least of the extras the boy was bringing home from the shop were stolen, not given to him But if so, she didn't want to know. □ The gap be-tween school training and work training is, in-deed, one of the greatest failures of the British system. In general schools don't want to know anything to do with the world at work. ' says MrHayes. G not waste words [V + O pass] speak as briefly, or as seldom, as possible, either habitu ally or on a particular occasion(the implication usu being that what is said is to the point and effective) □ The cheek of them, walking into in ward like that! Sister didn't waste words tell-ing them what to do. ' Out! ' she said, and they went a lot faster thu n they came in. □ MissAdelaide Small, the editor who had repluced Vir-ginia's mother, was a dry, business-like woman who wasted no words, and no sympathy on anvone who made a mistake. AlTCo Once she sturts a story no one can stop her from finishing,but she does not waste words. IVI O usu pass not a word was wasted; variant wastenowords not waving but drowning bchaviour, or actions, not indicating (as might be thought)well-being, personal and social assurance, etc but (if rightly interpreted) failure to cope.distress, need for help, etc□(source) Oh. nono no, it was too cold alwaysi(Still the dead one lay moaning)/I was much too far out all my life/ And not waving but drowning. NOT WAVING BUTDROWNING (S SMITH 1902-71)□ This dictum goes with the observation that most funny people are unhappy. But there's more to it If you look hard at Blake, and Erasmus and Rabelais, what do you see? Not just the sentimentality of men waving while they are really drowning, hul three fools insisting that Aristotle was on to something when he pointed out that we are the only species with the gift of laughter SC□Except in the sonnets and poems, Shakespeare's formal sense is disguised and does not threaten. No matter how wrong this idea might be, it does give the poet bobbing in Shakespeare's wake the momentary illusion that he might be waving in-stead of drowning. ST o often adapted, as shown. not the whole etc story [Comp/O(NP)] not all, only part, of what there is to be known.learned, about sth V: be; hear, know. adj: the whole, △ half the, the end of the o While his faults of character may be partly duc to deficien- 417 <418> not with a bang but a whimper---nothing if not sth cies in upbringing and education, it's not the whole story. Many boys with a worse home and an unhappier school-life have proved that these are not insuperable obstacles.□(income tax) The single person or the married couple without child-ren are even more heavily penalised. Nor is that(or: And that is not) by any means the whole story. NS□A systematic long-term change of this kind suggests the action of natural selection and indicates that female skeletal characteristics confer greater fitness. But is this the whole story? Lo' Producer in one company, drama ad-viser in another, lecturer and occasional actor,'says the blurbo f one of his books, but that is only half the story. Lo As nothing whatever is known of Shakespeare's personality such an assertion can neither be proved or disproved. But this is not the end of the story. The Oedipus complex can be adduced to explain the actions of any particular person. SNP □ sometimes interr with neg implication as in third example; variant only half the story. not with a bang but a whimper (catch-phrase) not having a spectacular, magnificent,or terrifying conclusion or downfall but collapsing or fading out in an insignificant way□(source) This is the way the world ends/ Not with a bang but a whimper. THE HOLLOW MEN(T S ELIOT 1888-1965)□(the Nixon administration,US) This is the way it ends. Not with a big bang,as many had feared. And not with with an embar-rassed sigh of relief, as others had hoped. But with veiled accusations and self-justifying whimpers from an Administration that finds the buck can no longerbe passedon. NS□BBC2's Sun-day night goes out with a whimper rather than a bang. Still, it's supposed to be a day ofrest. Lo As a colleague I respected, he merited better than he got—— and better than he dealt himself. Sadly, the bang of his going will dwindle into the whimper of his political suicide. L o often adapted, as shown. not a word no mention (to be) made; ro in-formation (to be) given, or received A: to your father; about what's happened; of this □ Well,the monster's asleep in the cave and snoring like an earthquake. But not a word of this to a living soul, Kenny. We must be patient till Thursday comes. RM□I' ve always been a coward. Saunders is so overpowering. But if Guy is in trouble of course I will help. And not a word to Saunders.DC □ ' Have you heard when or whether theCanadian team are coming over?’' Not a word.’o usu imper; often(part of) verbless clause, as in second example where last sentence = ‘And don't say anything to Saunders'. not to worry (informal) I'm not going to worry too much; don't worry; let us not worry□ ' Quite a whirl of events—— at least you' ll know'that you' ve been married.' ' Won't I just?' she said. ' Still, not to worry.'TTo(from a yachts-man's diary) The seas are certainly changing.They are looking much more formidable. Not to worry. Can't last for ever (or can it)?SCo What a shame making you listen to all this. Not to worry, I' ll get it sorted out somehow. o used as mild suggestion usu recommending sb else not to worry on one's behalf. nothing but sth/ do sth [Comp/O(NP)] only sth/ do sth V: be; hear, see, do. A:a fake; disas- 418 ter; grumble, complain o We' ve heard nothing but moans all day, o You' ve done nothing but grumble ever since we arrived. Shut up or cheer up!□ Her life's been nothing but disaster upon disaster but her courage never fails. O front position. ◇ △ anything but; have etc everything but (sth). (there is) nothing etc to choose be-tween A and B (there is) no, or very little,difference between two, or a number of, people or things pron/n: nothing,△not anything; not,hardly, a pin; not much, very little. o: this and that, the old and the new, France and Britain oIt's only the gold mounting that pushes the price of this model up. For capacity and length of ser-vice there's nothing to choose between this and the cheaper pen. o ' That , treacherous devil.It's the last time I do anything for anyone.'' Can you stand up?'' Drewaknife on me. My leg hurts.They' re all the same in the end. Nothing to choose between them.'ILIH□(Lydia) thought to herself that as far as conscientiousness went there was hardly a pin to choose between theEarl and his Countess, except that she had per-fect health. WDMo As a test of speed or an obs-tacle course, cyclocross leaves little to choose between the top riders, but champions are made in those brief moments when guts count most.TVT (there is) nothing doing(informal) no; one doesn't, and won't, agree to do what is reques-ted, suggested or ordered; one can't get, find,succeed in doing, sth oIASON: Just get rid of Pet-er Mann. Get him away from here—— as far as possible. ALEX: Nothing doing. I'm in the middle of my game. DPM □ ' Listen,' Daniel said toQuerini, ' It won't hurt you if you let this go.You' ll get something better in time. No thanks.Wouvermans, there's nothing doing.'USo' Did you get that stain out of your skirt.' ' I tried with everything I could think of, but nothing doing.'□ Sh e went first to the door and examined it.Certainly nothing doing there. This wasn't the kind of lock you picked with a hairpin. TCBφΔsomething/ nothing doing. nothing/(not) anything (else) for it (but to do sth) [Comp/O (NP)] no other action or procedure (is) possible or suitable in the cir-cumstances V: there be, seem; (can) see oRoughly Charles tore the letter open. It is true what Bernard tells you(ie I am his mistress, not his niece, and will not see you again). There is nothing for it. I am sorry. V. HD□Do you know he wanted me to write a book about him? I soon crapped on that((taboo) = rejected that sugges-tion), as you can imagine. But I shall more or less have to get this article out; I can't see anything for it. ILIH o I chafed at the delay, but there seemed to be nothing for it but to wait a year and go to Oxford when I could get into College.RFWo We' re going to Eve's party, baby-sitter or no baby-sitter. We' ll put Sally in the carry-cot and take her with us if there's nothing else for it. nothing if not sth [Comp (NP)] undeniably and/ or noticeably having some quality, either as a permanent characteristic or on a particular occasion V: △ be; think, consider, sb. adj:active; just; professional. n:a model of tact,a trouble maker, a professional o Bruce Forsyth <419> nothing in particular— nothing/(not) anything of the kind/ sort relishes thu s new television series, his first forBBC' because it's a family game. giving leums from different generations something to do. An active show…… und I'm nothing if not diline. RIu Harold was so he believed/ noth-ing if not just, and in the light of justice, with the wish to square the account between him and Alec,he was prepared to reconsider the case of Irma.pw a ' Sister Burstead was cross with GrannyDun can?” said the matron. She was nothing.said Miss Taylor. if not cross.'MMa And those are only two examples of the type of reporting that clogs every page. Michner is nothing if not a mu ster of the banal. SC o At this time Belton who was noted for nothing if not for persis-tence was making his third attempt at locating the sunken vessel. u Leading scientists are characterised by nothing if not by their ex-treme laciturnity on every topic save their adop-ted specialism(s). L o variants noted, renowned etc for nothing if not for, characterized, typified etc by nothing if not by sth. nothing in particular [Comp/O (NP)] no-thing worth special mention, nothing much at all. no single item of special importance or interest among other things done, thought or said V: be; do, notice, buy, enjoy, want □ The most transporting representations of theCherubim are those which show them as they are in their native habitat---doing nothing in par-ticular. HAHo Professor Matthew's talk on theFourth Piano Concerto was about nothing in particular. NS□EdwardShort had never met me;he had nothing in particular to discuss but he thought it would be useful to have a brief talk before the summer break. NS□ ' Is there anything you want for your birthday?'' Nothing in par-ticular. You just give me an ice surprise.'ocfnol in particular =' not specially, not more than anything else' as in' Are you fond of poetry. too?'' Not in particular. If somebody finds me some to read I often enjoy it, but I never seek it out, if you know what I mean.' nothing is/ can be farther from one's mind/ thoughts (than sth) sth previously mentioned, or to be defined, is an opinion.wish, intention one definitely does not have o'I'm not lying about this, you know. '' Nothing could be farther from my thoughts, my dear chap. I'm merely amazed.' o It seemed a dis-loyalty to Madge to declare that nothing was farther from my mind than the idea of marry-ing her—— especially as it now occurred to me that Madge might well have been using my al-leged aspirations as a lover to make up Sammy's mind. UTN□ In short this looks like a genuine offer of international inspection made by theUnited States and applicable to her own terri-tory. Russia should jump at it(= accept it eager-ly). But nothing seems to be farther from her thoughts. SC o (a television series) WhenReginald Iolanthe Perrin set out for work on theThursday morning, he had no intention of calling his mother-in-law a hippopotamus. Nothing could have been further from his thoughts.RI □ alternative spellings farther/ further. nothing is sacred (catchphrase) there is no subject or situation, however sublime, impor-tant etc, which is not, or cannot be, treated frivolously, with disrespect, etc o He sets out to amuse by offending as many people as possible.He makes racial jokes, sick-and-sin jokes, noth-ing is sacred and he is there to tell us. NS□ WithGeorge V. the Edwardian social scene disintegrated pretty sharply. Headstrong girls were mocking their chaperones (was nothing sucred?). NSO frequently facetious. nothing/ not anything like far from; not at all; nowhere near (qv) adj: enough, ready;crippled. n/ pron:5 miles; the same salary; it oWe would need a circulation of 30,000 for the paper to survive and so far we had nothing like it. a The paradox was that, as they worked against time. Luke had nothing like enough to do. NMo At the same time, many Forces have been at nothing like full strength. To(bad luck in losing a football match) That time the ball went in, and we won one-nowt(= 1-0). And we played nothing like as well as we played tonight.Nothing like it. OBS□ Nonsense! Eric's nothing like crippled— just got a slight limp.□HARRIS:You mentioned your elder brother. How had you got on with him?RIGG: Four years between child-ren is a big gap: so as children we weren't so close. Nothing like so close as we are now. OBSo may also modify an adv nothing like as well.nothing loath (to do sth) [Comp (AdjP)](facetious) very willing(ly), eager(ly) V: △ be,appear; find sb □ ' Do tell me more about your children, Mr Wicklow,' upon which Roddy,nothing loath, expatiated with the false modesty of a doting parent upon the virtues of his offspring. WDM□' Here, take a swig of this.' No-thing loth, Robin took the flask and raised it to his mouth.□I'd no sooner got out the sherry thanBrian walked in. Of course, he was nothing loath to take adrink.□As you can imagine,I was nothing loath to miss the Sunday morning church parade and readily volunteered to walk the dogs instead. □ alternative spellings loath/loth. nothing/ neither more (n) or less than exactly; unequivocally; merely; just adj:pleasant, agreeable, polite. n: tyrant, dictator;businessman. cl: we'd imagined, you'd expect oBut in Ethiopia (1868) the British sought no gain of any kind. In other words, the whole vast expen-sive operation was nothing more or less than a matter of racial pride. Theodore had affronted a great power and now he was to be punished. BN□ The reception I got was neither more nor less than polite, and our relationship was maintained on that level for the duration of my visit. o Its performance is good enough but nothing more nor less than you'd expect from any car in the£5000–£6000 range. a You' re not fit for such a climh and it's nothing more nor less than folly to attempt it. nothing/(not) anything of the kind/ sort[Comp/O (NP)] not at all what has been sup-posed, suggested or claimed V: be, prove; do.know, say □ He had visions of hulking brutes,members of race-gangs with razors at the ready.or at best, sailors on shore full of high spirits and liquor. Nothing of the kind! The patrons of theGolden Beach Club were as me ek and docile a tribe as the inhabitants of any third-class com-partment on a suburban electric train. HDoPET.ER : Give me another chance. You know you love me. SYLVIA:I know nothing of the kind. DMP□ 419 <420> nothing/ little short of sth— now is the time for all good men to... For the convenience of the moment it would be pleasant to record that the ' New Statesman' was a formative influence of my career in journalism.Alas. nothing of the sort. I grew up with' Chick's Own' , the ' Sporting Pink' and the'Whppet Breeders' Gazette' NS o Theodore claimed that he was of royal blood and in the direct line of kings descending from Solomon andAlexander the Great. He was nothing of the sort. He was the son of a small local chieftain.BN□ Here(on a nail in the fencepost) she was to affix a small piece of the pink handkerchief if she wanted to get into communication with Darin. So far, Victoria reflected bitterly, there had been no need for anything of the sort. TCB o may be used alone as emph denal. nothing/ little short of sth compietely,nearly sth adj: disastrous, rude, perfect. n: a disaster. perfection, cheating o Obviously, the most serious question mark hangs over produc-tion grunts. The NFU ((GB) = National Far-mers' Union) make no bones about it! ' The loss of these grants in hill and upland agriculture would be nothing short of disastrous.'SCa To have withheld such important information at the stage discussion had now reached was nothing short of wilful deception.□ Colin, who was in a state little short of ecstasy at being seated beside a football hero in the flesh. hardly noticed what he ate. ◇△ next entry. nothing short of sth (can/ will do sth)nothing except sth(can/ will do sth) pron: no-thing, (not) anything, nobody; no means, no remedy. o: a miracle; an angel, a weight-lifter.a direct request to go; being born again、 tying sb hand and foot o As the dreaded hour drew near , I thought that nothing short of a miracle could reconcile me to leaving. BMo Then, under the impression that nothing short of a world catastrophe would shake them into conscious-ness... DF□Or, short of being born again as a visionary, a medium, or a musical genius, how can we ever visit the worlds which, to Blake, toSwedenborg, to Johann Sebastian Bach, were home? DOP o If a woman wanted to commit suicide, there was no means of stopping her short of putting her under actual restraint. PE□So although he might wish to send some message nobody could receive it. Short of having this special receiver. TBC□ variant short of (nothing sth can/ will do sth), often with question. ◇ △previous entry. nothing succeeds like success (saying)success brings one the confidence in oneself and respect from others that lead to opportunities for further and greater success(es) □ Nothing succeeds like success—— for a while at least—and publishers can be fairly certain of a good response to that book of an author's which im-mediately follows his best-seller. □ The 50 or more important public engagements throughout the world that await the winner (of the LeedsPiano Competition) underline the fact that nothing succeeds like success. u(NONCE) AsMr Chamberlain observed on another occasion.' There are no winners. ' Nothing succeeds like failure. SC □ (NONCE) If Fellini's motto is no-thing succeeds like excess, it is bad advice to lesser artists. NS nothing to touch sth[Comp/O(NP)] nothing 420 so good, so effective, that reaches such a stan-dard ofexcellence, as sth V:(there) be; see, find,meet; taste. pron: nothing; (not) anything.another; (never) anything, another; nobody,no-one;(very) little. O: it, him; the old pros. a good fresh herring o Laddie, the first racing donkey they bought, is now 30--' There's noth-ing to touch him in a sulky trap(= small cart),said Mrs Roberts proudly OBS□(advertisement)When it comes to going. there's very little to touch an Alfa. And it isn't just because of the mph(= miles per hour). OBS□ Dad's one of thc older generation of football enthusiasts and thinks there's no one playing now to touch the old pros like Stanley Matthews. o ' This is very fine port, don't you think?’‘You could call it magnificent. I' ve never tasted another to touch it.’ nothing venture/ risk, nothing gain etc(saying) if one is too timid to risk failure, loss,a rebuff etc, one finishes by having nothing V:gain, 小 win; have o By midday Tuesday I had the answers, a neat, typed list of names and addresses, and muttering nothing venture,nothing gain, I dictated a letter to go to all the club secretaries. PP□‘/ wish now that I had inves-ted some capital in his business as he wanted me to. But who could have guessed then that boating would become so popular?'' Ah, well, nothing venture, nothing win.’ □ Nothing venture,nothing have in love like everything else . If the girl turns you down, you' re no worse off than you were before. o The idea came, and the risk followed, the risk of failure, the risk of being called to account afterwards---Nothing risked,said the Duke , nothing won, and stepped back unnoticed . It was worth trying, anything was worth trying. W! now and again/ then [adv + adv non-rev]occasionally; at irregular intervals within a short or long period of time; every now and again then (qv); every so often(qv); from time to time(qv)□Now and again he shook his head,as if to clear it, like a boxer recovering from a knock-out. HD□BESSIE Yes, I am the only mour-ner. No one ever cared for my poor husband likeI did. SAM: Why didn't you show it now and again? HSGo Although the water was up to his elbows, he moved swiftly like an otter along the side , then across to the other bank, disappearing now and then under the surface. TO a/ wish we hadn't sold the car now, because she never gets out at all and if I could take her out into the country now and then I think she'd like it. RFWo usu front or end position. now I' ve seen everything (catchphrase)comment on an occasion of witnessing sth very unusual, unexpected, unsuitable, or ludicrous(the implication being that nothing the speaker might see in the future would be sufficiently extraordinary to surprise him) □ Not long agoChristine Bell watched about a dozen men trying to persuade a cockerel to crow for a dawn sceneShe said nothing but the look in her eyes was enough. ' Now I' ve seen everything, ' they seemed to say. TVTo' Well, well; John Thomson sitting reading his Bible! Now I' ve seen every-thing. 'I'm just looking up a reference, you ass.'now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party (supposed) rallying <421> now it can be told—— nowhere/ not anywhere to be seen etc call to members of a political party c Our hox-pitul should he modernised not closed Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party Lots of lothying. Lots of letters to the press. The Department has asked the question does the social value of particular railway practices justify a subsidy? This is where all good socialists can come to the aid of the railways. NS= Saturday night(ie New Year`sEve) this week is quite obviously the time for all good men to come to the sid of the party. RTc often facctious. as in last example where party= ` social gathering'. now it can be told (catchphrase) the time for official, tactical. respectful, or deferential secrecy or concealment is over □ This was but one in a short-lived but snappy series of ' now-it-can-be-told movies, all shot ( = filmed) in the early 50s and all— like ' The Godfather'---to do with Mafia-inspired rackets. RToNow it can be told. the true story of my Desert Campaign. It began last year in Addis Ahaba as I was trying to sneak home in time for Christmas, though Iwasn't all that anxious to leave. Lo Nudging our way into the now-it-can-be-told department,a series about dockers was planned, scripts were written and they lie a-mouldering on a BBC shelf--whether for lack of quality or courage is im-possible to say. NSo ' The Press were sympathetic but they go! things so wrong.' she says sadly.And in her defiant now-it-can-be-told autobiography she leaves other hiographers standing embarrassed by her chilling honesty.TVT O attrih use, as in her now-it-can-be-told autobiography, always hyphenated. (it is) now or never [adv+ adv non-rev](sth must be done, decided etc) immediately or all hope or opportunity of doing sth later must be given up□If it were an y time but now! But Len-nie hud said it was now or never, and his eyes were on her. ready to light up in hope, or turn away in defeat. All()(testing a theory about intimidating wild animals) This bull came thun-dering up to an absurd knee-high hedge and told me almost in so muny words that he could hop over it just when he pleased and would gore me as soon as look at me. I felt it was now or never and went right up to him and stared him out. SToIJ it was a case of now or never I'd understand you driving over even in this fog-but you ' ve got six whole months in which to see Martin.□Do you want any of these strawberries? Because now or never is the time. There won't be any left once the children get their hands on them. now then' replaces, or precedes, a statement or question that checks, warns or reproves sb oThe police barred my way. They had orders to let no one out. ' Now then'' said one of them. UTNo' Now then, you lads in the corner, ' said the land-lord. stretching up to look over the heads of the drinkers at the bar, ' we' ll have less of that.'' Less of what” said one cheekily. ' You know what.Just cui it out.'s ' Now then' the ir father said,funging open the bedroom door. ' What's the no ise about’ Do you want your hottoms smacked” now then² can replace, but more often precedes, a statement or question that either suggests sth to sb. or requests sth of him o You know what your parents want, and I' ve just told you what your class teachers think of you . Now then , ure you going to he a sensible girl and stay on at school'' now then. Lurry show us what you can do The stable's looking to you to win this race . I Well that 's the report and the recom-mendations-which of course we are not hound1 0 adopt . He laid down his papers. took off his glasses u nd leunt back.' Now then, anybody want to comment?a4t long last a waitress deign.ed to notice us. if notice is the word for the wearv indifference with which she stood, her pencil poised above her pad , und said" Now then" now then³ follows a defiant statement of opinion or intention; so there(!) (qv) □ BEATHOh, for Christ' s sak c let's stop gossiping . PFARL'I aren't gossiping. I'm making an intelligent oh-servation about the state of television, now then.Ro Rose knew she'd deliberately raised her voice when she told Elsie off and said, ' She's the best friend I' ve ever had and just you remember that with your outsider talk. Now then. TSMP now then⁴ neutral conversation filler in any position, sometimes indicating a momentary pause for thought, but often just verbal habit oTake a look at this letter--now then, where did I put it? Oh, yes, here it is--and tell me what you make of it.□ You' re a little love, aren't you?' she went on, houncing the baby gently on her knee. Now then, who's a good boy, who's granny's pet" now you see it, now you don't (catch-phrase) one is probably being misled; one can-not be sure sth is so but one had better be care-ful and watchful (from the patter of thimble riggers (ie trick sters at fairs etc) who by sleight of hand made it difficult for customers to iden-tify which of three thimbles has a pea under it)pron: it, him, her, them o Looking from the viewpoint of the economy as a whole the econo-mist compares the two situations and asks what is produced when the miner is unemployed? The answer is nothing. Hence to employ him ' costs'nothing. (Now you see it, now you don't.)There is no doubt that Michael Posner sees it. NS□Mr Nixon's entitlement to any credit for having' wound down' the war does not bear any close examination. Much the same motif of how you see him, now you don't' goes for the otherNixon achievement that at first sight seems unassailable — his opening of the door with communist China. NS now you' re talking(informal) what you say or suggest is something I agree with, approve of o ' Feel like a sandwich?' ' Not much. ' 'A drink,then?” Now you' re talking. ' a ' Couldn't you pick some passage that illustrates a central theme or tendency of the book?'' Now you' re talking. ' replied the novelist, who was quite docile so long as the word ' plot' was not uttered.HD nowhere/ not anywhere to be sè en etc not visible; absent, gone, lost, disappeared etcInf: to be seen; △to be found; to be heard; to be met with o I hurried down to the platform and into the refreshment room Steve was nowhere to be seen. SPLo Children treated their parents with a respect such as is nowhere to be swim in these degenerate days. o Then quite suddenly rain-clouds condensed over the whole globe.Within three days not a break was anywhere to 421 <422> nowhere near-an object lesson be found. The Earth was as completely cloud-shrouded as normally is the planet Venus. TBCnowhere near (informal) far from; not at all;much less than or different from; nothing like(qv) adj/n: (being) intoxicated, (being)finished; as/ so pleasant as sth; the same(thing),midnight □ Joe was nowhere near being intoxicated but he had drunk enough to feel restless. AITC□I'm afraid the house is nowhere near ready for occupation yet. □ I bought this card of wool to mend your jersey, but now I' ve brought it home I see it's nowhere near the same colour. oI wouldn't call it a holiday going off to live in a place that's nowhere near so comfortable as your own home. a ' Is the six-monthly sales report ready yet?'' Nowhere near,I'm afraid. Jack's been off work ill for a week.'o may be used alone as comment, answer etc.◇△far from sth. null and void[adj+ adjnon-rev](legal) invalid;not binding or enforceable; cancelled; without value, significance, worth V: be, become;declare, consider, sth O: a law, the treaty, the marriage; our agreement, the arrangement; his remarks o Now,33 years later, Prague's anger at the (Munich, 1938) Agreement has not diminished. TheCzechoslovak Government wants it declared null and void from the moment it was signed. Lo On September 4 the Durham selectors chose Mr David Reed, MP for neighbouring Sedgfield, by 77-75, but this was declared null and void by Labour's NationalExecutive after a number of votes were found to be invalid. ST□ I have a great respect for your father and if any part of this agreement is made on your part without his knowledge and consentI shall consider it null and void.□ He spoke in haste and when he was irritated by pain. It would be kind to take the personal remarks he made on that occasion as null and void. D functions asComp. number one [o (NP)] (informal) oneself and one's own interests, well-being etc V: △look after, take care of,(only) care about o ' Do you mean to say he had a secret store in his tent while the others were going short?'' That's exactly right. Trust a quartermaster to look after number on@.’ o Jimmy Reid, front-line fighter,has not forgotten the support students gaveUpper Clyde Shipbuilders in their struggle. 'Asignificant number of students care about social problems and not just about“nutmber ond”.’ RT□ Martial, the Latin poet, appeals salaciously to what George Orwell called ' the unofficial self'which lurks in all of us-that randy, bilking,lie-abed little fellow, foul-mouthed but when needs be sycophantic, who urges us to look to our bellies and take care of Number One. OBS◇△next entry. (the/ one's) number one/ two the person who is the head/ immediately subordinate to the O an object lesson [Comp (NP)] sth learned or taught by the study and use of actual objects etc; a practical demonstration by sb of an idea 422 head, of an organization, department etco ' Are you a holiday-maker too?’ No,I live here. I work in the Marine Research Station.’‘Indeed!I used to know old Watkins very well. Who's NumberOne there now?'o' You don't usually get the job of meeting the top VIPs off the plane do you?”' Thankfully, no. However the Ambassador himself is home on leave and my number one is laid up with gastric flu.’ o Our benefactor rose to rejoin his family, waving aside our offers of refreshment, his good deed done. So we fell back on his number two, the café owner, and persuaded him to join us with a round of the dark-foamed beer that was flowing in such abundance all about us. ARG ◇ △ previous entry. nurse a grievance etc[V + O] continue to think about a resentment etc; not allow it, or other painful or undesirable feelings/ mental reactions, to fade or be forgotten O: grievance,△grudge, resentment, anger; sorrows, grief;(old) wounds, hurt feelings o Amongst the criminals employed by her husband had been one who nursed a grievance. The French court had sentenced him to no less than eight years'imprisonment and that was a gross miscarriage of justice. SD□James White, MP, accused the' Talk-In'(a television programme) of turning a serious subject into a‘wrestling match’. BarbaraMaxwell who is on the production team of the' Talk-In' and would, she said, be' very upset if Ifelt anyone nursed a grievance' spoke to him and passed on his comments to me. RTo Once you have worked for the‘Guardian’, you never get it quite out of your blood. Of course not everyone has been happy there. Kingsley Martin was miserable. Malcolm Muggeridge even today seems to nurse a grudge against the paper he left all of 40 years ago. NSo If you feel you are misunderstood, don't nurse hurt feelings - - - -speak out and clear the matter up. TVT oEducated Scots can be found who see the end of these old grievances in Union. It is sheer hysteria,they say, to nurse wounds and curse the cure at the same time. RT the nuts and bolts (of sth) [n+ n non-rev]the small items, tasks, techniques, procedures etc subordinate, but necessary, to a large undertaking o: the political machine; film production; an education system o He is aParty Man. The unloved and unthanked amateur politician who keeps the nuts and bolts of the political machine well-oiled between elections.TVT□ Shaw was involved in the practicalities of theatrical business to the uppermost bristle of his eyebrows. The nuts and bolts of performance and production stick out tangibly everywhere in the volume. Lo No longer does the Queen speak only to local bigwigs—— she is likely to chat to anyone in a crowd who catches her eye. Such tours are the nuts and bolts of the Queen's job and a cancellation is very rare indeed. OBS or principle, esp as an example or warning to others V: △be, serve(as); receive. A: in good manners; on the folly of gambling; for us all; to <423> the object of one's affection(s)— of all people etc his children o The ladies England-Scotland hockey match was truly an object lesson for our pumpered, over-paid footballers. There was no kissing and cuddling when goals were scored.IVI□ We had at least been treated to an object lesson in how not to beach a boat. D occas pl:stress pattern an object lesson. the object of one's affection(s)(formal)a person with whom one has fallen in love or with whom one has a romantic relationship□ Pepper once again goes undercover, this time as a purolee. And as such. she becomes the object of u bank robber's affections. TVT o Monica becomes his mustress, little realizing that the reason for his frequent visits is not to lie in her arms but to he near the object of his real af-fection, whom ultimately he seduces. PW Osometimes facetious. an odd fish/ bird [Comp (NP)] (informal) an eccentric person, a person whom others find hard to understand or tolerate;a queer fish(qv)V: △be, seem, be thought o This is not to say that Mr Hughes is anything but an extremely odd fish, if we are to believe what we have been told. He has not been seen in public for 16 years.OBS□ It would be smug and vain of me to suggest that he was merely an odd fish I took pity on.He, I think, fell in love invially with the much odder fish I was. STo' Is he really worth a piece(ie a press obituary)? I asked. 'I'd say so. '' He was an odd bird' l said, ' I only saw him about a hulf docen times. "PP o also pl a couple of odd fish/ birds. odd jobs various tasks, esp of a manual kind.needing to be done as they occur but not providing a steady, continuous pattern of work□ They await him for the first hand of cards, vet sometimes (instead of playing) he busies himself with odd jobs about the house. ARG□ At the age of 17 he went out to New Zealand. Before long- - it was during the slump---he was wandering about the country getting odd jobs. OBS o You seem a handy sort of bloke. How would you like.to study on here as an odd-job man—— bed and board and£40 a week?□ attrib use an odd-job man = ` one employed to do odd jobs in a house, garden, school etc. an/ the odd man out [Comp (NP)} an extra person when others are arranged or grouped in pairs or sets: a person different from, not at ease with. or not accepted by, others in a group,profession, social setting, etc V:△be, become;make sb o Nine was an awkward number for a week-end of bridge games because it meant that one of us had always to take a turn at being the odd man out.□ Helen did most of the talking,occasionally bringing Virginia into the conversa-tun deliberately, as if she were the odd mmon out at the party. AITC o DAVE: I'm not saying I'm useless, but machinery and modern technique have '(') me about to make me the odd man out.IIAJ□ can refer to a person of either sex; also pl.the odds are (that) it is (very) probable that sth stated is true, did or will happen (from racing, where the odds— ie betting figures——on against indicate how much/ little confidence there is in a horse winning) □ In the old days a pop star would approach his 30s with some trepidation, because the odds were that he would be abundoned by his public. TVT o How much the premiums(for medical care insurance)cost depends on whether people qualify for any kind of discount. The odds are that they do. G□ Don't depend on us coming. It's odds on we won't get a baby-sitter— not on Christmas Eve.o variant it's odds on (that). odds and bobs/ sods [n + n non-rev] a miscellaneous collection of articles or items,usu remnants or things of little value; next entry(qv); bits and bobs(qv); bits and pieces (qv)□The paper-shop window is a litter of odds-and-bobs: if the light is kept on at nights the children make it a meeting-place. ULo So I was a bread winner when I was nine. I did odds and sods 10get things by any means. ST o expression odds and sods(taboo), can be used to refer to people.odds and ends[n+n non-rev]a miscellaneous collection of articles or items, usu remnants or things of little value; previous entry (qv); bits and bobs (qv); bits and pieces (qv) o (stage direction) Down R(= Right) is heavy chest of drawers. covered with books, nockties and odds and ends, including a large, tattered toy teddy hear and a soft, woolly squirrel. LBA o It isn't often I go there— it's just got a few odds and ends in it one doesn't often want. EMo It is one of those thoughts which make you realise how long it is since you rearranged the lumber in the attic of your brain, and threw out all the odds and ends you' ve been saving. NS□(Working-class taste in furnishing and decoration is)nearest of all, though, to the prosperous nine-teenth-century middle-class style; the richness showing well and undisguised in an abundance of odds-and-ends, in squiggles and carvings, in bold patterns. UL (a matter etc) of academic interest/concern[Comp(NP)](sth) that is no longer so important (because circumstances, viewpoints etc have changed) and is therefore not likely to affect a situation but may perhaps interest theorists or historians V:△be, become; make sth. A: entirely, just, merely, only, purely; no.then. n: matter, △ problem, question. o It's only a matter of academic interest to me now,as you might say, but I thought it would be interesting to know. EMo However,I suspect thatSir Keith's intentions are not of academic con-cern, merely. NSa These questions(about the attempts to prevent the spread of communism)are academic. But they are practical, too, since the real nature of the Cold War and its origins need to be examined. L o variants an academic question, the matter etc is (purely etc) academic. of all the nerve etc(!) (informal) what in-solence; what presumption; what a nerve etc(!)(qv)n: nerve,△cheek, impudence□Well of all the nerve! As though bringing the filthy things(ie magazines with' nude' photographs) into theSchool wasn't bad enough in the first place, you go leaving them about! TTo ' That creature--of all the nerve--that vile woman—' She prowled round the room like an angry leopard, too aroused to keep still. AITCO expression of strong disapproval and displeasure. ◇ △ have (got)/with a nerve; have(got)/ with the nerve (to do sth);have (got)/ with the nerve to do sth. of all people etc' especially; more than any other person etc n: people; △ places; things □I should have thought that you of all people 423 <424> of all people etc—— of a morning etc would be able to trust me. EM o 'I go out for relaxation. '' Surely of all places, one's home is where one should be able to relax. ' o may precede or follow n or pron it modifies; stress pattern of all people etc. of all people etc² a particularly unsuitable,unlikely, or incongruous, choice or coincidence n: people;△ places; things□ But Tolstoy pushes his argument just a little bit too far. He portraysNapoleon, of all people, as a passive instrument in the hands of his army. L o COLONEL: Sweet-stall. It does seem an extraordinary thing for an educated young man to be occupying himself with, Why should he want to do that of all things? LBA □ A questionnaire running to some196 questions is now being prepared so that an unoffending public can be asked---of all things--about privacy. NS o may precede or follow n or pron it modifies; main stress usu falls on n or pron modified, as in second example where stress pattern is Why should he want to do' that of all things? of all shapes and sizes having many dif-ferent shapes and sizes: of many kinds □ KLMmustered vehicles ' of all shapes and sizes' to take pussengers' luggage to the waiting flights.hur no freight could be loaded. To Have you thought about picking a pup from the Dogs'Home at Battersea? I know there are some lovely ones there of all shapes and sizes. TVT□ Shells of all shapes and sizes strew the long narrow beach. OBS□ My young niece was enchanted by her first trip to a toy shop Soft toys of every shape and size——I thought I'd never get her out again o immediately following n which it modifies; shapes and sizes non-rev; variant of every shape and size. of all time that there ever has been or will ever be n: reception, understatement; greatest genius, biggest liar o ' When we get married,Ned said to me almost threateningly. ' We' re going to have the reception of all time.'' Oh,' Isaid feelly, ‘Of all time,’ he repeated. CON□' Smooth,' said Pete Murray, is the misnomer of all time when applied to me.’ RT o A current advertisement tells us of an author who ' takes on the greatest evolutionists of all time, CharlesDarwin, Desmond Morris, Robert Ardrey, Kon-rad Lorenz—— and lays them low’. I o Mozart was, after all, not a mere purveyor of music but one of the supreme dramatic geniuses of alltime.OBS□ modifies a preceding n. of one's choice that one chooses or has chosen n: man, woman; profession; route; day.time o Meals in Bulgaria, on a tour like ours.could he eaten in any restaurant of one's choice.SC□ I' ll be the happiest man in Her Majestv'sKingdom to see my girl settled down with the fellow of her choice. a modifies a preceding n.of course(not) [Disj(PrepP)] naturally (not);as might be expected (not to happen); certainly(not); inevitably(not); by no means(qv)□ The harrage does not. of course, prevent infiltration.hut makes it difficult and serves as a warning system. SC□Of course, this is just speculation.Hawthorne, He may not be the right man after all. OMIH o' Who's Joe?'' You know him. TheEconomic Attaché.' ' Oh, of course, Joe.' He was a man one always forgot. QA o ' You' ll condescend to come in and say good night to me. 424 I suppose? ’ Of course I will, I shan't he very late.'PEoQ: Are the arts a waste of time, and could we get along just as well without them? AOf course not. Life would he dingy and deplor-able without the makers of music and of rhymes the tellers of tales. the painters of pictures. TOOfront. middle or end position. of the first magnitude classifiable as among the best, worst, biggest, most important, etc of one's/ its kind(from the astronomical classica-tion of stars according to their degree ol brilliance) n: problem, task; power; industrial complex; controversy, dispute o (a French theatre company rehearses) Both Hirsch andChaton, stars of the first magnitude, respond to the delicate guidance they are getting. STo TheSoviet Union which, with colossal efforts over two generations. had converted itself into an industrial and technological power of the first magnitude... L o ... an enemy whose use of demolition caused us bridging problems of the first magnitude. MFM□ To effect the arrest of any one of the first three I have enumerated would clearly provoke a scandal of the first magnitude. FM□ modifies a preceding n. of (good etc) standing havingan established (good etc) reputation, acknow-ledged status adj: good; some; no; not much, no special o The objections on this occasion came,not from malcontents and rabble-rousers, but from men of standing in the locality. u(telegram) No traces (ie nothing known against) Professor Sanchez and EngineerCifuentes stop you may recruit them stop presumably men of their standing will require no more thu n out-of-pocket expenses. OMIH oWhen William Berry bought the Sunday Times'it was a paper of no particular standing. Lo modifies a preceding n; absence of adj implies good standing. of a kind/ sort in existence. but not quite adequate or satisfactory a 'I believe there's food laid on, of a kind, at the Coach and Horses, he said. CONo There's a road of a kind from the lakeside to the foresters' hut. A jeep could do it hu t not that car you have there.□ The ChannelIslands and the Isle of Man have independence of a sort . So why not Cornwall? OBS□ Th ere is a stable of sorts in the barn. Shall we put your pony there? ART o modifies a preceding n:variant of sorts. △ kind/ sort of. of late [A (PrepP)] recently; continuously, or intermittently, over a recent period o You' ve been very irritable of late . If you feel tired or unwell you should do something about it,o front.middle or end position of/ to little/ no avail[Comp(PrepP)] not effec-tive V: △ be, seem: consider sth to be□ I tried to persuade him not to resign hut it was of little avail Now he's going to have difficulty finding . Inew job. of a morning etc[A(PrepP)] on any morning etc; on some or most mornings etc n: morning.△ afternoon, evening: Sunday: day, night. adj.fine. stormy; spring, summer('s): busy o Grand-father likes his nap of an afternoon. It's best not to visit him until 4 o' clock or so. o There is n/'healthier or more enjoyable activity than leaping over hedges on horseback of a fine morning. No□ Sometimes of an evening when the long <425> shadows fall across the grass... SC□ When you' ve had enough of feeling good like the first man on carh of a frosly morning. . ILDR We lived on a diet of thread, milk and vegetables with perhaps bacon or suusage of a Sunday o It could be very cerie sleeping up in the art ic when, of a winter's night, the wind howled round the house, o middle or end position; day and night always modified. of necessity [A (PrepP)] necessarily: compul-sorily; unavoidably o At the Royal Court(Theatre), the play had of necessity to be played within the proscenium arch. THH□ Though of necessity accepting the need for new roads through the central area, it puts these on a more modest scale. S(o We don't of necessity have to ultend all these functions but it doesn't do any good to be thought anti-social . o usu middle position. of note (formal) notable; well-known, highly regarded; worthy, or requiring, to be noticed.recorded or remembered o Navantara Sahgal isMrs Pundit' s daughter and, it seems, u novelist of note in India. I. a But although the scientists sat around for a couple of hours or more nothing of lurther note happened. TBC □ The next event of note was the kidnapping on the 26th January of an ex-Army officer and a British judgr. MFM□ follows n or pron it modifies. of old/ yore' (formal) associated with, or that existed in, ancient or long-past times n: men,seafarers; hero: superstition □ They(people eat-ing only meat) seem to feel continuously hungry,and their thoughts may sharpern but their senses ure often subdued. Why then did the Fathers of old speak of meat as passion's stimulant? Per-haps they got their physiology wrong. OBS□ His characters talk of ration books or public schools or trips to colonies or (God help us) the yellow-brown photos of your. Nostalgia is the fashion in the theatre just now. NSo modifies a preceding n: sometimes facetious. of old/yore² [A (PrepP)] (formal) formerly; in ancient or past times; at, or from, a previous period of one's life o Here, on the moors where of old the young sprigs of the nobility flew their hawks, the Branston and District Model AircraftClub try out their skills. o I know what you' re going to tell me - - - ' Be more like the girl he murried and love him as you did of yore.'o The first question was whereabouts I was going to live I was not drawn to Chelsea, which I knew of old. AHo usu follows v, as in last two examples;sometimes facetious. of the old school embodying the traditional,perhaps old-fashioned, characteristics of his class, trade, profession etc n; butler, actor,lawyer; gentleman; diplomat o Lucking, an im-peccably English butler of the old school (ex-cept, perhaps, for his carpet sippers) meets one at the door. RTo His father, Gene Mullendore,a tough, crusty cattle baron of the old school, had started to go blind. ST o follows n or pron it modifies. ◇ △ the old/ new school. of the order of sth about, around, the figure of sth; of the same importance, or magnitude,as sth n: figure, sum; discount; arrears, debt,loss; saving. o: 30 degrees; one part in a thousand;£12,000 annually □ And(the Cloud)will move through the angle AEB which musi be of necessity—— off the cuff something of the order of thirty degrees. TBCoThese small discharges were just audible from the rim of the crater, occurring with a frequency of the order of a hundred a minute. NSCo A saving in fuel of the order of 15% is expected after the installation of the new machinery. □ The capture of Brill must rank as a turning-point not only inNetherlands history but in world history: an event of the order of the fall of the Bastille, or the execution of Charles I. Lomodifies a preced-ing n. of one's/ its own accord [A (PrepP)] volun-tarily; spontaneously; without persuasion.interference etc V: move, disappear; revive; stop o Meanwhile in the drawing-room Edith had, of her own accord, told her cousin Sally that she was sorry. WDMo He could not stop his mouth twitching; but it would stop of its own accord,he believed, once he was in the fresh air. US□Brought into the open, such difficulties have a happy knack of going away almost of their own accord. TVT ◇ △next entry. of one's own free will [A (PrepP)] volun-tarily(the implication being that there has been a deliberate choice from two or more actions open to one) V: surrender; follow, accompany,sb o Do you take part, of your own freewill, in any social or political organisation outside your ordinary work? WIo He walked straight into the prison of his own free will and shut the door behind him. FFE o ... threaten to torture them until they agreed to come with us of their own free will. LLDR O usu middle or end position;freewill occas written as one word, as in first example. ◇ △ previous entry. of the same stripe beionging to the same etc kind, class, rank, creed, character-type etc det:the same(as); different; his; any; that o There's one in our school of the same stripe---slam them down, show them who's boss. They don't make the best teachers. □ Our deep solemnity about these matters is triggered by the suspicion一 which is shared by all serious political com-mentators of whatever stripe —— that theChinese, like the Russians, know what they' re doing. I. o modifies a preceding n. of that ilk¹(Scots, formal) of that same name/place, ega landowner whose title or surname is the same as the name of his estate o At the crossroads about u mile from Monboddo the travellers' carriage was met by His Lordship of that ilk who invited them to dine and rest at his house that night. □ The explanation that theMacaulay concerned was not the cricketer butThomas Babington of that ilk he swept aside as of no consequence. SC o modifies a preceding n.of that ilk² (facetious) of the same kind as another det: that; her own; the same; his o(reports published by local naturalist, anti-quarian etc societies) Hundreds of that ilk are produced every year by printers down cobbled alleys. ST□ There is every likelihood that he will be able next Easter to hand over the presidency to a successor of his own ifk. NS□ What obliga-tion is there after all for motorists to give lifts to people of her ilk? ST o modif ies a preceding n.off the cuff [A (PrepP)] (informal) without previous preparation or thought (from a sup-posed habit, formerly, of after-dinner speakers. naking a few pencilled notes on the searched 425 <426> off and on— an old boy cuffs of evening-dress shirts which they could glance at casually, instead of reading from a written paper, the first example carries a pun-ning allusion to this) V: speak, reply; do sth oHe was asked to sing for his supper. Realising that this was not the moment for a professional performance he instantly stood up and sanga few lines, off the cuff, although not without notes.SCo This is a checklist which a builder may use or may put aside, playing his estimate off the cuff instead. SToProtestunt and Catholic child-ren are brought together in a studio for a party to precede an off the cuff discussion with purents. TVIO The discovery of what the majority' wants ' is not a simple matter. On hanging for instance, it is doubtful whether the off the cuff opinions of almosteverybody are wortha linker's cusv. Lo attrib use an off the cuff discussion. off and on [adv + adv rev] occasionally,sometimes, or frequently, but not continuously or regularly o Of course, I haven't met her hur heing famous as u n author off and on She gets all the sympathv. MMoHSCHER: You' re kind of out of touch with real life, being a chess-player.I' ve thought of giving it up off and on , but Ialways considered, what else could I do? Lo It tells the story of an old comedy double-act Leslie and Lane. Off and on, I used to he part of a double act myself, says Bass (who played HarryLeslie), TV1□AI that time I think I was still living on and off with Biunca in Kedar Strect. KIToHe's the man I work for on and off. taking bets on commission. AITC o front, middle or end position. off one's own bat [A (PrepP)] (informal)entirely by oneself; on one's own initiative;without direction, advice, or approval from anyone o I didn't expect him to be a writer. We don't know where he gets the brains from, to be quite honest. He did it all off his own bat though—I' ll say that for him. RT o But Joan was enthusiastic. Off her own bat, at home, she worked out the whole operation — vehicles,staff. finance, building. OBS= Since your builder put the window in off his own bat I don't see that I 'm responsible for the extra cost. D front,middle or end position. off the record [Comp/A (PrepP)] unoffi-cial(ly); confidential(ly); not (so as) to be recor-ded. quoted, used as evidence etc V; be; speak tell, inform, let sb know o (after a drinking session) Indiscretions now flowed unchecked from their lips, and the only shred of caution remaining to one of them was to preface his disclosures with This is off the record - -right?'sCoOne of the committee members, whomI won't name, told John off the record the ap-pointment was as good as his. o You could buy yourself a drink u t any time of the day, whenever you felt like it. and even fiddle one now and then off the record, if you were careful. AITCo The camera followed the delegates even when they visited each other's missions for semi-private off-the-record talks. RT o attrib use u n off-the-record statement, talk. ◇△ (just) for the record. an officer and (a) gentleman a combina-tion of roles, or qualities, thought desirable in an officer in the Britısh armed services;(fig) an honourable character which is valued in a man as highly as professional skill □ Guinness describes his years in the Navy as the best acting performance he's ever given. He played an of-ficer and a gentleman, very cool, very calm.OBS□ The nights spent in marching , the days in hiding, always in terror of being addressed because, us officers and gentlemen, the fugitives could not speak any other language than their own. HDo You will behave at all times as officers and--save the mark…… as gentlemen.BB(TVo(NONCF) It is curious to think that a fictional crook helped make the name Albuny world famous. But at least he was a cricketer and a gentleman. TVIO expression used now to suggest dated upper-class type. oil and water (do not mix)(saying) incom-patible people (cannot be made to combine.work together, etc) a Oh , she means well, hui she's not mr sort. Oil and water don't mix, no good trying. ISMPu The team tried hard to mix fresh nen's and comment only to find they were mixing oil and water. Lo usu in order of head-phrase. the old Adam the unredeemed part of (a)man's nature, prone to sin and error o (film review) Thus Jean (Lee Grant) is churming, hul something of an irrelevance. Is it mandatory to have an Eve around to raise the old Adam in audiences? NSo(reader's letter) Bless them, they are not, as the Rev Bailey says, like hoars on heat' · they are mercly human. and without this old Adam, none of us would be here. L an old bag(slang) an elderly woman (referring contemptuously or facetiously to her loss of good looks, poor figure etc) o When the photographer had done with us ('I 'm an ugly old bag, lied Helene and I hate having my picture taken’), we went to lunch. RToPETER: His name was Oedipus, he was a Greek I think. Well, the old bag turned out to be has mother. TOH vCRAPE: Mrs Letouzel, you cantankerous old bag. what do you mean, by complaining about your money! THH O also pl. old before one's time [Comp(AdjP)] older in looks, physical condition, mental outlook, etc than is right or reasonable for one`s age V: △be, seem; get o She made all the other girls I'd been out with seem dingy and clumsy and old before their time. RATTo He was getting old then long before his time. He'd come in from his sermons complaining of rheumatism and the cold. ASA old etc beyond one's years [Comp(AdjP)]more mature, knowledgeable, bl ase etc than most others of one's age V:△be, seem; strike sb as. adj: old, △ wise, experienced, shrewd o(reader's letter) He has been less than diligent in his form work and shows non e of the promise of earlier years. He has of course always been old beyond his years' and he has perhaps stayed on too long. NS□From Nick's comments on the ex-hibition I could see that he had an appreciation of what was good in art far beyond his yours,iThough old beyond her years in some respects,I felt she was emotionally immature and certain-ly not ready for marriage. □ variants have/ show wisdom/ understanding/ appreciation beyond one's years, with a wisdom/ an understanding beyond one's years. an old boy former pupil of a school or college. 426 <427> esp a public school attended by children of the monied classes, attendance at which is(or was)assumed to confer privileged status for life □There were, of course, very many old boys of theCollege and others who hated him and all that he so successfully stood for. NS o Non-executive directors grace the boards of many companies for window dressing and little else. Their seats are sinecures secured on the old boy net. ST o MrWilliam Hamilton reminded Mr Godber that there was a unanimous decision by the all-partyExpenditure Committee that these appointments were made on the principle of the old-boy net-work’. NS□ An awful lot of (County Council)decisions are taken on the old boy basis and,largely because working people can't spare the time, these bodies were overweighed with lairds,clergy, and retired military gentlemen. ST o old girl is used literally of a former pupil but does not carry the same socio-political implications;variant the old(-) boy net(work) = ‘system whereby, unofficially, appointments to govern-ment, administration, armed service etc posts are arranged to favour people of one's own background、 education etc’. ◇ △ next entry;the old boy etc. old boy etc(informal) familiar or friendly form of address to sb of any age (or to a dog.horse etc) n: boy, △ man, chap; girl, thing□' Your message? What message, old boy?'' It's from somebody called Elspeth,' Harold said. PW□Gerry, who once flew a Spitfire, has a mous-tache and still calls people old boy' . OBS oPAMELA (in a wildly affected, cheerful voice):Well then, bye-bye, darling. You' re sure there's nothing I can get you from the village? CLIVE(matching her accent): No, thanks, old girl. Just bring back the usual papers. FFE□‘I thought it was the lady's privilege to be late.' Anne greeted him coldly. ' Awfully sorry, old thing. but it wasn't my fault, really.' o associated, though not exclusively, with upper middle-class talk,and sporting or service types. ◇ △ previous entry; next entry. the old boy etc(informal) a middle-aged or elderly person, or a person older than the speaker n: boy, chap, fellow; girl; bean o The old boy was fond of rum, and there is a noble simplicity in his advice about rum today, which is merely hot rum-and-water with sugar. OBS□ My landlady nearly frightened me off the room with her list of do's and don' ts, but she turned out to be not such a bad old girl after all. □'I wonder what the old board would say if we drank a dram instead of this horrible sherry,' Catriona mut-tered to her sister. RMo used with reference to sb already mentioned or known; not the old man, unless in meanings covered by‘the old man’(qv), ‘the/ one’ s old man etc’(qv). ◇⚠ old boy etc; previous entry. the old brigade/ guard(informal) the senior members of a community, profession etc whose standards, beliefs and practices are being, or are likely to be, challenged or superseded o This transition period—— the old bridge don't like change. They don't like loss of authority. MMoThe old guard in the Chief Rabbinate supports re-election of Rabbi Nissim as Sephardi ChiefRabbi and opposes Rabbi Goren as AshkenaziChief Rabbi. To Ray Milland presents himself, in old boy etc—— old hat a confusing self-portrait, as alternately one of the boys and one of the old guard. Lo Fewer than a third of GPs are members of the college, which is not always popular with old-guard (and sometimes young-guard) doctors. OBS D attrib use an old-guard doctor. an old buffer etc(slang) an elderly man n:buffer, △ codger, geezer; dear o ' He must be through in the Saloon Bar. "' No, he isn't. There's nobody there except a couple of old buffers playing dominoes.’ o What all have in common is reliability of performance. That goes as much forCharles Hill, in his amiable-old-buffer role as for Dr Saunders, clearly an articulate woman. L.□(a diver brings up a rotting briar pipe) You can feel a personal connection with a thing like that.You can imagine some old geazer puffing away at it under the rigging. RToI gave the money to an old dear who came to the door collecting for some charity or other. o buffer, geezer, codger used of men, dear used of women. old enough to be sb's father/ mother[Comp (AdjP)] too much older than sb for a marriage, liaison etc to be suitable or likely o' It's merely that I am okd enough to be your father. That's all I remembered.’ I wish you hadn't. Could you possibly imagine that I am forty-five and you are twenty-five?’ ARG□MRSELLIOTT: Of course, she was always a dark horse.But as for her and George —— it's ridiculous.Why she's old enough to be his mother. EGD□said to show disapproval of a relationship or to refuse it. an old flame(dated slang) sb one was formerly sexually, or emotionally, involved with □(film review) He is due to be quizzed by a local lady correspondent for the Washington ' Daily News',an old flame whose political convictions are at odds with her sexual ones. NS□I felt remorsefully that my behaviour in Sally's ward had ended her nursing career. But can a bridegroom start em-ploying his old flames the night before his wed-ding, however well they are extinguished. DILoHis third wife, Hélène, was an old flamo. They had first met playing tennis at the BBC club 20years previously; they met again and married inJune,1972. TVT an old fogey [Comp (NP)](informal) a dull or narrow-minded reactionary person, often eld-erly, who is out of touch with the times he lives in V:△be; turn into, become o I'm not such an old fogey as to think that parents can order their children's lives nowadays. EMo Whenever useful.they mention their opponent's age.' seventy-two-year-old Mr B' or' sixty-five-year-old Mr C';democracy is youthful and forward-looking;clearly these are old fogies. ULo Longford ral-lied a committee of 50 people representing mem-bers of the law, the medical and teaching professions, the church and youth leaders. He is anxious to avoid allegations of ' old-fogeyism'and was pleased to say that nine members of his committee were under 30. RT□ alt spelling fogy(pl fogies); adj form old-fogeyish; n form old.fogeyism. old hat[Comp(NP)] old-fashioned; out of date;already known, accepted, or practised and not new or original; old stuff(qv) $: idea, theory;process, method; style, fashion. V: △ be,become; make sth o It is a mistake to try mixing 427 <428> an old maid---old Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all checks; this is now old hat in the fashion world.A hold check or plaid jacket can find a mate in a plain skirt. SCo He has no time for the school of contemporary musicians who, as far as he can see, think that anything done last week is old hat.RIo I sent a copy to Geoffrey Elton and he thanked me for it very politely but he said: what old hat ideas these were that all these chaps had in the 17th century. L o attrib use an old-hat idea, opinion. an old maid an (elderly) woman who is not,and probably never will be, married (the im-plication often being that remaining unmarried is an indication of personal failure, of lack of emotional warmth, etc);(fig) a person of either sex who is too precise, tidy, conventional, fussy.prudish etc o ' You want to be an old maid?"she'd ask Goldie. My father used to warn Goldie that it didn't pay to be too clever. Men didn't like smart girls STo'I' ve been far too busy all my life to think about love. ' Miss Mellings answered in a tone of superior rebuke. And there spoke a real old maid. o Allaccountunts, even toughs like me,have a hit of the old maid in them; a neat and tidy desk gives me the same satisfaction as a clean shirt and underweur. RATTo His respect for conventional forms of behaviour (illustrated by his shocked repudiation of Violet Hunt) had a fussy, old-maidish quality. Lo also pl; adj form old-maidish. used only in fig senses; n old maidishness, used only in fig senses. ◇ △ an old woman. the old man (informal) a person in authority over others, eg a leader of a political group, a ship's captain, a headmaster of a school, an office boss, etc o What can I do? And I would be late this morning of all mornings. I suppose theOld Man has been waffling around? ITo We' re thirty miles north of the convoy, all on our own,going to send off the signal in an hour's time. The old man' ll be up for that. PMo ' No doubt, ' he said, you'd like to sit in the old man's office on your big, fat fanny (= buttocks) and run the show. AITC o not the old boy etc`(qv). ◇Δnext entry. the/ one's old man etc(informal) one`s husband/ wife or father/ mother n; man; △woman, lady, girl o (a school kitchen) ' MrsLipscombe's doing a couple of yards of jam-roll.'" Blackcurrant? " " You and your stomach, she said. ' My old man's just the same.' TT o I was lucky. I went straight into Hornchurch Rep(=repertory theatre). Before that my old man was supporting me with f5 a week — but he said he'd never give me anything once I'd left the(Drama) school. RTo When I was a kid, my old lady gave me bones to chew and I used to get dog biscuits as well. No, I mean it. TVTo ' It's a bar-gain, said my brother Juck.' Let's buy it between us and keep it for the oid girl's birthday.'o not the old boy etc'(qv). ◇ △ previous entry. the old/ new school those following a former/ current way of thinking, or code of practice, in politics, religion, medicine, the scientific, artistic or academic spheres, etc o(interviewing politicians) George Brown was al-ways voluble--Some of the older school likeHenry Brooke found it extremely difficult at first,Macmillan had the greatest charm of any.RTa For Mother belonged to the old school who ,26 would not accept grants from local authorities--' or rather, she would say, ' money from the taxpayer's pocket'--for her daughter's educa-tion. HAHAu The new school of top concert pianists have faultless techniques with however,that special individual quality missing. ◇ △ of the old school. (the) old school tie a man's neck-tie of design and colour exclusive to ex-pupils of(esp)a public school;(fig) such a tie as symbol of the patronage and preference given, esp formerly,in adminstrative, business or social circles to those entitled to wear it o Spruce young men in pin-stripes come in and out. My heart sinks.Landlord versus tenants? Private money versus legal aid. Old school tie versus no tie at all? ST□ (extract from a pre-election opinion poll)They know what they' re doing. They' re not fools.So I think we' re in the right hands really. I vote for the old school tie and all that. STI There are a lot of people (ie pupils) here who, if asked, say they go to a school near Windsor or Slough, or that they go to grammar school, because if you say you go to Eton. people write you off. Nobody who has left here in the last 10 years would dream of wearing an old school tie. OBS □ occas pi. old soldiers never die (they only fade away) (catchphrase) comment on the dogged persistence, cheerfulness etc of long-serving, or retired, soldiers etc(from an anonymous soldiers' song of World War 1) □(Bill is help-lessly drunk) Mrs Curry smiled graciously.' You ' re quite all right, aren't you, dear?' she said to Bill. ' Old soldiers never die.' HAAo(NONCE)Old Airman Never Die— they just fly smaller planes. Denis Lill spent seven years in the NewZealand Air Force. Now he finds that building and flying model aircraft can provide much of the interest for the real thing. TVT o(NONCE)(head-line, with pun on‘fall out’) Old Soldiers NeverDie--They Just Fall Out. People and places change— often for the worse. Certainly this is true of the old soldiers who fall in for tonight's reunion at the Village Hall. TVTo(NONCE) But at the end of the day there is no such thing as ' good landlords' because good landlords die or fade www.leaving behind Hong Kong merchant ban-kers or worse. STo(NONCE) If we did a ' Ministry of Transport car test' on an ageing footballer, we wouldn't find a lot wrong with the bodywork. The fact is that old footballers never die. They only lose a bit of their spark. TVTD often adap-ted, as shown. old stuff[Comp(NP)] sth one knows about, or could have informed oneself about, already;old hat (qv) $; suggestion, proposal; idea,notion, belief. V:△be, appear, have become o(images in dreams) Tunnels and wells and drops of water, all this is old stuff, just sexual images from the unconscious, the libido. PMa I daresay anything he had to say in the lecture would have been old stuff to you but since I'm not an an-thropologist I found it very interesting and informative. old Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all (catch-phrase) everybody □(source) For I want for to go to Widdicombe Fair,/ With Bill Brewer, JanStewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davey. DanielWhiddon, Harry Hawk,/ Old Uncle TomCobbieigh and sil. BALLAD 口 (NONCE) Victor <429> old, unhappy, far-off things— on(an/ the) average Matthews was very much a man of the pushing.abrasive, acquistive Britain advocated by Ed-ward Heath, Peter Walker, Jim Slater, LordRobens, Lord Sundys, Tiny' Rowland, ReginaldMaudling and old Uncle John Poulson and all.They and their creed have fallen into discredit.NS□We have heard a good deal of the demand for national unity'. Mr Edward Heath, who roared like a lion last February, now coos like a dove— offering consultation and co-operation withUncle Tom Cobbleigh and All. NS old, unhappy, far-off things tragedies, or sorrows, of the historical, or one's own, past o(source) Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow/ For old, unhappy, fer-off things./ And battles long ago. THE SOLITARY REAPER (W WORDSWORTH1770-1850)□ Occasionally I found myself passing the house which had once filled Mrs Ternandez with hope and her husband with suspicion, and Ithought of old, unhappy and already far off things. AHo(NONCE) Well, those unhappy far-off slights are ended and contemporary scholar-ship is in the process of erecting a mussive seven-volume shrine to Henry Lawson. SC an old wives' tale a legend, myth, account of historical, or supernatural, events such as old women handed on to rising generations; an un-supported piece of information, recommended practice,etc□(popular superstitions, esp cases of good and bad luck) On certain occasions they laugh readily at them as old wives' tales' . But usually they take care to follow their directions.ULo The point is I don't want to hear a lot of old wives' tales about sheep being carried off and chickens and children and all that sort of thing.RMo I' ve chosen the upright freezer rather than the chest type. You don't get more warm air rush-ing in when you open the door than when you lift a lid—— that's an old wives' tale. TVT o I com-pletely lost my appetite. This business of a preg-nant woman having to eat for two is an old wives' tsic. TVT an old woman a woman past middle-age;(fig)sb. male or female, who is fussy and timid oJack, even my grandmother doesn't fuss about things being neat the way you do— and she is an old woman. You just act like one.□Don't be such an old woman, Anne. What can possibly happen to you on a package tour when every-thing's arranged for you? Stop worrying and go away and enjoy your holiday.□ You' re behaving like a couple of old women! ◇ △ an o id maid. olde worlde (jocular) that seems to belong to,or that imitates, a bygone era in appearance,sentiment or style o 'I don't like substitutes, he says. ' If I can't have sheepskin, I don't want simulated. That's why I like this place. It's olde worlde.’ NS o Something else that is mildly feminist, comes naturally to the radio, and has the same olde-worlde flavour is ' PetticoatLine'. Lo The very phrase ' spoilt child' has an olde worlde ring. OBS O attrib use, an olde-worlde flavour, usu hyphenated; pronounced either old world or oldy worldy. the oldest profession prostitution o They felt the police weren't doing enough to clear the streets in their neighbourhood of the girls on the game (ie who are prostitutes). The oldest profession is alive and well in Birmingham. OBS .□(NONCE) I never saw a clearer, and more con- fused, confession of failure. It made me wonder why Miss Raeburn bothers to keep going in her oldest-but-one-profession(ie giving advice to others). L an olive branch [O/o (NP)j a token of peace,peaceful intentions, desire for reconciliation(often in drawings etc depicted as a twig carried in the beak of a dove, see GENESIS VIII 8-11) V:hold (out); extend, proffer; carry o But ap-parently the official invitation to become a Com-mission member was intended as a mutual olive branch extended between him and the PrimeMinister. NS a The American tenor, MicheleMolese, had interrupted a performance to shout at a music critic. Two weeks later. Tony Scol-land described the incident and the subsequent proffering of an olive branch. L o occas pl. on account of sb/ sth {A (PrepP)} because of sb/ sth; for reasons connected with sb's/ sth's existence, presence, action etc o: the children;him; the storm, the recent strike; having mis-read the instructions a The Browns will be higher up the housing priority list on account of their children. □On account of the high winds the fishing vessels had not put out to sea. □Char-mian did not, however, mention the other diplomat whose name I forget, who later com-mitted suicide on her account. MMoMR SEGAL:Sam, what's come over you? You make me sad talking like this. SAM. Don't upset yourself on my account. It hasn't been a bad life. HSG Dvariant on sb's account. on all fours {A (PrepP)] with knees, toes and hands on the ground; on (one's) hands and knees (qv) V: move, crawl, crouch o Harold encouraged them (ie his children); the beach seemed to go to his head as it did to theirs, he crawled about on all fours, or lay prone or supine while mounds of sand were heaped upon his body. PWo He ran downstairs. Lotte was still on all fours, reddening the tiles. USoCLIVE: He got one of the girls to crouch on all fours so he could use her back for a table. FFE on all sides/ every side [A .(PrepP)]everywhere; involving many and various people; on either/ every hand (qv) □ On all sides the importance of training youth is recog-nised. SC□ His refusal to convene an extraordi-nary session of Parliament is criticised on all sides. OBSo It is not just by the young and br disaffected groups but on every side that doubts about the old values are being expressed. □ On every side, we have the unedifying spectacle of men piling one evasive, unsatisfactory statement upon another. NS o front, middle or end position. on approval[A(PrepP)] to be kept, paid for.etc only if found satisfactory or suitable V: be,have sth; send sth o Goods sent on approval must be paid for at the time of ordering, but if goods are returned within 7 days customers will get their money back in full. □' Shouldn't Brigit have interviewed her in the usual way? This is so out of order.'' It was to be a surprise. Prissie understands that she's here on approval.'DC o end position. on (an/ the) average〔A (PrepP)〕 taking ac-count of use, production etc over a period V:eat, drink; consume; use □ Each one of us uses.on averag.180 pounds of paper products every 429 <430> on balance—— on the cheap year. To My husband enjoys an occasional three or four course blow-out but he eats on average much less than I do. □ It is quite obvious that if,on the average, the patient suffering from a physical disorder stays in bed for two days and is then discharged, whereas the mental patient on the average stays for twenty years, then the number suffering from physical disorders, is3,650 times as great as those suffering from mental disorders. SNP o front、 middle or end position. on balance[Disj (PrepP)] when all aspects of a situation, the points for and against a decision,course of action, etc have been considered V:consider, reckon, estimate, judge, sth o (lie-detecting machines, etc) Our modern procedures produce much less emotion than the witch doctor was capable of generating and, on balance, it is not certain that the advantage lies with our modern technique. SNPo For what my judgment of the war was worth,I thought on balance thatLuke should stay where he was. NMoOnbalance.the Government are right to try to find out on what conditions membership (of the EuropeanEconomic Community) can be obtained. S C o front, middle or end position. on the basis of sth [A (PrepP)] taking ac-count of sth; using sth as a criterion o: ability;need; evidence, findings a It may be that some countries are sending more students to the universities than they should send on a basis of ability. SC □ Nevertheless the FAA ((US) =Federal Aviation Authority) reached its con-clusions on the efficiency of Decca as a naviga-tion aid solely on the basis of results obtained from this low-powered installation. NSCo You could try to register as a part-time student. They might be prepared to accept you on that basis.o variant on that basis, refers to an earlier phrase or clause. on sb's/ sth's behalf' [A (PrepP)] as the representative of, spokesman for, sb/ sth o:wife, client; the Society; all here o I will be at-tending tomorrow's county council meeting and,if necessary, will speak on my wife's behalf. SC□It is evident from the observations by Mr Butler and Sir Donald Kaberry on behalf of the Con-servatives andby Mr Morgan Phillips on behalf of Labour yesterday that the parties are going to intensify their drive to win youth to their ranks.SC o His wife must be credited with bringingCaruso forward: he sang his first'Bohème' with her. She could storm at the venal managers and agents on his behalf. OBS on sb's/3th's behalf² [A (PrepP)] in support of, in order to promote the benefit or interests of, sb/ sth n: testimony, plea; intervention, ef-forts, precautions. o: prisoner, accused; others o Mr Wilson's plea on behalf of old-age pen-sioners will certainly be popular. SC a It was stated on behalf of the prisoner that he had a record of good behaviour and had been under considerable strain at the time of his outbreak. oMr Gamble's fight on behalf of his students and their parents—— and untimately on behalf of all young people and all parents—— has cost him dear. RT a He moved with ease in the highest circles throughout Europe, and English royal personages had been known to bestir themselves on his behalf. L o We reported Professor 430 Alexander Kennedy as implying that these methods (ie brainwashing) were used onBritain's behalf during the war. OBS on both etc counts [A (PrepP)](legal) with regard to both etc charges; in both etc respects;for both etc reasons det: both; △ two, three;several; all o Four years later the Judge inAllahabad High Court pronounced Mrs Gandhi guilty on two counts. Go The canny manager has to be fully satisfied on both counts—— the means and the end—— before he makes a move.OBS □ Presley's film debul was a brave effort giving, as it did,a chance for him both to act and sing, Presley scored on both counts, RTo I had a bad conscience about Madge. I'd lived there rent-free. Also I knew that Madge wanted us to get married, only I had wanted otherwise. So on both these counts I felt I had no rights at all inEarls Court Road. UTN□On all counts it would be advisable for the Government to take the risks of expanding the economy. SC□ The Parliamen-tary party has fought, and it is fighting, theEuropean Communities Bill on two main counts. ST o front, middle or end position. on business [A (PrepP)] about matters to do with one's profession or trade V: be, come; go,travel, see (sb)o 'I came here on business. ''Inever knew you go anywhere for anything else.’HDo Bowes had got to know the place a bit from having been there on business—— he was a sales-man for nautical gear of all sorts. SCo'I'd like to(come),' George smiled at her.' But I' ve got to go out on business.’ PE on the (off) chance (of sth/ that) [A(PrepP)] (informal) because one hopes that,with-luck, sth may happen V: call, drop in;phone; write. cl:(of)a free meal;a game (being played); its finding me; (that) you could help us, we wouldn't be seen, the train was running late o Thus is avoided the aggravating ex-perience of spectators having to turn up on the off chance of a game being played. To I'm going to the hairdresser but I'm too early, so I' ve just dropped in on the chance of a cup of coffee.□It was from England; it was from Dave, who knew my partiality to the Brasserie Lipp and evidently sent the wire there on the off chance of its finding me. UTNoI came on the chance that we could go to a cinema and have some supper out.AITCo I'm going to try another reading, just on the off chance.’ He once more studied the graph. NMo I was staying only afew blocks away from Edward G Robinson's house in BeverlyHills. I phoned on the off-chance, fully expect-ing to be stonewalled by the usual imperturbable butler. Instead Mr Robinson himself answered and within minutes had agreed to see me. RT o on the off chance often used, as in last two exam-ples, without of/ that, when what is hoped for is understood or previously mentioned. on the cheap [A (PrepP)] cheaply; without paying the usual, or a fair, price V: get, buy,make, sth □ It is perfectly possible to make films of high technical finish on the chemp using first takes and actors working at weekends for a per-centage. NS o There was no real difference of principle between those who wanted to make their own nuclear weapons and those who wanted to shelter on the cheep behind the nuclear weapons of others. OBS□ The somewhat arthritic <431> on (the) condition that—— on foot rulers of football may well be right when they claim that television is getting football on the cheap. L on (the) condition that provided that sth specified is done, or agreed to, in exchange; on the understanding that (qv) V: agree; co-operate; play; lend, borrow □ Press represen-tatives were allowed to take photographs on the condition that none would be published before he had seen the prints.□ Let's go out then . But on condition that I pay for myself for everything.TGLY o I' ll make you a rich man—a damned sight better off than you' ll ever be in local govern-ment—— on one condition. RATTo We only lent it to you on that condition,□ On balance, theGovernment are right to try to find out on what conditions membership can be obtained. sc o variants on one/ this/ that condition, on these/those conditions, on what condition(s). on the contrary [Conj (PrepP)] quite the op-posite to what has just been suggested, asserted etc□ There was none of the bitterness that has so often broken out in the past. On the contrary,friend and foe treated each other with a respect that has been absent these many years. OBSo Ithink he was a little ashamed of being so success-ful. I, on the contrary, felt proud of him for being so versatile. UTN□ Ernest Bevin always favoured the idea of workers being directly represented on the boards that ran nationalised industries. Herbert Morrison, on the contrary.believed boards should represent the public. OBSo front or middle position. on credit/ tick [A (PrepP)] without (full) pay-ment being demanded, or given, at the time of purchase V: buy, sell, get, sth o They(= men)run their businesses, the nation, world commerce on credit. But your (= housewives`) charge accounts are not credit, they are frivolous and unnecessary spending calculated to inspire bank-ruptcy. TOoShe's very understanding: if I'm hard up by the middle of the week she' ll always let me have a few groceries on tick till Friday. o ex-pression on tick informal, and usu used of small transactions with no formal agreement. on the dot(of noon etc) [A (PrepP)](infor-mal) promptly; as soon as asked, expected or required V: pay; arrive; finish. o: noon, 4.30,9pm, two □ The Earl was a big spender: and he paid his bills on the dot. Lo DOCTOR: Attend to the X-ray equipment inside and let's have the negatives on the dot, in my hand, the minute Igive the word. THH□(the front doorbell rings)MRS ELLIOTT . That's him now. Right on the dot as usual. EGDo‘Are you sure it’ s me you want?’I asked. ' Of course I'm sure. It's important, too.See you' re there on the dot.' RATT□ Work, the vocations apart, is not the centre of life: an easy pace, puck up on the dot of 4.30, no sackings.L O usu end position. on either/ every hand[A(PrepP)](formal) to left and right; everywhere; on all sides/ every side (qv) a It was necessary, when driving at night, to keep a sharp look out for the boulders which frequently rolled down the steep slopes on either hand. □ On every hand, although the flashes could not be seen through the fog, the leaping guns were pouring a hissing mass of stee!across the valley. Só o front, middle or end position. on an empty/a full stomach [A (PrepP)] at a time when one's stomach is empty/ full V:drink, take medicine; go to bed D Oliver Gillie writing on hangovers points out that it is unwise to take aspirin-based products on an empty stomach, and recommends that breakfast should be eaten first. STo People with heart con-ditions shouldn't take hot baths on a full stomach.□ Pop agreed that perhaps it (coffee)wasn't a bad idea at that, At least it would save him from going to bed on a completely empty stomach. BFA on an even keel [Comp/A (PrepP)] maintain-ing steady progress, an undisturbed course of life or action, a well-balanced emotional stateV: be; keep, stay, be/ get back, live □ The hour of crisis is past. The ship of state is back on an even keel, and we must put behind us the fear of capsizing,' he maintained. NS□ His life was fascinating but it was also lived on a fairly even keel. RT o It's been difficult for him to con-centrate, with all the stress he's been under lately.When he's on an even keel again I'm sure he' ll make a serious effort to finish his book. on the face of it [Disj (PrepP)] apparently;seemingly; judging by the (insufficient) amount of evidence available o On the face of it, An-drew (deserted by his wife) was better off than most women in the same situation. The social services department quickly offered a home help and day nursery places for the children. STo Pur-vis's description of him as a gentleman is right.Nationality, on the face of it, British. But I have a hunch that he might not be. ARG□So we wanted to know for certain if there really were any diamond mines in Liberia. On the face of it.there was no reason why there shouldn't be, DSuDave was constantly making this suggestion; Ican't think why. as there were few pieces of ad-vice which, on the face of it, I was less likely to follow. UTN o front, middle or end position. on a firm etc footing [Comp/A (PrepP)] in a particular state; having a particular status or relationship (with sb) V: be; put, get, start.meet, continue. adj: firm, sound, solid; an equal, the same, a different; bad, better.familiar; peace(time), war(time) o They fought dilatory governments and a sometimes hostile,usually indifferent, public to put wildlife protec-tion on a sound footing. SC □ I feel that is so essential for men and women to approach each other on an equal footing; this is why I believe women must be given equal pay and equal oppor.tunities. ST □ Michael Hurll, who's produced every one of Cilla's series, started on a very bad footing with her. RTo II was precisely becauseDr Bottwink was not quite on the footing of u guest that Briggs found it necessary to explain why it was no trouble to climb a flight of stairs.EM□Lord Simonds said that the applicant might proceed on the footing that there was jurisdic-tion, but should confine himself to the single ques-tion before the committee. To The people of that country are also beginning to show the strains of having to remain indefinitely on a war footing.L O variant on the footing of sth/ that. on foot [A (PrepP)] walking, contrasted with any means of transport V: go, travel; arrive.leave; see, explore o (from a game-warden's diary) Suspicious activity through glasses: two 431 <432> on the ground/(the) grounds of sth---on no account chaps with some sort of contraption ducking down in the rushes Circle round on foot . chal-lenge them. STo I packed up my manuscripts in ahrown-paperparcel and left on foot. UTNa We creep out to see as much as we can of this wonder-fulcity onfoot before the ' real' sightseeing of the day begins by coach,OBS on the ground/(the) grounds of sth [A(PrepP)] for reasons based on sth indicated V:agree. object, to sth; arguc against sth o:(ill-)health. hardship. public amenity, economy;religious conviction o The Board agreed to Jen-hims' s retiremen l on grounds of ill-health without loss of pension rights. o Miss Kazacos obtained the decree in the Divorce Court on the ground of adultery by her hushand. DMo TheChancellor was absolutely right in concluding that it would be wrong , hoth on the grounds of stable prices u nd the balance of payments. to add in uny way to purchasing power by his hudget. SC◇△ next entry; on moral etc grounds. on the ground(s) that [A (PrepP)] for reasons based on the fact or belief that V: agree,object, (to sth); argue (against sth) □ SignorSegniresigned on February 24, after the Liberals had withdrawn their support on the ground that the Government was drifting to the Left. SC oShopkeepers in Staveley have been asked to take down advertisement signs put up without per-mission on the grounds that the signs cause an injury to visual amenities. To They hoped to con-test Lisa's will if possible, on the grounds thatLisa, when she made it, was not in her right mind.MM - H is leadership can he criticised on all kinds of grounds: that he is uninterested in policy making... NS o variants, on this/ that ground, on those/ other/ all kinds of grounds, used when reasons are given in a preceding or following clause. ◇ A previous entry; on moral etc grounds. on (one's) hands and knees [Comp/A(PrepP)] with knees. toes and hands on the ground; on all fours (qv) V: be; go (down),crawl, proceed, retreat o(imitating a frog) Sa-rah. on hands and knees again, was giving sidewuvs leaps and croaking happily. Go I feared that the Night Sister might see me passing by; soI manoeuvred the first part of the corridor on my hands and knees. UTN O hands and knees non-rev. on sb's/ one's(own) headbe it(saying) the choice or responsibility is sb's/ one's own and if there are unpleasant consequences that person/one oneself must suffer them o On his own head be it, if people don't like him. What does he expect, the way he carries on?□I'm sure you' re wrong to sink all your capital in this scheme.However, on your own head be it.□ Viewing for me begins on Sunday with ' Hero's End' (11.00pm BBC1). This fascinating programme I do know about, as I had a large part in the making of it. So on my head be it. RTo often used as a warning; stress patterns on sb's/ one's ' own head be it, on sb's/ one's head ' be it. on the home etc front [A (PrepP)] in the sphere, or field, of (a) civilian life, work and defence in time of war;(b) the internal affairs of a country contrasted with foreign policy etc;(c)the affairs of regional, professional, religious etc groups adj: home, domestic; Scottish; 432 industrial, educational; Protestant o... generalCity opinion interpreting the reduction (in the bank rate) more as an external measure than an relaxation in the credit squeeze on the home front. To What happens on the wages front during the next few months will he of paramount importance. To II is not just woe on the City front for Slater Walker Securities. Go variant on that front with reference to an earlier clause etc; front, middle or end position. on the hour/ half-hour exactly at an hour/half-hour, eg 12,3,6.30, of the day; every hour/half-hour of the day o If you told him one o' clock he' ll be here on the hour—— just you see if he won't. o At 7 o' clock on the hour the sur-gery doors are shut. a The Modley bus will take you there - - the stop's at the bottom of the road. Going back, it's on the half-hour from the bus-station. RATT on (an) impulse [A(PrepP)] without previous thinking or planning□ On impulse,I picked up the phone and dialled my sister in Pretoria. oWhat he did carelessly on an impulse he will now' regret for the rest of his life. on a large etc scale [A (PrepP)] in large etc numbers; involving much etc expense, or-ganization etc; in a big/ small way (qv) adj:large, grand; small, moderate o Only on 28 July did the President formally announce his decision10 commit American troops on a large scale. L□ Ke n is the same physical type as his brother though on & smaller scale. □ As in all general engagements on s grand scale, the tactics and objectives of the combatants have become con-fused. Lo I did feel myself inferior to Robert. Iwas the one with the common sense, but he was the one who was living on the grand scale. CON□ The movement matters first because of its ex-traordinary extent. Negro action on this scale has never been seen in the South. OBS□Action so far has been confined to a few small-scale raids across the border. o variant on this/ that scale with reference to an earlier clause etc; attrib use a small-scale raid,a large-gcale invasion. on sb's merits [A(PrepP)] according to good qualities which sb/ sth has and disregarding other considerations V: judge, decide; select,appoint. det: his, her, its, their o I judge goods.like people, on their merits and not by their expensive packaging. □' Oh yes.' he said, ' some of them have a great deal of merit, but music publishers don't buy songs on their merits nowadays.’ To Every case should he decided on its marits. Lo Selection should be made purely on merft. NSD variant on merit. on moral etc grounds [A(PrepP)] for moral etc reasons adj: moral, ethical, religious; educa-tional, economic, political; health, com-passionate; several, various. V: agree; refuse,4object; admit sb; release sb □ The Home Secre-tary asked a consultant psychiatrist to determine whether she ought to be released (or transferred to hospital) on health grounds. NS o TheMinistry released her on compessionate grounds. PWo Parents are more likely to object to operations or blood transfusions on religious grounds than any other. OBS△ on the ground/(the) grounds of sth; on the grounds(s) that. on no account [A(PrepP)] not for any reason or in any circumstances adj: no, not any, never <433> any o This patient must on no account he left unattended, even for one minute. □ On no me-count would she speak to any of them, though afterwards she wanted to discuss what the pros-pective buyers looked like. TSMP□‘Would you consider taking on the editorship yourself?' ' On no account!’ o The ' autovia'(= train) would start at four in the morning and could not, on any account, wait for us if we were late. DFoIhad told the children they must never on any account go into a friend's house to play without first telling me where I could find them. 口 often with must, will, would; front, middle or end position. on occasion [A(PrepP)] sometimes; occasion-ally o The room was evidence that she could let herself go, and that was what I liked. People who cannot let themselves go on occasion will not do for me. SPLo If on occasion he mistrusted his own powers, it was not a mistrust that he intended others to share. HAA□On occasion she could express herself on matters of sex in good oldEnglish words that would have shocked her father and puzzled her mother, RFW o front,middle or end position. on the one hand... on the other (hand)[Conj (PrepP)] used to indicate contrasting facts, opinions, procedures etc o (growth of cottage industries) On the one hand it is a movement very much in tune with the general social changes which have gained enormous ground during the seventies: and, on the other,it is an antidote to the instant, throw-away fashion styles which dominated the sixties. GoOn the one hand one rule limits the women's colleges to 300 members, excluding graduates and research students, while another (rule)allows the total number of women to be one-fifth of the male undergraduate population. ToShould a community allow a child to die because its parents object to a needed operation? Should anyone, on the other hand, ever be given the right to make vital decisions about another per-son's child? OBS O on the one hand occas introduces first statement without being followed by on the other (hand), as in second example; on the other hand very often introduces an addition or correction to a previous state-ment in which on the one hand has not been used, as in third example; front, middle or end position for each expression in its own clause.on an optimistic etc note {A (PrepP)} so as to suggest, or cause, sad etc feeling V: start,open; end, close; continue. adj: optimistic;bitter, angry; despondent; hopeful, cheerful oThe discussions ended on an optimistic note(or: on a note of optimism). a The Minister concluded his speech on a more cheerful note with references to a slow-down in the inflation rate. Go I do not want to end this chapter on a bitter note. MFM D variant on a note of optimism etc. ◇ △strike etc a false etc note. on one's/ its own' alone; without the support of anyone or anything further; by itself/ oneself'(qv) o Lord Hailsham, the Lord Chancellor,describes Lord Masserene and Ferrard as ' al-most a House of Lords on his own’. He has a range of titles. OBS□ A bowl of soup, thick with meat and vegetables, was a meal on its own. oThe thought of the voyage was enough on its on occasion--on/ under pain of death etc own to make her feel sick without ever going on board. o modifies a preceding n. on one's/ its own² [A (PrepP)] without prompting, guidance, assistance etc; by itself/oneself ²(qv)V: function, work; decide, choose;improve o Suppose you had to dump that clown you have with you— could you get here on your own?ST□I' ll give my wrist a day or two to see if it gets better on its own before I go to the doctor.□' But nobody comes here who would steal them or borrow them without asking.'I wouldn't have thought so either, but books don't walk off shelves on their own.' o usu middle or end position. on one's own (account) [A(PrepP)] as one's own employer V: set up, open shop; start,launch out o All the customers want their car jobs done by Brian. It's a pity he can't find the capital to set up on his own account. a When the war came Madame Schiaparelli closed down and Madam Mirman opened up—— on her own.ST o He tried to show an intelligent interest in the family. What school did Glad go to? Did Stan(an assistant hairdresser) think of starting on his own? HD on one's own account [A(PrepP)] for one's own benefit or pleasure; for, on behalf of,oneself o What use has all this love ever been that men forcedon me? Love is persecution. All I want is to be left alone to do some loving on my own account. UTN□ But Isabel went through much agony of mind wondering if the secret of her.relationship to Alec would come out, and Harold(her husband, also having an affair) was no less alarmed on his own account. Pw on one's own admission [Disj (PrepP)] as one oneself admits, confesses o The authorities concerned have on their own admission been lax in enforcing the anti-litter regulations and in prosecuting those who infringe them. SC□On the left, a man who takes exercise regularly and is careful, but not fanatical, about his diet. On the right a man who, on his own admission, has' given up'. You have been warned. ST o usu front or middle position. on one's own terms [A (PrepP)] in ways, or on conditions, that one chooses oneself o ' After the Ball is Over' is a melodramatic song,a com-mercial song taken over by the people; but they have taken it on their own terms. ULo A young peer of the realm with a famous mother and an even more famous grandmother told me the other day that he is determined to achieve whatever he does achieve in life on his own terms. He doesn't want to be given a leg-up by his family.NSa Mr Heath prefers to do things in secret and make his decisions public only on his own terms and when he considers it is to his advan-tage. NS on/ under pain of death etc[A(PrepP)] with the risk that, if one disobeys, one incurs the penalty of death etc o: death, expulsion, excom-munication; his father's disapproval, social ostracism; being forcibly ejected a Civilians were forbidden on pain of death to give shelter or food to any enemy fugitive. o Were I cultural commissar for this country I would force every-one, on pain of 40 yesF$ hard (labour) in the sociology mines, to buy and read this book. SCoFinally, we both rounded on him and told him to 433 <434> on paper—— on sight shut up on pain of being dumped by the road-side to finish the journey on foot.□The executive has already succeeded in changing union rules to prevent members, on pain of suspension, from taking industrial action without prior permission from headquarters. NS 口 usu middle or end position. on paper [Disj (PrepP)] as described; when jud-ged entirely on written record or statements,tables of figures, etc V: be, look, seem. Comp:all right, good, promising o I would think thatI haven't changed as much as, on paper,I would seem to have changed. Lo On paper, the cer-tificate of origin system (ie of wine) which came into force that October looked foolproof. ST□On paper the IRA has an elaborate command siruc-ture: a GHQ (in Dublin). Brigade Staffs andBrigade Councils, battalions, companies. OBS□front, middle or end position. on sb's part shown, or done, by sb o: theGovernment; parents, students, doctors oYugoslavia's international position is difficult.Since the end of last year there have been en-deavours on her part to patch up peace with theUSSR. SCoI feel sure there will be no objections on anybody's part to that.□In the first place, he feared another act of treachery on the part of the leadership of the Movement. OBS □ There must be a vast number who would like to see much more personal responsibility on the part of both doctor and patient. DM on present etc form [Disj(PrepP;] judging by sb/ sth`s previous and/ or current actions,behaviour, progress etc(from form = record of horse's performances in previous races) adj:present,△current, recent; past□The South Af-ricans clearly hope to get the Ovambo back to work and though it (their persuasion) might have the desiredeffect, on presentform it looks high-ly unlikely. ST□ On recent form I reckon he' ll manage university entrance quite comfortably.□If I saw that a horse would win on form,I would want to see that horse move in the market(ie have more people betting on it) before I would back it. OBS口 on form (without modifying adj)used esp with reference to horse-racing. on principle [A(PrepP)] because of a moral, or reasoned, code of conduct that one follows V:oppose, resist, sth; object (to sth) □ Offering extra money was the wrong line to take with my father who on principle would have tried to make a good job of the house anyway. oI object on principle to spending £15 or£20 merely to fill my stomach. o front, middle or end position.◇△ next entry; in principle; (as) a matter of princ-iple on the principle of sth/ that guided by belief in the truth, expediency, or likelihood, of sth o:first come first served, looking after number one. fcnding for yourself. cl:(of) doing nothing for himself, dressing well; (that) the taking of life is always wrong, what can't be cured must be endured, a child that has been quiet for half an hour is doing something he shouldn't a The orderlies, anxious to be off duty. dispensed food on the principle of first come first served and late-comers often had to beg cocoa and a slice of bread in the kitchens. o Some are vegetarians simply because they prefer that type of diet,others on the principle that the taking of life is 434 always wrong. RT□ My constable's companion.had , on the principle that if they are young they are probably guilty, arrested the lookout couple.NSa Bob's a lazy devil. He gets through life on the principle of doing nothing for himself that he can get other people to do for him.□Sh e works on the principle of dressing particularly well when she feels depressed—— says it always cheers her up. ◇ △ previous entry; in principle;(as) a matter of principle. on purpose [A (PrepP)] deliberately, not by chance; by design(qv)oJO How could you give me a father like that? HELEN I didn't do it on purpose. How was I to know you'd materialize out of a little love affair that lasted five minutes?TOHo 'I failed my O-levels,' he says, ' more or less on purpose, simply because I didn't want to be moulded into the kind of life they had mapped out for me.'RT□ esp end position. ◇ by accident; by chance. on the quiet/QT {A (PrepP)] (informal)privately; secretly V: warn, inform, sb; borrow;make money o 'I' ve been meaning to have a word with you as a matter of fact.’‘Well, here I am.’I'd like it more on the quiet, you know.'OMIH□(a boy is repairing an old motor-bike his father has forbidden him to have) ' Of course.'he said bitterly, I'm handicapped all along the line. No money and having to do the job on the quiet. 'HDo I warned a few of my regular cus-tomers, strictly on the QT, that they'd better fill their tanks now because there would he no petrol by the weekend. o expression on the QT infor-mal; end position. on reflection [Disj (PrepP)] after thinking further about a matter oI thought of telephon-ing elsewhere for assistance, bul on reflection l decided that there was no one to whom I felt inclined to speak frankly of my predicament.UTNo The suspicion did cross my mind, even as he spoke, that the man was lying and on further reflection I was sure of it, o front, middle or end position. on a shoestring [A (PrepP)] with very little money or resources, esp capital and stock for starting or running a business V: make,produce, operate, work, run, sth o So the or-ganisation grew but still lacking the sort of in-fluential and wealthy support so characteristic of that around Stansited and Cublington. We still had to operate on a shoestring. NS□ Techni-cally, it is a Presentation show and not LightEntertainment: ' It was made on a shoestring budget,' said Eric. RTD attrib use a shoestring hudget/ operation. on the side [A(PrepP)](informal) as a sideline;in addition to one's main job, or source of in-come; secretly; discreetly o While drawing up deeds he wrote poetry, did a little newspaper work on the side, ran off sometimes to see life on the waterfront down-river at New Orleans. L□He would not wish to know to ( = act obse-quiously towards) the customers, though some of his fellows do that, and get cups of tea and tips on the side. UL o Most of the people at work knew he was having some fancy woman on the side( = having an affair). □ usu end position.on sight [A(PrepP)] as soon as sb/ sth is seen.at sight (qv)V: love; hate, detest; kill o ALISON:Hugh and I disliked each other on sight, and <435> Jimmy knew it. LBAo A couple of thugs were sent after him with orders to shoot on sight. □ There were more than 200 students, ranging from fresh-faced late-teens to grizzled heads; I loved them on sight. All nerves vanished. OBS口 on sight and at sight sometimes interchangeable, but for verbs denoting emotions on sight is used. 亼at first sight. on the sly [A(PrepP)](informal) secretly (the implication often being that one intends to deceive) V: smoke, drink; meet (sb); bet (on horses)o His ma m hadn't even seen the girl, and that was what made it worse, she shouted. Court-ing on the sly like that and suddenly upping and saying he was getting married. LLDR o While there, Chubb testified, Jackson stayed at a dif-ferent hotel from the main party because he was on the sly. ST□She says she has given up smok-ing but I think she goes to her room and has one on the sly sometimes. O usu end position. on spec[A(PrepP)](dated slang) as a specula-tion, guess or gamble; in the hope that sth positive may result o We heard of the cottage through a friend and took it on spec---Mary was anxious to get settled somewhere. □ LastJune, the Government said Gova n could go ahead with construction of the ships, worth £6m, on spec. ST o For five years I read on average 30plays a week, unsolicited plays sent in on spec by hopeful writers. NS□ usu end position. on the spot' there at the time and place an event happened o There I was on the spot and willing, indeed eager, to be a guinea-pig. DOPoITN hadaman on the spot interviewing Turkish paratroopers as they dropped from the sky. NSoThe artists (especially the ones on the spot)learned that the truth is objective after all, and that ensuring it is told is a full-time job-their job. NS□ Rover(car manufacturer) also hopes to send out engineers at some stage to do an on-the-spot check. ST□The news item was followed by an on the spot report from the scene of the fire. o usu modif ies preceding n; attrib use an on(-) the(-) spot check, report. on thespot²[A(PrepP)] immediately; prompt-ly V: pay, agree; give (the correct answer), un-dertake (to do sth) o (collecting for a charity)Another of my successes on this occasion wasJohn Lennon, who whipped out his cheque book and gave me the bread(= money) on the spot.OBS□ John Williams, to comply with (Rugby)Union rules, should have refused that League offer on the spot.□ Machiavelli set to work on' The Prince'. Not that it was much consolation.If the Medici had offered him a job, he would have abandoned the book on the spot. NSa It was no use, however, my trying to think it all out on the spot, especially with the (sore) head thatI still had. UTNO end position. on the spur of the moment [A (PrepP)]impulsively; as soon as one thinks of(doing) sthV: answer, speak; decide; rush off o I' ve taken a job at Coombargana, as a parlourmaid. I did it on the spir of the moun ent without really thinking. RFW o The intention to kill or do grievous bodily harm was possibly conceived only on the spur of the moment. OBS。 Last year he pushed off to Hong Kong on the spur of the moment. RTo ' They nearly all happened in the early morning hours, ' said the (Scotland) Yard on the sly—— on time man. ' They were usually spur of the moment attacks.'TVTo attrib use a spur of the moment attack. on the strength of sth [A (PrepP)] using sth as one's main supporting reason, excuse, argu-ment etc(for doing sth) □ They experience a thrill and they call it love. They get married on the strength of this feeling and they still call it love. HSG o Rohauer extracted £250 from theMoroccan Tourist Board on the strength of his dubious rights to this film. SToIt's your birthday.do you say? Well, we can have a drink on the strength of that. on the surface [Disj (PrepP)] superficially; as far as can be judged from external appearances o The results of the conference appeared on the surface to be gratifying. MFM□On the surface he doesn't appear to be a miser, but you find out about him, really. DC o front, middle or end position. on that score [A (PrepP)] about that par-ticular (aspect of a) matter; for that particular reason V: dislike, resent, sb; object (to sb),quarrel(with sb); please, satisfy, sb. det: that;this, another, other; the same; various o He would do all that we sought and would see it was done at once; I had no doubt on that score.MFM□ You' re a good teacher and I' ve nothing to say against you on that score. TGLY o A more serious objection is on enother score—— that working in groups is destructive of individual judgement. NSoI have nothing to say against you on the score of your teaching capabilities. O less common variant on the score of sth. on these lines [Comp/A(PrepP)] of a particu-lar kind; in a particular style; in a certain way;by a certain procedure or method det/ adj:these, the same; different; the usual; the right.o: the Arts Council, your own set-up, last win-ter's series.□ An independent corporation for the medical profession on the lines of the BBC or the Arts Council would be one way of ' lifting medicine out of the realm of party politics'. DM□ I didn't get much: one or two things on very simple classiclines, but I had some CLOTHES!OBS□ When Johnson was Professor of Mathema-tics 30 years ago the subject was being taught on very different lines. o The CBI committee's ideas of bringing the compulsory retirement age for executive directors down to 65 seem to be on the right lines. ST□Isabel experienced a curious thrill of pleasure at the idea that her thoughts and those of Alexander Goodrich were running on the seme lines. Pw o variant on the lines of sth.on these terms [A(PrepP)] according to con-ditions, or arrangements, suggested or laid down det: these; his, their; such; the same, dif-ferent,(not) any other o The children promised to sit quietly and to go to bed immediately after-wards, and on these terres they were allowed to sit up and watch the film with their parents.□ You must allow me to pay my share;I couldn't accept your hospitality on my other terms.□I sent forPhillips because it seems necessary to remind him of the terms on which he was employed here. oSure, the vicar likes people to enjoy themselves.but it's got to be on his terms, not theirs. o variants , on the terms proposed, on the terms agreed, the terms on which. on time [A (PrepP)] punctually V: finish sth; 435 <436> on one's tod—— once in a lifetime detonate sth; deliver sth□ Do you set great store by punctuality and make a point of being on time for work and social appointments?WIO(ad-vertisement) Once settled on a Greece or ElbaHalcyon holiday, all we ask is that you get your-selves to the airport on time. ST□ Blake, BritishRail's construction engineer in charge of theScottish section of the programme, says with quiet confidence that work will be completed on time. SC O end position. on one's tod [A (PrepP)] (informal) alone;without others present or helping□(source) On one's Tod Sloan (rhyming slang =` on one`s own`). □(a prisoner) At night you can listen to your radio till 10 o' clock then it's lights off and you' re on your tod and you say Christ Almighty,when am I going to get out of here? STo A thirdScottish Labour MP was described to me by one of his comrades as ' an arrogant bugger—— the only man I' ve seen at a conference eating his breakfast on his tod.’ NS□And then, after being driven round, you go round on your tod the next day accompanied by a sizeable hangover. ST o end position. on top of sth besides, as well as, in addition to,sth o The situation is in some ways even improv-ing, thanks to our incredible good fortune in find-ing so much gas and oil on our doorsteps, on top of the advantages of already having a big coal industry. ST o On top of the set-piece sessions were the policy committees on agricultural production and consumption, on security, and on trade. NSa It was unthinkable that he should be handed over to the attentions of a disciplinarian father on top of everything else. HD on the understanding that having made an agreement that; on(the) condition that(qv) cl:if you are not satisfied with the goods you may return them; I pay for my own keep; it was a permanent post o All reputable mail-order firms will send you goods on the understanding that you can return them within a stated period, if you' re not satisfied, and get your money back. oNed should take along a youth of his own age on the more or less explicit understanding that he was going to spiral up to being head of the design department. CONo Of course they want money.They would only agree to take part on that un-derstanding. 口 variant on this/ that understand-ing with reference to an earlier clause etc. on the whole[A(PrepP)] generally speaking;taking everything important into account and not giving much importance to minor details;by and large(qv)□Topretend, however, that the struggle to gain his own way had been wholly unpleasant would be untrue. He had, on the whole, enjoyed it. HAA□On the whole, it had been a successful evening. TCM□' How are they taking the news?’‘Pretty calmly on the whole.’□ The Services may curse them (politicians) and try to overawe them but they know very well where the buck stops, and they don't ( on the whole) try to cheat. ST o front, middle or end position. ◇△as a whole. once again/ more'[A] one more time V: say,sing, recite, sth a ' That was better,' said the conductor. ' Let's have it once again from bar twenty, and then you can go.'o If you say that on ce more, I shall scream. once again/nore² [A] again as formerly V: 436 meet, be reunited, come together o He argued that it was best to leave them alone because it seemed somehow probable that after death - - - -whenever it came —— he would meet all these things once again. LLDR□' Only three weeks to go, he wrote, and we' ll be together once Inbore and making up for wasted time. once bitten, twice shy(saying) sb who has suffered a particular kind of misfortune is ex-tremely cautious about incurring it again; the burnt child dreads/ fears the fire (qv) o ' He never married again?’ No, once bitten, twice shy, I suppose - - - though that hasn't deterred some others I know.'o ' Do you always check applicants` references?’' Once bitten, twice shy. I always do now.'o used to explain or justify care or caution. once and for all [A] now and from this time onwards V: understand, settle, establish, con-firm, sth o Will the cameras prove, once and for##, that the dream of finding people on other planets is completely without foundation? TO oSTANLEY: Now you listen to me, my boy. You get this through your head once and for all; I'm in business to make money. FFE□ The only scheme he can get government backing for is the arrange-ment by which an author would get a once-and-for-all payment (a kind of additional ' lending royalty') on each new book of his bought by a library. NS□ attrib use a once-and-for-all pay-ment. once a gentleman etc, always a gentleman etc sb will always be a gentleman etc in spite of changed circumstances n:gentleman, lady; Catholic; teacher; thief; whore o' Would he allow the other prisoners to feel that he thought himself a cut above them?'' Of course he wouldn't. Onc# a gentlemam, always e gentleman. ’ o Once é riflements, shways be rifleman, they say. I joined up in the RifleBrigade during the last war, and I never lost that peculiar sense of clannishness, of pride in my silver-plated badge, black buttons and green facing on my battle-dress. RTo She laughed. 'Ithought once a student always a student.Aren't you a student of history now?'' Probably,maybe a different kind of history.’ PP 口 stress pattern , once a gentleman, ' always a gentleman.once in a blue moon [A] (informal) very seldom; on rare occasions V: happen, occur;appear; perform o He (a film director) never looked through the view-finder or watched the daily rushes, and he consulted the script once in a blue moon. Lo One official view is that Wed-nesday's near-riot is one of the hazards of Con-tinental competition--' the sort of thing that happens once in a blue moon.'SCo Honegger's huge dramatic oratorio has been performed only twice before in London, once with Ingrid Berg-man as Joan. ' It's a once in a blue moon sort of thing, said one of the violinists. OBS □ front,middle or end position; attrib use, a once in a blue moon sort of thing, unusual. once in a lifetime [A] likely to occur once only in the life of any one person o She was brought up to believe you fell in love and got married once in a lifetime. o You haven't really achieved anything as a player unless you play in a Cup Final. It is usually a once-in-a-lifetime experience— unless you play for Celtic or Ran- <437> once in a while/ way---one good turn deserves another gers. TVT o W. C. Fields was a once-in-g-lifetime phenomenon who was as much of a sur-prise to his audiences as to the directors unfor-tunate enough to be assigned to his pictures. RTo attrib use, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.phenomenon, often found. once in a while/ way [A] occasionally, or intermittently, over either a long or short period o There isn't much upkeep with the hearses except to give them a lick of paint once in a while. ST□ Even the most reputable actresses had to suffer that thankless role of the dutiful wife of the great man' once in a while. RT□The sailors sat with the great red-rusted sphere of the mine between them. Once in a while they would act in unison and move a spanner on a particular-ly difficult nut and bolt. ARGo ' Don't you ever drink tea?’’ Oh, once in a way I might. But Iprefer coffee or fruit juice.’ (only) once ramoved (from sth) very slightly different(from sth); not much different(from sth)o The whole essay was a skilful exer-cise in plagiarism once removed. G o LordStokes is only one of a whole raft of men, com-monly regarded as rich, who, in our presence once removed (ie on radio or TV), have proclaimed that money is, at the best a bore, and at the worst, an unmitigated pest. SCo Reproved for boorishness, he would at once switch over to u n exaggerated courtesy only once removed from insolence. O usu follows n. once soon etc never/ not forgotten (say-ing) memorable because of beauty, ugliness,strangeness etc V: seen,△ heard, read o ' Did you ever make the trip to the Falls?’ Twenty or more years ago, bul once segh, never forgot-ten. □It was at Tavistock Square that I first metLady Ottoline Morrell, who, once sugn, could not be forgotten. AHo Bellamy has a very strong idiosuncratic personality that excites powerful likes and dislikes. His voice, once heard, will not quickly be forgotten. RT D often used to remark ironically on the striking quality of sb or sth. once too often[A] once again, with, this time,unpleasant or disastrous consequences o One day at the Principal's little termly tea-party for her third-year students, the laughter happened once too often. HAHAo You' ve often dozed off with a lighted cigarette between your fingers.One day when I'm not here to watch you you' ll do il once too often. o often, with will, used as waming; end position. once upon a time [A] some time, or a long time, ago o This is an older story, as old as Gene-sis. Maybe it could even start in the old way, and that, as I remember, was' Once upon a time'. PP□Once upon't time there was a wife who ran her house with the organized precision of an electric clock. Everybody hated her and her husband ran away with a girl who couldn't tell the time. TO oRommel's forces (would be) dispirited and defensively minded, looking over their shoulders for the next position to which to withdraw--as had been the case in the Eighth Army once upon a time. MFM O used esp as the opening of a story, fairy tale, etc for young children; usu front position. one after another/ the other first one per-son or thing, and then another, and then another up to any number or amount o I saw him scrutinising us, one after the other, for long periods at a time. Lo We were in one furnished room after monother for months and months.EHOWo The sad 1930s gang of social or psycho-logical cripples knock over one hick town bank after another, until the moment comes when they bite off more than they can chew. L o ex-pression may follow or precede n or pron or be interrupted by a n (as in one town after another). one and all [n + n non-rev] (informal) every-body relevant, with no individual left out o AndWoodgate (or Hopalong as he was known to one and all) shut the door carefully like a man whose doors were always slammed by other people. TT o I didn't kiss her but all women; Iknow they' re stupid and unaccountable, ruled by the moon one end all, poor bitches. RATT one big happy family (catchphrase) a com-munity, work-group, school etc in which all members have a good relationship and com-mon interests o There was a lot wrong with the phrase one big happy family. Her family had been big. She'd had five sisters and three brothers and it had been far from a happy experience.TSMP o But after the clichés like ' We' re one happy family' four dissimilar personalities emerge---the only true common factor a shared ambition for greater success. RT o adj big usu present. one day[A(NP)] at some undefined time, often but not necessarily in the future o ' I think maybe I'd like to be a TT rider (ie take part in the Tourist Trophy motorbike races on the Isle of Man) one day,' he said. OBS o And she was really concerned— would likely make somebody a good wife one day. TTo One day people wake up to the experience that what was important yesterday no longer matters in the same way. Lo front, middle or end position. ◇ ▲ one of these days. one for (doing) sth [Comp(NP)] (informal)sb who likes, or is strongly in favour of,(doing)sth, who does sth often or whenever he can det:a (great); quite a, not much of a. o: freedom,fresh air; interfering;(wearing) bright colours oTONY: Of course she didn't reproach me. My mother is a great one for freedom. EHOWo I was never one for rows and trouble, you know that.Peace is more my line. LLDRD Fred was always one for the girls and he doesn't seem to get any less susceptible as he grows older.□ We are great ones for sticking labels on animals that have more to do with our own prejudices and attitudes than with ethnology or zoology. SCo Petipa was a great one, we are told, for latching on to topi-cal themes. OBS one for the road(informal)a last drink before setting off for home, on a journey, etco'I thinkI ought to go.'' Onefortherood.'' Mustn't drink all your whisky,' he muttered. QA□Don't press a driver to have one for the road, unless it's in the form of black coffee or hot soup.□ ' How about one for the road?'' No thanks. If I drink any more,I won't be able to drive straight.'D often part of suggestion or invitation as in last example. one good turn deservés another (saying)if A does sth to help or please B, then it is 437 <438> one hell of a row etc—— one of nature's gentlemen/ ladies natural, pleasant or fair if B does sth similar forA o That one good turn deserves another was an axiom with Harold; he would not have dreamed of doubting it. Pw □I' ll dig over that patch for you on Saturday. You' ve just about kept us in fresh vegetables these last two months,and one good turn deserves another. O often used to emphasize that it is normal to repay a favour, and thus to suggest that one has done nothing unusual. one hell of a row etc(informal) a dreadful,terrible quarrel etc; an exceptional, outstanding person o: row, dust-up; mix-up; rat, nice guy oYou'd better get that job finished or there' ll be one hell of a row when the boss comes round. □You knew that wherever you went people would say to themselves. ' This must be one he ll of a world-beater to have a wife like that.'CONoI' ve always found him one hell of a nice guy. ◇△a/ the hell of a sth. a one-horse town etc(informal) a town or place where there is not much business done or entertainment offered; a poorly equipped busi-ness or service n: town, △ place; firm, outfit,business o ' This(Hollywood in the 1930s) was· one-horse, one-tank town, a beautiful quiet place. It was really dead. RTo He'd started up some one-horse trading concern in a semi-derelict warehouse. O also pl. one in the eye for sb [Comp(NP)](informal)a setback, serious blow, for sb: get a slap in the face (qv) V: △ be, seem; regard sth as □ And now the jury's decision is being hailed as a triumph for Press freedom and one in the eye for the Whitehouse brigade (censorship). ST oThat's one in the eye for Kenneth Little who suggests that the roots of British racial prejudice lie in our ' almost unique' class consciousness. NS□‘Hope I’ m not interrupting anything?’ Which was one in the eye for anyone the cap fitted. TTone etc in a thousand/ million [Comp/O(NP)] sb/ sth of superlative character or quality.rarely found n: one,a man;a feat;a chance, an opportunity o' What's your new secretary like?"' Reasonably competent-not a patch on Jean.'' Ah, but she was one in a thousand.' a But Ididn't get my rest. Mrs Burton was there potter-ing about, her sketchy sabbatical dues (ie church-going) long done, but this was a chance in a million and she was seizing it and she said,' Coppers, wasn't they sir?' PP□ Having said all that, the garish colour reminds one of the worst excesses of the Ziegfield Follies; but no matter,it's still a prousical in a million. RT a one-man band etc a musician or enter-tainer who plays two or three instruments simultaneously, usu in the street;(fig) a person doing several things by himself which are usu shared with others n: band, △ show, circus oDR BROCK: A doctor's a one-man band. Every-thing— everybody. YAA o But what has grievedJim Slater more than anything is having hisSlater Walker Securities tagged as a one-man band. OBS o I'm by no means a one-meur-show,' says Dame Margaret Miles, who (is)headmistress of Mayfield ComprehensiveSchool, Putney. RToA lot of people share Hail-sham's view that his one-man's circus was more responsible than any other single factor for rousing the Tory rank and file. ST one man's loss is another's gain (saying)what sb must, or chooses to, do without is made use of, or enjoyed by, another o' She learned to cook at The Three Cocks hotel at Fordington. "Pop said. ' And it's never been the same since she left there.'' I can only say the Cock's loss is your gain. ’ DBMo Fancy you not liking smoked salmon—— and I got it as a special treat for you!Ah, well, your loss is my gain, as the fox said to the farmer when he ran off with the chicken,o loss and gain rev. one man's meat etc is another man's poison etc(saying) what seems good or pleasing to one person may be bad or unsuit-able for another n: meat... poison, religion...superstition, realism… obscenity, chore……relaxation o But there is no such agreement with respect to experiences of ' beautiful' and ' ugly';one man's meet is another man's poison. SNP□ That perspicacious proverb about one man's meet being another man's poison could well be stretched to cover the undoubted fact that one man's rubbish is another man's tremiure. SC□ The chief difficulty in finding a generally ac-cepted definition of humour is the fact that one man's meet is monother man's poison and that many people cannot understand why other people find something funny. L o ' One man's super-stition is another man's religion, ' says Stew-art Sanderson.'I prefer to use the word“belief”. "RT o The way one man's meet is another man's poison, so one woman's ideal husbend is another wonon's pain in the neck. TVT o often adapted, as shown; in such adapted say-ings the‘favourable’ and unfavourable` nouns may be reversed;a comment on the variability of human judgement or taste. a one(-) night stand a single performance of a play, concert etc, esp one of a series of perfor-mances in different places; a sexual encounter lasting only a single night (or possibly one in a succession of brief encounters) □ Edo de Waart is not so famous in Britain——a situation he feels is partly his fault. 'I find it difficult to give my best when I am guest conducting. One night stands don't really appeal.'oBSo His sex life is in danger of deteriorating into a succession of one-night stands. one of the boys [Comp (NP)] (informal) one of a well-established social or work group; sb who has a favoured relationship, which is not granted to many o He gave no sign of wanting to please. nor was he patronising. He made ef-forts to do the job without falling into the trap of trying to be one of the boys. STo Most of these little literary magazines just take in each other's washing and you don't get published unless you' re one of the boys.□(a' pet' greylag goose)Calling him down when he's up high and travel-ling fast, is easy if yours happens to be a voice he listens to. But he doesn't listen to just anyone.You have to be one of the boys. SC one of nature's gentlemen/ ladies [Comp(NP)] sb who is courteous and considerate as a result of character and temperament rather than birth, upbringing or education o DonaldSinden who worked with More on the film ' Doc-tor in the House’ describes him as one of nature's gentlemen---and a joy to work with.'TVT o(reader’ s letter) I was born of a working- 438 <439> one of theyà days—— one way or the other class family. My father was a humble dustman,on d of Nowre's gentlonge. L one of these days [A (NP)] at an undefined time in the future o Alec rose and shook hands.' You' ll be seeing me again one of these days.'PWo 'I could go places if I wanted to, said Ron.' Yes,' said Bernard.' But not to prison. That's where Mrs Curry will put you one of these days.'HAA O △ one day; next entry. one of those/ these days [Comp(NP)]a day that is full of mishaps, when one has more to do than one can cope with, etc V:△be; turn into o I had the feeling as soon as the Johnsons trooped in for coffee that it was going to be one of these days. □ But in 1971, running forBritain's juniors against West Germany, she was fourth in one race and last in another. ' Just one of those days,' she said. SToPAMELA: Oh, it's one of those days. I bet you anything the horse breaks its legs. FFE◇ ▲ previous entry. one and only [det + det non-rev] emphatically;absolutely; the only; the sole o Fran Fullenwider(the name is genuine) is the one and only 60-hipped, 17t stone model girl in London. RT oAgain the good bread, no meat, fine vegetables and salad and, the one and only time, a glass of beer. OBS□Charles, whose nerves had been sorely tried by inacrivity and pain, made his one and only scene with me. LWK o usu preceded by the or his, her etc. one and the same[det + det non-rev] empha-tically, absolutely the same n: person; time, mo-ment; thing, entity; process□ ' Do you know who killed Robert?' ' Of course.' He sipped his sherry and added, ' And Lord Warbeck. And Mrs Car-stairs. It was all one and the same person.'EM□I can't be in the kitchen and running backwards and forwards at one and the same time. o We have no policemen here and we need none. There is love hetween us, because we are use and the same. ST o may modify, and/ or stand in place of, a n (as in last example). one swallow does not make a summer(saying) one fortunate incident etc should not he taken to mean that the general situation has improved or is about to o Could I say yet that everything was all right? One swallow did not make a summer, though I conceded that most people would think it meant they could reason-ablv look forward to a warm spell of weather.SML o The revival of Scottish football fortunes— which Tommy Docherty seems to be inspir-ing— is long overdue. But Docherty himself is cautious: ‘We will have setbacks — and one swallow doesn't make a summer.'RT O often used as warning against premature optimism.the one(s) that got away people who in contrast to others, escape death, danger, matri-mony, indoctrination etc(from the big fish that.in anglers` stories, was nearly caught, or broke the line or slipped the hook just before it could be landed) o The four Hertfordshire schoolboys who survived four nights out in the Carneddau ure, in the words of John Ellis-Roberts, chief warden of the Snowdonia National Park, ‘the ones that got away'. OBS□ He took so long to make up his mind about his first really serious girlfriend that she went off and married someone else. He thought of her now. a little ruefully, as the o me that got www. one thing and another [o(NP)](informal)various events, items, matters, tasks, topics etc prep:(what) with, about, by, from o It was an hour before we'd finished with cows and one thing and another. Then I started to clip. We' ve about 450 sheep and 250 lambs. ST o What withCindy's marriage and selling the house, and one thing and another, I' ve got an awful lot to see to. PEo' You' re like all the rest!' Susan broke out.` Badgering and bothering me about one thing mind another!'EM one too many an additional step etc beyond what is suitable, safe, tolerable, forgiveable etc n: step; remark, insult; drink, cigarette o She had it in her power to send him to jail for quite a long stretch. He had forged her signature on one too many cheques. ASA o He never behaves like that unless he has had one too many drinks. o'l think,' said Professor Clun, ' that some people have made one imaginative leap too many and show little sign of being able to return to the realm of reason.’ ASA o From the way he was lurching about you could see he'd had one tooWeny (ie one drink too myway). □ pl n in end position, sing n in middle position. one up for/ to sb(informal) sb has acted skil-fully, wisely etc o: organizer, producer; team;Labour, Conservatives o Casals was the first to have this idea(that there should be two winners if final choice is difficult) in relation to the cello competition he presided over in Mexico, but the organizers wouldn't allow it. One up to ImperialTobacco(the sponsors, who did allow it). Go So far then, one up for Mr Russell (and hooray forGlenda Jackson's unheralded appearance). ST o exclamation indicating approval. (in) one way and/ or another [A (PrepP/NP)] by some means, methods etc or other oThe full scandal had not got into the papers, but one way and another his career was at an end.ASAo If you help a neglected, deprived child, he or she may well grow up to do you credit. They may not actually show you gratitude, though quite often they do. but the chances are that you will get thanks on d way or another. OBS□ Not that everybody in our yard hadn't been a struggler—— on d way or another. You had to be. LLDRo The writer may feel on reflection that he has been pressed, in one way or another, to change what should have been left as it was. LO△ next entry. one way or the other [A (NP)] whichever of two possible events happens; with either of two possible reactions; with one of two possible judgements; either way (qv) V: care, have strong feelings; decide; matter; concern sb;(not) make any difference o GEOF: Before I met you I didn't care or e way or the other——I didn't care whether I lived or died. TOHa By now I had just sufficient whisky in me not to care much one way or the other. UTN o I am convinced that there are very many people, non-committed politically, who would just not be interested in this type of play, one way or the other. RT oAbout a concept like obscenity they(a jury) can only decide whether or not the object in question is acceptable to them— and they decide that,one way or the other, the first minute they see is. LD often neg or with neg implications. ◇△previous entry. 439 <440> one with sb/ sth---only too well one with sb/ sth [Comp (AdjP)] (formal)united with, forming an integral or indistin-guishable part of, sb/ sth V: △ be, seem;become, make sb. o: Nature, the universe; all mankind; the dust o The reader must feel intimately one with the dream that is being presented to him, and he will not feel this if he has to puzzle over a nuance, or follow even a moderately involved sentence-structure. ULo The artefacts survive when those that made them are one with the dust. the only begetter(formal) the sole originator or inspiration (of sth) o (source) To the onlie begetter of these insuing connects, Mr W. H., all happiness. DEDICATION prefacing the SONNETS(W SHAKESPEARE 1564-1616)o Parts were good—und so was the acting; but it came a long way behind Evelyn Waugh, the onlie begetter of this sort of thing. lacking his incisiveness and genuine hard-heartedness. Lo(opening ceremony of theOpen University) And Harold Wilson em-phasised his role as Ontye Begetter, by reading into the record great chunks of previous speeches on the subject. NSO archaic spelling of only often used; sometimes facetious. an only child the sole child of one's parents.(the implication often being that such a child is indulged, or deprived of companionship) □ Afriend of mine from a nearby street was an only child and seemed to have no father. UL o It was common knowledge that only children had a difficult time of it and were liable to be immature.TGLY o The fact of being an only child and therefore essentially a loner does not help in the task of jollying other people on. ST only connect (catchphrase) link facts, ex-periences, events etc to form a meaningful pat-tern; establish a link between oneself and others to improve understanding□(source) Only con-nect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its highest. HOWARDS END (E M FORSTER 1879-1970)aOnly connect', could well serve as the motto ofProfessor Young's study. Starting with a biolo-gist's view of man, his object is to emphasise the inter-connectedness of things. NS only fair etc[Comp(Adj)] simply, barely, fair.just etc; no more than fair, just etc V: △ be,seem. adj: fair, right, proper; natural, polite,human. A: to warn you, to point out, to make clear; that he should know a It is only feir to warn you that I shall make a very determined effort to evade the police. HD□However it is only fair to say that major results can hardly be ex-pected in a space of only 12 months. Go To show a little bias in favour of one's own kin is only natural, surely?□ ' It is nice that he shows such gratitude.’‘Nice, but only proper, after all.’ o used to give warning, apology etc. only to find etc with the sole result being disappointment, inconvenience, discomfort etcInf: to find, △ to discover, to realize, to be informed o I can sympathise with the exaspera-tion of tourists----in Paris for a single day----ar-riving at the Louvre only to find it closed by a strike. NSo,.. the story of a rising in 1816 inAlgiers from which the Consul's family escaped and joined the British fleet, only to find them-selves caught up in a sea battle. NSo Throughout the day one or other of us would have an idea and rush with some fresh offering to the cage, to try to tempt the armadillos, only to have them treat it with disgust. DFa Many's the book I' ve bought home from the library only to discover I' ve read it before. D in end position following a main clause. the only good Indian etc is a dead Indian slogan expressing hatred for the enemy, racial antagonism, sectarian bigotry, etc(now more usu quoted when exposing or deploring such attitudes in others) n: Indian, German; Protes-tant, Catholic; landowner; fox o (source) The only good Indian is a dead Indian.(attributed to the US General P H SHERIDAN 1831-88)□ Her father had been a prisoner-of-war in the 1914-18War and though he did not quite subscribe to the idea that the only good Germans where dead ones he certainly jibbed at Elizabeth marrying one of ' them'. o The conscripts would take up one of the constant refrains of the Corporal—— the only good Kaffir is a dead one.' They used the word onmenslik to describe Africans, It means' not human'. NSa He was the kind of man who is provoked by some item of news into exclaiming.‘I can't stand the Babylonians!’ or ’ The only good Visigoth is a dead Visigoth!’ AH (but) only just [A] barely; with difficulty; by a narrow margin V: manage, get by, survive o(looking at photographs) JO: Is this a wedding group? PETER: My brother's wedding. Jo: They only just made it, too, from the look of his wife.You can tell she's going to have a baby. TOHo The air strip was small and I asked the pilot if we could get off. He said he thought we should manage it; and we did, but only just. MFMo' It's after eight o' clock, now.' Only just. I can still catch the bus if I hurry.'o but included only after comments or replies. only too aware/ conscious of sth/ that[Comp (AdjP)] fully aware of sth; aware of sth to a degree that facts and circumstances have made unavoidable V: △ be, appear; make sb.o: shortcomings; danger, risk, hardship, hun-ger; request; possibility o Both mines admitted that they were only too aware of the traffic (ie diamond smuggling). DS□ The boy is only too aware that he is less able than others of his age.□ Lindsay was only too conscious of the limits of his efforts at educating the unemployed to relieve suffering. NS only too gladetic[Comp(AdjP)] very glad etc;esp glad etc; more than glad etc(to do sth)(qv)V: △ be, become, seem. adj: glad, △ happy,pleased; willing, ready. Inf: to come, to get away, to help; to do what I can, to forget. ci: the whole thing; if he succeeds; that you' ve come oMost English writers have been only too glad to get out of the working class, if they have had the misfortune to be born into it. NS□Lord Reith was big enough to discern the flaws which all of us have in our characters, and which most of us are only too happy to hide from ourselves. Lo/ saw at once he was a very decent chap and only too willing to help in any way. MFM only too well [A (AdvP)] to a greater degree than is right, pleasant or good for oneself or others V: know, understand; like, enjoy, hear.look after o ' Anybody I happen to know?'' As a matter of fact, yes. Remember Bonachea Leon?'‘Only too well.’ ST ... ignorant dupes of an 440 <441> establishment which has learnt only too well how to divide and rule. NS o She would have preferred (the children) out of the way; Jeremy didn't like company while Janice liked it only too well. PWo Like a lot of deaf people, father could hear only too well when he wasn't meant10. ooh and aah [v + v non-rev] make sounds of astonishment, wonder, horror etc. esp to show enjoyment and relish o The audience of young children oohed and ashed as the acrobat flung himself into a triple somersault.□Their(the Sun-day papers`) interest, whether in news-reporting or in fiction, is often increased by the ' ooh-aah'element — a very ' ordinary' girl is knocked down by a man who proves to be a film-star. ULo In the Christmas edition of ' Tomorrow'sWorld ' (a fairground of scientific wonders for children) the famous illusion of Pepper's Ghost.which once drew oohs and aahs of astonishment from an audience in London's Egyptian Hall, will here-enacted. RTD oohs and aahs[n + n non-rev];attrib use the ooh-eah element. open the ball [V + O pass] be the person chosen, or choosing, to start proceedings(from leading off the first dance at a ball) with one's partner o / was sent for by the Prime Minister.The P. M. opened the ball by asking if I had read the newspaper reports about the fighting inHaifa, MFM o Though the incident was unlikely to end in anything other than a shooting-match neither besiegers nor besieged were keen to opmin the ball. an open book [Comp (NP)] sb/ sth with no-thing secret or mysterious about him/ it; sth/ sth that is easily understood and interpreted S: my life, his face, his mind; the moorland, interna-tional law. V: △ be, look like. A: to me, to a man like him a He is tough and shrewd when he has to be. But he is an open book—— deviousness does not seem to be part of his personality.□I tell you, the mysteries of religion are an open book compared with those of psycho-analysis. o(television stars) Their contributions to the tax-man are huge and their life is an open book to the public. TVT O a closed/ sealed book to sb. open the floodgates (of sth) [V + O pass]release a great force of emotion, destruction,rebellion etc previously held under control(from the opening of gates, egat a lock or reser-voir, that hold back or release a volume of water) o: grief, passion; violence, famine and disease o Five minutes of dead silence is going to open the flood gates of their indignation like the bottom coming out of a bag of cement. ART□ The hereaved woman is stunned and withdrawn,but presently the floodgates are opened and natural grief has its way. o Help has been 100little and too late or too far from where it was most needed. The flood-gates of famine and pestilence are already opmis. SC o floodgates or flood-gates. open one's (big) mouth [V + O](informal)say something (the implication often being that sb speaks too readily or indiscreetly) □ Every-thing I say is wrong this morning. I'm frightened to open my mouth. a If you so much as open your mouth about it to her - - you can pack your bags and go. EGDo Trust you to go and open your big mouth! Dick was supposed to ooh and aah— an open sesume (to sth) have been visiting his mother last night. o You' re afraid it's your fault he's hooked on to us.Because you' ve opened your mouth too wide.HD > shut one's mouth etc; keep one's mouth/ trap shut. open Pandora's box bring about (esp in the hope of obtaining, achieving sth) a host of troubles previously unknown or under control(from Greek mythology, in which Pandora, the first woman, received from Jove the gift of a box - - subsequently opened by her husband— in which all the troubles that could afflict mankind had been safely sealed)□Our quest forNorth Sea oil is like the opening of Pandora's box: havoc will prevail as the object of our desire is distributed. OBS□Given China's traumatic ex-periences during her initial contact with Western capitalism in the last two centuries her new leaders will be cautious about opening Pan-dors's box again. STo Peckinpah is an artist Iadmire immensely, and I wouldn't want to ban his film (' Straw Dogs'), but outside the convention-al, allegorical framework of the Western his per-sonal obsessions have exploded like grotesque forces from some Pandore'sBox. NSo variants the opening of Pandora's box, a Pandora's box. an open question [Comp (NP)] a question that cannot be, or is not yet, answered;a matter that cannot be, or is not yet, decided V:△ be,remain; leave sth o Whether any adolescent would have benefited from a kind of upbringing he didn't actually have is always on open ques-tion, isn't it?□' You seem to have got little thanks for your kindness. Never mind, you' ll get your reward in heaven.’‘That's en open question.’ oMr Buckle maintains that, as a choreographer,Nijinsky has influenced all the best of his suc-cessors. Stravinsky and Ansermet thought that his choreography suffered from his ignorance of music, which they probably exaggerated. The question therefore remains open and MrBuckle may be right. ST o ' La Fauvette' is not merely a long work; it is a big work. Whether it is also agreat work is a question I prefer to leave open. OBSD variant the question is/ remains open.open season for sth [Comp(NP)] the months of the year when specified animals, birds, fish may be killed legally; a time or occasion when(doing) sth seems to be specially prevalent V:be, become, seem. o: salmon(fishing), pheasant(shooting); student-bashing a The hard-line Re-publicans were also extremely active in the war of words. To them it seemed that opew séeson for Republican-bashing had been declared again.Lo When the marathon talk-in at No 10 DowningStreet finally broke up. it then became open season for the massed prophets of gloom (if not doom). L an open sesume (to sth) [Comp (NP)] an easy means of access to a place, to a social,government, academic or business circle, or to a particular commodity (from the magic wordsOpen Sesamel which caused the door of the robbers' cave to open in the‘Arabian Nights’story of‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’)V:△be, become; make sth o They are precious, al.most faery regions, steeped in mystery and rich with treasure, to which the ' Open Sesam" costs rather more than three shillings and sixpence.AHo His relationship to the Lord Lieutenant, had 441 <442> an open and shut case— or something he let it be known. would have been an open sesame to every drawing-room in the county. oCoke(= cocaine) is the latest open swisme to that elusive ' good time' at the heart of the Ameri-can dream, and at least five million Americans have now tried it. OBS□ Although ENA((France)Ecole Nationale d' Administration) is only 30years old, it is a well-established open-swimme to power, and the first generations of ' Enarques'(ENA graduates) are now prominent ad-ministrators, including the four most important men in France. OBS an open and shut case[Comp(NP)] a legal case, or other matter, about which there should be no doubt or argument because all the evidence points to only one verdict or con-clusion V: △be, appear; make sth; have o As soon as the results of the forensic tests came in.the inspector in charge knew he had an open and shut cese against Wilson.□Nobody reproduces one and a half pages of critical text wordfor word from ' unconscious memory'. It's an open and shut case of deliberate plagiarism. □ occas pl.open to sb[Comp(AdjP)] available to, obtain-able by, possible for, sb $: opportunities.choice; post, facilities; it... to write to yourM. P., to complain. V:△be, become; make sth.o: all; pupils, men and women under 40 o Yet the Ombudsman system has certain attractions.It is simple and open to all. SC o The annual careers guide is a valuable introduction, giving some idea of the opportunities open to school-leavers of fifteen, sixteen, seventeen and eight-een. OBS□ These concessions are open to cash customers only.□' Why me?'' Because I think you are the best man for the job. But it's open to you to refuse.’ o If it were open to me to say who should or shouldn't receive a grant, you'd get one right away. open to sth[Comp (AdjP)] liable, susceptible or vulnerable to sth; of a kind that can be affec-ted or influenced by sth $: project, scheme, job:boss, teacher, husband. V:△be, become, seem.o: abuse; misinterpretation; suggestion, correc-tion, persuasion; being abused o The scheme is.of course, open to abuse. Laws of this type, how-ever liberally conceived, will always be open to being used oppressively. NS□Overweight children are more than averagely open to chest infec-tions.□ Th e wife is often responsible, out of this fixed allowance, for any replacements — of crockery, furnishings, and so on; the more thoughtful of these husbands will be open to sug-gestions, will promise something out of the next payment of over-time. ULoI believe these figures are the most recent available but I am open to correction. open to question etc[Comp (AdjP)] ques-tionable; arguable; uncertain 8: it... whether he will agree, what they will think, how they will react. V: △ be, seem, remain. o: question, △doubt, argument o But it must be open to question whether the nation got good value for the money Labour spent. SC□ It remained open to question, no matter what the courts found.whether Mr Ince had been rightly convicted for the offence. To Whether the field research was necessary or not is certainly open to question.L o Whether the truth, and nothing but it, is a successful vote-getter remains open to doubt. RT□ The rightness or wrongness of the decision taken is, of course, open to argument. MFMthe opium of the people(saying) sth used to give people false satisfaction with, or com-pensation for, the harsh facts and conditions of their lives □ (source) Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the feeling of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless circumstances. It is the opium of the people. CRITIQUE OFHEGEL'S PHILOSOPHY OF RIGHT(K MARX 1818-83)oPeople sit drugged, all night, before their tele-vision sets. It's the new opium of the people.And what a panic if the hub of the household hiccups, halts, and dies. SC one's opposite number a person occupying the same, or a very similar, position as oneself,but in a different country, party, university,business firm, or other group o We—— or rather our opposite number on the other side—— are going to drop a very small tactical bomb,OI□TheGreater London Council planners, however, and their Labour opposite numbers came to a less comforting and more realistic conclusion. ST o By being a little extravagant in giving a present to your opposite number you should receive co-operation. WI or else otherwise sth unpleasant will happen,be done, as a result o (from a letter) It was a hundred and fifty pounds I asked for. You sent only a hundred. The other fifty had better arrive tomorrow or else. DC□Iexpect they' ve found the car and are telling these chaps to have us over or else. QA □ He was the man without mercy, the ruthless one, who must be obeyed or else. PEoLast year I was told to put on weight or else. Iwas down to six stones. ST ounfinished threat or warning. or I'm a Dutchman of that I'm very certain;unless I`m much mistaken o ' There's a Force 7wind blowing. ’‘Yes— and worse to come orI'm a Dutchmann.'o If it's not a genuine 16th century piece then I'maDutchman.□One thing had the habit of leading to another and this would be so whether he got more amorous or more senti-mental, and one of the two he was soon going to get or she was a Dutchman. TGLY o follows an emphatic assertion; always first person except in reported speech; variant if sth is (not) so,(then) I'm a Dutchman. or rather put more exactly, more accurately o' You' re going to say I must go. ' I said. ' You must,' said Anna, ' or rather I must.' UTNo TheArabs pointed to the Cloud , orrather to a black-ness in the sky, which by now was about seven degrees across, looking like a yawning circular pit. TBC □ used to correct or modify a preceding statement. or so approximately a The losses so far reported have come from only a half-dozen or so com-panies. To This place was about two miles fromMastodon. A mile or so along the coast a country house was occupied by a secret naval party. RFWoI' ll keep on for another hour or so.Then if there's no improvement I' ll turn in. TBC□Th ere is. I am told,a tribe far up the Amucon that makes a great march down to the sea every five years or so. OBS □ follows, or refers to, a specific number, quantity, time, distance etc. or something (informal) or some similar thing, person, condition, activity etc o There 442 <443> was no need to spend all that money on a present.She would have been just as pleased with a bunch of flowers or something. o ' He said: " Is thatGeorge's little tart?" She flushed deeply and added, 'I thought he was drunk or something.'PE o HELENA: She's going to church. JIMMY:You' re doing what? Have you gone out of your mind or something?LBAoHELEN: Turn yourself into a bloody termite and crawl into the wall or something but make yourself scarce. TOH Omodifies a preceding n, v, adj or clause. or whatever (informal) or any other/ others of the kind indicated (the reference being to things, persons, groups, actions etc)□ He can be an eminent professor, an eminent lawyer, an eminent surgeon or whatever. He's still a stupid man. o‘I expect she’ ll only have to shed a few tears and you' ll give in to her.’‘No, not if she weeps, screams, goes down on her knees and prays or whatever.'aI always enjoy those ser-mons in which Christians are likened to birds in their little nests or whatever. G o follows n, v,adj or clause; variants or however, or whenever.ordeal by fire/ water any test of courage, en-durance etc(from the medieval form of trial being by ordeal, based on the belief that super-natural intervention would prevent the ac-cused, if innocent, from being burned by fire or drowned)o I don't have a hope of getting the job after that interview—— talk about an ordeal by fire!□The villagers are beginning to calculate the damage caused by last night's floods. They also have the depressing task of cleaning up the mess left after their ordeal by water. o (NONCE)Another cup was rinsed on to the floor, refilled and put like a live coal into my hands — the ordeal by tee. QA o (NONCE) Only perhaps here and there someone, pausing for a moment to recover his strength before further ordeal by chatter, was aware of some slight strain or dis-turbance in the atmosphere. ASA口 often adapted for facetious effect, the order of the day [Comp (NP)] the procedure or business for a named day, esp debates in the House of Commons; the accep-ted practice, common routine, usual position.V:△be, seem, become o Hand-outs were issued to the delegates, giving the order of the day for each session of the conference. o Self-discipline was the order of the day at home and at school.RT□(They) hold parties on Saturday. They get a bit drunk. The lights are off and sex is very much the order of the day. NS□(towers for TVcameras) From that time onwards a form of staircase, complete with handrail, has been the order of the day, for which I and all my suc-cessors may be truly thankful, STo(NONCE) Until recently paraffin lamps were the order of the night. T (only) the other day etc[A (NP)] very recently n: day, △night; evening, morning, af-terroon; week o Do you remember what we were saying the other day about the Cloud slowing down?TBCo' We have our own job to do in Afri-ca.' Mr Macmillan said the other night. SCo Isaid: ' Only the other day the Russians put out that they have discovered huge new diamond fields somewhere inside the Arctic Circle.'DSoYour three months can't be up already! It seems only the other week that we went down to the or whatever— other things being equal station to meet you, o front, middle or end position. the other side [o (NP)] the after-world,spiritual life after death, now esp associated with the beliefs and practices of Spiritualism.but also with ' crossing the river of Jordan',Christian symbol of passing from earth to heaven prep: on; to; from o When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the Riverside. So he passed over, and the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS (J BUNYAN 1628-88)□ In spite of her glamorous contacts both here and on the Other Side, Mrs Twigg seems a cosy, kind-ly, well-intentioned lady. Lo You' ll be glad to hear the latest from the Other Side. Well,George Sand has sent word that she and Chopin have ' made up all their differences, Liszt has more or less given up womanising and Beethoven is more humble.’ NS O often, but not necessarily,capitals O and S. the other etc side of the coin the contrast-ing, or contrary, aspect of a matter adj: other;(only) one; two, both; reverse, darker; more pleasing o Mr Bell feels so guilty of his own priviliged position in society that he is determined.to romanticise the other side of the coin, and to idealise mores (= customs) into positive values. RTo Before deciding to reject or accept the maker's guarantee (on new cars), the buyers should look at both sides of the coin. On the credit side the best of them offer unquestioned after-care servicing at appointed dealers. In too many unforgivable cases precisely the opposite happens. ST o During the recent Lord's Test, a happy streaker(= sb who runs naked through public places) leapt into millions of homes, and even the magistrate was amused. The Heading-ley despoilers are the darker skie of the same1970s coin. G other than sb/ sthexcept, but, apart from, sb/sth o Does anybody other than yourself know this?□Games should normally require no equip-ment other than a ball or stick; they should make use of available materials, of the lamp-posts, the flagstones, and the flat ends of houses.UL □ He had never once thought of himself as a man with whom a woman other than his wife could fall in love. PWo It's a nice jersey but I wish you stocked it in a colour other than pink. o precedes n or pron, esp in neg, interr or con-ditional constructions. other than (do) sth different(ly) from sth oHave you ever known her to be other than kind and considerate?□ A lot of the social visiting we have to do is a bore but we never come here other than willingly. □ With the bottle standing there on the table when he came in I couldn't do other than offer him a drink. O precedes adj, adv or v,esp in neg, interr or conditional constructions.other things being equal [Disj] provided that outside circumstances remain the same,are unaltered o Finally, few people are so free of earthly vanity as not to find it pleasant, other things being equal, to be on matey ((informal)= friendly) terms with someone whose face is displayed all over London on posters twelve feet high. UTNa' Wouldn't you like your husband to be earning another £5000 a year?' ' Of course Iwould, other things being equal. But not if he 443 <444> other times etc, other manners etc— out of sight, out of mind has to go to Singapore, which is I guess what you' re getting at.' o front, middle or end position. other times etc, other manners etc(say-ing) in other, or different, times, customs were different also (from the French expression aulres temps, autres moeurs) n: times...manners, △ days…… ways, countries… customs o When the doctors don't know what's wrong with you they call it a virus infection; in the 16th century they'd have called it a ' humour' . Other days, other ways. o(NONCE) Other countries,other customs. ' Not even a cosy on it!' I heard a Lancashire matron say as she regarded with disfavour the pot of tea served her in the lounge of a London hotel. o (NONCE) ' Ah well!' she sighed. Other days, other stays, they say. But you'd noí remember the whalebone (corset),dear. 'ASA o often adapted to express other contrasts. the other way about/(a) round [A] in a direction opposite to the one suggested; the opposite of what is expected or supposed $:bed, table; room, house; situation, relationship,result. V: be, face, turn; work□ASTON: You want to sleep the other way round. DAVIES: What do you mean? ASTON : With your feet to the window.ICo Somewhere or other I' ve heard the comment that caputalism is the exploitation of man by man and that socialism is the other way about.□ To most people acting is glamorous, business isn't.It works the other way around for me. RTO end position. the other woman the woman whom a man loves, or has a regular relationship with, in preference to, or as well as, his wife,□ One can appreciate the mistrust of the other woman'.the Jezebel, the home-breaker, the woman who sets out to wreck an existing marriage or one just about to start. UL oSONIA I don't believe in mar-riage; not even for mothers and fathers. I have always wanted to be the other woman. DPMour man in Paris etc(catchphrase) a diplomatic representative, secret service agent,foreign correspondent of a newspaper, etc who works in the place specified; any well placed person from whom one can obtain special ser-vices or information o: Paris, Washington, Bur-ma; Harley Street, the dispatch department o' Dear Mr Ambassador, I knew times had changed in England hu t never in my wildest dreams — ’ So begins one letter among the dozens which have inundated our brown in Paris in the aftermath of the Leeds rampage(disorder-ly behaviour at an international football match). NS□' But I'm not in your Service. Why do you pick on me?"' Patriotic Englishman. Been here for years. We must have our man inHegers, you know.'OMIHo Next Sunday in TheObserver' Walter Schwarz—— until recen! ly our man in Jerusalem-opens a special inquiry into the revolution in the Kibbutzim. OBS out-herod Herod [V + O pass] be extremely wicked, cruel, violent etc(the reference being toKing Herod, ruler of Palestine when JesusChrist was born, who` slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof,from two years old and under', MATTHEWII 16);(fig) exceed sb named in a quality mentioned or understood o(source)I would have surha fell…… 444 (ie an actor who exaggerates his role)whipped...; it out-herods Herod: pray you,avoid it. HAMLET III2o Reports are reaching us of acts of brutal barbarity by the invading army,who seem to be out-heroding Herodtouscarce-ly conceivable degree. □ In ambition, arrogance.astuteness and effectiveness the new military dic-tator already out-napoleons Napoleon. out loud [A] clearly and audibly, esp without fear V: say, state, speak; declare, testify. O:belief; intention; criticism, opposition o Child-ren often relieve their feelings by muttering things they would not dare to say out loud. a(marriage ceremonies) Probably the very fact that we have spoken out loud and let everyone know what we feel makes it more incumhent on us to hold to what we said. ST out of the corner of one's eye[A (PrepP)]with an indirect, secretive, casual glance V: see,notice, look at, watch, observe, sb/ sth ɒ Out of the corner of my eye I saw Reggie take Susan away, and the next ten minutes were a blur of new faces and half-heard names. RATTo I turned my.attention to the package. I had already noticed out of the corner of my eye that it came fromFrance. UTNo Even when he was writing on the blackboard he'd be watching you out of the cor-ner of his eye. O front or end position. out of hand {A (PrepP)] at once; summarily;without investigation or consideration V:reject, condemn; refuse, turn down, dismiss, sthD No one thought he had any talent; most of what he wrote was rejected out of hand. OBSa It was the largest wage claim in the history of the land.And when the employers rejected it out of hand in November it was simply dropped. NSa Mar-tin's proposal to get rid of the man out of hand was indefensible. NMo Applied science is more often condemned out of hand than given a genuine trial. OBS out of hours [A (PrepP)] during times when public houses are shut or a licence-holder may not sell alcoholic drinks□ For a long time I have kept a stock of whisky with Mrs Tinckham, in case le ver need a medicinal drink, in quiet sur-roundings, in central London, out of hours.UTN□ There is a small back parlour where the landlord will serve drinks out of hours to a privileged few. o attrib usu out-of-hours drinking. out of the mouth(s) of babes and suck-lings (wise, shrewd, perceptive remarks or questions can come) from very young, naive or untaught persons o (source) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings has t thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. PSALMSVIII2□ What could a boy like that suggest thatBill ai the gurage hasn't thought of?'' You never know. Out of the mouths of babes and suck-linge. Femember.’ o(NONCE) There are occasions.in the City as elsewhere, when ingenuous ques-tions out of the mouths of babes and suckers(= people easily deceived) can confound the experts---or at least defy glib replies. OBSout of sight, out of mind(saying) sb who, or sth which, is no longer present, visible etc tends to be soon forgotten □ Such instances of recall are, however, by no means frequent and it still seems to be largely a question of ' out of sight. <445> an out and out scoundral etc--overshoot the mark out of mind'. MFF o The end is still unhappy.Out of sight, out of mind, I say, or would if it weren't for those redeeming bits of humour and madness before brutality sets in. NS□' Good.' saidRose, ' who's talking about good? I don't want to do her good, I just want to keep her out of sight and mind, thank you very much.'TSMP D USU a comment on sb or sth that can easily be forgot-ten, or on sb of a forgetful nature. an out and out scoundral etc a complete,thorough, unmitigated, scoundrel etc n: scoun-drel, rat, swine; disaster, failure; opposition oYet the Labour leaders managed to steer the conference into throwing out a resolution ex-pressing out-and-out opposition to the EEC(= European Economic Community). SCo We did wring a few concessions from him however--the meeting wasn't s n out-and-out failure.□Maurice Denham gives an awesomely good ac-count of an out-and-out coward. TVTo As theConservatives move to the right, they wish theLabour Party to move further to the left. For an out and out socialist this is a defensible position. L o n usu refers to an unpleasant per-son, negative qualities, etc; adj often hyphenated. the outside world [o (NP)] places, people.activities etc which are not those of an enclosed community, group, profession prep: in, from,for o They found me a job in the outside.world. It was they, the Sister, the Doctor, and the social worker who(arranged it). HAHAo This is the first time that I have actually been snowed up. I take it that we are still cut off from the outside world? EM o There are many signs of such a reversion to tradition, accompanied as in the past by vast claims of empire and contempt for the outside world. SC outstay one's welcome [V + O] tire, or in-convenience, one's host by staying longer than is reasonable or expected o It's better not to outstay one's welcome, especially on a first visit. o' How long will you stay?' 'A month. Ishould think; mustn't outstay our welcome.TSMP o often with must not, ought not not wish10. over and above[prep + prep non-rev] besides;as well(as sb/ sth)(qv); in addition(to sth)(qv)o: that; his regular wage, our love for her; what was asked o In Corelli III (a hospital ward)there would probably be nobody, over and above the patients, except the Night Sister. UTN□I denied being too busy, because, over and above any consideration of courtesy. I was genuinely pleased to see him. (all) over again' [A] (do sth) once more;(do sth)(for) a second time o I' ll tell you what you have to do and then you' ll say it over again after me.□I was adding up this long column of figures when some idiot phoned, so I had to start all over again.□I'm not sure I could stand seeing the film all over again. o end position after V or V +O. (all) over again²[A](be sb/ sth) repeated;(be sb/ sth) in identical or very similar form or character□ Even if you hadn't written I'd have known who you were. You' re your mother all over again.□ What's the point of another meet-ing? It would just be last night over again. o end position after be + Comp. over sb's head [A(PrepP)] without taking ac-count of people in positions of authority be.tween onself and the person(s) being favoured or appealed to V: go, ask; promote, appoint,select a President Nixon was appealing for sup-port for his incomes policy, over the heads of the leaders, to the rank and file trade union mem-bers. STo Well you know what my attitude was in the Home Guard. Never listen to any complaints over the heed of a man's commanding officer.RM□In September 1937. Lord Gort was promo-ted over the heads of many senior officers to be the youngest-ever CIGS. L over here/ there[A] the country etc where one is/ is not at the moment of speaking(irrespective of one's own nationality), esp one separated by sea, a channel etc from another, eg Britain visà vis the US, Eire, France; the Americas visà visEurope o Interest rates on U. S. Treasury bills were sharply declining and with the Budget over here also adding to the strengthened appearance of sterling the £1 rate on New York moved up sharply. SC□ Would they be returning to theStates? Perhaps, but they hoped for a renewal of contract with ITV for another series. ' the pace of life, even in London, is so much less frenetic over here.’ TVT over my dead body [Disj (PrepP)] (informal)(sth will be allowed to happen/ be done) only ifI am dead, ie I am determined that sth specified will not occur o Both he and his wife have seen what can happen to a place as popular as Tin-tagel. ' Souvenir shops? Over our dead bodies,'said the farmer's wife. TVTa' My new boyfriend hasn't got any money. But that's all right; he's going to give you a cheque. '' Over my dead body he's going to give me a cheque.'PEo LesUnderwood, the burly leader of the white knitters(who last month said that there would be a mul-tiracial knitting section ' over my deed body')was a signatory to the agreement. NS o almost always first person sing, and even in reported speech, as examples show, often rendered in direct original form. over and over (again) [A] repeatedly; on many occasions o His girlfriend Jean doesn't share his guilt at all, and has to say so over and over again as Gordon tries to make matters right with the dispossessed Miss Partington. Lo He's been warned over and over by his doctor to stop smoking, but will he? o front, middle or end position. over to you (informal) it is your turn.responsibility, decision etc(now); (from over(to you), signalling the end of a radio transmission with readiness for a reply)o Anne waylaid her husband in the hall as he came in.' Over to you,' she hissed quietly, tossing her.head in the direction of the lounge. 'I' ve had enough of them and they' re your friends anyway.a... the shameful practice of the Courts refusing transcripts (of trials) to press and public where a man's liberty may be at stake. Over to you. LordHailsham(the parliamentary head of the judici-ary). NSo' That's entirely the wrong way to do it.'Over to you, then, smart boy!" overshoot the mark [V + 0] exceed the per-mitted limits in a contest; (fig) do sth inac-curately, or with poor judgement or taste o The enchanted landscape remains gloriously within 445 <446> overstep the mark—— pack sb like sardines the realm of fairy-tale fantasy. Only the final reconciliation scene overshoots the mark, and the result becomes inflated. G o He wildly overshot the mark with his last statement: he'd clearly made no attempt to check the figures. overstep the mark [V + O] exceed, in one's behaviour or language, what is right, morally acceptable, etc o (Russia) would watch the situation carefully and ensure that she did not overstep the mark' anywhere by careless diplomacy. MFM□MICK: You could come busting into a private house, laying your hands on anything you can lay your hands on. Don't overstep the mark, son. TC a She'd over-stepped the mark in trying to change. Change was all very well but it could be carried too far.TSMP owesbadebt of gratitude[V+10+ Opass]be in a position where one feels, or should feel,a real obligation to sb for sth given, or done, on one's behalf a We owe the Allied Forces in general, and the Desert Air Force in particular a very great debt of gratitude. MFM□ Finally.ladies and gentlemen. I am sure you will all agree that we owea debt of gratitude to the Vintners'Company for the use of their fine Hall, o occas pl several debts of gratitude; often used in rather formal or stereotyped statements. one's own fiesh and blood those of one's.family group with whom one has a genetic or' blood' relationship D Listen, Lottie — you should be ashamed of yourself —— your own father — your own flash and blood and you never came--after all the years he slaved for you. HSGoBEATIE You can't even help your own fish and blood. Your daughter's bin(= been)ditched. It's your problem as well, isn't it? Ro Iget sick to death of hearing about flesh and blood and then reading all those scandalous P the pace is etc too hot(for sb) the increas-ing pressure of events, circumstances, com-petition etc is greater than sb can cope with V:is, △gets, grows, becomes; find sth □ He left a trail of bad debts and bouncing cheques, and when the pass got too hot for him he came back to Jo' b urg and pretended to go sick. DSoI used to think I could drink with the best of them, but the pace is too hot for me here. These fellows must have guts of iron.□In any year about a third of the students on this crash course find the pace too hot for them and drop out beforeChristmas. a】 was last in the race because the other competitors set too hot a pace for me.□variant set too hot a pace (for sb). pack one's bags [V + O pass] (decide to,prepare to) leave one's home, residence, place of work, etc and live, stay, work elsewhere o Be-lieve me, if I'd been married to that woman I'd have packed my bags years ago. □ After eight years in Washington (eight years is long enough for a correspondent to be in one place, too long maybe) he is packing his bags and moving toBrussels to spearhead the BBC's European coverage. RT o Almost every week since she's 446 stories in the newspapers. You can't open a paper these days without reading about old folk being neglected. TSMP口 rarely without own in above meaning; may be understood to include one's husband or wife. ◇△ flesh and blood. one's own man/ woman [Comp (NP)] a person of independent judgement and charac-ter V:△be; become; seem; remain; come across as aJohn Reith was, as the phrase has it, his own man. He was never satisfied, for himself or for the BBC, with less than the first and the best.Lo I told him quite quietly, but straight. 'I'm your housekeeper, Mr Snow, but my own women— and I choose my own friends.'a' Peg will agree with her husband of course.'' Why" of course"?She's her own woman.'o no neg construction.one's own master/ mistress[Comp(NP)]a person in control of his/ her own affairs, not a wage-earner or sb who has to obey the orders of others V:△be; become; seem; remain□JohnHodgson, farmer, Denbighshire, flexible income(from £0 to £5000) for flexible hours: We' re having the hell of a time(= a very difficult time)at the moment. But I am my own master. SToThe university vice-chancellors are no longer their own masters, but have to be prepared to accept group decisions, T one's own worst enemy [Comp (NP)] sb whose own faults or shortcomings are, much more than anything that has happened or been done to him, the cause of his failure or unhappiness V:△be; become; seem□And if theCheineys seemed their own worst enemies.who is to say with conviction that the perpetual threat of homelessness did not contribute to their despair? RToIf Reith eventually proved to be his own worstanemy, then one must logically seek the first signs in his unnaturally cloistered upbringing. L been here the cook's threatened to pack her bags over some trifling incident or other.□ The delegation's bags were packed and they were all set to leave when they received new instructions from their Government. They unpacked and stayed. pack the house[V + O pass] (be able to)attract a full audience, fill a theatre, concert hall, etc S: band, singers; show, play □ The fact that ' Peter Pan' still packs houses with delight-ed kids says a lot for Barrie, or for the staying-power of the Victorian imagination, or both. oThe band still plays to packed houses. 口variant a packed house. pack sb like sardines [V+ O + A pass] ac-commodate, seat etc a number of people in the minimum of space, as with sardines in a tin oYes, the good old' Marf nte Belle'. Oh dear, what times I' ve had in her in the sweet long ago.Packed likesardines and all enjoying ourselves.RM a Even packing them like sardines into wards planned for half the number of beds, many cases requiring hospital treatment could not be admitted.□(NONCE) We were packed together.eager serdines well up in the sky,a loading far <447> above the engineering specifications. NDN口 usu in passive form; pl O only. a pack of lies an account of something that is totally, or largely, untrue V: be (nothing but);tell sb;(have to) listen to; come out with□' You got my letter?'' Yes, I wish you hadn't written it.'' Why?'' Because it was a pack of lies. I trusted you, Thomas.'QAo Mr Freeman said that if men in business had vacillated and changed their minds as the Ministry had done, they'd have been a laughing stock. Mr Chataway retorted that we'd been listening to spark of lies for the last ten minutes. Lo Artistic embellishment gave way to invention and the day's events ended up as we psck of lies. NS. pack a punch [V + 0 pass] be capable of delivering a powerful blow;(fig) an exception-ally powerful effect S: boxer; book, play,rhetoric; alcoholic drink o He was beside him-self with rage and, for so slight a youth, certainly packed a punch.□' The Naked Civil Servant' is a film which looks behind Crisp's life from the age of 18, warts and all. It pulls no punches , but packs plenty. TVT o (advertisement) You' re pretty slinky? Pack a punch with Max Factor'sFrost on your lips. H o A lot of people don't realize, till they' ve drunk too much of it, what a punch this kind of cider packs. ◇△ pull one's punches. paddle one's own canoe [V + O] make one's own decisions, depend on one's own efforts, in life or work o ' Could somebody not have advised him differently?''I daresay several probably tried to, but he prefers to paddle his own csnce.'oBirkettmade his way up fast, thanks to his father's influential friends. My achievements were less spectacular but at least I could say I had paddled myowncano. o The boy's been feather-bedded at home long enough—— at 19, he should be learn-ing to paddle his own cance. o also pl paddle their own canoe(s). a(fully) paid-up member etc[Comp(NP)]a member ofaclubor society who has paid his sub-scription and any other dues and is therefore entitled to all the privileges and perquisites of membership; anybody who has a secure place for himself in some sphere n: member; teacher,supporter; sympathizer, opponent o It wasEdmund Burke, by no means@ paid-up member of the Angry Brigade, who reminded George IIIthat the principle of governmental accountability had been settled once and for all when Charles Ilost his head. NS□/ feel quite certain that there is something worrying the teachers apart from sal-ary. If you said that everyone, however they were educated, if once they became fully paid-up teachers would earn the same, and if this same was substantially more than the teachers earn now, I still don't think that the status-seekers would be satisfied. Lo He was a smooth-tongued oldreprobate who could talk to one's grandmother like a peid-up supporter of the Moral Rearma-ment League. SC o use is usu humorous though sometimes in sneering way. a pain in the neck [Comp(NP)](informal) sb sth that is disliked, is annoying or tiresome;V:△be, become; find sb/ stho The way one man' smeat is another man's poison, so one woman's ideal hus-band is another woman's pain in the neck. TVT□(reader’ s letter) Idon't often see Philip Jenkinson. a pack of lies——pá r excellence as I find his mannersms a pain in the neck, but Idoreadhis film notes. RT□Wetalkedofeverything save the war, and parted with alcoholic poisoning and a restored sense of proportion. They' re u grand lot, these Free French, at heart — and stomach. But they' re a pain in the neck to theBritish military mind. SD o Moral choices, Ithought, are a pain in the neck. SMLo Writing letters is a pain in the neck to me, and I arrange everything I possibly can by telephone and think the expense well worth it. o Picnics are a treat to some and a pain in the neck to others. 口 almost always sing, even after pI S + V. paint a gloomy etc picture(of sth) (V + Opass] describe events etc emphasizing their gloomy etc nature adj: gloomy, pleasant.depressing, frightening, rosy, more/ less cheer-ful. o: events, conditions, circumstances, the future, tomorrow; the weather prospects, life inBritain□ The weather forecast paints a gloomy picture for tomorrow. I think we can give up the idea of entertainment our guests in the garden.□On the strength of a one-sided report by some academics, they paintsrosypicture, holding out expectations of locallads in managerial jobs, with rising demands for professional services of all kinds. LoPeople who don't want tomakeroomfor them are nuturally going to paint the worst possible picture of the habits and activities of any minority group, whether they hegypsies, West In-dians. students or down-and-outs. o After bad weather during the summer. a gloomy picturgis painted for the harvest. paint the town red [V + O + Comp] enjoy a lively, boisterous time in public places. often attracting the notice of, or causing some distur-bance to, other people o 'I shan't he in for supper. I'm going out.`` Painting the town red.eh? Who's the lucky man? I mean you' re not going on your own, are you?” TGLYo Two thirds of the crew went on shore leave. They spent too much money, pointed the town red, and one or two of them got themselves locked up and had to he bailed out next morning. □ often preceded by going to, or used in past tense. a paper tiger[Comp(NP)] a person. or group.that is less powerful, or dangerous, than he it seems or claims to be V:△be; think sb; regard,consider, sb as o Goronw y Rees is a commen-tator rather than an advocate: the dragons are seen but not slain. Though, as he would be the first to admit, not a few of the dragons in these pendulum years have turned out to be only paper tigers in disguise. Lo The Chinese CommunistParty today defended Mr Mao Tse-Tung's thesis that ' Imperialists are paper tigers' and thatCommunists must ' despise the enemy strategic-ally while taking full account of him tactically!”To Mr Khruschev recently criticized the paper tiger idea. remarking that western tigers nowadays have nuclear teeth' , To attrib use the paper tiger idea. par excellence especially; pre-eminently:more/ better than other people / things of his its kind (from the French) o The United Nations.after all, is par· xcellence an instrument of the gradual readjustment of the status quo. Within ir.élites talk toèlites. The hureaucracy will carry on much as before. NSo If Cooper has no notable works of scholarship or research to his name that 447 <448> (about) par for the course-----a/ the parting of the ways is because he is, par excellence,u teacher. o usu in middle position. (about) par for the course [Comp (NP)](approximately) the usual standard of achieve-ment, the normal procedure, time or effort ex-pended, etc(from par =` the number of strokes a good player should take for any or all holes of a particular golf-course’) V: △ be; think,find, sth o l intuitively sympathise with all those cool-headed sophisticates who argue that a bit of bugging and burglary is per for the American political course@.NS o How many people felt vicarious enjoyment when confronted with head-lines which read:‘Headmaster Sacked in SchoolRow? The column inches written about him were tepidly for and yawningly against. Which is about per for the course. Gu(I decided) whenI was prepared to repay it, what securities I could possibly put up as collateral, and prepared for the20-minute argument with the bank manager which I seemed to recall was about par for the course. ST□ In the 12 minutes after the Queen's arrival, at least 50 people were presented to her before she unveiled the plaque, in the foyer——50is about par for the course. OBS a paragon of virtue [Comp (NP)] a person without faults or vices V:△be; seem; find sb oThe police argument (is that) an innocent man has nothing to fear from talking freely to a policemun. This reasoning might be acceptable if all policemen were paragons of virtue, which of course they cannot be. NS□And every camp and unit has a certain amount of ' borrowing' from the establishment. I'm not accusing anyone of being dishonest, but neither would I insult the typical soldier by calling him a passgo n of virtue. RIthe parish pump a symbol of small-town gossip, purely local politics and interests(from,formerly, communal village pumps where neighbours would meet when drawing water)oAs far as I could see, life as a revolutionary was much the same as life round any other parish pump: pretty damn dull to the passer-by. PPo It is particularly necessary that member nations should learn to look outwards at what is going on in the world beyond the NATO area--and not just inwards at their own parish pumps. MFM□For the Liberals, the survey will confirm that their new strategy of community politics, dis-missed by their opponents as issue-dodging parish-pumpery, pays off and that even people with basically different outlooks respond to direct and repeatedcontact. ST□Mr Edwards had obviously hoped the discussion would look to the future. As if was, the bulk of the audience took refuge in digging up the past, in parish-pumping, back-biting and mud-slinging--a not very edifying evening's viewing. SC o unusual n forms parish-pumpery and parish-pumping. party of esteem[0(NP)](formal) equality in the degree of official or public regard, respect given to sb/ sth, (the implication being that there is inequality in reward, in salary, etc) V:enjoy, have; grant、 accord、 sb o Despite their conviction that they are doing a worthwhile job.most polytechnics believe that, though theGovernment talks of parity of esteem' between the two sectors of higher education, they are still given a raw deal in comparison with the univer-sities. OBSa In the consideration of an applicant's 448 outside interests it is obvious that membership of a County Cricket Club and of a local Literary and Debating Society do not enjoy pa rity of esteem, part of the furniture/ furnishings a person thought of as a permanent fixture in a house,office, institution etc and, as such, accepted,made use of, or ignored o The messenger' boy'had been there so long he seemed to be part of the Bank furnishings. The thought sh at he might have a wife to go home to, that he might fall ill, or die, or wish to retire, never entered anybody's head.□Otherwise, the sight of Mrs Pcomplete with black hat and garish make-up might have proved irresistible. As it was, she was uccepted as part of the furniture, at least until the grown-ups came at the end to collect their offspring. TSMP part and parcel of sth [Comp (NP)] an integral part of sth (parcel (archaic) =' com-ponent of a whole') o Do I fight or flee? Do Iconform or rebel? Do I put my foot down or let my children do as they please? These are fairly usual day-to-day decisions that are part and parcel of being human. STo Visconti's last film,made when he was a sick man, is hardly his best,but still full of his feeling for style as part and parcel of content. G o Assault and robbery,cattle-driving and train-wrecking were part and parcel of his terrorizing tactics. PP□ Both girls(school children—— one too fat, one too thin)suffer at the hands of their friends from jibes and teasing. But nothing is ever going to stop; it is part and parcel of being young. RT O part and parcel non-rev; no pl form. a Parthian/ parting shot/ shaft an action.gesture, remark etc esp of a hostile or critical kind, made at the moment of departure or in other circumstances which make a reply im-possible (the ancient Parthians are said, even when in retreat, to have continued hurling missiles at the enemy)□(Virginia has married against her mother Helen's wishes, instead of accompanying her to America) Virginia thought that it (the letter) was a parting shot from Helen, or, less likely, a gesture of recon-ciliation; but it was not Helen's writing. AITCo(house prices) At the end of the report we are still not much nearer explaining what was special about 1971. As a parting shot, the BuildingSocieties Association refers to ' low supply' caus-ing a dearth of properties on the market. ST oRobert Robinson is an unparalleled performer on radio and television. Nobody thinks as quickly on his feet: nobody steps into a verbal dust-up with more relish; and nobody is his peer when it comes to loosing the Parthian sheft. L o also pl; shaft less common than shot. a/ the parting of the ways [0/o (NP)] a place where a road, or route, branches;(fig)a point when one must decide on a course of action that excludes another or others V: reach;come to, be at o It is at this point that the country came to a parting of the ways. It was the basic error in the manner in which the Government responded to the threat of economic recession which led to the chain of disasters from which we ure now suffering. NSaI had to find myself a play and a new management. Hugh Beaumont, ofH. M. Tennent, with whom I had been closely <449> a/ one's party piece----patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrei connected for much of my theatrical life, and I had come to the parting of the ways. OBSa/ one's party piece [O (NP)] a particular song, piano piece, recitation etc that one per-forms well enough to offer, or be asked for, to entertain friends at a party etc; an item of a person's repertoire that is (too) often included in performances V: △ do, perform, give oJames hasn't done his party piece yet. Come on,James, we can't let our southern visitors go without hearing my favourite Scots song. oDoubtless the party piece' feeling will persist as long as Walton seems willing to be known as the composer of only half a dozen continually avail-able works. Lo attribuse the party piece feeling.pass all understanding [V + 0] lie beyond the range of the human mind;(exaggeratedly)exceed what sb finds reasonable or likely; pass(sb’ s) comprehension (qv) 口(source) And the peace ofGod, which passethallunderstanding,shall keep your hearts and minds through ChristJesus. PHILIPPIANSIV7□(transcendental percep-tion) This given reality is an infinite which passed s all understanding and yet admits of being directly and in some sort totally apprehen-ded. DOP□How any politician could imagine that,in a world war, Britain could avoid sending her army to fight alongside the French, presses all understanding. MFM pass the buck [V + O pass](informal) evade responsibility, or blame, by shifting or attribut-ing it to another(from the card game of poker,an object passed to the dealer but no longer used in the game)□ The Minister of the Interior is roused from his bed. Off he goes to pass the buck to his suave Chef de Cabinet, who dumps it in the Police Commissioner's lap. OBS□ If you lose a race, it's always a question of passing the buck. The owner blames the trainer, because the trainer told him the horse would win. The trainer can't admit he's wrong, so who's he going to blame? The jockey. RToFor most members of the staff it is a complex situation and it can produce a whole range of unpleasant practices, such as making doubly sure that someone above you has initialled all your items of work so that, in case of unpleasant repercussions, the buck has been passed. Lo The reaction from some of the other boroughs, however, bodes ill for any rapid im-provement. They comprise a mixture of buck-passing, half truths, petulant lectures about their own impotence in the matter. NS □ n com-pound buck-passing. the buck stops here. pass(sb's) comprehension etc be too dif-ficult for sb to understand or accept; pass all understanding (qv) $: it, that; behaviour,cruelty, kindness. O: comprehension,△under-standing; beliefo What comes over people in theJanuary sales passes my comprehension. oHe talked in terms of figures that power the com-prehension of most people. o I'm not against drink. I just don't like the stuff. I expect, to you,that possimic understanding. □ ' They clear£10,000----£12.000 a year in that crummy little cafë,’' No!’' It passes belief, I know, but I' ve seen the auditors' statements with my own eyes.'o S cannot refer to a person. pass muster be among those of a number of persons or things interviewed, inspected,examined etc that are found to be adequate $: argument, case; work, studies; decorating, car-pentry o Faulty arguments, which the statis-tician would recognize as such immediately.often pass muster in the popular Press because they are disguised in such a way that their statis-tical nature is not recognized. SNP□ Though my work at school was never as good as it could have been, it passed muster and I even did well. SToThe argument that the Government have made no serious attempt to defend the long-term interests of New Zealand also does not pass muster. SCpass(the) time [V + O] fill, make less tedious,(periods of) time when one needs distraction from boredom, impatience, anxiety etc□/ nevi-tably, therefore, television is in perpetual danger of being turned into a mere domestic appliance for passing the time, painless and undemand-ing. NS□/ suggested that we should perhaps fish— to pass the time I said, but of course we all realised that it was for our next meal. BMo / fell in with anything anybody suggested, chiefly because one way of passing time seemed as good as another till I could get back to London and see Philip again.□ cf pass one's time (doing sth) which has positive or purposeful implica-tions. pass the time of day (with sb) offer, or exchange,a short greeting; make a comment, or a few remarks, about the weather or some other general topic, eg' Good morning!',' Cold, isn't it?”, “Baby looks well!”, “Rushing as usual,I see!”o: her; my neighbour, the traffic warden; other strollers in the park o I gave it to one of the priests there. He knows me. I' ve pep家忍 ed the time of day with him on the street. You know the way they' ll talk to anybody. AITCo This room was referred to by Robert and me as the big.room, and by its racier inhabitanis, I gleaned from positioning the times of day with them in the lavatory, as the snake-pit. SMLoI wonder if there really is anything in the wind, or whether this man has just dropped in to pass the time of day.NMo(NONCE) Florentines might have stepped out of a crowd scene in any of the old-master frescoes. Expert passers of the time of day,they charm, they accommodate, they bawl ap-palling intimacies in public. RT patience is a virtue (saying) usu a comment on an occasion when patience is shown or needed o Patience is a virtue/ Possess it if you can./ It's seldom found in woman! And never found in man. ANONa Most of us agree that petience is a virtue, and at times,' says Jack.'I wish I were more slow and patient as an actor.But if I took more time, I'd lose my momentum because I operate best under pressure.'TVT o' When am I going to get my lunch? It's after one already.'' Now, now. You' ll get it as soon as I can manage. Remember that patience is a virtu●.’patriotismi s the last refuge of a scoun-drol(saying)a claim to patriotism may be the only good thing to be said of a scoundrel, or it may be made an excuse for crimes or faults(source, as headphrase, SAMUEL JOHNSON, 1709-84, but often adapted) □ And Burton's second reason for doing these Jubilee plays: was it a fit of patriotism?'I suppose I'm as patriotic as the next man. Besides, as Dr Johnson said,'' Patriotism is the fast refuge of e scoun-drol” and I' ma bit of a scoundrel.’ RT□Bottom- 449 <450> patriotism is not enough— pay a/ the price (for sth) ley's rise to wealth and fame and his ignominious fall is the kind of fantastic story that needs no embellishment. His patriotic speeches during the1914-1918 war pulled in the recruits and put money in Bottomley's pocket. In his case DrJohnson's saying that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundre l was apt for once. SCo(NONCE) ‘Why Sandhurst then?’‘My father dropped hints about it and, at the time, it seemed like a good idea.' But he admitted that his real love is diplomacy, which he describes as the fast refuge of the incurable romantic'. RT o(NONCE) To brand yourself a puritan is only slightly less damaging than to let it be known that you are, on the whole, in favour of respectability.To approve of respectability is the last refuge of a suburban mind. SCD as explained, head-phrase is ambiguous in meaning. patriotism is not enough(saying) there are values and considerations more important than the defence, or prosperity, of one's country o(source) I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. EDITH CAVELL (last words of aBritish nurse before being executed in 1915 for assisting wounded prisoners-of-war to escape)□(remembering a friend killed in World War I)I am no more reconciled to his death, or per-suaded that it was necessary, than I am to the death of all those slaughtered contemporaries of many nations. Perhaps after all the greatest thing said in those days was that ' patriotism is not enough', It took a woman to say that. AHo(NONCE) Personally I feel a demand for simplicity in my Christmus music which has eluded many great composers. But simplicity, like patriotism,is not enough. RT the patter of little/ tiny feet(facetious)(the sound of) young children in the home, around one o (source) I hear in the chamber above me/The patter of little feet,/ The sound of a door that is opened,/ And voices soft and sweet. THECHILDREN`S HOUR (H W LONGFELLOW 1807-82) □(reader's letter, from a married woman) There is distinct disapproval of the fact that I enjoy my job when I should be yearning for the patter of tiny feet. OBS□' You' ve got my mother's granny-complex going again, inviting us here,' saidAnne. ' She can't wait for the patter of little feet.'o often used with reference to the desire to have a child. (a) Paul Pry a meddlesome, inquisitive, but not necessarily malicious, person (from the central character of the comedy,PAUL PRY (JOHNPOOLE1786-18721); a Nosey Parker (qv) o He poked his head forward like a born Paul Pry, put out his hand and said ' Good afternoon. Won't you sit down?'PPo'I don't intrude, I hope?' he says---Paul Pry—— and all the time he knows he damn well does intrude, but he can't contain his curiosity. pay(sb)a compliment[V+10+ O pass] say.or do, sth that expresses admiration of sb or of his actions 10: manager, workforce; colleague.wife. adj: great, unexpected, doubtful. A: on her appearance, on their speeches; about his cook-ing; in/ by coming here tonight; by their presence o 'I should have been more use to him than any of you.'I said: 'I believe you would.' She flashed out: ' It isn't often you pay meacompli-ment. '' It was meant. ' I said. NMo The old chap 450 hardly ever leaves the house now. He's paid you agreat compliment in coming to hear you speak tonight. o' What a charming man!' ' He sets out to be a great one for paying compliments to the ladies and all that.’ o Being paid fulsome com-pliments on my ability to manage had become insufficient recompense for being given too much to do.□Of course I don't object. I haven't taken out copyrights on my teaching methods. If a colleague peysme the compliment of adopting .any of them, I am only too pleased. o variants pay sb the compliment of doing sth, pay (sb) com-pliments; the second yariant usu used to express complimentary remarks (cf pay/ give/ offer/ send one's compliments(to sb) =' convey greetings, in person, in writing or through sb else (to sb)’). pay a dividend [V + 0] provide benefit,reward, good results $: the undertaking, his bold policy, a little extra care. adj: good, big,handsome, unexpected o By the middle of MayI had visited every formation in the United King-dom. It was an immense undertaking but I believe that it paid a good dividend. MFM o All the scientists they wanted were working elsewhere on work that would pay dividends in one year or two, not in the remote future. NM□Unlike most managers in Irish football, Tuohy was given a free hand and he quit just when his methods looked like paying a handsome dividend. ST oYou know as well as I do that honesty has never paid what one would call a thumping((informal)= very large) dividend. DC□ Its wires were tapped, and for months Dubois's chief assistant listened to every word exchanged by phone.Dubois passed the recordings to his good friend,Mercier. Before long this arrangement began to pay big dividends. TO o adj usu present when dividend sing. pay the penalty (of sth/ doing sth) [V + O]suffer as a result of wrong-doing, error, misfor-tune; next entry (qv) o: folly, improvidence,self-indulgence; being too generous, honest;selling too early, not having an agent o I had drunk not wisely but too well and paid the pensity of my folly with a severe headache next morning. □ Th e keen competition for business that followed the removal of restrictions meant that many companies allowed extremely easy terms, and it is now that they are paying the penalty. To I attempted to relieve the enemy pressure on the Fifth Army at Salerno, but paid the penalty of finding my own reserves were exhausted and that supplies to replenish them were not forthcoming. MFM □ Young paid the penalty of his craft, which decrees that the manager(of a football team) must be blamed for disappointing results irrespective of who is at fault: it is manifestly the directors themselves in this case. ST pay a/ the price (for sth) [V + 0 pass] suffer a loss or disadvantage, either in return for something else gained, or as a penalty for wrong-doing or error; previous entry(qv) adj:heavy, considerable; small, high. o: error,miscalculation; treason, disloyalty o Indeed once-demoralised villagers have been consider-ably fortified by the presence of the Fouj. But they pay a heavy price. As guerilla action inten-sifies... NS□ Everything conspired to convince one that this (play) was truth, not fictional <451> pay one's/ its way---a pearl of great price contrivance. Of course a price sometimes has to be paid for verisimilitude. The narrative-line was sometimes hard to follow, and so were the Liver-pool accents. NS□Cacoyannis says that normally he finds it imperative to live alone. Even to have a maid living in his Montmartre flat ' brings an obligation', he says. ' When you want company,sometimes you don't get it: that's the price one pays.'OBS□Measures to reduce the use of motor vehicles inside cities would be a superficial incon-venience but it would be small price to pay if it saved cities from strangulation or destruction by urban motorways. ST□ There would no doubt be a lot of vulgarity, a little disorder—— but that would not be too high a price to pay for the rediscovery of the election as public festival. SC□He is an accomplished speaker, in a style which is unmistakably his own; and if he makes the occasional silly remark that is a small price to pay for the avoidance of bromides. OBS Ovariants be a heavy/ small price to pay (for sth), no price is too high to pay. pay one's/ its way [V +O] maintain oneself/itself from what is earned income from work, or services, without getting into debt; earn one`s/it's keep (qv) S: he, she, we; country, in-stitution, enterprise; plant, machinery □ You may have yer ' ead(= your head) full of fine ideas, you may be able to live on air and big talk,but the rest of us ave(= have) to pay our way— and pay it with money! HD u (the CulturalRevolution, China) The villagers speak well of the Red Guards. ' They paid their way.'(They were issued with coupons with which their hosts could draw supplies from the country stores.) Lo It gradually became obvious that Britain could no longer pay her way alone. We had entered the war as the world's biggest creditor: we had emerged as the world's biggest debtor. L peace and good will [n+ n non-rev] peaceful conditions (esp contrasted with war or hostil-ity) characterized by friendly and helpful inten-tions V: bring, promote, show; be a/ the time/occasion of o (source) Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. LUKEII14□ The first thing the delegation did when it got to San Francisco to help in founding the United Nations and bringing pesce and good will to everybody was to switch its entire set of hotel reservations. Lo I think we should bury the hatchet and invite them to spend Christ-mas with us as we used to. It is supposed to be the season of peace and goodwill after all.□ good-will, written as one word or two, or hyphenated.peace in our time freedom, or deliverance,from war during our lifetime; peace as a fact,not something to be hoped and worked for in the future; peace for us now, whatever may happen to others in the future □ (source) Give pence in our time, O Lord. Because there is none other that fighteth for us, but only thou,OGod. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER o It is also natural enough to recall the Munich betraya!of 1938 when the British Government— and,lamentably, for a moment the ' New Statesman'— thought selling Czechoslovakia was a bar-gain for‘pece in our time’. NS one's (own) peace of mind freedom from anxiety, guilt, fear det: one's; no, a little o Icould see that the Earls Court Road phase of my life was over, and that that peace of mind was gone beyond recall. Madge had forced a crisis on me. UTN □ DOCTOR: And goodbye, goodbye,goodbye. I'm talking to my peace of mind,that's all. To my careless existence! Goodbye!THHo It all represents, no doubt, the reaction of an impatient and frustrated man. But for his own peace of mind—— as well as for that of the world—— Mr Nixon only needs to come to terms with one simple fact. NS□It was an unkind, stupid thing to say and I shall have no p ewce of mind until I' ve apologized and been forgiven. peace and plenty [n + n non-rev] freedom from foreign wars or internal disturbance, law-lessness etc together with prosperous, or com-fortable, conditions of life V: live in, enjoy; be a land of o These lush, well-watered islands ought to have been a land of peace and plenty.□ The mellow perfection of house and gardens suggested a home where generations of a family had lived in pesc@ and pienty.□ Two little girls,in long white nightdresses accompanied theQueen of the Festival. One carried a cardboard dove and the other a cornucopia, to representPeace and Plenty. peace and quiet [n+ n non-rev] freedom from physical, or mental, disturbance caused by others or by one's surroundings V: get, want,enjoy. prep: for(= to get); for the sake of. det:some, a little, a bit of □ (She was) so desperate that you eventually drove her away to find a place where she could get some peace and quiet. AITC□ Sussex, with its fabulous beauty, its groomed cottages, its glossy cows and immense trees, was to him a stage-set, a fake, something supported by the prosperous in search of pearc and quiet and food in their weekends out of town. HD□The police chief himself, hearing of our assault upon the door of the bank, had relented and sent some-one to the bank manager, suggesting something be done for peace and quiet. BMo ' The kids are just going to sit around whining and grumbling all afternoon if they can't go skating with their friends.'' Oh, all right then' he said crossly, slap-ping a fiver down on the table, ' anything for a bit of ponc· and quiet.’ peace with honour peace, instead of war, on conditions that do not discredit either side (the reference being either to the avoidance of war or to the terms on which a war has been, or should be, ended)o Lord Salisbury and myself have brought you back peace—— but a pe ace Ihope with honous, which may satisfy ourSovereign and tend to the welfare of the country.LORD BEACONSFIELD (on his return from theCongress of Berlin, 1878)o It is two years now since the Paris Agreement was signed in the name of Peace with Honour, and both sides are insisting so rigidly upon what they conceive to be their honour that there still is no peace. Lo The dishonesty of the Nixon Administration was nur-tured during the time when the war in Vietnam was described as a moral crusade and the cease-fire as ' peace with honour'. NS a pearl of great price (formal) sb/ sth precious and of great worth, that should be valued highly□(source) The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and 451 <452> the peariy gate(s)—— the panny drops hought it. MATTHEW XI!!45-6□ But the result has been a mutual confidence between you and me,and mutual confidence between a commander and his troops is a pearl of very great price.MFM□ Her mother was at pains to make clear to him that in marrying Felicia he would be dcquir-ing a pearl of great price. O occas p l pearls of great price. the pearly gate(s)(usu facetious) the gates of heaven (of which St Peter is, in Christian mythology, the custodian), in allusion to StJohn's vision of heaven o (source) And the twelve gates were twelve pearis; every several gate was of one pearl. REVELATION XXI 21 oWhen he did die he would find St Peter at thePearly Gate looking at his watch and saying:' Oh. Standish, you' re just in time.' TGLY o To ensure popularity in the hereafter.(he) has per-suaded a local bishop to bless his earthly habita-tion, champagne whirlpool bubble tub and all.Given that his main design idea is sticking twink-ly bits on himself and his belongings, the pearly gates should make him feel at home. L a peck(ing) order(informal)a graded system that determines who dominates,or is dominated by others, in a poultry flock, or in a group of animals or people a The whole flock(of chickens) could be ranked according to the so-called peck order. The top bird in the flock displaced all the others, the second bird could only be pecked by the top one, and so on. NS oWithin each (chimpanzee) community there is a hierarchical system,# peck order, where males are dominant to females, with an order of dominance within the sexes. At top is the chief male. to whom all others bow. SC□All unsuper-vised working-class children settle their disputes and pecking orders by fighting. STo That pain-ful experience was a lesson for medium-sized countries which Iry to save bigger neighbours from their own folly. There is a pecking order beyond which it is unsafe to venture. NS a peeping Tom sb who furtively and secretly looks into house windows etc in order to see people undress, make love, etc(from‘PeepingTom of Coventry`, a tailor who was said to have been the only person to peep through his window at Godiva, wife of an 11th c Lord ofCoventry, when she rode naked through the town on horseback)o(referring to a television programme) A person under hypnosis is Godiva.Decent people should turn away their eyes. This programme is making us all into Peeping Toms.SC o This family has every right to live its life its own way, so long as it is lawful, Private lives should remain private and ' peeping Tom' in-stincts do no one any credit. RTo(resentment towards tourists) What an insult to treat us as if we were simply picturesque, We' re not pictur-esque: we are living our lives in our own way.What is this stranger bul apespingTom? Lo But there is another more positive argument for a move towards the open society, whether or not it reduces corruption or discourages ' peepingTom' journalists. NS口 attrib use a peeping Tom photographer. a peg to hang sth (on/ upon) a topic,occasion, incident used as an opportunity, or pretext, for expressing one's views etc O: his views.(their) dislike of their neighbours; Jack's dismissal o Whatever subject the professor lec-tures on nowadays you can depend on him to make it a peg to hang his own religious views on.□Peter Sedgwick takes as his starting point a day of demonstrations against German rearmament in 1955 and uses it as a peg to hang an analysis of some of the general characteristics of theBritish Labour movement in these post-war years. NS□ Nemone Lethbridge, for example.claims Gabrielle was persecuted for her left-wing connections and classroom informality. ‘Her subsequent affair with a pupil was a convenient peg upon which to hang her martyrdom.’ l the pen is mightier than the sword (say-ing) statesmen, writers, philosophers etc direct and control world and human affairs, changes,progress more effectively and lastingly than conquerors, leaders of armies; legislation, per-suasion and instruction can do more than the use of armed force o (source—— itself based on older variants) Beneath the rule of men entirely great/ The pen is mighties than the sword.RICHELIEU (E G BULWER-LYTTON 1803-73)□(after having been wounded in war) I had time for reflection in hospital and came to the conclusion that the old adage was probably correct: the pen was mightier than the sword, I joined the staff. MFM□ And just as those whom the press criticises may show great powers of resistance,those whom the press sets out to elevate are not always raised. If Lord Lytton really thought the pen was mightier than the sword, he must have made a great opponent in a duel. NS o(NONCE)(para-military violence compared with law enforcement by the police) It quickly became apparent that the gun is mightier than the whistle. Go(NONCE) Doodle expert MichaelBentine gets together with Spike Milligan inQuick on the Draw' to show that the pen can be just as mighty as the(spoken) word when it comes to raising laughs. Tvt a pen portrait a written description D Each week in its heyday the ' Isis' provided a pen portrait of one of the big men on the Oxford campus: a printed' This is Your Life'. NSO also pl. pennies from heaven unexpected, or in-cidental, benefits in money or other form o TheVicar, like his wife, counts his blessings, loves the house, but knows that the Church cannot bank on pennies from heavon.'I think it is totally unjus-tifiable to keep houses of this kind; considering the sort of expense that's involved in their upkeep and maintenance.' Lo' Who would expect a day like this at the end of November?' Pennies from heeven, you could say. What a pity we can't make better use of it than this.’ a Every time it rains, it rains pennies from høgven./ Don't you know each cloud contains pennies from homewén.POPULAR SONG(T BURKE and A JOHNSTON) penny dreadful (weekly) paper of a crude.sensational kind aimed at older children o IfVictorian children liked to be amused, and occasionally scared, they were also supposed to be edified. Good parents ensured that their off-spring read not just penny dreadful comics, but moral stories like ' The Wide Wide World' and,of course. ' Little Women'. RTO also pl; attrib use a penny dremdful comic. the penny drops (informal) one now under- 452 <453> a penny for your thoughts— perish the thought (that) stands sth that was previously unnoticed or puzzling (from machines where a coin must drop down from a slot before it can work the mechanism that delivers a bar of chocolate,ticket etc. or releases a door lock)□ I gradually froze. to such an exteni that I eventually found myself huddled over the blurred picture thinking how poor it was and that there wasn't even a commentary. It was quite a time before the penny dropped. I suppose I can now claim the douhiful distinction of being the only BBC com-mentator who has actually forgotten to commen-tate. St o The penny is finally dropping for in-vestors with matured National Savings Cer-tificates.(Our) recent campaign for a better deal on National Savings showed that there is general ignorance of the abysmally low interest rate being paid on these matured certificates. OBS□Why he is silly is hard to say at first----until, asMr Powell might say, the penny drops. L a penny for your thoughts (informal) tell me what you are thinking about o'A penny for your thoughts, Muriel said suddenly. ' My thoughts” Bill ejaculated with a startled ex-pression. Oh, my thoughts?I really don't know.Not worth a penny anyway.' RM o ' Penny for them, Miss Elliot?’ She turned from the window as though she had only just that second stopped to glunce out on her way up. ' Hello, Mr Wood-gale-" To Watching Enoch Powell cheerfully wrapping compliments with Robin Day on Mon-day night, I found it hard to fa thom his real thoughts. I'd give. though, agood deal more than a penny for them. NS O said to sb who looks abstracted: variants I' ll give you a penny for your thoughts, (a) penny for them/' em. penny plain or twopence/ tuppence coloured in cheap or more expensive(attrac-tive or merely showy) form (from, formerly,paper cut-outs of characters and scenery for toy theatres) o Adapter I an Cotterell describes the eight-part serialisation of‘Hard Times’ as part reading, part dramatisation; a radio way, as he puts it, of presenting Dickens ' penny plain and tuppence coloured. RT o Frances show' s sur-prisingly good taste when you allow her to choose a garment for herself; not like her sister, who always comes down strongly in favour of the twopence coloured. o both parts of head-phrase can be used alone and allusively, as shown in second example. penny wise (and) pound foolish[adj + adj non-rev](saying) economical in small things but extravagant and reckless in larger and/ or un-necessary items of expenditure o 'I never waste food.'' But you' re often penny wise and pound foolish even in that. I' ve known you buy a tin of fruit u nd a jar of cream to embellish some stale sponge-cake, when it would have been cheaper to throw it out and make a rice pudding.'a HELEN:Oh' My fur' Do you like it? It' sa wedding present from that young man of mine. He spends his money like water, you know. penny wis,pound foolish. TOH olNONCE)“Penny wise or pound foolish?” Play this fascinating game and find out what sort of woman you are with money.WIO(NONCD) He's only in business in a small way and it seems to be getting smaller. Mind you, he keeps his end up by economicing on paying his round (ie of drinks, when with friends). Penny wis· and pound wise as well. TGLY o(NONCE)Hughie admits to being pound-wise (boats don't depreciate although it is unlikely they keep pace with inflation) and penny-foolish.Hughie, who thinks nothing of sailing off on his own to Boulogne or even as far afloat as Oslo, ran aground in the Thames Estuary. ' We'd been too mean to buy new charts,' he says. TVTpeople who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones (saying) one should not criticize others for faults and mis-takes similar to those which one has oneself o' He got that job through influence, not on merit— what are you looking at me like that for? It's true, isn't it?' ' Of course, it's true, but I was thinking that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.'o (NONCE) (reader`s letter) I fell out of my chair (= I laughed heartily) at breakfast when I saw Eric Hobs-bawn accuse anyone of being a ' remote doctrinaire'; not being at a plate-glass university(ie one of the newest universities) of course. he can afford to throw stones. NS□(NONCE) We would like the rich to acknowledge that all their talk and advice on the economy, and their con-linuxal adminishment to the rest of us to pull up our socks, is for them a part-time exercise. What really concerns them and occupies their waking hours is the acquisition of personal wealth.Every time they pretend otherwise they aim a brick straight through their own precious glass house. OBS perfidious Aibion the treacherous, untrust-worthy English(translated from the French Al-bion perfide) □ One might have expected Com-munity membership to bury phrases like ' per-fidious Albion' for ever. But after not hearing it for years. I' ve heard it and read it three or four times in the past three months. Lo The French laughed at the English, did not trust them, and invented such phrases as ' Perfidious Albion', Iunderstand Michelin have issued a guide toBritish hotels and restaurants, not so much to guide the uninitiated as to make it clear that not one British restaurant deserved three rosettes.TVT a period piece a novel, play, film, that reproduces the activities, life-styles and manners of a previous era;a building, article of furniture, dress etc surviving from, and typical of, a previous era o ' Follow Me'(a film) gave me an eerie sense of having strayed into a projec-tion room where they' ve not bothered to change the reels since 1955. It's a period piece, directed at a distance by Carol Reed from a script byPeter Shaffer, reworking his stage play, ThePublic Eye'. NSa ' What about the old lady's fur-niture?'' Mostly junk, but there are two or three period pieces, a German wall-clock for in-stance, that would fetch a bit of money. perish the thought (that) may the thought,idea (that sth may happen) never become fact o Perish the thought that Scotland with so many glorious links with Europe should take fright at the prospect of moving in with the Six.SC o He imagined his young daughter saying' She's Mr Goodrich's dolly girl, really, but he keeps her here and sometimes he lets Daddy play with her.’ Perish the thought!PWaFor someone who says: Television is a girl's best friend.' it's 453 <454> the permissive society—— pick one's nose etc a while since Aimi has been seen. 'I'd hate to think that people have forgotten all about me and how clever I can be,’ she says. Perish the thought. TVTo expression is always imperative,sometimes introducing a that-cl, sometimes in middle position (eg as a disj in parenthesis), or in end position as comment. the permissive society the kind of society(eg Great Britain since the 1960s) that tolerates freedom of moral choice to its members in everything except criminal activity, and esp freedom in sexual relationships det: the, this,a□ Oxford footnote to the permissive society:Somerville College (for women) has this term allowed men into breakfast on Saturdays andSundays. Apparently the college authorities,having sensibly decided they cannot possibly stop men staying overnight, are hoping that this tacti-cal concession will limit such activities to the weekends. NS□ Tony and Jacky have one of the most unconventional relationships on the theatri-cal scene. They don't live together and they are both wary of marriage. ' For these permissive society days I suppose we' re positively old-fashioned.’ TVTo attrib use permissive society days, morals, standards. one's pet aversion/ hate [Comp (NP)](cliché) sb/ sth one dislikes more than anything else, or dislikes very much V: △ be; become,make sb/ sth o Having made that trivial criti-cism, I hasten to say that any list implicitly con-demning three of my ' pet aversions' commands my instant and fervent admiration. STo In the re-shuffle she was given a table to share with Judy,who was her pet oversion. o The old lady produced with some pride a steaming dish of mussels—— not knowing they were a pet aver-sion of my father's. □I expect, like most of us.you have' pet-hates'. I can't stand someone who says on meeting: ' How are you?' and before you can answer goes on and on about her own problems. TVT a Peter Pan[Comp(NP)] an adult who in some mental, or emotional, respect has not fully grown up (from the title and central character of the play by J M BARRIE 1860-1937) V: △ be;remain, find sb o In his boyish enthusiasms and lack of respect for conventional values, Frank was a bit of a Peter Pan to his dying day:□(reply to reader's letter) I think your letter should be more tinged with pride than frustration that after all these years your husband is still jealous. When faced with a Peter Pan of your husband's vin-tage, I'd tell him that you' re tickled pink that he feels this way about you. Don't grumble. TVTo(NONCE) Brautigan has never allowed the reality-principles to get him down. Unlike most of his countrymen, nagged at by their psychiatrists to grow up and assume responsibility, he has elected to live in a Peter-Penery of his imagination. SC(arise/ rise like) a phoenix from the ashes(be)(like) sb/ sth rebor n after apparent death or destruction (from the Phoenix, a mythical Arabian bird, the only one of its kind,which lived 2,000 years, then set itself on fire,and re-emerged as new) o There is an annual political event that we can call Phoenix-from-the-eshes. It consists of Mr Harold Wilson doing his turn at the Party conference. This per-formance follows numerous predictions of trouble at the grass roots, and doubts as to whether he is any longer in control of the party.Mr Wilson duly rèceives a standing ovation. All the papers write ' Wilson triumphs', ' undisputed master'. NS □ The story has a happy ending though— as factual stories tend to do. HunsletRL (Rugby League) Football Club has arismn like a phoenix from the ashes, and under brand new management to boot. RToGenetic immortal-ity can hardly be equated with a phoonix rising from its ashes, the strain is pretty diluted by the time a third generation baby sits on his great-grandfather's knee. sc physician, heal thyself (saying) docters,lawyers, ministers of religion, teachers etc sometimes cannot do for themselves what they profess to be able to do for others o (source)And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatso-ever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. LUKE IV 23□ Est ée Lauder,grand lady of the beauty (ie cosmetics) business says of her male competitors: ‘They are all jealous of me because it takes a woman to know what it feels like.’ On the other hand, there is the doctor-heal-thyself thing —— it really would not do for the manufacturer herself to be covered in blackheads and spots. ST□ For the moment he felt ashamed at having dropped that girl-finding project (for a friend who couldn't get girls to‘date’ him) so thoroughly, before recollecting the duty of physicians to he al themselves. He went to the phone and dialled. TGLY O thyself=' yourself'; expression usu a form of reproach.pick sb's brain(s) [V + O pass] obtain in-formation from sb(esp sb with greater or more specialized knowledge of a subject) for one's own use a If these supplicants realize that they are picking the brain and soliciting the help of a professional man, they do not always show it,either by offering him a fee, making him a present, or even thanking him. AH□ You' re lucky to have him(as your estate-agent), Mrs Merton.There isn't a better man in Barsetshire. We must pick his brains about Starveacres Hatches,Sally. I want to know if there's really a spring in the river bed. WDM□' Oh Jack, before you ring off. do you mind if I pick your brains on a minor legal matter?’‘Not at all—— if it's anything I can help you with.’ pick and choose[v+ v non-rev] select one, or some, from a number of possible alternatives(the implication usu being an over-fastidious process of rejection and selection) ◎: one's work-mates, who(m) one works with; what job one likes, which subjects one will study o Per-sons can make up their own minds with whom they will work because there are plenty of people close at hand from whom to pick and choow.NDN□Unless the law is changed and dentists are no longer allowed to pick and choose whom they will treat and what work they will carry out under the NHS... OBS□ The tragedy is that what is called social violence sometimes attracts genuinely idealistic and otherwise respectable people. But you can't pick and choose which laws you obey. L o By the time she had finished picking and choosing there was a queue of cus-tomers reaching nearly to the door. pick one's no se etc[V + O] remove (often 454 <455> the pick/ best of the bunch— pig in the middle idly or unconsciously) dirt from the nostrils etc with a finger(nail) O: nose,△ears, teeth, nails o .. old or down-and-out men in reading-rooms of public libraries. A few resume their endless cult reading; some lurn leaves aimlessly or stare blankly for ten minutes at one page; some just sit and look at nothing, picking their noses. ULoThey were born in Kentucky, where children pick(= pluck the strings of) guitars instead of their noses. ST o (film review) ... the slobbish(slob = ‘oafish person’) nose-picking keeper who releases the maniac Hammersmith. NS Dgenerally held to be an unacceptable thing to do, and so sometimes used to describe briefly a person who is unaware of the effects of his behaviour on other people; n/ adj compounds nose-picking, nail-picking. the pick/ best of the bunch [Comp (Adj P)]the best of a number of persons or things V:△be; look, think sb o The Fosters were all good-looking girls, and Ada was the pick of the bunch. D Such TV programmes therefore do little to bridge the gap between the working scientist and the public. ' Horizon' is perhaps the best of the bunch, though most weeks it should have more time to develop its fabulously rich material properly. RT pick sb's pocket[V+O pass] steal money, or small articles, from sb`s clothing det: his, the man`s, the public(`s), their customers' o ' He's just asking to get his pocketpicked, said Larry as they watched the big man stuff the notes into a hip pocket and turn to lean his elbows on the bar again.□Over the years, he says, he bombarded most of Washington's high officialdom with his information. He was possessed by the idea that only he cared about the systematic picking of the American pocket in Indochina and, when no one replied to his letters, tended to consider that it was all a plot. NS D also pl; n compound a pickpocket. pick and shovel [n + n non-rev] tools that are used in, or are symbols of, heavy labouring work a It would have taken a dozen men with picks and shovels three months to do what we' ve done today, with this comparatively small earth-moving machine. o What a waste of an education! we would say sadly. IO years ago, of a young man like Tom. Now. the pick and shovel jobs are as scarce as any others. OBSo(Cambodia) The period from 1960 to 1966 sawSihanouk at the height of his popularity and dynamism. His peasants grew used to having him pay them a flying visit. He may not have been an ardent labourer but the public relations of the.pick-and-shovel prince were grounded in good sense. St a attrib use, as in a pick-and-shovel job. with or without hyphen. the (very) picture of health etc[Comp(NP)] completely, or extremely, healthy etc V:△ be, look; find sb. o: health, misery, good humour, innocence, contentment o / was further irritated by the fact that while I was chok-ing and sneezing and using up a sackful of paper handkerchiefs, he remained in complete possession of his human dignity, and looking the picture of health. UTNo Her children were well cared-for and the picture of health. o Johnny stood by the door, the picture of misery, wait-ing to be taken to school. o(a monkey) By her antics she would lure them closer and closer to the cage, looking the picture of cheerful good humour, while her shrewd eyes judged the dis-tance carefully. Suddenly the long and powerful arm would shoot out through the bars. BB□ He's just as troublesome as most babies though he looks the very picture of contentment at the moment. o usu unchanged after pl S, as in second example. (see) pictures in the fire (see) shapes and scenes imagined from the pattern of glowing coals in a heart h fire(esp as a childish, or idle,pastime); idly watch the play of flames and embers o It just occurred to me that one of these evenings you might feel slightly surfeited with pictures in the fire and relish the notion of a foray into the smoke. Soho and so forth. TGLYo pun here on smoke-- - which is also a slang name for London. pie in the sky [Comp/O (NP)] (promise, or hope, of) comfort and bliss in heaven, or wealth, happiness, better conditions of life and work at some indefinite time in the future; jam tomorrow(qv)V: be; get, promise sb□(source)Work and pray (work and pray)/ Live on the hay(Live on hay)/ You' ll get pie in the sky When you die./(That's a lie.) THEPREACHER AND THESLAVE (J HILL 1879-1914)□ When the slave arrived in Protestant North America he would have no hope, as he had in Catholic Brazil, of working out his freedom. If his lot here below was miserable.he was encouraged to hope for pie in the sky. L□We'd say that life was going to be hard, ' dread-ful' hard. We reckoned that the public had had enough of silver linings and pie in the sky, and we'd try out something different just for a change. NSo ' You' ve so much to live for, you' re going to Australia soon and----' Oh, that was pie in the sky, I see it all now, clear as crystal.’TSMP o If, on the other hand, industry and the unions carry on with the old habits of lackadaisi-cal supply response and pie-in-the-sky wage claims, then inflation will not be cured without major economic collapse. Lo attrib use a pie-in-the-sky wage claim. a piece of cake [Comp(NP](informal)a task,commission, manoeuvre etc that is very easy to carry out successfully; money for jam/ old rope(qv)V:△be; seem; find sth o In the summer of her 18th year, after leaving school, she was a delegate to the Labour League of Youth con-ference in Bavaria, worked as a housemaid in aNewcastle hotel and made lids for boot-polish tins in a Chiswick factory. After this, Oxford was a piece of cake. OBS□(after robbing a bank)... crowding into the back of a large car that waited outside. It started immediately. ' Gawd(= God),a piece of bleeding cake!'' Money for old rope.'TOoI met Jim as we clocked out for the day. ' How did it go?' he asked. ' Oh, I replied,'piece of cake really, a real cushy number.'NS□sometimes without the indef art when used as reply, as in last example. pig in the middle [Comp (NP)] person, or group in a helpless position between, or made use of by, others(from a children's game where the ` pig’ tries to catch a ball tossed from one to another of a pair or ring of people; if he suc-ceeds, the thrower becomes‘pig’) v: △ be,become, find oneself o Getting the ball safely 455 <456> pigs may/ might fly--a plague on both your houses back into Dick 's (the bowler's) hands turned out to be troublesome, with a sort of pig-in-the-middle touch when the fielders on either side of him three wi to and fro in the hope that sooner or later he would catch it. TGLY o But we have a more reliable account of Skene House's visitors during the Covenanting wars, when Aberdeen found itself playing the unwelcome role of pig-in-the-middle. SC o may be hyphenated, as in second example; attrib use a pig-in-the-middle situation, occas pl pigs in the middle. pigs may/ might fly (saying) wonderful, and seemingly impossible, things may happen oPerhaps he' ll let you have it cheap, since you are a relative. ' Oh yes, and pigs may fly.'o She had said hopefully to Rose that once Alan was qualified they might move back south, but Rose hud replied, rather cruelly, that pigs might fly.TSMP α(NONCE) If each individual were morally regenerated (the general wish of these authors),the world could indeed become a better place.Equally, if pigs had wings they might be taught to fly. G o vaniant if pigs had wings they might be taught to fly; implies speaker does not believe that things referred to will happen. a pillar of society etc[Comp(NP)]a(type of)person on whom society depends for its security and well-being; a helper and supporter of a creed, party, community or working group.family etc V:△ be, become; think sb. regard sb as. o: society, the establishment, the commun-ity. the Church, Western democracy o He is unostentatiously successful as an accountant. He and his wife live in style. He is very proud of his children. Steve is now respected by others. Ishould like to call him a pitter of society. SPLoDavid Meroro, leader of the South West AfricaPeoples' Organisation is a quiet prosperous businessman in his early fifties. Younger fighters for Namibian independence regard him as a rather conservative pillar of the community.OBS □ Mr Wilson, once execrated both as dan-gerous and slippery, is displayed before our ad-miring eyes as a piller of the Western alliance and a stout defender of the mixed economy. NS□(NONCE) Goodbye, Bill, and thank you so much for everything. You were one of the piliars of the tour. OBS a pillar/ tower of strength etc[Comp(NP)]sb who shows and/ or imparts great moral strength. capability, fortitude etc V: △ be;prove, find sb. o: strength, common-sense. rec-titude, security, comfort. A: to me, to his associates, to the weaker members o I can't begin to tell you what a piller of strongth your husband has been in our troubles here.□ She was so kind and helpful when my mother was ill last year. She was a real tower of strength to me.o But these were not silly hot-blooded youngsters who had blatantly decided to cock a snook at the law. The five defendants were aging pillars of respectmbility in the small and tightly knit local community. NS o I wouldn't embarrass him by telling of some of the things he's done to help people. But there's an awful lot of people who' ve got good reason to be grateful to him. When I had some emotional trouble years ago he was a pillar of comfort to me. fVT pin money (informal) money earned by a woman for her personal use, distinct from a 456 regular income or allowance which she may be receiving o I bet she doesn't work for a living either, or else does a job for pin money. What good's a girl like that to you? Get one of your own class, lad, go to the people. RATT□! haven't got a job; but I do teach a little French when I feel like it---just for pin-money, you know. (see) pink elephants(informal) have vision-ary hallucinations accompanying delirium tremens (the DTs), an advanced condition of alcoholism o Terry has a drink problem that's going to lose him his job before long, but he just laughs it off. ' Time to worry when I start swing pink elephants, he says.□ The first one to hump up against(the phenomenon) was one ConstableWalsh. It may be that others before him saw things, and just put them down to a new kind of pink elephant. TSToA familiar set-piece of 19th century travels, the banquet which progresses into an epic drinking match, ends for Dufferin with an early morning expedition to an off-shore island where he bemusedly encounters not pink elephants but red-nosed flying rabbits. L a pipe dream a hope, belief, plan that will never come true (from allowing one's mind to wander in idle reflections on ' what might be'while smoking tobacco or opium) V: be; have,entertain, hold on to o Mr Peter Rees has a pipe dream that one day the British RoyalFamily will be emperors of Europe NS□JASON:Sonia, at last—— now I know you' re free. No longer holding on to pipe dreams in the sky.DPM o We may wish to provide the blind with artificial eyes that enable them to see—— and this is not just a silly, unrealisable pipe dream. NS□Their hope is that in the year and a half between now and the elections there may appear a capable new leader able to command popular support while keeping the military's interests at heart. In the way of Argentine politics, even pipe dreams like this may come true. L piping hot[Comp(AdjP)] sizzling, or steaming.hot $: dinner, soup, coffee, water; news.publication. V:△be; come, arrive o ' That soup looks half cold.'' No, it's fine. I can't take things piping hot, anyway.'o This reporter was found to have had two unauthorised radio monitors in-stalled in his car. It was therefore little wonder that he got his information about police moves while it was still piping hot. 口 piping as an inten.sifier occurs only in this expression. pitch and toss [v+ v non-rev] move, be swung or thrown about unevenly in all directions, esp a boat in rough seas o As they pitched and tossed along the dusty rutted track Peter could hear, in the back of the van, the canister sliding about and the two men swearing. a plague on both your houses may mis-fortune fall upon both of you (= contending.rival patrons, parties, families, institutions etc)for I do not sympathize with, or approve of.either of you □(source— the speaker has been hurt in a street brawl between supporters of two rival‘houses’, ie family groups) MERCUTIO:Help me in in some house, Benvolio, or I shall faint./A plague o' both your houses! ' They have made worms' meat of me. ROMEO AND儿.LIET III I o The atmosphere is one of uncertainly.One senses a distinct feeling of ' a plague on both your houses’ and the voter looking <457> towards the fringe parties to fill the political vacuum. To When I hear the Festival of Light.Lord Longford. Malcolm Muggeridge or MrsMary Whitehouse and the so-called undergroundPress, Kenneth Tynan, George Melly or the Na-tional Council for Civil Liberties going hammer and tongs at each other, I can only say, Aplague on both your houses.' They positively live off each other's abuse. OBS□So long as the battle between the Provisionals and the Unionists took place a long way off (ie in NorthernIreland) the British public were inclined to sayA plague on both their houses. 'NSo(NONCE)'A lot of people in Washington are hopping mad about this - - ' ' All around the country I think there's perhaps a higher tolerance than there would be in the city. There's a sort of pox-on-both-your-houses kind of reaction, I suspect.'Lo(NONCE) I agree with Kate Millett. I supportWomen's Lib. Bui a plague on both their theses. All the exhortation and counter-exhortation go back to Mary Wollstonecraft and the cultivation of true independence of spirit. Lo attrib use a piague on both your houses at-titude, reaction. plain clothes ordinary civilian wear of soldiers, policemen etc, contrasted with uniformo Mrs Reynolds told me afterwards that she knew it was the eve of D-Day—— not from anything I said or from the way I behaved, but because I had taken my plain clothes there and had put them away in a wardrobe. MFMa Four-year-old Billy took a poor view of my turning up m plain clothes—— not a whistle or handcuff in sight—— and complained bitterly that I was ' just an ordinary man'. □ Police at five yard intervals lined the exit from the station and plain-clothes men mingled with the crowd.□ Some days later a pleinclothes dick ((slang) = detective)knocked at the door. And asked for me. LLDR Onot the same as (in) multi, which applies main-ly to military personnel; attrib use a plain-clothes policeman. a plain Jane a girl, or young woman, of less than average good looks o The long stories and serials often have startling surprises, as a young man proves to be really wealthy or agirl finds she wins a beauty competition, even though she has always thought of herself as a piain Janq. UL oAs every reader of the‘Express’, ‘Mirror’,' Mail', ' Guardian' or ' Sun' is now dramatically aware, two academic psychologists have shown to their own satisfaction that pretty girls enjoy the cruder seaside picture postcards, whereas, in the words of the society's press release, ' piainJanes prefer cleaner humour'. NS plain living and high thinking a simple and moderate way of life (materially), combined with great interest and activity in intellectual and spiritual matters □ (source) Rapine,avarice, expense./ This is idolatry; and these we adore:/ Plain living and high thinking are no more. O FRIEND! KNOW NOT (W WORDSWORTH1770-1850) o Both of them are galloping romantics seeing ' we British' as a race of free-thinking in-dependents eager for a life of plain living and high thinking-and ' productivity' expunged with dishonour from the language. NSo... a hard,lonely man brought up in the school of plein living and high thinking, and never fully at ease plain clothes— play fair (with sb) with any colleague. Go(NONCE) This whole series ought to be a wonderful and long overdue remin-der that Twenties' and Thirties' literature was not all high thinking and low living. Lo usu in order of headphrase. (all) plain sailing [Comp (NP)] a matter of simple.procedure straightforwardand progress (corruption of plane sailing (nautical)= a simplified means of navigation using a plane chart to determine position and course)V: △be, become; find sth o Having solved the caging problem, I felt that the three banded ar-madillos ought to be plain sailing for, normally,armadillos are the easiest of creatures to keep in captivity. DF o National advertisers have also been slow to recognise the existence of this new maverick. Neither has it been all plainsailing on the editorial side. ST o In my case the ambition was there, and the urge to master my profession.But it required advice and encouragement from the right people to set me on the road, and once that was forthcoming it was plainer salling.MFM plain speaking telling the truth, expressing one's opinion, giving orders, rebuking or criticizing sb/ sth, without suppressing anything or trying to make what one says pleasant or more acceptable □ When they had wakened Par-kinson and told him of the call, Kingsley said:' Look here, Parkinson, I'm going to do some plain speaking. By our own light we' ve played this game pretty clean so far.'TBCo There is no doubt that all this plain speaking was having some effect; we had definitely worked up con-siderable alarm in Government circles, MFM □This(type of) conversation would take place only when it was understood to be an exchange of opinion with plain speaking on both sides. NDN◇△in plain English. play all one's cards [V + O pass] use every means, argument, resource in one's power o ' Is there nothing you can do to avoid bankruptcy?"' Not any more. I' ve staved it off for a couple of years but I ' ve played all my cards now.'o ' The prisoner is bound to be convicted, isn't he?'' Don't be too sure; the defence haven't played all their cards yet.' play one's cards well etc[V + O + A pass]use successfully etc the means (at one's dis-posal) of fulfilling one's wishes, gaining an ob-jective; play it/ things right (qv) A: well, right.properly, skilfully; badly, stupidly; with skill,cunning, forethought o This grouping was good,and if we played our cards properly the success-ful outcome of the operations in Tunisia was cer-tain. MFM□ Then Mother would turn and watch him go. You know, I could have married that man' , she'd murmur, ' if only I'd played my cards right.'CWRo Decisions taken across theChannel could not affect Scotland more adverse-ly than the decision currently taken a few miles this side of it. They might even, if we play our cards with skill, affect Scotland much more favourably. SC□I should have thought you were in a perfect position to become the old lady's heir.You must have played your cards very badly!o often occurs in a conditional clause with if. ◇▲ play a/ one's trump/ winning card. play fair (with sb) play a game according to the rules and established procedure; (fig) act 457 <458> play sb/ sth false—— play it etc cool justly and honestly; deal with sb, or with a situation involving other people, without deceit or prejudice; play straight (with sb)(qv) A: in the distribution of jobs; over the allocation of sites□(room in a car for only one person to get a lift) A well-turned out young lady of seventeen was a vast improvement on the heavily-laden gaunt man, but we had to play fair and, taking a coin, we tossed it for the place, and the lady won. BM □ Any idea that women ought to play fair by the men's rules in business gets swept away by an overwhelming sense that no one is playing fair at all. OBS□(book review) Mr Fleet-wood in his ambivalent swings between realism and surrealism has not played entirely fair with us. But very readable. ST□ Another thing. The club never plays fair with tickets. We go to every match yet we don't get a chance of buying them for Wembley. There should be a coupon system the way other clubs do, saving up the programmes. ST play sb/ sth false[V+ 0 + A](formal) make a dupe of, betray, sb/ sth; deceive, mislead, sb S:you, their allies, his wife; memory, life, his judg-ment. O: me, their employers, his country, her husband; (in final position, replacing O in middle position) with me, with both of them,with her affections □ Why should I trust you?You promised my family safe conduct across the border and you played them false. o(reader's letter) I think Fritz Spiegl's memory must have played him false when he recounted the story of his discovery and reconstruction of the Donizetti opera. RT□' She was a woman of the world,' he claimed ' and knew the chances of the game. It wasn't as if I'd played false with the affections of a young girl.'o facetious use in last example.play sb's game [V + O] willingly, unwillingly,or unknowingly, conform with sb's policy,methods, aims and thus promote his interests rather than one's own o Hitherto Dublin governments have played Britain's game. They have given no assistance, and precious little sym-pathv, to the Ulster minority. NSo And black-mail? If Guy went to the police there was no doubt that he would have to serve a prison sentence. But was one so weakly to play the game of this horrible blackmailer with his writing like the slimy trail of a garden slug? DC□ He's trying to needle you into saying something rash. You' ll only he playing his game if you lose your tem-per. □It does not in fact take long for her to be visibly coarsened. Whereas in 1915 she can still worry about whether or not Lloyd George has' played the game', by 1919 she is coldly com-menting about a political opponent.' He is play-ing our game at the moment. "NSD last example plays on contrast between this entry and next.◇△ next entry, play the game. play sb's/ the same game[V+)] deliberate-ly (and esp as a means of gaining one's own ends) either (pretend to) co-operate with sb or(try to) match or outdo him by using methods similar to his; play‘a game two can play’(qv)□BESSIE: Come on, darling, Davey, come on, Kiss me and shake your uncle Solly by the hand.DAVID: Leave me alone.(Turns his back. Sam goes over to him and reasons with him.)SAM:Go on Davey. Play their gema. It's nearly over.Wait and see what I' ve got in store for you. HSG 458 □ There is no doubt that when ITV first appeared it quickly took the larger share of the audience and was pushing up to 70 per cent when the BBCdecided to play the same game and fought back.Schedules came into their own and the men who control them became extremely important. SC aNo. If playing his dirty game is the only way of winning an election I' drather lose.◇△previous entry; next entry. play the game [V+ O] do what is right, fair,honourable; do what is expected of one as a loyal ally, supporter, or as an honourable op-ponent in fair competition o He spoke of a generation of peace, and his other goals 一progress, prosperity. He then stated: ' The impor-tant thing in our process is to play the genere.'NS□Listen. We' ve come to say this. First you' ve got to give back Piggy's specs. If he hasn't got them he can't see. You aren't playing the game. LFo' You think these heroics (ie saving my life) will get her. How wrong you are. If I were dead you could have had her.’ ‘I didn’ t mean that,’ Pyle said.' When you are in love you want to play the gamy, that's all. ' QA o expression typifies the qualities and attitudes expected in a 19th c and early 20thc leader of men, empire-builder, man of honour—— the ideal product of the public school.△ previous entry; play sb's game. play hard to get (informal) pretend to have less interest than one feels towards sb of the opposite sex; try to set a high value on oneself by not readily accepting a/ any proposal, invita-tion, employment etc o ' You should have seen her— all maidenly and mysterious.'' You never know, Steve, you' ve said yourself that she's a very attractive woman —— ' ' Richie?' he said.' Not on your life—— she was just playing hard to get.'TTo(recruitment procedures) The Army might be rather choosy at the beginning but it's just a case of ' the old maid playing hard to get'.Once you' ve done your basic training, you try getting out! RTo You can be sure he has every intention of being present at a prestigious affair like that. When he says he' ll try to fit it in if he can that's just because he likes playing hard to get. o usu continuous tenses. play it/ do sth by the book [V + O + A pass](informal) act strictly according to the rules oShe grew increasingly frustrated in her job as a journalist for although the newspaper's firm rule.that she play it —— everything she did and wrote—— by the book was designed to guard against dishonesty and law-breaking. it also had the ef-fect of stifling all individual initiative. o He pretended that the much-praised main course had been cooked strictly by the book, but in fact he'd thought it up in a panic-stricken few minutes, half an hour before everybody arrived, having discovered that he'd forgotten to buy the ingredients for the dish he'd planned. play it etc cool[V+0+A](informal) not get angry, excited, enthusiastic, perturbed etc O: it,△the whole thing, things, everything o Just cos(= because) he comes from the democracy with the lolly he thinks he can say what he likes. Idon't know what the hell his game is, but I' ve got to play it cool. JFTR o He thought Labour'sPatrick Gordon Walker was a real gentleman too. As Indian immigrants poured into Smeth-wick in the early 1960s, Gordon Walker played <459> play it/ things right— play truant/ hook(s)y it cool. OBS□Some of the prime movers of UN-CTAD III did a lot of spadework beforehand,urging delegates to play everything very cool,in the belief that the rich would be more im-pressed by rational debate than by emotive polemic. NS◇ △ keep/ lose one's cool; keep etc a cool head; keep/ lose one's head. play it/ things right [V + 0 + A] handle a situation, carry out what one means to do, with the necessary skill or cunning to be successful;play one's cards well etc(qv)□' And this time I' ll play it right, she muttered to herself. This time she wouldn't show so plainly how crazy she was about him. WI□ The picture could change hands for about£3000 and if he played it right he could get a commission from both parties. play it/ things safe [V + 0 + A] avoid risks,or a particular risk; take the course of action in which there seems to be least chance of danger etc although another course, if successful,could bring greater success O: it, things, this one o Weston had always played it safe. But now the time had come to gamble-and a tiny slip could cost him his daughter's life. TO□In that year fighter-bomber tactics had progressed enor-mously and I was definitely out of touch and for a week I played it very, very safe. RFW□PIay-ing things safe has never been his way. “I' ve always felt that we must constantly be stretching ourselves, never be content with what we think are our limitations.’ RT o One can find oneself using insertions, conjunctions, pauses, exlama-tions, saving clauses, false loadings—— which are face-savers, hedgings of bets, playing sufe. Al-most any of them can be used properly as signs that we are aware of other points of view, of qualifications. L o O occas omitted, as in last example. play it straight [V + 0 + A] deal with a situa-tion in a straightforward and honest way; not magnify, minimize, or distort facts (from an actor's way of playing his role, and from the batsman returning the ball in cricket) □ The extraordinary and incontrovertible thing about the movement is that it has spread like a con-tagion, without central organisation. It has been passed on by newspaper stories and the SouthernPress has largely played it straight. OBS □'" Routine inquiries", shall I say, sir?" ' No, play it straight. Tell him he is under suspicion as a result of our investigations and unless he satisfies you down to the last detail you' ll be bringing him in on a charge.’ play one's last card[V + O pass] use the sole means or argument, the last chance, left to one o Madge looked at me through her real tears.She played her last card. ' Ifit's Anna,' she said,you know that I wouldn't mind. I mean, perhapsI'd mind, but that wouldn't matter. I just want you near me.'UTNo But, alas. when she turned again to the audience, many other people had risen to support the Vicar in his signal for depar-ture. Mrs Middleton played her last card. 'Iknow, children,' she said, ' the Vicar is hungry.that is what it is. Now, all of you, off! Then, she added, ' we will all be ready to sing again. 'ASAplay a lone hand manage one's life, plan and carry out a project or undertaking, often by one's own choice, without the co-operation or support of others(from card games, espeuchre, in which one can play with a partner or against all the other players) o When I went to school inLondon I had learnt to play a lone hand, and to stand or fall alone. MFM□(discussing a draft for a letter)'I say, would you mind very much leaving out that last bit about me?’ Bill Brownsmith asked anxiously. ‘But why?I want to impress this fellow Waggett with the fact that I am noi play-ing alone hand in this matter.’ RMoWhat wouldEdward do when he found she had vanished?Would he go to Mr Dakin? Would he play a lone hand? TCB play possum [V + O] pretend death, uncon-sciousness, sleep etc in order either to protect oneself from(further) attack or interference, or to avoid having to do something specific, cope with a difficult situation(source(US) is referred to in the first quote); lie doggo (qv); lie low(qv)o The opossum, furthermore, has a facial pose in its repertoire that has provided the base for a common figure of speech-- - playing possum'or feigned death. This is a trick several other animals can play. ST □ ' You can peep in and see if Daddy's awake, but you' re not to waken him,'I heard her say in an unnecessarily clear voice— and this I took as an invitation to play possum if I wanted to. o' Thomas.' He was hit-ting at my door, but I lay possum as though Iwere back in the rice-field and he was an enemy.QA O uncommon variant lie possum. play second fiddle (to sb) [V + 0] (infor-mal) be subordinate in position, or function, to another person; be (considered) of secondary importance or interest o: another woman, his brother, this outsider o I was asked to stay on as housekeeper after he married but I couldn't bear the idea of playing second fiddle to another woman after having been in charge for all those years.□After the birth of a first baby it is very common for a husband to feel he is having to play second fiddle. a This was a remarkable switch in one so ambitious as Stanley, now quite deliberately trying to undermine his own great scoop. If he did manage to ' bring Livingstone back alive' he clearly would have to play second fiddle. OBSo The most obvious danger of ' TheSextet' repertory is that the international ' name',in this case Billie Whitelaw, can upstage inadver-tently and leave the others to play nothing but second fiddle. RTo(NONCE) At first glance he was one of nature's second fiddles. A walking bloody hard-luck story. JFTR play straight (with sb) use no deception,take no unfair advantage, in one's dealings(with sb); play fair (with sb) (qv)o I had been examining Pyle's innocent question: ' Are you playing straight?' It belonged to a psychologi-cal world of great simplicity, where you talked ofDemocracy and Honor without the u as it's spelt on old tombstones, and you meant what your father meant by the same words. QAo However we decide to present your case in court, Mr Simp-kins, I expect a client to play straight with me in this office. a He never played straight with anyone, That's why he came to a sticky end. play truant/ hook(e)y [V + O] be absent from school without permission or good reason, and usu without the consent or know-ledge of one's parents; (facetious) fail to be present at a place, or time, when one has a duty, 459 <460> play a/ one's trump/ winning card— posts etc are born, not made or obligation, to fulfil o Always playing truant;wouldn't learn Latin and that. Besides, me (=my) mind was always on other things, likefootball and swimming. RT o They went everywhere together. Elizabeth played truant from her of-fice and Terence let important contacts go un-heeded. HAA□ This was playing hookey, I had to get up north to Yale and there, the next autumn, I discovered the most beautiful of theNew England States: Vermont. L□(animals as objects of superstitious beliefs) Why should a party of Welsh gamblers, playing hookey from chapeł, renounce cards for life, merely because of a hare's accidental arrival among them? NS □play hook(e)y esp US. play a/ one's trump/ winning card [V + Opass] do, or say, sth that achieves the success desired (the implication often being that one has held this most powerful action etc in reserve until a suitable time arrives) o ' Oh, it doesn't matter if you don't want to go to the dance. he said, and played his winning card. There' ll be lots of other pretty girls there.'o'I'd like to thinkI'm going on this trip,' my sister said. ' but you wait and see--as soon as I'm about ready to go, father will play his usual trump card and feel one of his attacks coming on.'a Age, in the case of so sophisticated a woman, was as good # card to play in the sexual game as youth. QA□ com-parative construction in last example.◇△ play one's cards well etc. plead guilty(to sth)(legal) admit guilt form-ally in a court of law(thus avoiding trial before sentence is passed in relation to a particular charge); (informal) acknowledge, admit an error. fault. failing etc o: manslaughter; that;a fondness for gossip; having forgotten to reply to his letter, embezzling the funds o Both men cheerfully pleaded guilty and paid a fine of£300without turning a hair. DSo ' When did you leaveGermany, Dr Hasselbacker?' Beatrice asked. ' In1934. So I can plead not guilty, young lady, to what you are wondering. 'OMIHa We residents can all plead guilty to a certain amount of sel-fishness in not wanting a ring road routed here.o 'I never believed he was half as ill as he made himself out to be.' 'I'm afraid I must plead guilty to having thought the same myself. ' o usu first person sing in fig use; in Scotland and US.past tense of plead is pled. please God [Disj] may God grant sth; may it please God to allow, or forbid, sth□ SARAH: So he's a cook in Paris. MONTY: Please God, he' ll be a hotel manager one day.(SWB□ Well, that's over. We' ll never. please God, have to come here again, □ She leapt to the telephone. ' That' ll beMargaret ringing now. please God.'a Television in this country is (and, please God, it will remain so) a place where intelligent writers can address a vast audience. RTO accompanies state-ment (positive or neg) of sth hoped or sup-posed; front, middle or end position. ◇△God willing. plight one's troth [V+ O] agree to marry(from a response in the Anglican marriage ser-vice) o You pays your money and you plights your troth: marriage, we are often told, is on its last legs , but it simply isn't true. STu Although she has received two proposals of marriage from fans of ' Sale of the Century' . she has no intention of 460 plighting her troth at the moment. TVI o use outside context of church service usu facetious.first example includes a play one expression' you pays your money and (you) takes your choice'(qv). the plot thickens(facetious) the plot of a play or novel, a situation in real life, suddenly becomes complicated, more intriguing o(source) Ay, now the plot thickens very much upon us. THE REHEARSAL (G VILLIERS, DUKE OFBUCKINGHAM 1628-87) □ Insurance agent Kirby has stumbled on information which he can sell to the British Civil Service. But first he needs more proof. He goes to the New Forest to meet his contact. The piot thickens. Kirby re-doubles his efforts. TVT o There are several alternatives which make more sense in terms of even spacing.This, though, is where the plot thickens. TheDepartment of the Environment prefers services to be at least a mile, and preferably two, from a motorway interchange. ST plough a lone/ lonely furrow [V + Oj(cliché) carry out one's work, or main activities,alone; try to teach, or exemplify, sth with little or no help or sympathy from others □ The flood-tide of (religious) revival is particularly gratifying to men like Arthur Blessitt, a 30-year-old Louisiana-born preacher who for years ploughed a lonely furrow among the acid-heads (= drug-users, esp of LSD) ofHollywood. Lo Compared with the galaxy of talent which has been poured out on the elabora-tion of this thesis (ie changing inherited struc-tures of government) in Latin America, Africa has been inadequately served. Thomas Hodgkin,Leonard Barnes, and Basil Davidson have ploughed a lone furrow, but they are now reaching emeritus status (= retirement) and have no successors. NS□ He didn't go out much,one didn't meet him at parties—— he ploughed his own furrow. Contemporaries assumed that his cocoon was a chosen protection rather than a prison. ST a' Because you know, darling, she looked so deep and straight into Eric's eyes, ' it's the ploughers of lonely furrows who get there.who matter.'HAA D variants plough one's own furrow, a plougher of a lonely furrow. ply a/ one's trade [V + O] carry on a/ one's skilled occupation o They had pulled down the old smithy where his grandfather had plied his trade and a metal shed with four petrol pumps in front now occupied the site.□ Sh e was taught to dismantle, clean, and check a Browning .300 and to load the belts into un aircraft; she mastered that without difficulty and settled down to ply her trade from December 1941 to June 1943.RFW□ Though their work was cleaning, and dish-ing up food, few of them were the ordinary charwoman type: mostly they were obviously welcoming the chance to earn a little extra money by plying the only trade they knew. HDo also pl ply their trade(s). poets etc are born, not made (saying) no amount of instruction can make a poet etc of anyone not naturally gifted to be one (transla-tion of the Latin poeta nascitur, nonfit = a poet is born, not made) $: poets, leaders of men.great singers, mediums o Stop worrying if you can't do it, son, and tell your teacher to remem-ber that poets are born, not made. o(Wag- <461> the point of no return----the poor are always with us nerian opera) Great Wotans, it is said, are born, not made. Each generation of singers seems to product one supreme exponent of the role. SCo Mayhe writers are born rather than made; but they still need spotting and cultivat-ing, and they can easily be unmade by bad habits.L the point of no return [0/o (NP)] the point at which an aircraft must continue its flight because there is insufficient fuel left to turn back;(fig) the stage at which one has so far committed oneself, at which affairs have so far progressed or deteriorated, that stopping or reversing a process is no longer possible V:reach. pass, be at/ beyond, bring to o While talks have been going on in Rome, the withdrawal of British personnel and equipment was slowed down to avoid reaching what is known in White-hall as the point of no return. STo Every year about 150 young men become fully fledged priests in the Roman Catholic Church. Sunday's play in the' Red Letter Day' series concerns the big moment when a man reaches thet point of no return and goes through the ceremony of ordination, u moment comparuble in layman's terms to a wedding day. TVT o ' You have been granted a reprieve to a life sentence. You are coming out of this condemned cell today.Strangely enough,I didn't feel in the least happy,because my mind was made up to the point of no return. L o Unless the Government tackled a crash programme of advanced training for teachers the country's educational system would run down beyond the point of no return. a/ one's point of view [O(NP)] an opinion,estimation, assessment that is shaped by one's own character, age, interests, or aims V: have,take, press, put forward. adj: different,another, the same, the opposite o James said nothing, It took him longer to work round to new points of view than his wife: after all, she had not the same personal jealousy to contend with.HAA□ Miss Bawden explains about writing for children. ‘You need only to have a different point of view. Children are as emotionally sophisticated as adults, but they just don't know sc much. ’ RTo They also wrote to MPs, and one way and another they pressed their point of view on the BBC from many angles. Lo' Don't you agree that the government should economise more?’ Well, it all depends on your point of view, doesn't it?'o From another view-point that same hero could be regarded as a villain.口n compound a viewpoint. a poison-pen letter [O(NP)] an anonymous letter that accuses, maligns or slanders sb V:write, address; receive o But she had decided by now that the Baptists were probably not in the conspiracy. To all the other clergymen she was busy addressing poison-pen letters. ASAa From where I am, the character Charlie Chaplin plays is a little loud-mouth who gets what's coming to him and then expects us to feel sorry for him.(And while you' re writing the poison pen letters you may as well know that I think BusbyBerkeley's dance numbers are the bore of the century. ) TVTo No explanation should accom-pany (the return of the manuscript), and the address should be in printed characters—— as if a poison-pen had written them, Pw o usu attrib, as in headphrase. a poker face a face that expresses nothing of one's intentions, emotions or reactions (as desirable when playing the card game, poker)V: have, assume, adopt, wear, put on a So atChristie's wine auction last month in London, it came under the hammer as Lot 73. The bidders.all poker faces and dark suits, were described to me by the auctioneer as' mostly Americans, someSwiss, a few oil-men, almost no English'. TVTo adj compound poker-faced. poles etc apart [Comp (AdjP)] completely dissimilar S: brothers, groups, teams; studies,products. V: △be, seem; regard sb/ sth as. n:poles. △ worlds, oceans o A young man once said to me, during a discussion about the impact of television on society, that at least it had made it possible for him to talk to his own father.Before, they had been poles apart now they had a shared experience about which they could argue. Lo My mother's people had little schooling and were uncorrupted by class. My father's people were from the same county, but oceans apart. TVT o Though poles ap art ideologically.Communism and Anarchism are often confused by the simple die-hard conservative voter, a/ the policeman's lot is not a happy one(catchphrase) a policeman has many un-pleasant duties to perform o(source) Ah, take one consideration with another—— with another.A policeman's lot is not a happy one—— happy one. PIRATESOF PENZANCE(WSGILBERT1836-1911)□ Today, when crime is on the increase, and public respect for the force is decreasing, 看policeman's lot is not a happy on@.a When there is so much anxiety about violence and disorder, it may be good policy to try to make the policemon's lot a happy one. SC o With such a small per cent profit margin it is only the huge investment by punters that brings them the profit they have to work so very very hard for.Ah, well - - - the bookmaker's lot is not a happy one.□often adapted, as in last example.pomp and circumstance [n + n non-rev]magnificent and/ or ceremonious display and procedure o (source) Farewell.../ The royal banner, and all quality,/ Pride, pomp and cir-cumstance of glorious war! OTHELLO III3oOnSaturday the Open University dishes out degrees to its first batch of 900 graduates. It's all happen-ing in a welter of academic flummery at Alexan-dra Palace. Not that the pomp and circum-stance is anything unusual; they' ve been at it ever since the opening ceremony beneath the chandeliers of the Royal Society. NS a When royal princesses are married with great pomp and circumstance, I wonder how many who grumble at ' needless expenditure' take care not to miss the spectacle on their television screens.o(NONCE)(advertisement for‘The Times’ news-paper) No Pomp, Just The Circumstance. the poor are always with us(saying) there are, and always will be, people who live in poverty (requiring our help and efforts on their behalf) o (source) Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor?… Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this: For the poor always re have with you; but me y e have not always. JOHNXII5-8□ Bruce Taylor, with his 461 <462> poor little rich girl-----positive thinking corrugated face, red tie and bandaged thumb represents the poor who are a/ ways-even in1971- - with us. It does no harm to be remin-ded of this from time to time. Lo This week's '2ndHouse' (8.40 BBC 2) deals with the poor ——they' re still always with us —— and with the second helping of gruel that Oliver Twist had the temerity to ask for. RTo(NONCE)(reader’ s letter)Sir, I must join issue with Mr Bishop. Anyone who works in the life assurance world will know that the rich are very much with us still. NSpoor little rich girl a young woman of a rich or noble family, or wealthy in her own right,seen as being in many respects deprived (=poor), perhaps having too many social demands to meet and too few opportunities of developing personal interests □ (source) Poor little rich girl,/ You' re a bewitched girl,/ Better beware! N COWARD 1899-1973 □ ‘ApparentlyGeorge left me some money.'' So now you' re a poor little rich girl to add to all your other troubles.'PP□(reader's letter) Without being too fanciful. I think that Mr Waugh is really trying the ' poor little rich girl' line. People like him always seem to me to be excessively shocked to find that the difficulties of the rich are regarded with less sympathy than those of the poor. NSo(NONCE) ' The life you lead sets all your nerves a-jangle,| Your love affairs are in hopeless tangle',and although Noel Coward's song was directed at a girl, the same conditions often apply to poor little rich guys. NS the poor man's sb/ sth sb/ sth that is an in-ferior substitute for another well-known per-son, institution, expensive food、 etcn: BertrandRussell, Bardot; caviare, opera; Hilton o IfMike wasn't also a sixpenny philosopher as well as an agent he 'd have left me and my fattened head right then, but he can't resist the temptation to be the poor man's Bertrand Russell. JFTRoIn his wake he has left imitators - the poor man's Robert Robinson. those jocular iconoclasts who have neither his erudition, ment-al reflexes, nor command of language. Lo At the heart of this empire is Dr Derek Paul Stevenson,tanned and urban e (' The poor man's Rex Har-rison the girls at HQ are once said to have chris-tened him: though not that poor) who has beenBMA secretary since 1958. □ ' What's on these biscuits?' I forget what it's called—— somethingNorwegian out of a tin. I' ve tasted it before. a sort of poor man's caviare.'o There was an at-tempt for a few seasons to make a wining, dining and virtuoso music centre of Ledlanet House.But this poor man's Glyndebourne did not survive. poor old sb/ sth unfortunate (ie expressing some degree of sympathy for sb/ sth) n: Ma.Peter, chap; milkman, waiters: Birmingham;tree, house, doll o I' ve got a feeling sometimes that if the money lasts five years it may be long enough. Poor old Ma. RFWo(a dog) We' ve just got Rover back. The poor old chap's been in quarantine, o It's not their fault that the postal services cost us so much but I bet the poor old postmen don't get many tips at Christmas now.o 'I hope I'm not given a job there. '' That's what everyone says, but poor old Manchester wasn't such a bad place to live in once.'o old may, or may not, refer to age; may be used, as in first and last examples, as sympathetic comment or exclamation; the, those etc possible when ex-pression is part of a clause. poor relations poorer, or really poor, mem-.ber(s) of a family: sb/ sth with less power, pres-tige, respect or approval than another or others det: a, the, one`s o In those pre-Welfare days a man of substance would be expected to do some-thing for his poor relations, perhaps even ac-commodate one or two of them in his, usually,spacious home. □ Short stories have for too long been the poor relations of literature, no longer cared for in the home. SCo This transmission was something of a rarity in that ITV, which has tended to be the poor relation when it comes toEurovision transmissions, took the match live. L□usu pl. (the) poor thing(the) poor creature □' Your sister was tired and upset,' Prissie said.' The doc-tor came and I don't think he gave her much hope of walking, poorthing. Just imagine that. Never being able to walk again.'DC□I had Meg's child-ren 10 stay with me for the weekend but the weather was so bad the poor things didn't get out much.□Cathy didn't pass her exam, did you know? Poor thing, she was terribly disappoin-ted. o used to express sympathy and concern esp for women and children; may be used (usu without the) as sympathetic comment or ex-clamation; the used when expression is S or Oof a clause. a poor thing but my/ mine own (catch-phrase) sb/ sth not very beautiful, notable or valuable but having the merit, or attraction, of being owned, executed etc by oneself □(source)TOUCHSTONE : A poor virgin, sir, an ill-favoured thing, sir, but mine own; a poor humour of mine, sir, to take that that no man else will. ASYOU LIKEITV4□ To those in whom the faculty of visualization is strong my inner world must seem curiously drab, limited, and uninteresting. This was the world---@ poor thing but my own----which I expected to see transformed (by mescalin) into something completely unlike it-self. DOP□I' ll feel safer in the Mini,a poor thing but my own. I'm not used to powerful cars, nor to a left-hand driving position. pop the question[V+ O] make a proposal of marriage to a woman o What about that young man you' ve been going out with so long? Hasn't he popped the question yet? □ There's an old tradition that in a Leap Year it is acceptable for a woman to pop the question. o dated euphem-ism. a port of call a port at which a ship stops temporarily on a voyage;(fig)a place where one(habitually) stops for a short time, eg to pay a visit, have refreshments, make an inspection,buy or sell sth o In the old days the island was #regular port of call for sailing-ships on the SouthPacific run to take on water and fresh meat and vegetables.□' Anyway, thank God this is the last port of call. Now we can go and have a drink.’But Richard, you just can't go wandering into pubs. We' ve got to go to (departments where we can buy) glass and china, and linen and blankets,yet. 'DILo It would seem natural enough in his role of inquisitive tourist to make the excavations a port of call. □ also pl ports of call. positive thinking an optimistic and deter- 462 <463> possession is nine parts etc of the law—— the powers that be mined mental attitude that helps one to achieve success in any kind of undertaking □(source)The Power of Positive Thinking(title of a book by N V PEALE 1954)D ' And it's just, I think, a bit of charm,a bit of warmth and a bit of guts that has got me by. ' As well as a lot, he might have added, of positive thinking. RT o Technically the Americans were superior but, as in all the tennis matches, the real difference was not so much one of class but attitude. As Mrs King said:' We know how to think positively.' G o If you think you may have discipline problems you probably will. Think positive, and assume you' ll get their attention and co-operation. o variant think positive(ly). possession is nine parts etc of the law(saying) being actually in possession of sth is the greatest possible advantage in establishing one`s right, or power, to have it and keep it(nine = nine out of ten parts)m: parts,△points,tenths o Whether originally intended as a gift or a loan, the artist allowed the picture to hang in your house for upwards of thirty years. Poss·s-sion being nine points of the law his widow can't reclaim it now, on hearsay evidence alone.□ Rigshy's new furniture attracts admirers ——two of whom believe possession is nine-earths of the law. TVT o (NONCE) Occupying other people's houses is not a criminal offence in this country. It is usually a matter for the civil courts.Possession is many parts of the law. Provided a person has not been caught breaking in, then he is afforded a measure of protection by the law.TVT postpone/ put off the evil hour/ day delay sth one would like to avoid but cannot o It would be a great relief to me if the pubs would keep these individuals a few hours longer and release them into the atmosphere at intervals in-stead of all at once. Even if it only postponed the evil hour, at least it would happen when the streets were quieter. SCo' It wouldn't cost all that much to redecorate the kitchen.'' It's not the ex-pense, it's the thought of having to move every-thing out and then back again that makes me keep putting off the evilday.'oJanice is always the same at bedtime. She's got to tidy out her schoolbag, or get her nails cut, or put the cat out— anything to postpone the evil hour. o usu facetious. the po t calls the kettle black (saying) sb criticizes another for a fault which he has him-self in an equal degree oJASON: Marry me now.Sonia, we have witnesses— we could become one here and now. SONIA: Don't be a dirty old man, you dirty old man. JASON: Huh, the pot calls the kettle black. DPM o DAVID: But Dad— surely you loved her once. SAM: Yes—— once.Things happen between husband and wife that no one else can know about. BESSIE: Listen to who's talking. The pot calls the kottle black. I'm going to tell you a few things about Sam. HSGoThe pot is often entitled to call the kottle black when they share the same hob, but I thoughtMalcolm Muggeridge was pushing it a bit when he called Ronald Searle‘a gargoyle’ on Sunday night. NS pound the beat [V+ O](informal) patrol an allotted district on foot (often used in implied contrast with higher, or more prestigious, grades of police duty) S: police constable;policeman; (slang) cop, copper. det: the, a,one's o Mr Forbes, who was born of a Scottish farming family, began his career as a policeman with the Metropolitan Police pounding a best in the East End. When he retired he was national co-ordinator of the Regional Crime Squads inBritain. SC□ Television cop Denis Waterman—Det. Sgt. Carter in the ' Sweeny'— is pounding· different kind of best these days. With a new album capturing both imagination and sales, he's emerging as a Dylanesque, guitar-strumming singer. TVT□ For this peccadillo he was demoted and sent back to pound the beet. o often as inf or in continuous tenses. the power behind the throne[Comp(NP)]the real controller of policy and action, as distinct from the titular head of a state, in-stitution, business firm, household etc V:△ be,become, make sb o (possibly derived from) Along train of these practices has at length un-willingly convinced me that there is something behind the throne greater than the King him-self. WILLIAM PITT 1708-78□ More than one am-bitious politician, complacent in the belief that he was the power behind the throne, has found himself quietly returned to the obscurity from which he had been rash enough to emerge. NS□' He enjoys rushing around telling the“help” to do this and do that and showing he's boss. ' MrsElton said this with a forgiving smile intended to indicate that she was the power behind the throne. o So every guru has his chila, every champ his manager, every gangster his mouth-piece—— and the perennial aim of the power behind the throne is to outlast the power upon the throne. ST ▲a grey eminence. (all) power corrupts, (and absolute power corrupts absolutely) (saying) the more power one has and exercises, the more one`s moral character is corrupted □ (source)Power tends to corrupt, and absokste power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost al-ways bad men. LIFE OF M CREIGHTON(LORD AC-TON 1834-1902)o Lord Acton observed the tendency of power to corrupt. What he did not note is that power physically improves the politicians to whom it is given. Lo John Mortimer's play, 'I,Claudius', adapted from two novels by RobertGraves, is a tragically ironic meditation on LordActon's epigram that all power corrupts. The upshot of the play is that rather does it corrupt those upon whom it is exercised, especially一and this is the fine and melancholy heart of the play—— when it is exercised for their good. STo(NONCE) And like Mr Wilson at that time. MrsThatcher will now have a honeymoon period with radio, television and the newspapers. All power attracts and newly acquired power attracts absolutely. NS D frequently adapted, and seldom used in full original form. a power in the land [Comp (NP)] of sig-nificant importance and influence in the life of a country (without necessarily holding any official position) V:△ be, become, make sb oSanjay Gandhi first became a power in the land(of India) in 1976.□The Church of England, even though it is the ' established' religious authority,is not the power in the land it used to be. the powers that be any governmental、 legis- 463 <464> a practical joke--press/ push the point lative, managerial body o(source) For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. ROMANS XIII I a To cut a long story short, the powers that be agreed to back us with an initial half a million pounds in dollars.and later, when we'd spent this huge sum, they put up another half-million. DS o Yet last autumn's fever in the price index, which should have made the powers-that-be aware of some-thing out of the ordinary, did not apparently alert civil servants to cost increases that companies were no longer going to be able to bear. STo No doubt a confrontation on this scale would be deplored by the powers that be in the LabourParty, but it might actually turn out to be a god-send. Ns□ often used when the speaker does not know, or feels no need to name, the particular authority responsible for sth; usu written without hyphens; be in headphrase is a (seldom used) subjunctive form. a practical joke a trick intended to make sb feel ridiculous, or physically uncomfortable oThe thought that the whole threat to his life might he a nonsensical practical joke came to Wor-mold. OMIH o... and the Argyll Rooms in theHaymarket, where a practical-joking aristocrat once emptied a sack of rats among the dancing women. TVTO often O of play; attrib use a practical joking aristocrat; variant a practical joker. practice makes perfect (saying) repeated exercise in a skill, or craft, is the way to become a master of it o GOLIGHTLY (He throws the darts. They all miss the board): Oh. Never mind.Practice makes perfect. I should be. THH oWhen I take a look at my lads in the Middles-borough Junior side, they' re satisfied if a long ball lands a few yards away from the target. WellI tell them, I'm not satisfied: practice really can make perfect. TVT practise what one preaches live and act in a way one believes in, or recommends others to do o One does not have to be very old to see that not everybody practises what he preaches. AH□ It is time that they looked at the electoral sys-tem, from the viewpoint of fair competition bet-ween political parties and equal rights for voters.Sof ar, the Conservative and Labour parties have shown no sign of practising what they preach.SC □ David (Simon's father) advises: ' Cut the apron strings and let Simon learn about life the hard way.' But he finds this is easier to preach than to practise. TVT o often intraduced by phrases like Why don't you practise what you preach? You should/ ought to practise what you preach. praise be (to God) let us be thankful (that);I am thankful (that) o Nobody went short of food. We were never as hard up as that, praise be.□ What is more effective than clumps of white foxgloves, or pales t yellow and cream, in wood-land glades or in a shady border? Today these too have disappeared from most catalogues. Thomp-son & Morgan, prsise be, still list both these foxgloves. ST o ' Did you have a hang-over?'Awful. Praise be to God I didn't have to go to work that morning.'o often in parenthesis and often, even in full, not piously intended. praise the Lord and pass the am-munition (catchphrase) (let us) be devout, 464 and prepared to fight, defend ourselves against enemies, too (from a comment attributed to aUS naval Lieutenant(Howell Forgy) at the at-tack on Pearl Harbor, 1941, and subsequently incorporated in a World War 2 popular song)o He was once good enough to refer to me as aCromwellian figure, no doubt because I have al-ways tried both to preise the Lord and to pays the wordmonition. MFM precious few/ little(informal) very few; very little n: spectators, students, supporters; sym-pathy, help, assistance o To someone who has never been collecting, it may seem as though we gave ourselves a lot of unnecessary trouble by pampering our animals. The answer is, of course.that unless you pa mper them you will get precious few back alive. DF o Even theNabokovian to-and-fro at the end of the book about his habits and opinions gives precious little away. NSo I took the remaining pieces of gauze off the lamp, but even then it gave precious little light. UTNo‘Have you told the boss about your predicament?'' What's the use?A precious lot of sympathy or help I'd get from him.'D variant a precious lot (of sth) = ` very little(of sth)’. a pregnant silence/ pause a silence while one waits for sth expected to be done or said, or in which one is aware of remarks, criticisms etc which might be made but are not o I said I was to see Dr Pood. With a slight bow, the beginnings of a Mona Lisa smile, and a pregnant silence,he ushered me into a waiting room. AHo 'I'm a very reasonable man, I'm sure. If anyone can't get on with me, it's not my fault.' The pregnant silence that followed this assertion was broken by Thompson's suddenly recalling that he had a phone call to make and we made the most of this diversion to change the subject. □ The jokes are not so devastatingly funny, after all. It's the per-fect timing, the pregnant pause in exactly the right place, and so on, that makes their act such a success. □ also pl. present company dxcepted/ dxcepting present company (the statement that has been made, the matter referred to) does not apply to the person(s) present, but applies to other people not present on the occasion, or to people in general o I do find that people in this town, present company excepted of course,are pretty inhospitable. o He was holding forth again, ' There are few literary critics whose opinions one can respect —— ’ there was a deliberately long pause'—@ xcepting, if I may say so, present company,' but this was delivered in a tone that made it quite clear that he did not mean this at all. o a polite formula in parenthesis. press/ push the point [V + O pass] insist on sth (already) defined being understood, accep-ted, or done o Staff seem to have disregarded the request for more economy in the use of paper.Will you please press the point at today's meet-ing?aI suggested that he should draw up a will but as he clearly felt that such a step threatened him with imminent dissolution I didn't press the point. □ She would have liked literally to stand there until he stripped and climbed in (to the bath), but he refused and she did not push the point beyond making a few remarks about trust- <465> pretty well etc—— procrastination is the thief of time ing him and not being easily fooled and so on.TSMP口 push rarely used. pretty well etc[A (AdvP](informal) almost;very nearly; just about(qv) adv: well.△nearly,much o Pretty well every country in WesternEurope has had a motor-car boom. OBSo Though still struggling on they were pretty nearly ex-hausted. o I gather that the Truman quotation has since been argued over. Nevertheless, pretty well every educated Arab I' ve spoken to either here or in the Middle East, believes it. Lo She pretty well knew what he would say, that he could tell her nothing definite. PW o Numerous studies have shown that Americans consider themselves members of the working-class or the middle class to pretty much the same extent as do people in England, France, or Germany. SNPo modifies adj. adv, v, prep p. prevention is better than cure(saying) it is better, wiser, easier etc to prevent illness, or some other trouble, than to cure it afterwards□(advertisement) Many doctors prefer a natural food, rich in dietary fibre, which will help you to avoid constipation, rather than having to resort to purgatives. The reason is obvious—— preven-tion is always better than cure. RT o So far,there had been nothing between them(ie his wife and her tutor) that he could put a finger on—but Alan's term had still some time to go andLellie was already hero-worshipping. Preveryo-tion being better than cure, the sensible course was to see that the situation should never develop.TST□ Th e cost of accidents in 1975 will have been in the region of £930 millions. This certainly seems to justify a modest investment in improve-ments to existing safety systems on the assump-tion that in the long term an ' ounce' of preven-tion is worth a ' ton' of curo. SC o variant an ounce of prevention is worth a pound/ ton of cure.prick the bubble (of sth) [V+ 0 pass]reduce to its real size something which has been greatly inflated; destroy an illusion that sb has used for his comfort or protection o: indif-ference, self-esteem, complacency, vanity o(predicted relations between personality and birth date) Now, since Professor Eysenck is known among scientists for his tough-mindedBehaviourism, one suspects that he went into this question determined to prick this absurd bubble once and for all. OBS□ Soldiers shot dead the driver of an IRA gunman's car, which crashed,killing three children and grievously wounding their mother. The casual slaughter finally pricked the bubble of communal callousness. G□ Mr Bateson is a great bubble-pricker, and he is at his happiest when he confronts an imposing,highly organised scholarly structure whose pretensions have been overblown. NS O n com-pound a bubble-pricker. sb's pride and joy [n+ n non-rev] sb/ sth that sb is especially proud and pleased to have, to do, or to be associated with o I daresay the worst of them was once his mother's pride and joy, but they' ve all gone a long way downhill since then.□I interviewed a number of prospec-tive daily men. One was too emotional and per-haps hoped to be more than a servant. Another would do anything but cook. A third seemed to have been born in a tìny green baize apron: his pride and joy, he explained, was to clean silver in all his waking hours. AH the primrose path [O (NP)] self-indulgence and the satisfaction of easy pleasures as a way of life that seems pleasant but leads to unhappi-ness or(spiritual) destruction V: tread, take, go down □(source) Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads. HAMLET I 3a ... some of all professions that go the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire. MACBETHII3□It was odd howHarold who had never since his marriage taken a step along the primrose path, never gone off the rails in any way or wished to, proved himself a past-master of intrigue. PWo 'I think she's far too nice a girl just to be taken to bed whenever you can spare the time. And I also happen to like you too much as a person to see you going the way you' re going. ' ' The primrose pu rth of dal-liance?’ TT keep to the straight and narrow(path) (Vol l). a private eye(informal) a private detective,a criminal or civil investigator, engaged by sb to work for a fee o He even knew how he would feel as he stood at the tall olive-green front door(intrepid, like a private eye still on case after warning from Mr Big). TGLY o Among these(films) is' Shaft'a fast-moving private-eye fick with plenty of action, a strong plot and credible hero. OBS □ also pl private eyes; attrib use a private-eye flick. one's private life that part of one's life not connected with public affairs, professional duties, employment or means of livelihood oYour, er, private life is, and ought to be, no concern of mine—I mean, it ought not to be any concern of mine as long as it does not inter-fere with your work as a teacher. TT o ' Friends and relations?' 'I' ve lost touch in the last ten years.' Hergaze wandered. She said,' Not a single photograph. Have you no private life?’ OMIHoI don't agree that the private lives of public men should be exempt from reasonable scrutiny. Men without wisdom in managing their own affairs should not be managing ours. o This scathing polemicist of the daily columns is in private life the mildest-mannered of men, o cf one's private life(sing or pl) and in private life(sing only). a prize ass etc[Comp (NP)] sb/ sth outstan-dingly good or bad of its kind V:△be, become,turn into, look. n: ass, idiot; pupil; example,instance; pastime o ' My dear Middleton,'——Gilbert affected the use of surnames even for his most intimate friends,——' don't, for heaven's sake, be the prize; sis of all time. Can't you see it's the greatest thing that's ever happened?'ASA□ It's true that in the natural sciences the same names are applied to precisely defined concepts as are used much more vaguely in ordinary speech. The word ' atom' is a prize···· mple of this. Lo There are too many people trying to run this affair. We' ll end up in a prize muddle with nobody knowing who's supposed to be doing what. □a prize ass/ idiot mildly derogatory. procrastination is the thief of tim@(say-ing) valuable time is wasted, it becomes too late, one grows too old, etc while one puts off doing what one ought to do o (source)Procrastination is the thief of time;/ Year after year it steals, till all are fled. THE COM-PLAINT: NIGHT THOUGHTS (E YOUNG 1683-1765) a‘Remember you have to change that tyre before 465 <466> the prodigal (son) (returns)----the proof of the pudding (is in the eating) we leave.' 'I'm remembering — time enough.'' Time enough, now, but maybe not enough time later. Procrastination is the thief of time.’ o(NONCE) You have to consult, and consultation is the thief of time; but the alternative is any number of family variants on the occasion my husband and I turned up in Paris with two typewriters and only one toothbrush between us.OBS the prodigal (son) (returns) a son who leaves his family early, esp for a life of pleasure and extravagance (exhausts his resources,repents etc and returns home); sb who absents himself from a community, profession,religious or political group to follow other interests (returns and resumes his former way of life, loyalties etc)(all this in contrast to the behaviour of other members of a family who unselfishly do their duty, live respectably,economically etc in allusion to LUKE XV 11-32)口' They' ve got the painters in next door.' ' That' ll be for the return of the prodigal son. I hear that all is forgiven.'o' Well!' she said brightly, ' so the prodigal's returned. I suppose you spent a huge fortune on some drawing or other.' ASA o(NONCE) It wasn't only to please his hearers that he was coming(= uttering) all this stuff. It was to claim the status of the non-prodigal son. He had stayed in the district and Robert hadn't. CON□He had been what is termed a ' lapsed Catholic'but the Church is always ready to receive back her prodigal sons. O often adapted, as shown.prolong the agony [V + O pass] make an unpleasant experience, tense situation, etc last longer than it needs to, either through mis-management, for dramatic effect, to gain sym-pathy, etc o The extra resources created by my self-denial will immediately be seized by which-ever sector of the community is least prepared to exercise self-denial in any form. In other words.the effect of individual self-denial is merely to prolong the agony and make the final reckoning evenghastlier. NSoPETER: Now you must rest and take it easy. SONIA: Now he worries about me— now, when it's too late. All my life he drives me to this point and now he wants to prolong the agony. DPM o Why must adjudicators always prolong the agony like this? They should an-nounce the winners and awards first and make their general comments afterwards. (1) promise (you)I assure you o ' Pauline,'Isaid after a while, ' you made it up.'' I promise you I didn't;I'm not nearly clever enough. 'BMo' Did you brush your teeth, Tommy?'' Yes, mum.'Promiss?'' Promise.'' All right, give me a kiss and go to bed.'o many speakers do not use promise (v) in this meaning; usu first person.pres tense, introducing clause; promise? in second example = ' do you assure me (that sth is true, is the case)?` promise(sb) the earth/ moon [V + 10 + 0pass] make a promise (to sb), but the promise is too extravagant and cannot, or will not, be kept o This week Sir John Betjeman makes a nostalgic journey through Metroland - - - - the swathe of suburbs cut through rural Bucks, Herts and Middlesex by the Metropolitan Railway Co in the 20s. Its original brochures promised the earth; Robert Lacey talks to three residents about the reality of the dream now. RTo ' And 466 then Lettie,' said Charmian, ' has been so cruel about her wills. Always promising Eric the earth, and then retracting her promises.'MMoIn the Heath prospectus both means and end were taken care of. This was not to be yet another government which promised the moon but did not say how it would get there. ST a/ the promised land Canaan, promised to the Israelites by God, as in GENESIS XII 5-8;heaven, or any earthly place, situation or con-ditions where people are promised, and hope to get, happiness and security;a land flowing with milk and honey(qv) V: reach, come to, cross into, hope for, long for o Nobody any longer expects that neo-Keynesian fine tuning of the economy can bring us swiftly, painlessly but prosperously into the promised land. NS□ In1913 there was plenty of socialist theory, but virtually no socialist practice. There was a vision of the road ahead, down which all good men would march abreast, but very little knowledge of what the promised land would look like. NSo(early 19th c migrations of population to theAmerican West) But whatever their motives,whether an insane hope of a better condition in life, or a desire of shaking off restraints of law and society, or mere restlessness, certain it is that multitudes bitterly resent the journey and after they have reached the land of promise are happy enough to escape from it. SC o variant the land of promise. prone to sth' [Comp (AdjP)] liable to incur(and suffer from) sth v: △be, become; make sb/ sth. adv mod: very, less, more, equally. o:accidents, infection, hay-fever; misinterpreta-tion, interference, abuse o (cattle-breeding)There is a world demand for the Brown Salers from south-east France (the white version is prone to skin cancer) and they may well be seen in Britain soon STo(a radio ham) Early morning reception was less prone to interference from relays on similar wave-lengths. OBS□That it may be prone to abuse is no argument for turning down a relief system from which thousands will benefit □ What awfully bad luck! Poor thing, she seems' to be accident-prone. o adj compound accident-prone prone to sth²[Comp(AdjP)] having a propen-sity, or liking, for (doing) sth V:△be, become;make sb/ sth. adv mod: very. less, more, equally.o: anger, laughter, tears; fainting, losing/ lose his temper, skidding/ skid on wet surfaces oWill he be very angry, do you think,'' Well, he's a man prone to anger and this does seem an occasion for it. □ Outsiders regard them as un-disciplined, rather comic and no fighters; resent-ing this, they are prone to demonstrative acts of heroism. NS□I' ve found it a difficult cabbage to grow', very prone to shooting up to length instead of forming a compact heart. a Whether the reason for it (heavy social drinking) is climatic or temperamental, or both, it is a recurrent theme in Irish history. Irish emigrants, both to America and the UK. have been notoriously prone to take the habit with them. SC o adj compound laughter-prone. the proof of the pudding (is in the oat-ing)(saying) the true value of sb/ sth (can be judged only from practical experience and not from appearance, theory etc) a Another ques- <467> a proper/ right Charley/ Charlie— prove one's/ the case/ point tion remains: does food taste better if a recipe precedes it? I doubt it. Sometimes, of course, the recipe is fascinating and the food deadly, and——on rare occasions— the food excels the recipe:but the proof of the pudding is still in the eat-ing. Lo The chance Mr Heath has of rushing the package through Parliament, carrying reluctantTories along, is partly dependent on its contents and on the concessions he may or may not have made in the mysterious deal over sterling. The proof of the pudding---NS□ You'd have thought this message was not one to appeal to today's world but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and upwards of 2 million have bought his books and crowds flock to hear him speak. a proper/ right Charley/ Charlie [Comp(NP)] (informal) a stupid, inept, freakish etc person, or one who appears to be so V: △ be,seem, look □ These night-watchmen(precursors of the police), introduced in Charles II's reign,were practically useless. The public jeered at these men and called them ' Charlies', after theKing. Today many people still use the term 'a proper Charlie’ when they want to describe someone who isn't all that good at doing his job.OBS□' What do you mean'' the lights still won't work''?' the foreman said, peering at the dash-board.' You' re a right Charlia, aren't you? How the hell could the lights work if you don't switch on the ignition?'o (headline) The Don't Do ItYourself Men: Here are some of the adjectives used to describe the men who ' ll never make (=become) Husband of the Year: lazy, untidy,jealous, inconsiderate, unappreciative; a properCharlie: the only thing he can do properly is watch television. TVT a prophet of doom [Comp (NP)] a person who holds and spreads pessimistic views about present and future conditions in world affairs,etc V: △ be; think, make, sb o Toynbee has spent his life comparing the ways civilisations rise and fall. He chose a career which made him almost inevitably a prophet of doom. NS□I am no prophet of doom as far as our newspapers are concerned. I am confident that our news-papers are going to be more prosperous, more influential, more worthwhile, ten or twenty years from now. BBCTV o ... and Professor MiltonFriedman, arch-priest of the money-supply school of economists and prophet of inflation-ary doom. Lo When the marathon talk-in at no10 Downing Street finally broke up without agreement and with some recrimination on all three sides, it then became open season for the.chorus of Job's comforters and the massed prophets of gloom (if not doom). L aprophet(is) without honour in his own country(saying) sb (is) recognized as a great thinker, teacher, writer, artist etc except by his own family, associates, countrymen etc o(source) Is not this the carpenter's son? …… And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them,A prophetis not without honour, save in his own country and in his own house. MAT-THEW XIII 55-57□ Also on the programme are ' If',who seem to be in the position of prophets without honour etc. Highly regarded inAmerica, their musicianship has yet to cut a lot of ice in this country. RTo(NONCE) And a lot ofCounty Sligo where he spent his youth is now known as the Yeats country: there are bars called the Yeats Lounge and The Poet's Rest, thoughYeats must have been unique among Irish writers in apparently having been in abar only once in his life. Nonetheless & prophet was being honoured in his own county, by his own neigh-bours, even if they were a bit late, and the reasons were financial as much as literary. L (the) pros and cons [n + n non-rev] (the)various points, or arguments, in favour of and against persons, procedures, situations, plansV: give, set out, present; argue, discuss o She was all too prone to see herself as a case,a moral instance, neatly divided into pros and cons. PW□ There are, says Dominic, various advantages and disadvantages in having a father whose name.is a household word. But as far as he is concerned the pro s and cons cancel each other out. OBSaAfter setting out the pros and cons, he simply advised Mr Jenkins to do what he felt he ought to do. NS□ITN'S ' First Report' opened its firstCommon Market postbag on May I and has been running questions and answers ever since.Producer Barrie Sales and presenter Robert Kee feel they will have given the pros and cons a pretty good airing by the finish. TVT protest too much affirm, or deny, sth so exaggeratedly that one's sincerity is doubted o(source) HAMLET: Madam, how like you this play? QUEEN: The lady doth protest too much.methinks. HAMLET: O, but she' ll keep her word.HAMLET VIII2□ ' It hardly needs to be said,' is a favourite phrase of Starritt's when protesting the willingness of the (Special) Branch to protect vulnerable informers. Starritt protests too much--it does need to be said that the Branch failed to protect Lennon after it was obvious that his cover was blown. NS□ There is tremendous fun in this occasionally over-virtuous show which does protest too much at times. L proud of sth/ sb[Comp(AdjP)] highly pleased and satisfied with, or glorying in, sth one has done or sb/ sth one is associated with V: △ be,feel; make sb. o: our achievement, the school's record; being an Englishman; the regiment, her two handsome sons□ In education our post-war architectural record is surely second to none.From the pioneering Hertfordshire schools of the1950s to the architectural adventurousness of the new universities, we have much to be proud of.OBS □ She had stuck to the job because the aunt.who had brought her up was so proud of her and liked to boast about her and show her off when she came home in uniform. DC △ next entry.proud of sth[A(AdvP)] protruding, or extend-ing, above sth V: △ stand, be, rise. o: the sur-face, the rim, its surroundings o The filler should be worked firmly into the dent or groove and built up until it stands proud of the sur-rounding surface. When it is quite dry, start rub-bing away the surplus filler. STo As soon as the sediment starts creeping up the shoulder of the bottle, stop pouring. You should now have a glass of star-bright beer with a head (of foam) that stands proud of the glass but does not overflow.g △ previous entry. prove one's/ the cas@/ point [V + O pass]demonstrate that one`s/ the affirmation, argu-ment, criticism etc is true o He gave the PrimeMinister to understand that in his view the Bri- 467 <468> prunes and prism(s)— pull sb's leg tish forces on the western flank could and should be more offensive; they were not fighting as they should, and he quoted the casualty figures to prove his cαx·MFM o JIMMY: Anyone who doesn't like real jazz hasn't any feeling either for music or people. HELEN: Rubbish. JIMMY (toCliff): That seems to prove my point for you.LBA□ ' What about the railway station?' he said.' It's hardly ever used these days.' A quick survey proved the point. H prunes and prism(s)[n+n non-rev] affected gentility and precise enunciation; genteel and narrowly correct behaviour o(source) ' Father'is rather vulgar, my dear. The word ' Papa',besides, gives a pretty form to the lips. Papa,potatoes, poultry, prugus and prism, are all very good words for the lips; especially prungs and prism. LITTLE DORRIT (C DICKENS 1812-70)□' Papa, potatoes, pruner and prisms, ' said over and over again was supposed, at one time, to be the correct formula for producing a pretty mouth. SCo'I like nasty things better than nice things, ' said Jessica, with such a Prune; andPrisms of diction that all the grown-ups (exceptNurse) had to laugh. WDM□ Susan was not at all the prunges-and-prisms miss that I thought a' private governess' education might have made her. o not widely-used; attrib use a prunes-and-prisms miss. Pseuds' Corner (catchphrase) a place to which one relegates people with pretensions to knowledge, taste, interests, artistic ability which they do not have (from the section with this title in the magazine` Private Eye'; pseud =pretentious, false person)o The one article con-nected with my own studies contained so many errors of fact it was a short step to wondering whether the rest might not be contributions fromPseuds' Corner too. SC o They go to more trouble dressing simply, eating simply, and find-ing simple pleasures than you and I are ever likely to in our so-called artificial lives. It's all pseuds'corner stuff to me. what they preach about natural life-styles.□Some of the more academic writings on rock music I have found both valuable and enlightening, and I do not share the reactions of those who send off to ' Pseuds' Corner' all writings about rock which use words longer than' super' or ' danceable'. L o attrib use Pseuds'Corner stuff. a pub crawl(informal) an evening/a day spent drinking in a succession of public-houses oAnd, since the cold weather had set in, they had allowed their earlier custom of a weekly pub-crawl to lapse. HD a Ronnie, seven years his senior, was big and hearty,a great beer drinker,a jolly companion on a pub-crawl. PEo But tell me—— you see, I have to ask you, Alec hasn't told me anything—— didn't he want to take you pub-crawling? PW o with or without hyphen;variants a pub-crawler, pub-crawling. public property[Comp(NP)] known to every-body or anybody S: facts, incidents, situations.relationship; his failure, bankruptcy, dismissal;sb's quarrel with sb V:△be, become; make sth o For, ever since the rich Mr Macfadyen's proposal to the Admiral's daughter had become public property, there had been a growing feel-ing that unless he married her out of hand she would go on being engaged all her life and prob- 468 ably die an old maid while her parents survived her. WDMoIt's public property now that during his last two years of office the man was senile, but his name carried so much weight his colleagues thought it worthwhile to cover up for him. publish and be damned make your accusa-tion as publicly as you like and ' be damned to you', ie the speaker does not care, will not pay you money or do anything else in exchange for your keeping quiet; the speaker refuses to be blackmailed (attributed to the DUKE OF WEL-LINGTON 1769-1852 as referred to in the first quotation)□ Kenneth Bourne has edited a selec-tion of unpublished letters from the celebrated nineteenth century tart Harriette Wilson, the lady who reputedly was told by Wellington to publish and be damned'. G o It did not seem right that the Count, who must by now be rising ninety, should die without hearing his wife's con-fession. It was true that when Daniel had last broached the matter she had flown into one of the silly tantrums of the aged and had said, ' Publish and be damned!’ US□ The‘Observer’, in com-mon with most other London papers, seemed to have taken absolutely no notice of the magistrates' warning, and published the con-fession in full with a ' publish and be damned'attitude echoed in the Press many times since.OBS□(NONCE) The story had two morals: not only the obvious ' Now wash your hands' but also' Publish and be saved'. Semmelweis(a 19th c obstetrician) did not publish soon enough, to the detriment of both human welfare and of his own mental health. L puff and blow [v+ v non-rev] breathe noisily from physical exertion; threaten, protest and exciaim imprecisely; huff and puff (qv) □You' re in poor trim. A man of your age shouldn't be puffing and blowing after climbing one flight of stairs. o It is a compromise, and however much Mr Cousins may puff and blow. it will undoubtedly be accepted by the annual con-ference. OBS a puffing billy (dated informal) a railway-engine of the (old) steam-driven type oThe splendid mechanical beast which now we condescendingly call a puffing billy or an old iron horse: a hundred years ago, it was as magi-cal as a space-ship. L o variants(used by child-ren) a puff-puff, a puffer. pull sb's leg[V + O pass](informal) say sth, in a joking way, to tease, fluster or deceive sb. esp temporarily o' She's probably got some chap at home who's just as steady as she is. waiting to marry her.’' No. do you think so?' ' Go on. I'm pulling your log.'TGLYo' Would you place your-self (as a writer) in a direct line of descent fromKafka? ' No' replied Froulish shortly. ' My mas-ters are Dante, Spinoza. Rimbaud, Boehme, andGreig.' Hutchins champed agitatedly on his pipe-stem. His face lost a little of its buoyant ex-pression; he was not sure whether his leg was being pulled. HDo' Poetry!' said Percy. ' You' re making a bloody fool of yourself supporting that charlatan. It isn't poetry, it's a leg-pull. 'MMoThe young Norwegian, who was a bit of a leg-puller. took a bowl of cream of tomato, and proceeded to empty half a dozen sardines into it.The others looked on in astonishment. TBCo also pl puli their legs; n compounds a leg-pull, a leg- <469> pull one's punches— push/ press one's luck puller. pull one's punches [V + O pass] in a boxing match etc. use less force in one's punches than one could do;(fig) describe, criticize or rebuke sb/ sth less forcibly, or adversely, than one could do or others would do S; writer, critic;programme, play, story. det: one's, no, (not)any, few o It is interesting to note that ' The FightAgainst Slavery' , which BBC 2 is waging, has been accused of pulling its punches. Lo Even in comment on the individual poems Mr Stall-worthy pulls his punches. To call the address toEros ' curious and disturbing' is just mealymouthed. It is, in fact, homo-erotic. SCo/liked the story because it pulled no punches— making clear than an assignment is a job of work that overrides any personal feelings a reporter may have. DM□(reader's letter) In hisRichard Dimbleby lecture, Lord Goodman pulled few punches. Lo Nobody had got upset,nobody had shouted or been unpleasant, they'd all abided by the rules of debate, but no punches had been pulled. TSMPo often neg, as shown.◇△ pack a punch. pull rank (on sb)[V+0](try to) make use of one's social, or official, rank or position to gain advantages, priority etc that one is not really entitled to; make one's inferiors in rank or position feel aware of that difference o:students, the other passengers o But in his present position Owen ought to be even a little more than a good European. He ought to be app-alled at the way the Cabinet has behaved, he ought to be pulling rank, creating a stink. NSoHe called for a revival of the Dunkirk spirit to attack inflation. At Dunkirk ' we did not pull rank, we abandoned snobbery and did not really insist on the retention of status symbols.' sc pull (the) strings/ wires [V + 0 pass]manipulate others for one's own advantage(as one might control string-puppets); use indirect pressure, influential friends, etc to obtain posts,favours or to avoid duties, penalties o They like giving people aid as long as it enables them to pull strings and influence governments. Lo PHI-LIP: Myra dear, I don't know how often I' ve told you that I don't believe in this— you can do more by quietly pulling strings than you ever can by mass protests and committees and that kind of thing. EHOWa All that was necessary to avoid the statutory period of National Service was a relative or two sufficiently well-connected to pull the wires.□ HARRIS: How does a young actress get her first important role? RIGG:Sometimes luck, but basically it's because the producers and directors study you, note your im-provement. There's a lot talked about string-pulling and going to bed with directors, but the basic thing is how good your acting is. OBS D n compounds a string-/ wire-puller, string/ wire pulling. pull one's weight [V + O] work to the full measure of one's capacity; do one's fair share in a joint effort or undertaking(from rowing, esp as one of a boat-crew) □ If each one of us does his duty. and pulls his full weight, then nothing can stop the Eighth Army. MFM□ Don't let us forget either. that wool prices are dropping. Or that both partners in an estate have to pull their weight. WIoProducerGerry Glaister's favourite cartoon shows a TV tycoon bawling out one of his junior executives with the accusation ' You' ve been with us for 18 months and you haven't got an ulcer—— you can't be pulling your weight'.RT pure/ plain and simple[adj + adj non-rev]exact(ly); not more, less, nor other than o It is madness pure and simple to race wildly on a bicycle downa country road, chasing amotor-car.HD□ To the rest of us, it was a joke, pure and simple, but Ned, though there were undoubtedly times when he saw it as we did, would often get into a very solemn mood about the Book. CONoYou' re going to exit this world one way or the other, so you might as well choose the manner of your own demise. With me it's gluttony, pure and simple. I love my food. TVT o Now——a column in the‘Observer’ having succeeded one in the‘Guardian’—— Des likes to think of himself as a journalist plein and simple: never again a public man. NS O modifies a preceding n. a purple patch/ passage an extremely, or too, ornate portion in a literary work, music,painting, architecture etc o If he had confined himself to the dialogue and action and cut out the purple patches where he describes the scen-ery and moralizes on the folly of mankind and so on he might have found a publisher for his novel.o ... the great prima donna singing not only famous purple patches but the entire works to which these patches belong. To Doesn't abrutally edited version of Mr Callaghan's purple passages make them seem more dramatic and sensational than they really are? SC purse one's lips [V + O pass] draw one's lips tightly together, esp indicating disapproval,doubt, concentrated thought o The other man gazed at a spot on the wall over Sefton's head,screwed up his eyes and pursed his lips. ARG□I still thought I had never heard such a silly idea in my life as Tom's proposition. Also, I thoughtMyrtle would see it in exactly the same light.Tom pursed his lips, and smiled. SPL o In the also-ranenclosure, Yamaha's mechanics pursed their lips when Gould told them he'd had trouble with his brakes. ST o Through the dirty fog of feckless slum living faint rays of moral precept would shine from time to time, and she would feebly and grumblingly attempt to reproduce something of the pursed-Ilpped, self-righteous matriarchy of her own girlhood home. HAAo MrsAllan disapproved of the free way in which the younger girls gossiped about their friends. She returned to her desk with pursed lips. o adj compound pursed-lipped; variant with pursed lips. push/ press one's luck [V + 0] rashly, or optimistically, risk sth that depends on one's luck continuing, even though one's luck has already been unusually good; attempt sth that could only succeed if one were extremely luckyA: too far, too hard, (any) farther o‘What’ s wrong with a drop of rain? I' ve had plenty of wettings all my life and never taken any harm.'' All right, but remember you' re getting older—and don't bother pushing your luck, that's all.Take your umbrella, as I say.'o If any of the pups pushed his luck too far in the mauling and scrapping games they enjoyed, his mother would give him a sharp nip on the nose. D But Ashmore 469 <470> push and shove—a Pyrrhic victory was cleverer than that. He came into money and wisely didn't press his luck after that. Directors are like alchemists, their hour is brief. OBS Opress less often used. push and shove [v+ v rev] struggle, esp among others doing likewise, to make one's way through a crowd, eg by pushing, jostling,thrusting with elbows, shoulders or knees o The tea for the kiddies, originally planned to be on trestle tables in the market place, had to be in theChurch Hall where the crowding, the noise, the greed the pushing and shoving were of an un-usually high standard. WDM□I don't like having to push and shove in order to get onto a bus. Orev but usu in order of headphrase. pushing forty etc(informal) approaching the age of 40 etc; rising twenty etc(qv); close on(qv) (the reference usu being to a decade or other marked point in sb's life, such as a quali-fying or retirement age) n: forty.△ fifty, sixty,sixty-five a One thing I think mustn't be long when you' re pushing 40 is hair; it can look all right from behind, but people can get such a shock when you turn round. TVT □ Athlete? At pushing 70—— emphatically yes. ' Look at this.' he says, thumping a picture in a glossy motorcycle brochure. Isn't she something? I' ve just bought her,750 cc.'RTo It's not when he's pushing 65,but long before, that a man should give thought to how he will occupy his time after retirement.□ less likely to be used of anyone under 40. put sb/ sth first [V + 0 + A pass] consider sb/sth to be more important than anything else and act accordingly n: one's wife, children;duty, comfort o I said I sympathized with theFrench officers in 1940 who looked after their families; they didn't anyway put their careers first. OMIHoI'm as disappointed as you. Julie,that I can't take you out tonight, but a doctor sometimes has to put his patients first. o ' And do be careful.'' Don't worry. No matter how much of a hurry I'm in to get somewhere I always put safety first.△△(put) first things first. put it etc differently etc[V + O + A pass]describe, express or explain sth differently etcO: it, △ the matter, the question, things. adv:differently; this way, another way, more clear-ly, (very) well, as well o ' Malice' always seems to me too strong a word for what clever, amusing and delightful writers do in conversation. ArthurMarshall puts it differently: ' On the whole he liked people to behave badly—— he was amused,he loved it.' L o The travelling population (ie esp gypsies) of Britain is between 18,000 and 25,000— and even most of the 50-year-olds haven't been to school. Let's put it this way; we owe these people 10 years of education. OBSo ' We don't know what lies ahead. And, anyway, we may as well leave the place looking brighter than we found it. ' Or, to put it another way, they intend to leave their mark. And for that they deserve a king-sized 'A' for Achievement. Ho' Does that sound silly?' ' No. Not one little bit.I' ve always felt like that myself, only I can't put it as well as you.'RATTo But history is no help to a modern caterer trying to persuade—— or ms he would put it, ' educate'—— customers to ac-cept a food they never ate at Mother's knee. NS□variants as sb would put it, I don't know how to put it. (to) put it mildly (to) make an understate-ment; (to) describe sth in less harsh or realistic terms than it probably merits; to say the least(of it) (qv) o ' Well,' he said, ' whoever did it certainly knows the names of some of the mem-bers of the staff.' ' That's putting it mildly----knows their habits very well too.' To'I could say the conditions of sale were not clearly explained to me. '' You would be putting it very mildly indeed if you said that. In my view, you' ve been the victim of deliberate misrepresentation.’ aSaying that Victoria was taken aback is to put it mildly. She was completely flabbergasted. TCB□ Sinister circumstantial evidence was found.Local people spoke of hearing the sounds of a struggle. Suspicion, to put it mildly, turned towards Thurtell, and although no body had been found he was arrested. OBS □ often Disj; put usu in the continuous tenses or as to-inf. to put it no higher [Disj] without exaggera-ting, or making any greater claim for or against sth(though perhaps one justifiably could)□She had thought somehow that love with Patrick would make everyhing stop, but in fact every-thing seemed to be going on in much the same way as before, to put it no higher. TGLYo Apoem of hers appeared in the local paper in a tribute to his memory that was, to put it no higher, heartfelt. D front, middle or end position. put sth right/ straight [V + O + Comp pass]correct an error, unsatisfactory situation, etc;redress an injustice; set/ put the record straight(qv)O: it, this; the matter, things; these misun-derstandings, the worst of the defects, the wrong you have done these people o Is it too late to recognize the mistake and try to put it right?SC□From what I had learnt the troops had their tails down and there was no confidence in the higher command. This would have to be put right at once. MFMo T was of course, relying onMr Robert to put things right with his lordship.''A great mistake to rely on Robert for anything.'said Julius soberly. EM□I dare say he' ll forget all about it (ie the money he owes me), now he's gone away; but then Mr Sands will see to it that things are put straight. HAA put sb right/ straight (about etc sth) [V+ O + Comp](informal) correct sb in an error;acquaint sb with the true facts, proper procedure, etc(about etc sth) O: you, him; his teachers, them all. prep: about, on, concerning,over o (reader's letter) If your writers had wanted to quote a factually correct case it would have been better to counterpose Mar x andBernstein or Marx and Sidney Webb. Really!Any one of our audiences in Hyde Park could have put you right. RTo Snap out of it, you dreamer, get down to earth. This is journalism.All you need is a sublime confidence that you can put absolutely anyone right on how to do his job.ST□In his 78th year, J. B. Priestley does very much want to try and put us straight about a state of mind which troubles him in contempor-ary society. sc aPyrrhic victory [Comp (NP)] an unprofit-able victory, success over another force, person etc, where losses are greater than is justified by anything gained (King Pyrrhus of Epirus defeated Roman army in 279 BC, but with so 470 <471> great a slaughter of his men that he said ' One more such victory and Pyrrhus is undone') V:△ be, appear; make sth o So many windows were broken, dustbins upturned, air let out of bicycle tyres, and heads split as a result of pyr-rhic victories in gang raids—— for he seemed suddenly to be losing his military genius—— that it became dangerous for Frankie to walk down our street. LLDR o(reader's letter) Internment Queen Anne is dead (saying) your news is stale; everybody knows (this) already o So weBritons have little or no real influence in world affairs— and Queen Anne is dead too. The distinguished lecturer hardly needed to labour a point which we have stopped bothering to remind each other of. SC a queer fish [Comp(NP)](informal) a strange,odd person;a misfit; an odd fish/ bird(qv) V:△be; find, think, sb o All sorts of cultists and queor fish teach all kinds of techniques for achieving health, contentment, peace of mind.DOP□ One of the last men to join this expedition was Denon, a queer fish in this amphibious operation. since he was a civilian and already aged 51. BN the question (of sth) arises sth specified must be considered and discussed o: legal liabil-ity; his future career, your successor; what to do, how to tackle the problem, when to sell oWhen he was sixteen the question of a career arose. PE o We' ve decided to shut down your post, and the question arises—— what are we to do with you? OMIHo In the summer of 1945 the question prose whether the nation should make grants of money to the principal commanders in the field. MFM◇△raise a question; raise the ques-tion etc(of sth). the question of the hour [Comp (NP)] the question, matter of debate, etc that attracts interest at a particular time V:△be, become;make sth o The nation was thrilled, shocked,sympathetic. Whether Edward would abdicate in favour of his brother became the question of the hour. a The British visitor is possibly better placed than most to arbitrate with some detach-ment on the question of the hour. This, in es-sence, is whether the Merion Golf Course has been made too difficult. OBS□ also pì questions of the hour. a quick-change artist an actor who makes rapid changes in costume, appearance, make-up etc to perform a quick succession of roles;(fig) a person able or likely to switch functions,opinions, interests etc rapidly o Any teacher whose timetable covers different age groups and different abilities has to be something of a quick-change artist. o' Yesterday he wanted to hitch-hike all the way. Now he wants to borrow my car.’' Oh well, he's not the only quick-chang= artist in the family?'o also pl. the quick and the deed [n + n non-rev] the living and the dead o(source—— see also ACTSX42) He ascended into heaven; From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. Queen Anne is dead—a quid pro quo was Mr Faulkner's victory over Westminster,and over wisdom. It was a shameful, Pyrrhic victory, putting back any settlement by months,perhaps years. SC□So it looks as if the politicians have won. My only point is that it has been aPyrrhic victory. In no country in the world are politicians held in greater or more open derision than they are here. NS BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER □(of the funeral ofKing George V) There have been times in history when the death of a monarch has seemed to mark the end of an epoch, but on that day I seemed to have been more impressed by the quick than the dead. AH quick/ slow in/ on the uptake [Comp(AdjP)] mentally alert/ sluggish; quick/ slow to grasp information, pick up a meaning, sugges-tion or hint V: △ be; find, think, sb o Malone was both clever and quick in the uptake. SMLoThe interested parties — builders, speculators,or whatever— can always turn around and tell me that I am too show in the uptake. SCo' Men are siow on the uptake sometimes,' said Pat,and she said it as though her experience was a wide one and deep as you like. TT a quick one [0/o (NP)](informal) a single alcoholic drink, esp taken to refresh one, or to cheer one up, and fitted in before, after or while doing sth V: have; go for, have time for a We' ll go downstairs and have a quick one before we start on the next batch of letters. □ After lunch.Bill went for a quick one to the local pub. The meal had been oppressive. HAA o STANLEY: We can stop in at the Red Lion for a quick one. FFEthe quickness of the hand deceives the eye(catchphrase) a swift action, skilfully per-formed, makes a spectator believe that what appears to have happened has actually hap-pened, although this is not so (from the patter of conjurors and players of card tricks) o' Rhumb Line' is a chilly little scrap of black comedy in which the quickness of the writer's hand deceives thereader's eye. NSa 'I say,' saidLord Mellings when they had finished, you do sing well.'' An illusion,' said Aubrey. 'I can make a noise like a good singer. The quickness of the hand deceives the eye.’ WDM □(NONCE) The closing of music halls put the big illusionists out of business, and the clubs and cabaret shows are much more demanding for the men out to prove that the hand is quicker than the eye. TVT a quid pro quo sth given that is equivalent to a gift or favour received; sth done in retaliation for injury etc(from quid pro quo (Latin) =something for something else) o' What's this you' ve brought?' ' A quid pro quo. Last night we drank all your whisky.'o She worries about ac-cepting hospitality she can't return but I tell her people don't conduct their friendships on a quid pro quo basis. o (NONCE) Only Secretary of theTreasury Connally cushioned the jolt to the public— who hadn't known that the dollar was even trembling on its pedestal—— by saying that 471 <472> (a/ an life/ air of) quiet desperation—— rain/ pour cats and dogs the agreement to devalue was a quid for many a quo. L (a/ an life/ air of) quiet desperation(catchphrase)(a life characterized by) silent or controlled, but despairing, struggle esp against circumstances□(source) The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. WALDEN (H DTHOREAU 1817-62)□ Her husband is gentle: ' Over the years he has perfected small attentions while his imagination drifts from me.' Is she happy? Or.leading a life of quiet desperation? Lo He had that air of quiet desperation so often seen on the faces of those who are trying to make a job of an alcoholic wife or husband. BBCR o(film review) John Fraser and James Fox flounder miserably and Derek Nimmo hums and ha's (= R a race/ fight against time [Comp (NP)] an effort to complete sth before, or by, a given time or before sth else happens to prevent its successV: △ be, become, turn into o ' Yes,' she said grudgingly, and I could see she was beginning to stiffen and I knew the rest was a race against time, and I said, ' These questions may seem somewhat personal and irrelevant, but I must get this financial background straight if I am to get your son straight.'PP□It was now,I realised,a fight against time: if I could keep this solitary specimen alive until we reached England, I felt sure that I could find something it would eat. BBrack one's brains/ memory [V + 0] make anxious and determined efforts to think of, or recall, sth specific or suitable A: to find a solution; for an explanation o All night I have been tossing and turning、 racking my brains to think what could have possessed that poor young man to kill himself. EMoI racked my brains and tried hard to picture the feelings of anger and indignation. HAHA o I racked my memory in vain for its counterpart in literature: perhaps you could think of one. Pw a/ the rag and bone man etc[n+ n non-rev]a street trader who, formerly, bought and sold old clothes, household waste or discarded articles; the place, activity, of such buying and selling n: man, △ merchant; shop, trade o It was the same with his ' hand cart'. The five pounds would never have run to a good one, and he had found a rag-and-bone mun willing to sell him the ruins of an old pram for five shillings. HD□ At the same time I(moved) away with an awkward shuffling gait, holding the two coats over my arm like arag-and-bone merchant. CON□ Sh e had enjoyed a Wesleyan childhood and, through the dirty fog of feckless slum living— the long rag-and-born years of Stepney, and the lazy odd-job existence of the country—— faint rays of moral precept would shine from time to time.HAA o Yeats, in a fine phrase about a more emotional, sexual state, wrote about the ' rag and bone shop of the heart'. Mr Wilson is the rag and bone mm of social democracy. NS Orag-and-bone years =` years when one depen-ded on the rag-and-bone trade', or more gener-ally, `a makeshi ft existence'. makes noises indicating hesitation or doubt)with quiet desperation. RT quite so perfectly true;I agree with you; I agree(that)□' We should have booked our flight before the prices went up.'' Quite so, my dear, but it's a bit late thinking about it now.'o(rain stopped play at the test match) As Maddock said to Mar-tin Jenkins that sodden Monday evening:‘We hope that the music you have heard today has pleased you—— or as much as it could have done in the circumstances.' Quite so. L o short reply or comment, often expressing ironic agreement(second example) or introducing a qualifying statement beginning with but, however (first example). the rag-tag and bobtail (of sth) [n + n non-rev](derogatory) the lower classes gener-ally; the ordinary members of a community.profession etc who are of no individual impor-tance o: city, parish: clan, army o All the people of whom you and I are the ragtag and bobtail.all the camp followers of western civilization, we have taken it for granted that, even if we did not live up to those exalted ethical standards, we did a great deal better than anyone else. NMo The householders in the Square paid for the upkeep of the central gardens and didn't want the rag-tag and bobtail making use of them. □ If he's a prominent barrister or a solicitor with a big con-nection he' ll have plenty of money; but the rag-tag and bobtail of the profession don't make all that much, you know. □ formerly often tag and rag or tag, rag and bobtail, but now almost always in order of headphrase. the rag trade(informal) business concerned with the designing, making, or marketing, of women's clothes o Big-timess in the fashion business in Rome and Paris are frenetically add-ing the finishing touches to their autumn collec-tions while lesser fry(ie smaller, less important,businesses) in the rag trade are thinking up their collections for spring. SC □ Our daily weather continues to dictate the trivial scenarios of our lives— and remains manna to the rag trade.the tourist industry, and heaven knows what else.NS rags and tatters [n+ n non-rev] old、 torn or worn-out clothes, soft furnishings, papers etc;the poor remains of a former way of life, sys-tem, creed etc V: be in; dress in; reduce to oThey found several hundred pounds in the house when he died—— enough to show that there had been no need for him to half-starve himself and go about in ra gs and tetters. □ They' re not like our children. Any picture books they' re given are reduced to raggand tatters withina week. o For even he, illiterate and unimpressive in the rags andtatters of our civilisation, knew that without his gods life would lose its meaning and inevitably lead towards disaster. LWK o nouns can be used separately. rain/ pour cats and dogs rain very heavily oWe' ll meet at the parking place in the village 472 <473> the rain falls on the just and/ the unjust----raise hopes about 9 o' clock, and decide then whether it's a day for the boat, or for walking. If it's raining cats and dogs, of course, we won't expect you to turn up at all. o We went to Ireland but we can hardly say we saw it. It poured cats and dogs every single day.□ only in impersonal construc-tions with it. the rain falls on the just and the unjust(saying) virtue does not ensure all benefits or protect against all hazards □(source) For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjudit.MATTHEW V45o ' What have I done to deserve this?’, acommoncry of men and women indistress.presupposes a logic of punishment and reward in a world where, unfortunately, the rainfalls equally on the just and the unjust. GaRain mayfallon the just and the unjust—— but not, at least while this Prime Minister is in charge, government lar-gesse(= generous giving). raise Cain/(merry) hell' [V + O] behave in an extravagantly noisy, unrestrained or riotous way(Cain, from GENESIS IV 5-12) o They (rail-road builders) slept in dormitory trains, they raised Cain in mobile track towns with fly-by-night saloon keepers. gamblers, whores. Lo What did he do in the interim? ' Opted out, got re-acquainted with friends I hadn't seen in years.lazed around the Caribbean, Mexico and Ha-waii, hooked a 210 lh marlin, and raised a whole lot of hell, he said. TVT□Former bar-room braw-ler and hell-raiser Robert Conrad (remember' Hawaiian Eye' and' Wild Wild West') stars in a new' series here. TVT□ She seems so quiet usu-ally——I got quite a shock seeing her raising merry hell with the rest of us at the party last night. O n compound a hell-raiser. raise Cain/(merry) heIP[V + 0] complain,protest, exert one's authority, etc angrily or violently o And keep that puppy off the sofa.Your mother will raise Cain if he piddles on it again.□IfI were the headmaster of that school,I'd raise hell with the education office till they got those potholes in the playground filled in. oWe both knew that coppers put bets on horses.Eric St Johnson, who was then the Chief Con-stable, was on the telephone and raising merry hell about it. L raise a dust [V+ 0 pass] cause a considerable amount of trouble, fuss, commotion; kick up²(Vol 1)(qv) det:a, the; some;a lot(of), such a o ' Bad-tempered bitch! Where's she gone, any-way?"' Probably to the manager's office to raise a dust about your using her typewriter.'o Any day now, your wife's going to find out about your girlfriend and raise the dust accordingly. o' There' ll be threats of staff resignation, protest meetings by parent groups, and a whole lot more besides.'' Oh well, you can't re-organize a whole school without raising some dust. It' ll all settle soon.’ oh the dust settles. rais· one's/ sb's eyebrows [V + O pass] ex-press, by facial gesture, one's surprise, doubt,scepticism or disapproval/ cause others to display similar feelings o Our more conventional archaeological friends sometimes raised their eyebrows and sniffed a little plaintively at ' all this publicity of Wheeler's'!SDoEyebrows were raised in the Treasury when the Prime Minister hinted at an imminent devaluation of the pound. □(reader's letter) Your claim that the biggest drum in the world' was made in the Rhaedr fac-tory has raised certain eyebrows and could be challenged (see the ' Guinness Book ofRecords'). RTo As well as their scientific know-ledge, they have developed special equipment which would raise an eyebrow or two in War-dour Street. RT o Master Sharify(posing as a doctor) was unmasked not because of some professional ineptitude but because some of his fellow labourers recognised him as a chap who had been in the place before, employed as a por-ter. In his performance as a healer Abdul had caused not a single raised eyebrow. NS Ovariants raise eyebrows, raise some/ certain eyebrows used of people other than the S. raise sb's hackles [V + O pass] cause sb to feel and show anger, resentment, antagonism etc(from the hackles, neck feathers, of a bird raised in aggressive display) o But his justifica-tion of this added support might have been cal-culated to raise the hackles of those members of the theatrical profession who are not already jealous of the money spent on the National. LoScots often say they feel more at home in Copen-hagen or Oslo than in London. And even in the most British of Scots the hackles could be raised. NSoIf Robin Day, raiser of huckles and freezer of cockles to successive Prime Ministers.can complain that he was in danger of being reduced to a commissionaire whose only job is to open and close the doors of ' Panorama', what power and influence can we credit to his rivals?SToI think I agree with Mr Pettifer's views of the(Vietnam) war, and he has reported it with great distinction, but my hackles r isg when I am presented with only one veteran in nine who dissents, and he legless. Lo Mr Lumet has had the guts and flair to take Serpico's story which result-ted in a comb-out of the New York constabulary and its high-ups, and make a lot of it stick: you could feel even case-hardened hackles rising at the press show. Ns o n compound a raiser of hackles; variant (feel/ make) one's/ sb's hackles rise. ▷ warm the cockles (of sb's heart.) raise/ rear its (ugly) head [V + O] arise;become apparent and esp threatening S: war;envy; sex; political self-interest; religious intolerance o Then another question raises its heed. If we call a (musical) style' more ad-vanced', what is it in it that makes it more advan-ced? Lo'I think that anyone who is born a Catho-lic is bound to find all this rather difficult to un-derstand.’ Robin saw that his mother was about to spring at the rearing of Rome' sugly head, so he turned the conversation. ASA□ But when he learns that officialdom has again refered its head and is planning the destruction of his last home, his fighting spirit returns. TVTo After their first night together. Terence said, ' DarlingElizabeth, you can't imagine what a relief it is that sex has at last reared its ugly head,' andElizabeth agreed. HAA 口 also pl raise/ rear their(ugly) heads. raise hopes [V+ 0 pass] make sb more hope-ful that sth will happen det: my, his, their. adj:false; fond; foolish □ ' You' ll be rung if there are any fresh developments. Mustn't raise your hopes, though,' he added. ' She may never recover consciousness again.'PEo The fall, over 473 <474> raise a laugh/ smile— rake muck the last week, in the number of notified cases has raised hopes that the epidemic is running itself out.□It's true that the experiment hasn't worked according to plan, and Luke was right to tell us so. I'm not going to raise false hopes, so I shan't say any more about that. NMo His hopes had been raised by what his interviewer said to him.so he was particularly disappointed when he didn't get the job. raise a laugh/ smile [V + O] amuse sb, one's companions, an audience (either deliberately or not) enough to make them laugh/ smile o MRPARADOCK:I want to be made up to look like an electronic computer. I want to raise a laugh.ARTD The bird-brained(= stupid) secretury has finally pushed the mother-in-law off her perch as the comedian's favourite target. If she is not raising a laugh for being dumb, she is being attacked for being ambitious. Lo When a plush circular couch in the centre of the stage alar-mingly started to spring to pieces (the audience)took it in good humour—— perhaps too good—— it raised more laughs than any other part of the operetta. Go Baby was usually full of chuckles but that morning I couldn't raise even a smile.raise (the) money etc [V + O pass] obtain(the) money etc, esp for a particular purpose and use, and esp by such means as selling property, borrowing, getting subscriptions or donations from the public n: (the) money, △(the) funds, a loan; (slang) the necessary, the wind□ I'm sorry. Aunt,I'd much rather you took the cheque back. I' ll raise the money somehow to pay off this lot. ARGo The ' Salute the Soldier'campaign brought into being committees not only to raise money, but also to show the unity of purpose of the country with the Army in the task which lay ahead. MFMo The Townswomen'sGuild had already drawn up for the winter a programme of sales of work, coffee mornings and other fund-raising activities.□Was his daught-er careless and naive when she unconsciously blackened Sterne's character by publishing some of his letters to reise the wind? NS o n com-pound fund-raising; attrib use a fund-raising scheme. raisée question[V + O pass] ask a question.esp one not likely to be answered, either at all or quickly; cause a question to be asked det:the,a; some, several. adj: awkward, basic, ob-vious. A: what to do; why/ how to do sth; about its worth, about the future of the school;…… more... than she answers a That explanation should satisfy them, but if anyone raises an awk-ward question, refer him to me. □ Another speaker raised the question why it was, if social workers were already in contact with the household, that more effective steps had not been taken to avert the tragedy. SC □ ChristopherHitchens raised some basic questions about the future of the Socialist International. NSo The' marriage' made world headlines and here was u chance for the principal character to explain everything . Unfortunately, her account raises more questions than she answers. SC◇△ next entry; the question (of sth) arises. raise the question etc(of sth) [V + O pass]introduce sth specified for discussion and/ or settlement det: the; this, these. adj: delicate:important, crucial. n: question, △ subject. 474 matter, issue. o: improved facilities, immigra-tion control; his recent dismissal; a suitable marriage o Mr Vorster said it was premature to raise the question of South Africa joining theOrganisation of African Unity. Go I intend to raise the subject of improved canteen facilities for out-patients and visitors at the next general meeting.□I took the liberty of raising the sub-j ect with his lordship just now and he expressed the desire you should remain as his guest over the festive season(= Christmas). EM□Since France has no hope of providing herself with a usable armoury of nuclear weapons except after some years and at heavy cost, and since General deGaulle is determined that as a great Power she must have them, this will probably be the most important issueraised. SC文.△the question (of sth) arises; previous entry. raise the roof [V + O] (informal) make a lot of, or too much, noise, esp by shouting, singing,applauding etc o Reader, who is now 71, was born in Somerset the son of a Salvation Army bandmaster— hence his love of simple blood-and-fire melodies that raise the roof. SC o The wolf's hearing is probably more acute than a dog's, because it must be aware of prey or of danger. But it doesn't raise the roof if it hears an unexpected sound. It will keep quiet for safe-ty. RY o The water boiling behind him, Holland went on to break the world 1500 metre freestyle record as well—— by 10.02 seconds. The crowd raised the roof. RT raise one's/ sb's spirits [V + O pass] cause sb to feel more optimistic, cheerful, confident etc o I'm so glad you came. Your telling us how well your friend got on after the very same opera-tion has raised Donald's spirits considerably. aIn point of fact, the working population wanted to have their spirits raised and to be made enthusiastic for the cause. MFM□ My spirits rose when I heard that I had been selected for interview for the job of assistant manager. ◇△one's spirits rise/ sink. rake muck [V + O] look for, and make known.evidence of scandal, improper or corrupt con-duct in private or public life (from the episode in THE PILGRIM`S PROGRESS (J BUNYAN 1628-88)referred to in the second example) o Since the medicos are well aware of what can and can't be done, one is slow to see the benefits of starting a public scare. Yet experience proves that it rarely hurts to rake muck, even if, in the short run.you' re handing ammunition to the wrong man.OBS□ When Theodore Roosevelt reacted against the weekly ' investigative' journalists of his day,he borrowed a character from ' The Pilgrim'sProgress' as a jibe with which to label them--the Man with the Muck-Rake who would not look up from the filth on the floor when a celestial crown was offered him. But ' The WashingtonPost' is not in the same business as the muck-rakers in the decade before World War One. ST□(film review) After the urban muckraking of' Serpico', Sidney Lumet clearly turned with blissful relief to a rustic idyll of dear old Texas.G o Consumer protectors also go after quack medicines, loan sharks and landlords who gouge the blacks. Such volunteer vigilantes are in the great American tradition of muck-reking jour-nalists. L o originally (esp in GB) derogatory. <475> (the) rank and file----a/ one ray etc of hope the expression is increasingly used of laudable activities; n compounds a muck-raker, muck-raking; attrib use a muck-raking journalist;variant muck rake(v). (the) rank and file [n + n non-rev](military)ordinary soldiers; ordinary, undistinguished people; members of a group or organization A:of serving men, of the Party, of the profession□ But this must surely be the same rule for all its members, and to be so no less for officers than for rank and file. To Their year of office is past the half-way mark. Before the year is out they will once again take their place among the rank and file of the Church of Scotland's ministers. RToThere are increasing signs that rank-and-file trade unionists recognise the need for greater responsibility. SC o attrib use, a rank-and-file trade unionist, frequent and usu hyphenated. rant and ravs/ roar [v+ v non-rev] complain,protest, or enthuse, vehemently and lengthilyA: about the delay, about the disgrace to the family; on the subject (of sth)o He was ranting and raving about something or other, I forget exactly what, but it was clearly a load of rubbish.ST o You' ll have to excuse Peter's enthusiasms— he's been ranting and roaring about Nor-way ever since he got back. o A Liberal MP said vesterday that while people ranted and raved about skivers ((slang) = absentees), shirkers and scroungers, he was amazed that a large num-ber of his constituents bothered to work—— they would be better off not doing so. SCa The boy in' Fathers and Families' wants to join the army.This is an enormous shock to his dad, who would have preferred to rent and rave about his want-ing to become a painter. L a rare bird[Comp(NP)] sb/ sth of a kind seldom seen or met with (occasionally rara avis(Latin)from SATIRE VI (JUVENAL 60-130)) V: △ be,become □ They found a South African police of-ficer of English origin——a very rare bird these days—— with only a faint South African accent.DS□Great scientists who are also highly cultured men of letters are not quite such rare birds as is sometimes made out. L o Pat Mulcare is some-thing of a rers avis at championship level—— the total amateur. OBS□(fashion notes) The not-matching jacket is still a big deal. Suits are rare birds and suddenly look smashing (= very attractive). ST raring/ rearing to go etc(informal) eager,physically or mentally poised, to go, or to do,sth; hardly to be restrained from going, or doing, sth Inf: to go, to leave; to have a bash((slang) = to attempt); to fight o There is now a new management for the companies in the group, freshly plucked from a profit centre ofGEC, raring to go. ST o The inspector lets students drive round the track a couple of times before commenting on their driving. They' re al-ways rarin'(= raring) to have a go, so I usually get that over first,' he says with a wry grin. RToFundamentally these boys are good. My boy was raring to go to work to help the home. ST o They were the oldest (pupils) and the most illiterate,aC stream of fourteen-year-old louts reering to leave and start work at the factories round about. LLDR O originally rearing, as of a horse,but now usu raring. the rat(-) race a continual, and often compul- sive and undignified, struggle to get ahead of others in business, a profession, social status.etco Robert and Ned and I first got to know each other at the age of about seventeen, just at the point where the rat-race of adolescence quickens its pace and boys begin to see life in competitive terms. CONo Forecasts of standing room only on earth may be wildly exaggerated,but life should be more comfortable, less of a rat race, if there are not too many of us. SC□Who ever needed Mr Jay to tell them that business is a rat race, and that it is ' not logic and reason' but the‘ancient survival imperatives’(our old friends, aggression, status-seeking, hunting com-radeship, etc) that ' dominate the corporation'.NS rats desert etc a (sinking) ship [V + O](saying) cowardice, or prudence, makes people desert a friend, employer, cause etc if danger or loss threatens V: desert,△ leave, quit, forsake□ He determined to fly out of this country(Britain, May 1940) as soon as he could get a plane. Halifax asked me why he was in such a hurry. I said ' because he's frightened—— he's the first rat to leave the ship.’ L o The other union members, Will Paynter and Alf Allen, walked out (of the Commission on Industrial Rela-tions) five months ago when the TUC began to mutter about non-cooperation. Moderate academics like Bill Macarthy have for months been refusing appointments. They know a sink-ing ship when they see one. NS o often used in part and allusively, as in second example. rats etcand snails and puppy-dogs' tails an imaginative description of unpleasant attributes of character n: rats, △frogs, snips o(source) What are little boys made of?/ Frogs and snails and puppy-dogs' tails. NURSERYRHYMEo'I love you too much, that's the trouble.Can't you see?'I held out my hand.' What do you think I'm made of, darling?'' Rets and smails and puppy dogs' talks, ' she said. RATT O rats,frogs and snips in different versions; facetious or gently jocular. > sugar and spice(and ail that's/things nice). a rattling good etc yarn etc(dated infor-mal) extremely, and esp exhilaratingly or ex-citingly, good yarn etc adj: good, △ fine, fast.n: yarn(= story);△ price; pace, tempo; game□ All in all, then, a ratting good Celtic yarn with a few fragments of wit-and-wisdom thrown in—— good value for the price of your paperback copy when it comes out. NSa‘Buy your flags,’ Iused to yell. ‘Rattles at ratting good prices,’ Iused to try to be funny. ITAJo Taken as it ought to be, at a ratting fastpace, it is quite a spirited piece of music. a raving beauty [Comp (NP)] a ravishingly beautiful girl or woman V:△be; become, turn into o She passed on the news (about cosmetic preparations) in phrases of ardent sincerity to her readers, who believed, with each new discov-ery, that they were going to be transformed into rwving beautifulies overnight. AITC a/ one ray etc of hope [Comp/O (NP)] a possibility of sth good happening, or being brought about, which will alter, or improve, an unsatisfactory, or depressing, state of affairs V:be, remain; discover, discern, allow, admit. n:ray,△glimmer, fiicker d There is a ray of hope 475 <476> aray of sunshine— the real Mackay/McCoy for share-holders tied up in Ralph Hilton Trans-port, suspended last July. SToBy 1980, The Hud-son Report tells us, we will be in an irreversible decline. The film admits rays of hope. Bellini does not. RTo Bul one ray of hope emerged in the recent Budget proposals to ease the present dif-ficulties in buying the older house. SC □ There must be aglimmer of hope because there always is, but not talking about divorce doesn't make it easier to come together again. TVT a ray of sunshine [Comp(NP)](informal) sb/sth that brightens, cheers, one's life V: △ be,become; find sb□ She sang more than usual. He risked saying, when this had gone on some time.‘You’ re a little ray of sunshine these days.’ but that made her huffy((slang) = annoyed). TSMP□(reader's letter about a television programme)In these years of economic and social depression.' Dr Who' has been the only ray of sunshine in our lives. RTD also pl rays of sunshine; often, but not necessarily, facetious or ironic. reach etc rock bottom [V + O](fall to) the lowest possible level $: prices, numbers;television programmes; football team. V: reach,△hit; fall to, be at o Congregational attendance had dwindled to handfuls(ie only a few people).A few Sundays ago it reached rock bottom when the minister preached to his wife, the organ-ist and the two presiding officers for that date. SC□The effect of deferments will not be physically noticeable for at least several months. By then.unemployment will have fallen to rock-bottom.STo During the week Jean trains herself. ' Men-tally it's difficult, ' she says. ' You hit rock bot-tom if you' re not skating well and you have no trainer to help.’ RT□Contractors argue that they are forced to quote rock-bottom prices to get the business, and the Government then refuses to amend the figures to compensate for increased wages. STO attrib use a rock-bottom price. reach the top (of sth) [V + O pass] achieve success at the highest level in business, a profession, sport, politics, branch of entertain-ment, etc; get to the top(of the ladder/ tree)(Vol1) (qv) o Starting as a clerk in a shop which peddles rags, he rips through the garment jungle to reach the top of his outwardly glamorous profession. TVT o It is not surprising that he moved with effortless ease, up the special ladder which the Army keeps for its favourite sons; or that, when he reached the top he should have become, in the words of Harold Nicolson, ‘the darling of the Cabinet'. NS read sb like a book [V + 0 + A] understand clearly what sb's character is, what his thoughts, reactions, intentions are o 'I'm not really very expert at this beating about the bush.’‘No.’ she smiled.’ Any woman can read you like a book. James.'TTo Godfrey looked across the fireplace at Mabel Pettigrew and decided to give(her) the slip again this afternoon and go to seeOlive. Mabel Pettigrew thought: I can read him like a book. MMo It's useless to try to deceiveMary. One look at my face, and she reads me like a book. I often used with can. read sb's mind/ thoughts [V + 0] know what sb thinks, wants, or plans, to do, esp on a specific occasion o ' If you tell me what's wrong,I can do something about it,'I said .'I can't read your mind.'RATTo She must, he thought, be as clever as she was pretty to have read his thoughts so accurately. OMiHoI didn't precisely feel guilty, but that's how you do tend to act when someone reads your thoughts. CONo' Would your children like to come out in the boat with me tomorrow or Sunday?' ' You must be a mind-reader. I was just plucking up my courage to ask.' on compound a mind-reader. read the Riot Act [V + O pass] read the open-ing section of the Riot Act (1714) to a riotous assembly (after which they must disperse or be chargeable with felony); (fig) declare authoritatively that a course of action, or con-duct, must stop o In late 1820,' riots broke out repeatedly in Oxford, with the Vice-Chancellor reading the Riot Act and the Oxfordshire Yeo-manry called in. ' Lo CISSIE: One (shop steward)wagged his finger at me and cried: ' We' re not taking your advice, we' re not taking your ad-vice!' First I read the Riot Act to them and thenI lashed out. CSWB□ ' You' ve never gone short.Joseph. ' My mother always called me by my full name when she wanted to read the Riot Act.RATT o fig use sometimes facetious. ready for anything [Comp(AdjP)] alert and/or willing to do, or cope with, anything, how-ever unusual or unforeseen it may be V: △ be,feel, seem o The non-fasting starch caters, hurs-ting with delicious potatoes, French rolls, cakes and ale as well as with their fair share of protein,seem ready for anything except thought. OBS□Gilden is a rather grim mill village north-east ofWarley. It has the appearance of being ready for anything: the narrow windows of the millstone grit houses might suddenly sprout rifles. RATToThe one thing I miss from the days we wore our hair in crewcuts is that I was so fit, full of bound-less energy, enjoying dreamless sleep, always ready for anything. TVT ready, steady, go [v + v + v non-rev] said to start off esp a children's race; said when two or more persons are starting to do sth together o' Come on. I' ll race you. I' ll give you a start(=let you start before me) and win (= beat) you easy. '' Come on an' (= and) try.' ' Right—ready, steady, GO!’ TT o We’ re not pushing together. I' ll give you areedy, steady, go and on go' shove as hard as you can.' (in) real life[A(PrepP)](among) living people;(in) life as most people live it, contrasted with life, behaviour, situations etc as depicted in novels, films, plays etc□ 'I like things that are the fashion,' Patrick said almost at random. ' Ex-cept for those kind of liquorice allsort women's hats you see in advertisements—— good job no-body wears them in real life.’ TGLYo Did people act in real life as they did in detective stories?PE□ On Saturday evenings she's Cynthia Went-worth, Birmingham's champion ballroom dan-cer. In real life, she's Doreen Ruddle, waitress in the New Street Golden Egg. o The secret of these films was their skilful use of actual locales and direct sound recording. In other words, they were like real life. RT o This series was intended to show the ups and downs of a real-life family.prepared to have almost every detail of their lives made public by a television crew who stayed with them. L o front, middle or end position; attrib use a real-life family. the real Mackay/McCoy sb/ sth that is ab- 476 <477> solutely genuine, esp people and alcoholic drinks; next entry(qv); the genuine article(qv)o Most of them aren't folk-singers at all. They copy the style but they' re not the real Mackay.□' In that case, burgundy,' Angela Snow said.'Agood one, mind, the real McCoy,' Pop said.' The best.'BFA□ Each, as the French say, to his own crust, and the real McCoy has always had more fascination for me than the mental gymnastics of the fiction writer. For a start, truth is almost always stranger than fiction. SC the realthing not a substitute for, or imitation of, an activity, situation, product or object;previous entry (qv); the genuine article (qv) o.Denis Lill spent seven years in the New ZealandAir Force. Now he finds that building and flying model aircraft can provide much of the interest of the real thing. RT o Local flavours are being extinguished as giant breweries swallow smaller firms, and keg is replacing draught. However,Ian Nairn (sampling the realthing) reports that true beer-lovers of Britain are fighting back mag-nificently. ST really and truly [adv+ adv non-rev] certainly;positively; sincerely o ' Perhaps you' re too criti-cal. "" Nobody could enjoy a show like that. It was really and truly awful.'o She turned to him and smiled. ' So you really and truly are not disap-pointed with our old Elsinore.' ASA o ' Please.Miss, can I be excused?'' Sue, do you really and truly want to go (ie to the lavatory)—— you can't wait till Assembly, and slip along then?'TT reap the benefit(s) (of sth) [V + O pass]benefit from the result of one's own, or another's, forethought, efforts etc o: his hard work, a sound education o I could not myself attack; Rommel must provide that opportunity for me. But in order to reap the full benefit Imust correctly forecast the design of his expected attack and determine in advance how we would defeat it. MFMo You had better slow down a bit.What's the point of all this toiling and saving if you don't live to reap the benefit of it? □ TheWhite Paper insists that the economic perfor-mance of the Six owes a lot to the creation of theCommunity, that Britain will reap similar benefits by going in. L reap what/ where one has (not) sown be rewarded or punished (not) in accordance with what one has done to deserve it o(source) Thou art an hard man, resping where t hou has t not sown, and gathering where thou has not strawed(= strewed). MATTHEWXXV24o In future, the In-dian will reap where he has a comm, and I, for one, can only hope that, under the new stimulus,he will sow twice as hard and reap threefold. SD□ She and her four brothers and sisters were brought up to believe that one reaped what one sowred. Honesty, diligence and good works were regarded as cardinal virtues. RT received opinion(s) etc(formal) widely held and accepted opinion(s)m: opinion(s),△ ideas,wisdom o Certainly, received opinions have become more sophisticated than they were a few years ago. NSo What he says is often polemical because it is a necessary corrective to received opinion. SCoAs instruments and techniques were improved and refined, received ideas about the nature of the universe took a series of heavy jolts.OBSo At moments, the author's naiveté is all too the real thing——a red letter day obvious, and her dependence on the received wisdom of 20th century pundits is no help to her at all. NS the recording angel the angel who keeps a record, to be used on the Day of Judgement, of what men have done in their earthly lives (an allusion to REVELATION XX 12-15 though not it-self a Biblical term) o The Recording Angel responsible for the world of letters still doubless raises an eyebrow at the curious company some good writing keeps. Lo He(Pepys,17thc diarist)was his own recording angel—— andanangelwith tatty wings and an interestingly complicated con-science at that. SCo I' ve never had much use for tape recorders as a tool of journalism. Still,scribblers today all seem to want to be record-ing angels---or at least that was my experience last week. NS the red carpet [O/o (NP)] a strip of carpet(traditionally red) for important visitors to walk on from where they get out of a car etc to the entrance of a building; a symbol of respect-ful or deferential reception and attention V: put down/ out, lay down/ out, roll out o At the entrance to the building half a dozen FrenchRepublican Guards in full ceremonial dress of brass, plumed helmets and swords, stood on either side of the diplomatic red carpect. OBSo Iwondered what my reception would be inWhitehall. I didn't fancy the red carpet would be out; some form of mat, perhaps. MFM o It would have been quite inconceivable that, as a minister,I would have lived the life of a patient in a 54-bed ward of a massive mental hospital.Every obstacle would have been put in my way by the civil servants, or, alternatively, the red car-pet would have been laid out by the hospital authorities. NSo They needn't expect to be given the red carpet treatment. This is a factory, not a country club. o attrib use the red carpet treat-ment. a red herring (across sb's path/ track) [O(NP)] a diversionary topic, incident etc(to de-flect attention from the truth, main subject, a purpose etc)(from, formerly, a bundle of pick-led herrings used in a drag-hunt or drawn across a fox's trail to destroy the scent and con-fuse the hounds) V: draw, △ pull; raise o(NONCE)I never saw a more skilled drawer of red herrings. Whenever he got in a difficulty, he would start a hare or pull a red herring across the track. Lo He had made it as plain as he could that he did not intend to become editor. If they chivvied him, he would raise the red herring of his projected work on England under Edward theConfessor. ASA□' It's hard on Robert, of course,'Ned went on; he was trying to ignore the red herrings and get on with the story. CON a red letter day a day specially looked for-ward to, or remembered, when sth remarkable and usu pleasurable will happen, or happened;the day of days (qv)(from calendars that have saints' days and holidays printed in red and other dates printed in black) o Bevill was look-ing forward to it (a laboratory test) like a child.'I believe tomorrow is what I should call a RedLetter Day,' he said earnestly, as though he had invented the phrase. NM o The day I found the husk of an old coconut was e red letter one forPooh. It became his favourite toy. DFo My father 477 <478> the red light district—— relieve the monotony said the day I was born was a red fetter day. He received final demands(ie usu printed in red) for all the household hills. TVTO also pl. the red light district a district within a town or city where there are brothels, frequently in-dicated by red lights □ As an officer in the Salva-tion Army, she has spent the past 30 years help-ing the prostitutes in the red light district ofAmsterdam-- - and the elderly. TVT o (NONCE)Carl Meier is the Frankie Hower d of Munich.He entertains nightly in typical Bavarian fashion in a district where lights are frequently red. RTthe red meat (of sth) the more powerful, or coarser, stuff (of sth) (from meat, ie beef or mutton contrasted with lighter kinds of meat such as veal or poultry) o: practical politics;adventure; pornography; the power game oThe newly-elected MP, hungry for the red meet of practical politics, has a long time to cool his ardours on the backbenches. SC□ Some journal-ists argue privately that the wave of support forEnoch Powell indicated that large sections of the public were starved of the good red meet of opposition to the liberal consensus. L (cut the) red tape(dispense with or simplify)formalities of business, or administrative,procedure (from lawyers, government officials,etc formerly keeping their papers and records in bundles tied with red tape) o Englishmen of this type are obviously energetic. They like to be ir-reverent and are fond of cutting red tape. Lo AnEast German (railway) guard can send back a whole load of goods if it is a couple of items short of what appears on the invoice. There is a lot of red tape to be cut. NS o Beaverbrook simply wanted to get things done. He hated red tapa. L□ Nothing will ever convince the average Briton otherwise than that the corridors of public ser-vices reverberate with snores, broken only by the occasional clatter of teacups and the rustle of red tape. SC□Cuspatt was all right but in the last resort these Museum fellows were as much bureaucrats as they were scholars—— tied by a lot of red tape. ASA□can be used allusively, as in third, fourth and fifth examples. a redeeming feature [Comp/O (NP)] a characteristic in sb/ sth that (partly) atones for other faults or shortcomings; a saving grace(qv)V: be, prove; have, possess. det:a, the one;only; some; no o JO: Where's the kitchen?HELEN: Through there. It's the only redeeming feature in this entire lodging house. TOH□ He's not so bad as my mother makes out. When she dislikes anybody she doesn't allow them a single redeeming featur. aI admit I' ve always had a really nice head of hair —— my redeeming feature, you might say. Reds under the bed (facetious) Communists,left-wing activists, seen as threats to Western democracy, the instigators of industrial unrest,etco(1974) A South Wales Labour MP said to me ' If only Roy Jenkins was to come out clearly and publicly on the side of the miners. BecauseRoy's a moderate, he could stop all this talk about Reds under the bed.'NS□It surely cannot be seriously maintained that Communists,fellow-travellers and other ' Rods under the beds' nowadays constitute the main class of per-son who potentially put the state at risk? Lo The hunt for reds under the Hollywood bed, led by 478 the US Committee on Un-American Activities in1947, has become a legend. RTo(NONCE)/ should not have thought that fascism was likely to threaten Western Europe at the present time.Brenton must see swastikes under the bed. Lo expression used mainly to satirize point of view defined above. sb's/ the reflected glory fame, notice, credit obtained from association with sb/ sth famous,widely respected or admired V: bask, bathe, in;enjoy, relish o After his apprenticeship he work-ed for Joe Manton, the greatest gunsmith in Eng-land and a legend in his own lifetime. But James was not content to bask in anyone's reflected glory. TVT□ And, of course, it is a very remark-able achievement of your father's. All sorts of people have congratulated me. I don't think it's a glory to be sneezed at, you know, even if it is reffected. HAA□ Time was, when Cilla Black used to guest (= appear as a guest) on theBeatles' TV shows and bask in the reflected glory. Now it's the other way around, and RingoStarr is on her show. RT regardless of sth/ sb irrespective of, un-related to, sth/ sb o: class, creed, sex; Party;merit, suitability o The manifesto promised equal franchise rights to all citizens, regardigss of race, class or creed.□ The stagnant condition of the British economy — according to most competent observers, regardless of political persuasion--cried out for a massive shot in the arm. L□ Once, in order to gain a little peace and quiet. he offeredaclass of 14-year-oldsa fiprize for the longest essay, regardimis of merit, to be written in 30 minutes. o Because, still, at that moment, regardiess of who was managing them, the psychology of playing Leeds was: you would not get past them. RT reign supreme (cliché) prevail; be dominant$: specialist, head, housekeeper, baby; silence,confusion, self-interest o This misuse of the na-tion's money is partly due to the determination of specialists—— the aristocrats of the profession——to keep the lion's share(= the larger, or largest,part) of medical practice under their control and within the hospitals where they reign supreme.NS □ Confusion reigns supreme when a niceCatholic girl brings home her new boyfriend,a nice Jewish boy, in tonight's ' Play for Today'(BBC1). RTo During a card game, Lorrie Dell-man announces to her friends that she had had more than a passing flirtation with their respec-tive husbands. Paranoia reigns supreme among the women, causing much marital conflict. TVTrelieve one's/ sb's feelings [V + O pass](cause one/ sb to) feel less grief, anger, resent-ment etc by giving it outward expression oAgain a file drawer was noisily closed. ' Ethel,'Miss Jenkinson said, ‘unless you can relieve your feelings more silently, I shall return you toD3.'OMIHo I called her the worst names I could think of, repeating them again and again under my breath, but it didn't relieve my feelings very much. RATT o Her feelings were relieved by a good cry. relieve the monotony [V+ O pass] make a change of any kind in a dull, or boring, pattern of life or work o ' She says she's not in hospital to roll bandages for nurses.'' You'd think she'd be glad to--relieve the monotomy and all that.'o <479> render (sb) a service— ride (the crest of) the wave ' Please do be awfully careful.' ' We' ll both be careful, I' ve dragged you into it. " Oh that's all right. Relieves the monotomy.’‘Yes, but take care of yourself.'TCB ronder(sb) a service [V+ 10 + O pass](for-mal) do sth to help, or oblige, sb□ If you' re ever in a position that I can be of any help to you, don't hesitate to ask. When a man renders me a ser-vice at considerable inconvenience to himself. Idon't forget it. o What Elsie didn't understand was that any services rendered were reciprocal and that there was no obligation on either side.TSMP □ I'm sure he gets a good few payments on the side ' for services rendered' that don't go through the books. o n often pl; construction often pass, esp following for, as in last example. rest assured be certain; feel completely con-fident A: of that, of a good recovery; that no-body blames you in the least, that I won't do that o ' Do I look the part?' Jenny asked. ' Oh yes,' he said, 'I don't know which part you mean,quite, but you look it, rest assured of that.'TGLY o I took the matter up at once with M.Coulet and was informed by him that he had received no complaint and that I could rest as-sured that the allegations were without founda-tion. MFM revenge is sweet (saying) there is pleasure and satisfaction in avenging a wrong done to one o Reprehensible behaviour, perhaps, but revengeis sweet even if it takes no more serious form than discomfiture. SCo Revenge is all the sweeter when admiration is its strategy, authen-ticity its weapon. L rich and/ or poor(n + n non-rev] rich and/ or poor people either implying all classes, or contrasted o Rich and poor live side by side but in conditions of extraordinary disparity. STo Nor does he omit the plagues, famines and diseases which made life a lottery for everyone, rich or poor, until the most recent times. NS o (3rdUnited Nations Conference) The rich-poor confrontation game ended here this week with a victory on points for the rich countries who have successfully resisted all demands for fundamen-tal changes in their trade and aid policies. ST o attrib use the rich-poor confrontation. ride high have a long or short period of success,confidence in one's/ its ability, popularity etc S:he, she, they; company, firm; club; product oPolitically, at the age of 42, she is riding high,shadow Home Secretary, top of the poll for the shadow cabinet and a member of the NationalExecutive Committee, NSo' Would you say that the Presidency is as strong today as it was?''I can say that it is certainly not as strong as it was inFebruary of this year. We were riding very high in terms of our legislative programme.’ Lo When timber is riding high (ie is selling for a very good price) such men make good money. so today they are living off the fat and waiting for the inevitable improvement, predicted to begin early next year. L o nearly always continuous tenses. rid● etc a/ one's high horse [V + 0] be haughty, arrogant, proud V: ride, △ be on;mount, get (up) on; get (down) off; get down from; come down from; come(down) off o MrJenkins rides a high horse with style and on this.occasion rhetoric ga. I wings. NSoI have stood a great deal from you without complaint, but after your last ridiculous and offensive letter I am going to dig my toes in. So come off your high horse and mend your manners and send me something remotely publishedable. USoI know you think you should be considered above suspicion but it wouldn't be very clever of you to get up on your high hors@ and refuse to answer questions.ride etc a/ one's hobby-horse [V + O] be active in promoting, try to promote, a cause,way of life, method of work, etc(the implica-tion usu being that most people don't think it is of great interest or importance)V: ride,△be/go off on, be/ go on about; have a; it be a.. . of one's/ sb's o Their resolutions are politely ack-nowledged, appropriately pigeon-holed and usu-ally forgotten—— perhaps because there are too many organisations bent on riding 100 many hobby-horses to the winning post. SC □I now have a horrible suspicion that he hasn't much sense of humour, that he's an earnest, even per-haps an inveterate rider of hobby-horses. LoThe two young men went on endless walks, Hitler reciting his own poetry, dashing off a quick draw-ing in his sketchbook, or going on about one of his hobby-horses. OBSo Authority is obsessed with details like school uniform, and line-up of late-comers at a particular point on the hall floor.The staff superior to this sort of thing usually have hobby-horses of their own. Lo' Probably another case of dietary deficiency. I always maintain——’ ’ Oh dear,’ sighed Jane. ‘There’ sDad off on his hobby-horse again.'o variant a rider of hobby-horses; hobby-horse = 'a long stick with a horse's head modelled on one end`,used in primitive plays, country dances or as a child's toy. ride a tiger [V + O] take a foolish, or dan-gerous, course of action that is likely to have disastrous results for oneself o (source) There was a young lady of Riga, Who rode with a smile on a tiger./ They returned from the ride/ With the lady inside,/ And the smile on the face of the tiger.ANONYMOUS□ 'I can take it or leave it.'' So you say, but anybody who experiments with drugs is riding a tiger.'o 'I vote SNP(= Scottish Na-tional Party) because I think the bigger the vote for the SNP, the better the deal Scotland gets from Westminster (ie British Parliament).'‘Well, you' re riding· tiger.’ ride (the crest of) the wave[V + O] be at a high, or the highest, point of one's powers,success, popularity o There will be a call for the utmost economic realism, a process which may well seem uncomfortable to those who have been accustomed to the exhilarating experience of riding the crest of the wayes. To ' My rule is to do people who are riding the crest of a were of success,' Stanley Baxter says. 'I wouldn't im-personate anyone who was on the slide.’ TVTo At the start it seemed that Mr Macmillan was still riding the wave that had taken him to landslide victory in the ' never had it so good' election of1959. Lo Michael Tippett, who was 70 on Thurs-day, his arrived at this crucial moment in his life on the crest of a creative wave. OBSoI think he(President L B Johnson) is something like aGreek tragic figure: a man who was on the crest of the wew@ as an innovator and reformer in terms of domestic legislation, and who made a 479 <480> a rift in the lute—— right and/ or wrong fatal move in escalating the Vietnam war. L Dvariant (be) on the crest of the wave. a rift in the lute a first sign of trouble to come.esp a flawin a relationship that is likely to result in a quarrel or estrangement□(source) It is the little rift within the lute./ That by and by will make the music mute./ And ever widening slowly silence all. THE IDYLLS OF THE KING (ATENNYSON 1809-92)□ And the implication is that.since they came together, there has never been a rift in the lute, either sentimental or creative.They made theatrical history together, and may do so again. OBS□ These happy days in Inverness were, however, marred by the widening of 'a rift in the mutrimonial lute due entirely to disparity of age and incompatibility of temperament. SCoThis was the first rift in the lute. It was clear to me that the Western Powers must now prepare for a continuous struggle with the communistEust. which would last for many years. MFMright/ straight away [A] now; immediatelyV: do sth; start, go; admit, say, sth□' Have you remembered to phone your sister?” Oh no—I' ll do it right away. '□' Would you like to see it?'' You had better show it to me right away.'a We ure reprinting and anyone who wants it-free,but not free postage —— should write straight away. NS a He said straight away when he fell that it was Clementine (who had pushed him).DC right/ true enough [Comp/ Disj (AdjP)](infor-mal) expression of agreement that what sb else has said is sufficiently correct or accurate o' She's a good-looking girl, right enough. ' 'Ithought you would be impressed.'o ' After all, we don't know what other people may be thinking.' That's true enough. But it's often pretty easy to guess.'□Trueenough, you can't expect sweet reason from that bunch of screwballs. sb's/ one's right(-) hand (man)/ right arm[Comp(NP)] sb's/ one's chief assistant. esp a capable and/ or indispensable one V: ▲ be,become o The Republican Party, led by KemalAtaturk's right-hand man, Ismet Inou, was defeated. SC□The conversation swung around to progress on his book about his relations withHoward Hughes, whose accountant and right hand man he had been. ST o You' ve been my right hand here so long, Miss Jenkins, I don't know how I'm to run this little business of : nine without you. □ Some say that you were DiStefano's right arm. At this moment it's all that's needed(to formulate a recommendation for your deportation). ST (not) right in the head [Comp(AdjP)](infor-mal or facetious)(not) sane;(not) mentally or psychologically normal V:△be, seem; think sb o There was a third daughter, much younger and not quite right in the head, poor thing.□He' san old friend of mine called Joe Shaw. He's never been in prison. I' ve often wondered whether he was right in the head. CONoBEATIE: But I love him. JENNY: You' re not right in the head then.R right now/ then [A] (informal) at this/ that moment o ' You should take a packet of sand-wiches with you. '' Common sense tells me so.although, right now. I feel I never want to see food again.’ a Right now, we guesstimate (=calculate partly on a basis of fact and partly by guesswork) that there are over 2,000 youth bands in Britain, and that at least one new band is formed every week. OBS□ Right now I'm not actually writing anything because getting the concerto finished on time has exhausted me. ButI have plans. RTo Her mother still does all their washing and ironing, and her father delivers it in the car. But right then he was taking time off from the laundry round to finish building them a sauna. TVT right off the real [A (PrepP)] without hesita-tion; without needing, or taking time, to con-sider, to recall, to ascertain, or to check facts and figures (from rope, thread etc smoothly unwound from a reel) V: tell, answer, recite;give, supply, sth o' Can you tell me what these improvements would cost?'' Not right off the reel, but if you care to call or phone back this afternoon I' ll have it worked out. 'o Why spend hours searching for a Biblical reference when you know somebody that can probably give you the answer right off the reef? the right/ best people people of high social or professional standing, esp seen as desirable or influential acquaintances D JIMMY: Reason and Progress, the old firm, is selling out! There's going to be a change-over. A new board of Direc-tors, who are going to see that the dividends are always attractive, and that they go to the right people. LBA o You won't get far setting up an advertising agency from scratch unless you know the right people. o Oh yes, there are other hotels, but I couldn't tell you much about them:they' re not patronised by the best people. right and/ or proper [adj + adj non-rev] cor-rect and/ or suitable; conforming with accepted standards o My views on how to tackle the problem were not considered right and proper and there was the father-and-mother of a row(=a very heated argument). MFM □ Charley boy was lucky all right, and Pop could only hope that he would, in the shortest possible time, show his appreciation of the fact in the right and proper way. BFAo One can question whether it is right or proper to waste such talents on such high-class trash. SCo attrib use the right and proper way, approach. right royal exceptionally fine, splendid, sensa-tional, immoderate etc n: party, celebration,welcome; argument, fight o (actors in a television series) ' Coronation Street's' AlbertTatlock was 80 on August 6, and all his friends at the Rovers Return gave him a right royal party. TVT□ The boy's just had a right royal dressing-down((slang) = severe scolding) from his father as well as being punished at school, o attrib use only. right and wrong [n + n non-rev] what is honest, just, morally admirable, contrasted.with what is not o ' So young, Terry. So sure of right and wrong. It's rather sweet.' ' It's not sweet at all,'I said brusquely. ' There have to be standards—— without standards where are you?”TSTo We need not despair so long as we retain the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.NSa We often say ' Is he a good baby? ' of a child too young to know right from wrong when all we mean is ' Is he easy to care for?' o variant know right from wrong. ◇ △ next entry. right and/ or wrong[adj + adj non-rev] mor- 480 <481> ally justified or not; factually correct/ incorrect;(do sth) rightly or wrongly o I don't know yet whether I was right or wrong to conceal the truth from him. o If you must li ft weights from ground level, remember there is a right and a wrong way to do it. SCo Two vital questions stand out in the book. The first is how right or wrong Lenin was in his treatise on imperialism in 1916... Lo However, rightly or wrongly, the man in the street, the literary critic and the artist have usually shown much more interest in a rather different kind of analysis. SNPo functions as Comp or attrib; variant rightly or wrongly[adv + adv non-rev]. ◇▲ previous entry. right you are (informal)I will do as you say;I agree to what you ask, propose o JIMMY: Go out and get me some cigarettes, and stop playing the fool. ALISON: The shop on the corner will be open. CLIFF: Right you are. LBA□' Here! Let me carry that for you.’' Right your are, then, but Idon't think you' re much fitter than I am.' righteous anger/ indignation anger, resent-ment that is, or that sb feels is, morally justified o Dr Fisher talks of the Churches doing their divine work of enduring, healing and reconciling.Is there not room for a little righteous anger and even condemnation? SC o The man's eyes.formerly nebulous with beer, now become deep and self-centred with righteous anger. ' You should keep your thievin'(= thieving) fingers to yoursen(= yourself).'LLDRa Mr John Godson is not alone in deriving satisfaction from a feeling of righteous indignation. But he is unique in the depth at which he can cultivate this emotion. Gthe rights and wronge of sth [n + n non-rev] the particular aspects of a situation,procedure, way of behaving, which may be con-sidered right or wrong, esp morally or legally o:the case, the situation; corporal punishment;what they did o 'I don't care for John's lan-guage, certainly,' Gerald replied, ' but as to the rights and wrongs of the case,I haven't enough knowledge to judge.'ASAo Miss Jordan tells the story of unhappy marriage and indiscreet affairs with a clear sense of the rights and wrongs of the matter. SC o And quite frankly. I have no intention of discussing the rights and wrongs of corporal punishment with you. TT ring a ball[V+ O] remind sb of sth; be, or seem(to sb), likely, true or correct (from trials of strength or other amusement machines on which the bell rings if the player is successful)$: name, address; play, story. A: in my mind;with the majority there o' Have you ever heard of a man called Armas? Castillo Armas ?" The name rings a bell,’ Mark said. ‘He was in the news a few years ago, wasn't he?' st o UrsulaAndress (some called her ' Undress') became a star. It cost her a broken marriage and broken love affairs but Ursula Andress still rings bells in the mind as a sex symbol. TVTo As literary editor of the ' Daily Express', ' Wives' was the series that gave me greatest satisfaction ——because it rang so many bells with our readers of all classes. NS ring the changes [V + O pass] vary one's procedure, choices, action within a possible range of things to be or do (from the style of bell-ringing found in English churches) o Tra-ditionalists will tell you to drink red wine with right you even— rismand fall meat, dry white with fish, and sweet white with desert, But there's no reason why you shouldn't ring a few changes. OBS □ The craze for separates has made a big impact on children's clothes, particularly the pinafore dress under which you can ring the changes from sweaters to blouses. SC o She says: 'I like to ring the changes in my acting career. In repertory Iplayed a60-year-old woman, I was a prisoner in“Within These Walls” and a gangster's moll(=a criminal's girl-friend) in" The Sweeney".' TVTring true etc [V + Comp] seem or sound true,sincere, genuine, likely/ untrue, insincere, false,unlikely; have (got)/ with the ring of truth etc(qv) (from a coin being rung, ie thrown, spun on a counter, etc to hear if it is a counterfeit made of inferior metal) $: story, account;analysis, interpretation. adj: true, △ false,hollow . o This piece of agonised juvenile self-analysis rings true. Lo Spies are trained to keep their mouths shut and they don't often lose the habit. That's why true spy stories are extremely rare, and personally I have never seen one in print that Fang completely true. DS □ Sometimes Itried to link the disintegration of our private lives with the disintegration of affairs in the world. Yet it rang false. People can concentrate on their private lives. I thought, in the middle of anything.SPL a It organises rallies to promote friendship between men of two sides who, a few months ago.were killing each other. But for many this rings hollow. L a ringside seat [0 (NP)] a seat in the front rows round a boxing, circus, auction etc ring;(fig) a position from which one can observe,experience, what is happening very closely and clearly V: obtain, get; enjoy o Yet who now believes that the court surrendered to anything else but a political imperative? Certainly no one with any kind of ringside sweet in Whitehall. NSoI can't get you into the docks, I can't give you any inside information, I can't wangle you e ringside sset while the country's drug traffic is being arranged, in fact I can't help you with your articles(for your newspaper) at all. HD口 also pl. a ripe old age[O/o(NP)] a full, or more than averagely prolonged, span of life V: reach;enjoy; live, survive, to a In spite of all these harmful habits he cheated his heirs by living to a ripe old age. a So, by the ripe old age of 10 or so, most children will probably feel they are ready to supplement their income (ie pocket money) with a bit of freelance work. OBS rise and fall' [v+ v non-rev] vary frequently and sporadically $; sound; voice, music; waves;price, demand o Nearby the long banner which said' Socialist Possibility' rose and fell upon the surge. UTN□Our voices rose andfall; sometimes the bitterest remark was a whisper. NM o He always felt unwell on the small inter-island ferry.The motion of the waves rising and falling upset his stomach. o The rise and fall at beef and butter prices seem not to affect our consumption per head of these commodities in any significant degree,□ The opinion polls that claim to chart the riss and fall in the popularity of the various political parties seem to get less accurate the closer we get to a General Election. O variant the rise and fall(of sb/ sth) [n + n non-rev]. rise and fall²[v + v non-rev] increase and then 481 <482> rise/ arise and shine(!)——a Roman holiday decline in power, popularity etc S: civilization,reign, government o Toynbee has spent his life comparing the way civilisations rise and fall. He chose a career which made him almost inevitably a prophet of doom. NS υ The decades passed,administrations rose and fell, reputations were made and lost, successive Chancellors eased and squeezed the economy. NS□ ' What's that huge book you' re reading? "" The Rise and Fall of the Dutch Republic''.'□(Large oil tankers) are now lying like dinosaurs in a dole queue in deep water hurbours from the Hebrides to the Pacific.Their rise and fall is charted this week in' Discovery'. o variant the rise and fall of sb/ sth[n + n non-rev]. rise/ arise and shine(!) [v + v non-rev] (in-formal) wake up; get up; get dressed and ready□(source) Arise, shine; for thy light is come,and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.1SAIAHLXI□AII right, so it's the first day of their holiday, but it's past eleven o' clock so just you go and tell them to rise and shine double-quickl o(advertisement) Rise and shine! Go to work on an egg! o ' Arise and shinel' called Grimsdyke heartily. ' For I'm to be married today··· today!Yes, I'm to be married today!'DIL rising twenty etc[Comp (AdjP)] not much younger than twenty etc; close on(qv); pushing forty etc(qv) adj: twenty,△thirty, forty-five oShe was a solid, shortish blonde of rising thirty with a skin as hard as marble. BFA □She asked how old Ludovic was. Rising sixteen, said his father. WDM o It did not seem right that theCount, who must by now be rising ninety, should die without hearing his wife's confession. US □Arnold is rising28. Alec Bedser bowled his best when he was in his early thirties. T risk one's neck [V + O] (informal) chance losing one's life as a penalty for crime, or in an accident caused by courage, foolhardiness, or stupidity; be liable to incurany danger, penalty,loss etc A: for you, for so little; by trying to pass him o The car in front was weaving about the road as if the driver was drunk or ill and I wasn't going to risk my neck by trying to pass him. oAnybody'd think I was asking you to risk your neck for me, instead of just suggesting that you do me a little favour. HDo' Summer of 77'(10.15pm. BBC2) recalls the official and volunteer rescue teams risking their necks to save the luckless, often the plain stupid, who get them-selves capsized, on fire, marooned by the tide or stuck up cliffs. RT the road to hell is paved with good intentions(saying) blame, or punishment, is incurred by having good motives which are either not put into practice or which have evil or harmful results o The road to he ll may be paved with good intentions but there are many worse pavements; and one need not be ashumed.to be a product of a tradition of well-meaning.AHo The road to hell, however, is paved with good intentions: Mr Petrie reminds us howW. T. Stead and Josephine Butler ' procured" a little girl by payment, to show up the white slave traffic (= trade in prostitution) and thus, their intentions still laudable, frightened her out of her wits. OBS □(NONCE) ' How else do you think a newspaper man works except by personal con-tucts like this? You' re a disappointment to me, Lumley, you really are.'' The road to FleetStreet, said Charles, with mock solemnity, is paved with disappointments. I' ve taught you a useful lesson.’ HD rock 'n roll [n + n non-rev] rock and roll, ie1950s style in popular (dance) music with a steady, insistent rhythm o Raving Rupert, billed as Elvis Presley's double, is knocking himself out singing old rock 'n roll numbers in very short black trousers and a very long gold lumẻ jacket.ST o Most blasts from the past—— like the annualR 'n R revival- - are a waste of time. but occasionally there 's some gold among the dross.RT D occas R 'n R; attrib use a rock 'n roll number; 'n = ' and'. a rod/ stick to beat sb with a fact, incident,argument etc that is used against sb/ sth in order to blame, penalize, or impose a course of action o From the author of ' Cathy Come Home' . ' Ed-na the Inebriate Woman' and' Down and Out inBritain' we now have another published rod with which to beat the insensitive back of our social consciences. SC□Our prisons are going to be dynamite some day. There's plenty of sticks to beat the inmates with if they don't behave but precious few carrots of hope. STo(NONCE)(Why align himself) with the senseless farrago of Fas-cism—— an extremely unstable Romantic idea?Partly because it was a stick with which to test conventional British wisdom is one answer that emerges. sc a rogues gallery a collection, file, of photographs of known criminals; people/things classified, in sb's opinion, as dishonest,dangerous, undesirable o Most of us who care about words at all have a personal rogues' gal-lary of usages, neologisms and pronunciations we would prohibit if we could. a rolling stone(gathers no moss)(saying)a person who moves a lot from place to place.from job to job(does not accumulate property,real friends, or social ties) o 'I'm a bit of a roll-ing storve down the avenues of medicine,' he ex-plained. DIL o Originally a ' rolling stone' by inclination, with a genuine curiosity about unusual places and people, he had, through failure and lazy indulgence, become a purveyor of picaresque, sentimental cynicism. HAA o' Marshport must be so limited and limiting,' MrEastwood took her up. ' Harold saw a good deal of the world when he was in the Army and was glad to settle there. I'm sure Isabel wouldn't want him to be a rolling stone, would you, Isabel?'PW(NONCE) And, indeed, she could be depended upon to go her own way, gathering any money that came within her path. Perhaps if a stone rolls slowly enough it will gather moss, and what Alice Cresset gathered, she didn't waste on foolishness. ASA 口 a rolling stone can be used alone alluding to complete expression. a Roman holiday an occasion of people enjoy-ing the spectacle, or an account, of others suffering, being hurt or even killed (the reference being to the arenas of ancient Rome)□(source) There were his young barbarians all u t play./ There was their Dacian mother—— he,their sire, Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday.(HILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE IV (G GORDON,LORI) BYRON 1788-1824) □ ' Don't let us keep the local gentry waiting, " Bernard cried hastily, a 482 <483> Rome was not built in a day---(not) roses all the way little too loudly. ' The least I owe my son is his freedom to show me off to the country-gentleman commuters. They need a Rommy holiday.’ HAA□ Yo u and your filthy newspapers would have got hold of it and what a Roman Holiday you'd have made of it. PP Rome was not built in a day(saying) time,patience and hard work are needed for a dif-ficult, or important, undertaking o Only about a month ago Mr Shore's successor answered a question in the House of Commons on this very point by saying he hoped to make an announce-ment shortly. What could be fairer than that?Rome wesn't built in aday, old boy. Go Rome,the schoolboy knows, was not built in adsy; but the Oklahoma schoolboy knows that Guthrie, the first State capital, went up in an afternoon. Lo(NONCE)I suppose there have been worse planning decisions than Maplin Airport. There were several in Augustan Rome who thought that the simple construction of piers into the sea con-stituted an offence to Neptune which would surely be punished. Yet Rome was not destroyed in a day. NS room (and) to spare (for sb/ sth) [Comp/O(NP)] plenty of space or accommodation V:△be; find, have. o: another car; them all; both of you o ' But you use your garage yourself, don't you?'‘That's all right. There's room and to spare for another car.'a Only the parents were invited though I am sure she has room and to spare for all of them—— she's probably the kind that can't be bothered having children around.□The gap was not so narrow as it looked and evenTom got his bulk through with room to spare.root and branch [n + n non-rev] wholly;thoroughly; in all particulars V: destroy, con-demn, oppose, sth; involve sb o (source) And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith theLord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. MALACHIIV Io What are we to think of statesmen who take the country without arms into unnecessary war? Was it really so reprehensible to oppose their policies ropt and branch? Lo They were not, he said, under any entitlement to convict of wilful fire-raising because this depended root and branch on the use of inflammable liquid. SC o (scientists examine their consciences) For the only root-and-branch ' solutions' which could give a man an absolute reason for not working at Barford on the bomb, were not open to many. But no other faith touched the problem. NM O functions ad-verbially in first examples; attrib use, a root-and-branch solution, positivist, always hyphenated. the root of it/ the trouble [O/o (NP)] the primary cause of trouble, a malfunction, ill-ness, scandalous rumour, etc V: find, discover;be (at), get to □ ASTON: I'm mending this plug.DAVIES: What's the matter with it? ASTON:Doesn't work. DAVIES: You getting to the root of the trouble, are you? TCo‘Why can’ t she get on with her sister?’ ' Jealousy—— that's what's at the root of it.'a I don't know how many times he's been into the hospital for tests but they haven't found the root of the trouble yet. 口户本 get to the bottom of(Vol 1). a rose by any other name would smell as sweet what matters is what people or things are, not what they are called □(source) What's in a name? that which we call a rose/ By any other no rm would smell as sweet. ROMEOAND JULIETⅡ2□The hope was that the ' Stock-hold rose' could be ceremonially unveiled at the opening day next week. Unfortunately, the Unit-ed Nations has found no roses waiting to be named. And they have rejected the idea that a rosebyanyother name would smelias sweet.NS o(NONCE) ' One better than that,' said Chad-wick, ' is to give the place a nice new fancy name altogether. Bags of swank.’' An ElementarySchool by any other name still stinks.’ TT Ooften adapted, as in last example. rose-coloured/ rose-tinted spectacles etc life in general, or sb/ sth in particular, seen or thought of too optimistically V: see sth through, look at sth; wear, put on; take off one's. n: spectacles, △ glasses, lenses □ I don't remember ever being really unhappy as a child,and I don't think I am seeing those years through rose-colourad spectacks. o (reader's letter)Thank you,ITV, for' Shades of Greene', an adult series that for once tried hard to look at life as it is, instead of through rose-tinted lengs. TVToThe real test, though, will come on the field of play, Alec Lewis was quick to remind me. Even he, in his hour of triumph, was not wearing any rose-tinted spectacles. ST o (NONCE) And Ithink it is high time he discarded his Marxist spectacles(at least when writing about music).L o nonce uses, as in last example, with adjs that suggest national, sectarian or political prejudices. a rose is a rose is a rose(catchphrase)a rose is what it is, and neither is, nor means, more than what it is o (source) Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. SACRED EMILY (G STEIN 1874-1946)□(after taking the drug mescalin) A rose is a rose is a rose. But these chair legs were chair legs were St Michael and all angels. DOP o(NONCE) But Hungary did not win the WorldCup, and their place in the history of the game must be rather like that of a very great athlete who has failed to win an Olympic medal. AsGertrude Stein might have said, a cup is a cup is a cup. STo(NONCE) Elsewhere she ruminates:Enough of supposed imaginings. A story is a story is a story, even a good one like ' The Lord of the Rings'. Lo A drunk man talked endlessly in the drab bar, as though he were saying in the style of Gertrude Stein ' Cuba is Cuba is Cuba'.OMIHo(NONCE)(advertisement) Arose is a rose is a thing of beautyexcept when something goes wrong. And so many things can— from nitrogen starvation to greenfly to blackspot to mildew and so on. TVTo often adapted, as shown. (not) roses all the way [Comp (NP)] (not)always a pleasant and easy life, experience, taskV: △ be, seem, become; find sth o (source) It was rosigé, reses all the way/ With myrtle mixed in my path like mad. THE PATRIOT (RBROWNING 1812-89) o Verdi (received) endless offers of pensions, titles, professorships, and final assumption into the national consciousness of newly united Italy. Of course it wasn' tentirely roses all the way. NSo Asked what he did, he said he was a plumber. But he only plumbed when he had to and that wasn't often. Plumbing, let it be clearly understood, is not roses all the way. 483 <484> a rough diamond— ruffle one's/ sb's teathers ARG□(NONCE) Back on board by midnight, I findHenryk Szeryng has joined our company. With fluutist Larrieu, harpist Mildonian, cellistJanigro and others, it has been music, music all the way. ST a rough diamond[Comp(NP)] an uncultured,uncouth person who has good and useful qualities V: △ be; find sb; regard sb as o He plays the chairman of a northern local LabourParty. ' He's a bit of a rough diamond, but honest. I' ve met hundreds like him.'TVT□Rough diamonds we might be, but by God, we were the boys. We were resourceful, imaginative, tough,reliable. CONo It is fairly safe to formulate as an axiom that no English writer who portrays farm-labourers as rough diamonds with hearts of gold actually knows them. R a rough house [Comp (NP)] (informal) hard fighting; disorder; (exchange of) physical or verbal abuse V:△be, become, turn into o This battle for which we are preparing will be a real rough house and will involve a very great deal of hard fighting. MFM a I'm sure a referee is within his rights to stop a game if he sees it degenerating into s rough house. □ II almost looked to me as if Kingsley expected us to inter-cept it(a letter), as if he wanted to force our hand.And didn't he rough-house poor old Harry just a bit too much? TBC o rare variant rough-house sb(v)=' subject sb to physical or verbal abuse'.rough it [V + 0](informal) accept, or endure,an uncomfortable way of life, travel, accom-modation etc oI want a man who knows UpperBurma, who is prepared to rough it (and) who can drive a jeep. ARG□If Bowen had acquired hisPortuguese fleas in the course of roughing it,being put up by a brigand in a cave. dossing down on straw in a tavern yard, that kind of thing, he considered that he would have felt differently about them. ILIHo Delicate made 'e (= he) is.and only a boy. Stands to reason 'e couldn't rough he with the others. ASA rough justice harsh、 or summary, judge-ments, punishment, or reward, not based on any exact, or carefully considered, degree of right or wrong, good or bad, etc V: be, find sth;deal out; get... from o He alleged that by late afternoon, when a decision was being made, he could recognise only three committee members who had sat through the whole proceedings.' That is not justice,' he said. ' It is not even rough justice.' SC D Most policemen have a natural scepticism about jury trial. They prefer the rough justice of the magistrates' court where there is a 90 per cent conviction rate. ST o Land which has today a valuable development poten-tial may tomorrow have lost its value (and vice versa) and from the country's point of view to deal with development rights in this manner(ie at a flat rate of£20 an acre at present values) is a rough hut acceptable justice. NS rough and roady [adj + adj non-rev] accept-able, if refinement, precision or expertise are not required $: he, she, they; manner, method;calculations. solutions o Our Nigerian and Gha-naian fellow-delegates are as rough and ready and pragmatic as we are. OBS□Brcath-unalysers and blood tests will be more reliable than the old rough and ready ways of judging a driver's sobriety or insobriety. SCo It is helpful to begin 484 with a rough and ready classification. NSO pre-dic or attrib use. a rough and tumble [n + n non-rev] a fight which a number of persons take part in, not necessarily with any serious attempt to injure;rough and competitive conditions of life or work o If it had to come to s rough-and-tumble, our fellows could have thrown theGlamorgans over their heads, for Cornish wrest-ling was strong in those days. RToGEOFFREY: Oh,there's nothing I enjoy more than a good old intellectual rough and tumble, and I only wishI could stay and slog it out with the two of you.but there isn't time, unfortunately. EGD□I began to learn the (facts of life) for myself in the rough and tunible of school life. MFM□DIMBLEBY; Do you feel you have been damaged by the rough and tumble of your political career? GEORGEBROWN: Not at all. L (just) round/ around the (next)/(every)corner [Comp/A (PrepP)] likely, or sure, to happen, to be achieved soon (esp as an optimis-tic, or foolish, conviction)V: be; lie, wait o We are told to believe in an Eldorado round the cor-ner and in the building of a great new Europe,whereas what we actually face is a sordid little enterprise that will leave everything much the same only more so. L□ The summer of 1940—German style: the Wehrmacht is triumphant,there are luxury goods in the shops and peace is just around the corner. TVT a There was,beyond this, not a positive belief that the impor-tant friendship was lying mysteriously round the corner, but a negative void which only a magical chance meeting could fill. HAA a round robin a petition, or protest, with the signatories' names arranged in a circle so that no one is seen to have headed the list, been the instigator, etc o The former National Librarian of Wales who organized the payment of the fine,said in a round robin to magistrates that a chasm had opened between the younger and older generations in Wales. NS□ also pl. rude health [O/o (NP)] vigorous good healthV: enjoy; be in; return to o' And how are you these days?' ' Not so bad--as well as I'm likely to be. Can't expect to be in rude health at my age, you know. rue the day (that) [V + O] regret (the occasion) that(one did sth)S: he, you, they; the young woman; John o Don't be a foolish boy.Your father left school as soon as he was fourteen and lived to rue the day. o There are several amusements to be had from witnessing the birth of an ambitious new television drama-series.Who are we supposed to get hooked on? Who is doomed to rue the day he ever took this juicy part? NS□I can't back out now but I rue the day that I let myself get involved with this project.ruffle one's/ sb's feathers [V + 0 pass](cause one/ sb to) show aggression, loss of com-posure or self-assurance o 'l should only be a clog on your activities, a tie when you wanted to lunch or dine with your admirers. Do not argue,Harold.' 'I wasn't going to,' said Mr Downing,his gentle feathers puffled for once. WDM□ Ihad concluded that it was no longer any good jollying people along. They had to have their feathers ruffled and be jolted out of their apathy. L <485> a rule of thumb— run the gauntlet (of sb/ sth) a rule of thumb a means of measuring, assess-ing sth which is based on precedent, practice,and experience only (and which therefore can-not be depended upon in all cases and in all details) a It is impossible to calculate all these factors because they vary widely from one share to another. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the company the easier it is to buy and sell. OBS□(writers of popular' literature) Thus, one of them says that two of his rules-of-thumb are never to put in any ' boring description', and to make sure to get dialogue on the first page. ULoTaboos come and go—— the old rule of thumb.which ordained that words considered unsuitable in a family context were also unfit for the air, no longer applies. L o A rule-of-thumb guide is:bottle the beer when it no longer tastes sweet.OBSo attrib use,a rule-of-thumb guide, always hyphenated; hyphens optional in headphrase.rule the roost [V + O] be the one who directs others in a community, business, household etc; be more important, popular, have more influence, than other persons/ things of a similar kind (the allusion probably being to cocks in a poultry yard, though there is an older version rule the roast) o (early detective stories) ButHolmes, with his ability to deduce 17 facts about a man by examining his hat, and with the indis-pensable assistance of brave, loyal, bewilderedDr Watson— Holmes rules the roost. RT o(fashion notes) We' ve been wearing the traditional clothes of other countries for a good few years now. Indian prints, Peruvian ponchos,and Chinese Mao jackets have ruled the ethnic roost in so swift a succession that one wonders what's to be next. OBS rules and regulations [n+ n non-rev] direc-tions for conduct or procedure, specifying what is required or forbidden o There are few more difficult things a man can do than find out precisely what his rights are. This week. for the first time, the random rules and regulations which govern the never-ending contest between' us' and ' them' are brought together in a guide prepared by the National Council for Civil Liber-ties and published by Penguin Books. ST oJeremy, with his insistence on rules and reguis-tions, his instinct for decorum in all things.seemed to her a spoil-sport and a life-denier. PWone's ruling passion [Comp (NP)] one's predomimant desire, ambition or interest V:△be, become; make sth o Philosophy has with-drawn from what Hume called ' the republic of letters' , a republic of which he thought himself to be very much a citizen, admitting that ' love of literary fame' was his ruling passion. Lo If she could be said to have a ruling pewsion, it was for order and cleanliness and she brought what she could of it to the eccentric household she married into. SC arumgo [Comp(NP)](dated slang) an odd and puzzling occurrence, state of affairs V: △ be,seem; find sth o (source) 'I expect,' he said, 'Iwas thinking jest(= just) what aRumGo every-thing is.’ KIPPS (H G WELLS 1866-1946)o‘My first wonder was whether this business was an elaborate camouflage for desertion, ' but in case it was not he wanted the colonel to know the details. ' It was', he remarked sagely,'e very rum go.'ST run amok be in a state of pathological frenzy and liable to attack/ kill people; be, get, out of control; behave violently or extravagantly o(headline) Man Runs Amok on Railway. The two-and-a-half hour drama began at LondonBridge station when a man was challenged for his ticket. He attacked the collector, then assaulted three other men. OBS□ As the mediamen run amok in this quiet backwater, literally millions of ordinary hard-working people will be forced to pay 6p every day to subsidise their so-called activities. Go Teddy Roosevelt was the first man of his time who saw clearly that America was no longer a rural nation, but an industrial giant run monok. L O △ru n riot; run wild. run sb/ sth close be very nearly as fast, suc-cessful, good, bad etc as sb/ sth specified o' Thomson in the lead as they come round the bend,' went on the excited voice of the commen-tator, ' but the lanky Dutchman running him close!’ o I don’ t know what year my dad's car is but it must run yours pretty close. □ The failure of each attempt, I believe, has invariably been clear in advance, despite the claims of par-ticipants(particularly Mr Wilson) that they had fought a damn close-run thing. NS o adj com-pound, attrib or predic, close-run; attrib use,a clo塞u-run thing, always hyphenated. run its course[V + O] start, develop, decline and then end, esp as an inevitable process $; the seasons, another year; the illness, his grief o He would build it in the summer months, he said, it would dry out better. But summer ra n its course and the breeze blocks and timber still lay in the corner of the garden.□I don't believe in swallow-ing all that chemist's muck for a cold. Go to bed,or stay indoors anyway and let it run its course.□His grieffor Irma had been a natural manifesta-tion of feeling, without guilt or afterthoughts: it had run its covers and purged itself, leaving no complications. PW◇ △(let sth) take its course. run the gamut of sth/ from sth [V + 0pass] experience, or include, everything within a given span or range(gamut = range of musi-cal notes within a singer's or instrument's capacity)o:(of) emotions, human fears, politi-cal affiliations; (from) pales t pink to deepest crimson, A to Z, discomfort to agony o Bar-rault, the greatest master of his art, could run the whole geniut of human emotions in mime. o(newspaper publishing) The empire left by D. C.Thomson, Scotland's small-time Citizen Kane.still churns out a profitable flood of print that runs the gamut from ' Beano' to the markedly right-wing ' Courier and Advertiser' . NS run the geuntlet(of sb/ sth)[V+0] accept,or have to suffer, attack, criticism, annoyance(from sb/ sth)(from gauntlet,a corruption of an obsolete word, = ‘course, passageway’, the reference being to, formerly, military or naval punishment where the culprit ran between two rows of men all striking at him with rope-ends)o Between me and the railway line there now stretched a thin but regular cordon of police. To run the gauntlet of both police and trains was more than I could bear. UTNo As soon as I had run the gauntlet of local reporters and photographers and settled in at the BalmoralBeach Hotel... OBS□ The consequential legisla-tion will, he promises, force the Governament to 485 <486> run a mile (from sb/ sth)—— rush one's fences run a far severer geuntlet than the vote after a six-day debate. L run a mile(from sb/ sth) be anxious, or care-ful, to avoid sb doing sth o Mrs Middleton laughed. ' People who are unsociable don't manage great business. '' My dear mother. I as-sure you I run a mile from people unless I have to do business with them. 'ASAo Five years ago Icould have been made into a boring, heartless climber (ie social climber) whom everyone rana mile from. HAA o I'd run a mile if some disc jockeys asked me on their shows. I will name no names, but with Jimmy Young I feel he'd get me out of any difficulty I got into, he'd fill the gaps.RT□ To deal with us during the 1926 strike and to protect the scabs, they drafted 200 people fromDevon into our area. The law was very strong and most people would run a mile if they saw a policeman then. ST o often conditional would run a mile + if-cl/ to-inf. (the) run of the mill (that which is) average in kind, class and quality o This imaginative historical drama about the preacher who attrac-ted a fan atical personal following is lifted out of the run of the mill by the effective use ofStephen Boxer's music and by David Calder's attractive playing of the hapless Naylor. Go ThisSheila was not by any means an irresistibly attractive Sheila, but just a run-of-the-mill everyday Sheila. TGLY o There are the same preoccupations, but what rescues the book from run-of-the-mill New York-Jewish childhood novels is the manner of the telling. NS o usu attrib, as shown. run riot behave, do sth, without discipline or restraint; spread, proliferate to an excessive or uncontrollable extent S: children, revellers;roses; famine, one's imagination o Many people's idea of a private school that calls itself' Progressive' is of one where children are allowed to run riot. Nothing could be farther from the truth. a Although she's moved into the income bracket where accountants tell her how much she can allow herself and where the taxman runs riot, the biggest change in her style of life is that she is now completely her own woman. OBS□Ifby that time the population was not fed, and housed,famine and disease would run riot through Ger-many. MFMo ' It's the thought of Alice, ' Teddy said, unchaste thoughts are running riot.’ RATT□(a television programme) But everyone work-ing on‘Man from Atlantis’ loves the chance it gives them to let their imaginations run riot. TVT◇△ run amok; run wild. run a risk (of sth) [V+ O pass] put oneself,or be put/ find oneself, in a position where death, injury, punishment, loss or defeat is possible; take risks (qv); take a chance/ chances(on sth)(qv) det:a, the; some, little; less; more.o: imprisonment, infection; feeling ill, losing it all, being jailed □ Whatever Henry may say,(your bosses in) London wouldn't want you to run a silly risk. OMiHo If working class men celebrate and get drunk they are likely to do so in a public bar, and run more risk of being picked up than the man who keeps his drinks at home. UL o This readiness to run considerable risks to help those whose religious policies Hicks approved must be borne in mind when we are tempted to dismiss the Puritan money-lender as 486 a hypocrite. NS o Their chest movements are paralysed, and unless the patient is artificially ventilated, using a respirator, he runs the risk of asphyxiating himself. Lo The same risks would be run if we doubled the guard. run short(of sth) have little/ few(of sth) left.remaining o: time; money; butter; helpers o If television runs short of money, at least radio can draw attention to itself as the cul price, dirt cheap medium. OBS□Tell your mummy I'm sorry.I' ve not a drop of milk I could give her. We' ve run short ourselves this weekend.□ Time is run-ning short(or: We' re running short of time).ladies and gentlemen, and we won't be able to allow encores for the remaining items on the programme. △ short of sth². run wild (be allowed to) indulge in unrestrained activity, usu of a fairly harmless nature S: children, hooligans, soldiers; gang,mob o When they first arrive the children run wild for a week, exploring every corner. climb-ing every tree. TOo He led the gang of twelve-year-olds in our street against the same age group of another district which had outflanked us and left us a mere pocket of country in which to run wild--- - a few fields and allotment gardens,which was reason enough for holding an eternal grudge against them. LLDRo'A matter for the police he thinks.’' The police?’ Moriarty said,and several of the passing class looked at him.' Not again, surely?'I suppose you'd let them run wild?’‘They run wild anyway,’ Moriarty said.TT ◇ △ run amok; run riot. run with the hare and hunt with the hounds(saying) try to keep on friendly terms with two opposing parties; have an interest in both of two opposing objectives so that one acts a double part oneself o A man who through force of circumstances had tried to act as a bridge between the avant-garde and traditional culture was simultaneously rejected by both sides after a long and honourable career. Serve him right, say the heartless in either camp: no good ever comes from trying to run with the hard hunt with the hounds. OBS□ Others look less indulgently on Shirley Williams's apparent lack of tough-ness, her dislike of being disliked. They think it is dué less to sensitivity than to a shrewd instinct for running with the hare, hunting with the hounds. OBS a running battle/ fight (military) continued hostilities by a fleeing army, band of soldiers,against their pursuers;(fig)a quarrel, argument etc sustained between two parties over a period of time □ Since he announced schemes of house-building and other developments he has been in-volved in running battles of wits and litigation with his crofter tenants. STo Neutrality: he had found it at last. The running fight between him-self and society had ended in a draw. HD running repairs repairs that are, or can be,made to a machine, vehicle etc without interfer-ing with, or seriously affecting, its use mean-time V: effect, make, do; carry out o Parker's long and varied experience should enable him to cope with any running repairs that might be necessary on the voyage.□ We'd carried out run-ning repairs to the tyre with our emergency kit.rush one's fences [V + 0 pass] be too impetuous and hasty in dealing with a task, or <487> problem, and probably be inefficient, or fail, as a result (from cross-country hunting on horse-back) a He had great wisdom and his advice on these matters was always sound--as time went on he often restrained me from rushing my S sackcloth and ashes[n+ n non-rev] symbols of self-abasement and penitence(from Old Tes-tament accounts of humbling oneself by wear-ing sackcloth and scattering ashes over one's head and body, referred to in first example) V:clothe in: cover (oneself with) . pp: clad in o(source) If the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.MATTHEW XI 21□ School uniform is a symbol of subduing the self to the team. the Sackcloth andAshes tradition. I reckon we can do without it.OBS□ We can he sure that by next week he will be scourging himself, fasting, clad in sackcloth and ashes. NS □ clad old pp of clothe. a sacred cow [Comp/O (NP)] sb/ sth that is greatly respected and revered, esp by a par-ticular nation or group, so that attack or criti-cism is not tolerated(from the Hindu belief that the cow is a sacred animal that must not be killed for food) V: be, become; attack, ridicule□(reader's letter) It seems from your correspon-dence column that Harold Wilson is a sacred cow. We cannot afford sacredcows. NSo Wed-lock is best known as a folk satirist, gently jibing at the traditional British sacred cows, but he adds: I' ve got a lot of respect for the real folk traditions.'TVTo Psychiatry has become rather asacred cow and appears to have taken over the role once held by the parish priest. RT a sad sack [Comp (NP)] (informal) a person usu dispirited and gloomy in behaviour and views V: △ be; think sb o ' Oh, Chris, you' re exactly what the Americans call a sad sock.Isn't he. Geoff?'' What, Chris a sad sack? Ishould just say he is, ma' am!' TBC□ But the best performances are Stephen Moore's Phil and IvorRoberts's Arthur, two sad sacks kept equally clear of compromise or condescension. OBS a sadder and(a) wiser man[Comp(NP)] sb who has learned a lot from a failure, misjudg-ment or mishap V:△be, become o(source) Asadder and a wiser man,| He rose the morrow morn. THE ANCIENT MARINER (S T COLERIDGE!??2-1834)□(a boxer may have been drugged before a fight) Alberto is a stadder and wiser man now. All he wanted to say about the doping allegations was. ' Basically, someone tried to prejudice me; that's as far as I want to go.'SToThe British trade unions are a sadder and a wiser bunch after Friday's Court of Appeal decision in the Railway Ballot case. T o occas adapted, as shown. a safe bet [Comp (NP)] a venture, method etc that is almost sure to be successful; an` opinion that is almost sure to be correct V: △ be,become; make sth o Diet books are notoriously safe publishing bets, but this one has broken all records. SToIfrest and freedom from responsibil- sackcloth and ashes—— safety in numbers fences. MFMo As a hiographer. I am only too well aware of the pitfulls which lie in wait for the writer whose impatience, over-confidence or lack of sympathy with his suhject tempt him to rush his fences. L ity is what you are sure you want, then a one-centre holiday arranged by a reliable travel agent is probubly your safest bet. OBS□There is no set age, of course, at which children should be released from purental prorection hu t it is a safe bet that five is too young. St o in second mean-ing. usu in the construction it is a s wfe bet that-cl. a safe job work in which one's pay and con-tinued employment are secure V: be; have, find.prefer: give up o Anybody who wasn't a fully qualified careerist when he left that school must have been abnormally well protected against it.either by having a safe job in the family business to go to, or by laziness, or stupidity. CON□ With esafe job in the Civil Service you should have no difficulty in raising a mortgage. 口 also pl. safe and sound [adj+ adj non-rev] unharmed;secure against (further) harm□ 'I don't think we shall ever see them again. I feel it.'' Come, come.dear. They' ll be back su fe and sound, you' ll see.'TST□(In former times) one could go walking in even quiet areas, leaving one's door unlocked meantime, and return with person and property still safe and sound. RToI carefully wrote these grisly particulars on a label and tied it to his top-cout button. ' We' ll soon have you sa fe and sound in bed, sir, I said confidently. TVT safe and sure [adj + adj non-rev] safe to use,reliable and efficacious n: drug, medicine:method, procedure; investment o (advertisement-ment) Used by doctors. ' Larson's' is safe and sure, Contains no drugs. DM o The valuation crisis that has hit Nation Life Property Bond(slogan ' safe and sure') may well be unique.OBS safety first a slogan aimed at preventing ac-cidents on the roads, in industry and in the home; a policy that makes avoidance of risks more important than chances of gain or im-provement o There's little point in drilling your children in the rules of safety first if they see you ignoring traffic regulations yourself. o What's happening, therefore, is that we are calling for a halt to progress, for safety first and no leaps in the dark, hecause it's all we are capable of. NSoIs the price of this safety first policy too high?Is it a price we need and will the rules work? St□ attrib use a safety first policy. safety in numbers [Comp/O (NP)](one has)better protection against ill luck as a member of a group;(finding) a variety of activities, friends and interests makes one less vulnerable V: there be. seek: find □ Realizing that they could not(escape) and that there was a certain safety in numbers, they stood their ground. TO □ Stick with the gang on those beach parties. There's safety in numbers.H□ The University of Texas is a refutation too, with its 40,000-odd students 487 <488> one's salad days—(God) save the mark on the Austin campus alone, of the old saw that there's safety in numbers. Just reading the local press makes one continually aware of a massive discontent. NSo there's safety in num-bers often used to reinforce warning or piece of advice. one's salad days when one is young, inno-cent, inexperienced etc; when an institution, ad-venture, is new o (source) My salad days,/When I was green in judgment, cold in blood. AN-TONY AND CLEOPATRA 15□ I'd been very smart,even in thoss green seld days, and I'd made a carbon copy of the book. JFTR□It purports to modernise the NHS((GB) National Health Ser-vice) and correct the faults discovered during the service's snada days. NS □ stress pattern one's' salad days. the salt of the earth[Comp(NP)] people, esp ordinary ones, whose character and actions are felt to be specially valuable and admirable V:△be; seem; think of sb as o (source) Ye are the salt of the - - - rth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? MATTHEWV13o I like him. I always have. He's the salt of the earth and all that. EHOW□ The small business-man likes to think of himself as the salt of the nation's economy, if not of the earth. OBS□Ten years ago, this kind of (propaganda) material would not have persuaded salt of the earthLabour men to quit and throw in their hand with a minority party. NS o occas attrib use a sait of the * arth Labour man. (the) same again(?) a request for, or invita-tion to have, a repeat of whatever (alcoholic)drink one has just had o We' ll have one more and call it a day. Then I' ll wander back (to the office). Same again? PP□Charles was suddenly jerked into attention by the word ' Guinness'.' No thanks.’ he said hastily. T' ll just have the same●●●in. ’ HD same here(informal) I agree, share your feel-ings, etc o 'I'm nearly falling asleep. ' Same here. I think I' ll put this work aside and go to bed.’ o’ Paul distrusts him.’' Same here, put inSophie unexpectedly, ' though I don't know why.'the same(/) old story [Comp/O (NP)] the usual, expected tale of events as heard, or ex-perienced, many times before V: be; hear, tell.A: always,(over) again o The villain of the piece— as is often the case in the theatre— is the box-office: ' It's always the sene old story,money, money, money.'OBS When voters com-plain that election promises have not been im-plemented they are treated to the old story of unforeseen ' circumstances beyond our control'.NSo The last time I passed, the building was just a hole in the ground: another ' development' was on the way. It is the same story all over the city.ST (it's) the same the whole/ all the world over (saying) (be) found everywhere and be much alike o It's the sume the whole world over,/ It's the poor what gets the blame.POPULAR SONG (ANONYMOUS) o Patients are much the same all the world over, whether you see ' em (= them) being ill at the Government's expense in hospital or being ill at home. DIL sun fairy ann(dated slang) without doing, or achieving, anything; ineffective; powerless;harmless(comic adaptation of Frenchçane fait 488 rien)o Women in the USA have developeda taste for malt liquors flavoured with lemon, raspberry and so forth, which probably gave conservative brewers a laugh until these ' fairy-ann beers'secured 2% to 3% of the market. ST (what is) sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander(saying) what is thought suit-able treatment for a woman should be so for a man; behaviour etc expected from one class of person should be expected from another o He thought that what is seuse for the goose is succe for the gander. ' When I came to your mother I was a virgin. We men have no right to ask of women what we' re not prepared--'ASA□(reader's letter) We, the electorate, are forced to vote within a system designed to give unfair advantage to one contestant. Not so the Parties,for when it comes to electing a leader a system of proportional representation is used. Should not the succ for the goos· also be the succ for the gander? SC o goose and gander rev. save one's (own)/ sb's becon [V + O pass](informal) avoid, or save sb from, death, injury,loss, punishment etc o With this lie I'd tem-porarily saved my bacon, perhaps for long enough to escape. □ On a cold and frosty after-noon when horse-racing's abandoned, the dogs can save the bookie's(= bookmaker's) bacon.L o 'I'm surprised you didn't get a bawling out from your wife.' ' I would have, too. It was you being with me that saved my bacon.' save one's breath (to cool one's por-ridge) [V + O] not bother to speak, advise,object etc(the implication being that one is not heeded or obeyed) □ His incomprehension was getting me down.' Make some effort to follow me(= understand what I am saying) or I' ll save my breath.’ CONo In the end, of course, a civil outfit can't fight a government, and a month later we were thrown out. I might have seved my breath to cool my porridge. OBS□Ifit's the job he wants to see me about, tell him he can save his breath. o often with can, may/ might as well,might have. save the day [V + O pass] turn possible defeat,or failure, into victory or success o In a corps de ballet every little wrong movement stands out,whereas when you are doing a solo you can seve the day by making up some sort of step. OBS□As cavalry the Mamelukes had no equal in the world. Once unhorsed, however, they were heavily encumbered by their arms, and it was left to their Bedouin infantry to save the day. BNsave sb's/ one's life etc[V + O pass] rescue sb/ oneself from, or avoid, death, punishment,loss of reputation, trouble etc n: life, △ neck,skin口I might go up there to seven my life but not for much less.□ The Area Museums Service has been a life-server for some of the smaller collec-tions which have no qualified staff. OBSo He'd have gone on all morning with his tale of woe.Your arrival was a life-saving interruption . oHaving sensibly changed his faith to seve his skin he found the sloughing of national loyalties equally painless. NS□I blame the owner, not the dog —— but that won't save its neck if it's caught worrying sheep. o also pl save their lives etc; n compounds a life-saver, life-saving; adj compound life-saving. (God) seve the mark (ironic) precedes, or <489> follows. a description that the speaker feels is not likely to be correct or appropriate o His eyes would inquire mutely after Phuong, while his lips expressed with even more fervour the strength of his affection and of his admiration--God save the mark-for me. QA a You will behave at all times as officers and — segve the mark-as gentlemen. BBCTVo This evening, the delegation is to attend a civic reception after being entertained, save the mark, to a lecture on the City's water supply system. O sometimes facetious. save the situation [V + O pass] solve a politi-cal, business, social, domestic etc difficulty adj:a dangerous, an awkward, an embarrassing oWe saved the situation and now it's up to those chaps not to let us down. NMo One of his knees touched hers and after wriggling to and fro for a moment, started trying to push itself between her own two. Luckily, the waiter came up with the bill just then and the situation was saved.TGLYo He said that not only had I saved his life,but I had saved a bad situation between the USgovernment and the Dominican Republic. OBS save one's/ sb's soul [V + O pass] ensure one's sb's spiritual well-being in this world or the next oThe genius of Tolstoy subdued the overheuring pretensions of Tolstoy the spiritual path-finder, intent on teaching others how to live and save their souls before he had any idea of how to save his own. OBS□For Oeberg there was a question of greater importance to us, to theAmericans and the Swedes and the other Euro-peans, than to the Vietnamese. It was our souls that would need swing. OBS a saving grace [Comp/O (NP)] sth which prevents, saves, one from being altogether bad;a redeeming feature (qv) V: be, prove; have.possess. det: a, the; one, some; his; only o(rugby football) Dickinson is well aware of the danger of Scottish complacency. Perhaps that12-35 thumping (= resounding defeat) theScottish received in Cardiff on 5 February might prove a saving grace. RTo No one is completely evil, darling. They all have some saving grace,even the Templars. DC o In that year fighter-bomber tactics had progressed enormously and Iwas definitely out of touch; the swing grace was that I knew that myself. RFW say chees e mi me the word‘cheese’ so as to obtain a natural-looking smile for a photographo Well, smile! Say cheese! You can look quite pretty when you smile, HAHA say I/I say that is my view, opinion; that's what I (always) say (qv)□ Why should we get involved? Let them settle their differences them-selves, say!.□ Better dead. I say, than suffering like that. I hope somebody would put me out of my misery if I were in her condition. O say I more formal, and rare; middle or end position; stress patterns say 'I, 'I say. say/ be one's last word[V + O pass] give/ be one's final opinion, decision or command,which will not be changed or repeated A: on the subject; about that o I do think I was treated unfairly, but I' ve said my last word on the sub-ject so we can forget about it, if you don't mind.□ Neither Professor A. K. Cairncross nor theGovernment spokesman had said their fast words on this figure. SC□' Bed!' repeated their save the situation—(just) say the word father. ' Now, that's my last word to both of you. to say the least (of it) [Disj] (and that is)stating sth, describing sb/ sth less forcefully.critically, than one easily could;(to) put it mild-ly(qv)□ To be stranded in the middle of BuenosAires with a lorry-load of animals and nowhere to keep them was, to say the least, a trifle disconcerting. DFa... a thoughtful and readable novel which is, to say the least of it, a pleasant change from some of the squalid muck and pretentious pornography which is flooding the market. ST O middle or end position. sayamouthful[V+ O](informal) say sth very true, very perceptive, or sth that the listener or reader thoroughly agrees with o The man who said we'd be frozen up in mid-January said a mouthful. o usu past tenses. can't say no (not) have the strength of mind,or the good sense, to refuse an invitation,proposal etc□ In Dufton, artists' models were thought of as tarts, not quite professionals, but simply the kind who couldn't be bothered to say no. RATT o You know me —— when somebody phones and says ' Come on over' I just can't say no.□I'm just a girl who can't say no. OKLAHO.MA!(O HAMMERSTEIN)□Of course you' ll end up doing most of the work if you don't learn to say no. Why shouldn't your office colleagues do their fair share? to say nothing of sth/ sb [Conj] and also;and as may be assumed; and, perhaps, more importantly; not to mention/ speak of sth/ sb(qv) □… failed to justify the hopes and efforts(to say nothing of the cost) which have been expended upon it. SC□Coming on top of a 38 per cent pay rise, plushy new offices and meeting rooms for MPs--to say nothing of an under-ground car park in New Palace Yard —— the proposals for a new Parliamentary Building inBridge Street might well have stretched the public patience to breaking point. NS□ Glasgow has fine buildings and botanic gardens, and the great river Clyde with its tradition of shipbuild-ing, to say nothing of the glorious scenery as the river unfolds. RT say one's piece [V+ O] make what is virtually a formal statement of one's opinion, thanks,protest etc o HELEN: I brought you some money.JO: You know what you can do with that. HELEN:All right! You' ve said your piece. I' ll leave it on the table. TOH□(the David Frost Programme,BBC TV) He has encouraged ordinary, not par-ticularly articulate people, to say their pieces.L o Aware of protocol about queens, but feelingI ought to express the thanks of those 30,000children, I approached and said my piece. OBSsay the right/ wrong thing [V+ O pass] say sth tactful/ tactless, that pleases/ displeases the listener, that succeeds/ fails in bringing about an intended result o Poor Gran(= Grandmother)!She tried so hard to like me, poor dear, and she was so careful to say the right thing. HAAoShe looked at me rather strangely when I said it must.be quite a challenge to have such a handsome and talented husband. Did I say the wrong thing?(just) say the word (just) state one's requests, wishes etc and they will be immediate-ly and/ or willingly complied with □ (source)Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come 489 <490> says/ sez you— scratch a living under my roof, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. MATTHEW VIII8□' If you think I could help by being here for a bit.' he said,just say the word, you know.'ARG□DAVIES:I'd look after the place for you. I' ll be your man, you say the word, just say the word. TC□ Jack's the one who thinks it's sensible to wait but he has only to say the word and she'd marry him tomorrow. O variant have only (got) to say the word. says/ seez you (informal) that is what you say or may think (the implication being that the speaker doubts whether a previous statement or claim is true, or whether a previous threat will be carried out) o ' Leave the rubbish bin where it is, Mary. One of the boys will put it out for you in the morning.'' Says you. I' ll be the one putting it out whether I do it now or in the morn-ing.'o 'I'm going to go for(= fight) that fellow one of these days and make him wish he had never been born!’ Sez you! He could flatten you with one hand.'o defiant expression of disbelief. scare etc(sb) stiff [V + 0 + Comp pass]frighten sb very much V: scare,△worry, fright-en o Byron's first manny entranced his ears with the language of the Bible, and scared him stiff with lurid tales of the Devil. Lo' You don't seem worried,' Pyle said. 'I'm scared stiff —— but things are better than they might be.’ QAoThings at present are not nearly so catastrophic as every newspaper, every television newsflash, suggests,yet we are all worried stiff. NSo often pass. a scarlet woman (dated or facetious) a whore; a seductress o Within this formula,Anouith provides a preposterously phoney biography about the Man's marriage (above his station(= of a higher social class than himself),his elopement ( with 'aScarlet Womasr', former mistress of the Count). Lo(NONCE) Diana was considered far too secret a lady for her job as a presenter of the children 's programme ' Seeing and Doing' . TVTO now usu facetious; occas pl.a school of thought opinion(s) held about sth which is/ are shared by a number of people det: a; one, two; another; several; different oOne school of thought maintains that man-kind's view of nature reflects himself. Go To the question of' Where do we go from here?' there are broadly two schools of thought. OBS scissors and paste [n + n non-rev] the assembling of existing items of news, entertain-ment etc for re-presentation without adding anything new, or drawing any new conclusions from them o As well as using the scissors and past@, she has re-interviewed all the people MrHutchinson first approached and interviewed a few more besides. Lo More relevant than Batty's indusirious discovery of forgotten film is the second of the night's scissors-and-peste jobs,' The Siege of Dien Bien Phu' in ATV's ' TurningPoints' series. ST O attrib use, a scissors-and-paste job, collection, survey, often found. scoop the pool[V+ O pass] win all the money staked in a gambling game; get all the prizes,profits, sales, success, applause etc o At a local shooting match, he scooped the pool, coming home with four cups and over£70 in prize money.□(fashion notes) You' ll scoop the pool in a knitted collar like the one on his Sambo tweed dress with the Donegal air. H 490 a scorched earth policy [O (NP)] military tactics of retreating from enemy forces, burning and destroying food, fuel and shelter as one goes V: adopt, apply, advocate o I rebelled against the ' scorched earth' policy which had advocates in Whitehall; their reasoning was that as the Germans advanced inland towards Lon-don, so we would burn and destroy the countryside as we retreated. MFMo If I had my way now I would apply the scorched earth policy to all those trippers who are swarming over the island to look for this imaginary mon-ster. RM scorn delights and live laborious days put work above pleasure; devote one's life to satisfying an ambition, one's sense of duty, etc□ (source) Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise/(That last infirmity of noble mind)/To scorn delights, and live laborious days.LYCIDAS(JMILTON1608-74)□It used to be a roman-tic notion that poverty was good for artists and that others, too, would be none the worse of scorning delights and living laborious days.SCoOne advertisement shows a young man, look-ing like a budding scholar who scorns delight and lives laborious days, filling in his ' pools'coupon at home and despatching it. UL scrape (the bottom of) the barrel [V + 0pass] (informal) use the last part(s) of one's resources; (esp) use the least satisfactory part(s) of one's resources o ' That was Sue on the phone. She wanted to know whether all seven of them could come round for lunch tomorrow. Isaid it would be okay.’‘But that’ s impossible!Even if we scraped the barrel it wouldn't be nearly enough.’ o’ I notice that the new president of Acirema is a 70-year old, ex-actor, ex-TV-chatshow-compère.’ ' Good Lord! They must really have scraped the bottom ofthe berre l to dig him up.' scratch A and (you) find B only a surface veneer, or disguise, hides the fact that A is still to a large extent B□(saying) Scratch a Russian and you' ll find a Tartar. o That's what ' TheLord of the Flies' is about. Scratch almost any small boy and you find a savage.□Scratch the surface of a civil servant and you' re likely to find absolutely anything. OBS□Scratch Morris's documentary approach to people and television and you will find another side to him. TVT o often expresses an assumption about all mem-bers of a particular nation, creed, class or profession. scratch one's head [V+O](lightly scratch or rub one's head and) wonder, be puzzled, what to do, think or answer o He glanced at my ac-quaintance who was scratching his head in a faintly worried fashion. SC o When Lord Shaw-cross described an unknown, corrupt politician as being held in public esteem, the nation scratch-ed its head and could think of only one politician in the last 30 years held in anything approaching public esteem. NS ' This caused a bit of head-scratching at the BBC, but they are letting it go out as I wrote it, ' says Speight. ST o also pl scratch their heads;n compound head-scratching.scratch a living [V + O pass] earn, grow,produce, with great difficulty just enough to live on adj: bare, meagre, scanty, precarious. A:from the soil;(by) selling from door to door o <491> scratch the surface (of sth)— second nature Others deal in second-hand clothing. scavenge for firewood or take in washing. It allows them to scratch aliving while they look for a better-paid job. SC□The (film) company was kept alive byAitken's brother Roy, who still scratched a precarious living distributing Griffith's master-piece on an individual booking basis. ST scratch the surface (of sth) [V + O pass]give sth (only) brief or slight study, investiga-tion, or treatment A: only, just, hardly, merely.o: subject, problem; electoral reform o They say they are only scratching the surface of the subject, but already they are surprised by the quality and diversity of the material available.RT a Despite the numerous attempts to induce industry to move into the development areas and to decentralise offices from Central London, we have only scratched the surface of the problems. Lo Allpart, who has written the classic introduction to this field, discusses some fifty definitions without doing more than scratching the surface. SNP scream etc blue murder shout out loudly,make a great deal of noise and fuss(because one objects to sth that is happening) V: scream, △shout, yell, cry; be o He' ll scream blue murder if you promote Jack Simpson instead of him——but Jack' ll do the job better.□ A few of his ul-terances are liable to make our Union chaps cry blue murder, but as long as he's kept in check,it won't do any harm for them to be made to think a little beyond their mental horizon. ASAσ(The photographers) were the queerest-looking bunch your ever saw, and I use my words advisedly. One of them came over and tried to turn my face round with his hands and before I knew what Iwas doing I was yelling blue murder. JFTRoSA-RAH: There' ll be blue murder if it carries on like this. All our life is it going to be like this? CWSBscrub it/ that [V + O pass] (informal) stop(doing) it/ that; delete, cancel it/ that o MICK:This bag's very familiar. DAVIES: What do you mean? MICK: Where'd you get it? ASTON(rising,to them): Scrub it. TCoI couldn't dictate at all that morning. I'd get half-way through a letter and have to scrub it and start again. the scum of the earth [Comp(NP)] the class,or kind, of person thought(by sb) to be worth-less or despicable V:△be; think, consider, sb□(dockers’ strike, 1972) ' Scum of the earth is what we are,' said a huge man in a club nearSmithfield meat market, with heavy sarcasm. NS□(trial of mercenaries, Angola, 1976) To thePeople's Prosecutor, with his customary rhetori-cal flourish, they(the accused) were the scum of capitalist society' , L 口 sometimes adapted,as shown in second example. seal sb's fate[V + O pass] determine(part of)sb`s future for better or worse o I had received a card to say my application was being con-sidered but was still awaiting the letter that would seal my fate. o ' That's the man I'm going to marry,' Esther told her friend. ' He may not know it now but his fate is subled.'o also pl seal their fate. the sea my side (of sth) [Comp/O (NP)] the unpleasant, or immoral, aspects (of sth) V: be;see, experience, have. o: life, the capital; domes-tic service, politics o When a man had seen as much of the sunny side, you know, as Bill, it could hardly be expected that he was going to be upset. HAA□ Cyril Pearl writes with indignation and relish about the summer side of Victorian life. NS□Mr Skipton knows a lot about Flemish domestic life. The seemy side, I believe. I sup-pose even this delightful city has its seamy side.US o Janet expressed her views about the' sn amy side of motherhood' in the first book published in England which openly advocated abortion reform. L o stress pattern the ' seamy side (of sth). search one's heart/ soul [V + O pass] closely examine one's feelings, motives, the nature of one's actions□ I'd get tired of listening to mother searching her soul when I knew damn well that she'd always do exactly what suited her best, in the end.□ The poor, the sick, the aged, the unem-ployed, had been counted and analysed by a generation of private, and official inquirers.There was information. There were theories.There were searchings of heart. NS o There might be some heart-searching by the judiciary on their interpretation of ' reasonable doubt'when there is a conflict of evidence. L a BlackMountain seems to have acquired a mystical value for him in the process of writing about it,and becomes the occasion for some dubious soul-searching. STO also pl search their hearts/souls; n compounds heart-searching, soul.searching; variants searching of heart, searching of soul; usu found in n forms. search me (dated slang) I don't know; Ihaven't the slightest idea □ 'I thought AilsaCraigs were onions,' said Hopalong. ' Are they?'Search me, mate.'TT□' Why doesn't he want to go?’‘Search me. You’ d think anybody would jump at the chance of a trip like that, with all expenses paid.' (the) second best sb/ sth that is less good than the best □ SAM: Don't settle for second best like your mother and I did. Marry a girl who shares your interests. HSG□ They want the cane completely banned in schools - - - but as a second best they think they have found a useful piece of case law. NS a/ one's second childhoodetc[O/o(NP)]a period of seeming able to act, feel, think as one did when a child V: have; enjoy, revel in. n:childhood, ▲ boyhood, girlhood □ There's a new ' Paddington Bear' series starting on Mon-day(5.40BBC1) and if these don't lure you into your second childhood, nothing will. RT oReleased from these responsibilities, my mother seems to have enjoyed a second girlhood—— or perhaps the one she'd never really had. (in one's) second childhood(at)a stage of life when one's mental powers fail through age or illness o He's a dear old chap, but over ninety and in his second childhood. He couldn't tell you the day of the week. a He's taken to repeating himself quite a lot. It may be the first sign of approaching second childhood. second nature [Comp(NP)] a learned ability,or habit, that comes as easily to sb as if he had been born with it V:△be, become, seem. A: to him; with her a Harold had never confided much in Isabel: It had been a deliberate policy and become second nature. PWo She's the kind of person who isn't very good at doing nothing, to whom work is second nature. RToProfessional- 491 <492> & second etc opinion----see life ism is already second nature to Michael. He has been acting since the age of two. OBS□always used without det. a second etc opinion [0/o (NP)] an assess-ment, valuation or diagnosis, by another per-son, who has been consulted because there is doubt or argument V: get, have; accept; ask for.det:a second,△a third; another o The native miners and dealers insisted on being paid cash,and there was no question of getting a second opinion on a value. DS□Is a National Health patient who has been recommended to have an operation entitled to demand another opinion?□ Neither is convinced by the other but both have agreed to abide by a third opinion. the second/ third time around/ round the second/ third occasion of doing, or attempting,sth o When you' ve failed as spectacularly as Idid, it destroys for ever all the secret, private fears that can hound and even persecute the wealthy and successful. It's made my SecondTime Round a damn sight happier and more contented than the first time. TVT o Have spent every night this week watching re-run of RockFollies’. Even better, second time around. And third time around. TVT second to none[Comp(AdjP)] equal with any other and better than most V:△be, seem; find sb/ sth o The British soldier is second to none in the communities of fighting men. MFM o For convenience shopping the supermarket is second to none, but, compared with the general shop around the corner, it is a most impersonal institution. SC□In education our post-war archi-tectural record is surely second to none. OBSsee both sides (of the question etc)(V +pass] understand why one person, or group,thinks or supports sth and why another does not o: question;△argument, conflict; situation o Frankenheimer succumbs to the same tactical error — that of seeing both sides of every question. It's an admirable trait in a democrat,but a disaster in a man of action. Lo Roxanne Pitt has been travelling. writing. lecturing, frequently about the Israeli-Arah conflict. As someone withJewish blood, brought up in Egypt, she can see both sides. OBS see the colour of sb's money ascertain that sb has enough money to pay(for sth) o Don't believe a word he says. Don't let him have the car until you see the colour of his money. see/ think fit (to do sth) consider it correct,convenient or acceptable(to do sth) Inf: to go,to stay (away); to refuse; to take (a bath); to ignore sth o I was just entering the street whenI met her. apparently already on her way to wher-ever she was seeing fit to go. SPLo ' The Times'did not see fit to print the letter, and now I see that the proposal was not needed. Lo What hap-pens to the surplus, if any? It belongs to the local committee, who can dispose of it as it sees fit.TOoJiM: You' re full of self-pity. JEAN: I talk asI think fit. YAA o variant as one sees/ thinks fit.see the funny side (of sth) [V + O](be able to) see sth amusing in a situation that some people would find only annoying, regrettable or inconvenient o: it, things; life; a situation oThey really howled for your blood, all except theChief. There were moments when I thought he saw the funny side. OMIHo Life is a dance 492 towards death, and Rowlandson saw the funny side of it. NSo This could be a difficult week.Luckily, you can see the funny side of life,especially if you have a good friend to share troubles with. TVT see atc how the land lies find out what the shape of a coast-line is, so that one can sail along it, or land on it; observe the shape, ar-rangement of geographical features, streets and buildings, etc in a town, or furniture in a room;(fig) observe the attitudes of others so that one can decide whether it is possible to do sth one plans to do V: see, find out, learn, know,discover, show(sb), reveal o I' ll consult JosephMacroon and if he's willing for Kenny to take us there tonight in the‘Morning Star’ I think it would be a good thing for you to see the lie of the land, Carmichael. RMoI! was about half past six on a cool summer evening, but the bar was thick with smoke; it took him a moment or two to see how the land lay. PW o Bunder andSimons had given him addresses that they recom-mended, but to accept either would have meant the end of his policy of strict neutrality, and he was determined to preserve it until he saw how the land lay; so he found a place for himself. HD□Their first few questions showed the lie of the land. The interviewers were much more interes-ted in my family connections than in my com-petence at the job. o variant see etc the lie of the land. suc etc how the other half lives observe,or experience, the life of people different from one's own kind in class, race, occupation, or interests V: see, learn,(not) know, get an idea of, have no idea of D ' Got to get out and see life,General,’ Pop said suddenly, in a burst of enthusiastic admonishment. ' See how the other half lives. See the world. What about it?’ BFA□I did have the grace to feel a bit ashamed of myself when I got a picture postcardfroma Chel-sea address, smudgily inscribed, ' Come and see how the other half do it.'I really ought to have thought about him more, I told myself. CONo stress pattern see how the ' other half lives. $@e sb hung/ in hell first/ before doing sth (informal) emphatically reject the idea of doing, or agreeing to, what sb wants o Go to work for the man that put me out of business? I' ll see him in hell first! □ Your father talks as if.he'd see them hung before he lifted a finger to help, but he' ll probably end up putting his hand in his pocket for the children's sake. o in con-structions with will, would. (not) see the joke [V + O](not) understand why sth said, or done, is amusing o The nice thing about Mary is that she can always see the joke. I couldn't bear working with someone who didn't have a sense of humour.□ There is nothing worse than someone who cannot see the joko. G□Few spectacles give more enjoyment than that of the great and powerful slipping on a bananu skin. The satisfaction, however, is neither uniform nor universal. And many do not see the joke at all. NS ◇ △ take a joke. see life [V + O] observe and/ or experience various ways of living and behaving, esp those thought to be different from one's own, new, or stimulating o We ' av'n't (= haven't) much money but we do see life. UL o Vicky began to <493> see life (steadily and see it) whole----see etc which way the cat jumps like the place and her company less and less . She had to remind herself that at least she was sug-ing life. TCBoPRINCESS ANNE: We know all the people on the estates. We try to look after them,and we go and talk to them, and they tell us about their problems. I mean, you do see life. L O△next entry. see life(steadily and see it) whole have a balanced and mature reaction to people,events, fashions and opinions □ (source, refer-ring to Sophocles) Who sew life steadily, and www it whole:/ The mellow glory of the Attic stage. TOA FRIEND(MARNOLD 1822-88)□Now, MrSkipton, like me, you are an artist. You know the duty of the artist is to see life whole. US□ Bogus mystics and half-baked runaway daughters are thick on the ground: prolonging childhood into after years, the legions of those who cannot bear to see life clear and whole. L O △ previous entry. see(day) light [V+ O] see a solution, or end,to a problem or difficulty o Obtaining visas for half the Arab states in the Middle East is a for-midable business, and expensive too. But at the end of a fortnight I thought I could see daylight.BM□ 'I begin to see light,' broke in McNeil. ' If communication occurs on such a scale then it becomes doubtful whether we should talk any more of separate individuals!’ TBC ◇ 小 next entry; the light of day. see the light [V + O] realize, after being for-merly mistaken, what one should properly do or think o One of the most deeply committedChristians I know was a rabid atheist before he sew the light.□(in a Conservative Club) What brings you here, anyway? Thought you were a red-hot Labour man. Seen the light, eh? RATToPaul, 17, ' still says he wants to be slapstick comedian like me, but I have doubts about that,He' ll see the light.'TVT◇△ previous entry; the light of day. see ourselves as others see us realize what impression we make on others;(be able to) view ourselves objectively o (source) O wad (=would) some Pow'r the giftie gie(= gift give) us/To succursels(= ourselves) as others sous!TO A LOUSE(R BURNS1759-96)□ To a ge ourselves as others seems is a most salutary gift. Hardly less important is the capacity to see others as they see themselves. DOP o Is there a way to see yourself as others see you—— and what would such an ability do to you? RT see reason [V + O pass] think, or act, sensibly after studying the facts, being given advice, etc;see sense (qv) □ He's a thoroughly tiresome fellow, but he will see reason. EM o From then on, one just had to live from day to day, always hoping that it wouldn't be so long, that region would be seen by the higher authorities. ST O usu with will or would. (make sb) s·· red (make sb) become ex-tremely angry 口 It's just that I see red when Ithink anyone is trying to muscle in on my property. AITC o What made most of them see red was their assumption that we were somehow downgrading the scientist from the place where he belongs.NS□ Charles www red.His livelihood was in danger, and after so much fatigue his nerves were raw. HD see sb (all) right (informal) look after sb`s interests; ensure that sb has all that he needs or wants o Old man Barnett said that his son would never get a penny of his money but that he was very fond of his daughter-in-law and the children and would see them all right. o You do the job properly. If it costs more than you' ve estimatedI' ll see you all right.□I'd like to live here again.with you if you' ll have me. I' ll pay you two quid a week regular (= regularly) for my board, and see you right. LLDRO usu with will or would. se e sense[V + O] think or act sensibly, esp after considering the facts or the opinion' of others; see reason (qv) o SAM: Maybe you can help him. Help him to ség sénse: persuade him to give up his crazy ideas. HSGo'I'm not going to take on more than one public engagement a week this winter.'' Well, I'm glad you' ve soon sours@at last.’ seeservice [V+ O] be in employment or in use$: troops, police; aircraft, vehicle. adj: long,many years', continuous; active. A: as a policeman; in the police force; as a mobile coffee-stall; in this kitchen o Just remember thatBaxter's a man who has sign service in the tropics and will know more about the conditions than you. a The design for a nuclear vessel, cur-rently being put forward by one British firm, may perhaps se· service for a reason which is not so much economic as political. NSC□Granny's old tea-pot still session active service. see the sights [V + O pass] look at, visit, the places typical of, or famous in, a city, district.country o The mystery and history of his religion made him see the sights and hear the sounds of the city with eyes and ears that never took any-thing for granted. SCo 'I suppose you' ve finished seeing the sights for a bit now?'.' Ohno, there's a lot of stuff in and around Lisbon we' ve still got to see.’ ILIHo‘You look hot,’ she added to Vic-toria. 'I' ve been walking around seeing the sights.’ TCB□Lester Piggott’ s at home wherever he goes, does no sight-seeing, and treats NewYork much the same as Newmarket. TV on com-pounds a sightseer, sight-seeing. see stars[V+ 0](informal) be briefly blinded,perhaps with flashing sensations, or by a blow(on the head)□ My God, what a lump! You must have swen stars when you got that. I didn't feel a thing at the time. There was a bang, I see my stars, and then I woke up lying on the floor of the hut. sè o them come and see them go outlast a succession of events, persons or things o I' ve seon' am(= them) comg and I' ve seen ' em go—— six monarchs in all from Edward VII to theQueen— and I still don't rate Royalty. RT o' Well, you watch her(a baby with a cold), that's all.' Mrs Batey said.'I' ve swign thorn comodI' ve sem them go, and they sometimes go quicker than they come.’ AITC O usu perfect tenses. s è o ne'a way (clear) to do sth (formal)find that it is possible, or convenient, to do sthInf: to attend; to oblige sb; to accept o If you could see your way to say nothing further on the subject, I should be very much obliged. EMo On the assumption that Mrs Cooper can see herWhy clear to face up to the situation here, I am quite willing that she could come back. TT see etc which way the cat jumps see how 493 <494> see etc which way the wind is blowing—(these things are) sent to try us sb will act, or react; see what events will happenV: see;△guess,(not) know; be sure o It will be interesting to see which way the cat jumps,now that his profit-making can no longer be reconciled with a clear conscience. □ A jury usu-ally takes its cue from the judge's summing up but one can never be sure which way the cat will jump. see etc which way the wind is blowing see etc what is likely to happen; see etc what others think, feel, want, or are planning, esp to check before taking action, or a decision,oneself V: see; △find out, learn; know o Shall we still go bumbling(= wandering aimlessly) up the middle (in which case today's low-rated shares could be the best bet)? Why not wait and see which way the wind is blowing, with the flexibility to jump in quickly? ST o Wiser men know which way the wind was blowing, cut their losses and got out before the regulations blocking currency were enforced. OBS see the world [V + O] travel, live, and/ or work in many parts of the world □ I adore see-ing the world and when you read this, I' ll be in the middle of a hectic cabaret tour of Teheran,Hongkong and Australia which lasts three months. TVTo You' ve sùn so much more of the world than I have. QA □(old slogan) Join theNavy and see the world!□ We joined the Navy to see the world,/ And what did we see? We saw the sea! I BERLIN bi888 seeing is believing [v+ v non-rev](saying)one needs to see sth before one can believe it exists, or happens o ' Ultimately, anyone's ex-perience of the unknown has to be personal.' In other words, seeing is believing and you either believe it or you don't. TVT□Seeing is believing----'TV Times' got Anita Harris up a rope onWimbledon Common, London — thanks to some crafty camera-work. TVT o (NONCE) JamesStewart's reading was inspired; the timing, the pauses, the laboured breathing, were masterly.And pure radio: hearing was believing. LO △have (got) to/ must be seen to be believed. sell like hot cakes be bought readily, or eagerly, by large numbers of people o I trans-late Breteui l because it's easy and because it sells like hot cakes in any language. UTNo(a chair) Made from first-class materials, it retails at more than £250. At the moment it is selling like hot cakes in Switzerland but is slow (ie few are being bought) in Britain. St sell the pass[V + O pass] betray one's cause or allies; help those who should be one's enemies or opponents (from an incident in an-cient Irish history when a body of soldiers sent to defend a pass let the enemy through in ex-change for money) o It would seem that the self-appointed leaders of the pupils have sold the pass to the enemy. SC o There is, especially among younger workers, agreat thirst for social-ism which will never be quenched by the oppor-lunist posturing of men and women who have long since said the pass. NS□At some point this vital pass in the battle of communication was sold and it would be fascinating to know just when and where. L sells b a pup [V + 10 + O pass](informal) sell sb sth that is worthless, or not worth the price paid; swindle sb in any bargain or arrangement 494 □ Supposing I lend you what's necessary to buy a partnership somewhere?I won't sell you a pup,and I' ll even send business your way. RATTo DeBeers automatically accepted the custom that(the post) should be filled by a retired member of the South African police. On one of these occasions Pretoria sold them e real pup. DS□That car's caused you nothing but trouble.—you were sold a real pup there. □ often pass. sell sth/ sb short [V + O + A pass] (com-merce) agree to sell sth one does not yet have in the hope of obtaining it quickly and cheaply enough to make a profit; cheat sb in value or quantity; belittle oneself or sb/ sth else O: ster-ling, dollars; country, economy; oneself, one's friends□(artistic integrity) More crap((taboo)= rubbish) has probably been talked about sell-ing oneself short, usually by disgruntled failures, than about even the popular problem of sex. NS□ Any book runs the risk of selling its characters short in some department. OBS□'Ilike my body. There's nothing wrong with it and other people like it.’ Modesty is not one of BethPorter's strong points and she is certainly not one to sell herself short. TVT send a boy on a man's errand/ to do a man's work send, or appoint, sb to do sth that requires more strength, skill, experience etc than he has o The appearance of 18 and 19 year-olds in the early casualty lists gave rise to mur-murings at home about boys so nt to do men's work. □ Floyd Patterson was described as game', but a boy on a man's erran d when he was knocked out by Sonny Liston in the first round. BBCR send sb crazy[V + O + Comp pass](informal)seriously disturb, or upset, sb; greatly arouse,or excite, sb; drive sb mad etc(qv)o But sleep is necessary. Lack of sleep was what sent people crazy. PM□The Group have many better singles to their credit, yet this is the one that goods the fans crazy wherever they perform. send sb packing send sb away, dismiss sb from a job, swiftly and with very little courtesy or consideration, because he is not wanted, has behaved badly, etc o Mr Woodgate cleared theHall. Sent them packing in double-quick time,saw it myself. TT oJEAN:I thought he's certainly not the type for my Cairy, Too damn rough. Isent him packing last year. YAA o The pay is good but you have no job security. If you don't bring in enough orders you' re soon sent packing. send etc word [possess] send etc news, a message, request, order by a messenger etc V:send; △ hear; get, have, receive;(there) be. A:of it, of the meeting; about their movements;that his wife was ill; when he might be expected□' The programme has been changed. ' 'I know,Sire; the Queen sent word altering it late this evening. ’ WIo‘Fancy Jim not telling us he'd got through (= passed) his exam!'' He only got award this morning.'o On the Friday I had still had no word from America. NM (these things are) sent to try us (saying)(adversities, inconveniences are) intended byGod to test our worthiness, courage, patience,faith det: these; such; one of the o The disas-trous droughts of the past few years are just bibli-cal plagues sənt to try us. NSa A chap with a machine-gun came and stuck the barrel in my <495> serve sb right—— set a thief to catch a thief ribs and told me to get back. These are the things that are sent to try you. Ty to final pron occas you, as shown. serve sb right(informal) be a just, or suitable,penalty for sb $: it... if you failed, it.. for being an idiot o Helen wanted everything. It would serve her mother right if she ran straight back to Felix and said,' Forgive me, I will marry you.'AITCo It serves the beggars right for being out marching when they should have obeyed the law and stayed at home. Lo HYMIE: Why didn't I go home(ie to get my head bandaged)?MONTY: Be-cause you know Lottie would say ' serves you right.’ CSWB O serve/ serves you, them, the brute(s) right as an exclamation(without S). serve one's/ its turn [V + O] be useful for a purpose or for a particular period $: servant,assistant; stove, fridge; drill, razor a It served its turn well, did that little car, because John developed into a very fine driver. RFWo Now the cleaning woman has served her turn, they'd be happy to get rid of her. o also pl serve their turn.◇△ next entry. serve sb's turn [V + O] be good, or useful,enough for sb's purpose o A reliable lad that' ll do what he's told will serve my turn perfectly well. o Anyone who sees something of Ser-vicemen's reading, of the popularity of American and English comics (with the cruder English boy's comics serving their turn when the supply of hotter material runs out) knows something of all this. ULO △ previous entry. set/ start the ball rolling be the first person,or item, to start a group programme, activity.discussion etco The cabbies(= taxi drivers) are waiting for Lefty, the guy who's going to or-ganise them and set the ball rolling. Lo All that is required is a rough sketch, or joke idea, invol-ving up to four people, with your own caption or' Laughline' to sa t the ball rolling. RT o I was willing to start the ball rolling by submitting at once a paper giving the War Office views. MFM◇△ keep the ball rolling. set(sb)a(good etc)&& maple[V +10 + 0pass] show, or maintain,a(good) standard of work, behaviour, for others to copy adj: good,△fine; bad, poor o(the start of a school day)' Is she in? She usually is by now.' ' She's certain to be, I think.'' Yes,' said Miss Flynn, ' she cer-tainly sets us all a good example.'TTo They look to employers to make a firm stand against excessive union demands and under their leader-ship the public sector has been called upon to set an example. SC a They' re following the good* Xemple set by their teachers. o Is that the example you set your younger brothers? o omission of adj implies example is good. ◇follow sb's example. set fair [Comp (AdjP)] in a stable and favour-able condition (for sth to happen or be achieved) (from set fair, a position on a barometer dial) V:△be, seem; turn to. A: for success; to succeed o When I last spoke to you the economic barometer seemed to be set fair.But in the latter half of the year it began to fall.T o The weather was hot, we had swamps and water close by, and everything was set fair for the winged horrors, but they never appeared in quantity. BMoCilla Black. the distaff(= female)side of the Mersey invasion of the 60s look, is seí fair to become the Gracie Fields of 1984. RTset the pace [V+ O pass] fix a rate of racing,running, walking which others(try to) keep up with, or surpass; take the lead, be foremost, in any activity involving co-operation, or com-petition, with others o With Roddy setting the pace, the boys tore uphill and arrived with burs-ting lungs. o (advertisement) It's the RonsonC. F. L.—— the new shaver that sots the pece for years to come. DM□ It was he who set the pace and established the style of a very agile and pert production. G o Italy was from time to time quoted as the success story of the Common Mar-ket--its most backward member becoming the pece-setter in economic growth. NS o n com-pound a pace-setter. a set piece a display, procedure, scene,(public) event that takes place in a set pattern(from, originally, an elaborate fireworks display on fixed frames) □ (rugby football)There was every indication that it was at the set piece that the Lions could get the sort of ball needed to win the Test matches. Lo Except when there is a set piece and a vote at 10 p. m., theHouse of Commons, these days, is a placid place after dinner. NS□ I like a garden to look as if it had just happened even if more care has been expended on the planning than in any set-piece flower-bed or border. SC □ Trying to find any practical benefit from Strategic Arms LimitationTalks, or other set-piece conferences, is like peering through the wrong end of a telescope. Lo attrib use a set-piece flower-bed, conference.set/ put the record straight [V+0 + Comp pass] provide a correct account, explanation etc of facts, events; put sth right/ straight(qv)oI'd been warned by an anxious press-lady not to bring up politics. In the event, he seemed anxious to set the record straight. RT o All in all, this is a profoundly depressing volume. Perhaps, asDame Rebecca felt, it had to be written to set the record straight, but it is impossible to read it without feeling a frisson((French) = shudder)of true fear. L a But before the discussion proceeded any further the Labour record would have to be put atnight. set one's/ sb's sights high [V+ 0 + Comp pass] be, or make sb, ambitious about one's/ his future, or in an aim or project; have, set, a high standard of work, morals or behaviour o From the Careers Guide brought out by the NationalUnion of Teachers some parents may he able to see that they, or their children, are being over-ambitious; others that they have not set their sights high enough. OBSo The Italians are upset that, in setting their sights so much higher theAmericans are imposing unattainable and url-realistic standards which could put paid to eco-nomy cars. Lo Of the many reasons I have to holdPersinger in loving remembrance, none is greater than his getting my sights high from the begin-ning. OBS△ lower/ raise one's sights. set a thief to catch a thief (saying) sb ex-perienced in crime, or cunning, is the most suit-able person to catch, or prevent, another per-son of the same type o The effectiveness of theCID ((GB) = Criminal Investigation Depart-ment) depends on professional skill and training and then on integrity. It really is utter nonsense to say you must sot a thisf to catcha thief. Lo 495 <496> set the tone (of/ for sth)— shake one/ sb rigid The President's response was to appoint a presidential task force headed by his chief troubleshooter. Apparently the reason behind this choice was that it takes a thief to catcha thief. SC o (NONCE) (reader's letter) ' Set a policeman to catch a policeman' works only when the set policemen have the will to catch (ie expose corruption). NS □ variant it takes a thief to catch a thief. set the tone (of/ for sth) [V + O pass]establish the atmosphere, mood, social or moral level(of sth)o: meeting. discussion; cam-paign, movement o If the policy was to promote high morale throughout the Army, the War Of-fice must itself set the tone. MFM□ His obvious boredom at the entire proceedings set the tone for what promised to be a remarkably cheerlessChristmas dinner. EM□ The first party political broadcast of the election clearly set the style and tone of the government campaign. NS (soon) settle sb's hash [V + O pass](infor-mal) (quickly) end sb's annoying behaviour,defiance, complaints, interference etc o He hasn't any claim on you at all. Don't worry. Agood lawyer will soon settle his hash. o ' That's settled their hash. I think,' their father repor-ted. ' No more squabbling this afternoon.'. oPromising herself she would soon settle the janitor' shash, Miss Murphy strode off down the corridor with the requisition sheet in her hand. o stress pattern usu settle ' sb's hash. the seven deadly sins the seven faults of character or behaviour, any one of which could bar one's soul from heaven (from medievalChristianity) o Morally, of course, theAmericans know as much as any of us about the seven deadly sins. Lo I tend to steer clear of the curious mixture known as the Ten Command-ments. I prefer to be guided by the Seven Doad-ly Sins—— or the reciprocal I should say. The most insidious one for me——I'm too old for lechery now—— is sloth. TVT o It is a sad facet of human nature that to be called naive is more wounding than to be accused of all seven Deadly Sins.OBS the seven-year itch boredom, restlessness,desire for sexual variety that is supposed to set in about seven years after marriage o My man and I had been married for seven years. We all know about the myth about the itch, and we joke about it, but now and again I had my misgivings that there is never smoke without fire. YWT o It was a very happy marriage, but it only lasted four years. In the old days we had the seven-year itch; these days everything goes at a much faster pace. TVT the seventh heevon a state of perfect bliss,extreme happiness and satisfaction o She's so smart it's not true. Matthew's in the seventh heaven. I'm afraid he's a snob, but I do think that's the least of the vices, don't you? USo Lau-ra's ummistakable preference for his company that evening had raised Tom's spirits to the swiginth hwiwn. D usu with be in the/ one's. 参考X appeal the (degree of) attractiveness a man or woman has for sb of the opposite sex o Ac-tress Pam Grier smoulders evil and swiappeal as the panther woman. TVTo Whatever s qx mp-peal Jimmy had was greatly enhanced by his resemblance to the star of a popular TV series. 496 shake one's head' [V+ O] move one's head a little from side to side to express refusal o' Will you drive, Mr Alan?' I shock my head; Iwanted to be able to see the countryside. RFWoHe said' Anything more?' in a low voice and when she shook her head his thin dark face cleared and brightened. DC□ He brushed past the ticket-seller with an impatient shake of his head. STo variant with a shake of one's head. shake one's head² [V + O] move one's head from side to side to give advice or a warning oIt's not a fair game of chess if you' re going to stand there shaking your head every time Jim looks as if he's going to make a wrong move. oHugo shook his head at me and put his finger to his lips and gave his attention to Lefty. UTNshake one's hemd³[V + O] move one's head slowly from side to side, to express sorrow, con-cern, perplexity, disapproval A: over the news;at such behaviour; in disgust o' My poor cousin has passed away. His end was very peaceful.' DrBottwink, his hands thrust deep into his pockets,shook his head slowly from side to side, EM oThen she took out Mr Greenholtz's recom-mendation(of herself) and shook her head over it. ' We must do better than that,' said Victoria.TCB□ This was clearly a lie. I shook my head over it. UTN□ Right from his earliest academic days he gave them history lessons they had never heard before, and his fellow dons shook their heads gravely. RTO n compound head-shaking.shake a leg [V + O] (dated slang) stir oneself;show some physical energy and activity; dance,esp informally or socially o Shake a leg now.Ginger, there's a good sort. There's all that pile to be priced, and you know it's my half day. AITC□ Father of two, and now 50, George claims he can ' still shake a log with all the youngsters at the discos. I enjoy a bit of a rave-up. Keeps me fit.'TVT shake etc like a jolly/ leaf shake, tremble etc with fear, apprehension, nervousness V: shake,△ tremble, quiver, wobble o Ma, who had recovered equilibrium, now spoke down the speaking tube, shaking like a jolly. DBM o He was trembling Ifk·a jolly, so that I was hard put to it to know what was going on. LLDR□SirThomas Beecha m maintained that he asked LeonGoossens to play the tuning note for the orchestra whereat Leon's oboe wobbled like a jolly. When he had finished, Sir Thomas turned to the orchestra, saying ' Gentlemen, take your choice.'RT o We arrived at the dentist, quivering like jellies, tormented by the dimily-understood hor-ror ofexposed nerves. SCa You could hear shrap-nel after that, you could count it. Bong, chang,boom. Shaking like a leaf you'd be. L o They even more kindly invited all women passengers into the cockpit; one of them emerged sheking like a leaf. ' They asked me to fly the plane.' ns□ esp continuous tenses. shake one/ sb rigid [V + 0 + Comp pass](informal) frighten, upset, or astonish, sb o Tt reely(= really) shook me rigid.' Kevin lurked behind a power-drill to drown his complaint; ' It's crawling with drunks and loonies.’ NS□‘Are you a Christian?’ It shook me rigid. In my whole living life I'd never been asked that one before.JFTR o I was never so glad to get out of a car in my life. He had us all shaken rigid. o usu past <497> shall be etc nameless—(all) shipshape and Bristol-fashion simple tense. shall be etc nameless will not be referred to by name S: my informant; who, that, which. V:shall be, shall remain; must be, had better be;prefers to be a ' How do you know?' ' On good authority. My informant, however, shall be namespaces.’ a I entitled it‘The Silencer’ and added an author's preface to the effect that Iowed many of the ideas contained therein to a friend who should be summeless. UTNo During the Somme battle that summer an infantry brigade, which had better remain numeleg.was to be the leading brigade in a divisional at-tack. MFMo It's perfectly true, and we both know it, that there are certain lady judges, who shall remain n& meles; who have also been known to give you some extraordinary marks. OBSa usu as rel clause following who, which, that. Shanks's pony/ mar e [0/o (NP)] on foot;walking V: ride, use, go on o (high cost of petrol) Others had bought or now used a moped or motorcycle. Four per cent said that they had already made a reluctant return to Shanks's pony. OBS the shape/ taste of things to come [O(NP)] future events; future conditions of life and work (from a book of that title, published1933, by H G WELLS) V: foretell, indicate, por-.tend o When Baron de Coubertin reformulated the Olympic ideal in 1908—— The most impor-tant thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part, —— he could hardly have foreseen that in the 1970s this would be regarded as a pious, fatuous hope with not an inkling of the grim shape of things to com. NSoLooking back over my journal,I see that events of my first week at California State University in San Jose pretty much foreshadowed the shape of things to com@.OBS□A lady constituent has invaded his garden to request an autograph on behalf of her dog. The invasion, David Steel says, is uncharac-teristic: ‘But I hope that it's not a teste of things to comg.’ RT share and share alike an equal division, or use, of commodities, facilities etc o Nothing to do except go over to Mac's there and drink his beer, and he comes over here to drink mine. Ashare and share alike, with no one to worry you,and all the time in the world. TCMa It was share and sh ar" alike in the early days. We had to borrow boxing boots, for example. Henry would wear them, do three rounds, whip them off, andI would have my fight in them. TVT o often in construction it is(a matter of) share and short alike. sharp practice actions which do not break the law but which are intended to deceive others and profit oneself □ But imagine two apparently identical piles of shirts, the first labelled Hong-kong and the second carrying no origin mark, but costing more. All those people who assume that the high-priced pile is British and better may simply be paying extra for a bit of sharp prac-rice. L sharpen one's/ sb's brain/ wits [V + 0pass] (cause to) become more mentally alert,able, inventive or cunning$; you, he, we, they;danger, risk, challenge o Steve's a nice chap but far too easy-going. He' ll need to shopping his wits a bit if he hopes to get on in business. o The revival of her novels during the past winter had sharpened her brain. Her memory had im-proved, and her physical health was better than it had been for years. MM shine like a good deed in a naughty world (catchphrase)be pleasing and praiseworthy in sharp contrast to the less pleasant background, circumstances etc o(source) How far that little candle throws his bearns!/ So shines a good deed in a mughty world. MERCHANT OF VENICEVIOI recommen-ded a visit to Franklin Schaffner's' Planet of theApes', a science fiction film which in retrospect shines like a good deed in a nughty world.NS□ One house especially has been extensively redecorated and redesigned. The VaudevilleTheatre shines forth like a good deed in this naughty world. OBS□(US networks) Still, the attempt now being made is a brave one. In theAmerica of the moment it shines like a good deed in a grey world. Lo Until recently, un-pressurized draught beer has been available in only one railway station in the country, namely the BR (= British Rail) buffet at LincolnCentral, where the hand-pumped Bass shome like a good deed in angughty world. Go may be adapted, as shown. ashining& ample(of sb/ sth)[Comp(NP)]sb who, or sth which, is a perfect instance of a particular type, and sets an excellent model for others to follow V:△be, become; regard sb as.o:a happily married couple; efficiency, leader-ship, integrity □ The final achievement in theSecond World War resulted from the bigness of the men who were selected to act in the critical positions—— amongst whom Eisenhower was a shining example. MFM o Friends regard Joan and Phillip as a shining example of a happily married couple. STo A ' Border IndustrialisationProgramme' tries to bring together American know-how and cheap Mexican labour in a shin-ing example of good neighbourliness. OBS□JohnBentley is a shining * Xample of an ordinary man who was not content with his corner in the pub. NS a shining light [Comp(NP)](sb/ sth) outstand-ingly good in any field of activity V: △ be,become; turn into o(source) He(John the Bap-tist) was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.JOHN V35□ He is also the undisputedexpert in the field of medieval and renaissance music, and his.Early Music Consort of London is a shining light in the vast field of British music and musicians. G o also pl. (steer) the ship of stat@(cliché) (guide,govern) a nation and its affairs o The hour of crisis is past. The ship of state is back on an even keel, and we must put behind us the fear of capsizing. NS o (NONCE) The Dayak cance of states as it sails along, often has as many claimants for the captaincy as there are crew.NDN (all) shipshape and Bristol-fashion[Comp (AdjP)] in good order; tidy; well-organized and fully equipped (the reference being to the time when Bristol was an impor-tant commercial port for sailing-ships)V:△be;keep sth; find sth o One of the most curious expressions in common use is ' mi l ship-shape 497 <498> shiver my/ me timbers—— short of sth and Bristol-fashion'. Bristol City is given over to a convoluted mass of Bristolians in motor-cars, travelling in disorganized chaos. Bristol-fashion, whatever it may have been in the days of tall ships, is today a bit of a muck. G□Jim Lar-kin arrives at a Devonshire hotel to find every-thing shipshape and Bristol-fashion--only there's no owner, no staff and no guests. SC shiver my/ me timbers(dated nautical slang)exclamation of astonishment or amusement oAnd Danny Kaye's comment on the ship as he arrived to play Captain Hook? ' Shiver me tim-bers, it's a real treasure.' TVT o(film review)You' ll shiver your timbers as Wily Wisdom wrecks a rocket, dowses the diver and collides with the Commodore. It may not be clever but it's clean! RTO now facetious. (know where) the shoe pinches(know in which way) a situation proves troublesome oAny working housewife with a family to feed knows where the shoe pinches without study-ing cost of living indexes.□ There's no merit in taking on responsibilities and then finding ex-cuses to shed them as soon as the shoe begins to pinch. shoot one's bolt [V + O] find that there is nothing further one can do to attack sb, defend oneself, or achieve one's aim; make one's final effort (from bolt = arrow, hence ` have no weapon left') o I think I' ve shot my boft here.I' ve done what little I can and I must go and start somewhere else. Lo With that I had shot my bolt in Seattle, but there remained one faint hope of contact in America. RFWo At the fag-end of your life (ie in one's old age) you don't care much what you say or what is said to you. One has shot one's bolt, and it is too late. NS a also pl●shoot their bolt(s); esp perfect tenses. shoot first and ask questions afterwards/ later (catchphrase) kill, or wound, anyone who might be an enemy, and find out afterwards whether one was right or wrong o Such gunfighters came from various backgrounds, approached their jobs differently,but all shared one characteristic: they were killers. They tended to shoot first and ask guestions afterwards and they did their best to take no chances. TVT o often used as comment on sb's ruthless, or casual, attitude to an enemy.shoot a line [V + 0](dated Royal Air Force slang) suggest by one's remarks that one's standing, work, achievements etc are better, or more important, than they actually are a WhenI was new to England I tried once or twice to explain to people how we lived, and found that they thought I was shooting a line. RFW o I' ve watched that bastard going and coming about the wor!d, shooting a line about his responsibilities as a British newspaper man. PPoI always fall for any lime that people shoot. HAA□GEORGE: The one thing I never shootal ine about is the R. A. F.EGD□Either he's shooting· phony(= untrue)line or you are. HDo I' ve heard of line-shooting.but even she can't expect us to believe that ridiculous excuse for her behaviour yesterday---she lost her temper and was extremely rude,that's all, a Jack must be the world's best line-shooter. He convinces all his girlfriends that they' re the only one for him—— and he always has at least three around at a time. O n com- 498 pounds line-shooting, a line-shooter. short back and sides an old-fashioned, or regulation, hair-cut for men and boys where the hair is cut very short o Remember square-bashing(= military drill) and the days of short-back-and-sides? Whether you do or not, take a trip down memory lane to the time of NationalService. TVT□ Th e American GIs((US) = enlis-ted soldiers) had bespoke hair-cuts that suited the head, whereas the British habit was to have the universal short back and sides and grease the hair. TVT o esp associated with service in ranks of British Army. (on) short commons(having) barely enough food, esp over a period of time o The father of this brilliant group, bright and sensitive in his own right, must have chafed under the weight of obscurity and short commons, NS o Tell them they must make the food last. We' ll all be on short commons if the supply ship doesn't get through on time. a short cut (to sth) [Comp (NP)] a shorter way than the one usually taken to go from one place to another;a quick way, avoiding most of the usual work or trouble to achieve sth V: △be, become; look like; make sth. A: to the village; across the fields; through the side-streets; to success, to recovery, to a degree inMedicine o He made for the Western Highway by a short cut through the suburban roads I did not know. RFW□ There is no short curt to these qualifications. □ Persuading foreigners to hold your money, be it as a reserve currency, an invest-ment or a trading medium, is one of the best short cuts to wealth and power. Go The most crucial point he makes is that, because the drug is a short cut to religious or quasi-religious ec-stasies, the ecstasy it affords is not the real thing.ST口 also pl. short for sth [Comp(AdjP)] a shortened form of a name $: Jo; Ina,NUT. V:△be; regard sth as. o: Joseph, Georgina, National Union ofTeachers a Is Ina your baptismal name—— or is it short for Georgina or Williamina or some-thing?□' Can't we call you Charley?—— after all it's short for your other name.'' Please call meCharley if you wish, ' Mr Charlton said. DBMoShe prefers to be called Katharine but everyone calls her Kate for short. D variant call sb/ be called Joe etc for short. a short life and a merry (one)(saying)a life full of pleasure and enjoyment(is best), even if it is shortened thereby V: have, live, choose □You should be taking care of yourself.'' Why? Imight prefer a short life and emerry.'o(child-ren's clothes) Parents are having to decide whether to buy expensive, quality garments made to last, or cheap clothes which have a short life and a merry one. SC a (NONCE) Some of the stresses can be avoided, and some reduced, al-though it is, of course, up to the individual to decide if he wants to. Not everyone chooses a long life and a dull ond. ST short of sth' [Comp (AdjP)] less than sth;below (a particular level)V:△be, lie, stop. adv mod: just, only, a little; far, considerably,(not).much a At last he struck the wall and followed it, stopping a few feet short of the point where he believed St Sabas to be lying. ARGo' How tall is he?' ' Just short of six feet, I'd guess.'o The <499> car's performance was far short of what I'd been led to expect. o Middle-brow transatlantic comedy is a school that seems incapable of stop-ping situation humour short of farce. NS short of sth²[Comp(AdjP)] without, lacking,enough of sth . V: △ be, find oneself, go. o:money, food, ideas, friends□ Chaps like you are always short of money. If you don't take the cash you' ll regret it tomorrow. UTNo(dieting) If you simply eat less you may go short of some of the nutrients essential for health. RT o It's not ideas he's short of, it's energy to carry them through. □ If the family is hard up, then it is usually the mother who goes short, who pinches herself on food and clothes. UL o of can be omitted where O is understood from context, as in last example. ◇ △ ru n short (of sth). short and sweet [adj + adj . non-rev] lasting too short a time, but, nevertheless, welcome or pleasing; short at least, even though that may be its only merit V: be; make sth, keep sth o At the moment, our opportunities of meeting are short and sweet, but that will all change soon.□The golden rule for after-dinner speeches is to keep them short and sweet. o (some school-boys are to be punished) These boys won't be away long, Mr Chadwick —— we aim here to make everything short and sweet. TT o Comp or modifies a preceding n. short and to the point [Comp(AdjP)] short,or brusque, but incapable of being misunder-stood $: statement, order, explanation, speech.V: △ be; make sth, keep sth o I opened MissX. Y.'s letter first. It was short and to the point,and my spirits rose incredibly. She praised my book. SPLo He paused to say,' But I don't suppose you want to listen to my troubles?' Jane's reply was short and to the point.' No, Dave,I don't.'shouldor a burden (of sth) [V + 0 pass]perform a duty, accept a responsibility, that involves considerable work and sacrifice det:a,the; many, some. adj: a heavier, the heaviest, a considerable. o: famine relief; running the place, nursing her invalid mother o He shouldered a heayy burden of teaching and supervision, now reflected in the growing achieve-ments of a brilliant galaxy of pupils. NS□ Who cares whether the doctor wears a frock coat or a boiler suit so long as he is prepared to shoulder the burdon of our woes? SC o We have shouldered burden after burden nobody asked us to, and now Lord Rothschild says we shall end up poorer than Portugal. Lo The mood of idealis-tic imperialism has been replaced by an almost bitter determination to see to it that ' undeser-ving' allies and ' ungrateful' client states should now shoulder some of the burdayw hichAmericans themselves have suddenly discovered to be oppressive. NS show (sb) a clean pair of hoeis [V + 10 +O pass] get ahead of, or away from, sb/ sth very fast; make much better progress than a com-petitor IO: you; competitors, enemy o I wasn't claiming that Bob was a world-class sprinter, but he could show you a clean peir of hoels any-way. a lan watched him nervously, ready to show a clempair of hoets as soon as the fuse was lighted. □ For once, the amateurs of the press showed the professionals of politics a very clean peir of hoeis. NS a Only a week ago, short of sth— show signs (of sth/ that) British Leyland could still show Slater WalkerSecurities & clean pair of hoeis. OBS show/ fly the flag [V+ 0] make known one's support of, loyalty to, alliance with, one's/a country, party, movement etc A: for Britain, for his old school; in support of the objectors o' Showing the flag' as he does at these sporting events is part of his one-man campaign to rehabilitate national pride. OBS o Drake won-dered if the company had put a black spot against his name. In fact, it was decided that he had shown the flag for Britain, the Empire, and the system. OBS□ Anne flow the flag by reappear-ing (after her fall) but her score left her in 24th place. It was a disappointing end for her and the rest of the British team. OBS o fly the flag usu confined to advertisements for British Airways.◇△ wave the flag. show etc one's hand[V+ O] let others know one's intentions, resources, capabilities (from card games) V: show, △ reveal, disclose □ By1805 Muhammed Ali felt strong enough to show his hand. He besieged the Turkish governor in the citadel, took him prisoner, and set himself up in his place. BN□ He and his daughter know the use and power of money, and they know how to wait and watch and to be silent and not show their hand. NS □ Blessed England, where bureaucrats feel obliged to show at least part of their hand before they play it. L show a le g [V + O](dated slang) rise from bed or sleep o' Come on, you lazy so-and-sos,' saidBrian, lifting the tent flap, ' show a leg.'o It's often ll o' clock before he shows a long. show/ prove one's mattle [V + O] give proof of one's courage, worth, determination oHe is a good cricketer with a tough streak under a very pleasant and diplomatic exterior, and he has shown his captaincy mettie over the past few years with Glamorgan. Lo He was confident enough to welcome a bit of heckling at his meet-ing, judging that it gave him a chance to prove his mette. showone' spaces[V+O] show what one can do in a particular activity, skill or study (from horses in a show or sale-ring)o She felt that like a champion in any field he must be given the chance to show his pass. PW a The first and second prizewinners appeared with YehudiMenuhin in his Festival Orchestra in a programme designed, I suppose, to show theirDecog. ST show promis·[V + 0 pass] show signs of an ability, or talent, that is not yet fully developed or perfected; seem to progress towards a satis-factory, or favourable, outcome S: actor,musician; performance, work; season, cam-paign. adj: great, considerable, little;(not) any,not much. A: as a footballer; of becoming a violinist o It is 69 years since an anonymous critic wrote in‘The Era’, ‘Master CharlesChaplin as a newsboy known as Sam showed promits.’ OBS□A painting which, if executed by a 16-year-old could be said to show great promise, would, in the case of a man of 50, be an argument for taking up golf or carpentry instead.o The article remarked on the distinct promise shown by several young players. show signs (of sth/ that) {V + O} indicate the presence, or approach, of a physical or 499 <500> show one's teeth— sick of the sight/ sound of sb/ sth mental condition; indicate that one/ it is likely to be/ do sth det: many, few; no, (not) any,some; every(sign); little (sign). o: age,boredom; wear and tear; complying, being interested. cl: that he might break down, that would lead one to believe it o Sarah retains much of her energy, but showssigns of her age and her troubles. CSWB□I suspect that Duchêne is not a religious man. (He shows signs of having once been a socialist.) NS□He waited forFroulish to ask what that was, but the novelist was rolling himself a cigarette and showed no sign of hearing, so he went on. HDo The speech of Dr Verwoerd before the attempt on his life showed no signs that the Government might lean tomoderation. SCo' The younger one, Toby.'says Miss Smith, ' shows every sign of becom-ing an actor.'RTo' This suit is showing some signs of wear, I'm afraid.' ' That's putting it mildly.'□ Only twice as we talked on did MartinGray show any signs of anger. OBSo Further-more, workplace inequality shows little sign of being removed on a major scale. NS□ signs occas sing, as shown—— in those cases, det (any, no,little etc) must be used. show one's teeth [V + O] use one's author-ity, or one's power, to intimidate or punish oThe guarantors determined, one cold Wednesday morning, to show their testh. They exercised their contractual right to replace Polanski andBraunsberg as producers. STo Matron looked a comfortable, motherly soul but she soon showed her teeth if any of the inmates gave signs of having minds of their own. show (sb) who's boss [V + 10 + O pass](informal) make it clear (to sb) that one is in charge, that one has authority over him oBuddyboy was a beautiful, clever dolphin—— but also a rebel who would change the act and wreck the show. Hubbard hated him and had to show him who waiboss. TVTa You must show your plants who's boss. Sni p off the two leaves above the growing ' tips' and this will encourage the lower foliage to sprout sideways. TVT show willing let sb understand that one is willing to do sth whether actually required to or not; ensure that one is seen as a co-operative,agreeable person o I think she has plenty of helpers as it is, but I'd better go along and show willing.□/ wish now that I hadn't half-heartedly concurred that early August day. But I wanted to show willing to like. MFMo in opposite mean-ing, neg constructions more usual than show unwilling. shrink heads [V + O pass] (informal) give psychiatric treatment or therapy o Finally there may appear a statistica t appendix tabulating the heads that have been successfully shrunk and comparing this proportion with the failures of some less intensive regime in the NHS. NS o 'Iwant to ask this shrink a few questions. Make an appointment for me—— police business.'‘You know, he doesn't have to answer questions con-cerning a patient?’ ITV 口 n compound a head-shrinker =‘psychiatrist’(reduced form a shrink in second example). a shrinking violet (facetious) a timid, shy,unassertive person o In the past we have tended to see Mr Healey, not perhaps as a siwluking viofet, still less as the gentles t and meekest of 500 spirits, but rather as an eclectic politician. NS□In black velvet with chiffon jabots, these ankle-length dresses would make even a shrinking violet look regal. SC□I remember him there,a long, thin, silent shadow behind Chapman's cor-pulence. One has heard of shrinking violets:here was a shrinking cactus. RT shrug one's shoulders [V, + O] raise, then drop, one's shoulders, usu to show indifference,but perhaps helplessness o Asked if he wanted to spend a night in the cells, he merely shrugged his shoulders. o Felix stared at Virginia un-happily. Chris looked at Felix, shrugged his fleshy shoulders and took his sherry over to the fire. AITCo(stage direction) He shrinks, looks at them for a sort of forgiveness, and then, shrug-ging his shoulders, lurns and goes. ITAJo There is no excuse, however, for active members of theLabour Party to shrug their shoulders, blame the Government and leave it at that. NS□(He)tends to worry excessively over the very slightest infringement of the social code which most people would dismiss with a shrug of the shoulders. SNPO also used fig to suggest mental attitude of indifference, helplessness; variants give/ with a shrug of one's/ the shoulders. shudder to think (cliché) dislike thinking;hate to think; be afraid to think O: what her kitchen must be like, what he' ll do to her; how much money has been wasted on it; of it, of how long it' ll take o Imagine having to live in such conditions and sleep five or six to a room! Ishudder to think of it. To His clothes are nearly dropping off him with age and dirt and when he last took a bath I shudder to think. D often follows O clause, as in second example; S is often I. shut one's mouth etc[V+ O](informal) not start to speak; stop speaking; keep one`s mouth/ trap shut(qv)O: mouth, △trap, face,gob o ' Go on.' ' No. You' re so convinced you' re right that I might as well shut my mouth.'oLETOUZEL: Use your brains, you silly little fellow.or else shut your mouth while the rest of us use ours. THHoBaader's reply is a rapid spate of Ger-man four-letter words, telling the judge to shut his trip as he is only a jailer of the capitalist system'. STo' Shur your gob, ' he said, but quiet like, ' or I' ll kick you out.'LLDR o also pl shut their mouths etc; used esp as brusque or rude command. open one's (big) mouth. sick at heart [Comp (AdjP)] unhappy; anx-ious; harrowed by doubt, disappointment,fear or grief V:△ be, become; feel; makesb□He himself had come out of it (the First WorldWar) so old with killing and so sick at heart that he had only one clear instinct and that was to get away from the scene as quickly as possible. LWK□ I left the Near East sick at heart, ferociously determined to make any new institute in London first and foremost an effective medium for the enlargement of technical understanding. SD sick of the sight/ sound of sb/ sth [Comp(AdjP)](informal) wearied, disgusted, irritated by sb/ sth that one has seen or heard too often;next entry(qv); sick to death of sb/ sth(qv) V:△be, get, become o (a‘Honeymoon Hotel’ inAmerica) And if in time they get sick of the sight of each other in all the various permitta-tions of beds and baths and mirrors, the young <501> hushand can take himself off to one of the bars.ST a ' He sang that well.' ' It's his party piece (ie what he always sings). His wife must be sick of the sound of it.' sick and tired of sb/ sth [Comp (AdjP)] (in-formal) wearied, bored, exasperated, irritated by sb/ sth; previous entry(qv); next entry(qv)V: △ be, get, become o ' There are times,' saidLuke, ' when I get sick and tired of you wise old men.’ NM o I get sick and tired of you in that baggy cardigan and no collar on. TSMPo'I am sick and tired of children coming into this room without knocking, ' old Flynn said. TTo(reader's letter) We have become throroughly sick of his snide remarks towards our colleagues. NSo non-rev though either sick of or tired of can be used with same meaning. sick to death of sb/ sth [Comp (AdjP)] (in-formal) wearied, bored, annoyed by; previous entry(qv); sick of the sight/ sound of sb/ sth(qv)V:△be, get, become □ I read of Paris fashion till I'm sick to death of it. SC o Mr Maddox,currently the outstanding editor of' Nature', now wishes it to be known that he is Sick To Death of prophecies of doom. NS□Can't we change the subject? I'm sure that, after a school day, James is sick to death of kids and conversations about kids. side by side (with sb/ sth) [A] one beside the other; closely together; in collaboration(with sb); placed together for comparison V:stand, sit, walk; live, work, fight, grow up;study sth, look at, compare, place, sth o They stood side by side like a bride and a bridegroom at the altar. o... the long houses where animals and humans lived side by side. TVT□I had, ac-cording to Lord Kilmuir, carried that off with distinction and success and Macmillan had to work side by side with me. Lo He was forever refining and improving his comedy pieces: it is interesting. for instance, to view side-by-side two versions of his famous billiards sketch. RToThe correct way to conduct the trial would have been a side-by-side comparison between Decca and the competing system. NSC o attrib use rare except as shown in last example, a side-by-side comparison, evaluation, check etc. asight better etc(than)[Comp(AdjP)] very much better etc(than)V:△be; think, find sth.adj: better, worse; later, sooner; more interest-ing; less expensive; more carefully of didn't like being a prisoner but it was a damned sight better tham being dead. RATT o HELEN: If you spent as much time on me as you do on them(=those) fiddling bits of greenery I'd be a damn sight better off. TOHo We thrash matters out like that, which is # sight more planment in my opinion the m the atmosphere of an official discussion. TGLY a (race-course gambling)' Done!' he said. ' What a sportsman! But we' ll make a sight more than fifty pounds.'UTN a sign of the times [Comp (NP)] sth that shows the nature of, or changes in, the politics,economics, social etc values of any particular period V: △ be; regard sth as o They have broken from fundamental Conservative philosophy—— that nationalised industries should be allowed to charge what the market will bear and make a profit. Perhaps they were too distrac-ted by other sign e of the tlowers. Lo I would be sick and tired of sb/ sth----a silly billy impressed by many things about the Escort 1300GL—— but it's a sign of the times that I'd need nearly £1,800 to get one. TVT□ One of the most divisive elements in our society seems to me to be the so-called generation gap. I feel that it is an important sign of the times, all the same. OBSo often follows it/ this is. sign/ take the pledge [V + 0] swear, form-ally promise, to abstain from alchohol (the reference being to written forms of undertaking to do so introduced by 19th c TemperanceSocieties)D' Don't bring me into it.' I said. ' It's like a drunkard wanting you to witness his sign-ing the pledge. You feel personally responsible when they go back on it.'CONo When I went to work among them they were an alcholic com-munity. I made them take the pledge. It wasn't easy. It took months. ST signed (and) sealed (and delivered) [adj+ adj+ adj non-rev] properly completed, endor-sed (and presented to the relevant person or body); with all legal, or usual, formalities having been completed o 'I would never dream of going without an invitation.'' Well, we' ll see that you get one, signed, sealed and delivered.□ Paris still seems determined to have an agree-ment on sterling balances signed and seeled.OBS o(NONCE) But their manoeuvres in the show do support the comforting notion that a girl is incomplete without a man. And not merely a man—a husband, signed, subled and securely shackled. RT (speech is silver but) silence is golden(saying) it is desirable, and may be more effec tive, to remain silent o (source) As the Swiss inscription says: ‘Sprechen ist silbern, Schweigen ist golden’(Speech is silvern, Silence is golden).'SARTOR RESARTUSIII(TCARLYLE1795-1881)o I'm thinking of putting up a '311ence is golden ' piacard in this office. Nobody can hear themselves think. a (advertisement appeal.Royal National Institute for the Deaf) Ask the deaf if silence is golden. RT o often used as recommendation to remain silent. silence reigns there is total silence; no one speaks o An almost eerie silence reigned after the noise of the motors had faded away. BM oSilon ce reigned throughout the rest of the shop except for the whispering voices of a few assis-tants. UTN the silent majority those who lack the ability,or the interest, to make their opinions or reac-tions known through the media, organized demonstrations, pressure groups, etc o The silent majority had always previously meant the dead. Today it has come to mean the great soft mass of the living who put up with things, who get on with their jobs, pay their fines, rates and taxes.OBS□ (the radio series‘Any Questions?’) WhatI like to think is that our audience really is made up of the so-called' silent majority'—— which is not so silent on Friday nights. RTo Every four years American election commentators invent a new concept to describe the blue-collar protest vote. Four years ago (ie 1968), the catchphrase was‘the silent majority’; earlier, we had ' the forgotten Americans' and ' the white back-lash'.NS a silly bility[Comp (NP)] sb who behaves foolishly or childishly V: △ be; think, find, sb 501 <502> the silly season— the sins of the fathers (are visited upon the children) □ Phil was just teasing you. Now stop crying and don't be such e silly billy. □ (advertisement)$ illy Billy had made up his mind. 'I want a hi-fi system,' he thought, ' and a hi-fi system I shall have.’ OBS□PAMELA:I think it's wonderful of you to take it so well. I'm sure I'd be complaining all the time. I' ma real silly-billy about pain. FFE口esp said of, or to, a child, or about sth not very serious; also pl; may be either capital or smallS and B. the silly season the late summer when, withParliament in recess and many people on holi-day, there tends to be less activity of national importance, and therefore more space is taken up in the news media by items of trivial enter-tainment value o The silly sūw so n is upon us.Journalists at a loss for stories are looking for the tallest hollyhock, a gargantuan marrow and the greatest gooseberry. SCo When I read last Satur-day's ' Times' leader predicting yet another' Liberal revival', my first instinct was to believe that the silly season was beginning to take its toll even in Printing House Square. NS□At the tail end of the silly season(which, for the BBC,seems to begin about June) nothing is more depressing than to come back to a whole series of repeats of programmes you have already seen or heard. L o Thousands of unwanted mediamen have descended on Witchunt. Their aim: to hold a silly asswon festival in this quiet backwater. Go attri b use a silly séssum festival, story. the silver screen the cinema (screen)o I was shy about girls and in the main transferred my adolescent fantasies to the stars of the silver screen. RTD You became a legend of the silver screen./ And now the thought of meeting you makes me weak at the knees. P MCCARTNEY b1942 ◇ 4 the small screen. Simon Pure[Comp(AdjP)] sb who is genuinely what he says he is; sb whose conduct and character are faultless (from Simon Pure, a character in an early 18th c play) V:△ be; ap-pear, stay o Perhaps in a society that needs to cling to some remnants of faith, the preachers dwindling and political leaders in gaol, the union man must be Simon Pare. NSo The DisciplinaryTribunal suspend usually to a maximum of five years. The whole of that time the struck-off solicitor must be '$ imon Pure'. His conduct will be examined. TVT the simple life [O/o(NP)] a simple, indepen-dent way of life, esp in the country, contrasted with the complications, stresses and material-ism of modern town life V: lead, live; go back to, prefer, choose o ' The Times' carried letters saying that we must change our whole set of aspi-rations and go back to the simple life (as in most countries of the world where people scrape a meagre existence up to an average age of about35). NSo He finally deserts the barrister's wife.with all her tiresome intellectual pretensions, and flies off with his Angiolina to lead the simple life in Iscjia. Pw sing a different song/ tune[V + O pass](be made to) change one's opinion about, or at-titude towards, sb/ sth; change one's tune(qv)□' Anna says she wants to have a large family.'' Maybe by the time she's had one or two she' ll be singing · different reme.’ o My father's ban-kers thought he had gone completely mad. Today 502 they sing a very different song as they watch the sales figures rise month by month. STsing sb's/ sth's praises[V + O pass] praise,commend, sb/ sth enthusiastically (and, usu,often)□ After enjoying a perfect cross-country ride, Meade was singing Eagle Rock's praiss at Badminton and he would dearly love to ride the horse in Russia. OBS□ Iʃ he adopts the same position he will be accused by those who now sing his praises not only of illogicality but of jettisoning principle for the sake of expediency.NS□ You won't endear yourself to the doctor by continually singing the praises of his predecessor. single blessedness(facetious) the unmar-ried state □(source) But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd/ Than that which withering on the virgin thorn/ Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness. MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAMIIoValerie wouldn't give up matrimony for the illu-sory freedom of single blessedness. RTo Neil is the only one still enjoying single blessedness.The rest of the group are all family men now. sink one's differences[V + O pass] agree to forget, or suspend, hostility or disagreements,between two or more people o This is such a peculiarly nasty specimen of Tory Government that it behoves all decent Socialists to sink their differences and unite to bring it down. ST sink like a stone sink straight down im-mediately o ' Do you think that life-belt is any good?’‘It would probably sink like astome. It's been hanging there for about twenty years.'o My only chance of survival, it seemed to me, lay in releasing my hold on the life-line and deliberately sinking like a song. CON sink or swim[v+ v non-rev] perish or survive;fail or succeed V: leave sb to, let sb. A: together;on one's own o It is seldom argued that capsizers of pleasure craft should be left to sink or swim.SC o The attitude finds expression in a great number of formal phrases Y' ve (= you have)got to share and share alike'; 'y' ve got to ' elp(=help) lame dogs'; ' we must all pull together'; ' it's sink or swim together'. ULoMILLY: PersonallyI think we should let the younger generation sink or swim without any further comment from us.EHOW □ Preferential import agreements withNew Zealand must be transitional only, and af-terwards that country, one of the richest in the world', must be prepared to sink or swim on its own. L sinkingsand(s) an area of loose, soft, shifting sand into which people or objects may sink and be covered over; quicksand(s); (fig) a shaky moral foundation to one`s life o I' ve got rather interested in this Catholic business. The affair with Elvira made me realize what a sinking swn d I' ve lived on. ASA O usu pl. the sins of the fathers (are visited upon the children) (saying) the sins and mistakes of any generation have an effect upon succeed-ing ones o (source) I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unt o the third and fourth generation. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER o In theBritish response to imperial collapse, there was also a kind of guilt—— people did feel that per-haps they deserved it: both through the sins of their colonial fathers and their wilful incom- <503> (all) sisters etc under the skin---a slap-up meal etc prehension. Go Screening(for inherited disease)offers parents the choice of risking or not risking that a child born to them will suffer from the genes, if not the sins, of his fathers. OBSC often adapted, as shown. (all) sisters etcunder the skin sharing fun-damental qualities and only differing superfici-ally n: sisters, brothers; Christians, savages □(source) For the Colonel's Lady an' JudyO' Grady Are sisters under their skins. ' THELADIES (R KIPLING 1865-1936) o Who better thanBarnard(a heart surgeon) to know that we' re all brothersunder the skin?NS□The actor and the politician are brothersurder the skin linked by a common need for public approval, sharing a constant quest for the bigger role. TVTo We share the same basic tenets whether or not we claim they are supernaturally authorised. We are allChristians nowadays under the skin. NS sit/ be bolt upright be sitting, or sit up sud-denly, with one's back very straight (as a con-ventionally formal posture or because one is surprised etc) o She had black hair and a fur jacket and set bolt upright and disdainfully, as if giving the car its orders rather than driving it.RATTo Thick and fast the guests came, filling theHampstead double drawing-room, covering the gold-and-white couches, sitting bolt upright on the little Empire chairs. ASAoPAMELA:I told him the next time he heard you coming upstairs he was to wait till you came up to the bed, then sit bolt upright and shout ' Go to hell!'FFED sit used much more often than be. sit tight (and wait) do nothing, either as a safeguard against making a mistake or so as to wait for an opportunity to get what one wants o ' Then why don't you sit tight when you' ve got it(ie position and respect)?'' That's not so easy.'said Martin. NM oJEAN: I' ve been driven crazy.here all night— listening to her. What could Ido? We' ll have to sit tight and wait. YAA a He would like to do autocross or grass-track racing:' Thev' re fairly safe, but with Formula One, if a tyre hursts or something you just have to sit tight and hope for the best.'OBS (are you) sitting confortably(?) (catch-phrase) from a question preceding the telling of a story in the former BBCR programme, ` Listen with Mother’, for under-fives o (title of consumer-interest feature about chairs) Are you sitting comfortably? SC □ The star that night of the Tyneside Working Men's Club is sitting comfortably, so he begins. NS a sitting duck/ target [Comp (NP)] a bird or animal shot at while resting or nesting;(fig) sb/sth that is easy to attack, criticize, or make use of V:△be, become; make sb□ The Government draw the conclusion that henceforth deterrents(ie rockets) on fixed sites would be sitting tar-gets for the enemy. SC o And would the local council, that sitting target, itself be allowed to make a programme, or would it be considered too political? Lo Caryl Brahms remembers well her first encounter with Ned Sherrin. ' It was in the early 1950s, when I seemed to be a sitting duck for anyone wanting a collaborator.'RT six of the best (dated school slang) a punish-ment by caning or strapping□ He turned to Ger-al d with a mock schoolboy expression. ' Let's get the pi-jaw((dated siang) = pious moral talk or reproof) over. Father, he said, or is it to be six of the best?’ ASA the sixty-four thousand dollar question the important, crucial question or point, on the answer or solution to which much depends(from the American quiz game in which this was the top prize) o Congress simply had no right to ask them what came, nauseatingly, to be known as the$64,000 question: Are you now or have you ever been a member of the the Commun-ist Party? NS□ Anyway, what is culture? That really is the $64,000 doller question that the more percipient of the sixth formers are begin-ning to ask. SCo when preceded by that's, used as comment; cf the earlier form the sixty-four dollar question, from the fact that $64 was the highest award in a CBS quiz show. as keleton in the cupboard[Comp/O (NP)]sth criminal, or shameful, in one's own past, in one`s family history, or in the conduct of private business or national affairs, which is kept concealed V:(there) be; have, hide, find oReticence and taste for privacy seem to have beenThomas Hardy's motives rather than any grisly skeleton in the cupboard. SC o (a novel of nouveau-riche Victorian life) There are, of course, skeletons in cupboards, dirt swept under carpets, violent death and other horrors hastily suppressed. NS□(NONCE) But the two main compariments were his business life and his home. Now at a moment's notice he had to im-provise a third compartment, a secret one,&cupboard for a skeleton. PW o (NONCE) LewArcher moves through the flash y corrupt world ofSouthern California, opening the cupboards and watching the skeleters fall out. NS a skeleton staff the smallest possible number of staff needed to provide essential main-tenance and services a Originally the office was to be run on a skelet on staff. Now . the im-mediate target is 75. NSo Within a generation.the laicizing of the church may have become(inevitable), if, at the present rate of decrease.the church is left with only a skeleton staff of clergy. To Practically everybody(in the town) is working class - - - the middle class are just represented by askeleton staff, as it were, to do the doctoring and the lawyering and so on. CONskin and bone [n + n non-rev] very, or too,thin; emaciated V: be, become; waste away to,be reduced to. adv mod: all, nothing but, just oHe could see nothing attractive in women that were all skin and bone. oShe's gone to skim and bone now, poor girl. Stomach ulcers. US□I don't know why you carry saccharin to put in your tea and coffee. You' re nothing but skin and bone as it is. the sky's the limit there is no limit (to what can be achieved, obtained, charged etc)□(PostOffice Savings accounts) The minimum deposit allowed is 25p, but the sky's the limit. TVToFor a young man with his qualifications and record—— provided he's ambitious enough—— the sky's the limit. o As to barrister's fees, if a case drags on for days, possibly weeks, or if it is followed by an appeal, the sky's the limit. ST a slap-up meal etc(informal) a plentiful,well-served meal of good food (often in a res-taurant)n: meal,△lunch, dinner, tea □ BeforeI leave, I'm going to take you all out for a really 503 <504> sleep like a log/ top—a slip of the tongue/ pen siap-up meal.□If I'd thought a couple of days ahead to invite Reg Varney for a picnic, it would certainly have been the more siap-up kind. TVTsleep like a log/ top sleep soundly and heavily and/ or comfortably o I' ve got rather a headache. I slept like a log, and now I feel lousy.PE □ 1 was fair jiggered (= exhausted) last night,' says Les.' Slept like a log—— woke up in the fireplace. Terrible joke that.'TVTo MademoiselleDupont said she hoped the children had not been frightened by the storm? ' Slept like tops, ' Pa said. BFA□She snuggled into bed and slept like a comfy old top. HAA sleep rough sleep out of doors wherever one can$: vagrant, tramp; runaway; traveller o But the boy would constantly ' go missing' at nights from his foster home because his mother had taken to sleeping rough in the park. NS□ But you never get used to the travel. For months at a stretch, it can be like sleeping rough in luxury hotels. RT o the similar live rough may refer to a vagrant's life,(temporary) conditions without proper shelter etc. sleep tight (informal) may you sleep well oGood night. Sleep tight./ Don't let the fleas bite.CHILDREN'S RHYME o ' Good night, Pat, sleep tight.'' Good night, Kath,' she said. TToPAMELA(to Walter in the schoolroom): Goodnight. WAL-TER: Sleep tight. PAMELA: Mind the bugs don't bite. FFE D usu preceded by‘Good night’ and addressed to sb about to go to, or already in,bed. sleight of hand skill and speed in handling objects, esp in performing tricks for entertain-ment:(fig) dexterity and cunning in general, esp with intention to deceive o The officer hardly looks down as he j abs the key forward, always finding the keyhole first time, a sort of professional skight of hand. ST o In yet another strategic sleight of hand, the British sent a lowly captain, who bore a strong resemblance toMonigomery, on a tour of the Mediterranean theatre of war. OBSo(NONCE) It's ridiculous the things that have been happening in the famousDome where the sleight-of-tongue talkers of the T. U. C.((GB) = Trades Union Congress)`Conference moved out to let the sleight-of-hand merchants in. TVT O attrib use a sieight-of-hand merchant. a slice of life a story, play, film that portrays aspects of people's lives realistically o ' What do theatre-goers want?’‘More than a story of a s lice of life. They want a flavour, an aroma up the nostrils-that's what they' ll remember five years on.’ OBSo It was one of the most moving pieces of documentary radio I have ever heard broadcast; a remarkable slice of real life. L oThey haven't yet learned the lessons of thatFrench pioneer of alice-of-life naturalism,Antoine. NSO occas pl slices of life; occas attrib use slice-of-life naturalism. a slice off a cut cake is never missed(saying) taking a little of sth already being used hardly matters, or will not be noticed o Round the basic features of life—— birth, marriage, co-pulation, children, death—— the old phrases club-ter most thickly. On sex: 'A since off extra cke is never missed'( on the easy sexual habits of some married women). ULoI'm your little bit of fun, I'm the s lice off the cut cake that' ll never be missed - - - You smug, hypocritical swine!RATT 口 used esp of (casual) sex with a married woman. sing one's hook [V + O](dated siang) leave secretly, hastily, or casually, esp a place one is expected to stay in o I' ve plenty to feel guilty about, but not her, really. She saw to that.Anyhow she's gone, walked out, shung her hook.PWo(a residential school for young offenders)And I' lllose that race and I' ll let him know it whenI'm about to get out—— if I don't sling my hook even before the race. LLDR O also pl sling their hook. the sing s and arrows (of outrageous fortune) the various injuries, losses, disap-pointments of life□(source) Whether ' tis nobler in the mind to suffer/ The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,/ Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/ And by opposing end them?HAMLET III I o (cricket) Talk about the siings and arrows of outrageous fortune! On Fri-day, Arnold had had three slip catches put down in three successive balls —— some sort of melancholy record surely? ST o(NONCE) At each stage on the diagram we place an animal who is more complex, better able to withstand the siings and arrows of nature. Lo If only the decision were so simple, then how confidently he could stand up, armoured fore and aft, to face the sing s and arrows from Right and fromLeft. NSO now usu facetious. one's slip is showing a woman's underskirt hangs lower than her dress;(fig) sb is revealing sth about his character, or opinions, that he usually keeps hidden □ She's the kind of woman that loves to be able to tell you that you need to get your hair done or that your slip is showing.□(reader's letter) Sir, Patrick Marnham's slip is showing. In an article he reveals that his real aim is to use the problems of immigrant absorp-tion and poverty to besmirch the name of Israel.NS o 'I'm afraid you' ve lost your poster,' I said,much as one might say, ' Excuse me saying so, but your s lipi s showing.' And I picked it up for her.AHo also pl. slip sb's/ one's memory/ mind [V + O] be forgotterr by sb/ oneself 8: fact, piece of in-formation; it.. that she was away; to warn you o It sipped Wormold's marginory that his nephew was now long past seventeen and had probably given up his (stamp) collection long ago. OMIH□ He's my child, too——a fact which sometimes seems to slip your memory!□ WhatStocker actually did think of Celia,I never found out. Or if I did, it's slipped my mind. CON a slip of a boy etc[Comp (NP)] just a young boy or girl V:△be; consider sb as, think of sb as. det: just a, no more than a. adj: mere, tiny,slender. n: boy, △ girl, thing, creature o True,the Scots-born granny didn't hang about the heather for long. As what my father would have called'a slip of a giri' she veniured to Creswick in the goldfields of Victoria. Lo In that Club----more of a mausoleum, really—— they'd look on a man in his forties as a mere slip of a boy.□Being such a little slip of a thing you can pick up a dress to fit you in any chain store! o applied to adults denotes slightness of body. a slip of the tongue/ pen sth said/ written that it was not one's intention to say/ write o 504 <505> a/ the slippery slope—— small talk The nervous strain of addressing a large con-ference can sometimes cause speakers to make silly slips of the tongue: like Harold Wilson calling Harold Macmillan ' Harold Wilson' for example. NS□ He turned red in the face and went stamping and humbling away. A slip of the ton-gue. you see: but what did it signify? THHo Yet one cannot doubt the depth and power of the love that brought them together — Wells, as an interesting slip of the pen reveals, considered their relationship a marriage. LO△let sth slip².a/ the slippery slope[o(NP)]a situation that could rapidly lead to danger, error, moral decline, ruin etc: the process of such a declineV: be on; go down, slide down o These two episodes could mark the start of a slippery slope leading to the unquestioning acceptance of the use of guns by the Police. Lo Mr Short was confident yesterday that the Government was not emhurking on& sippery slope without realizing.il. Go' All borrowers get on the slippery slope.'1am on it. And I am sliding down it at a rate too great for me to hear.' us a The serious gambler may cut down other expenditure when he loses,hu t won't go down the slippery slope into debt and a life of lies, while a compulsive gambler will lose his last penny and then devote all his energies to getting more. OBS□ occas pl. the slough of daspond (formal) a state, or period, of depression and despair o(source---referring to a slough in which the pilgrim floun-ders on his allegorical journey) The name of theSlough was Despond. PILGRIM'S PROGRESSI(JBUNYAN 1628-88) □ Though he is now inWashington's Valhalla, this brilliant RussianJew, who was all for America, was driven by his compatriots through the slough of Despond before he could get there. Lo The Rolling Stones become progressively side-tracked into the slough of Despond during their firtation with flower-power, and return to the straight and nar-row as the best live rock group in the world. RTslow but sure [adj + adj non-rev] (catch-phrase) slow but thorough to The dullard, on the other hand, may have to toil long and hard at his learning task, but he is thought to have learned it well: slow best suspo. MFFo' You' ll not hurry old Tom with any job. I'm afraid.' ' Ah,well, slow bert save is a good motto.’△ next entry. slowly but surely [adv + adv non-rev] slowly but inevitably o Slowly but surely and re-lentlessly, the lost ground was recovered and we began to pass from the defensive to the offensive.MFMo The first ingredient acts on weeds through the leaf and slowly but sur@ ly kills them.RToNottingham is slowly b urt scorely changing. NS◇△ previous entry. small beet/ potatoe& [Comp (NP)] sb/ sth of no great importance or value (from small beer =beer with low alcoholic content) V:△be, seem;see sb as□(source)IAGO: She was a wight, if ever such a witht were, —— DESDEMONA: To do what?IAGO: To suckle fools and chronicle small bear.OTHELLOII I o The actual dermands set out in the document are small beer indeed. Lo In the end,art is small beor. The really serious things in life are earning one's living and loving one's neigh-bour. OBSo This boy was big for his years and thought he was no small potatoes. He dressed in a flamboyant manner, and affected white golf shoes. SC o But these achievements, impressive enough in themselves, were small potatoes com-pared with his real aspirations. NS the small change(of sth) coins, or notes, of low value;(fig) the more trivial elements, busi-ness, practices(of sth)o: conversation, religion,sex o Will you leave me some small change before you go? I' ve got nothing to pay for my newspapers with, SMLoTo hear it(the quality of the language) was to be reminded how used we have become to hearing lines spoken on television which are the most worn and shabby smell change of speech. Lo My resignation to an exis-tence spent handling the small change of medicine had already turned into enthusiasm.DIL (the) small fry the children of a family, com-munity etc; people in an administration,profession, trade, or art who are thought not to be important; small unimportant institutions,businesses etc(from try = newly-hatched fish)o It was decided to have a staff dinner-and-dance on 18 December and an afternoon party for the small fry on a date to be decided later. a(gift suggestions) Small fry, nephews, nieces would consider super: ball-point pen, visit to a zoo,home-made ice-lolly set. H a An American landing-craft and a British destroyer shared the tiny harbowr with a handful of smaller fry. SDoBig-timers in the fashion business in Rome andParis are frenetically adding the finishing touches to their autumn collections while leaser fry in the rag trade are thinking up their collec-tions for Spring. SC o also, in third and fourth examples, smaller, lesser fry; stress patterns' small try, ' lesser fry. the small of one's back that part of the back betw een hip bones and rib-cage o ' The pain runs from the small of my back right down my left thigh. he told the doctor.□I could feel her hands seeking each other in the small of my back. She locked me to her, then she said, ' It's a little ex-periment.'UTN (the) small print/ type those parts of a legal document, contract, hire purchase agreement,etc which have warnings, excluding or saving clauses, in small print which may be difficult to read and, therefore, easy to overlook o Make sure you read the small print before signing the lease. a Not being a lawyer's clerk for nothing, he is adept at drawing up unreadable signall print in legal contracts. Lo It is important to follow their instructions carefully, but you may need a magni-fying glass to read the very small type in which they are printed. TVT o small type usu used in literal sense. the small screen (the) television (screen) o /moved away from the North not long after, so most of my Rugby League since then has been viewed on the small scream. RT ◇ △ the silver screen. small talk [O (NP)] light conversation, as at parties, when entertaining visitors at a super-ficial level, etc V: have, make, exchange o DeGaulle had humow, but he had no symall talk:none of the easy charm of the Frenchman. Lo He made some small talk, staring down Whitehall,so that I could see his knave of diamonds profile.Then he turned full on me. NMo André Previn and 505 <506> (the) small time—a snap vote etc Oscar Peterson pulled off another impossible trick, of sitting exchanging riveting small talk while a thousand people in the audience sat there eavesdropping. L o stress pattern ' small talk. (the) small time (informal) entertainment,commerce, crime etc on a small scale that does not bring much profit, public notice, or other reward o At that date he was still in the small time,a North Country comedian doing the cir-cuit of working men's clubs.□ In these years oc-cur the first productions at the Royal Court of allShaw's early plays. Commercially, it was small time. L□ Long gone are the days when Dundee depended on ' jute, jam and journalism', although the empire left by D C Thomson, Scotland's small-time Citizen Kane, still churns out a profitable food of print. NSo... a helpless prey to a company of small-time criminals, too stupid to defend herself when, innocent, she is brought to trial. ST o attrib use, a small-time criminal,often found. ◇ the big time. a smart alec(k) (informal) sb who thinks he knows more, can do things better, than others and looks for chances to prove it;a cocky im-pudent person;a clever dick (qv)o He's such a smart alec---he thinks he knowseverybody else's jobs better than they do themselves. o(F DRoosevelt) In his 40th year he was paralysed by poliomyelitis. Yet throughout the 12 years of hisPresidency, the press, including the most smart-aleck photographers, respected a convention never to photograph him in movemenl. L oThere's a new breed of highbrows talking and writing about film-making.TheymakeKatherine (Hepburn) soundbullying and smart-alecky which she most certainly is not.RTo Hamilton seems to be as fair as a critic might reasonably be expected to be in these trying times, and with one glaring exception he avoids the smart-alockry that disfigures his magazine.L . D also pl; attrib use a smart-alock photographer; adjcompound smart-alexky and n compound smart aleckry unusual. (a) smash and grab(raid)[n+ nnon-rev](a)theft from a shop carried out by smashing a window and grabbing goods o He's never been known to carry a gun. Smash and grab is his line. o If all incomes are going to be broadly determined by political means—— of which union collective bargaining is one—— then it is prefer-able that the decisions should be made in Parlia-ment rather than in the synash-and-grab of the world outside. ST D usu attrib, as in full head-phrase. smell a rat [V + O] (informal) be suspicious that sth is wrong o A milkman had several times seen a dark-green Mercedes passing slowly in front of the Tunisian Embassy. SmeHinga rat,he had jotted down the licence number: F-AX160. TO□ Even that theatrical old fool Port-way wasn't prepared to disagree with the greatStokesay. He smoit a rat, but he kept mum(=quiet). ASA □ Everybody smells a rat in a doc-tored obituary, even the widow. OBS smoke like a chimney (informal) smoke(esp) cigarettes frequently, or almost con-tinuously o Miss Greece had a cigarette though and the papers said‘Miss Greece—— never seen without a cigarette in her hand—— smoked like a chinneney.’ RTo ' How many cigarettes do you 506 smoke, do you think? '20 a day—— unless I'm worried or upset. Then Ismoke likeachimney.□ also pl They smoke like chimneys. asmoke screen temporary cover, esp in naval or land warfare, provided by smoke from ships,smoke-bombs etc(to help an escape, redeploy-ment); (fig) behaviour, or talk, that prevents observation or understanding of oneself, what one is really doing, etc o The ' Daily Mirror'calls Thorneycroft's plan a smoke screen.BBCR□… an apparent insensitivity which added as much to the smoke screen of shyness that cut the children off from their parents as did Ber-nard's inept artificiality. HAA o also pl; stress pattern a ' smoke screen. a smooth operator etc[Comp (NP)] (infor-mal) sb with an agreeable, persuasive manner who usu manages to manipulate people and situations to suit his own purposes, good or badV: △ be, seem; regard sb as. n: operator, △character, customer o What Raine has is an iron hand in an iron glove which is beautifully wrought so that people don't realize that the glove is made of iron until it hits them. She's quite the smoothest operator in the place. STo They' re a dour lot up there. They'd suspect anybody as ingenuous and friendly as Brian of being a smooth operator.□ Her stepfather was taking.Virginia away to a life of college boys and smooth characters with fast cars. AITC smooth sb's/ sth's path etc[V + O pass]make things easier for sb. either in general or so that he may do or obtain sth; help a desired situation, or objective, to be accomplished more quickly n: path, △ way, passage □ The only thing to do is to go straight to the President.I' ll smooth your path there. TBC□He had a lot ofexplaining to do and The Board of Inquiry had no intention of smoothing his passage. o Good behaviour in the international sphere, like good manners in society, may smooth the path of international intercourse. SC o Trade unionists pay only lip service to the need for research. Cer-tainly they could do a lot more than they are doing to smooth the way for its application within the industry. SC snakes and ladders [n+ n non-rev] a board game where a counter falling on a snake's head goes back to the tail and falling on a ladder's foot goes on to the top of it;(fig) an endeavour to do, or obtain, sth where progress alternates with setbacks o A social worker in North Lon-don describes the process of getting a council house as being like a game of snates and ladders. If you are overcrowded or share a lava-tory then you get so many points and move up the ladder: if you move to a different borough then you drop down a snake. ST o In common with all other working women they also had no security of employment. The war was a brief, adventurous game of social surakes and ladders. RT O ofter.with a game of. as shown. a snap vote etc[O/o (NP)] a vote etc taken,sth done, quickly without fully considering the consequences V: have, call, take; reach, arrive at. n: vote,△election; decision, judgment o We could probably talk about it for hours. Suppose we take a sensup v ote just for the hell of it? TBC□This could result in a conap sisction. OBS□In the first place the contradictions are very striking. <507> a snare and a delusion—— so near and yet so far when seen from outside, and the snap judgment is tempting. Lo also pl. a snare and a delusion [n + n non-rev] sth that seems right, safe, suitable or pleasant but is not so o(source) Trial by jury itself, instead of being a security to persons who are accused,will be a delusion, a mockery, and a snore.LORD DENMAN (judgement in O' Connell v theQueen, 1844) □ America, however, insists that negotiation on numbers without a scheme for checking them would be a sugarmand a delusion.SC□ The rocks had increased considerably in size and were placed like a series of steps. This was a snore and a delusion, for each rock had been so cunningly placed that it was quite impossible to step from it to the next one. BB (the) surres and pitfall s (of sth) [n+ n non-rev](the) temptations and hazards(of sth)o: this world, city life; buying a house, living abroad o ' If John had come straight home none of this would have happened.'' Ah well, life is full of snares and pitfalls and no one is proof against them all.’ o He knew a great deal more than his partners about the snares and pitfalls of playing the stock-market and was determined to proceed warily. so far until now (and still); as yet (qv)□ Brigit liked her at once. So far she was the only thing she liked about the Montpelier Square house. DCGoodness knows what size he is, but he's the biggest (albatross) I' ve seen so fer. SC o The stocking trade have so far done singularly little for their large, heavy and problem customers.OBS □ front, middle or end position. so far, so good up to now the arrangements are satisfactory though incomplete o The pile was going up, the first instalment of heavy water had arrived; sofar, so good. NMo' Let's have it.What happened?’ Don Vicente asked. ‘Sofar, so good,’ Mark said. ST o (acting on radio or television) ' You' ve got to be able to put your ideas over with conviction and without hesita-tion.' Sofarsogood, but not necessarily enough to achieve a thoroughly professional perfor-mance for a thoroughly professional medium. RTo never expanded to include S or V; used as comment on effectiveness of sth/ sb. so help me(God) (formal) as God helps me;with the help of God (esp concluding a solemn or legally sworn oath); (informal) I am sure;Iassure you; I declare o Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truih, so help you God?□I'm telling you the truth, so help me God, whether you believe it or not. oHARRY(rising and facing her in a rage):I' ll throw this book at you—— so help from I' ll throw this book at you. CSWB□ Sunny Italy, eh? Well it doesn't look like it now, so help me it doesn't.□(television comedy series about prison life)Members of the criminal classes will stop him in the street and say, earnestly, ' Good series, that' Porridge', Mr Barker; so help me, it's like that,inside.' RT O headphrase always used in full when formal. so ignorant etc it isn't true (informal) ex-tremely, unbelievably, ignorant etc adj: ig-norant, rich, efficient, hideous, comfortable oYou don't know a thing← you' re so ignorant it isn't true. TGLY□ But you must know(her)! TheMrs Jones! She's so support it's not true. US o ' Have you read his latest novel?' ' Yes. It's so tedious it isn't true.' (or) so it seems (or) it seems so; it may be true, may be the case (but perhaps not) o Irma was her substitute. Or so it had swimed then.PWoMILLY (drily): And he's going to marry her next week? MYRA: So it would seem. EHOWo It was hours later, or so it somed to my feet, and we were still walking along the Old Kent Road.UTN O middle or end position. so many words etc[Comp (NP)] just words etc; nothing more than words etc V: △ be,become. adv mod: just, only. n: words, names;bits(of paper), entries(in the index)o They are asked to respond to ' the needs of the state' and the needs of society', to study ' good citizenship',to have in mind the ' common good'. In most cases, the appeals mean nothing, are so many words. UL o Hold on, Patrick. All these politicians are just so myway names to me. so much as do sth only, merely, do sth;(not)even do sth V: touch; glance at; hint; move,fidget o The skink was so poisonous, that even if you so muchss touched its body you immediate-ly fell to the ground writhing in agony. BBo All the time she had been speaking he hadn't so much es glanced at her. a He had never in his life so much as handled a gun, but that was no insuper-able objection. OMIHo Hector Rose happened to feel a morbid fear of cancer; he tried to avoid so much as hearing the name of the disease. NM o often neg, or as part of if-cl. so much the better/ worse (for sb/ sth)better/ worse by that much (for sb/ sth)o 'I seem to have made my curry hotter than usual.' ' So much the better.’ o If Ned could find some means of integrating his contribution in the general framework, all right; if not, so much the worse for the general framework. CONo In the old days I was always trying to beat other fellers(= fellows). Now,I concentrate simply on improving my own play. If I happen to win, so much the better. TVT O exclamation strongly welcoming/ dismissing sb/ sth. so much for sb/ sth which indicates how little, in one's opinion, sb's values, views etc can be taken seriously or respected o: equality;good resolutions, your promises; medical opinion; the honest Mr Jones o When a King reigns, his wife is Queen. When a Queen reigns her husband is a Prince. Som uch for equality of the sexes. OBS□' If I were a dictator,' announcedLongford on ' Panorama' last week, 'I would start by abolishing striptease. ' Som uch for his priorities. NSo So much for the pious statements of Bill Davies when he bought control of AintreeRacecourse in 1973, proclaiming himself to be the proud saviour of the Grand National. Gso much nonsense etc[Comp (NP)] total,complete, nonsense etc V: △ be, seem. adv mod: just, simply. m: nonsense, rubbish, drivel,(taboo) cock talk o The idea of us trying to do all that without the authorities finding out is just80 FTNICh NGRS#行客@.I The men who sit opposite are entirely wrong and all their arguments are so much drivel. PLo All this talk about being deeply concerned is so much hot air. so near and yet so far [Comp(AdjP)] near but not near enough to be effective or have a desired result (the reference being to a place, 507 <508> so sharp one' ll cut oneself—— soft/ wrong in the head time, relationship, or an effort to do/ obtain sth)V:△be, seem, appear □(source) He seems so near and yetsofar,/ He looks so cold: she thinks him kind. IN MEMORIAMAHH(A TENNYSON 1809-92)□ Th e cat sat in front of the bird cage in an agony of frustration at being some pr and yet so far. o 'I fancy she's interviewing some other young lady, but she may have gone by now.' Cold panic clutched at Victoria's heart. Was it to be so myer and yat so far? TCBO sometimes used alone as an unhappy comment on circum-stances. so sharp one' ll cut oneself likely to over-reach one's capabilities, come to harm, etc by trying to be too clever o ' Let him take care he's not so sharp he cuts himself, that's all. ' ' Oh,I'm sure Jack' ll have everything arranged so as to keep on the right side of the law.'□I cannot help recalling a brutal Northern saying----' Yon(= that) lad's so bloody sharp, ' they used to say, “appen'e' ll cut' isself(= perhaps he' ll cut himself) one of these fine days.’ L (a) so and so(informal) sb/ sth who/ that does not need to be named; (derogatory) a un-pleasant person o The American habit of repeat-ing your name in conversation after you' ve been introduced is rather agood one. If you say, What will you have to drink, Mr So and So?' it sounds friendlier and he's likely to be favourably im-pressed by you.□Jack'sa real so and so. Don't let yourself be upset by what he says about your work — he'd disapprove of the ArchangelGabriel. ◇ △ such and such. so to speak/ say [Disj] to speak figuratively;as it were (qv)o This fact is reflected in practical problems met with in colour printing. For magenta does not, so to speak, respond well to being used subtractively. NSCo In the early cen-turies of Christianity many pagan rites and fes-tivals were baptized, so to say, and made to serve the purposes of the Church. DOPo middle or end position; usu accompanies fig descrip-tion or fig use of a word. ◇△as one/ you might say. so there(1) (facetious) that's how things are,that's the position, and you needn't bother to argue; now then³(qv) o I held out my hand.' What do you think I'm made of, darling?'' Rats and snails and puppy-dog tails. ’ she said. ‘So there!'RATTo Besides, he has made more money than all of those clever fellows put together. So there again. NS□ Mildred's not very nice really.with all her sneers and ' so there's'. RT o ex-clamation (usu associated with children) which follows defiant or accusing words which ex-press determination, or refusal, to do sth. so what? (informal) what follows(from that)?what is important, interesting, relevant (about that)? □(reader's letter) The contention of the wholly Christian panel was that if there was no resurrection and no Son of God then human beings are faced with annihilation at death. So what? RTo You' re twenty-one and you' re mar-ried to me. So what? If your mother doesn't like it, she can do the other thing. AITC口 rhetorical question prompting answer` nothing`. a so ap op . sra a radio or television series about domestic life, the fortunes of a family or com-munity. presented in a contrived, sentimental,or melodramatic wayo ' The Family' must be the 508 best TV for years. Areal-life soap opera without the soap—— which, for sheer entertainment value alone, killed all its fictional counterparts stone dead. Lo If ITV-2 puts on rather less soap opera and rather more ' quality' programmes, it might begin to nibble at the posher kinds of ad-vertising that are the backbone of such (quality)papers. OBS□… big names now happy to drive into the TV studio along with quiz contestants and soap opera stars. TVT o also pl; attrib use a soap opera star; stress pattern a soap opera.soap and water [n+ n non-rev] these simple means of washing (usu as contrasted with special preparations for skin care)□Cleansing cream does not replace so ap and water for young skin treatment. Ho Charles often used to mimic him——' Soap and water's cheap enough,goodness knows. A person doesn't have to be rich to be clean.’ RATT。 Farrah is basically a soap and water girl but also uses a special soap wash that she splashes off with cold water. TVTD attrib use a group and water girl. (a) sob story/ stuff (informal) a story, film,account of circumstances, etc intended to arouse the listener's sympathy o Then we have the various‘Hospitals’ series (on television)which combine the appeal of the sob story and sensationalism under the guise of a slice of life'.Go The boys sometimes get round the piano and sing some real old sob stuff from their days in the Forces. □ stress pattern (a) ' sob story/ stuff;no article used with stuff. sober fact etc(a) fact contrasted with sth believed, imagined or feared;(a) fact as it is and not exaggerated or twisted n: fact, △ truth,reality o Philip Landowne gives you the sober facts on a controversial issue too often clouded by emotional and parental prejudice. Ho I don't think he has ever told anybody where in sober fact he did get his money from.□People often talk in a loose way of ' working day and night',but on this occasion it was the sober truth. □ no article used with fact, reality; variant, in sober fact/ truth, is a Disj. asobering thought [Comp(NP)] sth thought of, or brought to one's attention, that makes one feel serious, unsettled or anxious V:△ be,seem, appear o We pay a comedian more for a few hours' entertainment than a Cabinet Minis-ter can earn in a year. It's e sobering thought.aI hadn't even got as far as Mrs Macadam, and that was another soboring thought to add to the morning's total. PPo In another twenty or thirty years Claire might be - - - - sobering thought!—— very like her mother. a soft answer(turneth away wrath)(say-ing) a mild or peaceful reply, esp to some ac-cusation, slight or criticism (reduces anger or hostility) □ (source) A soft answer torreth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.PROVERBS XVID ' Now the Baron's joined in. He wants to give us his thoughts on Waterman. “For what they' re worth,'' he said, and I said yessir(=yes, sir). D' you(= do you) think I said right?’' It seems the right sort of soft answer to me.'I said. PP□ As her father's favourite, Sally did pretty much as she liked and was an adept at the soft answer which turns every wreth. soft/ wrong in the head[Comp (AdjP)] (in-formal) mentally subnormal; weak, sentiment- <509> al. foolish etc in one's opinions, actions V: △be, go; make sb o I wondered if I hadn't gone soft in the head. I had in a sense compounded a felony, and if he were to steal anything again it would go hard with me. RATTo I knew women made chaps a hit soft in the head, but I never thought I' dr un into a benefit night at Bedlam like this. DIL □ The stone had been a light biscuit colour originally — sometimes I wonder if all nineteenth-century architects were a bit wrong in the head—— and a hundred years of smoke had given it an unhealthy mottled appearance. RATTa soft job employment in which one does not have to work very hard for one's money o We' ll check and sign these later. It's a nice soft job here. TST o Anybody who thinks teaching in a nursery school is a soft job should try it. □ also pl. Od jobs for the boys. a soft option [Comp(NP)] an easier course of action, or study, than others available and possible V:△be; regard, view, sth as□ Biology teachers are scared stiff that biology should be regarded as ' m soft option'(which means that pupils should like it). SC□ What he has chosen this time is the soft option. What all his list (of speakers) have in common is reliability of perfor-mance; you can switch them on and let them go.L o also pl. soft pedal (on) sth [V + O pass](informal)mention, deal with, a matter in a quiet, unem-phatic way, so as to minimize its importance(from the use of the soft pedal in piano-playing)O: side, aspect, facet; fault, flaw, imperfection o One leading Conservative MP remarked yes-terday:' We would certainly try to get an incomes deal with the Unions and soft pedal on the legislation.' Go The view that criticism of SouthAfrican racial policies should be soft-pedalled could only be justified if there were the slightest chance of a spontaneous change of course. SCoThere may be aspects of a man's character——and some of his actions—— which it is natural and perhaps fitting to soft-pedal in an obituary.o may be hyphenated; stress pattern soft' pedal sth. soft soap (informal) flattery; behaviour desig-ned to ingratiate oneself with sb, or flatter sb;behave in a way designed to ingratiate oneself with sb o (reader's letter) I have no doubt there are peaceful and happy deaths, but there are many that are agonising and terrible, and the programme (` Dying and Bereavement`) gave only the soft soap. RToIn business,I ruminated,I'd have to soft-soap people whom I despised,I'd have to steer the conversation towards their favourite subjects, I'd have to stand them meals and drinks. RATTo I think it is vital that the Left should take uncompromising attitudes and set uncompromising standards. Whatever may be the case elsewhere, the forces in this country are too unequal for an alliance based on mutual soft-maping. NSO used as n or v; when v, usu hyphenated; n compound soft-soaping. a soft/ easy touch[Comp(NP)](informal) sb easy to borrow or steal (money) from, or to overcharge for goods or services V: △ be,become; treat, regard, sb as o Cash slipped through Lynch's fingers and he became known as esoft touchfor anyone who could spin hima sad tale or offer hima good time. TVToHe'd only met a soft job----(at) some time or other us once, but he must have realized you' re an easy touch. softly, softly (catchee monkey) (saying)let‘gently, slowly and cautiously’ be the maxim; easy/ gently does it (qv)o' Keep him in a good humour. I don't want him alarmed till we' re ready to move.' ' Softly, softly, catchee monkey?'' That's the idea.'o Can we not, after all, have socialism on the softly, softly prin-ciple? The answer from experience is hardly en-couraging. NS □ From ten this morning, drive quietly in Darlington, Britain's first softly,softly' town which begins a two year project to reduce noise levels. G o attrib use a softly-softly approach. sole and heel [v+ v non-rev] renew, or repair,the soles and heels of shoes o... in a little shop off the Rue aux Laines. where he had been forced to take his shoes for soling and heeling. US oThe soless and heels are made of real leather. Osimilarly [n+ n non-rev], as in second example.some (men) are born great etc, some achieve greatness etc, and some have greatness etc thrust upon them(saying)some people possess particular qualities, some acquire them, others are made to assume them(from TWELFTH NIGHT 11 5) adj/n: great/greatness,wealthy/ wealth,pessimistic/pessimism o A haven of utter silliness in a wilder-ness of sanity, they were there to amuse, to enter-tain, to divert. Some of them were born silly,so rn e achieved sillinders, some had silliness thrust upon them. NS O often adapted. some mon etc are more equal than others (catchphrase) although there may be an external appearance of equality of status and privilege between members of a particular group, society etc, some members in fact receive favoured treatment n: men, women; animals;areas, cars o (source) All animals are equal but so rm animals are more equal then others.ANIMAL FARM(GORWELL 1903-50)o We' re all call-ed senior managers, but the company car may be an ordinary family saloon right up to a Mer-cedes. Some moon are clearly more equal than otherr, o In Aberdeen, local authority family houses were reported to be occupied by single men while families waited to be rehoused because those single men were necessary to the oil industry. Some citizens seem to be more equal than others. some of one's best friends are English etc(catchphrase) an argument used (often un-consciously) to clear oneself of a charge of prejudice against persons of a specified race,creed, class or profession n: English; Catholics;Americans; communists; lawyers; layabouts o' Engineers are just thick metal-bashers, artists lie around all day doing nothing.'' Actually,' saysGeoffrey,' some of my best friends are engineers.'RTa It is not so long ago that book-makers were presumed to wear bright check suits and to be the sort of people it didn't do to be seen talking to. Nowadays some of one's best friends can be bookmskers and it's quite all right. OBSaI am far from being anti-American,indeed some of my best friends, etc. How-ever... NSD often facetious. (at) some time or other[A(PrepP/NP)](in-formal) on an occasion in the past or future, the 509 <510> someone or other— something old, something new... precise time or date of which is not recalled, not given or not known o' When did you say he'd be back?’’ Oh, some time or other tomorrow——he was vague about it.'o variant (at) some or other time. ◇ △at one time or another. someone or other some person, or thing, not(yet) known, or impossible to identify; any one of a number of possible persons, things, places,times, means or methods pron: someone,somebody, something. adv: sometime, (at)some time, somewhere, somehow, (in) some way o Phone the office. Someone or other will be sure to know his present address.□I had hard-ly set foot in England before somebody or other exclaimed ' Oh, but you don't look in the least like your books!’ AH□ He was ranting and raving about something or other, I forget exactly what. STo 'I know I have some carbon paper somewhere or other, she said, rummag-ing through the drawers. □ There wasn't a day gone by during which — at some time or another—— she didn't think of him with a great rush of love. WID Difficult though it might be, she intended to get to Baghdad somehow or other.TCB o We' ll have to get round that difficulty some way or souther, O another frequently used thus at some time or another,(in) sompe way or quother. something/ nothing doing (informal) acti-vity, work etc(not) taking place o Above the trees by the river birds were rising, sure sign of something doing. Maybe a fox or an angler,but it was worth investigating. a Let's go round to Jack and Mary's. There's always something doing there on New Year's Eve. alt became what reporters call a watching brief: nothing much doing, but always the possibility of trouble, so newsmen hang around. L O (there is) nothing doing². something else again [Comp (NP)] an entirely different matter, situation V: △ be,appear; remain o Not all his compositions have been received as he would wish; even his playing has not lately been doing full justice to itself. But his teaching remains something else again. GoThe search for ' something ' pure', in a country racked by self-doubt is at least an understandable commitment. Whether the Jesus freaks have got their bearings right is something else again. Lsomething has(got) to give (catchphrase)the strain, pressure, demand on sb/ sth is too great to be kept up or resisted □ Europe cannot continue to enjoy the security afforded by Ameri-can defence power and become the commercial and perhaps political competitor of the US.Something has to give. ST □ There is no sign that the South Vietnamese (soldiers) are all ready to take over.' If we pull out at this rate,' an officer of the 23rd told me, something's just got to give. 'NSo It was more an ego split than a marriage split. Angie likes stardom, Burt likes stardom. Something had to give. TVT something like (informal) exactly what one wants, likes, expects, hopes for; that etc is more like it (qv) $: this, that; £1000, a holiday inGreece o‘Now, this is something like!’ the tutor said, giving Polly's exercise full marks. oYou say he's put the price up to £1,000? Now,that's something like! o stress pattern some-thing ' like; often follows this/ that is; used as 510 enthusiastic comment about sth. something like sth' approximately; roughly o: that number, that quantity; a dozen,a score o The outline road programme is on something like the scale required. SC□ There must have been something like a dozen pills left in the bottle.□adv mod + prep followed by a n indicating amount or scale. something like sth² something (esp an emotion, attitude etc) very similar to sth o:panic, terror; exasperation, irritation o A wave of something like alarm went through the phalanx. Mr Madden was on the warpath. No one could doubt it. ARGoI detected something very like insolence in the manner, if not the matter, of his replies.□The second proposal was so much less outrageous than the first that it met with something like approval. something etc like sth' something etc of the same kind or category as sth pron: something;(not) anything, nothing. o:a snack, sandwich;beer, whisky; magazine, light novel o Grandad has so few wants now that I usually end up giving him something like a pair of socks for his birth-day o You have such highbrow literature in this house! Isn't there something like a detective or adventure story I could read in bed?□Ca nI offer you a sherry——a whisky and soda?' ' Oh, no,nothing like that for me, please.’□ pron + prep+ n. something etc like sth² rather similar etc to sth adv mod: something, nothing, (not) any-thing; somewhat; much, rather. o: this, that;yours, mine o They' re very useful chests. We have one at home something like yours. o Icouldn't say the baby was anything like either of them. a This coat that's been left behind is noth-ing like the one I was wearing. If somebody took mine instead of theirs it must have been deliberately. □ adv mod something etc modifies prep like. (see) something nasty in the woodshed(see) something shocking that leaves a deep and lasting impression on one (from COLD COM-FORT FARM (S GIBBONS b1902) referred to in the first example) o The extraordinary thing is that people who have never read the book will talk about Aunt Ada Doom's(character in the novel)famous cry, I saw something nesty in the woodshed', almost as if it was a quotation from the Bible or‘Hamlet’. Lo Lamont Johnson’ s' You' ll Like My Mother' is just entertainment of the something-nesty-in-the-woodshed school. NS o attrib use the something-mesty-in-the-woodshed school. something/ somewhat of a sth quite a,rather a, sth: o: authority (on); wit, bore; sur-prise, understatement, fiddle o I found myself again living in Bayswater, a quarter on which Ithought myself something of an authority. AH□ He was a simple man-and somewhat of a worried one. TCB a It was certainly something of a problem to know where to go next. UTNoFrench day-trippers to England are still(ie 1960)something of a rarity. TO something old, something new, some-thing borrowed, something blue items to be included in a bride's attire in order to bring good luck o A bride must not see her groom before the ceremony on her wedding-day, and <511> something etc out of the ordinary/ usual---a sore point (with sb) should wear—— and still usually does——‘some-thing old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' . UL something etc out of the ordinary/ usual a person, thing, event, opinion, remark etc that is different, unusual(the implication sometimes being that the person etc specified is better,more interesting or valuable);a person etc who/that is not different, unusual or better than other people etc pron: something, (not) any-thing; nothing o Well, I do have something special for this evening. Something really rather.out of the ordinmry. BM o Florrie came in, and began to back out on the rebound as soon as she saw that something out of the usual tea and natter was up(= happening). TT□ He's a heal-thy, intelligent boy but nothing out of the ordinary. □ Oh, he' ll turn up, I daresay. It's nothing out of the usual for David to be late.□I' ve read his novel and if you' re expecting any-thing out of the ordinary, forget it. somewhere etc along the line at some point etc during the process of growth, develop-ment, manufacture or assembly A: somewhere;where, at what point; at various points, at some point o But somewhere along the line I could have been a different person. RATTo Anthropolo-gists, as far as I know, are still unable to pinpoint just where along the line man and the anth-ropoid apes branched into two distinct species.□Wild-cat strikes among the many different trades employed in the car industry can hold up production at any point along the line. o In this programme Hugh Ross will be telling us about people in North Uist who still believe that sorrowhere along the line they have seals for ancestors, RT somewhere, over the rainbow (catch-phrase) at some time, or in some place, one would like to believe in o Somewhere, over the rainbow, skies are blue,/ And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true. EYHARBURG b1898o Sommywhere over the rain-bow in the domain of fantasy, a phoenix rises from the ashes,a sea monster defies detection,a mermaid combs her golden tresses. RTo Among the football experts, Jimmy Hill is my favourite.He is not a lyrical reporter like Geoffrey Green of ' The Times' (who nearly always manages to say‘somewhere, over the rainbow’ in his radio talks). NS the/ one's son and heir [n + n nón-rev] an only, or eldest, son a ' But you know who MrRobert is?' Of course I do, sir. His lordship's son and heir.’ o I hear you' re now a happy father. How's the son and hair behaving him-self? a son of a bitch(taboo)a swine;a thoroughly unpleasant person det: a, the; you o Finally,the son of a bitch walked out of one of the buildings near the runway there. OBSo Toulmin quotes a scientist at the first atomic test as say-ing, ‘We are all sons of bitchesnow.’ OBS□Still the outboard motor wouldn't start. ' Come on,fire, you son of a bitch!’ Tom swore, yanking at the cord. o term of abuse to or about sb, and occas of objects; sometimes said warmly rather than in violence or hate. a son of a gun(dated slang)a chap, fellow(the usu reference being to sb already named or un- derstood) det: a, the; that; you. adj: lucky.stupid; miserable; impetuous o Well, Freddy's won again. He had the rest beaten to a frazzle,the old son of a gun.□' Nobody would employ him but you.'I know. He's a lazy sun of a gurn but he's so likeable in every other way.' a son of the soil a person born and bred in a rural district, and esp one who continues to work on the land o Although he's a successful smalltown lawyer, avid for learning and self-improvement, Brill is still e son of the soil. He cherishes the image of the ploughman as his ideal, NSO also pl sons of the soil. & song-and-dance act etc an item in a vari-ety show, usu involving one or two performers:sb who performs such an item;(fig) sth often, or predictably, done by sb and/ or in particular circumstances n: act,△ team, duo; man o Its authors have become, as an American diplomal put it the other day, ' the favourite song-and-dance act on the television chat shows'. Lo The alliance between Mr Callaghan and Mr Wilson is one of the most affecting sights the present government has to offer. Harold and Jim travel the world like some well-loved song-and-dance act. NS□ For 17 years, after a false start in John Colliers, the tailors, he has been a song-and-dance mum, a professional entertainer. NSo also pl. sooner or later [adv + adv non-rev] at some time; inevitably a Somer or later in British football there will have to be reorientation of thinking. SC o Why not now? She has to know about it somer or later. AITCoMeadows and his colleagues found that if present trends continue then we are heading for environmental catastrophe sconer fa ther than later. NS o front, middle or end position; variants sooner rather than later, probably sooner than later =‘(sth referred to will, is likely to, or should, happen)relatively soon rather than after some time has passed`. sooner you etc thanm@(informal)I am glad that it is you and not I(who has to do sth) pron:you; her, him, them o 'I spend half my life in cars.or trains, I think. ' Well, soon or you than me.'o HELEN: Christ! What the hell's she got in here—— sooner her than ———— what's this? TOH Oexpression of relief that one is not affected in the way indicated. soothe the swage breast calm anger.rebellious feeling, etc o (source) Music has charms to scothe e swinge broast. THEMOURNING BRIDE (W CONGREVE 1670-1729) o /discovered also that the appropriate look or word could ' soothe the seugge breast' and bring him to heel. Lo(NONCE) Mr Villars as a schoolmaster and a priest had found private theatricals an ex-cellent sinvoother of the sqvét·breée. WDMa sore point (with sb)[Comp(NP)] a matter which causes feelings of anger or resentment among a group of people or in an individual whose identity is either specified or implied by the context$: income tax, rates, price increases;refusal, obstinacy, neglect. V: △ be, become;make sth. o: hill-farmers, housewives o The treatment of Gaelic by Official Scotland is a sore point. RTo Then there is the sore point of the income tax—— not the national personal in-come tat, which everybody pays, but the 511 <512> sorely tempted (to do sth)— sow (one's) wild oats additional income tax that has nothing to do with the rates that many states now impose, Lo The secrecy with which they got married is still a sore point with Tina's parents. sorely tempted (to do sth) [Comp (AdjP)]very much inclined, drawn(to do sth) V:△be;feel; seem o Wormold looked at the champagne bottle and at Captain Segura's head. He was sorely tempted to bring them together. OMIHo' Shut the shop for a couple of days, and come with us, Jim.' 'I'm sorely tempted to.' o usu implies that the action is not performed. sorry for oneself [Comp (AdjP)] pitying oneself (the implication being that this is sth to be avoided) V: △ be; feel, appear; make sb oMYRA: Oh—— do stop being sorry for yourself all the time. EHOW□' Mother is a little difficult sometimes,' Cindy admitted reluctantly.' In what way?’‘Oh—— moody. A bit — a bit sorry for herself.’ PE a sorry state etc[Comp/O (NP)] an unsatis-factory, deplorable, pathetic, or tragic state etcV: be; reveal, present, tell. m: state, △ sight;excuse, tale □ The facts quoted would reveal a sorry state of affairs in any community. SC□The patients(victims of advanced cancer) were led to believe that the radiation doses they were getting might improve their sorry state. NS□ Kean andScott, the tiny house furnisher and textile wholesaling group, was in a sorry state whenWilson bought a controlling stake. OBS□Al l theBritish Officers of the relief force were invited and a sorry sight most of us were, with our dirty torn uniforms and unshaven chins. BM o MrNichols has never written better and his sorry time has a dreadful fascination. NS the soul of courtesy etc [Comp (NP)] sb who regularly displays courtesy or some other good quality V:△be; remain; appear. m; cour-tesy,△ honour, wit, discretion, tact, kindness□ M. Couve de Murville, the French ForeignMinister, who, whatever business has to be con-ducted, is always the soul of courtesy, stated shortly before the meeting that he would be able to attend only the morning session. To Where her husband and family are concerned she is the soul of discretion. NS (the) sound and fury [n + n non-rev] noisy talk, activity, disturbance, excitement etc o(source) It (life) is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury./ Signifying nothing. MACBETHV 5□ There was an immediate outcry, and a demand for retaliation. There seemed, though, to be mory sound and fury than substance in the protest. Lo Alland fund fury were over andTommy and I stood looking at each other in the suddenly empty kitchen. ' She's nuts,' he said sadly. NS□ The old people sit talking in groups or play cards or dominoes, or simply watch the sound and fury of the ' activity area', with its jukebox. OBS sound in wind and limb [Comp (AdjP)] in good physical condition (used originally of horses)V:△be; seem, appear o Shirley Temple was America in microcosm - - - - - - lovable and loving, vitamin-packed, gold of heart, pure of soul, bright of mind, white of skin, and sound in wind and limb. SCo The doc reckoned that any-one who could climb all these stairs for his inter-view was sound enough in wind and limb to be 512 passed fit.□(NONCE) It's a wonder you' re back so safe in wind and limb. Cobb's a big chap, as Iremember. PPo There were countless expedients for acquiring soundness in wind and limb,such as the Litesome Supporter Belt, which guaranteed ' Commando Fitness' to those it en-circled. NS o wind and limb non-rev; variant soundness in wind and limb. sound the (death) knell of sb/ sth [V + 0pass] be the reason for sb/ sth ending, going out of fashion, or being replaced o: small shop-keeper; steam engine; private ownership, public transport o The safety regulations have soun-ded the convertible's death-knell (which matters little). NSoOne tourist had recently been killed by a stray bullet and the death sounded the kind li of the all-in-tour. OMIH sour grapes deprecation as a form of consola-tion to oneself, about what one would like to have, but cannot (from a fox, in the Greek fables of Aesop, who, when unable to reach grapes growing on a vine, said he could see they were sour) o Several critics of the programme found nothing to talk about except my hair. An-other spoke of my being beringed, suggesting, Isuppose, that I was homosexual. It's a wedding ring. I think a lot of the criticism was grapes. STo True, she (Jane Austen) couldn't bear to hear about married bliss, but that was possibly sour grapes. NS sow the dragon's/ dragons' teeth [V + 0pass] do sth, though this may not be one's inten-tion, that causes future trouble, dissension,warfare etc(from the Greek myth of Cadmus who planted a dragon's teeth from which, later,armed warriors sprang up) o From the military point of view the expedition had achieved its aims. We had drawn the dragon's test h but many will say that we had also sown them. BMo For two precious hours more I went patiently through each reproach, and all the others, too,that sprang up like giants from dragons' teeth sown innocently in the wake of each explana-tion. LWK□The survival of private enterprise now depends on subsidy and patronage: no amount of juggling with tax rates will alter the fact. But the danger is that Mrs Thatcher will try, that she will sow dregon's testh among the resentful middle class, that she will, in short, sharpen appetites that she cannot satisfy. NS sow etc the goods of sth [V + O pass] be responsible for actions, statements or con-ditions which are likely to produce future discontent, better understanding, etc V: sow,△plant; carry, have (in it). o: discontent, war;dissension, bitterness; hope, wisdom, better un-derstanding D Clearly there was much fertile ground in which evil persons could sow the swords of discontent and trouble. MFM o (theMunich Agreement,1938) Its main effects at the time were to hand large frontier areas ofCzechoslavakia over to the Germans and to sow the sseds of an enduring Czechoslovak bitter-ness against the Western powers. LoLeadership which is evil, while it may temporarily succeed,always carries within itself the seeds of its own.destruction. MFM sow (one's) wild oets[V + . 0 pass] go through a youthful period of careless, or reck-less, pleasure-seeking o If he were really and <513> sow the wind and reap the whirlwind— speak the truth truly courting her it would be a very good thing.I believe—— and the children would respond. But as it is, they are merely getting used to seeing a young man sowing what young men like to call their wild oats. TToIf they keep on dancing they may not marry so soon. Why shouldn't girls sow their wild oats too? OBS□MYRA: Tony, before you settle down to being an honest electrician,Iwish you'd take that money and — TONY:What? Sow a few wild outs? EHOW□ But the wildest oats sown by our hero go no further than such mild prep school debaucheries as giving up work, or keeping a pet bat. OBS sow the wind and reap the whirlwind(saying) start sth that seems fairly harmless and have to suffer unforeseen consequences that are grave or disastrous □(source) But the calf of Sa-maria shall be broken in pieces. For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirl-wind. HOSEA VIII 6-7 a America revelled at the beginning of the century in the latest ingenuity of the glorious industrial revolution (motor trans-port): today we have reaped that whirhwind. L□ He has been almost a classic example of the self-destructiveness of revolution. The whirl-wind that now strikes him was of his own sow-ing. To either part may be quoted with assump-tion that other part will be understood. spare sb's blushes [V + O pass] not do, or say, sth which would make sb embarrassed oFunny. he told me he was going to tell you(about the gift of money), but I expect he was too bash-ful. He wanted to spa re your blushes. PW o ' IfI'm not driving myself. I'd rather have my wife at the wheel than anyone else. '' Spare my blushes.will you, Jack, and give the windscreen a wipe.'spare no expers: etc[V + 0 pass] not economize in money or trouble O: expense; △effort, pains. A: to make/ in making the occasion a success; as far as their education is concerned; towards that end o The invitation was very impressive. No expense had been spared as far as size and thickness of paper and gold lettering went. TSMPo In some ways it all seemed too good to be true. All those splendid buildings and equipment, no ostentation but no expresse appared. OBS□ He submitted himself to this procedure no fewer than 163 times, and no effort was spared in standardizing the experi-mental conditions. MFFo You did what you could with no pains spered. There may be much to regret, but you have nothing to blame yourself for. D often pass; variant with/ and no expense etc spared. spare the rod and spoil the child (saying)a child has to be (physically) punished when necessary so that he may learn to behave properly, know what is right, etc o(source) He that speneth the rod haterth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. PROVERBSXIII24□ Th e very phrase' spoilt child' has an olde worlde (= old fashioned) ring. To spare the rod was, traditionally, to spoth the child. OBSoAdvocates of laissez faire and excessive leniency are on the left; those of' spare the rod, spoil the child' on the right. SNP (in) one's spare time [A (Prep P)] (at) times when one is not carrying on one's regular job o' Guy wants to take me to dinner. You don't mind,do you, Mrs. Gaye?'' What you do in your spare time is your own business, Prissie.’ DC a I likeJohn well enough, in moderation, but not to the extent of spending almost all my spare time in his company. o 'I didn't know you painted.' ' It's just a spare-time occupation.'o attrib use a spare-time hobby, interest etc. (the) sparks fly there is sharp disagreement,argument, or quarrelling o We had just started on this plan and the spark s used to fly when Iinsisted on obedience. MFM o Those who held their breath at the prospect of the sparks that could fly around the studio when three star comediennes were cast in the same show together have been disappointed. RT o Sparks look like flying in the Systems Control Centre of theUniversity of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology when its chief returns fromAmerica in a few weeks. G speak ond's mind [V + O] say exactly what one thinks o He impressed most of the senior officers who had to deal with him as a man who learned quickly, thought hard, and spoke his mind. STo There was nowhere I could retreat to,no need to be pleasant to anyone, I could afford the luxury of speaking my mind. RATT o As hostess and President she felt she ought not to have spoken her mind so freely. WDM口 also pl speak their minds . speak now, or forever hold one's peace now is the only time when a claim, objection etc should be made o(source)(If anyone knows a reason why two people should not marry) Let him now speak, or else hereafter for ever hold his peace. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER o I hope you haven't any vital evidence to contribute,because if so you'd better speak now or forever hold your peace. ASA speak/ talk the * * me etc language[V +O](not) share a way of expressing oneself;(not)draw upon common experiences, training,ideas, values etc that make real communication and understanding possible det: same, sb's; a different, not... the same, not... sb's, another oHe talked a different language; it was demoticEnglish of the mid twentieth century, rapid,slurred, essentially a city dialect and, in origin,essentially American. HD o Watching him andSawbridge facing each other across the table. Icould hear them speaking the same language.NM□As a TUC ((GB) = Trades Union Con-gress) official put it,' it looks as if we and industry and the Treasury are at last beginning to talk the sname language.'OBSoJIMMY:I don't thinkI could take Webster tonight. ALISON:I thought you said he was the only person who spoke your language. LBA o' Westminster Hotels' has al-ready been told to prune its maintenance budgets again. Sir Charles says that the pruning is ab-surdly gentle. But the two sides talk different languages. ST□ Round about this time Rosburg was a formidable golfer in anybody's language.SC□'£6000 is a comfortable income. I'd think.'‘Not in their language.’ o variant (not) in sb's/anybody's language. speak the truth [V + 0] not tell lies; tell(sb)the truth(qv)□ She brought her family up in her own way; she taught us to speek the truth, come what may(= whatever the consequences may be). MFMo‘You know Captain Segura?’‘He is a friend of my daughter.'' How can I tell that you 513 <514> special pleading----the spirit is willing (but the flesh is weak) are speaking the truth?’ OMIH □ Whatever lies her tongue might still be impelled to tell, her face at last spokethe truth. DC文 tell(sb)a lie(about sth). special pleading (legal) presentation of a(legal) case by referring to special, or unusual,circumstances; (fig) biased evidence, or argu-ment, in favour of, or against, sb/ sth o MarilynBuller nowhere refers to Royles's paper, for if he is right, she is wrong. Marilyn Butler's account requires a little too much special pleading. NS□Still, if much special plaading is required to convince us that ' Titus' is a masterpiece, it is certainly revealed in this splendid revival as a work that every Mozartian should know and love. ST□As spring and Budget-time approaches,the cries grow louder of special planders,cranks. and high-minded reformers. Ton com-pound a special pleader =‘one who presents evidence of kind defined above'. the spectator etc sees more/ most of the game(saying) sb not actually taking part in an activity is better placed to observe and judge it then those directly involved n: spectator, △onlooker, looker-on o‘What the hell can you know about it, anyway, ' I said angrily.' You' ve never been married. " The spectator sqémore of the game, doesn't he?' DILo Onlookers see most of the game, but not at Hampden Park onSaturday when thickening mist forced the referee to stop play midway through the second half. o' All I wanted to do was to fill in (details). I can probably see more clearly, from where I'm stand-ing.'' Yes, spectators see more of the game than players, don't they?' he sneered. CON speed the parting guest [V+0] (formal)bid a civil, or ceremonious, goodbye to sb leav-ing one`s house after a visit, a social function,etc□ (source) True friendship's laws are by this rule express'd./ Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest. ODYSSEY XV (A POPE 1688-1744)□Noel and Mr Wickham went out with them to help with coats and speed the parting sweets.WDM spend one's/ its force [V + O pass] exhaust one's/ its power esp to affect, or harm, sb S:raider, attacker; storm; disease, epidemic;anger o The Speyside fire, thanks to heavy rain during the night, seems to have spent its force though many acres are still smouldering. SCo The deflationary aspect of the episode had pretty well spent its force by now. TGLYo Though a spent force. Sir Roy will make one last effort to save what he can of this old(province). OBSO esp past tenses; variant a spent force. spend money as if it's going out of fashion (informal) spend money freely; next entry(qv)(the implication often being that one is spending more than one can really afford)口In spite of the world recession, there are still some people in the early 1980s who are cheerfully spending money as if it's going out of fashion. □ I'm getting worried about Jack—he's spending money as if it's going out of fashion. He doesn't earn all that much, so I only hope he came by it honestly. spend money like water/ spend(money)like a sailor [V + O pass] spend money as freely as if it were in endless supply, or like a sailor on shore leave; previous entry (qv) o 514 HELEN: It's a wedding present from that young man of mine. He spends his money like water,you know. TOH□ Ford money is being spent like water—— nearly£10 millions so far this year. The television screens are stiff with Ford advertising.G o In the years to come, when the oil is ashore and the Scots are spending likeseilors andeven the Government is lavishing undreamed of lar-gesse... sc spick and span [adj + adj non-rev] fresh,clean, and tidy in every detail, way (originally referring to obsolete terms of manufacture) V:be, appear; be left; make sth o The bed had been.made, fresh towels were in the bathroom and everything was spick and spam. TCB□One's al-most ashamed of its (Freetown, 1954) being anEnglish possession—— particularly after visitingLeopoldville or Elizabethville in the BelgianCongo, which are as spick and span as Brussels or Antwerp. DSo These spick-and-span child-ren of hers put my lot to shame. o attrib use a spick-and-span child. spike sb's guns [V + O pass] frustrate the aims, intentions, or ambitions of sb (from making an old fashioned firearm useless by driving a spike into the touch-hole through which the charge was ignited) o The SecondWorld War is getting very generous treatment on both BBC channels perhaps to spike the guns of a certain series in production at Thames TV.LoListen, we' ll get married tomorrow. That will spike the old lady's guns. God, I would like to see her face! AITC□ They' ll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition, even at the risk of underpricing themselves out of business. □ He smiled with satisfaction —— he had made a confession of an action that troubled his conscienceand spiked John's guns at the same time. ASA spill the beans atc [V + O pass](informal)give away information, deliberately or uninten-tionally; blow the gaff(qv); let the cat out of the bag (Vol l) (qv) O: the beans; △ it; the lot,everything. A: about her husband's plan, to the police, at the Council meeting, wherever she went o Harold did not always spill the beens at once: he would bide his time and adopt a sphinx-like air. PW□Many diplomatic wives find it easier not even to know the beans they must not spill—— but there are other ways of being indiscreet.OBS o You can't keep a secret — you see no reason why you shouldn't spill the beens. TVToHe didn't know what he was going to do with her,not now she'd spilled the beans all over the place. TSMPo But after a bit I just wanted to tell him all about it and I think it did me good to spill it. RFW spin sb a yarn [V + 10 + 0 pass] tell sb a fanciful story, esp one designed to mislead,impress, or get rid of, sb o JASON: Just get rid of that young man. ALEX: How?JASON: Spin him&yarn,a tall story. DPM□GEOF: Do people ever tell the truth about themselves? JO: Why should she want to spin me a yearn like that?GEOF: She likes to make an effect. TOH the spirit is willing (but the fish is weak) (saying) one's intentions and desires are good but laziness, love of pleasure, etc may prevent them from being put into action o(source) Watch and pray, that ye enter not into <515> temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is week. MATTHEW XXVI 41 o I won't promise to be up to see you off. You know how it is — the spirit is willing but the flash is week.□ Miss Shepherd and Miss Kahn may be said to enter into the spirit of things, but the flesh—— notably in dimly sketched dance routines—— proves all too week. NS O either part may be used alone with assumption that other part will be understood. one's spirits rise/ sink one feels more/ less cheerful, optimistic A:a bit,a little, somewhat;higher/ lower□ I hastily fed the Idiurus(= flying mice) with the ripe fruit he had procured, and they enjoyed them thoroughly. My spirits rose,and I began to have hopes once more of landing them in England. BB□ Tom began to outline his plans. My spirits rose a little. SPL□ When no-thing happened her spirits would begin to sink lower and lower. In hospital at this time the sister had frequently found her in tears. DC ◇ ▲ raise one's/ sb's spirits. one's spiritual home [Comp (NP)] the place where one is, or thinks one could be, happiest;the country and its inhabitants to which (for reasons of ancestry, temperament, sentimental feeling, etc) one feels a stronger attachment than to one's own country V:△be, become;make sth o I have met third and fourth genera-tion Scots-Canadians who still feel that some township or island of the Scottish Highlands is their spiritual home.□ Yet he was obviously a first-rate leader. He should have been a German or a Russian. Either place was his spiritual home if spiritual is the word. PP the spit and image/ spitting image of sb/sth [Comp (NP)] sb/ sth exactly, or extremely,like another; next entry(qv)V:△be, look; find sb o She was trying to make (Alice) feel thoroughly uncomfortable by references to the good looks of her lover—— the spit-and-image of Jean Marais, darling.’ RATTo He were (=was) a grand man. He died in his 70s lifting weights. A great way to go. And Leon is the spitting image of him. TVToI' ve seen any num-ber of seals bobbing up out of the water all round us and all of ' em(= them) looking the spitting image of my butcher in Nottingham. RM口 spit-ting is a corruption of spit and. the (dead/ very) spit of sb/ sth [Comp(NP)] sb/ sth exactly, or extremely, like another;previous entry (qv) V:△ be, look; think sb oMICK: Yes, it was a curious affair. Dead spit of you he was. Bit bigger round the nose but there was nothing in it. TCo If ever a boy was the spit of his father it's Michael.□ He lived in one of a row of council houses each the very spit of the other. spitand polish[n + n non-rev] meticulous, or excessive, cleaning and polishing (esp care of personal or working/ fighting equipment in the armed forces) o The kraeli forces are refreshingly free of the spit and polish tradition of the British Army. SCo Councüllor John Kidd told the meeting that some of the fire engines were so old they were only held together by spit and polish. SCa To a man their husbands will be spit-and-polished, and dressed in their best, all hat-tipping civility. ST o Field Marshal LordNapier may seem to the present generation a one's spirits rise/ sink——a spot check slightly comic figure, the apotheosis of the spit-and-polish school of Victorian generals. BN Dattrib use the spit-and-polish school; variant(be) spit-and-polished. splice the mainbrace [V + O pass](nautical slang) serve out grog (ie spirits mixed with water) to sailors; have a drink, or drinks, of spirits o I think we can congratulate ourselves on a fine run. Let's go below and splice the mainbrace. o Too frequent splicing of the mainbrace had given Marsden's face a per-manent flush. split hairs [V + O pass] quibble, or argue, on minor points o(reader's letter) A kidnapping is a kidnapping whether the child be hidden by a vindictive parent or by a stranger. To split hairs over these cases being rivil or criminal offences is unworthy of us all. RT□These days it's no good just doing surgery, y' know. The hairs of specialization are split finer than that. InAmerica, so they tell me, they have a man for the right kidney and another man for the left kidney.DIL p And both the Zenda stories are good bad books rather than bad good books——a Christ-mas game of hair-splitting which doesn't seem so witty by the New Year. NS口 n compound hair-splitting. a split second a measure of time seen either as precisely calculated or as being too short to calculate o Then suddenly there he was. Cool,calm, timed to the split second, with the minimum of hand luggage to save waiting for baggage at the other end. TVTDIna split second she saw it coming, and raised her hands too late.She felt no pain as it struck her. AITC a For a split second the squirrels watched us without movement; then they fled. BB a ... that built-in stop-watch possessed by Royals (the Royal family), who are used to having to dispense small change of gracious conversation to a split-second schedule. ST o attrib use split-second timing, a spilt-second schedule; often follows preps such as in, to, for. spoll the ship for a ha' porth/ ha' penny worth of tar(saying) make a whole under-taking useless by trying to economize on a small but necessary item(ship, orig sheep referring to tar as an insecticide or disinfectant for sores;ha' porth/ ha' penny = halfpenny's worth/halfpenny) o If you' re willing to pay £90 for a coat why spoil the ship for a he' port h of tar?Get yourself a smart hat, too. DIt would only have needed a kilo or two of weed-killer every spring to keep the garden right. Spolling the ship for a ham penny worth of tar I call it. the sport of kings formerly hunting as a sport, esp on horseback, now (horse-) racing oThe so-called . Sport of Kings has always had social respectability. The racecourse, especially on a big occasion, does exude wealth and success.OBS□ Piggott is not a particularly attractive man physically, but he has power, a charism a and a rare talent: the king of the sport of kings. TVT□ In the beginning the promoters(of dog-racing)tried to get people like colonels onto the board,aping horse-racing, but they failed; it was never to be a sport of kings. L a spot check [O/o (NP)] a test, or investiga-tion, of persons, products etc made usu without warning and usu at random V: have; make, 515 <516> a sprat to catch a mackerel/ whale—a square peg (in a round hole) carry out o You can't go on X-raying men (ie possible diamond thieves) again and again. All you can do is have my occasional spotcheck, and make the men think you' re X-raying them when sometimes you' re not. DSo The Federal HealthMinistry in Bonn denied reports that West Ger-many had halted imports of Israeli oranges after poisoned fruit had been found but a spokesman said spot checks were being made on imports.SC a sprat to catch a mackerel/ whale[Comp/O (NP)](saying) sth of relatively small importance etc that is sacrificed, risked, or of-fered in the hope of securing a much greater gain V: be, set up sb as; throw o He was deliberately being set up, as he put it, as ' a sprat to catch a muckeral'—— the IRA assassin who he was convinced would come after him. Go What the Law Society has launched on the Tyne andTees is a sprat to catch a muckerel. Solicitors might have just cause to thank their professional body for the business it stands to attract. NSoDickie asked me to be in 'A Bridge Too Far' and be a sprat to catch a muckevel because I have,strangely, some distinction to my name, though no great box-office worth, and other actors are sort of tempted, if I' ve said OK to a role. RT Oalso p l sprats to catch mackerels. spread like a rash extend thickly, esp in vis-ible form o Every rainy spell added to the damp rings that spread like a rath across the thinly plastered walls. o (popular newspapers) The(picture) ' strips' spread like a rash, from the bottom corner of the back page through all the inner pages, take over a page of their own, and still crop up here and there elsewhere. UL spread like wildfirm travel with great speed and/ or force $: news, rumours; rebellion;disease, plague, infection o This business would spread like wildfire if it once got out, even without the help of newspapers or radio. TBCa Agenuine response is only possible if the document is immediately released, otherwise misunder-standings about it could spread like wildfire. Gspread one's not[V + 0 pass] prepare to catch sb or to get sb in one's power or influence det: one's; a, the. A: for him; to catch the un-wary o(source) A man that flattereth his neigh-bour spreadeth a not for his feet. PROVERBSXXIX 5 o In fact contacting Rohauer is not easy:having spread his net, he waits quietly for some-one to stumble in. ST o When the police had gathered fresh men and sursad the get systematically over the area,a suspect would be picked up even if it were pitch dark. HDO▲cast one's net wide etc. spread etc one's (own) wings [V + 0](have the confidence to) extend one's activities and interests V: spread,△stretch, try o Oh, but they must speed their wings alittle. They must make friends in many places. PWo Malvern(Fes-tival) was the creation of a burgeoning 19th-century middle class, who by the turn of the cen-tury and after, were anxious to spread their cultural wings a bit. Lo Farrah Fawcett-Majors wants to try her own wings in a TV movie with husband Lee Majors. TVT spring clean thoroughly clean and tidy;freshen, put into good order or condition O:house, room; body, mind; procedure, drills o 516 Modern governments are like slovenly housekeepers who sweep the dust under the car-pet and slap some new paint on the rotting wood.They never spring clean. TVT o MICK:I was just doing some spring cleaning. How do you think the place is looking? TCo When (the raccoon)discovered that the padlock would not yield he devoted half an hour a day to it, and the rest of the time he devoted to other good works. Among these were his spring-cleaning activities. DFoThere's nothing like a whole day's walking on the hills, I find. for giving both lungs and a cluttered brain a good spring clean. □ n compounds a spring clean, spring cleaning; attrib use spring-cleaning activities. spring a leak [V + O pass] crack, or perforate,so that water etc enters or escapes;(fig) cause,or allow,(privileged) information to get out s:boat; floor, ceiling; pipe, radiator o Don't tickle him till I get his happy(= baby's napkin) on or he's sure to spring a leak. o' Would it be possible for Kingsley to spring a le ak if we put him under sudden arrest?’’ I fear Kingsley may have de-posited some document in any of a thousand possible places.'TBC one's / the springs of action the instincts,motives, urges etc that underlie the behaviour of individuals or groups o I believed that the springs of action, as Lowes Dickinson once said, lie deep in ignorance and madness. I wished to cultivate my understanding and to be sane. AH□(In the novel) a cult of ' Lord Shardik' springs up around the enormous animal. People respond to the bear in different ways, their reactions ser-ving to define their type just as it discloses their sprites of action. SC square the circli[V + O pass] attempt to do what is impossible; (try to) solve a seemingly insoluble problem o There are always new ways of sugaring the circle just around the next tech-nological corner. Lo Tolstoy knew very well from pastexperience that the gulf between master and peasant could not be bridged. The way to saquere the circle was to get hold of the peasant children when they were young, and educate them. OBS a (good) squar@ meal a satisfying meal of nourishing food a Not once in those years didNed visit London without looking up Robert and taking him out for a good squnger meal. CONoThese tapes should be a great source for students of the nuances of political cliche. I am still mull-ing over Mr James Prior's observation that, after all, one can eat only so many senter e aneals a day. L · square pe g (in a round hole) sb whose character and abilities are not suited to his position or employment o I was the proverbial sugare peg in the round hole——I should be out there (ie on the battle front) snatching real pic-tures. But no one seemed to have time to listen.SCoGenerically speaking, he is a misfit,a round peg in the Squarest of holes. OBS□ There is a witty script by Garry Michael White which op-poses two different types of social square pege.Lo(NONCE)... education which is more concerned with developing individuals than with moulding them into pass suftably rounded to fit an array of round holes. Lo usu in form of headphrase,but square and round rev; frequently adapted as shown. <517> the staff of life bread, or any other staple food which supports life in a particular society□ The dough was kneaded in long rolls, each e literal ' staff of life', and left to rise before being divided into sections for baking. RT a st ag party (informal)a party, gathering, at-tended by men only o The Western has always been the venue for the Warley NALGO Men'sEvening, the Town Hall's annual stag-party.RATT o If his friends were going to give him e stag-party it must be two nights before their wedding: she wasn't going up the aisle to be met by a hung-over bridegroom (ie who was suffer-ing the unpleasant effects of too much alcohol).o also pl. ◇ a hen party. stage and screen[n+ n non-rev] the theatre and the cinema o They had paid a lot of money.presumably to be near us, and Princess Anne, and the stars of stage and screen. NSO attrib use a stage and scream actress; variant (stars of)stage, screen and television. stage a strike etc[V + O pass] arrange a strike etc, often for special effect, or in a dramatic manner n: strike, △ sit-in,demonstration, rebellion; entry D The FortJameson secondary and trades school was closed after students had staged a sit-down strike in protest at the proposed visit to the school of theMonckton Commission. OBS o ' Marie is a little late.'' She always is. She likes to know the other guests are all here before she stages her entry.'o also pl. stamp one's foot[V + O] bang one's foot on the ground in a gesture of anger, annoyance,impatience etc□' Don't keep saying that!' Helen stemped her feet lightly. 'I' ve never asked you to pay me back.’ AITCo The audience signified their disapproval with that slow stamping of feet that's apt to put the wind up performers of any kind. O n compound foot-stamping. one's/ sb's stamping(-) ground the place where one/ sb lives, is active, or is often to be found (originally referring to the habitats of wild animals) adj: main, favourite, preferred;former, latest. @: street vendors; prostitutes;lawyers, bankers □ As a youngster he was a big lad, mixing it with the other tough kids in Isling-ton, London, and his favourite stamping ground was the brightly-lit streets of Soho. TVT□Master Sharify was unmasked because some of his fellow labourers at his latest stamping ground recognised him as a chap who had been in the place before. NS o London is the main stamping-ground for private landlords. L o stress pattern one's/ sb's ' stemping(-) ground;sometimes hyphenated. stand a chance (of sth/ doing sth) [V + 0pass] have the possibility of achieving sth det:a; any, some; no; little, not much. adj: good,better; worse, poor o We stand an extremely good chemce of getting through the Russian defences. L a I'm afraid Lisa's family do not stand a chance. I doubt if their advisers will let them take it to court. MM o Great numbers of people were smuggled into the country and hid-den in remote and distant settlements where they stood less choace of being detected. ST o HET-TIE: What a man! I simply melt—— oh, one night,just one night with him and then I wash dishes all my life. RAYMOND(to Paul): So what chance do the staff of life--stand to gain etc we stand?TK□IfI had wanted to be an actor thenI don't think I would have stood much chance.TVT □ The first thing to be said about the latest scheme for Piccadilly Circus is that it stands &far better chance of being built than any of the projects published since 1959. NS stand and deliver [v+ v non-rev] formerly,a highwayman's command when stopping travellers to rob them of money or valuables;now facetious o It can't cost any more to provide a tourist with bed and breakfast inAugust than in March or November. A prices system adjustable to what you can squeeze out of somebody seems very like the modern equivalent of ' stand and deliver'. □ One young Dutchman asked a sensible question about aid to the developing countries but without success. As he said after:' You can never get these people to stend and deliver on anything.'NS stand easy [V + 0] (military) stand in a relaxed posture with the feet apart and the hands clasped behind the back o The men' stood eway' throughout so that they could lean and twist, and look at me all the time if they wished to. MFMo He paused, and then he said.‘You can stand easy, Prentice. Sit down.’ RFW◇ stand to attention(Vol 1). stand firm[V+ O] not yield to, or be destroyed by, enemy attack, stress or pressure, violent weather, etc; not be persuaded, or bullied, to change a decision or opinion S: fortress, out-post; sea-wall, barricade; employer, govern-ment. A: against the onslaught, against tempta-tion; in the face of pressure; on this issue □ In spite of repeated attempts to storm or fire the gates, the citadel itself still stood firm.□IfI had not stood firm and insisted that my plan would be carried through, we would not have won. MFM□‘Come on, ’ Best said, cajoling, threatening.' don't be mingy (= ungenerous), our Colin.Let's ' ave (= have) one.' Colin stood firm.Finding was keeping. LLDR stand four-square [V + O] be positioned in the exact, or approximate, shape of a square;(fig) stand solidly, firmly, uncomprisingly s:house, table; citizen; policy. A: in the middle(of sth); in his complacency; to the winds; against change of any kind o It was a late 17th century stone-built farmhouse that stood fourseuse in the middle of a scatter of later outbuildings.□She flung a hand and a smile in the direction of Judy.who stood four-seque re in the front row, with her feet planted and her arms folded. AITCo... the ideal of the whole man who can be serious without solemnity and cheerful without cheapness, and stands four-square in integrity and sound sense. UL O four-squaró or foursquare. stand to gain etc be in a position where one is likely to gain etc V: gain,△ win, profit; lose,forfeit. O: £3000, considerable prestige, your licence; (lose, forfeit) more than you gain oI' ve nothing to offer you—— no money, next to no equipment, not much trade, What do you stand to gain? HD o On BIG's (a building-contracting company) latest hush-hush budget.the architects stand to collect fees of£1,818,000. ST o These income bonds have guaranteed cash-in values, so the life company stood to loss a packet. OBS a (reader's letter)That is only one rule; there are hundreds that 517 <518> stand still-the state of play stand to be altered if we sign the Treaty ofRome. sc stand still [V + 0] not progress, develop, or take positive action S: time, conditions, educa-tion; we, the police, his rival o Seeing time ap-parently stand still for three years while the rest of the world surges ahead in the race of life, the(Oxford) student cannot help wondering what are these intangible values he is suppposed to be acquiring. OBS □ Police departments have not stood still. More men have been sent to cities in the north, and over 85 arrests were made last year. OBS stand the strain(of sth) [V + O] cope physi-cally or mentally (with sth)o: work, demands;excitement, worry, distress o Commanders and staff officers at any level who couldn't stand the strain, or who got tired, were to be weeded out and replaced—— ruthlessly. MFM □ It's a very lucrative job if you can stand the strain of al-most constant travel. a It's doubtful if his heart would stand the strain of another major opera-tion. D often neg with can/ could. stand etc tall [V + Comp] bear oneself brave-ly, or self-confidently, with consciousness of one's merit, status, rights etc V: stand,△ride,walk o He (a badger) didn't waste any time pottering around. After standing tall for a mo-ment, he shambled up the well-worn trail into the wood and disappeared. SC□Doesn't matter if you eat corn mash and saddle your own horse; you can still ride tall. Folks' ll respect you if you res-pect yourself. BBC TV o (NONCE) Groups came together for the common purpose of seeing films unavailable elsewhere. So if you don't feel like dropping in at your local(cinema), the remedy is often to hand: sit tall at a Film Soc(= society).NS stand the test of time etc[V + O] prove to be of more than temporary, or immediate,interest, use or value o: time, △ exposure,familiarity; re-reading, re-examination o Per-haps there is the germ of a novel there based on a theme that has already stood the testofthw.SC o His pictures sell for quite large sums now but who is to say whether they will stand the test of time. □ But although he assurned the difficult dual role of experimenter and subject,his methods were so thorough that his con-clusions have stood the test of repeated re-eleminetion. MFF the starturn[Comp(NP)] the main performer,or item in a programme of entertainment; a notable, interesting, or amusing person or event V:△be, become; make sb o Then he set the waste-paper basket on fire with a cigarette-end which made me pretty angry but which, for the children, was the star turn of the evening.also pl. stark raving/ stering mad/ bonkers[Comp(AdjP)] (informal) insane; demented; wildly angry, reckless, enthusiastic;V:△be, go; drive sb□ Griffith refers to him(George III) as having gone potty— stark staring med'. RTo Pop gave the (TV) screen a cursory, whipping glance and wondered if everybody on it had gone stark,staring mad, DBM o HARRY: She's mad, your mother. she's stark reving mod! CSWB□AndI' ve found Gittings—— she's the one that went stark raving bonkers, isn't she?TTO always in order 518 of headphrase. start etc a hare [V + O pass] introduce a sub-ject for discussion, perhaps just to stimulate conversation but usu with the aim of turning people's minds from the main subject V: start,△ raise, put up. det: a; many, several o The conscious decision was made to give an overall picture of the Festival. Almost every have that was started could have been profitably pursued.L o Lord Citrine said (about Ernest Bevin):' Whenever he got in a difficulty he would start a ha rm or pull a red-herring across the track.’ LoThere will be many heres put up for us to chase—— that the money is more urgently needed for slum clearance—— that…NSo We mustn't raise hares we cannot, at this time, chase. TT start the rot [V + O pass] begin a process of deterioration in personal life, society, industry,administration etc o Miming to records on TVstarted the rot, and discotheques pretty well killed immediacy stone dead. L o The rot had started last Christmas and the cameras were already there. They photographed the unity of the board gradually deteriorating. RT o It has become fashionable for teenagers of the 60's,now securely employed bank clerks, to pinpoint the day the Beatles disbanded in 1970 as the day the rot set in. RT o variant the rot starts/ sets in.◇ stop the rot. a state of affairs(all) the circumstances and events relevant at one time to a person, group,country, undertaking, profession or world situation det: a, the, this. adj: desperate,deplorable; existing, present □ Under the emer-gency regulations almost any adverse comment on the state of affairs in South Africa may be treated as an offence. SC o Indian democracy(1971) might have been damaged if the LowerHouse had again comprised a group of warring parties. That was the state of affairs before the election. SC□ There are two principal reasons for this state of affairs——a philosophical reason and a chemical reason. HAH a state of grace [0/o (NP)] the condition of a Christian believer whose sins have been for-given and who has hope of eternal salvation;(fig) a favourable condition, or status, accord-ing to some social, ethical or aesthetic view-point V: attain, achieve; aspire to, be received into o I watch London Airport dwindle merci-fully among the gravel-pits, and am received into the state of grace that, beyond the loweringEnglish cloud-banks, awaits us all in the sunshine and cumuli above. OBS□ Faith and works, state of grace, day of judgement —— the book is soaked in these phrases of the Christian discipline. NSo The Greater London Council has applied, this summer, for permission to restoreAlbury Street to its former state of grace——cobbles and all. ST O fall from grace(Vol 1). the state of play the score so far, esp in a game of cricket;(fig) the stage reached, so far,in a dispute, negotiation, or activity involving several persons or groups o The next TV visit toLord's (cricket ground) isn't until 3.40, but there' ll be flashes giving the state of play. o It is a most agreeable intellectual exercise, or a painless education in the state of play of the human scientists. OBSo This highly readable sum-mary of the present state of play will be as <519> steer etc a middle etc coursg illuminating to the professional as to the cul-tivated amateur. L astately hor.»a house formerly, or still, lived in by the British nobility and gentry, esp those houses built on a lavish scale in extensive grounds which in recent years have been opened to the public o (source) The stately homes of England,/ How beautiful they stand!/Amidst their tall ancestral trees,/O' er all the pleasant land. THE HOMES OF ENGLAND (F HE-MANS 1793-1835)□(parody) The stately homes ofEngland/ How beautiful they stand,/ To prove the upper classes/ Have still the upper hand. THESTATELY HOMES OF ENGLAND (N COWARD 1899-1973)□ Mr Lees-Milne has worked much with theNational Trust and written upon the stately homes of England. SC a Alcatraz (a formerAmerican prison) can now be inspected just like any other stately home or palace anywhere else in the world, totally untarted up, in all its crumb-ling glory. OBS□ In those early days they catered mainly to the crowned heads of Europe and the stately home trade. TVTO attrib use the stately home trade, business, circuit. stay etcthe course[V + O] continue running till one completes a race, whether one wins or not;(fig) carry on and endure till the end in any struggle or activity V: stay, △ last, survive oKnowing observers are unimpressed by SenatorKennedy's successes and point out that‘front runners' are unlikely to stay the course. SC o Isee this new work needs seven harpsichordists,52tape recorders and 16 film projectors. My curios-ity is aroused but I may not stay the 90 minute course. RT□His father was a violent animal who reckoned to be drunk every evening and who again and again gambled away his money but somehow lasted the course. NSa To his credit,Mr Millar has survived the course, bloody but only slightly bowed. OBS (a) stay of execution[O (NP)] a delay in, or postponement of, enforcing a court order; a delay in, or postponement of, some process or activity (the implication usu being that the process or activity, is/ will be unpleasant) V:win, secure, obtain; ask for a The ev iction order goes through, but counsel asked for e stay of●xocution until accommodation could be found for the defendant's children. o ' Do you want to go home and think about it?'' No. if you really think the tooth should come out I' ll have it done without stay of execution, stay put [V + Comp] remain where one/ it is or has been put; remain where one is in a general way, ie not travel, escape, seek promotion, etcS: family, shopkeeper, teacher; furniture,decorations o ' Ronald, sit down here and stay put.’ Tempest said to her husband. MMo... the ideal conditioning cream for hair that won't stay put. □ By staying purt, by digging our caves or cellars and staying in them, we shall be able to hang on. TBC o Pious people that they are, they hope that the answer to their prayers will be,above all, that Britain will stay put exactly where she is, both in Northern Ireland and in theCommon Market. L staying power [O(NP)] the capacity to con-tinue running, working, fighting, living etc, esp under stress V: possess, have; lack; display oGiven enough time and distance, a man will al- ways catch up on a horse because he has more staying power. o The fact that ' Peter Pan' still packs houses with delighted kids says a lot forBarrie, or for the staying-power of the Vic-torian imagination. Lo People learning because tap dancing is ' quaint and fashionable' lack the staying power and will soon be moving on to something else. OBS O stress pattern ' staying power. steady on be more careful; stop going, talking,so fast o Steady on, you two, you' ll be hurting each other in a minute.□ He began to trot round the room, dusting the ornaments, as he spoke.Gerald was forced to turn round in his chair to speak to him. ' Steady orn, ' he cried. ASA oSteedy on; if it is indescribable, don't describe if. NS D reproachful reminder or warning. steal the show/ scone[V + O pass] in a play,film etc, receive more applause and notice than the leading actor or actors; get more attention and admiration in a company, on a social or business occasion, than the person or thing which is expected to receive most attention o(He) stars as the bemused professor trying to prove that we all come from tree houses. TheChimp, (chimpanzee) of course, completely steals the show. RT o Babies are notorious scene-stealers. NS D n compound a scene-stealer. △ stop the show. steal sb's thunder[V + O pass] detract from what sb is saying, or doing, by accompanying it with dramatic remarks or actions of one's own, or with material stolen from him□(source—— referring to stage-thunder effects designed for a play of his own being used in a perfor-mance of‘Macbeth’) Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder! jDENNIS 1657-1734 D Helen was the one who was getting married. She would not have the thunder of her wedding stoi on by a presumptuous daughter coming up with a wedding of her own.AITC□By then Mr Powell had stolon everyone's thunder with his extraordinary speecha t Stock.port. L steam radio (informal) sound broadcasting contrasted with television o I'd forgotten what good value steur radio was till I had to spend those weeks in bed, o My father maintains that you got better tone quality from the old plug-in type of steam radio than from any but the most expensive of transistor sets. stee r etc clear (of sb/ sth) be careful to avoid meeting, using, becoming involved with,sb/ sth; give sb/ sth a wide berth(qv)V: steer,△keep, stay o' What the hell's going on here?' saidRobert. People were beginning to st ee r clear of me and Cartridge, and he must have wanted to investigate. CONo Her eight trips to England had generally some practical purpose but these letters steer clear of such dry stuff. La Opium has been a cash crop for centuries, and it's hard to see why a peasant farmer should jeopardise his livelihood to safeguard overprivileged youngsters in theStates who can perfectly well keep clear of his produce if they wish. L steer etc. minddi c etc course.[V+ O pass]adopt a policy and line of action that avoids extremes etc V: steer, △ hold (to), keep (to).adj:a middle; △one's own, an independent,a cautious o The reporter, whose, business is to 519 <520> stem the flow (of sth)—a stiff upper lip present relevant facts in an acceptable form.could and should steer a middle course. Lo But95 per cent of ordinary practising psychiatrists like myself, who run an area service, use both methods, and we hold a middle course. L oWorking hard at school had a very definite negative rating. But my mother had taught me to love books and feel the fascination of learning.So I steered a middle cours. ST stem the flow (of sth) [V + O pass] check,or stop, sth o: words, tears; diamonds (into illicit channels); our best brains (to the States)□ I took out a packet of cigarettes and offered(him) one, hoping to stem the flow a bit, but he accepted it and lit it without breaking his con-versational rhythm. CONo There is a need for a great many local industries to be set up to stem the flow of young people to the cities. stem the tide (of sth) [V + O pass] check,stop, or make some progress against, sth thought of as continuously growing or threatening o: enemy assault; barbarism, drun-kenness, thefts; squatters a It is Britain that stood alone in 1940/41 and then. with American aid, stemmed the tida. MFMo The second argu-ment looks to the home rather than the school for methods of breaking the cycle of deprivation and stemming the rising tide of illiteracy. NSo So how can this tide of distress be stemmed? OBSa step forward etc[Comp (NP)] sth done to bring a desired objective nearer, to improve a situation V:△ be, represent. adj: big, definite;small; another. A: forward,△in the right direc-tion, on the road towards sth o The high cost of defence is not being seriously tackled. except in the United Kingdom —— where the DefenceWhite Papers are steps in the right direction.MFM□ Nobody can pretend that this is e step in the right direction. OBS□Anyone who has heard good stereo reproduction knows that (this)represents a big step forward towards that ideal. RT o If one could divert some of the resources, now underemployed in the over-production of tea, into agriculture for domestic consumption, it would be a small step forward.NS o I did think that this was a very big step on the road towards getting a revolutionary situa-tion where the capitalist system would be divided.ST a stepping stone (from sth) (to sth)[Comp (NP)] a means of reaching a higher professional or social level, or a more advanced stage in building, learning etc(from a stone, or line of stones, laid in a stream to enable persons to cross without getting their feet wet)V:△be,represent; regard sth as o He deplores what he suggests is 'a new feeling among some youngBBC reporters that a correspondent's job is only# stepping stone to something else.’ RT o We had liberated a large part of Holland; we had the stepping stone we needed for the successful battles of the Rhineland. MFM□ There, blocks of buildings form a vast triangle of sooty architec-tural stepping-stonwig from 1844 to the present. OBS O stress pattern a' stepping stone. sterling stuff[Comp(NP)](dated informal) a person. endeavour or achievement of high quality and solid worth V: △ be; find sth oSterling stuff, these old merchant-kings, but sometimes they can't see far enough beyond the 520 counting-house to be of use to people like our-selves. OMIHo(golf) The British were four up with seven to play but the Americans set about them with level fours for the last seven holes. This really was sterling stuff and all credit to them.ST o can be used without v as an approving comment. the sticking point the limit, beyond which one cannot or will not go, or be persuaded to go o When it came to the sticking point, this shy.introverted man was capable of rare courage and resolve, however infuriatingly pale and insipid he appeared at less critical moments. Lo The other sticking point was over the length of Norway's coast which should have the special protection of the interim period. SC□ He's not going to keep lending you money. There' ll be a sticking point.□ stress pattern the ` sticking point. astickler for sth [Comp(NP)] sb who is fussy about, and insists on, particular behaviour in himself or others V:△be, become; make sb. o:punctuality,(the) truth, etiquette, hygiene□As a man he was a stickier for pudency (=decency, propriety) in word and deed. NSo Dar-win may be a frontier city 1,000 miles from anywhere worthwhile, but it is still a stickier for its own conventions. L o also pl. sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt m · (saying)jeers and verbal abuse (should) cause one no real damage o I don't know what the hell his game is, but I' ve got to play it cool. Sticks and stones will break my bonds, but words etc,etc. JFTR□Miller's production shows us that ' TheSchool for Scandal' is a very moral piece, a demonstration that sticks and stones aren't all that may injure the unwardy. Words, too, are in-finitely dangerous. NS O often adapted. a stiff drink etc a drink with a high alcohol content n: drink,△one; whisky, gino I left and had myself a real stiff drink. I have been shocked only twice in my life and this was the second time. OBS□ 'I feel I need a little——' 'I' ll bring one in to you. Sit down.’‘A stiff one.’ MM□ also pl; with need, could do with, used by, or about, sb who needs to be restored or livened up. # stiff letter [O (NP)] a letter that requests.demands, or complains about, sth in straight-forward terms V: write, send a They(working-class people) suspect that public services are not so readily and effectively given to them as to the people who can telephone or send a stiff letter.UL D occas pl; used by, or with reference to.educated people who can complain in an articulate way. a stiff upper lip [O (NP)] courage and self-control in the face of danger, difficulties, grief etc V: keep, have, wear, maintain o' How's he taking it?’‘Badly,I think, but he tries to keep a still upper lip.’ o And men are brought up with this awful burden of having to have a stiff upper lip and not crying at all. RTo The stiff upper lip that Tory ministers have so far worn in public in the face of every attack is now under a good deal of strain. NS□ It says much for the stiff upper lips of my parents that none of their anxiety was transmitted to their children. SToAn d who would have found the South Pole if wives had not agreed on a stiff and homebound upper lip? YWT <521> the still small voice (of conscience)—— stop the rot the still small voice(of conscience) one's sense of right and wrong (still =‘quiet’); the voice of conscience(qv)□(source) Andafter the earthquake a fire; and after the fire a still small voice. IKINGSXIX12o' But burglars don't stay the night, ' I protested to myself, but again the still small voice piped up. PPo It is easier to fight down the still small voice that tells you you are wrong than the one that tells you you may be found out. still waters run deep(saying)a quiet person can have much knowledge, cunning, strong emotions, etc o ' She's never shown any sign of having a mind of her own before.'' Perhaps she's never needed to. Still waters rum deep. stink like a polecat/ to high heaven(infor-mal) have an offensive smell because contaminated by dirt, disease, or contact with sth unpleasant o And to tell someone that he stinks like a polecat is to insult him. But it also insults the polecat, which stinks by glandular reaction to stress, but which smells rather attrac-tively at other times. SCo We'd been sleeping in our clothes for nearly a week and must have been stinking to high haverm. stinking drunk/ rich [Comp (Adj P)] (infor-mal) extremely, perhaps offensively, drunk/rich V:△be, become, get OPETER:I want to be stinking rich, open the most super-colossalSuperstore you ever saw. DPM□Oh, no,I' ve got to stay sober. I don't want to think afterwards Iwas stinking drunk the night my boy died. QAstir the/ one's blood [V + 0 pass] arouse enthusiasm, courage, excitement(in one)o TheRhodesian agreement was the best of a bad job.There was just nothing around to stir the biood.Lo Speak for yourself. The sound of bagpipes doesn't stir my blood. a< st itch in time (saves nine) (saying) im-mediate action taken as soon as sth goes wrong saves a lot of work later o' Must you stop to mend that now?’' I prefer to——# stitch in time syves nine.'o' He' ll wait till the water's coming in on him before he mends that roof.'' He doesn't believe in the stkch in time, then?’ one's stock in trade the qualities and methods one characteristically uses, or offers,in dealing with a situation or other people $:treachery, false promises; conciliation, flattery o Dickinson, for example, spreads a useful awareness that treachery is your stock-in-trade. U$ o False alibis are put forward. Ex-traneous issues damaging to police credibility are introduced. All these are part of the stock-in-trade of a small minority of criminal lawyers. L□' Welcome, Professor Middleton!' she cried.‘We meet as shades on the other side of the Styx.’Such allusions were, perhaps, her stock in trade for academical visitors. ASAo People want, or say they want, consensus in politics, and yet reject or have doubts about those very politicians who have made conserus this their stock-in-arside. NSone's/ sb's stock is high/ low one/ sb is thought well/ badly of (from the varying prices at which stocks/ shares are sold) A: with the public, with the Browns; in college; at home;everywhere on If a September attack was ordered by Whitehall they would have to get someone else to do it. My stock was rather high after AlamHalfa! We heard no more about a September attack. MFMoI don't suppose a Labour Govern-ment's stock has ever been so low in this country. ST stolon sweets etc are sweeter/ the sweetest(saying) stolen, secret, unearned, or undeserved pleasures are often the most enjoy-able n: sweets, △ pieasures, fruits, kisses oMick's Field was thereafter forbidden to us but,for no better reason than that stology swasts are always sweeter, we did sometimes play there. RT□' The cat's only choosy about what's put on her plate. Otherwise, she's an incorrigible thief.'' Ah well, stolenfruits proximatest, you know.'o That so good, so homely, and so secret an eating place should be almost within arm's length of Piccadilly Circus, and as good as invis-ible, gave meals there almost the sweet taste of stolon fruit. AH O variant the sweet taste of stolen fruit. a stone's throw((away) from sth) a very short distance (from sth) adv mod: not, just,scarcely o Notastone's throw from Whitehall,there stands, amidst all the humand bustle of the great metropolis, an old decaying pile. NSoA sea-gull was drifting over the water a stone's throw from the rock. PM o Police and demonstrators have fought viciously in Red Lion Square, only a stone's throw from this office. NSa In the dark night at Le Tirage, within a stone's throw of the Germans, Bill had gone forward to attach the gadget to the German mines. RFWo Within me stone's throw there must be four hundred places run by Italians, with an average of six girls called Pepina working in each. CON O variant within a stone's throw (of sth). stoop (so low as) to do sth [V + Comp]lower, demean, oneself by doing sth; stoop to(Vol 1)(qv) limf: to do sth; to eavesdrop; to ask sb o That a paper of such stature should stoop so low as to have a colour supplement. Why, it was nothing more than a cheap, nasty comic(=children's magazine). STo' Everyone has to make sacrifices: no one more than I who have to part company with valued and faithful colleagues,’said Asquith, and Churchill never stooped to point out how near that came to the old lie about‘this will hurt me more than it hurts you.’ L stop a bullet/ one[V+ O](slang) be shot, and wounded or killed o(There was) one shambling,ill-shaven slob. It was gratifying to learn that he stopped a built shortly before the end. Lo Fin-ally, he saves his first master, Charlie's, life by stopping a bollet during the Indian Mutiny.OBS o You know they' re armed but you con-centrate on your driving to keep your mind off whether this is going to be the time you stop ond.stop(sb/ sth) (stone) dead [V+0+ Comp pess] (cause sb/ sth to) stop immediately and completely o As I did so, afigure appeared round the corner of the corridor. All three of us stopped dead. UTNo' Perhaps you need a new battery?’‘I’ d have had some warning if it was that. The transmission just stopped dead.’ oWith a cumning twist of his foot he stopped the ball dead before kicking it into the goal mouth.o' Why do you let that lousy little mongrel follow you round everywhere?’ I said it good and loud,and even the blockes with mouthfuls of crisps were stoppe d stone dead in mid-mastication. JFTR.stop the rot [V + O pass] halt, or put right,a 521 <522> stop short (at sth)— the straight and narrow (path/ way) process of deterioration, esp in social or industrial conditions, practices, or standards oDepending on the age and condition of the houses concerned, stopping the rot meant either im-proving the existing buildings with the help of council grants, or simply bringing the bulldozers and eventually replacing them with more modern accommodation. RTo It (the discovery of many new diamond fields) nearly bust(= destroyed)the diamond trade. But then De Beers, who must have had terrific guts, stepped in again and stopped the rot. DS□' No, no,' he said, 'I didn't so much mean likely culprits, but what you think we can do to stop the rot. We must take a firmer line.’ TT start the rot. stop short (at sth) not complete a distance,action, statement, study etc o He ran down towards the main road, stopped short when he saw the police car and doubled back up the alley.□' Right. Down to the beach with you.' Pauline made to obey and then stopped short. Wio(Ella has not yet fully recovered from mental illness)Remembering de Morgan's theme of a wife inBedlam, however, he stopped short, and made a mental note not to mention Jane Eyre either.HAA□ This view recurred so often (particularly among churchmen whose acquaintance withFrance stopped short at Joan of Arc) that a common origin seemed likely. NS o variant stop sb short =‘prevent sb from completing sth’. stop the show [V+ O] attract so much atten-tion, applause etc from an audience, or com-pany, that proceedings are halted o This isBrenda Arnau of ' Oh! Calcutta!' fame where,statuesque and starkers((slang) = completely naked), she stopped the show wearing nothing but her talent. TVTo 'I don't know that I' ve any-thing smart enough to wear,' she said, pursing her lips. ' Smart?' I choked' You' ll stop the show.'CON□ By the time the Rainers came to Britain in1827—— the first time‘Silent Night’ had been sung here—— the carol had become their show-stopper everywhere they went. TVT o LenDeighton was born in a workhouse. The ma-ternity hospital needed to set up an annexe in what had once been the local workhouse, though you can see the possibilities as a conversational show-stopper. G o n compound a show-stopper/ showstopper. ◇ △ steal the show/ scene.stop and start [v + v non-rev] proceed with pauses, halts, or interruptions D The bus stopped and started, picked people up, let them down, and pursued its interminable course again unhurriedly. AITCo But a totalitarian, one-party state is committed to the belief that it's always and everywhere totally right. Give me our mixed,blundering, stop-and-start system any day. LoHarrison was then called in and, with many stops and starts, gave his version of what had occurred. o attrib use a stop-and-start system:variant stops and starts [n + n non-rev] as in last example. a storm in a tea-cup [Comp (NP)] a lot of fuss, disturbance, fear about sth that is, or eventually proves to be, of very little impor-tance V:△be; regard sth as o And really it was all such a storm in a teacup, to make this fuss about somebody coming back unexpectedly to spend a Sunday! PW o Let us suppose that the whole matter comes to nothing, that it turns out to be a storm in a tea-cup, a chimera. TBC o(NONCE) The key element in the whole toe-cup storm seemed to be the government's devotion to' competition'. L (so) the story goes so people say; so it is said o The story goes that, totally ignorant of navigation, he ranged alongside ships in theChannel, cupped his hands and shouted up' Where am I? Which way to Stavanger?'OBSoJim has never been happier. His relations withMr, the story goes, are a model of serenity.quite different from those that existed in 1964-70. NS□ His son trained as a doctor at Trinity.Turned to religion, evangelical Low Church and all that, and decided to take Holy Orders. So the story goes, anyway. PP o without so when introducing that-cl; with or without so when in parenthesis; always with so in main clause as end comment. a stout fellow/ feller(informal) a good,dependable, helpful etc person o He coughed,drank again, poked at the hole in his knee, and called Pop & stout feller. He knew the commit-tee would be eternally grateful. DBMo The fiesta is in honour of St John the Baptist, it seems, local patro n saint: Mr Graves was at St John's Col-lege, Oxford; there have been several St Johns,stoutfellows all. RTo feller = fellow; use often facetious; expression can also be applied to a girl or woman. astraight answer[O(NP)] an honest and/ or unambiguous answer V: give, get; want, expect o Would you rather I didn't come? —— and,please, I want a straight answer. o Subtle people, like myself, can see too much ever to give a straight amower. Aspects have always been my trouble. UTN□ Occas pl. straight from the shoulder [A] directly;frankly; forcefully(from boxing)V: speak, tell;give, deliver, get, sth o Johnson always says what he thinks you'd like to hear. I prefer a man who speaks straight from the shoulder. o This was a rebuff straight from the shoulder and there was no way to conceal his embarrassment.□ What's really the matter with me, doctor? I'm not a child, you know—— you needn't be afraid to give it to me straight from the shouldes . oThe editor of a down-to-earth, straight-from-the-shoulder, fearless magazine in Berkeley,California, announced to a breathless world that the United States has been busy breaking the codes of the Soviet Union. L 口 attrib use a straight-from-the-shoulder magazine, ans-weretc. (a) straight man a comedian's partner in a subordinate role assisting with situations and dialogue to highlight the main actor's perfor-mance; sb who supplies a stimulus for another's wit o The whole(Morecambe and Wise) show can absorb a tremendous amount of damage from flat scripts simply because of the sheer pleasure provided through watching the two men work. Neither is the straight man. Each leads to the other. Lo(a television series)' Basil Brush'is back for teatime (5.05 BBCl). The puppet whose outrageous jokes are a delight to con-noisseurs of all ages also has Roy North back in the role of straight man to a fox. RT o stress pattern (a) ' straight man. the straight and narrow(path/ way) [O/o 522 <523> strain at a gnat(and swallow a camel)— streets ahead (of sb/ sth) (NP)] righteousness and virtue; strict confor-mity to a religious, moral, political, or professional code of conduct V: tread, follow,forsake; keep to, stick to, hold to, depart from,stray from, tire of, keep on, encourage on, bring up in, guide along o (source) Strait is the gate,and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life,and few there be that find it. MATTHEW VII 14oCeriainly Australian wool producers got such an economic fright as would keep them in the straight and narrow path for the rest of their lives. RFW□ The exquisitely proportioned classi-cal building of Inigo Jones evoked a closed world in which there was no room and patience for any-one who deviated from the straight and nerrow path. RTo(Everyman's‘English PronouncingDictionary') Deep in the English character,there is an instinct for a U and non-U(= social acceptability and social non-acceptability) of pronunciation as strong as it ever was. Mean-while, for anyone needing help along the straight and narrow, Jones and Gimson will go with thee and be thy invaluable guide. Lo TheRolling Stones become progressively side-tracked and return to the straight and narrow as the best live rock group in the world. RT strain at a gnat (and swallow a camel)(saying) have scruples, make difficulties, about doing or allowing sth only slightly wrong or unsuitable, but remain unconcerned about doing or allowing sth really wrong, outrageous,or dangerous o (source) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hyprocrites! Ye blind guides,which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.MATTHEW XXIII 23-4 D The Manifesto Group grumbled about the closed shop in journalism.But it also accepted the most extreme and anti-libertarian proposal in Mr Foot's new industrial relations legislation, which deprives workers of legal protection against unfair exclusion from a trade union. Having swallowed this camel, it was somewhat superfluous to strain at a gnet.NS□ Bu t there are bigger issues at stake today than the merits of individual performances. Soci-ally, artistically and economically the symphony orchestra is a beleaguered beast. In others words,we may be present at one of those crucial mo-ments when it is not sufficient to stream at guests.OBS strained relations hostile, or suspicious, feel-ings between persons, groups, or nations which could lead to open enmity or warfare o Profes-sional jealousy had led to strained relations between the two men. o... no Turkish or Olympic airlines from Athens on account of the present strained relations, and an Air France strike. L□ When relations became even more strained as a result of having now to live, as well as work, in close proximity, the research work began to suffer. SCo strained may follow be, become, as shown. (in) straitened/ reduced circumstances[A (Prep P)] (in) poverty or (living on) an in-come which is less than average, or a good deal less than formerly o She was well aware that in their straitened circumstances she was unable to provide for the child as she would like. ToThough living in reduced circumstances them-selves my parents still felt an obligation to help those even less fortunate. o Loyal friends respon- ded to heavy hints about reduced circum-stemces with cash and dainties. NS strange etc bedfellows [Comp (NP)]people, or things, one would not expect to find close together, or to be closely associated with each other, because of their very different nature, uses, habits etc V: △ be, seem, prove,make. adj: strange,△ odd, uncomfortable, in-compatible o (source) Misery acquaints a man with strange bodfellows. TEMPEST II 2 o(reader's letter) But it is hardly the first time in history that strange bedfellows have worked together for the same cause. NS□ Hollywood's bread and butter is now television. In some ways,feature films and television make university bed-fellows. RTo Pathos, humour and terror, in this book, prove rather incompatible bedfellows.SC a stranger in a strange land [Comp (NP)](facetious) sb unfamiliar with his surroundings and company V: △ be, become; remain o(source) And (Zipporah) bare (Moses) a son,and he called his name Gershom: for he said, Ihave been a strigg er in a strange land.EXODUSII22o For the first time in 22 years I now know what people are talking about. I can watch the telly! Before, except when I was among actors, it was like being a stranger in a strange land. TVT as traw in the wind [Comp(NP)] an incident,rumour, expression of opinion, etc that in-dicates how a situation may be developing,what changes are planned or happening V: △(there) be, represent; see sth as o I had to set myself to wait, picking up any rumour from Bar-ford, muy straw in the wind. NMo Maybe it is a straw in the wind that Peking broadcasts to the USSR have stopped saying, ‘Hello, dear comrades and friends.' Lo It's something more than mere hooliganism. There have been one or two other straws in the wind recently. TTo The straw s in the fashion wind indicate a shrinking attachment for jersey and knitting. SC□There are strew s in the wind that this type of political campaign may take over sometime in the future from the industrial militancy of the present executive. NS a Straw man [Comp(NP)] a man who takes on business commitments with limited means; an imaginary person set up as an opponent (and then demolished) V: △ be; regard sb as a Asecond ideological feature of Mr Wilson's memoirs is his inability to recognise or to portray his various opponents and critics as anything but straw mon. Lo o variant a man of straw. the stream of consciousin●●● the events and circumstances (including one's own reac-tion to them) of one's life as continuously ex-perienced and interpreted by oneself; the imita-tion of this in books, films etc as a means of telling a story, portraying a character o Above all, he(Tyrone Guthrie) showed how important the use of the stream of conscidfuse could be for radio drama. Lo This is all contained in the stression of consciousnames; nippets, usually unpunctuated, that are a feature of M. Simon's other fine novels. ST streets sheed (of sb/ sth) [Comp(NP)](in-formal) far better, more efficient, cleverer etc(than sb/ sth) V: ▲ be, keep remain o The 523 <524> the streets (are) paved with gold---strike sb dumb/ speechiess Focke-Wulf was a better fighter than anything.we had till the Tempest became operational, and in the Messerschmitt 262 jet fighter they were streets ahead of us. RFWo(reader's letter) The star's talented mimicry is streets ahead of that of any other impersonator. RT□(advertisement)We' re Streets Ahead Of The Rest! In linen hire and garments it's the care we take that makes us great. OBS the streets(are) paved with gold (saying)it is a place, esp a city, where one can get rich quickly o Some feel that, by merely coming toNew Zealand, fortune is about to smile on them,that the streets arepeved with gold. Wlo(why young people run away to London) It used to be the bright lights and the promise of excitement,of the streets paved with gold, drawing, by u nd large, the more motivated and adventurous.RT strengthen sb's hand [V + O pass] increase sb's power to do sth in the face of opposition or competition o This gave the Prime Minister the realisation that although Britain may have been satisfied with what the Government was doing,Scotland was not. Thai strengthened the hand of the Secretary of State (for Scotland) in deal-ing with his cabinet colleagues. OBS□ The power stations, which have so far coped remarkably well with the problems thrown up by the miners'strike, will be disturbed by an overtime ban and work-to-rule. This will both strengthen the miners' hand and produce a drastic worsening of the problems of keeping the country adequately supplied with fuel. SC stress(es) and strain(s) [n + n rev]demands made, or pressures put, upon materials, persons, or social, economic or political systems o He was a fine driver and mechanic, but when it came to working out com-plicated problems of strosiss and strains, he was all at sea. PE o Curtis confesses that sometimes he isn't up to coping with the stresses and strains of a large family. TVT oIIturns out to be a straightforward, chronological account of a very normalife punctuated here and there with the usual strains and stresses—— jobs and people. Lo usu in order of headphrase. stretch the (long) arm of coincidence the strange chance that causes events to happen at the same time, people to meet, when one would not expect it, etc is used as an (almost) implaus-ible explanation for sth o The author has managed to trace many incidents in which the long arm of coincidence brought Katharine in fleeting touch with members of the family into which she was later to marry. SC□ But I hesitate to believe that an animal which has existed since the days of St Columba ar least would at this date fall a victim to a flying saucer'. This is to stretch the long arm of coinsidence too far for even the most credulous historian. RM o Either incident, I suppose, might have been an accident,but taken together they rather stretch the arm of coincidence. NS stretch a point [V + O] extend a regulation.or definition, to cover sb/ sth not usu included in it; not keep strictly to required, or normal,procedure o ' What is the boy's date of birth?"'23rd October —— next week. ' ' In that case Ithink we could stretch a point and call him 16 524 now.'a And after I'd talked big and waved my wartime status at them a bit, they consented to stretch a point and take me along too. TST o stress pattern ' stretch a point. strictly etc speaking [Disj] speaking with strict accuracy etc A: strictly; broadly, gener-ally, roughly o Social psychology, strictly speaking deals with the behaviour of people in groups. SNP□A 50-50 position (between BBC1.and ITV audience numbers) was achieved during the Sixties and, brondly speaking, has prevailed ever since. Lo Roughly speaking, Ithink no such contact is to be expected, but only roughly speaking L o Generally speaking.scholars writing on the Scottish Enlightenment tend to ignore the development of law and legal thought. SC o front, middle or end position. strike an attitude/ pose [V + 0 pass] make deliberate use of physical posture, or gestures.to emphasize what one says or feels; speak or write about one's opinions, intentions or feel-ings in a dramatic or artificial way o HyldaBaker came out from behind the bar, struck an attitude and began to declaim. STo What merit is added to a perfectly good radio (news) story,when, having written it, you then memorise it,stride a pose under a palm tree, and tell it to a camera? Lolf you want brass band music, you get amateurs; bandsmen don't strike attitudes about it, nor consider money somehow dirty, but it's an amateur movement. Go Amsterdam is one of the least hung-up communities in the world and that's reflected in their police force. Nothing as-tonishes them—— they try to understand and not strik· moral attitudes. TVT strike etc a bad patch [V + O pass] (infor-mal) start, or have, a period of personal, busi-ness or professional difficulties etc V: strike,△hit, suffer o ' Struck a bad patch?' asked MrsJones. He bit his lip. 'I am destitute.' USo I ad-mire my colleagues' persistence and ingenuity.Still, occasionally, every one strikes a bad patch. NS□ We' ve both hit a bad patch, Mark.You' re in a terrible spot, and I' ve just been faced with the knowledge that my life's work has crum-pled. STo He was reminded of a particularly bad patch struck at the beginning of his career. o also pl He struck several bad patches; pass use unusual. strike a chord [V + 0 pass] produce a mental,or emotional, response in sb (of recognition,sympathy, joy, fear etc); ring a bell (qv) adj:familiar, sympathetic, happy; ominous. A: in my mind, in human hearts; among those present o If I chance on a poem that strikes a familiar chord, matches up with something in my own experience, then I'm inclined to think it's a good one. o The anti-census agitation strikee e responsive chord among those who are anxious about the invasion of privacy in the age of the computer. SCo It suddenly occurred to Pop that he had heard these ominous words somewhere before. They struck a faint and unpleasant chord in his mind. BFA strike sb dumb/ speechless[V+0+ Comp pass] silence sb by astonishing, bewildering or terrifying him D In the face of such astute reasoning, Rafael was struck dumb. DFo MRSBRYANT: Well, do you know what? I was struck dumb. I was struck dumb wi'(= with) shock. <525> strike etc a false etc note——a strong point Ro Anearlier, and a greater writer(ie Dr SamuelJohnson), had been uncharacteristically struck dumb by the dark, brooding malevolence of the place. SCo usu pass. ◇ △ fall quiet etc. strike etc a falsegetcnote act, speak or write with a lack of accuracy, appropriateness, or sensitivity V: strike, △ hit, sound. adj: a false,a jarring, a discordant, a sour; the right, the proper, a more pleasing;a worldly; a spiritual,an austere;a cheerful o It would be rare for even an accomplished pianist to get through such a difficult piece without striking a single feise note, o First the vivacity of his mind became apparent, his openness to new impressions, then some comment, softly yet sharply # triking exactly the right note. AHo To strike a sour note about what is actually a most pleasurable occasion, the booklet leaves much to be desired.OBSo The Armada emerged as a disaster, not a triumph. The grief at Philip's court struck a more human note than any of the English scenes. L φ△ on an optimistic etc note. strike gold[V + O pass] discover a rich source of information, wealth, happiness, enlighten-ment etc o 'I expect you' ll be off(= will not like any longer) this girl too in a few months' time.'' No, this time I' ve struck gold.'a With one van he opened up a small delivery business, somewhat tentatively, but soon found that he'd struck gold.◇△strike lucky. strike it rich(informal) become rich, esp sud-denly A: in business, as the result of specula-tion; by becoming sb's heir, by making a weal-thy marriage o SONIA: Everyone who made a ter-rible fortune has been out of their mind. There was a man with motor cars in America and that man who struck it rich with frying oil. DPM□He now felt less like an anthropologist who has struck it rich than a shagged-out ((slang) =tired out) school-master(who) must be in position at nine-fifteen the following morning.TGLY strike a light(dated slang) an exclamation of astonishment or protest oPETER: Jason, it's me.JASON: Strike a Hyht, look who it ain't(= isn't).DPM □' Have you got those sandwiches ready?'' Strike a light, Jim! It's only two minutes since you asked me to make them. strike lucky be lucky, esp find sb/ sth one is looking for, or of a kind that one hopes for a It was the Americans who first drilled for oil here and struck lucky. Lo Presently I struck lucky:on inserting the net handle into a clump of grass and wiggling it gently, I disturbed a Que-fong-goo(a kind of lizard). BBo The only thing to do was to keep on photographing the whole sky.night after night. Some day he would strike lucky. TBC o (architectural styles) The QueenAnne answer, the great lucky strike, the hitting of the jackpot was as simple as it proved irresis-title. L o n compound a lucky strike; variant make/ get a lucky strike. ◇ △ strike gold. strike while the iron is hot (saying) make immediate use of an opportunity; do sth while conditions are favourable o His aunt was in a good mood and, thinking to strike while the iron was so t, he put Tina's proposal to her then.a Striking the iron while it was hot, Daniel said they might as well stroll along to look at it now. He would first telephone the dealer to say they were coming. US□ can be used as recom-mendation to act quickly; variant strike the iron while it is hot. a stroke of (good/ bad) luck· etc[Comp/O(NP)] an instance of(good/ bad) luck; a chance event, or circumstance, that works for/ against one V: be; seem; have, experience. n: luck, △fortune, fate a I thought I had had a stroke ofAuck. Myrtle rang to tell me that she had been promoted to a better job in the firm. SPL□ By a stroke of sheer good luck the ' Nautilus', of which he was skipper, was called upon to accom-pany Captain William Perry. Lo Don't you sometimes feel it was a stroke of bo d back for you to be born with a well-to-do father who's got ideas about educating you? HD a Alan Webb has the central role as a publican who decides to celebrate what he believes to be a stroke of good fortune. STOa stroke of luck/ fortune(ie no adj) suggests good luck. strong language/ words free or excessive use of swear-words, esp in abuse; forceful ex-pression of one's views, intentions o We could hear a few yelps of pain and a good deal of strong language as Jim groped his way through the darkness of the cellars. a Genius? Strang language, laddie. STa If we do not accept the rules of the Western system, the only option is to join Comecon. These are strong words, but there is no prospect of recovery for this nation by continuing to steer a path between these two clear alternatives. G o may be used as comment or judgement. a strong man a professional performer of feats of strength as an entertainment o BertramBatell's Sideshow: launched two years ago, now with nine ballets in the repertoire, as well as acrobatic acts and a memorable Strong Man.OBS□ Johnny Carter, our neighbour and a local strong man in his youth, could shatter a handful of hazelnuts in his fist. O stress pattern a ' strong man. strong meat [Comp (NP)] a set of beliefs, or the language or theme of a book, play, film etc.thought unsuitable for people who are easily upset or shocked V:△be; find sth□(source) Ye· are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong most. HEBREWS V 12 o Morris's magic would be too strong meet for most of us these days, caught as we are between kitchen-sink drama and women's magazines. NS a A darker imagination is at work in this story of betrayed love and revenge. Strong mem and very good.NS a strong point [Comp (NP)] an ability, qual-ity, asset that sb/ sth has to a marked degree V:△be, become; make sth. det:a; my, his, your.A: of mine, of the system; of/ in our family, of/ at this particular university, of/ with most small boys o Sometimes Wormold forgot he had al-tered a figure. Addition and subtraction were never his strong points. OMIHoA strong point of his system is that the fast learner forges ahead very fast and the slow learner can take as long as he needs. To Modesty is not one of Beth Porter's xtrong points, and she is certainly not one to sell herself short. TVTo Herbs, too, are & strong point at White Moss House, by Rydal Water in the Lake District. To may be followed by prep phrase, as shown; often neg. 525 <526> (the) strong silent man/ type— such and such a man etc (the) strong silent man/ type[Comp(NP)](cliché) a powerful or dependable man who does things and doesn't talk much, esp as a type in romantic fiction V:△be; find sb□ Bill's the strong silent type, says Mabel. He's shy.adores the children. TVTo No synopsis can do justice to its extraordinary sense of heroism without heroics of strong silent men who are not dumb but just as intelligent as the slick traders they scorn. NS o article usu used with type; stress pattern(the) strong' silent man/ type.one's/ sb's strong suit [Comp (NP)] what one/ sb knows most about or does best; the power or influence which one/ sb can exert most effectively (from the suit of playing cards in which one holds most winning cards in bridge,whist etc)V:△be, become; make sth o He was only an adequate batsman. Bowling was his strong suit and had got him his place in the team. o But humour had never been Harold's strong suit, and he did not feel like laughing.PW □ Unfortunately lyricism is not Robbins's strongest suit, and the Mozartian quality of the music was not really translated into dance. G Ooften neg. stuffand nonsense[n+ n non-rev] foolish or false beliefs, ideas, talk o And how could any-thing be after her? What sort of thing? Oh, stuff and nonsemysd, it was time she got over her childish fears. TGLY o The books are written off as a morass of stuff and nonsers. But what all the critics overlook is the pace at which a Blyton production moves. L o often used to express strong disagreement. the stuff that dreams etc are made of[Comp (NP)] the very essence of dreams etc;have it in one's nature, character, to be, or do,sth n: dreams, legend; heroes, revolutions; good cooks, headlines□(source) We are such stuff/As dreams are made on, and our little life/ Is rounded with a sleep. TEMPEST IV I o For most little girls pony books are the stuff that dreams are made of, and their little lives are bounded by the stable. Go I'm not the stuff that martyrs are made of: I don't have any sort of built-in sanctity. Lo I'm not the stuff dictetors ara made of. I'm only really comfortable as an underdog. TBCo This is the very stuff of which archecology is made —— small, insignificant finds, which add to our knowledge of the past.OBS D variant the stuff of which dreams etc are made. a stuffed shirt [Comp (NP)](informal) a self-important but empty person V:△be, become;find sb o But these aren't big people at all, Yves.These are frightfully, frightfully, unimportant people. They' re what are called stuffed shirts,Yves. ASAo Pete and I volunteered for the PressBall committee because we wanted to persuade the others that there was no need for the stuffed shirt formality of previous years. NS o The' stuffed-shirt' diet put out by the BBC didn't appeal to him at all: he liked the dance music from Fécamp, a Continental station. Lo attrib use a stuffed-shirt manner, stuffed shirt for-mality. a stumbling block [Comp (NP)] sth that hin-ders or prevents progress V:△be, become, find sth o At the centre is a resolution in a world which puts so many stumbling blocks in the 526 way, to hold on at least to' self-respect'. ULo(live radio commentary—— golf) We soon came up against the elementary stumbling block that in order to describe the play you had to see it, and in order to scrit you had to be within range of the players. ST o stress pattern a ' stumbling block.subject to sth' [Comp (AdjP)] liable to sth;bound, or likely, to incur sth v:△be, become;make sth. o: 1c.λ, duty; atmospheric inter-ference, distortions; colds, depression o What is one to make of his barefaced pretence that theImmigration Board is not subject to Govern-ment influence?OBS□This habit of blushing stuck to her, she was subject to it even in private. PW□It emerged not only that such a job existed, but that it was particularly subject to bribery. HDsubject to sth² [A (AdjP)] conditional upon sth; provided that sth specified happens, or is the case o: his parents' consent, the Board's approval; supplies being available □ In the end they agreed, subject to his parents' consent, to take Mark on as a trainee.□One precaution that must be observed is to prevent the sheet from coming into contact with the steam pipes. Sub-ject to that, it remains easy to handle. NSC□An air corridor to Berlin twenty miles wide was to be established, and the free use of this corridor was permitted, subject to one hour's notice being given to the Russians of an aircraft entering their zone. MFM such as it is/ they are poor, inadequate,though it is/ they are o You' re welcome to bor-row the lawn-mower, such as it is, any time you want it.□ The text, such as it is, is predominant-ly smug(' there is no longer an acute overall short-age of housing in most parts of England andWales'). NS□ Sustained panic about our place in the world isn't really a reasonable frame of mind in which to face up to the realities of the modern world, such as they are. Lo in parenthesis after n phrase it modifies. such is life (catchphrase) that's what life is like; that's life(qv)□ Dear me, and here we were expecting a quiet weekend; but such is life. I'm afraid. □ No, he didn't get the degree he was hoping for. But such is life, I suppose. o usu expressing, or recommending, acceptance of life's disappointments. such and such a particular event, object etc that has been specified previously but which is not directly named in a later report o People would say:' Are you going to do such and such?'and I'd say: ' Ohno,I'd never do that,' And it was very definite. ST o A stereotyped letter arrives from the factory pointing out that such and such is not covered by the warranty. St o stress pattern ' such and such. ◇ △ (a) so and so; next entry. such and such a main etc a particular, a given, man etc n: man, politician, artist; thing,occasion; sum of money; place, seaside resort oHe seldom asked himself whether he liked such and such a man: he esteemed him according as he fitted into the categories Harold knew. PWoNow it is easy enough to write about such-and-such a politician's supporters but it is more con-vincing to name names. NSo Did one show one's hand? Did one betray one's anxiety that such and such a thing should happen? One did not.PWoBARDOT: Journalisis and photographers are <527> on my heels everywhere I go. My trips are not trips—— they' re feature stories people are doing on me in such and such a country. OBS ◇ △previous entry. a sucker for sb/ sth [Comp (NP)](informal)one who is easily duped by sb/ sth; sb who can-not resist the attraction or temptation of sb/ sth;sb who likes, is greatly impressed or interested,by sth V:△be, become; make sb. o:a hardluck story; kids, sweet things, antique knick-knacks;televised athletics, sentimental films, science fiction □ Anybody that knew & sucker for a hardluck story when he saw one could get a fiver out of George. □ Dickie Davies is a sucker for boat shows and blames himself to the tune of£5,000 for his brand-new cabin cruiser. TVT □CHARLTON: But I know what you mean: if you' re a sucker for a ball game, you' re & sucker for life. You never forget your heroes. TVToShe kept this radiant smile even when singing the Magnifi-cat. I'm a sucker for this kind of thing and the tears rolled. G o also pl. a sudden death finish/ play-off(sport) an additional contest to decide between people or teams who have achieved equal results, eg after a given period of extra time o In these tourna-ments, instead of requiring the winner to be two up, we have a sudden death finish in the 7th game. a If two teams are level at the final whistle,they compete in a sudden death play-off. suffice (it) to say etc(that) (formal) it is enough to say etc(that); I will say etc no more than (that) V: say, △ point out, state, stress □It would be idle to attempt to describe the prevail-ing excitement. Suffice it to say that frenzied attempts were made to decode the incoming message. TCB o I have discussed such relation-ships and will not do so again here. Surffice it to stress that the concept of status is not purely defined in terms of position. NSP□ He was woun-ded and spent a year in hospital, but won't talk about it: 'I don't like heroes—— suffice to $ ey Iwas a soldier.'RT sufficient unto oneself [Comp (AdjP)] not dependent on others, esp for companionship,moral support, sympathy etc V:△be, become;remain o Because they meant so much to each other emotionally, they were sufficient unto themes/ ves. Pw sufficient unto the day (is the evil thereof)(saying) anything unpleasant will be quite difficult enough to bear when it happens without worrying about it beforehand o(source) Take therefore no thought for the mor-row. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. MATTHEW VI 34o Governments have a great capacity for ignoring the problems of the future. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof is their motto. SC a sugar daddy (informal) an elderly man who supports a girl, or young woman, in return for sexual favours o ' La Paloma': deliriously mock fantasy about a cabaret singer and her sickly sweet suger daddy. NS 口 stress pattern a ' sugar daddy. sugar and spice (and all that's/ things nice) imaginative description of pleasant attributes of character o(source) What are little girls made of?/ Sugar and spice/ And all that's nice./ That's what little girls are made of. NUR- a sucker for sb/ sth—— sure of oneself SERY RHYME□ Come, Mr Skipton,y' re(= you are) not made of sugar and spice. The easy way is not for you. US o (Jessie Matthews’ s) stage success was followed by a string of buoyant films—— cobweb thin, some of them, but enchanting in their own suggs-and-spice way. TVT 口 attrib use a sugar-mod-spice way. ◇rats etc and snails and puppy-dogs’ tails. suit/ fit one's/ sb's book [V + O] be con-venient for one's/ sb's purposes; agree with what one/ sb wishes or intends to do □ I believe even the most civilized of Englishmen still think that Catholic historians falsify or deny whatever doesn't suit their book. ASA□Dawson wouldn't have taken Mark into partnership if it hadn't suited his book.□ They were not truths aboutAmerica; but they showed truths about the Brit-ish, selecting and distorting American evidence to fit their book. L the sum total (of sth) [Comp (NP)] all (of sth); the whole(of sth)V:△be, represento Two grocery shops and the general store are the sum total of local industry. To She'd rather not have to live alone, and I think that's the sum total of her feeling for him. one's Sunday best etc[O/o (NP)] one's newest, smartest, clothes V: wear, dress in, put on. n: best,△suit, dress, hat□ My clothes were my Sunday best. RATTo In addition, as part of their public strategy, the demonstrators invari-ably wear their Sunday best and carry their most impressive school-books. OBS a And there were the clothing workers themselves, dignified but a little prim in their Sunday best. RT□ Re-call for a moment some of the routines of working-class life: as to clothes, the persistence of the Sunday suit. ULO such clothes formerly,esp among middle class or working people,kept for Sundays (when one went to church,visited relatives or friends but did not work, or play games, etc). sure enough[Disj(AdjP)](informal) exactly as one had expected, or as had been said, forecast etc o' Well, you can see for yourself what a mess it's made of the beach. ' And sure monough whenMr Mackay looked at the sand it was scored and striated in every direction. RM□ First of all she went to the bombed buildings of the King's Road.There, sure mough, was Godfrey's car. MMo' Am I being a nuisance?' he asked, and sure enough he was but I could hardly say so. a sure-fire method etc[Comp (NP)] a cer-tain, reliable method, etc V;△be; think, find,sth. n: method, △ way, solution; success □ Asmall item in the newspaper can easily be missed,but a short announcement on the radio, put out several times during the course of the day, is a more sure-fire method.L□(answer to reader's letter) No, it's not the thing to do. Yours is a sure-fire method to block the drains. TVT o' Play for Today' on BBCI kicks off with what looks like a sure-fire success, ' Bar MitzvahBoy'. RT o also pl. sure of oneself [Comp (AdjP)] extremely, or excessively, self-confident; sure that one is com-petent, correct V:△be, feel, seem; look, sound□ I hated Joe Lampton, but he looked and soun-de d very sure of himself; he'd come to stay, this was no flying visit. RATTo He refused to tell me by what methods he was going to bring about this 527 <528> sure thing---sweet Fanny Adams/f. a. miracle, but he was so sure of himself that Ibegan to wonder if he really would be able to get me one of these creatures. BB sure thing [Disj](informal) of course; natur-ally; it is certain; I admit; we all know o ' They wouldn't be so cruel!' ' Sure thing, they would.Don't underestimate their ruthlessness.' o I' ve been luckier than a lot of people, sure thing, but that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with things as they are.□Sure thing it rains if I plan to wash blankets. o front or end position; esp Scots orUS. a surprise packet (informal) any person,thing, or event that surprises one through some quality or content o' All he said in the letter was that he' ll be bringing a surprise packet with him.'' Could be anew girlfriend. I suppose.'o' Let me mix you one of Julian's specials. It's a sort of long cocktail—' 'I' ve been caught with Julian's drinks before,I want to know what's in this sur-prise packet.’ TGLY□ also pl. surprise, surprise (ironic) just as one would expect; it's really no surprise o A new steel works has just been constructed. So there's not much lack of work. There is however, surprise,surprise-an acute lack of housing. NSoSome-body announces that we are here for an inves-titure, surprise, surprise, and we are off.Today's list is exceptionally long, with 176people. ST o comment, or rejoinder, often in parenthesis. the survival of the fittest (the theory of)survival by natural selection, ie only those forms of plant and animal life best adapted to their surroundings are able to survive □ Reduce men to animals, and still a little dogged altruism remains. It isn't all self-interest and the survival of the fittings. NS the suspension of disbelief the readiness to accept as real what one knows to be impossible or unlikely o(source) That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which consititutes poetic faith. BIOGRAPHIA LITERARIA (S TCOLERIDGE 1772-1834) □ Was he so unnatural a child as io be unable to make a positively eager suspension of disbelief? Lo There isn't a mo-ment when disbelief is totally suspended. It may, however, prove a socially useful film. OBS□If the team goes on next season to put itself back in the first division, the dream could just possibly come true. I for one think it worth while to sus-pend my disbelief for a time. NSO variant sus-pend (one's) disbalief. swallow the dictionary [Y + O] use uncom-mon and, esp, long words o 'I'm a palaeontolo-gist.'‘A what? You’ ll sprain your jore (= jaw),if you start in trying to swallow the dictionary all at one go.'RMa He may be an expert but can he talk to school-children? They' ll not sit still for half an hour listening to some chap that's swallowed the dictionary. D infin or perfect tenses. swallow/ pocket one's pride[V+ O] hum-ble oneself, esp in order to do or obtain sth, or to admit error or guilt o Where money was con-cerned she had little pride. What little she had she swallowed and wrote to Elvira. ASA □ He had more practical matters to deal with. Having swallowed his pride, he did not intend to prostrate himself for nothing. NM o The 528 Americans have swallowed their pride in order to make a deal which could have been made years ago. NS□ But he needed the aid and companion-ship of his wife. Pocketing his badly-damaged pride, he hurried to the door of Madame's locked room. ARG swear black is white say emphatically or stubbornly that sth is the true, is the case, when it is not true, not so o Don't believe a word that child tells you. He'd swear black was white if he thought it was to his advantage. swear blind (that) (informal) say emphatic-ally or stubbornly (that sth is the case although it may not be so) (the implication sometimes being that the actual truth is disregarded) □They aren't going to get me on this racing lark.this running and trying to win, because it's not the way to go on at all, though they swear blind it is. LLDR□It would be just like Peter to slide a few notes into my handbag if he thought I was hard up, but he swars blind that it wasn't him. sweat blood [V + O] be in an agony of effort or fear o You' re too used to swmenting bloodfor your money. But that's not the way to get it. Just lie on your back and whistle and it' ll come. UTN□He must have sweated blood dragging himself out of there with a broken leg.□' You look fright-fully composed and superior. ' ' If I may say so.sir, that's just what struck me about you. ' ' GoodGod! I' ve been sweating blood at the thought of this afternoon for a week.'DIL sweated labour work by underpaid em-ployees, usu working in cramped and unsafe conditions o It is now argued that imports from countries which exploit cheap labour should be controlled . Complaints of sweated labour will give place to complaints of sweated environ-ments. STo(NONCE) What did he want out of you this time? More sweated manuscript-reading?ILIH o To compete in the labour market the fashion industry has had to take its workers out of the sweat shops and pay them more. SCD of a sweat shop = 'a cramped, unhealthy factory or workshop where employees are underpaid'.sweep the bo ard(clean) [V + 0 + Comp pass] win all the cards, stakes, at a card or gaming table; win all the prizes, awards.honours connected with an event or activity;have an exceptional run of success, popularity□Starbrook had his first taste of success when his club pul in for an area event and ' swept the board clean, scooping up all the prizes'. RTo The colt's trainer. Alec Head, swept the board in the three-year-old races in France this season.OBS o (fashion notes) The odd jacket is the runner-up to yesteryear's blazer and we know how that support the boards. SC a sweeping statement[O(NP)]a statement expressed in terms that are far too general and that do not allow for exceptions V: make;favour, be given to o (It) is as ridiculous as it would be to suggest that all journalists are ig-norant charlatans who make sweeping state-ments in the mistaken belief that their readers know as little as they. NS□ He's much given to sweeping statements about trades unions,foreigners and working wives. sweet Fanny Adams/f. a. nothing at all;nothing of much value or importance (from (i)a girl so named murdered in the 19th c and <529> sweet sixteen(and never been kissed)— the tail wags the dog chopped to pieces, then (ii) sailor's slang for tinned mutton, then (iii) sth of little value or appeal, or (iv) nothing at all)□ We' re going to get it (school sports) over at the double. I'm not going to ' ave (= have) you all standing there doing sweet fanny adarns. SPL o(reader's letter) What other subject would the BBC be prepared to have discussed in front of millions of viewers by someone who, on his own admission,knows sweet Fanny Adams about it?RToI have always been keen to discover what it is that puts editors apart from mortal men and the answer inJohnson's case was the usual and resounding sweet f. a. PP o I went to a junior secondary school, which carried a stigma. Then I was thrown out at 15 as though I was sweet FannyAdams. SC sweet sixteen (and never been kissed)(catchphrase) past childhood but still young enough to be innocent, unworldly, inexperi-enced etc o A woman trapped in the rubble of her wash-house said she was about to have a baby. Iwas sweet 16, wide-eyed, and had no idea what to expect next. OBSo I was just sweet sixteen when I went through the portals of the District and National with my first ham sandwich. JFTRthe sweet smell of success(catchphrase)what draws people to seek success and/ or to admire it o One might expect that Gilmore would be savouring the sweet smell of success now.having spent more than 20 years as he says, ' in and out of character parts, and f lop musicals'. RT□This brings us back to the book which also gives off the sweet smell of success. As a PanBooks paperback, costing 60p, it has sold nearly two million copies. sc sweetness and light [n + n non-rev]harmony and reason (popularized as terms in artistic, cultural, moral and political doctrines and criticism by M ARNOLD 1822-88) □ (source)Instead of dirt and poison we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are systems and light. THEBATTLE OF THE BOOKS (J SWIFT !667-1745) o' Sweetings and light' is simply reason active in society. We must find a use for intelligence in our society. LoIt would clearly be foolish to suppose that a warm welcome for table-tennis tourists means the end of Chinese isolationism and the immediate inauguration of a new policy of sweetsés© & ind light. NSo Reith's sojourn (as T a tail-end Charlie sb(habitually) late, slow or ineffective:(dated RAF slang) the rear-gunner in a bomber aircraft o The bad teacher will al-ways be showing how good he is, will let the weaker skiers be the tall-and Charlies— learn-ing little and feeling worse and worse. ST o Over the barriers jumped the team to effect a rescue.when another bull, something of a tail-andCharlie, mopped up (= defeated) the lot of them. L the tail wage the dog [V+ 0 pass] a part controls the whole; a subsidiary associate, Lord Commissioner, representing the monarchy) at Holyroodhouse, we gather, was not all sweetness and light. At times he could be unbearable. SC□ Diana is a bit baffled as to why she's constantly cast in parts that tend to lack sweetness and light. RT swing the lead [V +O](dated slang)(try to)deceive with a false or exaggerated account of sth; esp feign illness in order to avoid work,a duty etc(from casting a sounding-lead at sea)□‘Poor Mrs Spencer, ’ said Kathie, she does have a lot of trouble.' ' Trouble?' said Dusty,' she's swinging the lead—— sick headache!"TTOa n compound a lead-swinger. the swing of the pendulum(the pattern of)alternation in public opinion and taste o The swing of the pendulum since 1968, observable last year, is expected to enable Labour to regainGlasgow, to hold Aberdeen, perhaps to captureDundee. SC o (in East Germany) Stalin, about whom nobody had a bad word to say while he was alive, suffered from the swing of the pen-dulution and became the wrong person to name things after. SCo A great many people thought that the pendukum of permissiveness had gone too far, and that it was about time it began to swing back again. STo You never know how the pendulum will swing: our middle-class grand-parents sold their pianos and now the grandchildren are buying them back again. o variant (how/ which way) the pendulum swings.swings and roundabouts [n+ n non-rev] a matter of balancing profits against losses(from fairgrounds—— if customers favour the swings,money is lost on the roundabouts) o As to whether it's better to be 20 now than then—— it's a matter of swirage and roundabouts. TVT o' It's just swings and roundabouts in politics,'said Mr Foulkes lightly. ‘You’ re never rejected for long.'ST o A study of the fairly momentous changes in Italian family life indicated that there,as elsewhere, they were gaining on the swimgs what they were likely to lose on the round-abouts, but that is progress, I suppose. L o(producers are also consumers) What people gain on the roundabouts at work obviously matters more to them than what they lose on theswings at home. Go variants what one gains on the swings one loses on the roundabouts, gain on the swings what one loses on the roundabouts— swings and roundabouts rev in both variants. group, element, factor etc dictates the course of action for a more important associate etco TheScots should appreciate that within the British economy they occupy a subordinate position.They ought not to expect the tall to wag thee dog. SCo(NONCE) Can the Libyan tall wag theEgyptian dog? Can Gaddafi influence or effec-tively contradict Cairo? L o (NONCE) For one thing, craft chapels (union branches) have established a tradition of near autonomy which sometimes makes the more militant talls appear to wag the union dog. NSo Because of ideology, 529 <530> take the air—— take the biscuit/ cake because of distrust and hostility between the great powers, no one feels able to bring any pressure to bear on Hanoi. The same goes forSaigon. Small tails wang big dogs on both sides.L o The specific danger he visualises is that in bowing to pressure to widen the operation beyond the scope of his company's own feasibility study.One could end up being the dog that is wagged by its own tail.’ sc tak6 the air [V + 0] be out of doors; go for a walk o Cuckoos were still calling across the fields in their late bubbling voices and a few people were wandering among Ma's flower-beds,taking the air. DBM□' Where are you going now,for goodness' sake?' ' Nowhere—— just to take the air on the lawn before I go to bed.' take sth/ it amiss [V + 0 + A pass] be offen-ded by sth said or done that was not intended to have this effect O: it; the criticism, advice,review of his book; my remarks, his interest o' When are you two going to get married? I'm glad you didn't take it amiss when I said that,' He wagged his globe-shaped head with satisfaction.SML □ She's so touchy about being able to look、after herself that your offers of help may easily be taken amiss. o Please don't take it amis s ifI say I'd rather you didn't come to the station to see me off. take etc another course [V + O pass]change; change one's plan, pattern or line of procedure S: events, matters; illness, epidemic;government, management. V: take, △ follow,pursue. det+ adj: another, a different, the same; the right; a predictable □ That, then, was what they expected. Events, however, were to take another cours@.TBC□ The disease does not necessarily follow the same course in every person who contracts it. □ Rarely has a Budger left more uncertainty in the public mind as to the course business may be expected to take in the immediate future. SC□I think you are taking the wrong course with that boy in constantly criticizing him. o also pl There are several courses open to us to tækθ. take sb/ sth as one finds him/ it [V + 0 +A] accept, be willing to tolerate or welcome, sb/sth without wishing him/ it to be different; take sb sth as he/ it is/ comes(qv) O: her, the PrimeMinister, people; it, life, things □ Well, I'm sorry. I have to say what I think. You must take me as you find me. AITC□ He thought what a nice wife he had, and that she would be perfect if she would only take him as she found him. ILIH□' Well, she's never shown that side of her charac-ter to me. ' I'm sorry-I don't mean to turn you against her. "" You haven't. It's always best to take people is you find them, don't you think?'□(NONCE) I always try to get on with everyone. Take as you find, as my dad always says. RTtake etc sth as/ for gospel etc[V + 0 + Apass] believe sth unquestioningly or too credulously V: take △ accept, receive. O: it;what he says, their pronouncements. o: gospel.(the) △gospel-truth, holy writ/ scripture □ ButI wish they didn't think they were getting away with making you take it all as gospel. Lo Not only are the doctors themselves convinced of their own infallibility, they also impart this notion to the patients. Whatever a medical man says or does is taken as gospel-truth, and woe be to any who criticise. RT□He wasn't out of my sight for one minute: please accept that as the gos-pel truth. take sb/ sth as he/ it is/ comes [V + O + A]accept, be willing to tolerate or welcome. sb/ sth without wishing him/ it to be different; take sb/sth as one finds him/ it (qv) O: him, the Pope,people; it, life, things o 'I'm not dressed for get-ting up, I said. Perhaps after coffee I might find a razor Waterman had left, but for now MissMiles must take me as I was. PP□I said to him:' My man, your property is ready for display to anyone. But I have been cooking, cleaning, and digging for three days and I'm tired. Mr Stent will have to take me as I come.'EHOW o No longer is he sharp or pushful. He just takes things as they come. NS take a back seat [V + O] (informal) change to, or be relegated to, a less important role or function o It is highly unlikely that Slater intends to move out of the scene or even take a back seat for long. STo(astrological prediction)Someone you love will be obsessed with some-thing other than romance--so you take a back sent for a while. TVT□ After forty years in the business it's time for me to take a back seat and make room for younger men and new ideas. take sb/ sth to be sth understand, deduce,that sb/ sth is as named or described □ A middle-aged woman whom I took to be his housekeeper was talking to a tradesman at the back-door. oThe victim is a spinster bombed out from London to a boarding house in ' Thames Lockdon' (whichI take to be Henley, where Patrick Hamilton spent the war). Lo There was a brilliant aurora-type display that night, which the Nortonstowe scientists took to be associated with the sudden burst of ionization high in the atmosphere. TBC□The best man was wrongly taken to be the bridegroom by the photographers. o pass as in last example. take a beating etc[V + O](informal) bring defeat, heavy criticism, loss of credit on oneselfS: team, side; government, company; idea,notion; reputation. o:a beating, △ pounding,hammering, pummelling, thrashing o The team has a good record for the season in spite of the beating it took at Hampden last Saturday. oEton, being an ancient institution, is also of necessity an Aunt Sally. It has taken s beating for long enough with fearful exposés of sadism,homosexuality and the like. SC□ Th e argument that the public is interested in visiting stars and not the home team has already taken quite a beating this season with the great popular suc-cess of ' Peter Grimes' and ' Wozzeck', both sung in English by company singers. To The survivors seemed mostly concerned to challenge each other's credentials or recollections. Martin Gray took a pummelling from almost everyone. LO△ take some beating. take the biscuit/ cake [V + O](informal) be extremely or specially amusing, foolish, annoy-ing, astonishing, outrageous etc o Pop thought this milord lark (ie having been thought to be a titled person) just about took the biscuit and he told Ma all about it as he uncorked the cham-pagne in the bedroom. BFA o ' Man Alive' and' The Money Programme' were, no doubt, worthy attempts to present their topics economically 530 <531> take a bow/ curtain— take effect within a studio setting. Both were as dull as ditch-water, with Money taking the biscuit. Lo You may think your husband is forgetful but John really takes the cake in that respect. take a bow/ curtain [V + Oj acknowledge applause by bowing$: cast, company; principal dancer, conductor o The title describes it as 'a play by Neil Simon'— it is, in fact, a trio of one-acters— and the final credits permit the players to take a well-earned bow. NS□ It was a delicious meal, Sheila. You must come and take a bow. □'A fish-witted imbecile like you ought not to be allowed to be a doctor. There should be a law against it.’ This was his exit line, and as he turned and walked out, with the patients cluster-ing eagerly at the doors of the waiting-rooms, he had something of the feeling of an actor taking a rriumphant curtmin. PE□ lit or fig. take care(not) to do sth be careful(not) to do sth; make certain/sure²(qv) that one does(not) do sth o (astrological prediction) Take care not to let a family upset interfere in any way with your usual working routine and con-centration. WIo He wouldn't suffer half as much as he does with his stomach if he took care to eat properly. a' You don't seem to run across our old acquaintance, Smith, these days.’’ That's largely because I take care not to.'o It wasn't that we(as children) were harshly treated. It was just that adults seemed to dislike us, and we feared them, and took care to maintain a low profile in front of them. G take the cash (in hand) and let the credit go(saying) put immediate financial or material advantage above other considerations, eg honour, fame, prestige, future well-being o(source) Ah, take the Cash, and let the Credit go,/ Nor heed the rumble of a distant Drum! THERUBAIYAT OF OMAR KHAYAM (E FITZGERALD1809-83)□' You practically wrote that book for him.yet your name doesn't appear anywhere, inside or out.' ' It's a work of no importance. I was quite content to take the cash and let the credit go.□ People nowadays don't have too much con-fidence in rewards in heaven. They prefer to take the cash in hand and let the credit go. take a chance/ chances (on sth) [V + 0pass] attempt to do things knowing that one may incur injury, loss, disgrace etc; take risks(qv); run a risk (of sth)(qv) det: no,(not) any;a lot of, too many o He said people should be ready to take chances. He said people shouldn't be afraid. EHOWo Oxford's a wonderful driver.He'd have been prepared to take chamces that no other driver would take. PEo Johnnie thinks he's smart, but he's taking a lot of chances.He' ll end up in court yet. o The thieves took a chance on the owner of the house staying away all day—a chance that paid off handsomely. take etc the consequences (of sth) [V +O pass] accept the result(s) of error, folly etc V:take,△accept, suffer, face □ I have to come out in the open and print my information. And take the consequences if I make a mistake. PP□I'm sorry you feel bad, but if you will eat things you' re not supposed to you have to suffer the consequences of your greed. a I' ve had enough of your excuses. You pay what you owe by the end of this week or accept the consequency.o often with should, must, have to. take the count [V + O] be (knocked) uncon-scious or helpless; be overcome or defeated(from boxing where the referee counts from one to ten when a boxer has been knocked down)S:fighter; politician, businessman o Jean-JacquesServan-Schreiber has the resilience of those Rus-sian dolls which when pushed over always bob up again. In September of last year he took the count in Bordeaux, having picked an election fight with the Prime Minister on the latter's home ground. Last Sunday, at Suresnes, he stood triumphant. NS □ But the extraordinary thing about Nixon, of course, is that though he takes the count of nine each time, he won't stay down.L (let sth) take its course [V + O] (let sth)happen, or be done, without interference S:fate, matters, the seasons, her grief, the con-versation. adj: own, ordinary, natural, uninter-rupted o The minds of a Government and a mighty corporation can be changed. But (the steel workers) have so far chosen to let fate take its course rather than use direct action. STo'Ihope we don't have a long winter like last year's.'' Long or short, it' ll take its own course.'o The.bulk of investigative work has been done, and they say, therefore, that those detective reporters should sit back and let justice take its course.Lo It's economic permissiveness he's under fire for —— that is, for letting the forces of the market-place take their natural and painful course, rather than intervening to try to put things right. L O △ru n its course. take a decision [V + O pass] decide about sth o They had taken the decision without consult-ing me —— which they had no right to do. oDecisions to depart from the rules should not be taken lightly, nor should they be taken by in-dividual police officers. NS o First, this Bill blatantly provides that all European Community law and decisions already taken, or taken at any time in the future, automatically become the law of Britain, without due Parliamentary process. ST o often pass; n compound decision-taking. take/ get sb's drift/ meaning [V+ O] un-derstand what sb means(even if this is indirect-ly, obscurely or inadequately expressed)□ Oh,I took her drift all right, though I pretended not to. She's hoping her mother can come to us from hospital to convalesce, but I didn't want to com-mit myself to anything till I'd discussed it with you. o‘You don’ t want us to launch out at all?’' Well,'—— she was terribly embarrassed (think-ing he meant they should have another child)——' not perhaps in that way.' The hated red began to stain her cheeks.' In what way?' asked Harold,and then he took her meaning and her colour.PW o I get your drift now, I think. If you mean by ' integrity' what I would call ' consistency' then we' ve been arguing at cross-purposes. take one's ease[V + O] relax, and enjoy(a period of) comfort and leisure o Not more than a dozen guests stood around, taking their emer and watching the latest arrivals. PP o It's your dog, Elsie. Why should your father have to be walking it out on a cold night while you take your · esse by the fire? take effect' [V + O] actually occur; be enfor-ced or become law $: increase, levy; regulation, 531 <532> take effect----take the initiative legislation. A: on May 1st; from now; when?oThe price of paraffin is to go up by 10pa gallon.taking effect from midnight,8th January.□It's definitely been decided that the Upton branch will close down but I don't know yet when this is due to take effect. take offect²[V+ 0] have, produce, an inten-ded or expected effect (on sb/ sth) $: drug,anaesthetic; alcohol; spell o I'm going to give you a pain-killing injection. In a minute or two.when it takessoffect, you' ll feel much more com-fortable. a But the mixture of whisky and beer,coming as it did on an empty stomach, was begin-ning to take effect, and he sat with half-closed eyes, oblivious of their angry gestures and com-ments. HD o Braking, I nearly sent Lesley through the wind-screen. In my own car I was accustomed to a full inch of play on the pedal before the brakes took effect. take a firm etc line[V+O pass] adopt a firm etc method of dealing with sb. a matter or situa-tion adj: firm, strong, conciliatory; similar, dif-ferent □ School regulations still included the wearing of a uniform and the headmaster took a very firm line on this. RTo '/' ve no use for that kind of woman,' Harold said. ' If he had to have her around, he should have taken a strong line with her from the first. Thank goodness, darling,you don't go on like that.' PW o In the coal-producing member countries, governments have had to take special measures to assist that industry and the Commission have adopted a sympathetic attitude. We can expect them to take a similar line on measures to assist the industry here. SC□'I don't like you going behind my back like that,' she began. Then she remem-bered Spenser, who was standing solidly on the carpet, taking it all in, appraising. ' But of course. Helen added swiftly, and her body relaxed a little as she decided what line to take.` since it is all settled, I naturally could not be more delighted.’ AITC take first/ second place [V + O pass] be the most/ less important priority amongst one's duties, loyalties, interests, affections etc A: with my mother; in her affections, in their list of priorities □ Her(my mother's) method of deal-ing with the problem was to impose rigid discipline on the family and thus have time for her duties in the parish or diocese--duties which took first place. MFM o He's set his mind on defining ' consanguinity' and there's no shifting him. Everything else has to take second place when he's in this mood. ARTo Finn is a humble and self-effacing person and so automatically takes second piece. When we are short of beds it is always Finn who sleeps on the floor, and this seems thoroughly natural. UTN D take second place =‘not take first place`——a further ex-tended scale to third etc place is not implied. take the floor [V + O pass] rise to address a meeting o There was some dispute with the anti-semitic doctors on the staff, as a result of whichSchnitzler's chief adversary took the floor at a meeting and proposed a vote of no-confidence in him. NS□Almeyda, opening the Friday afternoon session of the United Nations Conference onTrade and Development here in Santiago, invited the former American Defence Secretary, RobertMcNamara, to take the floor. NS◇ △hold the floor. take fright/ alarm [V+ 0] become frightened□ They shot at another of our agents in the street and he's taken fright. A third's gone under-ground. OMIHo Perish the thought that Scotland with so many glorious links with Europe should take fright at the prospect of moving in with theSix(countries of the EEC). SCaOver seven hun-dred animals quietly queued up to drink and took alerm only when flocks of Quelea finches and sandgrouse gave warning of the approach of predators, man or lion. NSC take sth hard/ lightly [V + O + A pass] be greatly/ little grieved, disturbed, disappointed or inconvenienced by sth O: it; his wife's death,her dismissal, the additional burdens; failing his exam. adv mod:(much) too, so, very o Try not to take it too hard if you don't get anywhere(with Jenny). After all, there are plenty of fish in the sea, aren't there? TGLY□She took everything so hard, that was the trouble, her imagination was fearsome. TSMP o You must have plenty of money that you can take losing £50 so lightly.□ take sth hard often preceded by try not to,(please) don't, I hope you won't, I'm afraid he will and similar expressions meant to comfort or forewarn sb. △take sb/ sth seriously/ lightly.take a hint [V + O pass] understand and do what has been indirectly suggested o 'I don't know what you' re talking about,' he muttered, in a tone that was clearly intended to put an end to the discussion. But Dr Bottwink seemed incap-able of taking a hint. EMo She wanted to be dressed right for the part, and once or twice she had asked him. ' Do you like me in this?'. hoping he would take the hint and so describe her. PW□ She yawned and stretched her arms. ' Time for me to go. ' said Peter. 'I can take a hint.' ol think he' ll move out. I'm sure the hint has been taken.□ often preceded by modai s or by phrases ex-pressing(in) ability eg can/ can't, not seem able to, be capable of; cf I thought he would never take the him. ◇ drop a hint. (you can) take etc a horse to the water,burt you can't make him drink (saying)giving sb the opportunity to do sth becomes useless if he is not willing V: take,△lead, bring o'I'm not pleased with her,' said Dr Ford.'I have suggested that she should go into the BarchesterGeneral (Hospital) for a good overhaul and a rest. Bur it's one thing to take a horse to the water and another to make her drink.'WDMoNew College remained largely the haunt of the well-to-do, their sons and their sons' sons, and the desire or ability to learn was a minor considera-tion. Even today you can take a dead horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. Lo(NONCE) The key to every dispute, he insists, lies in the personalities involved, in getting deter-mined men into amicable agreement. Heron thinks it will be some time before the trade union carthoriese can be made to drink Carr's bitter potion. OBS take the initiative [V + O pass] be the first person, group etc to act in an undertaking that involves another or others; make an opponent adjust to, or defend himself against, one's own moves o He was very sympathetic but he said Iplaced him in a constitutional difficulty; if he took the initiative and asked the local authority 532 <533> to grant a licence in my particular case,... MFM□ There is an imaginary line in draughts, as every player knows, that crosses the board diagonally from corner to corner. It is the line of defence.Whoever gains control of that line takes the initiative. OMIHo Whitehall is still on the defen-sive, preferring to react to whatever might emerge from Brussels, or other EEC capitals come to that, rather than take initiatives of its own. NS O occas take an initiative, take initiatives.take it (informal) tolerate or withstand, hard-ship、 pain, stress, criticism, contempt etc modal: can, be able to, have to □ To go on living for me is to go on learning about life-- - and everything that makes life. Wanting to go on learning makes one vulnerable, of course; you are always exposing yourself to risk. I hope I can take it. OBS□ ' Well, there's no need to provoke her, is there?’ she said. “Why, it's only a bit of fun---she can't take it, that's all; not so well as she can dish it out to the kids.'TToIt means every time I write a play the army takes a caning, It isn't terribly fair. But at the same time it's honest; and they' re tough enough to take it. GoHe's a sloppy, irritating bastard, but he's got a big heart. You can forgive somebody almost any-thing for that. He's had to learn how to take it.and he knows how to hand it out. LBAD preceded by modal or by he man/ strong enough to. know!learn how 10. take it(that) assume(that)o And now this fog!The English climate is certainly unpredictable. Itake it that we are still cut off from the outside world? EM o I take it your mother has gone toAmerica, or you wouldn't be in London. AITC□Iʃyou walk in with enough confidence people will take it that you have a right to do so. a You' ll be joining us later,I take it? take it easy (informal) go, or do, sth(more)slowly; not become(so) flustered, angered, ex-cited etc□ ' If you leave at 10 you should get there by midday all right. 'I'd rather leave earlier and take it easy. ’□ Then his ears began to fill with the phantom buzzing of planes. He kept looking up (as he climbed) and fell once, cutting himself.' Don't he a fool. Take it easy. There's no point in looking up because you can do nothing to attract attention.'PMa You make a mistake in answering him back, though, mate. He doesn't like that, old Frank doesn't. Just take it easy.He' ll soon lay off you then. AITCo MYRA: There's such satisfaction in behaving well. Not that one's more subtle forms of insult don't escape them entirely. (She laughs shrilly, almost breaks down.) MILLY (quiet and shrewd): Myfa, love,you 'd better take it easy. EHOWD often imper.take it etc easy (informal) live, or spend a period of time, in a relaxed or restful way O: it,△ life, things o Children need excitement and activity on holiday as much as adults need to take it mesy. ST a PAMELA : Why not come riding with me then?STANLEY: No—— not today. I—— just want to take things easy today. FFEo Carson had looked a good thing for the championship ever since the day late last year that Lester Pig-gott said that he would be taking life much easier in future. SC take it or leave it [v+ v non-rev] (informal)accept or reject sb/ sth offered, no other choice being allowed or possible o Malouel bought the take it—— take life (model of a) shrine, but would not pay a centime more than twenty-five francs. Daniel cursed him.He danced with rage. Take it or leave it,' Ma-louel said. ' It's an off-season.' USa ' What this station will need, ’ Hawthorne said, ‘is someone who speaks Spanish. " She speaks French. "'I saidSpanish. ’ A file drawer slammed shut. ‘Take it or leave it,' Miss Jenkinson said. OMIHo... old-guard (and sometimes young-guard) doctors who loathe the idea of anyone interfering with the almost divine right of the profession to practise a teke-it-or-leave-it philosophy on its patients.OBS □ attrib use a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.take a joke[V + 0] accept with good humour teasing, facetious remarks, playful or discon-certing tricks, etc modal: can, can't, could(n't).be able to o He danced and rode well; and was courteous to ladies; he could take a joke, and make one. NS o Young Wormersly in the sales department has written a humorous ditty about the sales director to the tune of 'I Who HaveNothing', and believes — quite erroneously —that the sales director can take a joke. TVT o preceded by modal or by learn to, know how to.◇△ (not) see the joke. take the King's/ Queen's shilling [V + Opass] enlist as a regular in one of the armed forces (formerly, receipt of a shilling from a recruiting officer made the contract binding) oTired of monotonous work as a farm labourer he took the Queen's shilling and his known his-tory begins with the Boer War. take a knock [V+ O] suffer a disappointment or a set-back $: industry, agriculture; produc-tion, output; hopes, expectations. adj: bad;severe, sharp, hard o Industry took a bad knock in the Cultural Revolution. China was very short of raw materials because of trouble in the mines and on the railways. OBS□ Th e BritishGovernment's hope of wooing back Ulster Cath-olics to cheerful conformity took another knock yesterday from two of Northern Ireland's most thoughtful Catholic politicians. STo He cer-tainly took a knock when he wasn't re-elected,but he's probably done better for himself in busi-ness than he would have in politics. □ You must be able to take hard knocks in this business. take leave to doubte tc it etc(claim a right to) doubt the truth of sth stated or suggestedInf: to doubt, △ to question, to query. O: it,that; the story; whether he will a But the point of much recent work is that in essence nothing has changed since the Butler Education Act of1944. I take leave to doubt this, but... Lo Even if a solid fuel heating system were more economi-cal to run —— which I take leave to question anyway— we simply don't have storage space.o usu first person. take life'[V+ O pass](formal) kill sb det: one's(own), another's, a o Some people adopt a vegetarian diet because they believe it to be more health-giving, and some from an aversion to tsking life. o And it seems to have been this idealism, coupled with ill-health and depression,that finally brought him to take his own life. LoWithout rivals, she argued wildly, there could be no danger. Her words suggested to Henry that no life was too sacred to be taken. Wl take life²[V + 0](begin to) acquire positive form, identity, significance; become animated, 533 <534> take the long view—— take/ have one's pick interesting; come alive(qv); come to life(Voll)(qv) S: sculpture, language, details; perfor-mance, debate, party o It was fascinating to watch the lump of clay take life beneath the sculptor's hands.□ Presently, that smudge in the distance took life in the shape of a horse and rider pounding along in a cloud of red dust. oUsually a rousing piece, on this recording it never really takes life. ◇△ bring to life(Vol 1). take the long view reach decisions, or form opinions, taking into account future develop-ments o Only humiliations seemed left , but even here Smith took a long view, foreseeing as he did the eventual dominance of America. SCo In this situation it is common to say that nothing can he done until law and order are restored. But intransigence in Northern Ireland on both sides makes it necesary to take the long view. SCo' It would pay you to buy this house if it suits you.'' In the long view, yes. But in our present cir-cumstances £120 a month rent is possible and£230mortgage is not.’ o variant in the long view. take etc a lot of stick [possess] (informal)suffer a lot of(unfair) criticism, blame, punish-ment, exposure to physical risk V: take,△get;give sb. det:a lot of, a good/ great deal of, a fair amount of, more than enough o Yet her native intelligence was often patronised by cultural superiors who treated her humilityas synonymous with stupidity. She took a great deal of stick at the Actor's Studio and con-tinued, humbly, to believe that they always knew better than she did. RTo(football) The central striker today must be more adaptable, but must still take a lot of stick without anything like the same scoring opportunities or rewards as before.TVTo Why did it have to happen to her? That woman has taken more stick in the last two years than anyone could deserve.□‘I had about1,000 National Service men go through their training with me,' he said. ' They always seemed so cheerful in spite of all the“stick” they took.'TVT□I'm going to meet my sister at Barker's and she won't half give me stick if I'm delayed. AITCtake etc sb's measur@ [possess] know, or estimate fairly accurately, sb's character, im-portance or abilities V: take,△have, get,□ Did(= should)I stand to attention and ask for the honour of the hand of his daughter? Or did I just make some sort of joke about adding Nikki to my income-tax? Either approach would not only make me look foolish but—— as I hadn't taken the messure of the Commander yet—— might land me in the Thames. DILo He detested AneurinBevan, largely because Bevan had got his mmemiere and once remarked that he was not a man with whomon e shouldgo shooting tigers. L. take one's medicine [V + O pass] submit to sth unpleasant o When the other boys were caught he owned up and took his medicine with the rest of them.□I think that if we felt that price increases were to affect everybody equally, then most of us would be prepared to take our medicine without squealing. D take one's medicine like a man =' accept physical punish-ment without complaining or finching'. take occasion to do sth [V + 0](formal)make use of a suitable time or situation in order to do sth o Marshal Tito delivered a report on the tasks before the alliance in regard to the 534 further development of Socialism in Yugoslavia,but he took occasion to make some references to international affairs. SC◇ du have etc occasion to do sth. take my tip [V+ O pass] accept my advice □Pete is always dreaming up some money-making scheme or other. Take my tip and have nothing to do with them. □ It's easy to get carried away at auction sales. You should take a tip from me and carry only as much money as you mean to spend . □ often imper; variant take a tip from me.take one look (at sb/ sth) [V + O] do no more than look (at sb/ sth) for an immediate result o I ran into Anna through Sadie, and she took one look. At first she pursued me. She stopped doing everything else and simply pursued me. UTNo' If he wants an old van, I' ll sell him mine for£200.'' You' re an optimist! If he hadany sense he'd take one look at it and tell you to get lost.’ o The third applicant was the permanently discontented type. You had only to take one look to see that. take sth/ sb or leave sth/ sb take (esp con-sume) or do without sth, with indifference or equanimity O: it, parties; him, Mike; smoking o Young people often start experimenting with one of the more innocuous drugs thinking they can take or leave the effects.□The best kind of relationship to have with a neighbour is one where you can take or leave each other without offence.□ Yet Mark,I knew, didn't care much for the bright lights, the smarty life; he took or left it. YWT.□ pron O(him, it, them, us) usu repeated after leave; patterns with n O are I can take smoking or leave it or I can take or leave smok-ing. take pains [V + O pass] be very careful; involve oneself in a great deal of work or trouble det/adj: such, (not) many, great, endless. A: over her garden, over preparing a meal; to explain sth clearly, to make the guests comfortable; in getting his facts right, in cleaning the carpet. oHer garden is her great passion—— she takes more pains over it than she does over bringing up her children. o Instead of falling on (the food).with joy, as we had expected, the beasts seemed positively afraid of the worms, caterpillars, and beetles that we had taken such pains to collect.DF□(golf) In order to swing a carefully-designed clubhead quietly and consistently along a reason-ably straight and very short path, endless pains are taken. SCo In writing, as well as in research,he was a perfectionist; his painstaking efforts in committing himself to print consumed much time, which he did not always possess. NS □ adj compound painstaking. take/ graba pew[V+ O](informal) sit down□ He put a hand on Wormold's shoulder and pushed him through the door. Take a pew, old man,' the stranger said, ' while I turn on a tap.'OMIH o ' Do take a pew if you can find room,won't you?' It was difficult, if not impossible(the chairs being covered with household articles).DBM□ ‘Where are the others?’‘Gone to grab a pew before the bar fills up. I said we'd bring over the drinks.'o rather dated middle-class usage;usu imper; always sing. take/ have one's pick [possess] choose; selectA: from the objects on display; of half a dozen suitors o (advertisement) Ask your chemist for <535> take place— take sb/ sth seriously/ lightly the ' Spinet', and take your pick from eight romantic shades. Ho Three pretexts or justifica-tions (you can take your pick) have been presented to Mrs Thatcher. NS□ The girls were mad for Tom when he was a young man and why.when he could have had his pick of so many, he should have married my Aunt Minnie I never could tell. take place[V + O] happen; occur S: the sports meeting, an interview; change, improvement,the action. A: on Feb 16th; in a London hotel;long ago, soon o Also last week the UnitedStates announced that its first nuclear test sinceOctober 1958 would take piece next year inNew Mexico. OBS□But even if a similar creation of life did take place on any other planet, Pringle thinks it would not have developed beyond the earliest, simple forms. TO o Both believed all their lives (and so, apparently, did Marx) that no revolution was justified which was not the work of the people for whose benefit it was supposed to take place. NS o... alleged that intimacy (=sexual relations) had taken piece between his wife and the butler on several occasions. take the plunge [V + O](informal) finally do sth which one has been undecided, or hesitant,about (esp get married or propose marriage) □The question is whether I'm good enough to make a living at it, I think I am and so does my wife.If I take the plunge and do it, Valerie will give me her support. TVT o Members of Parliament have been reluctant to let the cameras and microphones in on Parliamentary debates. But my guess is that when the issue is debated again,very shortly, the mood will have tipped in favour of taking the pkunge. L o Fred and I had been.going together for over two years before he asked me to marry him. I thought he was never going to take the plunge. take etc sb's point [V + O pass] understand and appreciate (though not necessarily agree with) sb's reasons or argument V: take, △get,see. det: sb's; the, this, that o' But here I am,telling you——I am sorry.’' No, no,' he said, ' no need at all. I take your point, which seems, if you' ll forgive me, that Mr Golding relies too much on the one to the, er, detriment of other aspects.' Tro ' It seems to me hard to talk about a bourgeois revolution if it's bourgeois outsiders trying to overthrow established bourgeois.’ ‘Itried to answer some of that in my last comment but obviously the point wasn't taken.' Lo An-drew Boyle, Editor, ' World at One' and 'PM'replies: Point taken. But a reminder is necess-ary. RT□ Roman patiently explained to the young actresses that there was no need to thunder Mac-be th like the conventional stage gorgon. They all nodded, and proceeded to thunder quietly. OnlyFrancesca Annis got the point and worked onMacbeth like a tearful, disappointed little girl.ST o ALISON: He made up his mind to marry me.(My parents) did just about everything they could think of to stop us. HELENA: Yes, it wasn't a very pleasant business. But you can see their point. LBA口 point (already) taken short reply to,or comment on, argument or recommendation,φ▲ make one's point; miss the point (of sth). take pot-luck [V + 0] (informal) accept,share, whatever meal is prepared, whatever commodity, entertainment or activity is avail- able at a particular place or time (no choice or alternative being offered) o Drop in any evening and take pot-ksck. We usually eat between 6and 7. o 'I' ve mislaid the Film Society programme. I can't say I feel like driving fifteen miles to take pot-luck. '' Phone Jack then. He' ll be able to tell you what's on.' take a powder [V + O] (slang) leave quickly to escape danger, unwanted company,etc□' Do me a favour, Baxter, said Robert, jigging the cup up and down in his hand. ‘Scrub off. ’ Take.powder.’ con口 He’ s not the first, and won’ t be the last, to take a powder after getting a young woman pregnant. o ' We' ll have a story ready in case anyone comes by and asks what we' re doing.'' No fear. If anyone comes by that's whenI take a powder.'o probably a translation (in part) of the French prendre de la poudre d’ escampette =‘take to one’ s heels’. take the rap [V + O](informal)(be made to)accept the blame and/ or penalty for a mistake,misdemeanour, crime etc o Years ago ministers(in government departments) accepted the blame for mistakes and errors made by their officials. The answerable minister simply took the rap and left. NS□'I don't want your friend and I don't want his cheques.'' Ah, now, don't be that way, Mr Mazzolini,' Tillie said coaxingly.' He's all right, and if his cheque isn't, I' ll take therap.’ PEoI’ d confess if I thought someone else was going to have to take the rap for what I had done. take risks [V + O pass] knowingly risk the possibility of death, injury, loss etc; take a chance/ chances (qv); run a risk (of sth) (qv)det:(not) any, no; a lot of, too many o TheEskimos take risks with their lives, of course.just because they live in such a difficult and hos-tile environment, but the whole concept of going out to look for an adventure is totally alien to them. OBS□ You mean you' ve never seen this house you' ve bought? Aren't you taking rather a risk?□Abdullah was inclined to take more risks than the other crew members. Lo The LabourParty and several members of his own party have in effect served notice on the Prime Minister that they will vote against any terms whatever if they are presented to Parliament before the summer recess. Does he take the risk of a defeat? Or wait until the autumn? NS take/ strike root [V + O] grow roots; (fig)become rooted or firmly fixed S: seeds; the idea.his words. A: in the soil, in their minds o And experience proves that such an institution will die. It is choked by its own perfection. It cannot take root for lack of soil. PLo You seem to have given them good advice. I only hope your words of wisdom will take root. o It's a mistake to believe that superstitions strike root only in ig-norant minds. 口 strike root rare. take sb/ sth seriously/ lightly [V+ 0 + Apass] have a serious or respectful/ flippant or careless attitude towards sb/ sth O: me, such people; ghosts; his studies, life, the threat, his prophecies. adv mod:(much) too, very, more,less, so o He was an earnest person, who always appeared to take life 100 sqriously, though he was capable of being tempted into some fun from time to time. ST o I was what was termed an orderly. My tasks were simple. I noticed with 535 <536> take shape—— take the trouble to do sth interest that none of them (ie the nurses) took me seriously as a male. UTNo As for the Calcut-ta Cup game, Dick inson is well aware of the danger of Scottish complacency. ' It's the fact that we are going for a fourth win in a row overEngland that makes it important for us not to take them lightly.’ RTo Reading to his four children is a pleasure he can only enjoy three nights a week when he isn't on duty in the studio.but it's a job he doesn't take lightly. TVTo The article on the cosmic ray threat is not to be taken too seriously. ◇ △ take sth hard/ lightly. take shape [V + O] acquire, or be given, a recognizable or ordered form S: the garden, his novel; the new project, a plano Two miles ahead outside Munich the site is beginning to take shape. OBS o Once on shore and firmly established, I began to get this strategy working and soon it began to take shape. MFM□ The squirrel decided that the quickest method would he to jump from the porthole on to the Captain's shoulder. I could see this plan taking shape in the little hrute's head. BBo / would like to see some of your good resolutions take concrete shape. take sb's side [V + O] support sb against another in a fight, argument or difference of opinion o 1 heard what you said to George, andI think you should be ashumed.'' Eh——? What--?' demanded Mr Early in a tone of stupefac-tion. ' Are you taking his side?'PE□ Peter Law'-ford plays a gentleman cracksman who specialises in stealing jewels and ladies' hearts.Suspected of being the murderer, he decides to take the side of the law for once, and help find the real culprit. TVT ◇ △ next entry. take sides [V+ O] favour or support a person or a group in a dispute or debate A: with against sb; in sth o If she took sides in their (ie her two children's) disputes, as she sometimes did, they both resented it. PW o' It's my job 10know what goes on in Havana,' said Captain Se-gura, ' not to take sides or to give information.'OMIH o 'I don't like the implication of some of your questions — I thought you were on my side.' It's not a question of taking sides with anyone but of establishing the facts.' o △previous entry. take silk [V + 0](legal) be appointed King`s/Queen`s Counsel (KC/QC) and have the right to wear a silk instead of a st iff gown in court oThe judge is the Hon. Mr Justice Mais,a Man-chester barrister who did not take silk but became an expert in ecclesiastical law (he has been Chancellor of three dioceses). NS o ex-pression applies to England and Wales only. take some beating (informal) be difficult to improve on(sth specified) det: some, a bit of,a lot of o For sheer undiluted courage the story ofMrs Peggy Johns, of Surbiton, Surrey, takes some benting. STo As an example of what nol to say to a prospective client , that remark would tak·· bit of besting. □ Signor Rigolett o said that English country life took a lot of beating and he would like to see how the system worked.US ◇ △ take a beating etc. take some doing be difficult to perform or accomplish det: some, a bit of, a lot of o ... soI left the country on my own; that takes so---●doing. eh? A woman starting life again all on her 536 own, and I was pregnant, seven months gone.DPMo It doesn't seem to have been a great disad-vantage to you, being famous. People have ac-cepted you for yourself; this must have taken some doing. Lo SANDY: Bits of speeches— she smuggled a tape recorder into the House (ie ofCommons). That took a bit of doing. TONY:Illegal, of course. EH OW □ Plenty of char (a species of freshwater game fish) in these lakes hut they swim deep and take a lot of catching.STo An old gramophone record of one of those songs would take a bit of finding. D - ing form of a specific v may be substituted for doing, as shown. take a step[V+ O pass] act in a particular way det:a, the; this. that; another, such a o It was not just to confound their enemies that the com-pany took this step. At the back of its mind was the very real fear that if the wine turned out not to be genuine it would face prosecution. ST o 'l reported it to the police, sir. " You had no right to take such a step without first consulting me.” take steps (to do sth) [V + O pass] act(in order to achieve a desired result)□ Nor was I DrGruber, who would have taken steps to prevent the onset of such affliction. AH□ After a few months I came to the conclusion that drastic steps would have to be emken if we were ti) or-ganise any sort of defence at all in WesternEurope. MFM take the strain [V + O pass] endure a force,weight, pressure $; guide, climber; rope, chain;economy□ When lifting weights, the back, legs and shoulders should all take the strain rather than one set of muscles. a We needed ' security'.To obtain this it would be necessary to get our man-power. our production, and our mobilisation plans so organised that the nation could take the strain efficiently and quickly in an emergency.MFM take thought [V + O] think;(esp) concentrate one's attention on sth specific det: no. (not)any, little, some. A: how to do it; whether one is justified; for others.□(source) Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. MATTHEWVI 34□ It's difficult to know how far we can alter our styles by taking thought. To a great extent our styles are us and we had best make the best of them. L take time (to do sth/ doing sth) [V + O]extend over a(relatively) long period of time oIt was merely a matter of shock to the nerve centres. Such a thing sometimes took time to mend. The important thing was not to worry. DC□ Th e safest procedure would be to get written authority from the London office but that takes time coming— during which this fellow may find another buyer. take one's time [V + O] not hurry A: to do sth; over sth;(in) doing sth o It's an important decision for you, my dear, so take your time to think it over.□ He can write as neatly and legibly as the next person if he takes his time over it.take the trouble to do sth [V + O pass]devote time and energy, have sufficient interest or concern to do sth det/ adj: the, a lot of, a little, no end of; considerable, endless, great oSome of those who live in these earthquake-prone areas have taken a great deal of trouble to con- <537> struct houses that will resist damage by earth-quake waves. NSCo' Have one(= a drink) with me, said Simons, thus revealing his hand a little further. It showed that he was willing to take a little trouble to influence Charles. HD□Chester-ton had noted that the house, garden and slammed front door, which is seen as a middle class privilege, is exactly what any working-class man would like - - if only anyone took the trouble to ask him. OBS□ His parents had gone to no end of trouble to give him a wonderful twenty-first birthday party. O variant go to the trouble to do/ of doing sth. take a tumble [V + 0] (informal) fall; (fig)diminish sharply or suddenly in value, in-fluence, credibility etc o Anyone can learn to skate. The thing is not to be frightened of taking a tumble occasionally. o It hurt him bitterly to have to apologize to this man who drank and came home with lipstick on the side of his mouth.Virtue, which should have been triumphant, had taken a bad tumble. PEo With increasing over-heads to be met, dividends are bound to take a tumble. take (it in) turns (to do sth) share a task,duty etc o We take it in turns, once a fortnight.my brother and me, to give the place a thorough going over. TCoII f you can't agree, you' ll have to take turns to sleep in the top bunk. Now, no more argument. take umbrage (at sth) [V + O] be offended(by sth) □Are you surprised that she took um-brage? Didn't your ealise that it was her husband you'd described as a cross between a shark and a limpel? a It's impossible to have a normal con-versation with him— he takes umbrage at every third thing you say to him. take the view that [V + O] consider that oYet some engineers take the view that since so much effort has been put into making AG R work it would be sensible in the short term to continue the same line rather than start afresh. ST o I used to believe that people brought most of their troubles on themselves but now I take a dif-ferent view. D variant take another, a different,the opposite etc view. take wing [V + 0] rise in flight;(fig) become active, lively, interesting; move on or away,disappear, swiftly $: bird; production, plot;one's thoughts; time, the hours, days □ Flocks of guira cuckoos would wait until the lumbering car was within six feet of them, and then they would take wing and stream off like a flock of brown-paper darts. DF□ This duo (ie writer and producer) was sadly disappointing. Only when it came to Byron's incestuous relationship withAugustu Leigh did Mr Cleverdon's generous two hours take wing. STo I didn't realise it was so late. It's extraordinary how the hours take wing when you' re enjoying yourself. o' You get a good wage — what on earth do you do with your money?' 'I don't know, it just seems to take wing.’ a tale of woe sb's account of his misfortunes.difficulties, causes for complaint, etc; an in-stance of any one of these o (the fishermen lose their hook and line) We returned to the camp with our tale of woe and the fish we had caught before the mishap. BM□ Before, as a lecturer. Iwas bombarded by people expressing their dif- take a tumble—— the talk of the town ficulties with some form of Church authority.They had tales of w oe and ecclesiastical horror stories. None of that happens any more. ST Ooften facetious or derogatory, implying self-pity. talk business etc[V + O] discuss, have a conversation about, business affairs, etc n:business, politics, religion, golf, kids and housekeeping o T' ve got to dine with a man inDownhaven.’‘Nasty wretch, why didn’ t he ask me?' said Isabel.' We shall only be talking busi-newss . You wouldn't be interested.'PWo' Where was Hasselbacher born?'' Berlin,I think.'' Sym-pathies East or West?'' We never talk politics.'OMIH o I leaned back against the deep cushions,letting the atmosphere of luxury rub against me like a cat. Johnny talked cars with George; he was, of course, going to buy one soon. RATT talk (a load/ lot of) cock etc[V + 0 pass]say false or pretentious things (often on a par-ticular occasion)n:(taboo) cock;△(informal)nonsense, garbage, codswollop, rubbish, tripe,rot o' You ought to rest yourself. To keep them healthy and good to look upon, that's what God gave us bodies for.'' You do talk cock, Frank.don't you?' said Vin Salad in his refined drawl.ASAoI talked a lot of cock, you know, about her— Earth Mother and all that. She's only a cheap crook, really. HAA a He gate-crashed startled undergraduates at breakfast, ha-ranguing them on the hatred of Germans in Eas-tern Europe and the inevitability of war'. (Ithought the fellow was talking rot.) NSo The pundits change their minds every two or three years anyway. I bet there's been more rubbish talked about teaching methods than any other subject under the sun. O talk rot dated middle-class usage. (don't) talk daft (don't) talk foolishly oJENNY: Mother reckons some people get indiges-tion so bad that it go through their stomach to the back. BEATIE: Don't talk deft! Ro' If I'm such a nuisance it's time I moved out of here.' ' You' re talking daft, dad. Where would you go? And nobody's wanting you to move out.' C non-standard. talk like a Dutch uncle talk etc seriously and reprovingly V: talk (to sb), lecture, admonish,sb; behave, act a Stop talking to me like aDutch uncle about my duty to my family, my school and my country. o Marie's good at keep-ing her brothers in order. You should hear her lecturing them #kea Dutch uncle when they do something wrong. talk of the devil (and he appears)(saying)comment on the unexpected presence or arrival of sb just mentioned a ' Dr Hasselbacher!' Wor-mold called to him. ' Oh, it's you, Mr Wormold.I was just thinking of you. Talk of the devil, he said, making a joke of it, but Wormold could have sworn that the devil had scared him. OMIH□ Dusty would be first into the staffroom, as usual, being next door, but what wasn't on the cards was (him) putting the kettle on. Steve shoved in the door— and talk of the devil,there was Dusty at work on the kettle. TTo' Well,well,' said Alice, welcoming him in, talk of the devil and he's sure to appear. I was just wonder-ing if you'd be up here for Easter. " the talk of the town [Comp(NP)] sb/ sth that 537 <538> talk posh etc——a tall order is the subject, temporarily, of keen local interestV: △ be, become; make sth o Frank Stella's show at the Hayward Gallery last year was not exactly the talk of the town. In terms of atten-dance, our silent majority returned a wordless' No'. STo(NONCE) There is the plain speaker who tells his immediate superior that the affair he is having with his secretary is the talk of the of-fice and that he had better be careful. Tvt talk posh etc(informal) have, or affect, the type of speech that is used by the upper class adv: posh,△well-off, la-di-da o' They' are the people at the top. . ' the higher-ups', the people who give you the dole, call you up, tell you to go to war. fine you, ' talk posh', ' are all twisters really. L o Leddersford is a place where they don't like people who put on airs. To speak stan-dard English is in itself suspect; they call it talk-ing well-off. RATT talk sense [V + O pass] talk sensibly; say sth that is correct, relevant, suitable, more accept-able □ The worst of being 87-88 is that I never can be quite sure whether I am talking sense or old man's drivel. MFMo It was, he felt, too much to expect that she would talk sense about him(as an author), since he did not write for idiot minds like hers. US□' Well, if you want an excit-ing holiday, instead of lying on a beach for a fortnight in the sun. why don't you go to Green-land?'' Ah! Now you' re talking sense!' talk shop [V + O] discuss (with colleagues)matters connected with one's tradeor profession (often in circumstances when general conversation might be more suitable,egin the presence of others who are not interes-ted)o ' Well, it's no good trying to cross-examineJulius (a Cabinet Minister) about the British constitution, said Camilla firmly. ‘He hates talking shop anyhow. 'EMo(a doctor) Also, a tea break with the nurses is immensely valuable.We always talk shop. It's the only real chance we get to chat about our patients. NS talk etc till/ until one is black/ blue in the face talk etc as much, hard, long, often as is possible or one has strength for (usu with the implication that this is without result or the desired effect) modal: can, may, might. V: talk,complain. argue, object; try; search o The em-ployers may be listening to what the negotiators are saying, but they' re also constantly looking over your shoulder to see if there's a unified workforce behind you. Without this support you could talk until you' re blue in the face and get nowhere. RT o You can write poetry until you' re black in the face, but unless you' re ex-tremely lucky or hit the fancy of a great number of the reading public, you can't make a living outright from poetry. Lo' When they pick up a piece of coal with their fancy tongs in Bour-nemouth, do they ever wonder how it got there?"said a miner contemptuously. 'I could tell you till I was blue in the face and you wouldn't understand.'NS. talk turkey (informal) talk seriously; say,propose, sth definite that is important and usu-ally acceptable to the hearer(originally US, the reference being to the main dish of a celebra-tory dinner egat Christmas or Thanksgiving)□If you' re interested in the job, I don't say we couldn't talk turkey over a pot ( = a drink of 538 beer). HD□'I don't think I' ll come. Fancy-dress parties aren't really my scene.'' Not even if I tell you Sue will be there?’‘Ah, now you' re talking turkey!” a talking head a television studio programme consisting of an address, talk、 dialogue, inter-view, discussion, debate etc straightforwardly presented by one or more people o For years now, I have suffered from a number of television producers who dismiss certain programme ideas with the contemptuous remark that ' it' ll be all talking heads. The implication is that unless the screen is filled with a succession of images and animations and visual tricks the audience will go to sleep or, even worse, switch to the other chan-nel, RT a talking point [Comp (NP)] a subject of interest, worthy of discussion V:△be, become;make sth□ Northcliffe had been very insistent on good news coverage, but he had also stressed the need for what he called ' talking points', and some of his successors concentrated too much on these and too little on the hard grind of news-gathering. Lo Pushkin—— the untranslatable: the notion has been in the air ever since the first rumours of a great Russian poet reached earlyVictorian England. When, of late, Edmund Wil-son and Vladimir Nabokov joined issue about it,the famous talking-point was engaging two livelier and more powerful minds than ever before. Lo The Church of Scotland has always been less reluctant than the Church of England to remarry the divorced in church. though empha-tically it does not subscribe to divorce on demand. ' It's not really a major talking point among ministers,’ I was told. SC o with or without hyphen; stress pattern a ' talking point.tall, dark and handsome [adj + adj + adj non-rev] a certain ideal type of male beauty oAn inch or so short of being really tall, dark and handsome, Dillman has the easy, relaxed ways of a man used to the Hollywood-style good life.TVT □ We live with our parents, much to their chagrin. We have new steady boy-friends every week and, to be noticed by us, they must be tell,dark and handsome, unless they are short and fair. H talletc oaks from little acorns grow(say-ing) much may come of little adj: tall,△ great.big. large □(source) Large streams from little fountains flow,/ Tall oaks from little acorns grow. LINES FOR A SCHOOL DECLAMATION (DEVERETT 1769-1813)□ The chief problem left by our(metaphysical) view is how to explain such things as the way greatoaks from little acorns grow.NDN□(a weekly lottery in aid of local charities)From little acorns big oaks grow,' MrWhitehead says. This organisation started with two or three people and now we' re giving away thousands of pounds.' Go This was an excellent documentary to make one think. I was astonished at the extent of the fiddling that goes on. Great oaks from little acorns grow"! I was glad that the jury (just) came down on the side of con-science. RT a tall order Comp [NP)] sth asked, expected or demanded of sb that is difficult to do or provideV:△be, seem; find, think, sth□ People like Ed-na, he says, don't need much more than a house that they can be confident they' ll not be thrown <539> out of. But even that's a tall order. The play honestly admits that there's nothing easy about trying to look after Edna. RTo(advertisement)Wales in 16 pages. That's a tall order. Especi-ally when we' ve included so much information for those planning their own holiday. OBS o (a religious sect) Did none of the young want to leave, I asked, and was quite frankly told that some did, and were not prevented from going.Their leaving, however, meant cutting off all ties with family and community. Surely a tell order for any young person. SC a tall story/ tale an account of happenings that is or seems improbable, that is either an invention or an exaggeration of facts o Do you believe that yarn, Bertie? It sounds to me a pretty tall story. RM□ His male fellow passengers——and among them was a cynical young Frenchman—— were tempted to tell him tall stories (aboutSiberia). Like heartless, teasing boys, we com-peted to see how much we could make him swal-low (= believe). AH o (NONCE) In my rock-climbing days I heard many stories that sounded tall but were usually true. SC□(film review) This apparently tell take is, in fact, based on a real wartime mission called Operation Mincerneat.RT □ Ziggy is an 11-year-old boy with a vivid imagination. He lives in a lighthouse on a Medi-terranean island, where his tall tales and con-stant scrapes are the despair of his grandfather,a retired colonel, and his teenage sister Pippa.TVT tar and feather sb [V + O pass] punish sb by covering him with tar and feathers as an (il-legal) act of public disapproval, mobretaliation,etc o He had been accepted as overlord by yeo-manry and peasantry, who cheated him up to the limits of their conventions, but would have tarred and feathered any outsider who tried to impose on their lord. WDM□As if to illustrate the right as opposed to the wrong way of employingIRA punishment methods, a young man at the weekend in Londonderry was tarred and feathered for looting. Another had his long hair cut for theft. Lo As a figure of trust, authority,and kindness, children particularly admired him(ie a policeman in a TV series). Why not? This was an era before Authority, as an idea, had been tarred and feathered. L o non-rev. teach sb to do sth punish sb so that he does not do sth again; make sb afraid to do sth again$: I, he, it; that. Inf: to tell lies, to give your mother cheek, to takes lifts from strangers, to interfere, to come home at one o’ clock in the morning o Wait till I get hold of him! I' ll teach him to tell lies about me! □' So it ended up that Iwas cheated out of£50,'' You' re far too trusting,but that should teach you to take cheques from strangers.’ o It's a good thing for you Sister's not on duty, Mr Brown. She'd teach you to throw medicine on the floor.□FATHER:I' ll teach you to tie a tin-can to the cat's tail! SON: I wish you would. It keeps slipping off. OBS o joke in last example is based on the ambiguity arising from the fact that the form of the expression has do sth while the meaning is' not do sth'; usu in constructions with will/ would/ should; usu used to make threats or predictions. teach one's grandmother to suck eggs tell or show sb how to do sth that he can do a tall story/ tal·—— tell all perfectly well, and probably better than oneself o Tom could never resist the satisfaction of tenching his grandmother to suck eggs.' One can be jealous without being in love, ' he went on,' but one can't be in love without being jealous.'SPL □ If what follows reads something like a treatise on how to teach your grandmother to suck eggs, that is because the ConservativeParty at the present time is like nothing so much as (NONCE) a grandmother who cannot suck eggs. NS□ seldom used now as irritated recom-mendation (Oh, go and teach your grand-mother to suck eggs) not to give unwanted advice. (you can't) teach an old dog new tricks(saying)(you can't) successfully get old people who are set in their ways to change their ideas,methods of work,etc□ If more women fail driv-ing tests than men, that is because until very recently they have begun to learn much later in life. Taken by age groups, figures show that the difficulty of teaching old dogs new tricks applies equally to both sexes. o(NONCE) ' How about bringing your own father round to a Marx-ist way of thinking?’ I asked. Ajit laughed——nervously. ' You can't teach an old monkey new tricks. Moreover I want to keep peace at home.'OBSo(NONCE) French actors do not seem to take too easily to this piece of elementaryShakespearean drill. Fun though it is to see these new dogs taught to play our old tricks, the evening should have had more to offer. OBS □(NONCE) ‘Even if they have two machines instead of 20 audit clerks, they' ll need people to run them.’'I know, but I shall retire. I'm too old a dog to learn n· t ricks.’ TVT (the) team spirit unselfish and co-operative feelings and actions in promoting the good of a team, group, community, work-force etc of which one is a member o Dr Bettelheim protests against the word' subordination' and argues that he created a system of ' social solidarity', by which he clearly means what headmasters ofEnglish public schools call‘team spirit’. OBS□l knew other people who had not allowed graver illness to stop them from doing what they had set themselves to do. Good advice, good medicine,a good constitution, and luck united to display the team spirit, and gradually pulled me back. AHoNo man did more than Arnold to divert English education from its proper course. By the end of the 19th century, individuality had been crushed by good form and team spirit. NS tear one's hair [V + O] tug one's hair with both hands as an expression of anxiety, grief,despair or frustration □ She stamped and raged and tore her hair, and swore she'd never been so insulted.□WhatI had written this time really was just a random jumble of letters and figures. It amused me to think of some high-powered expert tearing his hair trying to decode it. O usu fig. tell all [V + O pass] (facetious) confess to, or describe fully, matters (esp concerned with one's own history, habits and activities) that many would prefer to suppress or gloss over oIt is not often that one finds a film director ready to catalogue his failures, but Claude Lelouche seems beguilingly prepared to tell all. NS o Of recent years harlots of both sexes, and the bent of every category, have come forward to tell all; 539 <540> tell sb different—— to tell you the truth but personally risky, true-life stories of illegal sex are still few and far between. NS□A part from the daily group-therapy meeting and the weeklyAA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting the only other compulsory and important part of the treatment was one's ' life-story' . Every patient had to write about 3,000 words telling all. NStell sb different contradict or correct sb o He never said he loved me, nor I didn't care, but once he had taken me he seemed to think he was re-sponsible for me and I told him no different. R□' She's a gossip, but a harmless one.'' You think that? There's a few folk round here that would tell you different.’ o JO (reading from a magazine) It says here that Sheik Ahmed—— anArabian mystic—— will, free of all charge, draw up for you a complete analysis of your character and destiny. HELEN: There's two W's in your future: Work or Want — and no ArabianKnight can tell you different. TOH D non-standard. tell (sb)a lie(about sth) [V + 0 + 0 pass]lie, not be truthful (to sb)(about sth)(habitu-ally or at a particular time) o: lie, △fib, story,untruth; (informal) whopper o‘Not Pamela?What has she done?' Janice thought a moment.She was improvising a sin for Pamela. 'I think she told a lie.'PWo ' And you know too that you didn't see somebody waving a scarf on a stick. It was a handkerchief caught on a branch. Daddy found it.'' Yes,' Nicky muttered. ' Then you' re a naughty boy to frighten Sarah like that, and to tell lies.’ DC a I'm afraid he told us a story about that money. He simply stole it from the old woman's shop round the corner.□ If Mr Louw told deliberate untruths the case would be sim-pler. But there is no reason to think that. Like his chief and his colleagues, he is blinkered by his ideology. SC 口 sometimes pl form used when only one lie is referred to, speak the truth; tell(sb) the truth. (can) tell/ see sth a mile off(can) easily and quickly perceive sth o Not that everybody in our yard hadn't been a struggler—— and still was——one way or another. But you could tell e mile off that she was a struggler, and that was what nobody liked. LLDRo' Do you think these two are in love, then?’‘Do I think? Anyone can see that a mile off!" tell the same story/ tale (of sth) [V + 0pass] be evidence of the same state of affairs det: the same,a similar;a different, another; its own. o: neglect, misery, suffering; success;deceit □ The owner evidently thought his duties ended with collecting the rents, and every dwell-ing we visited told the same story of neglect. oRobinson declared that he was struggling to make ends meet, but his well-fed appearance and suit offine Scotch tweed told another tale.□The ingenious inhabitants of the ranchito s (shack houses) have found their own ways of tapping the electricity supply. But on closer inspection the stench tells its own story of inadequate or non-existent sanitation. OBS tell tales [V + O pass] spread information about another's secrets, misdeeds, faults, habitsA: on his little sister, on her fellow-lodgers, on each other; about colleagues, about what goes on, about me; to mother, to the teacher, to the police o JENNY: All we got was what we pinched 540 out (of) the larder and then you used to go and tell teles to mother. Ro ' I thought, perhaps, as you'd helped the Townsend boy to get a job——'' You' ve no business to know that. Somebody's been telling teles.'o Classroom rules are meant to be kept, of course, but I don't encourage tell-tales. a You'd have thought he wasn't amused at all but for the tell-tale twitch at the corner of his mouth. o n compound a tell-tale; attrib use a tell-ta le twitch, fragment. tell(sb) the truth [V + 10 + 0] be truthful(to sb) (about sth) (habitually or on a particular occasion); speak the truth(qv)a' Daddy hasn't got your letter at all. I took it and tore it up.Prissie's face grew still. She sank into a chair.' Nicky! Are you telling the truth?'DCoJO:I had to drag it out of her. She didn't want to tell me.GEOF: That doesn't mean to say it's the truth. Do people ever tell the truth about themselves?TOH□ The sergeant said slowly, ' There is something wrong here. I can smell it. You are not telling the truth. 'OMIH□ Before I read it I began to wonder whether at the end I should lie or tell the truth to Phuong. QA C tell (sb) a lie(about sth).tell the truth and shame the dovil(saying)tell the truth, esp in circumstances where there seem to be good reasons or strong temptations not to do so a‘Well,’ said Canon Joram,' It is not for me to criticise. ' but he was interrupted,though very prettily, by Jessica who said he must tell the truth and shame the devil. WDMo ' The garden's still a mess, as you can see.'' I daresay you' ve been kept too busy with other things.'' No;I' ll tell the truth and shame the devil——I' ve been not too busy, but too lazy.' tell the world (that etc) make sth known publicly to as many people as possible, or just openly and emphatically O: that (he was coming), who(he was), why(he went), what(to expect) □ Hi-jacking was a way they caught on to of telling the world that it couldn't afford to ignore the rights of minorities. o Granny Barn-acle gave notice to the doctor that she refused further treatment, was discharging herself next day, and that she would tell the world why. MM□' Isn't baby needing his next feed?'' Can't be.When he's hungry he tells the world.' to tell you the truth [Disj] speaking frankly or more exactly; as a matter of fact (qv) o To tell you the truth, old man, I was a bit carried away yesterday. I said things I shouldn't have done. PEo To tell the truth, these were not ex-periments at all. There were no defined objec-tives, little measurement, no agreed time limit.NS o They have a genuinely happy marriage. To tell you the truth,I'm proud ofhim,' Gwen says,' rising up from a labourer to a top job.'OBS□ This sheet music on the piano is the theme song I wrote for ' Not On Your Nellie', but it's only hand-written so I don't think I can play it for you. Idon't know where I pul my spectacles, to tell you the truth. ST a I was very surprised when Iheard I'd won. I didn't believe it at first to tell you the truth. Thought my pals were having me on. RTo Throughout the length and breadth of the land people were shivering, in ill-heated houses.as they read the morning paper, ate their break-fasts, and grumbled about the weather which,truth to tell, had been appalling of late, TBC口usu fairly unemphatic parenthesis and not <541> (one's) temper rises/ frays— thanks to sb/ sth intended to contradict any assumption to the contrary; less common variant truth to tell. (one's) temper rises/ frays one finds it dif-ficult, and may fail, to control one's bad temperD My temper rose with every word he spoke butI wanted to avoid any kind of show-down for the time being. a Elsie feared that tempers were rising. and, brave girl, she drew her father's fire upon herself. RMo We caught a glimpse of what film-making often is—a state of near civil war hetween the people on the two sides of the ca-mera. Now the second series(Wed.9.10BBC2)is under way, watch out for signs of blood boiling and tempers fraying. RT□Rising tempers all round made further discussion inadvisable, o variant frayed temper. tempt fate/ Providence[V + O pass] rely too much on luck in doing or proposing sth and hence risk failure o I had no doubt that Martin did not know of the letter (inviting the speaker to come and watch the success of an experi-ment). it would have seemed to him tempting fate. For myself. I felt the same kind of super-stition, even a misgiving, about going down to watch. NM o In the meantime, as if temptingProvidence to send theman other avenging Tem-pest (member of the Hospital Board), they transferred Sister Burnstead, on the first of Janu-ary, to another ward. MMo‘He paid the £150deposit so readily I might have asked for more.'' And then he might have backed out of the deal altogether.£150 is all you need to go ahead and there's no sense in tempting Providence.'o esp in the inf and continuous tenses. ten feet tall [Comp (AdjP)] pleased with and proud of oneself V: △ be、 feel; look, seem oYou' re always getting up to things. It doesn't really matter what— as long as it is you. You must always be ten feet tall imagining yourself doing this or doing that. YAAo It was a small triumph looking back on it now, but I came out of that room absurdly happy and feeling ten feet tall. ten to one[Disj] (informal) very probably; al-most, though not quite, certainly(from racing,ie odds of ten to one) o Young Mr Shrivenham of the British Embassy gazed upwards as the plane zoomed over Baghdad aerodrome. There was a considerable dust-storm in progress. Ten to one they can't come down here.'TCBa I shall be told, and 10 to one not pleasantly, that this kind of thing costs money. NS o(Boys who misbehave) out of boredom and a sense of frustration should be sent straight out of school to some form of apprenticeship, working with grown men who will stand no nonsense from them(though ten to one there wouldn't be any). NSOoccas twenty to one, & hundred to one; sometimes preceded by it's. tender loving care loving concern for sb/ sth o If patients are in an open ward, few nurses will pass them by without doing some little thing for them. It is in a nurse's tradition to give what is called 'TLC', ' tender loving care', some con-stant little service to the sick. Lo A farmer told me once that it was a big problem to explain how some small farms were getting higher yields per acre than the big farms. He had come to the conclusion it was the TLC factor— the tender loving cero. Lo whimsical, and occas facetious; can be abbreviated as shown. thank goodness etc(that/ for sth) I am,let us all be, etc glad, relieved, thankful n: good-ness,△heaven(s), God, the Lord. A: that he is,that he will; for that, for Dr Finlay, for the army o ' It's only her leg that's hurt.' Thank good-newss for that.' Brigit's mind sought and then slipped away from a worse horror. Oh, thank goodness she's alive.'DCo Holiday time is when wigs come into their own; and wigs, thank heavens, are so much lighter and cooler to wear these days. SC□ ' Thank God the Government's influence is so little. '' Would you expand on that?'' The Government can make enormous mis-takes and we can still survive.' Lo Thank heaven for little girls./ For little girls get bigger every day'. A J LERNER b1918 o front, middle or end position. thank one's lucky stars that be specially or unexpectedly fortunate (that)o In America it is still possible to choose from a fairly large selec-tion of architect-built homes rather than simply taking Hobson's Choice and thanking your lucky sters that you' ve found anything that's remotely habitable. ST□ You should thank your lucky stars that you didn't have to see her at the last. Your memory is pure, you will always remember her as she used to be. NS a often preceded by you/ we/ they can/ ought to. thank you (very much) (ironic) expresses polite refusal o A woman remarked that the dockers were holding the country to ransom. Her friend said he would vote for Enoch Powell if he got the chance, and the landlord decided that was enough of politics, thank you. NSa Who's talking about good? I don't want to do her good. I just want to keep her out of sight and mind, thank you very much. TSMPo If Bill Shankly wants to buy a(football) player. any player, the money is there for him. Yet it is usually the chairman who has to bring the subject up every now and then. At the last time of asking there was no one thatShankly wanted to buy, thank you very much.OBS□ For better or for worse, the new generation of ' New Statesman' readers does not, I fancy,relish being told what to think. If they are given the facts they will make up their minds for them-selves, thank-you-very-much. NSa I travelled back and forth from about 1963. I loved it here right away. I only ever want to visit New York hetween Thanksgiving and Christmas; the rest of the time I' ll stay in London, thank you! RT Osometimes facetious; end position, added to statement of opinion, preference or intention,expressing polite refusal of offer or choice that is usu only implied. thanks to sb/ sth [A] because of sb/ sth; aris-ing from the good or bad influence or actions of that person/ thing o: you; their efforts, Tom's forgetfulness; the noise you made o Five years ago I could have been made into a boring, heart-less climber whomeveryone ran a mile from. But.thanks to you, I have grasped that a certain fundamental decency to others is necessary if one's to get anywhere. HAAo Moreover, thanks to advancing technology, the coloured documen-tary has proved itself, in skilful hands, a notable new form of popular visionary art. HAHo Thanks in part to the elaborate accompaniments, in part to the well-known acoustic difficulties of the 541 <542> that does it— that will be the day theatre, and in part to the singers' own failings,much of Geoffrey Dunn's translations remained inaudible. ST. that does it'(informal) sth(ega task or under-taking) is now finished; that's (about) it²(qv);(and) that's that/ it (qv) o He threw in the cuts of lamb, the chopped up bits of onion, carrot and potato, covered it all with salted water, and put the casserole into the oven. ' That does it,' he said. ' Not exactly how my mother would have cooked her Lancashire hotpot, but good enough for me.'o usu present tense; stress pattern that' does it. that does it²(informal) that is as much as I can endure; the limit of my patience has been reached □ The t does it! All you can ever do is criticize. If I'm no good to you, then maybe some-one else will value my work. I'm leaving!□Every time we were starting to discuss the really impor-tant issue, the telephone rang. And about the tenth time it happened, that did it! I just left the room. O stress pattern that ' does it. that is (to say)' [Conj] accompanies a sen-tence, clause or phrase which re-defines or further explains a previous one; in other words(qv)□ The next step after preparing the maps is for the engineer to decide on the ' grade line'——that is, the height of the centre of the road along the whole route. NSC□ His father, as a young officer, had fought against the Grande Armée and had been captured by the French. The boy grew up. that is to say, among elders for whom the battle of Borodino, the burning of Moscow.the triumphal advance to Paris, were only yester-day. OBS□ The doctor told her there was always hope, which we see my there was nothing more he could do. o usu front or middle position;tense changes that is to which was for past. that is (to say)² [Conj] accompanies a sen-tence, clause or phrase which limits the truth,applicability etc of a previous one, sometimes as an afterthought o ' I think, finally, I shall go into the Navy.'' You!'' If they'd have me, that is.'PM□ That's how it was; with the women working and the men letting life flow sweetly past, theButtafava household was happy as could be. All,that is, except Fiorella. ARGo He told us that he had several scores to settle in Singapore where he had plied his dangerous trade. Now, however, he was working as a photographer. That is to say,he would be working if only he had a camera. NS□Baghdad was in the sterling area and money therefore presented no difficulties. Not, that is to say, in the travel clerk's meaning of the word.TCB 口 front, middle or end position. that is as (it) may be that (ie sth already mentioned) may possibly be true o' We(actors)have become casuall abourers, but still always on the look-out for parts. The stage just gets you after a while.' That is as it may be, but it seems to us that that something has gone profoundly wrong. STo' He's trying to make me believe it,'said Steve.' And he's made himself believe it.'' That's we may be. It does seem to be that his principal obstacle is making Myrtle believe it.’SPLo ' She can have time off to have the baby and then go back again. Time off, ' she repeated em-phatically,' with pay.'I did not argue. That whe& might be. SML O usu that's as may be; stress pattern , that is as (it) ' may be; often followed by 542 but-cl or second sentence which adds or implies that whether it is true or not is irrelevant.be that as it may. that/ there is gratitude etc for you that(ie sth already mentioned) is an admirable token or sign of gratitude etc n: gratitude, determina-tion, public spirit, ingenuity; the teaching profession, true love, hospitals o He kept on sending me £20 every Christmas long after his debt was paid. That's gratitude for you! □ Fa-vourite possibility at the moment for spending the prize money seems to be buying a mobile library for the housebound, with local organisations chipping in with the extra cash. That's the Luton spirit for you. RTo It is clear there are fearful risks in transporting plutonium about the world.Yet Mr Benn approves the deal. There is tech-nology responding to social needs for you. NSOuse may be literal or ironic; stress pattern , that/there is gratitude etc for you. that etc is more like it that etc is a better description, way of behaving, action etc; some-thing like (qv) $: that; lazy; a saint; a sadistic maniac. adv mod:a lot;a bit; rather o The kiss started going on and on rather, but he was the one who finally stepped back, saying: That was more like it, eh?’ TGLY oI'm not getting up to catch any 7.45 train. When's the next one? 9.45?That's a bit more like it. o' That new lad seems a bit slow.’‘Downright lazy is more like it.’口forceful or enthusiastic comment on the suitability/ unsuitability of sth. that is not to say (that) that (ie a previous statement) does not mean (that) pron: that,this, which. O: (that) he won't come, they wouldn't co-operate o You certainly made a hash of filleting those fish. That is not to say, of course, that I'd have done it any better myself. oThe media provide precious little insight into the working of science and the minds of the men who manipulate the machine. This is not to say there is not a place for the kind of science reportage that is current. NSC□I won't have a drink, thank you—— which is not to say I mightn't be very happy to accept the offer on another occasion. that is his story and he's sticking to it(catchphrase) that is sb's account of events or circumstances and he won't change it det: his,my; John's, the girl's o' What was that rubbish about you having a heights-phobia?' he asked his wife afterwards. 'I want a permanent excuse for not going on these trips. Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.’ o‘You haven’ t been able to shake his testimony?'' No. He went there, admittedly to make trouble, but he wasn't carrying a gun and he didn't shoot Benson,because Benson was already dead when he got there. That's his story and he's sticking to it.’ o (NONCE) They were polite but firm: the medicine was fine for whites, but it would not work for black people. That was their belief and they ware sticking to it. BB that will be the day(catchphrase) that will be a notable day, time, occasion (when sth hap-pens, sb does sth) (the implication usu being that such a day will never come) o The four hired donkeys had been tied up in the stable thatPop had built for when all the family, with the possible exception of Ma, would have a pony or a horse to ride. That would be the day. DBMo <543> that will do— that's just it/(just) the trouble ' You wait, you' ll come crawling back to me in the end, just you see, you' ll be begging for mercy.'' That' ll be the day,' Jenny said, remembering it just in time before the door slammed. TGLYo usu that' ll be the day; stress pattern ' that' ll be the day; usu ironic. that will do stop it; that is quite enough o ' For goodness' sake, Mary, that will do, he protes-ted as she tried to pile more food on his plate.' Do you want me to get as fat as a pig?'o That' ll do,you two. You' re getting far too noisy , o reproof for undesirable behaviour or speech, instruct-ing sb that it should stop. that's all' just that; nothing more, better,worse etc o ' How' re you feeling?" Fine. A little tired, that's all.'D You don't have to wait for an answer. Just put the note in the letter-box, that's all. I used to emphasize how slight, unimpor-tant, sth is. that's all² there is no more to be said; that's my last word, my final warning on the subject o' What are you putting your shoes on again for?'Because I'm driving you home, that's all.There's often a rough crowd on that last bus.'aUncle Saunders said in his booming voice, 'Iwon't have my house filled with all the lame and diseased cats in the neighbourhood, that's all.'DC □' You' re not going to tell on me, Mr Lamp-ton?'' No, you fool. Just don't do it again, that's all.’ RATT o emphasizing declaration, protest,warning or threat; usu spoken with low rising tone on all. that's all I can say [Disj] that is what I think;that is my most suitable comment; in my opinion (whether you like it or not) o JO: Why are you marrying Helen? PETER: Why shouldn'tI marry Helen? JO: Your generation has some very peculiar ideas, that's all I cuy suy. TOH o' This is just an average day for us.' ' Then Iwouldn't like to be working here on a busy one,that's all I can sgy!'o 'I'm not inventing these incidents, you know. 'I don't suppose you are.All I can say is that he never showed that side of his character to me.’ o stress pattern usu that's all 'I can say; variant all I can say is (that) . that' sall you know about it(informal)(you show that) you know little about the matter in question; your idea or opinion is mistaken pron: you, he, she, they o' Don't you care about anybody? You don't care if he waits. You don't care if I go.'' That's all you know about it.'SPL□' But people think that a painter, or a writer,doesn't really work like somebody who has to turn up at fixed times for a regular job.’’ That’ s all they know about it —— they should try it sometime.' o stress pattern that's all ' you know about it. that's my boy/ girl you are a good child, man,woman; I approve of sth you' ve done or promised to do o ' Oh come on, don't be shy.Stay and be introduced to the others.' ' Well, Isuppose I could. Just a few minutes, then.'That's my boy.' o ' If it makes you happy, of course I' ll give it (my work) up. ' ' Promise?' 'Ipromise.' ' Good girl.' He lay back on the pillow.' That's my girl,' he murmured, and closed his eyes to sleep again. AITC D stress pattern ' that's my boy/ girl; used to promise or encourage child or (in friendly mockery) adult. that's done/ torn it(informal) that (ie a mis- fortune, accident or mistake) has spoiled or ruined sth, made a plan or undertaking ineffec-tive o 'I hear Shirley Williams has just resigned from the Labour Party.’‘That’ s done it, then!Now the Party will split in two.'o ' Did she say anything about babysitting?’‘No, but I did. ’ Itold you never to mention it! I knew it! That's done it! That's torn it!' TSMP o stress pattern that's ' done/' torn it. that's for certain/ sure! [Disj] you can be sure of that o Well, now that he's got his money.you won't see him again, that's for certainl o' Nice for them to have a friend in the building trade.’ Oh, Bill won't do the job for nothing.that's for sure!' o affirms the speaker's cer-tainty that sth is so; always in final position;stress pattern ' that's for certain/ sure. that's/ there's a good boy etc show how good, obliging, sensible etc you are Comp:a(good) boy,a(good) girl;a brave boy, a clever girl, a good chap,a fine fellow,a kind friend oStop banging your drum, Billy, that's a good boy. Your mother's got a headache this morning.□That's right, pet. Hold your glass with both hands, there's a clever girl.□ ' Want a drink?''Ifeel I need a little——' I' ll bring one in to you.Sit down.''A stiffone.'' Sit down. There's a boy.'MM□I' ll feel better if I know someone's in all the time. There's oceans to drink and the fridge is full of salmon and raspberries and things. Don't in-vite your friends in though, there's an angel.UTN o follows request that sb should do sth or acknowledgement that he has just done so;stress pattern ' that's/' there's a good boy etc. that's a good one that's an amusing joke,smart trick, clever remark;(ironic) that's a par-ticularly stupid, naive, impudent, presump-tuous etc action, request or proposal to As MrsParker, over-dressed to kill as usual, sailed by,Johnnie murmured, ' What! No tiara?' ' That'sa good one, Fred chuckled.□ I want you to hyp-notise me again.' Joe laughed and came over to her slowly. ‘That’ s a good one,’ he said. ' What do you think I am--Svengali?’ AITC □ ‘Dad says he's tired and will you take him a cup of tea and he' ll get up later.' He's tired? That's good one. Who was up and down all night with the baby, him or me?'o stress pattern that's a ' good one. that's (about) it'(informal) sth that has been said, suggested etc is a reasonably accurate description or summing up of a situation oDIXON: Confidence! That's a laugh! PSYCHIA-TRIST: And you have none? DIXON: That's about it. I'm no good, doctor!OBS□Thet's it! You' ve described exactly what I felt about the film. that's (about) it²(informal)a task or under-taking is now finished (apart perhaps from a few final details); that does it'(qv);(and) that's that/ it (qv)□ She surveyed the cold supper she had prepared, decided that the tw es it and went off to get dressed before the guests came.□So the two men worked on through the night. It was grey dawn when Kingsley said:' Well, that's about it.We' ve got all the results here, but they need a bit of conversion.'TBC that's just it/(just) the trouble that(ie sth already mentioned) is the precise nature of the situation, difficulty, problem; this is it (qv) oBut what a bad show it had been. Not business at 543 <544> that's life—— them and us all: that was just it. Harold didn't really mind his client getting away with something he had no right to get away with. But it had been so un-professional! Pwo'I suppose you can't put in an offer for a house in town till you' re sure you can sell this one?’‘That’ s just it. I'm afraid.’ o But only a child could he deceived into doing some-thing so clearly against his own interests.That's just the trouble. He is a child, in all but years.’ o ' Nobody blames you.' I pulled myself away from her ahrupily, ' Oh my God,' I said.` That's the trouble.’ RATT o stress pattern that's just it/(just) the trouble. that's life (catchphrase) that's the kind of thing that often happens, that one learns, or must learn, to expect or accept; such is life(qv)o I' ve always liked black-haired and dark-eyed men , hu l I fell in love with a blond, blue-eyed boy.Oh well---that's life. I suppose. Ho At first the decision to close was accepted as just another one of those cruel surprises that often emerge when a hig business gobbles up a little business. The women were sad, regretful, hut, well, what can you do' That's life. ST o Take an organisation like the Army, where it is deemed more important for the men to whitewash the stones round the fire-engine shed than make sure the fire-engine is geared up for action. And that's life. TVT that's rich (informal) that is very amusing.entertaining: (ironic) that is preposterous.ludicrous o Mr Blearney exploded with laugh-ter. That's rich . I say that's rich. Here you are.only just in the game, and you start talking like the rest of them.'HD□Robert threw back his head and laughed out loud. ' Protection.' he said.' That's rich' He needs it: I can tell you this, my man, and you can tell your superiors when you get huck to Scotlund Yard: when our movement gets into power, fellows like you are going to be oul of a job.'F. M that's the stuff to give the troops(catch-phrase) that is just what is wanted or needed o' Great' ' said Jill as Jack put the dish of pie and chips in front of her. That's the stuff to give the troops!'n Dollie said, ' Why don't you come here for Christmas” Gerald was silent for a minute, then he said.' As a matter of fact, I thinkI shall go ahroad. ' That's the stuff to give the troops. Dollie cried ASA (and) that's that/ it (informal) sth is over or is finally decided, arranged, forbidden etc: that does it² (qv); that's (about) it' (qv) □ OLDPFOPLE Good night. Doctor. IOOCTOR: Good night.(Exit Nurse, taking Old People) And for the time being, that's that. THHo He said it was silly of her to behave like a housekeeper, and he wanted to introduce his friends to her, so she went to the door, just once, and said good evening and that was that. ISMPo(a trainee nurse)I was no good at school really, but Iknew I was quite good at looking after people. Anyway. I wrote off to u few London hospitals when I was 16 and I was accepted by Charing(ross, and that was it. RTo Most days you got time off to eat, but if he said' Not ni ll we' ve finished such-and-such' that would be it. a When Geller backed out of u promise he had made to let himself he tested by u ' New Scientist' panel. that seemed to be that.NSC that's what I (always) say [Disj] that's my544 opinion; that's what I agree with; say I/I say(qv) □ JIMMY (in an imitation of a Midlands accent) After all, it wouldn't do if we was all alike, would it? It'd be a funny world if we was all the same, that's what I always say! LBA □JENNY : Mother reckons some people get indiges-tion so bad that it go right through their stomach to the back. BEATIE: Don't talk daft! JENNYThat's what I say. You don't get indigestion in the back. Ro He should be ashamed of himself.What I always say is, if you have a job to do. do it right. D often follows or accompanies fairly trite remark; stress pattern that's what 'l (al.ways) say; variant what I (always) say is(that); in non-standard use, as in these examples. that's what I want/I'd like to know that is the important question or point; that is what worries me (the reference usu being to a grievance or complaint) S: I, he, they; the tenants, purchasers o That's the Council for you. Always something new. And who's to pay for it? That's what I'd like to know. AITCo The tenants are tired of promises to modernise these houses. Is it ever going to happen? That's what they want to know. □ Yo u say you didn't tell her, but how else could she have found out?That's what I'd like to know. D stress pattern that's what 'I want/'I'd like to know. that's what the man said(catchphrase) that is what I(we, you, they etc) was told (with the implication that either acceptance or scepticism is advisable)□ ' Are you sure you won't stay the night, Jim?’ Alice asked for the third time.' That's what the man said, ' put in her sister.' Do stop fussing him.'o(golf) The ball vanished altogether and then, seconds later,a bump grew up on the green, split open, and out popped the ball three feet from the hole. Well, that's what the man said. SC o'I can't believe the road is really impassable. What do you think?'' Why ask me? You heard what the man said.'o variant you heard what the man said. that's what you think that is only your belief or opinion; that is not so, although you may think it is $: you, he, she, they□ DAVID: Good-bye—I' ll take the memory of you everywhere that I go. SAM: That's what you think! HSG oTina's going to finish her training while he does.his Military Service, then they' re going to get married. That's what she thinks anyway. Per.sonally, I wouldn't bet twopence on ir. o stress pattern that's what you think; expresses mocking disbelief. that's where you are wrong that is a matter/ the point on which you are mistaken $:you, he, she, they o 'I wasn't doing a thing ex-cept standing watching. You can't keep me here.'That's where you' re wrong, my lad. You' re elping the police with their enquiries, that's what you' re doing.'o' Splendid organizer.' theBrigadier said. ' That's what she thinks. She fan-cies she could organize a stallion into having pups,' Masaid,' hur that's where she's wrong.'DBM them and us (them) upper or governing classes, bureaucrats, employers etc contrasted with (us) ordinary people and wage-earners(usu with the implication that the former are feared, resented or mistrusted) o While some local authorities remain reluctant to enter into <545> the full spirit of what is called public participa-tion in planning, the more ambitious have been genuinely attempting to eliminate the old ' them'and ' us' attitude. SCo(free` law clinics’) WhenMike Reed thinks a client can manage his own case, he will prompt and advise and then let him alone. But a client like that is still rare: most are inarticulate, emotional, unable to stick to the point, likely to irritate magistrates short of time.and heavily imbued with the idea of Them andUs. STo(early 1950s) So, when working-class people are asked to become foremen or non-commissioned officers they often hesitate. What-ever their motives, they will be regarded now as on the side of ' Them'. ULO usu in order of head-phrase. then/ there again [Conj] additionally; alter-natively o' You yourself said that might avoid the worst of the trouble.’‘It might. Then again,it might not.’ TBC□Of course it had taken some luck to produce these ideal conditions for his introduction to the job (as private chauffeur).For one thing Mr Braceweight was taking a holi-day after his operation. Then again, the man had had the sense, at some remote period of his life.to choose a wife who was exactly like himself.HD o JO. You' ve no need to worry, Helen. He's gone away. He may be back in six months, but there again he may一 HELEN: Look, you' re only young. Enjoy your life. Don't get trapped.Marriage can be hell for a kid. TOHO introduces clause in which another consideration or possibility is mentioned. then and there [adv + adv rev] at the first op-portunity o He was not in his office and I evenlu-ally tracked him down in the lavatory. So we discussed the problem then and there. MFMo /t was the allegedly deliberate deception in hiding his medical record that prompted McGovern's chief advisers to urge their chief to drop SenatorEagleton there and then. But McGovern hesitated. L there are etc fairies at the bottom of the/ one's garden [possess] there is sth unusual or interesting in one's surroundings or circumstances V: there be,△ have(got). prep:with o (source) There are fairies at the bot-tom of our garden. FAIRIES (R RYLEMAN 1877-1957)□ But to children born and brought up in the grey world of Europe's refugee camps, the 175acres of field and woodland at the Children'sInternational Village at Sedlescombe, Sussex, is a paradise on earth. At Sedlescombe there are fairies, not soldiers, at the bottom of their garden. TOo(NONCE) A frilly net skirt, starred headband and wand, and what little girl doesn't feel indistinguishable from something found squatting at the bottom of the garden. G□(NONCE) Next to the swastika were blown-up ar-ticles from the' Daily Express' and the ' News of the World' about homosexuality, which were in-deed fairly unpleasant. It is hard to take Ms JeanRook, for instance, declaring that any fairy at the betto m of her garden had better come equipped with wings— or else. NS o in last quotation there is a play on fairy, a disparaging and offensive term for a homosexual man. there are (plenty) more (good) fish in the sam(saying) most losses are replaceable by something just as good o Try not to take it too than/ there again— there and back hard if you don't get anywhere (with Jenny).After all, there are plenty of fish in the sèe,aren't there?TGLYoHAVA: But he doesn't like me.What can I do? SAM: Take your time—— you' re such a lovely girl—— he' ll fall—— be patient. HAVADo you really think so? Anyway——I'm not that hard up— plenty more fish in the see. HSG oLeicester had got in first on one or two matters recently and Marlborough wanted the opportun-ity to show him that he, Leicester, wén't the only fish in the same . TBC□ He might settle out in Australia. People did. It was sad, but some-thing she would have to cope with. There were plenty of other fish in the sée. Wi o variants not be the only fish in the sea, there are as good fish in the sea (as ever came out of it), there are plenty of (other) fish in the sea. there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy strange things do, or may, occur although they are beyond the range of your understanding, experience or imagination o(source) There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,/ Than are dreant of in your philosophy. HAMLET15□ The litter of rab-pigs.apparently the result of an encounter between her.pet female guinea-pig and a rabbit, which caused experts to scratch their heads and wonder whether there were more things in hewen and earth than were dreamed of in their professional philosophies, appears now to have been a hoax. SCo Certainly the experiment has proved that there are more things in earth than are drement of in our conventional philosophy, and the author does great service in spelling out precisely the directions in which more research is required. Go(NONCE) It's been proved that there are more things in heaven and hell than this world dreams of. Loch Ness is mighty deep. There may be three or four mon-sters down there. OBS there are more/ easier ways of killing a cat than by choking it with cream(say-ing) there is more than one way of doing sth;(esp) if you want to get rid of, or exploit, sb you should do so directly and ruthlessly instead of covering your action with flattery, pretending it is fòr their own good, or by other such devious means o ' We feel your high academic qualifica-tions are being wasted here, Mr Jenkins. Have you ever thought of making a change?' ' If you.mean I'm a rotten teacher but not quite bad enough to sack, I' ll remind you there are more ways of killing a cat than by checking it with cream.’ o(NONCE)I feel guilty about always let-ting you take the rough assignments, but you' re so much stronger, and more patient and clever than I am.' ' Oh, stop choking me with cream.I learned to accept this way of doing things long ago.’ there and back [adv + adv non-rev] to a des-tination and back □ A quarter of a million day-trippers will be crossing the Channel this summer on no-passport excursions to Calais, Boulogne,Dieppe, Le Havre and St Malo. Altogether thev will spend about a million pounds on getting thereand back, another£1.5million during four or five hours ashore. Too He lived a long way out of the city and thought nothing of making the daily journey, there and back, throughout the 545 <546> there, but for the grace of God, go I----there is no holding/ stopping sb three terms. TCM there, but for the grace of God, go I(say-ing) it might have been me---except for God's grace, my happier circumstances, etc— who committed this crime, sin or folly, and was thus punished or made to suffer o(source—a com-ment on seeing some criminals being taken to execution) But for the grace of God there goes John Bradford. J BRADFORD 1510-55 oThere is a lot to be said for professional self-government (ie professions like medicine, the law, having their own disciplinary' courts'), if it really works. But can professionals take effective action against one another? Will they not always be held back by the thought that there, but for the grace of God, go I? NS □ The characters existed in a drama which had no reference to anybody but themselves. So many television plays are like this, self-absorbed and tiny, so that no onlooker could dream of thinking that there,but for the grace of God, went he. Lo I know her mother drinks and has lovers and things. But her husband's dead and so you really can't blame her, can you? There-but-for-the-Grace-of-God Department. FFE o unusual attrib usu in last example. there is etc the devil (and all (hell)) to pay (saying) face trouble, recriminations, hos-tility etc as a result of some action or of its having been found out V: there is, △ have.prep: with □ Of course I won't run you to the station in the ambulance! There'd be the devil and all to pay if it was needed in a hurry. o l daren't touch your father's desk. The one time Idid attempt to tidy it up there was the deviland all to pay.□ ' Anyone that lives the way you do.warned the doctor. is liable to find himself with the devil to pay.'o The little manicurist with whom he had been living had walked out on him and with her had gone her manicurist's weekly wage, and now there was hell to pay at the lodgings. HAA there is always room at the top (catch-phrase) there are always too few people who are really outstanding in a profession, art etc or who are really ruthless in their ambition, and therefore there is ample opportunity for such people to be successful, famous, occupy in-fluential positions o (source--in reply to sb advising him not to be a lawyer. as it was an overcrowded profession) There is always room at the top. I) WFBSTER 1782-1852□ Most of us don't brood over the inequities fostered and maintained by those who see to it that there's always room at the top for those who are prepared to tread diligently on enough faces to get there. OBSoCrowley was probably a humbug.whose vanity, ambition, and intelligence led him1 0 car ve out a niche as the wickedest man in the world there is always room for a sadist at the top. ST o expression popularized by JohnBraine`s novel Room at the Top (1957). there is life in the old boy etc yet (catch-phrase) sb/ sth is still active, interested or interesting. productive etc in spite of age n: boy.girl. chap, firm、 bus□' Your father was in good form tonight. I didn't expect such a lively even-ing.∵Oh, there's life in the old boy you when he gets the kind of company he enjoys.'oI' ll be 60next birthday, but there's life in the old dog 546 yet. RT□ Mae West may be 84, but there's life in the old girl yet. She was still working on her film ' Sextette' late at night when... TVTthere is more to it etc than that etc the definition(s), description(s), reason(s) just given are incomplete or inadequate, do not fully account for it pron/n: it, him; things, the book, success; running a business. n: (than)good looks, factual information, luck a While they are here individual parents are relieved from the unceasing vigilance necessary for the safety of their (handicapped) children; someone is al-ways on hand to cope. But there is more to it than that. Here, without any attempt at therapy.analysis or reappraisals, happier family relation-ships evolve. STo Dorothy Sayers was certainly a Blimp and ludicrously anti-Semitic. But there was more to her than that. OBS□'I' ve had a lot of luck, ' says 19-year-old Ann Townsend, last year's champion European show-jumper. But there is much more to her success than luck.Ho They moved from London to a house on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors. 'I know actors are expected to live in and around London because that makes you more“available”, but there's more to life than that.'TVT there is no denying atc it etc one cannot deny it; it is a fact V: denying. △ escaping,gainsaying, getting away from, O: it; the fact,his skill, the power of money; that he's talented o He's bad-tempered and selfish, there's no denying it, but he's also a genius. □ Mercifully,this kind of maniacal violence is still com-paratively rare in pubs. Bul there's no denying that there has been a steady increase in physical violence during recent years. TVT□' Film music',like the films themselves, is big business, and it is mostly very bad, but there is no escaping that it is what almost everyone in modern India likes to hear. L o They were friendly enough in their own style, but they were a funny lot, there was no getting away from it. IGI. Y aDAVIES I'm u capable sort of man. I mean to say, I' ve had plenty of offers in my time, you know. there's no getting away from that. TC there is no future (for sb)(in sth) there is no prospect of sth continuing, no prospect of sb`s success, improvement in position, wealth,health、 happiness etc det: no, (not) any; a(great) o I didn't leave the RAF till 1947. ThenI quit Britain at the same time. I didn't feel there was any future for me or for Britain. TVTo The recent promotion of Miss Cunningham at the age of 41 to the rank of Police Superintendent shows that there is a future for women in the PoliceForce - - a career structure which applies to them as well as to men.□ You can earn enough to live on, but there's no future in window-cleaning. there is no holding/ stopping sb sb cannot be prevented from doing sth□ After that, there was no holding him, and the day came when he felt he could chuck his job and go all out to make a living as a writer. OBS□Charley said again how.very soon in no time at all. Pop could acquire a(French) accent. Mariette actually applauded.so that suddenly there was no holding Pop, who got up smartly from the breakfast table, howed to Ma, and said: ' Bonjour, madame. Comment(a va? Au revoir! A hientôr! "BFA□Once let this <547> there is no knowing etc what— there is nothing/ not anything like sth fellow start talking, there was no stopping him. He talked like a book too. not like a human being. EM there is no knowing etc what one cannot know or be sure about what will happen etc V:knowing, △ saying, telling. O: what, why,whether, when, who; how, how many, how far o He was now back at the usual game of ' looking around' . There was no knowing what he could do. He might get a job tomorrow. He might stay out of work for weeks. AITCo He was searching for novae, stars that explode with uncanny violence. Within the next year he might hope to find one or two, since there was no telling when an outburst might occur. TBC there is no law against it etc(informal) it is allowed O: it; private opinions; looking, eat-ing with your fingers□‘You look hot.’’ I am, and my shoes are killing me.' ' Take them off then,there's no law against it. 'o At last, Jim went over to the man's table. ' You' re embarrassing my companion. Is it necessary for you to sit staring u t her?’ ‘There’ s no law against looking, is there? I' ll do as I please.'△ there should be a law against it etc. there is no looking back etc one cannot look back etc V: looking back, reasoning with sb, turning back, getting near sb, preventing sth.□ The venison that isn't lying in proprietors'deep-freezes all goes to the exporter. There's simply no buying the stuff for the Scottish housewife. SCo Not that the way was not yet an easy one. But from now onwards there was no looking back. SD there is no mistaking sb/ sth it is easy to recognize sb/ sth ◎: him; her accent, the threat intended; real coffee o ' Are you sure it was An-drew?"' Of course I'm sure. With his thatch of red hair there's no mistaking him.'o' Can't you tell me, Mr Lumley, just what it is that you don't like about the rooms?’ There was no mistaking the injured truculence in the landlady's voice. HDthere is no need for sth/(for sb) to do sth' it is not necessary (for sb) to do sth; sth is not necessary A: for supervision, for an opera-tion; (for sb) to stay, to go, to have treatment,to pay me; for supervision, for an operation oThere's no need for you to stay up to let me in—— just lend me a key. o 'I'm afraid the news is bad. Guy died half an hour ago.’ Now there wéi no need to pretend shock and grief. She felt both, so keenly that her voice was almost in-audible. DC□ You know as much about the affair as I do. There is no need for my presence at the meeting. there is no need for sth/(for sb) to do sth²(for sb to do) sth is not only unnecessary but also undesirable, silly or wrong A: for ob-scenity, for embarrassment, for talking like that;(for sb) to get nasty, to take offence, to be frightened, to shout at them o' You' re speaking as an expert, of course?'' Now, there's no need to get nasty, Steve. I'm only trying to help.'TTo' All right, mate! No need to show your bloody skill!' came a hoarse shout. Opening his eyes he saw that he had drawn up dead level with the car next to him, and left barely one inch of clearance.HD□ Pharmacists often have trouble deciphering prescriptions, and sometimes have to contact a doctor to check. And there's no need for it; anybody can write legibly if they try.□Al l right— but lower your voice. You' ve no need to let the whole restaurant know your intentions, o variant have no need to do sth. there is no occasion for sth/(for sb) to do sth (formal) there is no need, cause or pretext for sth/(for sb) to do sth o If we had been luckier, if events had not taken hold of us, there might have been no occasion for him to tell me.NM□' And if the condition gets worse, is it oper-able?'' Yes, but there should be no occasion for that in your case, unless you choose to disregard doctor's orders.' there is no/ not any question there is no doubt A: about it, about that; of that, of his guilt; that he did it o No question, the middle class in America has it better than most other nations. Lo With Goldwyn, it is sometimes dif.ficult to tell the dividing line between reality and fantasy—— as it is with many people. Myself in-cluded. No question about it. RTo They came here to play Rugby and, until provoked today.their reputation was untarnished. There is no question that the Lions were less than innocents in the warfare which took place before a baying50,000 crowd at Lancaster Park. OBS□England's my home, there's no question of that, but there doesn't seem to be any work for me here. RToThere is no question of their guilt. The only query is whether the punishment was not too severe. ST o there is may be deleted before no question. there is no room for doubt etc there is no scope or opportunity for doubt or other feeling,attitude or action det: no, (not) any; little,some. o: doubt, complacency, dispute, slack-ness, improvization o There is also a fatalistic note: the victim of the crime, in her last words,declares, quite unprotestingly, that it is what she expected; and there is no room for doubt that such an end is what she half invited and half desired. AH o The accused was probably guilty.but, on the evidence presented, there was some room for doubt. o There is, accordingly, no room for complacency about what is the main cause of misery in our society. SCo A common meeting ground, that's what we all need. Drama,art, poetry—— the great things of the spirit—— no room there for petty jealousies or hatreds. TCB□What makes acting more difficult than writing is that actors can't hint at possiblities or point out negative characteristics. There's no room for' perhaps'. It's the art of embodiment rather than lengthy discretion. RT there is nothing/ not anything like sth(for doing sth/ to do sth) there is nothing that is so effective in achieving a specified result than some particular remedy etc o: a good book;a cup of strong tea; an occasional set-back; being laughed at; taking a brisk walk. A:for passing the time; to revive you; when you' re tired; if one is taking oneself too seriously o Ialways say that there's nothing like a good book for taking you out of yourself.□(Virginia is pregnant) 'I' ve made cocoa,' Mrs Benberg went on. ‘There’ s nothing like a mug of cocoa when you' re feeding two.'AITC□ Ah well, I sup-pose there's nothing like an occasional setback to make you realize how lucky you usually are.o Who knows what thoughts were passing 547 <548> there is room for improvement— there was a time when through that girl's mind while she was deciding to throw me out? There's nothing like a woman's doing you an injury for making her incensed against you. UTNo If you don't sleep well there's nothing like a brisk walk, a warm bath, and a hot milky drink—— in that order—— before you go to bed. there is room for improvement (catch-phrase) there is a possibility, a desirability or a real need, for improvement (the implication usu being that sb/ sth is not as satisfactory as he/it could or should be)A: always, still. det: a lot of, much,a great deal of o We asked whether the museum's image was as progressive as some of the objects displayed within, Miss Weston said there was always room for improvement. OBSo(a car) I felt there was room for improve-ment in the suspension, which did not show up particularly well on the twisting roads. SC o(official documents) There is a great deal of room for improvement in United Nations'prose, an enormous amount of room. L there etc is/ lies the rub (catchphrase) that is where the difficulty or drawback is adv: there,△ therein, here □ (source) To die, to sleep;/ To sleep: perchance to dream: ay. there's the rub;!For in that sleep of death what dreams may come... HAMLET IIIIo The occasional anonymous tipster and the eminent autobiographer may each claim to be serving the cause of truth.There's the rub, for it is a claim that can be neither wholly admitted nor wholly dismissed. L□ Th e concept obviously attracts Cunard because the QE2 gambling tables would have a substanti-ally increased turnover if it could add casual daily visitors to its passenger list. And therain lies the rub, because, say critics of Cunard's plan, the turnover will be high enough to bring in the mobsters. STo Most car owners, however, are well aware that while motoring commuting is unavoidable for some, it can be selfish to the point of being anti-social in other circumstances. The rub lies in making the distinction. At some time or other every car is a nuisance except one's own.SC 口 variants that's the rub, the rub is that, the rub lies in doing sth. there is a sucker/ one born every minute(saying) gullible people are numerous— and cannot always be protected, are there to be ex-ploited, etc o (source) There's a sucker born overy minute.(attributed to PT BARNUM1810-91)□I would be able to square my conscience with such a phrase as:‘Ahwell, no-one is forced to buy the stuff I sell and there is always one born every day.'SCo And in times of lowered circum-stances, you simply preyed on the less reputable impulses to which the mass was subject, when its members became plain suckers (' one born every minute, you needn ' t starve'). HD a If dealers buy here, then why shouldn't you, and so cut out the profit margin? There is no reason why not, provided you realise a sucker is born every minute and that this is not a place for the unwary with no knowledge of what to look for or what to pay. TVI O use of day in second example unusual; variant a sucker is born every minute. there is that sth previously mentioned is a point to be acknowledged, taken into account,be thankful for, etc o' Against the cost of a long-distance flight you have to set what you may have 548 to pay out for hotels, meals, and so on, on an overland journey.’’ There is that, indeed. Per-haps I should cost my trip more carefully before deciding.’ a ' It's just queer Nurse Ellen vanishing like this. Do you think she was cross with me for not wanting her to take the children?’‘Prissie, it’ s nothing to do with you. At least let's be thankful the children are all right.'‘Yes, there is that.’DC 口 stress pattern there ' is that. there is a time (and a place) for every-thing (saying) there are times, (places), cir-cumstances in which doing any particular thing is appropriate or necessary (with the implica-tion that one does not, or should not, therefore do it anytime or anywhere)□(source) To every-thing there is # season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. ECCLESIASTES III1-8□People down here bothered less about there being a time and place for everything than people at home. Anna, with her midnight baths.dressing-gown at tea-time, and chocolates after breakfast, was in the lead on this. TGLY□Today,as she munched meditatively, she was telling her-self, not for the first time, that there while a time and place for everything—— and that the office was definitely not the place for imitations of the boss's wife. TCB (but) there it is/ you are that is the position;those are the facts o'/' mawfully sorry, old man,he said, but Eva invited some friends up. Per-sonally, I'd rather go out. They' re crashing bores, but there it is. Some other time, eh?"RATTo ' What sort of job is it?'' Pretty awful.Culture—— poetry, all that sort of thing. Still,there it is. It gives me a job so I oughtn't to complain.’ TCBa The girl was looking hurt. But suddenly she couldn't endure her in the room. It was absurd, it was neurotic, but there it wais,DCo If it had been invested in my gold shares it would have come back a hundred times. But there you are! DC □ comment expressing accep-tance of, or resignation to,a situation one does not like and would change if one could. there should be a law against it etc(infor-mal) it etc should not be allowed O: it; women going about half-naked, toothache, people like you o‘She offered us a cup of cocoa. ’ He made a face. ' There should be a law against cocos.'□The old chap thought the girls playing beach ball looked really pretty but his wife in the deck-chair beside him muttered darkly about naked girls flaunting their charms all over the place and said there should be a law against girls going around half-neked.□A fish-witted imbecile like you ought not to be allowed to be a doctor. There should be some law against it. PE◇ △ there is no law against it etc. there was a time when once, formerly(but no longer)o You must forgive me then. Ask MrWormold-- - there was a time when I was not so suspicious. Shall we have some music?OMIHoThere was a time when the small(TV) screen seemed to diminish the choreographer's work.But now producers have learned how to translate ballet on to the box. RT□ Thought I'd die of shame if I hungled a step. Now I dance like a bull's foot most of the time, but I don't care as long as I can hang on to the job. Time was though, when I —— AITC o stress pattern there' was a time when; variant, time was when, has <549> <550> they order things better in France etc—a thing of the past ity. Theydon't makethem like thatenymore.STəGeneration-pride immediately overcame per-sonal dislike: they don't make them like that any more. Whether he deserves to or not GuyBurgess will now take his place in the gallery of immortal English eccentrics. OBSo 'I just have to live it up. I'm not the ordinary guy in the street.I want to do everything.' They don't make ' em(= them) like Bonar Colleano any more. TVT□ When it comes to nostalgia about old movies,it's not the films themselves that I get the reminis-cent soppies (= sentimental feelings) over, it's the old forgotten advertising slogans. Never mind they don't make films like that anymore';they don't write slogans like that anymore. Lo variant they don't come like that any more. they order things better in France etc(saying) hospitality, education, family life, ar-rangements for travellers, etc are managed better elsewhere □ (source—— opening sentence of the book but never fully explained) They order, said I, this matter better in France. ASENTIMENTAL JOURNEY (L STERNE 1713-68) □ Atenacious character will always get his case against a Government Department heard but the timid may shrink from the ordeal of self-assertion. They order things better in Scan-dinavia. Professor Hurwitz holds an office speci-ally created to protect citizens against the state.SC o Even in those far-off days, we Scots were lamentably ignorant of our national heritage; we are still slow to exploit its commercial value.They order things better in Transylvania. TheRomanian tourist board is making big business out of the so-called ' Dracula Country'. SC they shall not pass we shall not be defeated(esp, a slogan in defensive warfare, counter-demonstration,(mass) resistance to take-over,eviction, black-leg workers during a strike, etc)□ (source) lls ne passeront pas. (MARECHALPETAIN, about the Germans, when defendingVerdun, 1916)□(a‘blackshirt’ march through the streets of London, 1936) (A very distant sound of chanting is heard: ‘They shall not pass, they shall not poss, they shall not pass.’) MONTY: The boys! Listen. Hear them?Youknow, Sarah, that's the same cry the people ofMadrid were shouting. PRINCE: And they didn't get past either. Imagine it! All those women and children coming out into the streets and making barricades with their beds and chairs. CSWB they that live by the sword shall parish/die by the sword(saying) those who live by committing violence must expect violence to be turned upon themselves o(source) Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. MA-TTHEW XXVI 52 a (NONCE) Those who live in politics by virtue of machinetion should not perhaps complain over-loudly if they evenlu-ally perish by it. NS□(NONCE)I was particularly struck, with Ulster in mind, by the boy revolutionary rejecting the Christian message of peace and goodwill with the slogan:‘Them that perish by the gun must live by the gun.’ STa thieves' kitchen[Comp(NP)] a place where criminals etc meet to exchange information,make plans, etc V: △ be, become, turn into oHe told me the story in a cafẻ in the Socco Chico.which is the ' thievms' kitchen' of Tangier. It is 550 here that cooks and smugglers and dope-pedlars congregate, and a pretty villainous gang they are.DS□In the UN he finds military gangsters and expert racists, men who have devoted their lives to the destruction of democracy and the courts.More and more, the UN begins to resemble a thieves' kitchen. NS a thin excuse [Comp/O (NP)] an inadequate reason (for doing/ not doing sth) V: be, seem;have, give, offer o After looking at me with rising embarrassment for some seconds he announced, ' Went to the cinema last night.' This seemed a thin excuse for interrupting my even-ing's work, but I said politely, ' A good film, Ihope?' DIL □' She said she didn't come because she'd lost our address.'' Well, that's a thin ex-cuse! She knows lots of people who could have told her.’ the thin red line the heroic resistance of few against many (originally describing the ar-rangement of a regiment of highland infantry then red-coated, at the battle of Balaclava,1854, during the Crimean War)□(source) TheRussians dash on towards that thin red streak topped with a line of steel. BRITISH EXPEDITIONTO THE CRIMEA (W H RUSSELL 1820-1907)□ And his photograph of the Black Watch firing a feu de joie' —— the firing of rifles in the air down the lines from right to left and then left to right to create a kind of rippling effect — aptly illustrates the frailty of the thin red line that was the backbone of Queen Victoria's Empire. OBSo(NONCE)(teachers) demonstration outside Par-liament) The principals needed their principles to keep them warm; it grew minute by minute win-dier and colder. To one of the press cameramen it was a good joke: ' You' ve got the thin blue line here all right.' to blue in last example refers to hands and faces going blue from cold. a thing of beauty is a joy forever(saying)the pleasure that beauty or a beautiful object,person, scene etc gives will last forever o(source)A thing of beauty is a joyforever:/ It's loveliness increases; it will never/ Pass into noth-ingness. ENDYMION (J KEATS 1795-1821)o '£1500!You could get a new one for a tenth of that!" he said, with total lack of appreciation of things of beauty that were a joyforever.□It was a stump pipe affair with gaily coloured keys. It made a noise like a paralysed duck, and my three-year-old son Leo immediately decided it was a thing of beauty and bound to be a musical joy for ever. TVT o use often facetious, as shown here.a thing of the past [Comp (NP)] an old-fashioned, defunct, or superseded (type of) ar-ticle, person, activity, belief etc V:△be; think sth, regard sth as a Current fashion hats certain-ly have a strictly functional aspect. And what of the contemporary hatpin? Or are hatpins things of the past? SC□ Clark once said 'I was born bald!’ and indeed his hair was already a thing of the past when he made his screen debut at the age of 33. TVT□A major told me that the scream-ing, tyrannical sergeant-major spreading terror in the ranks was a thing of the past. Discipline is imposed in different ways now. STa The Brazi-lian team manager was asked about the sig-nificance of their World Cup victory. He said artistry had been regarded as a thing of the past—— until the Brazilians won the World Cup <551> <552> this is it----this will hurt me more than it hurts you this is it that (ie sth already mentioned) is the precise nature of the situation, difficulty,problem etc: that's just it/(just) the trouble(qv)D ' It can't be much fun, sitting by yourself at home most evenings.'' This is it! I'm pretty well fed up with being married to an MP, I can tell you.’ this is where we came in (catchphrase) we are back to where we started; we have seen,done, this before(the reference originally being to the moment at which one saw again the material one had first seen in a continuous cinema programme) D (proposal for theEuropean nuclear deterrent) Who would have the power to fire this hybrid armament? TheFrench President? The British Prime Minister?Possibly a committee of NATO Defence Minis-ters. Those who sat through the comic opera of the Multilateral Force will realise at once that this is where wecame in. NSo PETER: Istole all my mother's money and it all led nowhere. And now I'm a no-one with nothing. This is where we break up. This is the end of the road. ALEX: You said it, this is the end of the road. This is whereI ceme in. DPM this (very) minute etc[A (NP)] now; im-mediately n: minute,△ instant, second o The child did not answer, but stood quite still, staring intently at the visitor. ' Upstairs this minute!' It seemed that everything Gladys did must be done that minute. ' Take her up. Rosa dear.' HDo'Isaid we must be going.'' Yes, I heard you but Ididn't know you meant this very minute.’ o‘When did you get here?’‘I’ ve just this second arrived.'o'I know you' re there, whoever you are.'the watchman called,' and if you don't show your-self this instant/' ll set the dog on you.'o middle or end position. this side (of) the grave/ heaven[A(NP)] in this world; in/ during one's lifetime o Education is a continuous process which does not stop short this side of the grow. of meditated. The con-clusion I reached was that this side the greve there is simply no end to anything. SML□Natural-ly if Frank(her son in Australia) could have lived next door and Ella(her dead daughter) the other side that would have been better, but this side of that kind of heggn she had everything she wan-ted. TSMP this side (of) idolatry etc[A (NP)] less in amount or degree than idolatry etc adv mod:just, well, n: idolatry, perfection, destitution,slander; worshipping him, taking life □(source)For I loved the man, and do honour his memory,on this side idolatry, as much as any. Dls-COVERIES (B JONSON 1572-1637) □ Even the eigh-teenth century, which is often supposed to have frowned on Shakespeare's lack of correctness,admired him only just this side of idolstry. OBS□True, they stopped short at a point well this side of idolatry; but all concurred in assigning to mescalin a position among drugs of unique distinction. DOP□In this country we can still say what we like this side of libel. o The majority of men's parents expect a bride(in India) to bring a dowry large enough to be just this side of financially crippling her parents. L this and/ or that[pron + pron non-rev]a num-ber of, any one of, some things. activities, sub- 552 jects etc□' What are you doing these days, An-na?’' Oh, this and that,' said Anna. UTNo 'I'm sorry. dear,' she said, ' but looking after the house will be just as much as I can manage. I can't have the extra responsibility of worrying whetherDodd's doing this or that for the fowls. 'HAAoHe had been spirited away into grim and secret places where the doctors had given him this drug and that and where, in an attempt to control his difficult behaviour, he had been subjected to numerous electric shocks to the brain. NS□Once or twice I asked him directly whether he held this or that theory—— which he always denied with the air of one who has been affronted by a failure of taste. UTNa I don't know how Tom started this habit but whatever he's speaking about it's bloody this and bloody that the whole time. 口 also [det + det non-rev] as in this man or that, this and that excuse. this, that, and the other[pron+ pron + pron non-rev] a number of, several, things, activities etc o MR BUTCHER: We' re afraid. PETER: What of? MR FISH: This, that, and the other. DPMoThe bill was a blinder (ie it amazed him). He doubted very much if he'd ever get over the bill.Percentages for this, taxes for that, services for the other. BFA o The exchange rate was still favourable and travel agencies were busy book-ing people for this, that, and the other foreign holiday resort. □ also [det + det + det non-rev]as in last example. this time last/ next year etc[A (NP)] last/next year at this time/ date n:(last/ next) year.△week; Thursday; tomorrow, yesterday o The students may be a bit wild and woolly when they first arrive, but they' ll soon settle down. And if they don't, they' ll be gone before this time next year. HAAc So much has happened I can hardly believe it was only this time yesterday that Iwas boarding the train to come here. this/a vale of tears man's life on earth seen as a time of effort and sorrow o To have a character of the stature of Pottinger shoot him-self while travelling in a mail coach would diminish him. It was much more fitting to have him depart this vafe of tear s in the presence of his enemy. RToA problem can be solved by the brisk application of a little common sense. This is Mr Powell's approach. Sir Keith is quite dif-ferent. He observes this vale of tess and then starts to cry himself. NSo Circumstances com-bined early to make him view the world as a vale of tears. O usu ironic or facetious. this way and that [A (NP)] in all, or various.directions; by all, or various, means or methods□ Charles had never seen a knuckle-duster (ie a piece of metal that protects the knuckles against, and adds force to,a blow) before, hut he recognized it. The hald-headed man con-siderately turned it this way and that, so that he could get a good look at it. HD□ She pushed the bushes aside, and stepped out cautiously, looking this way and that. TSTo/' ve tried this way and that to please her and to be a help, but the truth is that she'd rather people thought she had a hard lime of it. this will hurt me more than it hurts you(catchphrase) excuse or justification for punish.ing, rejecting, disappointing etc sb. usu on the plea that it is unavoidable or for the other's own <553> this year, next year, sometime, never— three cheers (for sb/ sth) good o (asking for the resignation of subor-dinates)‘Everyone has to make sacrifices; no one more than I who have to part company with colleagues, ' said Asquith, and Churchill never stopped pointing out how near that came to the old lie about ' this will hurt my more than it hurts you.’ Lo The film about Andy Warhol was not only a colossal bore to watch; it is even death-ly tedious to visit on it the criticism it deserves.The old headmaster's saying, This will hurt me more than it hurts you,' becomes literally true.NS o(NONCE) This is going to hurt you more than it will hurt me: an investigation into forms of school punishment, by Brian Jackson and AnnGarvey. ST this year, next year, sometime, never [A(NP)] answer to‘When?’(from children’ s counting, using the letters of a name,a row of buttons, string of beads, etc, to predict when an imagined event (esp marriage) will take place)o Time slipping by unnoticed leads me to suggest a little parlour game for you to play without recourse to diaries or record books. Was it this year, next year, sometime, never, that the following occurred:……? Lo These winter woollies are still available and, like any highly individual combination of classics, they never go out of fashion: wear them this year, next year,sommthing. OBS a thorn im the flesh/ side (of sb/ sth)[Comp/O (NP)] sb/ sth who irks or annoys another person or group, impairs their well-being, complacency or authority V: △ be,become, find sb o (source) There was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.ⅡCORINTHIANSXII7o When Cobbett founded hisPolitical Register in 1802 he became a thorn in the flesh of Pitt's government. RTo Mrs RuthColver is secretary of the Dorset rights of way group of the Ramblers' Association. She gave up teaching to do her footpa th work full-time and is a thorn in the side of administrators. OBSo He's a relative of course, but a thorn in our flash. Iwish he could emigrate or something. □ One official sign of the programme's success as e thorn in the Establishment's side came last month. NS□ also pl thorns in the flesh of sb/ sth;used most frequently about people. thoroughly modern sb/ sth (catchphrase)most up-to-date (from the film‘ThoroughlyModern Millie',1967)o Just what is thorough-ly modern Maggie playing at? In order to save a mere £20 a head on the cost of a return ticketMrs Thatcher's team booked two charter flights for the American beano. Go At the back of the auditorium are control rooms for sound tech-nicians, electricians and stage manager, with projection facilities for closed-circuit video andTV. This whoroughly modern marvel... TVToThen on to Bedford where we pay thoroughly modern prices for bed and no breakfast in a middle-of-the-road hotel. sc those were the days (catchphrase) that was a good, pleasant, interesting, stimulating etc time to be alive o Vernon Bartlett, now 80 years old and retired to Tuscany, was the sort of diplomatic correspondent whose name was flashed on the cinema screen if the ' News Chron-icle' wanted him. These were the days! Lo If the film clips of Marie Lloyd and Little Tich were genuine, then I am amazed that we have not had sight of them before. This combination of nostal-gia and modern technology is a delight and I look forward to the rest of the run. Those, indeed,were the days. RTo ' And it was the first attempt ever by a Prime Minister to use the medium.Baldwin went on the Radio and said it wouldn't do, and the TUC was impressed.’ Ah, those were the days— or were they? RT those who can, do; those who cannot,teach(catchphrase) the most talented in a skill or art will practise it, so the task of instruction is left to the less talented o (source) He who can, does. He who cénwot, teaches. MAXIMSFOR REVOLUTIONISTS (G B SHAW 1856-1950) o' Those that can, do; those that can't . teach,'runs the disparaging adage, and there is some-thing of the same feeling about commentators.' If he knows so much why doesn't he have a go him-self?’ In fact, commentating, like criticism or teaching, has little to do with one's own ability as a performer. RTO a sneering generalization. (even) though I say it/ so myself [Disj] (it is true) though I may seem boastful or may be accused of prejudice o You should also on the radio be able to talk, from a few scattered notes maybe, rather than read a piece written out beforehand. This, though I say it myself, I had no difficulty in doing. ST□I' ve always been agood runner, the only trouble being that no matter how fast I run, and I did a very fair lick even thoughI do say so myself, it didn't stop me getting caught by the cops after the bakery job. LLDRo o dependent clause in front, middle or end position relative to main clause. (in) thought, word and/ or deed(in) any way;(in) any manifestation of human intention whatever o (source) We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have com-mitted, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYERo No thought, word or deed of his life had roused in him any feeling resembling the guilt he experienced as he stood waiting for MrsPettigrew to pay the taxi and turn to ask him,' Where have you been?'MMo The vicar closed the benediction with an appeal to God to ' keep us all pure in thought, word and deed both now and hereafter' and we sallied forth, not much weighed down by the unlikelihood of such a condition. three cheers (for sb/ sth) an expression of approval; cheering by a crowd to salute sb/ sth in the formula‘Hip, hip’(by a cheer-leader) and` Hurray` (by all), shouted three times V: give(sb), get, call for o As the car moved off, the sergeant distinctly heard from the other side of the river bank: ' Three cheers for the Skelper:Hip-Hip-Hurray! Hip-Hip-Hurray! Hip-Hip--'TO□ ' Do you still have that terrible family next door?' ' Yes, but they' re moving shortly and three cheers for that.'o Who, giving a moment's thought to what has been done in our own time in the name of ' democracy', would possibly support it or give it two cheers? E M Forster could. He found it less hateful than other contemporary forms of government. AHa What landscape that is being made today tends to be not by the private rich but by a few lively corporate or public 553 <554> the three Rs—— thump a/ the tub/ Bible bodies. I would give two cheers for the ForestryCommission, L D two cheers suggests only modified approval. the three Rs(mastery of) ` reading, (w) riting and (a) rithmetic’ as first essentials in education o Primary schools have caused a fierce debate between traditionalists and progressives. Do we just want the three Rs, or more self-expression,or more discipline? Lo It has been fashionable for far too long in our teacher training colleges to emphasize the ' child-centred' approach and to denigrate proven and successful methods of teaching the Three R's, and the valuable memory-training processes of' learning by heart'and ' learning by repetition' . RT three score years and ten 70 years as an expected human life span o(source) The days of our years are three score years end ten; and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow. PSALMS XC 12□ Th e good book, if we are to believe it, says we are entitled to three score years and ten. Who am I to argue?OBSo The rate at which the human programme goes to pieces with time is constant.If it weren't, the threescore-and-ten rule would not have the wide validity it has in different places and times. OBS□ score =‘20’; attrib use the thresscore-end-ten rule. (the) thrills and spills [n + n non-rev] the excitement of taking part in, or watching,sports or entertainments involving hazards of a not-too-serious kind a This final programme of the present series pays tribute to all the winners who have emerged in the past three months---a last look at the excitement, the drama. the thrills and spills. TVT□ They would get a start on the local weekly—— and begin to fight, and sometimes even write, their way to the top. The top was indisputably Fleet Street. Since then things have changed. Much of the thrills and spills has evaporated into dull routine. RT through no (particular etc) fault etc of one's own [A(Prep)] for reasons one cannot be blamed etc for adj: particular, special, out-standing. n: fault;△merit, virtue□ The Pales-tine Police Force was 50 per cent below strength,and considered as a force to be no more than 25per cent effective - - - through no fault of its own. MFM□ I asked him if he thought he was overpaid. ' The answer is yes.' he replied.' and no.It's a lot of money. I can't get it down any lowerOn the other hand, through no fault of myown,I happen to be born into an era where the mass media is king. ’ OBS□ Childhood was the germ of all mistrust. You were cruelly joked upon and then you cruelly joked. You lost the remem-brance of pain through inflicting it. But somehow, through no virtue of his own, he had never taken that course. Lack of character per-haps. OMIH through thick and thin [A(PrepP)] through,or despite, everything that happens or that one has to deal with; through good times and bad times; determinedly; faithfully v: fight,struggle, go on; support, stick by, accompany,sb; be faithful, loyal; be a staunch friend oDetermined to do in Parliament what he promised his voters, Brand fights through thick and thin to retain his integrity. TVTo Yet Stilwell was an almost impossible man to work with, and 554 even the small group of American officers who stuck loyally by him through thick and thin were frightened of him. ST o Barmaids were, as she had told Harold, not promiscuous; it didn't mean that they never took a lover, or that they wouldn't be faithful to him—— touchingly faithful throughthick and thin. Pwo thick and thin non-rev. through and through [A] completely, in every way or detail o He's not just a crook. He's mean and rotten through and through. PEo And she had only been with him once for a week-end;but her thoughts had been so constantly with him that she felt she knew him through and through. Pw o may modify preceding adj. throw/ give a party (for sb/ sth) [V + 0pass] arrange for a party (for sb/ sth) to take place n (attrib): dinner, children's, birthday,celebration, Welcome-Home o With the arrival of yet another stranger, myself, they felt that something had to be done about it, They threw a party. SD a(advice column) Throw a small party and make that an excuse for contacting him. Ho ' Could I come up for a weekend soon and bring my fiancé with me?’' You do that, and we' ll throw a party for you.’ a occas pl. thrust and parry [n + n rev] attack and defence; attack and defend; question and ans-wer (in a fight, confrontation, argument or quarrel; from fencing); the cut and thrust of sth(qv);a battle of wits (qv)o Ken Hughes directs with lots of dash, and Richard Harris as Crom-well and Alec Guinness as Charles I thrust and parry with grand panache. RT□ Counsel rocked back and forth on the balls of his feel —— as counsel are wont to do while preparing the next rapier thrust and parry----and demanded: ' Was that a rare occurrence?’ SCo Any hope that agood phoner-in might engage the morning's politician in some nifty parry-and-thrust with real sparks flying was dulled by the necessity to forbid ques-tions relating to specific constituencies. L o also[v+ v rev]. a thumbnail portrait/ sketch (of sb/ sth)a brief account or description of sb/ sth □ ' ll looks like some kind of Toyland,' she said of the trim little housing estate. As e thumbnail sketch of the set-up, that seemed to me just right. □ I was disappointed in the article. Any tourist could have written it—— just a list of the usual show-places and half a dozen thumbnail portraits of local worthies. thump a/ the tub/ Bible[V + O pass] speak.preach in a (conventionally) forceful or melo-dramatic style (from banging one`s fist on a pulpit, desk, table, book etc to emphasize one's argument)□(a film) The hero, after a night on the town and various rebuffs, gets taken on by a stiff-necked preacher (there are a few magnifh-cent chapel scenes, during one of which a bible gets thumped for real(= in fact) as the whole congregation goes into a praise-the-Lord jam session). NS□Mauroy has an old-fashioned tub-thumping style of Socialism. OBS□ Th e history of the Yorkshire Dales is filled with the names of famous lay preachers who held large audiences spellbound with their Bible-thumping oratory.TVT o usu found as n compounds tub-/ Bible-thumping, and a tub-/ Bible-thumper` proselytizer, preacher, evangelist etc`. <555> thus/ this far and no further [A(AdvP)] to,but not beyond, an allowed degree of closeness,freedom, familiarity, enterprise etc o ' There's going to be a change, but I'm going to make it and no one else; if anyone else tries to make it, he's going to go to prison.'' Then how do you suddenly say. right, this far and no further?' Lo People think they have it under control, thus far and no further and so on, but how many people decide to be alcoholics, drug-addicts or chain-smokers?□ often used as comment, prohibition, warning etc. tickle sb's ribs [V+ O pass](informal) amuse sb o (film review) It's British Comedy Time again. Norman Wisdom, Margaret Rutherford and Jerry Desmonde conspire to tickle your ribs and give you the occasional choke. RT oWhat tickles the ribs of the lads and lasses ofLeeds? David Bell takes the cameras to York-shire to tour factories and offices and see how workmates there entertain each other. TVTo The paper carries its due quota of riddles and rib-ticklers for children to try out on each other. Dadj compound rib-tickling = ‘amusing’; n com-pound a rib-tickler =‘a joke’. tickled pink [Comp(AdjP)] (informal) pleased and flattered V: △be, seem, look □ Saturday.February the first, two-thirty at the church. Of course, I' ve told Nikki—— that's my fiancée—— all about you, and we'd both be tickled pink if you'd come along. o I am naturally tickled pink because these results vindicate my optimism of 4July last when the shares were a drab 31p. Today they are 71p. OBS□' You don't think there' sa deep streak of perversity in your nature?' MichaelDean inquired. Mr Muggeridge was plainly tickled pink by the idea, and his expression took an increasingly seraphic radiance as the insults of his persecutors became less veiled. L the tide turns the course of events, trend of opinion or feeling, changes (usu with the im-plication of improvement) A: against the in-vader; in our favour; decisively; at(long) last oWhile the coalition forces appeared to have the upper handearly this month when the Portuguese gave the country its independence, the tide now seems to have turned, G o As late as 1964 I was introducing on BBC Television in Belfast a programme which set out to mock the rigid think-ing of our parents. Press reviews and public reac-tion seemed to prove beyond doubt that our views were welcome, that the tide was turning. Lo Itold him of my impulse to ask the man(who had just committed suicide) to join us in a drink, and my belief that such a gesture, slight as it was,might have turned the t hde in him. LWK o variant turn the tide =‘cause a change’. a tidy sum [O (NP)](informal) a considerable,perhaps large, amount of money V: cost; save,put away, put on one side. n: sum, △ penny,amount, bit, (little) fortune □ Have you seen what they' ve done to their house? That must have cost them a tidy sum.□Smoking cigars, eh? You bloody miser, how can you afford them on the old age pension? I always suspected that you had a tidy sum stuck away. HSG tie sb's hands [V + O pass] restrict sb's activ-ity, sb's power or authority to do sth □ These rules of procedure, designed to protect the private citizen from undue interference, do how- thus/ this far and no further—— time flies ever tie the hands of the police in dealing with somebody whom they have very good reason to suspect of carrying a weapon or illicit or stolen goods. SC□They were industrial moderates. They accepted pit closures and they negotiated with their hands tied because they genuinely believed that strikes or irresponsibly high wage demands would mean a rundown of their industry. NS□It was Gardiner's misfortune (as editor of the‘Daily News’) that he allowed his hands to be tied unnecessarily. It was his primary interest to serve the interests of the Cadbury owners. L o variant do sth with one's hands tied; my hands are tied used as comment on how little freedom of action one has. ◇△bind/ tie sb hand and foot.tighten etc one's belt [V + O pass] eat less food, spend less money, curtail one's use of any accustomed commodities or services (drawing one's belt tight being supposed to alleviate hun-ger pangs) V: tighten, △ pull in, draw in o Areal social contract has to mean a movement toward equality, throughout the social structure.Nothing can be more absurd than the spectacle of a few fat men exhorting all the thin ones to tighten their belts. NS□In Emily's own family.uncomfortable things are not said, financial problems are real but cloudy, beits are tight-ered and chins kept up. ST o Food stocks are at the sort of level which makes any immediate belt-tightening or panic-buying look ridicu-lous. STo Not that anyone had much chance to indulge themselves, for ration books curbed everybody's appetite in 1945. The war was draw-ing to a close and Britain was still drawing in her belt. RT O n compound belt-tightening. till/ until death us do part [A(AdvP)] for as long as each of us lives o I. . take thee... to my wedded wife/ husband, to have and to hold from this day forward... will death us do part...BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER o You should have done so (ie quarrelled and got rid of him),Gerald said to himself, when he came down to see you at Cambridge. And now you can't because ofStokesay and Dollie. You' re tied to him, a com-rade in arms, ' untif death do us part'. ASA oThen he meets the lovely Francesca. She is also a confidence trickster—— up to the same game.They marry and promise to love each other TillDeath Do Them Part. TVTD note archaic word-order of the original, with O preceding main v;variant till/ until death do us part. time after time [A] very often; repeatedly;next entry (qv) o His father was a runaway baker's apprentice from Norfolk, a violent animal who reckoned to be drunk every evening and who time after time gambled away his money but somehow lasted the course. NS□front,· middle or end position. time and (time) again [A (NP)] very often;repeatedly; previous entry(qv)o The old belief that one has only to attend a sale and give a pound or two more than the last bid by a dealer to get a lot cheaply has been disproved time and time again. L o Time and again movements.broke down through passes going astray, and much of the play was scrambling in the extreme.ST o front, middle or end position. time flies (saying) time passes very quickly,more quickly than one takes note of □ (source)But meanwhile it flies, irretrievable time flies. 555 <556> time hangs/ lies heavy on one's hands—(the) times change GEORGICS (VIRGIL 70-19 BC) o They handled the script with that racy, laconic eloquence which inAmerica is the demotic obverse of mandarin waf-fle. The two and a half hours of transmission time simply flew. OBS□ PETER: Twelve years?But I only left——a few months ago. JASON:That's the way time flies. DPM o Another how-time-flies note: remember his enormous hit' Clair' , dedicated to his manager's baby daugh-ter? She's nine years old now. TVTO exclamatory use How time flies!; original Latin words tem-pu s fugit sometimes used. time hangs/ lies heavy on one's hands time passes too slowly, the days seem too long,4because one does not have enough to do, one is bored o Did he think Irma was lonely? Well,he couldn't answer that one; she had not time to be lonely in the bar. Loneliness was a matter of feeling time hanging heavy on your hands,wasn't it? PWo As J B Yeats, the father of the poet, said in one of his letters: A society of poor gentlemen upon whose hands time lies heavy is absolutely necessary to art and literature. AH□ The late 19th century, when time hung heavy on so many hands, is particularly fruitful in diaries. NS the time has come (for sb) to do sth it has now become suitable, right or necessary(for sb)to do sth □ The time, ' says Mrs Gandhi, 'hæs come to abandon the romantic view of Imperial history. The advantages which accrued were hardly intended; the system huil t by Britain had a narrow purpose in mind.' RT o A love affair cannot end without heartbreak. And as I have already told so much,I think the time has come for me to draw a veil. SPLo Ned had been leaning against the wall, listening, with his arms folded;but now he straightened up and came forward, as if the time had come for him to take control of the situation. CON time is a great hoaler(saying) with the pass-ing of time, pain, grief, enmity etc come to be less keenly felt o Mr Rees is a decent and honour-able man, as his predecessors were before him.He thinks, as they thought, that time is a great healer, that if people can only be brought together for long they will see where their true self-interest lies. This is an error. NS 口(reader's letter) Here's a thought for Mr Waugh to ponder(he's a clever chap on his own admission): time is said to be a great hosier—— money is undoub-teddy therapeutic too. NSo ' I t seems against nature, Mrs Salad, he said to me. ' to see those lovely little orbs (= eyes) dimmed. But there!Time lukes and it gives, for all it's called theGreat Healer.'ASAo/ was in a state of shock, of course, I couldn't accept that I was alone after all those years of marriage. There are all those clichés —— people say time will heel and it sounds so trite but it is true. TVT o variants time,the great healer; time heals. time is on the side of sb the more time that passes、 the longer sth takes to begin or finish,the more sb will be helped, profited, proved right, etc o From the beginning, time has been on the side of the defendants at Dusseldorf: and now the trial is thoroughly bogged down in con-tinual delays resulting from legal squabbles and intrigue. OBS o But Princess Anne knows that time isn't on her side. In a recent interview she 556 was asked when a showjumper should quit com-petitive riding. ' When you lose your nerve. prob-ably. ' she replied. ' It shouldn't take too long.'TVT o Have we, the intellectuals, really pressed the case for the vindication of reason and civilised values? We may comfort ourselves by saying that, if we wait, time is on our side. I have never believed that. Time is a neutral. L one's time is one's own one is free to ar-range one's duties, activities, leisure periods,holidays etc to suit one`s own convenience o 'l could ask her to tea, but it depends on how long you mean to stay. ' Oh, I expect I could stay as long as that, said Alec, without specifying how.long ' that' was. ' My time's my own, you see.'PWo ' You don't seem to be any less busy since your retirement.'' No, I'm not idle--though my time is my own.' the time etc is ripe for sth/(for sb) to do sth the time is just right for sth to happen or be done; it is not too early or too late to secure the best results $: the time,△moment, hour. A: for(making) a move, move; for a settlement, for a revival of his plays, for our return, for us to return; to expand production, to attack, to ask him o It may be thought that the time is never ripe for a move like raising the school leaving age. SC□My bet is that British Leyland have their spies out and will be ready to take the Wankel engine up when they think the time is ripe. SToThe sea was now choppy and one slightly seasick voice suggested that the time 特别 ripe to return to the warm comfort of the hotel. RT time and tide wait for no man(saying) one cannot make natural processes fit in with one's hopes or plans; putting off a favourable oppor-tunity to do sth may result in never being able to do it o ' The camera is at the bottom of my rucksack and the light will be better in the morn-ing.’ Bul time and tide wait for no man and when he went back in the morning the greylag geese had gone. O stress pattern time and tide wait for ' no man. time(alone) will tell etc(saying) I do not know, nobody can know, at present; one will know only in the future V: tell, △reveal, show□ It seems that Christianity is in a ferment of debate: whether these are death throes or evidence of vitality, time will tell. OBSa Time alone will revesl whether they were wise decisions—— but good or bad I made them, and the full responsibility is mine. ST□Only time will show whether David Steel is able to preserve his valley of tranquility in a landscape of hectic activity. RTO usu precedes or follows a depen-dent clause beginning if/ whether; variant only time will tell etc. (the) times change(saying) the conditions,values etc that govern or affect people's lives change D I have never quite understood theBBC's official line on bad language. The trouble is that the times are constantly changing. Ta-boos come and go. Lo Canada was still regarded in London as a dominion which would always come to the aid of the mother country without asking too many questions, but times had chem-god. NSo The pub whose image had sustained us in exile across the Atlantic was soon to disap-pear. Times had changed, the landlord ex-plained to us. People want comfort, and carpets, <557> a (little) tin god---to sb's advantage/ disadvantage and juke-boxes, and fruit-machines. NS o He's human, so show respect but don't exaggerate.Don't go down on your knees. He doesn't enjoy being toadied to. Times have changed. ST o often with present and past perfect tenses, as shown. a (little) tin god [Comp (NP)] sb/ sth that is given misplaced and foolish respect or venera-tion V: △ be, become; make sth o (source)Wherefore the Little Tin Gods harried their little tin souls/ For the billet (= job) of' RailwayInstructor to Little Tin Gods on Wheels'. PUB-LIC WASTE(R KIPLING 1865-1936)o HELEN: Heaven must be the hell of a place. Nothing but repentant sinners up there, isn't it? All the pimps. pros-titutes and politicians in creation trying to cash in on eternity and their little tin god. TOHo The place is reasonably clean and nobody' ll get poisoned with the food Igive them but I'm not one of these women who make tin gods of their homes. □ often in construction make a (little)tin god of sb/ sth. Tin Pan Alley (writing, publication, perfor-mance and promotion of popular music(from the nickname given to a New York district where much of it is published) a Hundreds of songs appear with the most unexceptionable lyrics, but they catch on only if the lune is catchy.Songs which do not meet the requirements are not likely to be taken up, no matter how muchTin Pan Alley plugs them. UL口 capital or small initial letters. tinker, tailor, soldier, snilor any or every kind of man(from a children's counting chant,tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar-man, thief used esp with stones or pips from fruit left on a plate, to foretell what a boy will become or whom a girl will marry)□The names and inscriptions on the tombs tell us who the local families were and what they did—— tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor. RT a Tinker,tailor, soldier, smilor —— sweet-talking oppor-tunist Mike Upchat could pass himself off as any of these. Tyt tip/ turn the balance/ scale(s) [V + O pass]affect, or finally determine,a decision or choice;(cause to) have a disproportionately greater weight, force, importance or value than sth elseA: in his favour; against going abroad; the other way o‘We don’ t need to go to a place like this.’' What's wrong with it?' he demanded. I might just have managed to tip the balance, but unfor-tunately at that moment Ned spoke up. CONo He was in Washington towards the end of September1956, and when he gotback his advice to the innerCabinet concerning likely American reactions must have carried exceptional weight and may have turned the scale in favour of the policy of armed intervention. Lo There's no shortage of applicants for primary school teaching. and up here in North Wales the scales are definitely tipped against you if you don't speak Welsh. oBut it is possible that the energy released when rock layers are strained and broken produces a great deal of local heating, enough perhaps to tip the heat balance in the region around the junc-tion of the crust and the mantle, and to form the local pockets of melted rock. NSC (only) the tip of the iceberg [Comp (NP)]the small, visible or measurable, part of sth known to be much greater V:△be; see, regard,sth as a Theirs was one of the biggest tax evasion cases ever prosecuted, although the million dollars involved was described by a Government lawyer as ' only the tip of the iceberg'. OBSaHaving seen the mass of documents (you see only the tip of the iceberg in the book), there's no question in my mind that…… Lo But this en-chanting profile of Sir Ralph (Richardson)seemed to me like a series of partly opened doors in the great man's life, showing just enough to tantalise, tips of icebergs glinting everywhere.RT O usu sing. tip sb a wink [V + 10 + O pass] (informal)wink at sb, or make some sign to sb, either secretly to affirm partnership or as a pre-arranged signal to do sth □ Goldy in the corner with his pal and colleague Chadwick. Dusty well in attendance, lapping it up, all three going through the motions of renewing old friendships—— and he tipped a wink at Kathie —— TT □ If he tipped Elsie a wink, she'd drop in that day, all casual-like, he was sure she would. TSMP o variant tip a wink at sb. △ next entry. tip sb the wink [V + 10 + O pass](informal)pass on to sb a piece of(usu secret or privileged)information 口 .. . someone from the foot of the staircase calling out ' Tommy', so that Bevill,flushed, still businesslike, said to Martin ' That's tipped you the wink.'NMo' The minute you feel like an evening out again you let us know. We' ve missed babysitting(for you). ''I will, but at the moment——' ' That's right, slow and steady wins the race. You stay in for a while, but when you' re ready, tip us the wink.’ TSMP ◇ ▲ previous entry. (give) tit for tat [n + n non-rev](pay back)a trick, injury etc in exchange for one received oTom pushed Polly off her chair. Then she got up and gave him tit for ta t by pushing him off his.□ There's nothing so unproductive as tit-for-tat exchanges about whose fault something was. o(NONCE) In addition we have had the great stop-the-strike dispute between the two leaders, which is as good an illustration of political tit-for-category as one has come across for some time. NS□ attrib use a tit-for-ta t exchange. to advantage [A (Prep P)] with profitable or pleasing results V: use, employ; show, display,sth. adj: great, good, better, (the) best; fine,powerful o For short distance measurements the surveyor's tachymeter is now widely used to ad-Ventage. NSCo McGovern has to make himself known, but is prevented from having a direct con-frontation on television with Nixon, in which his directness and honesty might appear to advan-tagg. NS o She gave her pearls to her grand-daughter, round whose young throat she felt they would be displayed to greater advantago. o On that route are the ports, and on that route we can use our sea power to the best advantago. MFMto sb's advantage/ disadvantage[Comp/A(PrepP)](not) profitable or useful in promoting sb's success, progress, interests V: be; work(out), turn out; find out, hear, learn, sth o But like all prime ministers, like all ministers, he pre-fers to do things in secret and make his decisions public only on his own terms and when he con-siders it so to his advantage. NSa ' Perhaps we ought to do a bit of market research to find out 557 <558> to all appearance(s)— to a/ the day etc why" San Bernadino" was liked by the judges and you weren't?' I'd rather not.' ' You fear you might learn something to your disadvantage?”' Of course.'STo In a period of what seems to be irreversible inflation the laws affecting HirePurchase and morigage repayments are very much to the advantage of the borrower. O end position. to all appearance(s) [Disj(PrepP)] as far one can see; if one can judge by appearances o Ca-milla Prendergast looked out onto a world in which life seemed (as the result of the snow-storm and fog) at a standstill - - a world featureless, colourless, and, to all appearance,boundless. EM□' Did you suspect anything of this yourself?'' No. To all appearences, they were a happily-married couple.'o front, middle or end position. to all intents(and purposes) [Disj(PrepP)]considered practically; in fact, behaviour, func-tion, appearance etc though perhaps not in name; for(all) practical purposes(qy)o If rail-ways are expected to pay their way then so must roads be; yet the demand is never made of them.despite their being to all intents and purposes a nationalised industry. STo Although there was no interference with the physiological apparatus of vision, the animals, when brought into the light, behaved to all intents and purposes as if they were blind. SNPo He was in fact at fifty-eight to all intents the same Paul Waggett who had decided thirteen years ago to abandon chartered accountancy in London for the life of a Highland sportsman. RM to the bad/ good constituting a loss/ gain to sb(of a specified amount) NP: several pounds,twenty head of cattle, a tube of toothpaste. V:be; find oneself; leave sb o Alec had been put away: he was gibbering in a mathouse: he had passed completely out of their lives, leaving them£150 per annum to the good. PW□ The Germans lost heavier ships as well. Before Hitler even asked him to consider invading Britain the Ger-man Comander-in-Chief, Admiral Raeder, was ten big destroyers to the bad and his men were dispirited too. NS o end position, following n that is modified. to the best of one's ability[A(PrepP)] using all one's strength, speed, knowledge, skill etc whether or not this is adequate o On the next page of the diary she had totted up her financial situation to the best of her ability. RFW o Ithought she was about to ask me a question, andI got ready to answer it, to the very, very best of my ability. CON o front, middle or end position. to the best of one's knowledge etc [Disj(PrepP)] not lying about, or withholding, any information or opinion one has, though one knows that this may be faulty or incomplete o:one's knowledge, △belief, recollection □ There was a church of our denomination in Kuwait and the parson certified that, to the best of his knowledge, we were good and honest Chris-tians. BM o To the best of my knowledge, Ihave seen ghosts. But the human eye-witness is about the most unreliable source of all. OBSo ' He wasn't paid by T. Dan. At least not so far as I'm aware.'‘Not to the best of your recollection?”' Not to the best of my recollection. ' NS o front, middle or end position. to the bitter end [A (PrepP)] (cliche) to the very end; until further action or involvement becomes impossible; till death or final defeat V:stay, wait; watch, carry on fight, resist □I wan-ted to see the three-party discussion on the econ-omy, which was postponed half an hour because they kept on with this atrocious show jumping.Then I watched TV to the bitter and. ST al read through to the bitter end and some of it I read again for I wished to have as much in me as memory would hold. PPo People began leaving the ground, making a way between those who were determined to see the game to its bitter end. LLDRO(NONCE)' If there is another election,'he corrected me—— an ' if ' which does not reflect the intentions of the governing coalition, thePopular Unity, who are trusted to follow the path of legality even to e bitter and. OBS. to boot [Conj] also; as well; in addition □ Per-haps the government will concede that a health service providing totally free help at the time of need is not a charter for spongers, but good medicine, and good business —— and a decent thing. to boot. NSo It conveys exactly the wrong message, and a message which is untrue, to boot,by implying that firms would not choose, if they were shrewd, to start up or expand in NorthernIreland. To end position. to the contrary[A(PrepP)] in a way that is the opposite (to a meaning, interpretation, piece of information, instruction etc already indicated)V: argue, hear, write; have proof; say/ know nothing/ something/ anything o Never take An-drew too seriously; whatever viewpoint some-body is trying to put across, Andrew always delights in arguing to the contrary.□If you hear me telling Mulligan that I can't see him tomor-row, don't go and say anything to the contrary.□ You can assume your chest X-ray reveals no-thing wrong unless you hear to the contrary. Oend position. to one's cost [A(PrepP)] because of experise.trouble, pain, loss etc that resulted V: know,learn, find out, sth; take part in, consent to,ignore, sth o Derek's a sponger, as two or three of us here know to our cost, but I'm sure he's not a thief.□ When I came upon the myth of objectiv-ity in certain modern thinkers, it made me angry.I had learned to my cost how wrong they were.Lo To my subsequent cost I chose to ignore this excellent advice. G o front, middle or end position. to sb's credit [Disj (PrepP)] in a way that shows merit in sb o As Robert was talking /could see Ned getting more and more uncomfort-able. But, to his credit, he didn't say anything.CON a (football) St Etienne, to their credit,refused to hide in a defensive corner, and Rangers must have been surprised at the positive approach adopted by the French. G o (chess) Fischer's tantrums and demands are expressions purely of surplus combative will—a quality Spassky was eventually shown to lack, perhaps to his credit.NS o front, middle or end position. to a/ the day etc[A (PrepP)] to a degree of accuracy measured in units of days etc V: know.tell, foretell, predict, sth; last three months, take25 yards, cost£5. o:a/ the day,△minute; inch.penny o The leading troops entered Tripoli at 558 S1 <559> 4am on the 23rd January 1943; three months to a day since the beginning of the Alamein battle.MFM□' How long will you take to finish?' ' I can't tell you to a day, but between two and three weeks should be sufficient.'o It always took an hour and a half , right to the minute, to cook and make preparations. BMo He was a familiar figure near the National Square. At the end of the day,like an energetic passenger on a trans-Atlantic liner, he must have known to a yard how far he had walked. OMIHo It's either a very poor or a very mean man who knows to the penny what he has in his pocket. o middle or end position. to date[A(PrepP)] up to and including the time of speaking/ writing □ To date, Pan Am has carried more than a million and a quarter jet passengers—— far more than any other air-line.OBS o They' ve been advertising in all the local papers for a nurse-companion, but with no result to date. o front, middle or end position. to a degree very; extremely; in the extreme(qv) adj: generous, conceited, complicated,painful o She's rather an interfering type, but kind-hearted and generous to a degro●.□ He is invariably in the throes of conflict with someCouncil or Board or Bishop or Ministry. These battles are involved to a degree, and I have never been able to discover the exact origins of any one of them. BM□ Parsimonious to a degree, Ibsen invested every penny he could in gilt-edged securities. NS o modifies a preceding adj, as shown. to one's/ sb's disgust etc[A (PrepP)] caus-ing one/ sb to feel disgust etc o: disgust,(utter)dismay, delight, relief, (great) joy, astonish-ment; (deep) sorrow, horror □ Stan and Ollie work their way on a cattle boat to Scotland,where they expect to inherit a large estate left byStan's grandfather. To their disgust, they learn on their arrival that the bulk of the estate has been left to Stan's distant cousin,a girl. TVTo The doctor began his usual methodical examination.' Can you feel this? This? ' To Brigit's complete dismay she could feel nothing at all. DCo In this way the view projected by the first lantern was replaced by the view projected by the second——to the delight and astonishment of the beholders. HAHo I tried the other doors on the landing and then the doors in the hallway down-stairs. To my great exasperation they were all locked. UTN o front, middle or end position. to each according to his need(s), (from each according to his abilities) (catch-phrase) let everyone have what he needs (and everyone give whatever he is able)(a socialist ideal for a state or community) □ (source)From· ach according to his faculties, to each according to his needs. MBAKUNIN18i4-76□On the one hand, extremes of wealth and poverty are repellent, On the other hand, a society which presses the slogan ' to much according to his need, from esch according to his ability' to its logical conclusion risks removing all incentives to work harder—— or indeed to work at all. Go(aChinese commune) ' To each according to his work' is the theme, not the more radical ' to each according to his need'—— that comes later, we are told, when the ideal Communist society has been achieved. OBS o may be slightly adapted, as shown. to det--to the fuly to excess[A (PrepP)] too much; excessively V:do sth; eat, drink sth; punish, admire, sb o Do everything in moderation and nothing to excepts was his motto for a happy and healthy life.□ They call themselves comedians. I'd like to know what's supposed to be comic about drinking to●Icess. ARTO end position. to sb's face [A (PrepP)] directly; in the course of personal communication or confrontation with sb V: tell him, call her a slut, praise a child,laugh at you a (architecture) The patrons and experts of those days were usually identifiable and could therefore be praised or abused almost to their faces. OBS □ He had in his service a pious, soft-spoken, tip-toeing, unmarried,middle-aged Irishman for whom Guy felt much affection, and whom he called Tony to his face and Creeping Jesus behind his back. MMa Wens-ley's (the editor's) black pencil was hovering around my feature, ' Objects and Subjects', my very own feature, as he would undoubtedly tell me to my face within a minute. PP◇ behind sb's back²; △ go behind sb's back (Vol 1). to a fault too; excessively adj: conscientious,honest, tidy, frank, obliging o ' But if the boss said a spot-check would do there's no need forRobert to go through all these figures.'' You andI would think not, but that's our Robert—— con-scientious to a feult.'o Trenchard, blunt to e fault, informed Reith that he didn't much care for the height of the transmitter masts at,I think,Daventry. They constituted, Trenchard claimed,a risk to the lives of his pilots and their machines.Lo McGovern's troops(here = campaign wor-kers) —— young, unseasoned and notoriously idealistic—— have been courteous and orderly to a fault. L o end position, modifying an adj describing a praiseworthy quality. to one's/ the fingertips completely and characteristically n: an artist, a lady, a Cock-ney. adj: aristocratic, puritanical, professional□ She's an artist to the finger-tips. You can see that in her clothes and her house, never mind the paintings that have made her name. □ But more important, Shirley Williams is a pragmatist to her fingertips: She didn't resign ' because that would have meant leaving the Shadow Cabinet completely to the anti-marketeers.’ OBS□SisterJenkins of Ward 2A projected a more homely image but was, nevertheless, professional to the tips of her fingers. o modifies a preceding n or adj; variant to the tips of one's fingers. to and fro [adv + adv non-rev] from point to point or place to place; back and forth (qv);backward(s) and forward(s)(qv)V: walk, run,hasten; swing, sweep o The dog had been watch-ing us all the time, its busy tail sweeping to and fro against the bars. UTN□ The huge floor was.crowded with people walking to and fro, and every one of the chairs round the walls was occupied. HDo One has only to contemplate the average four-seater car conveying just one per-son plus briefcase to and fro for the day's labour,to appreciate the appalling wasted space that we crowd on to our roads. ST o By this time the television team had tested their equipment several times over, the cameras lining up on the military to-ing and fro-in? around Hyde ParkCorner. OBSD variant to-ing and fro-ing. to the full [A (PrepP)] as completely, 559 <560> to good etc effect----(as/ as if) to the manner born thoroughly or extensively as possible V; live(life), enjoy, realize, appreciate, use, sth o Ah,these continentals. They live life to the full in a way that we can only—TGLYo You seem to be afraid that life might pass you by without giving you time to enjoy it to the full. WI o ' Now look,'Cosmo was companionable. 'I appreciate every-thing you say to the full. But damn it, you' re a man of the world.' us to good etc effect[A(PrepP)] with a good etc result V: display, show off, sth; speak, plead,argue. adj: good, excellent; some; no,disastrous, little o‘Les Fâcheux’ is really a series of individual numbers designed to show off the dancers' virtuosity to good effect. Lo He is not much of an administrator himself: though he can use statistics to good effect when he wants to, he has no great grasp offices. NS□ You must have argued to some effect for at least he's off making a final decision about closing down the business. □ I'm forever tidying the place up, but to little effect, I'm afraid, with this crowd of kids around. to one's heart's content [A (PrepP)] as much as, or for as long as, one wants V: wander around, play, watch, sleep, chat, eat o The monastery is in use but you can wander round to your heart's content. It's quiet, there aren't many visitors. ST o All the race-courses in Scot-land except one have been told to spend almost to their hearts' content. The exception, sadly.is Lanark where the Levy Board are not convin-ced that racing is a viable proposition. SC □PETER: Playing chess? I' ll give you a game. ALEX:Not on your Nelly— — I only play against myself.This way I can cheat to my heart's content andI never lose. DPM□ But if we can't disapprove of our friends' sex-lives these days, at least we can discuss them to our hearts' content. ASA to him that hath shall be given (saying) it is those who already have wealth, power, hap-piness etc who tend to have further good for-tune—— and not those who most need, or would like to have, it o(source) Unto everyone that hathshalibe given, and he shall have abun-dance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. MATTHEW XXV 29□ Luck is a reward, not a chance gift. It's only for those who fight for it. To him that hath shell be given. AITC□' How much is a Resident's ParkingPermit?'£40 a year. You can get half-yearly or monthly permits but they cost you more.'' Unto him that hath shell be given, again. If you' ve f40 in your pocket to spare at one go, that earns vou a rebate.' to one's knowledge [Disj (Prep)] according to what one knows, has observed or has been told about o Léon Goosens will play Mozart'sOboe Concerto in C—— music of felicity. HasGoosens ever blown a single insecure note? Not to my knowledge, but Sir Thomas Beecham, in one of his naughty moods, maintained that once... RToIt's wrong of Annie to say her family never visit her. John and his wife have been up there, to my knowledge, at least three times in the last month. □ often neg or attached to neg clause; front, middle or end position. to the last [A(PrepP)] continuously, repeated-ly or consistently till the last possible moment(esp death) n: patriot, quibbler, fighter, crimi- 560 nal, aesthete, clown. mdj: patriotic, treacherous.defiant, faithful, hopeful o Grosvenor's palsied hands holds up an ear-trumpet to catch the mumblings of Macmillan, a patriot to the last,with a British-made spittoon at his elbow. NSo'I' ve made special arrangements with AlmightyGod, The Baron won't die before my little biography is finished. I want to check it over with him.’‘God or the Baron?’ I asked, funny to the last, but Wensley pressed the bell. PP□ Vyan,apologetic to the fast, stood on the island bank watching us out of sight. LWK□ He died in prison sixteen years later, protesting his innocence to the last. O end position after n or adj it modifies—— or front or end position with fight, argue,protest etc. to the letter[A (PrepP)] literally; in every par-ticular V: carry out, obey, follow, believe sth oSome companies protest that the purpose of the small print is purely to protect them from unjus-tified and time-wasting claims, nor do they norm-ally invoke it strictly to the letter. ST o Each of us was being punctilious. When I next went down to Barford, I set out to obey Rose to the letter.NM□McGovern's victory speech met my ideas of eloquence to the letter; it was unornamented,direct and vivid. L to the life[A(PrepP)] exactly like the real(type of) person, thing or situation n: my father, the president, Bill o ' That's an excellent portrait of your father.'' Yes, it's him to the life, isn't it?'oThere are very good performances all round.Sandy Ratcliff is perfect as Janicè the girl, andBill Dean and Grace Cave are her parents to the horrible life. OBSo He can imitate a stag bellow-ing to the life and has often brought one within gunshot that way. O modifies a preceding n. to sb's liking [Comp/A (PrepP)] that/ what sb likes V: be; seem; find, see, get, sth o I don't intend to get carried away by auction excitement.If I don't see anything to my liking I' ll leave before the bidding starts. o As Chris Kingsley says, Man' ll have to come to terms with his en-vironment. And I guess the terms won't be al-together to his liking. TBCo Instead of carrying out an invasion of North Africa under aCommander-in-Chief whom I barely knew,I was now to serve under one I knew well. This was much more to my liking and I felt I could handle that business, and Rommel. MFM O may also modify a preceding pron, as in first example;often preceded by not, very much or (much)more. to a man etc[A (PrepP)] including each single person of a group specified m: man,△woman,boy, girl o The Eighth Army consisted in the main of civilians in uniform, not of professional soldiers. And they were, of course, to a mmar,civilians who read newspapers. MFM□ But some of the best poker players in the country live in Ve-gas. Almost to a man, they are Southerners. St□Here, in the Lower Broughton area of Salford,the poor Salford children, vandals to a boy, it seemed, were shown brightly answering official questions. Lo A lot of people are worried about the adult illiterate. Married ladies, ex-teachers to e wommu, are being recruited to take discreet evening classes. OBS o man often used to denote person of either sex or any age. (as/ as if) to the manner born [Comp/A <561> (PrepP)] (as if) accustomed all one's life to, or having a natural aptitude for, a function, way of speaking or behaving, etc o (source) HORA-no. Is it a custom? HAMLET: Ay, marry, is't./ But to my mind,— though I am native here,/ And to the manner born, —— it is a custom; More honour'd in the breach than the observance.HAMLET14□John F Kennedy was to the mmner born Nothing became him so much as the WhiteHouse. His true métier was to be President of theUnited States. OBS o And there was Dusty at work on the kettle to the manner born, and doing very nicely thank you. TT□(the film) ' AnInvestigation' scarcely allows him(Walter Matt-hau) to be anything except flat-footed and stoop-shouldered, which he does as to the memer born, L o usu in the construction do sth as to the mumner born. to my mind [Disj(PrepP)] as I understand and/or react to sth; in sb's book (qv); in sb's/ one's opinion (qv); in sb's view (qv); to sb's way of thinking (qv) o To my mind, Bach is unsur-passed as a composer. RT o The important paragraphs, to my mind, were the first four,which ran as follows:... MFM o (a vandalized classroom) ' Whoever did it certainly knows the names of some of the members of the Staff.'' That's putting it mildly—— knows their habits very well too. 'I'm glad you agree on that.' ' Do you?'' No doubt at all to my mind. Somebody in the School.’πo front, middle or end position.to a nicety[A (PrepP)] using or achieving an exact degree of accuracy V: calculate, aim,design, describe, judge, sth o The manner in which she received him was calculated to e nicety to seem cool without being uncivil. o We struck the beach fairly and squarely. Spriggs had brought us in to a nicety. SD O end position. (all) to no/ little avail[A(PrepP)] without the desired result; without any useful result o Alarge soldier referred to as Private Sponge gets stuck half way across, being unable to shift his rear quarters. A comrade from behind pushes and one in front pulls, to no avail. Private Sponge is immovable. RT□Contrary to Ingeborg's expecta-tions, refreshments only seemed to strengthen the determination of the audience to leave. She cajoled and coaxed, but all to no svail. ASAo The statement conceded that one element in the Pro-visional leadership, that associated with Mr JohnKelly, had already tried to call off the bombings but to no swall. Lo I tried to persuade him not to resign but it was to little avail. Now he's going to have difficulty in finding another job. o middle or end position. to order[A (PrepP)] at any time if ordered or requested V: write poems, make jokes, be cheer-ful, perform somersaults o The idea behind the planning of the‘Masquerade’ series demon-strates a will to prove that creative people should be made to work to order: ' Get half a dozen writers to write about a fancy-dress party.'SToHe slipped from the roof, double-somersaulted and landed, safe but shaken, on his feet. ‘It’ s a pity you can't do that to order,' said his wife.' You'd make our fortune on TV.' o often with can/ can 't; end position. to the point [Comp/A (PrepP)] relevant(ly) V:be; speak, write. adv mod: altogether, wholly,strictly o Stocker mechanically put in a few to my mind--to sb's taste words that weren't strictly to the point but Ned ignored him and ploughed on. CON□It had been the Astronomer Royal's first intention to speak shortly and to the point. Now he was unable to resist the temptation to expatiate at length, just for the pleasure of watching Kingsley's face. TBC□ It was a flabby piece anybody could have writ-ten. Usually he writes well and to the point. PPto the pure all things are pure(saying)pure-minded people are less likely than others to be aware of evil, obscenity, coarseness etc o(source) Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure. TITUSI15□' He was on playground duty Monday,' said Miss Macallister, ' becauseI was on yesterday—— Mr Golding is on today,and I'm always in between those two.'' Don't say it,' said Miller (who had seen that her last remark could be interpreted sexually), ' no ex-planation needed.'' You make me sick,' said MissElliot. ' To the pure,' said Miller, ' to the pur……'TT to sb's (own) satisfaction [A (PrepP)] suf-ficiently well to satisfy, convince, meet the requirements or expectations of, sb V: prove,establish, settle, sth/ that; do the job, complete the work, adjust the engine o ' If you are the culprit the police will get you.'' They would have to prove the deed. And if they proved it to my satisfaction I should no longer be in doubt.'MM□ About a month after Ben Nevis had established to his own Satisfaction the probability of the monster's having quitted the dangerous area ofLoch Ness……RMo... doctors who perform the function of curing and caring for those who are incapable of functioning either to their own or others' satisfaction. NS O front, middle or end position. to some etc purpose[Comp/A (PrepP)] with an aim or result that is/ is not satisfactorily or wholly achieved adj: some, good. det: such(that); no, little; not any o Gort saved the men.And being saved, they were able to fight again another day: which they did to some purpose,as the Germans found out. MFM□Their education has been long and expensive and one would hope to some purpose. NS□Few have pushed through the tangles of the Records Office to such pur-pose that they come to a given patch of ground armed with all there is to know about it. RTo ' Tu-tankhamun'(Radio4) had a lot of decent actors breathing excitedly and chanting Pharaonic hymns at every opportunity and to little pur-posa. L o middle or end position. to a T/ tee[A(PrepP)] exactly in every detail; in all ways V: be (like) sb/ sth; resemble, initate,sb/ sth; have(got), do, take off(= imitate), sb;show, demonstrate, sth; suit, fit, sb o One of the nurses was giving a spirited imitation of Matron on the warpath. It was the old girl to a T. o By all accounts Mary is as lazy as he is. so they should suit each other to a T.□ It is a complicated piece(of sculpture) which invites you to explore round it and under it and even up it. The sculptor's characteristic balance between solemnity and skittishness is held to a ted. OBS to sb's tasto [Comp (PrepP)] suited to sb's personal preferences in food, dress, entertain-ment, art etc V:△bc; seem; find, see, get, sth oThe silence went on and on, broken only by the 561 <562> to that effect—(every/ any) Tom, Dick and/ or Harry munching of the horses, who had found some-thing to their taste. ARGo' Well,' she said, look-ing around her, ' there are colour schemes more to my taste than purple and green, but the place is clean enough. "o Neither the elaborate whimsy nor the leer were to Sonia's teste, bul... HAAoAlan Friedman's first novel is a sort of Trans-Sexual Express, very long. fairly fast-moving,international, but not a form of transport that will be to everyone's tests. OBS 口 also modifies preceding n, as in first two examples; often neg.to that effect [A (PrepP)] with that meaningV: speak, write, advise. n: remark(s), words.det: that, this, what, the same. □ It is only too easy from a small safe island to make liberal protests and then renege on them. Mr BernardLevin has written an angry article in ' The Times'to that effect. NSo What it is clear must not happen—— and there are rumours to this effect— is for Covent Garden to reach out towards theWells. Those two great institutions have very different roles to play. OBS□(slimming) Judy didn't say a word to me, but she told ten million' Radio Times' readers I was going to join her because I'd got a bit of a tum(tummy), or words to the same effect. RT□ Koestler takes off with a remark by one of Gandhi's colleagues to the effect that ' it takes a great deal of money to keep Bapu (= Gandhi) living in poverty----'and shows that it would similarly have taken a great many corpses to keep him in non-violence.L o often modifies a preceding n (esp words,remarks); variant to the effect that + clause. to that end [A (PrepP)] with that intention; in order to achieve that purpose det: that, this;what, which o He added that Britain and France must first agree on the military strategy, and staff talks to that end should therefore take place MFM。 Leasor’ s original intention had been to become a doctor and he was studying to that end when the war put paid to such ambitions.OBS□ He should have asked for full details ofPforzheim's work from Sir Edgar. To what end?To distract his attention from the work he had taken on? ASA□ The question arises whether Leo-pold intended to avail himself of Stanley's ser-vices during the expedition, and if so to what end. NS o also modifies a preceding n; front,middle or end position. to this day [A(PrepP)] from the time sth hap-pened right up to, and including, the present oThe writer handled this bird, and sent it to theNatural History Museum at South Kensington,where, for all he knows, the skin may be to this day. To Still Crozier would not name his accom-plices, and to this day he has kept silent about them. OBS □ (football) The Hungarians em-braced; but the flag of Merfyn Griffiths, theWelsh linesman, was up. Puskas had been given offside. and to this day the decision is argued. STo front, middle or end position. to sb's trained etc eye(s) [A(Prep)] as sb by training, insight etc sees or understands sth V:be,△ seem, look, appear. adj; trained,△ West-ern, sophisticated, untutored oThe rule under which, in criminal prosecutions, the burden of proof lay throughout on the prosecution (a rule which to Western eyes is a facet of the doctrine of the presumption of innocence) was approved by the Supreme Soviet and was written into the 562 new code. OBS□(film review) ... this uncannily real reconstruction of Sweden during the FirstWorld War. Apart from the period feel which seems to my untrained eye to be perfect, the main performance is utterly convincing. RT to the tune of sth [A (PrepP)] (informal) at the cost of (a named sum of money, usu large)V: assist, subsidize, underwrite, back, sb/ sth oIt was estimated that the Zambian copper wealth subsidised the other two members of the federa-tion to the tune of between £5 million and £8million a year. OBS□ I seemed somehow to have consumed four glasses of pernod to the tune of several hundred francs. UTNo Dickie Davies is a sucker for boat shows and blames himself to the tune of£5,000 for his brand-new 24 ft RelcraftSapphire cabin cruiser. TVT o usu end position;also modif ies preceding n(esp costs, damage).to sb's way of thinking [Disj (PrepP)] ac-cording to sb's opinion, view, line of reasoning;in sb's book(qv); in sb's one's opinion (qv); in sb's view (qv); to my mind (qv) □ Sex doesn't mean a thing to me. Tomy way of thinking, love is the most important and beautiful thing in this world and that's got nothing to do with sex. EGD□ He should give up the whole idea now. There are far too many difficulties. Not to his way of thinking, though. Difficulties are there to be overcome, is always his line. □ stress pattern to' my way of thinking. toe the line [V + O] conform with the regula-tions and conventions of the group etc to which one belongs; obey orders; do as sb expects or requires one to do o And a middle-aged scientist said apologetically: ‘You musl understand; Ihave a family to support, so what else can I do but toe the line?’ SC □ She said suddenly: ‘What about Dr Rathbone? Is he just a figurehead?' Ed-ward's lips curved in cruel amusement. ‘Rath-bone has got to to the line. Oh, yes, Rathbone's completely in our hands——'TCBo He has volun-teered to bring this, his own constituency, up to scratch as far as toein g the party line is con-cerned. ST o the last example conflates toe the line with the party line = ` the party's regula-tions and conventions’. toil and moil [v+ v non-rev] work hard and long; strive laboriously o Two men with a cross-cut (saw) wouldn't do it (= fell so many trees)in a week in the old days, sweating and toiling and moiling. Lo It will be a lot more expensive to take them out but, on the other hand, I don't like to think of you toiling and moiling in the kitchen all day to produce a dinner for twelve.口usu - ing form or continuous tenses. (every/ any) Tom, Dick and/ or Harry all sorts of people; anybody at all (the implication usu being people of a very ordinary or of a quite unsuitable kind) o If we were to listen to the half-baked ideas of every Tom, Dick andHarry you know what we'd have? I' ll tell you. Anarchy.G o As for qualified guides here, there is no legislation for giving them a licence, so that anyTom, Dick or Harry can work as a guide and give not only wrong information, but cause further chaos by not knowing his way about. NS o Ibehaved with moral schizophrenia, I wrote An-drew the same lies with my right hand; with my left I clutched the neck of an agreeably scruffy poet called Tom, Dick or Harry, who whirled me <563> Tom Tiddler's ground— the top of the morning (to you) into the society where I, in fact, belonged. ST o order of names non-rev. Tom Tiddler's ground a place, area of activ-ity, body of material, that is open to anyone to pick up what wealth, advantages they can(from a children's game where one player, TomTiddler, tries to keep others from crossing a boundary line into his base) □ For several years after the introduction of a Driving Test the situa-tion was that of a Tom Tiddler's Ground where anyone who owned a car and held a licence to drive himself could set himself up as a driving instructor and advertise for pupils. To Verdi had one of the most rewarding and successful careers in musical history. Nowadays his music is TomTiddler's ground for festival planners, even the rather piffling fodder. NS o stress pattern TomTiddler's ground. Tommy Atkins (dated slang) British private(ie non-ranking) soldier (from a 19th c specimen form made out to‘Thomas Atkins’issued to recruits) D ... saying in August 1914,' It' ll all be over by Christmas.' I had known all the wishful cant about Tommy Atkins and theRussian steam roller, and the war to end war, and making the world safe for democracy. AH□It was desirable also to assert and assume that theBritish working man was a jolly good fellow, had his head screwed on, was unshakably patriotic. In fact he was good old Tommy Atkins in mufti(=out of uniform). OBS 口 variant a tommy, the tom-mies =' British soldier(s)(without specification of rank)’. tomorrow is another day(saying) what will happen, or what one will do, tomorrow or in the future is not something to be concerned about today o ' You can run along now, if you like. These few letters will keep until the morn-ing.'' But there will be a whole heap of new ones by the morning,' 'I know, dear, I know. If the letters didn't come, that would be the time to start worrying. But tomorrow is another day.’AITCoI can't lie and say it's all going to be lovely.But I hope it will. Like Scarlett O' Hara,I always say tomorrow is snother day. TVT tomorrow will/ can take care of/ look after itself (saying) the future will take its own shape, will bring problems and solutions that can't be predicted and pre-arranged o(source) Take therefore no thought for the mor-row; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unt o the day is the evil thereof. MATTHEW VI 34o' Life is no bed of roses, they assume; but' tomorrow will take care of itself': the working-classes have been cheerful existentialists for ages. ULo(insurance advertisement) Don't let tomorrow look after itself, You must consider what would happen to you and your family if your income was suddenly switched off. TVT O variant let tomorrow take care of/ look after itself. too many cook s so il the broth(saying)having too many people responsible for, or engaged in doing, sth will result in its not being done properly o MRS BUTCHER: Work together?You mad? PETER: Many hands make light —how does it go? ALEX: Too many cooks spoil the broth? PETER: Oh shut up, Judas. You must pool resources—— pull together—— work in har-mony—— share the labour, share the treasure. DPM o If everybody was allowed to have his say the things would never get built. Too many cooks spoil the broth, you know. Go(NONCE)The project has been bedevilled by committees of this and that who have, among them, fully suc-ceeded in spoiling the broth. ◇ many hands make light work. the tools of the/ one's trade the tools, im-plements, utensils or other aids necessary to, or associated with, a trade, profession, or other activity o Father is designer, chief glassblower and managing director. The tools of the trade are unbelievably primitive: a long, heavy metal tube for blowing, callipers, a pair of huge tweezers and cold water. OBS□ (a writer) His first-floor study is stocked with seed catalogues and scores of rowing cups, as well as the more obvious tools of his trade. ST□ My father was one of those who can effortlessly create about them Pools of Unease. The theatre, if the play was a dud, found him operating freely and the tools of his trade were ready to hand—— clear-ings of the throat, yawns, deep sighs, hurried glances to right and left, shiftings, shufflings,windings of watches. NS top the bill [V + O] be the leading actor, act or feature on a theatre bill or advertisement;(fig)be the most important person or item in a range of attractions, scale of values, etc o One of the nice things about topping the bills for 20 years is that you can do the kinds of things you want to do. RToJIMMY: And those old favourites, your friends and mine: sycophantic, phlegmatic, and,of course, top of the bill—— pusillanimous. LBA(the) top brass(informal) people of the highest rank, position, authority, esp in the armed services o From the unusual security precautions it was easy to see that a meeting of the top bress was in progress. □ (The BBC's50th anniversary) threw up one television programme of originality, ' Looking In' byRobert Vas. Otherwise top brees were filmed at around of celebrations. L top dog [Comp(NP)] a person, group, country etc enjoying superiority and advantages over another or others V:△be, become; regard sb as o... but Europe was drained of life and inven-tion after the (1914-18) war and eagerly copiedAmerica's hectic fads. America was now top dog and was consumed with what Mr JusticeHolmes called ' an itch for the superlative'. It worshipped the unbeatable in any field. Lo The well-to-do averted their eyes from the poor. They were too busy having a good time. The upper-middle class were top dogs. ST o In the crisp words of the grammarians, judging the claims ofEnglish as a world language. ' by any of the criteria it is prominent, by some it is pre-eminent.and by a combination of the four it is outstand-ing.’ They don't come much more top dog than that. NS the top of the morning (to you)(informal)good morning o ' The top of the morning to you, Johnnie. And to you, my lovely,' he said toElvira, who again did not answer. ASAo It's like the Scots being supposed to sprinkle their con-versation with' och, aye' all the time. I' ve been inDublin two years now and nobody's wished me the top of the morning' yet. O used facetious-ly, in conscious imitation of a supposed Irish 563 <564> top of the pops—(the) tower of Babel greeting. top of the pops (informal) the pop music recording currently having the highest sales;(fig) sb/ sth outdoing others in popularity or in sb’ s esteem o ' Top of the Pops'(BBC 1) should surely be rechristened ' pick of the flops' after the16 June programme, which marks the low point in a sadly deteriorating series of boring programmes. RT□Top of the pops among WestAfrica's tourist attractions is undoubtedly theYankari Game Reserve in Nigeria, which opens for tourists in November until June next year. SCtop and tail [v + v non-rev] mark, take away from, add to, or otherwise deal with, the top and bottom, beginning and end, both ends etc of sb/ sth o Jenny helped her mother to top and tail the gooseberries for jam.□ The symposium is topped and tailed by a short story which putsChrist's case against God, and one which puts a patient's case against his psychoanalyst. OBS toss and turn [v + v non-rev] keep turning from one side to the other, moving restlessly instead of lying or sleeping comfortably o All night I have been tossing and turning, racking my brains to think of what could have possessed that poor young man to kill himself. EMo He knew where his heart lay, but where did his duty lie? And so did he toss and turn, and get up for a drink of water, and knock over a pile of books.WDM touch etc one's forelock [V+ O pass] raise one's right hand to one's forehead (equivalent to taking off one`s hat/ cap) when meeting, or speaking to, or in the presence of, sb as a sign of se rvile respect; act obsequiously V: touch,tug, pull o Cockney Mullard enjoys the joke.' Whenever I see the snooty little blighter,I really feel like bowing or touching my forelock, he says. TVT o Mr Wright is a centralist. For himLondon is the only possible source of political,economic and social health. And those who don't touch their forelocks at the mention of London,he despises. Go Lower-class characters are in-cluded either as comic butts or faithful foreiock-touching adjuncts of the main charac-ters. NSo A hundred years ago, the whole of that countryside was dominated by landlords. This is no longer so, but wherever one goes one feels the ghosts of forelock-pulling tenantry flitting round one. L o adj compound forelock-touching/tugging/ pulling. touch pitch and be defiled (saying) one is necessarily defiled by contact with, involve-ment in, crime, vice, dishonesty, indecency etc o (source) He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith. ECCLESIASTICUS XIII I o You know that the duty of the artist is to see life whole. If he touches pitch and is defiled, then he must endure the defilement. US□ That's what happens. A policeman thinks he' ll take the bribe,just this once—10 pay off a debt. or pay for a daughter's wedding. But you can't touch pitch without being defiled and the second offer is more easily accepted - - - and so on until he is found out.□(NONCE)(Dennis Wheatley) took the grim little householders off into a world of black magic and historical daredevilry, warning them not to stray outside the charmed circle of his books, since those who dabble in pitch may be defiled. G 564 touch wood words that are said while touch-ing sth made from wood with one's fingers, in order to bring, or continue, good luck or to avert bad luck o They touched or knocked on the wooden side of the boat before they got on board.What they were doing, in fact, was indulging in a superstition as old as mankind itself. They were calling on the god who was thought to live in wood and trees to keep them safe — which is what you do when you ' touch wood'—— al-though few of them could have realised it. OBS□Fletcher knows he could easily fall out of favour as a freelance(jockey) and that he faces the ever-looming chance of crippling injury. He touches wood when he speaks of his hopes. RToIt turned out to be the best move I ever made. From thereI worked my way into London and. touch wood,I haven't been seriously out of work since.TVT o Our task is a very delicate one: touch wood none of us has been sued, but one can be.We have to carry insurance against negligence on our part. STo usu in imper form of headphrase;may, simply mean ' let us hope' as in last two examples; front, middle or end position, when used in parenthesis. a tough guy/ cookie(informal)a determined,ruthless, unfeeling etc person not easily op-posed or persuaded o He was the tough guy.the big shot, who gave orders with the crack of a whip. PEo The most intelligent person in such a district usually takes charge of things—— that's me — who usually hires tough guys—— that's them— to get rid of scroungers and strangers——that's you. DPMa Now he was a tough cookie!At a bridge table, or a chess board, at a word game— the psychological pressure he put on you to lose was usually irresistible. G tough etc to the point of brutality etc[Comp (AdjP)] so tough etc as to be almost, or to merit being called, brutal etc V: △ be,become, seem; make sb. adj... n: tough...brutality, careless... folly, curt... rudeness, ter-rified.. . hysteria □ The influence of Leinsdorf'sAmerican years following on his apprenticeship with Toscanini has left us thinking of him as a conductor tough to the point of brutality. But now, returning to Europe, he seems newly relaxed. Go There is a newspaper cutting from 20years ago which quotes him as saying: 'I am careless with money to the point offolly.'' Still true’ , says Jeremy Hawk. TVT o Formerly cautious to the point of being anacom-municative, my companions had changed out of recognition. SC (the) tower of Babel noisy place or con-ditions; a situation or occasion where there is more noise, talk etc than sense, communication or understanding(from the story of God's con-founding men's efforts to build a tower that would reach to heaven by causing them to speak different languages instead of one, so that they could not understand each other and work together; see GENESIS X11-9) o Monboddo also believed that no known language was the original human tongue. These views also were heretical. The orthodox view was that God had created man already endowed with language, and that, until the episode of the Tower of Babel,one language served us all. Lo(of recorded TVprogrammes) Sometimes I wonder whether there <565> are any living souls at all in BBC TV's Tower ofBabel at White City on any given night. STo(of a block of flats) Alone! My God, no one could be alone in this tower of Babel. You' ll be all right.You know everybody here. AITC a tower of strength [Comp (NP)] (cliché) sb who can always be relied upon for support,encouragement, practical ability, etc V: △ be:find sb o I was much helped all this time by my brigade-major, an officer called Major F WSimpson: he was a tower of strength and took from my shoulders everything he could. MFMoOne by one she unravelled Mrs P's deepest, dark-est fears and helped her deal with them. She was a tower of strength and all the time she was counting the days until Mrs P would go. TSMPOusu sing in reference to two or more people. town and gown [n + n non-rev] all classes of people (esp those with commercial interests)living in a university town (= town) and the university staff, students, governing bodies, etc( = gown) o In those days(late 17thc) the anta-gonism between town and gown' sometimes resulted in considerable violence. OBS□ The first city to be approached (about an InternationalArts Festival in Britain) was not, in fact, Edin-hurgh, but Oxford. No agreement could be reached, however, between town and gown and so Rudolf Bing transferred his attentions to Edin-hurgh. RTo The rent issue has gathered venom from the conflicts which beset Cambridge. No simple matter of town varsue gown, but so light a web of interest drawn against interest that... NSo can be adapted, as shown. a tract for the/ our times[Comp (NP)] a book, speech, article etc from which a relevant contemporary lesson or warning may be taken(from Tracts for the Times, a series of theological pamphlets published in Oxford 1833-41) V:△be, become; make sth o ' The Destruction of theEnglish Country House` is simultaneously a pic-ture book and, in the editor 's words,a' tract for the times'. NS□ If Bendixson has never used or felt the need of a car, he must be both very lucky and rather strange. This book is therefore more of a curio than a tract for our timgés. NSo You could choose almost any text from the New Tes-tument for a sermon and make a tract for our times of it. trail one's coat [V + 0 pass] express one's views, exaggerate one's assessments, in a way deliberately intended to provoke criticism, ar-gument, rebuke, contradiction o In the hope of making a few other people laugh at themselves no doubt I overdo it a bit, deliberately trail ing my coat, as I did with those notorious brown and white eggs. NSo Two emotions are dominant inHedda (character in an Ibsen play), the fear of scandal and the fear of ridicule, and we know thatIbsen, though willing to trail his coat in print,was privately dominated by these emotions. STo(Northern Ireland) At Easter the Republicans hold their parades, to the fury of the Orange Or-der who in their turn march about the streets. It falls to the army to keep these remarkable manifestations apart and to prevent their coat-trailing brinkmanship from erupting into physi-cal violence. NS o n compound coat-trailing;attrib use cont-trailing brinkmanship. one's train of thought [O (NP)] a sequence a tower of strength-----tread the boards of thoughts, fancies, or reasoning (on a sub-ject); one's/a line of thought (qv) V: interrupt,check, stop. det; one's (own), another, the same; this, that o When interested, his powers of concentration were those of a burning-glass, but his trains of thought, as obstinate and as surefooted as mules, seemed often to lead him far from the place where he was and the person or persons he was with. AH o Like all self-centred people, Mollie could hear a question, and then answer it with something else from her own train of thought. AiTCo At first his thoughts dwelt onTillie—— her expression when she had said, ' You can kiss me goodnight if you like. I don't mind.He checked this train of thought. PE to travel hopefully is a better thing/ is better than to arrive(saying) the anticipa-tion, occupation and interest of a journey.research project, work in progress, etc can be more rewarding than its achievement o(source)To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour. ElDORADO Vi (R L STEVENSON 1850-94) o (ad-ministrative, commercial or academic paralysis) British medical specialists are usually content to trace the symptoms, and then define the cause. The French, by contrast, begin by describing the treatment and discuss the diag-nosis later, if at all. We feel bound to adhere in this to the British method, which may not help the patient but which is unquestionably more scien-tific. To travel hopefully is better than to ar-rive. PLo(NONCE)(In his humour) he relies on the timing, rather than the punch-line. And that goes for Allen himself. It is, you might say, the story of his 35 years to date. For he' safellow who profers the journey to the destination. RT travel light travel with as little luggage as poss-ible; (fig) conduct one's life so as to avoid as many cares and responsibilities as possible oHad we perhaps room in our car for a respectable relative? Relative, yes. Luggage, no. We were already loaded down, and Levantines, as I well knew, rarely travel light. BMo For Americans,moving westward, across the Atlantic or across the continent, meant learning to travel light.And that meant separating yourself from the treasures, as well as the land, of your ancestors.Lo Bill could not bear to see anything hurt; when anyone he came in contact with got hurt, he made a practice of moving on. He called it ' travelling light through life’. HAA a traveller's tale a traveller's story of sth strange or wonderful intended to entertain, in-form or amaze those who stay at home (often with the implication of invention or exaggera-tion) o It used to be said, perhaps on no better authority than the notoriously flimsy evidence of travellers' takes, that the Chinese followed the amiable and eminently civilised custom of post-poning their battles if the weather was wet. SCoSo extraordinary are the true facts that the traveller in the undiscovered country of the politicians must, until his stories are cor-roborated by after-investigators, be content to lie under the imputation of telling such tales as travellers are generally supposed to delight in.NS tread the boards [V+ 0 pass] (facetious)work as an actor o His success in amateur 565 <566> tread water—a Trojan horse theatricals led him on to think he could tread the boards for a living. □ Melina Mercouri had trodden many boards before achieving world fame in ' Never on Sunday'. St tread water [V + O] keep oneself afloat in a more or less upright position by using one's legs as if walking;(frg) maintain one's position, but be helpless (or too lazy, disinterested) to make progress □ When he had swum about a hundred yards out he paused, treading water, and saw that the girl who had been beside him was nowhere to be found.□ Suzy has been very good for me. Until 18 months ago,I realise that I was just treading water. Now I' ve regained my enthusiasm for so many things. TVTa As for MrCarter's money policies, Wall Street was lying doggo for a while, and the stock mark er trod water, until it saw what kind of a wild liberal we had in there. L the treason of the clerks the belittlement of,or reluctance to promote, intellectual or moral values, by educated people; lack of integrity on the part of intellectuals(from the French title of a book by J BENDA 1868-1956, La Trahison desClercs) o The fear of intellectuals to be seen as advocates of reason is the final tresson of the clerks. To be cowardly under fire is understand-able, but to cower when there is a world to be taught (and to learn from) is contemptible. LoPerhaps the only way is to use with vengeful passion the instrument (ie TV) that completed the mechanised passivity of modern culture. It is a contemptible new tresson of the clerks to pass the medium by with an aloof sniff. OBS□If the younger generation has not yet found a voice.neither have we. Is it we, the intellectuals, who have once again failed? Is this one more trahison des clercs? Yet have we really pressed the case for the vindication of reason and civilised values? L (a) trewsure trove treasure (gold, jewels,coins, valuables) found buried which, in most countries, if it is above a stated value and there is no known owner, reverts to the State and not to the finder; (fig) sth found, acquired, ex-perienced etc that gives great pleasure or profit o One object of the search this time is buried treasure amounting, it is said, to no less than 200tons of gold. As tradure trove it would automatically become the property of the Jorda-nian Government. OBS□(film review) The whole affair has very much the character and tone of an elaborate charade played by unusually talented house guests. It is treasure trove for those who care to dig. N$a Somewhere in the BBC archives,there is a treesure trove of cricket history for future reference. L o uncountable or countable.treat sb like dirt [V + O + A pass] treat sb as if he was of no importance or value and not en-titled to courtesy, consideration or even notice□ Treating me like dirt. Why'd you invite me here in the first place if you was(= were) going to treat me like dirt? TC□Oh, she'd been quick enough then apologizing, but the damage was done. She'd been treated like dirt, made to look small. TSMP□Maybe they are overworked at theJob Centre but they should still treat you like a human being instead of like dirt. thetricks of the trade[O/o(NP)] skilled and effective methods of doing sth, developed 566 within a trade or profession V: know, learn,acquire; teach sb; hand on o One's appren-ticeship is so important. I' ve been learning my craft for 27 years, like a carpenter, taught by masters to pick up the tricks of the trade. RToAnyone in a police station is vulnerable to the professional interrogators who know the tricks of the trade. STo(a newly recruited Intelligence agent) A light shone under the crack of DrHasselbacher's door. Was he alone or was he in conference with the taped voice? He was begin-.ning to learn the caution and tricks of his unreal trade. OMIHo(reader’ s letter)I watched‘Stalin’transfxed, horrified. Two-and-a-half hours of sheer blatant propaganda from end to end, using weary trick of the crade. RT tried and true [adj + adj non-rev] many times tested and always found faithful, able, reliable,effective etco I have tried and true friends here.It would need more than twice the salary you offer to tempt me to move elsewhere. □ The girl decides at the last minute to keep her babe and that tried-and-true tear-jerker rounds things off. NS □ In hard times they (recording com-panies) cannot take a chance on something new,different, and possibly good—— they must go for tried and true trash. GD All his techniques are tried and true—— it is to that that he attributes his success. □ also Comp, as in last example. trip etc the light fantastic(facetious) danceV: trip, △ dance, tread □(source) Come, and trip it as ye go/ On the light fantastic toe. L'AL-LEGRO(JMILTON1608-74)□ And rumours of retire-ment surrounded Astaire, who has often gone on record as saying that he is more in love with breeding racehorses and writing songs than with tripping the light fantastic. TVToA lot of the fellows that went to the Saturday night discos spent more time leaning on the wall or drinking in the bar than tripping the light fantastic and so the girls danced with each other, or got fed up and stopped going. the/a triumph of hope over experience an instance of foolish optimism o (source) Agentleman who had been very unhappy in mar-riage, married immediately after his wife died:Johnson said it was the triumph of hope over experience. LIFE OF JOHNSON(J BOSWELL 1740-95)□(the concert piano is out of tune and has keys that don't sound)' Still, I daresay it will be all right on the night,' which triumph of hope over not only experience but plain hard fact so stunned Miss Pemberton that she said no more and took her place in the front row of seats. WDMthe trivial round, the common task (usu facetious) everyday life and work □ (source)The trivial round, the common task,/ Would furnish all we ought to ask. ENGLISH HYMNAL260□' Have you been very busy selling cars?'' Yes.The trivial round, the common task. Only it doesn't always furnish all I need to ask.'PE□I do wish the BBC would realise that most of us can only afford two weeks' holiday a year and noth-ing is more depressing, when the brief suntan is peeling, than to come back to the trivial round,the common task, and a whole series of repeats of (broadcast) programmes you have already seen or heard. L a Trojan hors●[Comp(NP)]a disguised means of introducing something harmful or disadvan- <567> tageous (from the story of the large wooden horse, filled with armed men, which, when taken into their city by the Trojans as a gift,enabled the Greeks to complete their siege ofTroy) V: △ be, appear, make sth o The working-classes hold on to the personal because they can understand it; here that part of the world outside which is after their money makes a pretty Trojan horse for them. UL o In very gradual, complex ways, Britain may prove to be,not the Trojan horse of American influence which France has always feared, but, on the con-trary, a counterpoise to the American tide . L true blue [Comp (AdjP)] consistent, and un-comprising in principles, codes of conduct.loyalties etc V: △ be; find sb, regard sb as. n:Tory, Englishman, friend, protestant, conser-vative o He came before an audience of true-blue Tories, with a speech of pure corn, such as only speech-writers write. Lo Little has surfaced to remind the average home decorator that the210-year-old Berger, the third biggest decorative products company in the UK, is anything other than true-blue British. ST O esp used of member of British Conservative(` Tory`) Party, or sb of conservative opinions; n compound a true blue:attrib use a true(-) blue Tory. (run) true to form (be) consistent with previous experience, practice, sb/ sth's charac-ter or nature o A Saturday afternoon all to myself—— unheard of in my new life. And, true to form, I' ve been wasting it. ST o The one unecdote he never fails to relate is how he's ap-peared in 14 flop musicals, mostly West End.True to form, he tried to tell me, ' For some yearsI drifted from one disaster to another — 14flops.’ RT the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (catchphrase) the absolute truth(from the oath taken(GB) by those about to give evidence in a court of justice) o In short.Bruce told the truth, the who's truth, and nothing but the truth: but the facts he related were too strong. BN□(reader's letter) The presen-ters really gave only a prosaic explanation of a few easily explained incidents, and tarnished the reputation of the series. The programme showed the truth and nothing but the truth—— but did it show the whole truth? RT try anything once [V + O pass] be interested and open-minded enough to try any experience,activity, method etc whether one decides, or is able, to continue it or not o (theatre) Aprofusion of poor but honest fringe groups play in pubs and cellars, retaining a marvellous student willingness to try anything once, though heing sometimes less good at doing it twice. OBS□' Would you have eaten it if you'd known it was an octopus?'' Why not? I' ll try anything once.'o Most of us draw the line somewhere, like the man who said he'd try anything once except incest and folk dancing. o often introduced by will/ would. try as one may [Disj] (be unable to do sth)however hard one tries to modal: may, might,will, would o Fear of life and death, and an end-less search for a nest of safety, was the underly-ing theme in everything Wells wrote. For in real life there is no escape, try gs we will. o Try asI might, I just could not get the message across. true blue—— turn the corner OBS□(cricket) There was almost complete silence as Lawrence ran up for the first ball of his over.By the end of it Skinner, try as he would, had not managed to hit the ball further than the fielders standing near the wicket. TGLYo front,middle or end position. try one's luck [V + O] try to do or obtain sth with the hope that one may succeed in doing or obtaining it o At the suggestion of my UncleSteve I decided to try my luck as a window cleaner. o Soon Ellington was hiring out four or five bands a night; he owned a car and house and operated a sign-and-poster-printing business. All before he went to try his luck in New York. NS□ The system of criminal justice, he said, is not tested until you plead ' Not Guilty' and try your luck. ST try sb's patience [V + O pass] irritate and exasperate sb; make it very difficult for sb to be.or remain, patient adv:(front position) sorely;(end position) hard o (stalking a foe) He then started to circle the barn, keeping close to the far wall. The circling of the barn tried his patience hard. ARGo There is a danger that his patience might be tried if the SFA were to offer him an extension of the interim period. A decision must he taken this afternoon to offer a full-time ap-pointment. SC□(astrological prediction) Some-one will sorely try your petience, but you won't want to answer back. TVT the tumult and the shouting (dies) [n +n rev] the(noisy) excitement, protest, argument,fuss (abates or is forgotten) o (source) The tumult and the shouting dies;/ The Captains and the Kings depart. RECESSIONAL (R KIPLING1865-1936)□ Th e Permissive Society is now absor-bed into the society which existed before it hap-pened. The shouting and the tumult took place after the battle was fought, and what was really a sorting out process was taken to be the battle itself. TVTo Board meetings were conducted as if they were public demonstrations. When the shouting and the turnult died, there were two problems he had to solve: the flagging demand for coal and the well-being of the miners. NS turn one's back [V+ O pass] be absent; have gone away or turned aside; not be watchful, or in immediate control of sb/ sth o It seems I can't turn my back without one of you hurting your-self or doing something silly. □ Yes, and as soon as my back's turned you' ll be off with this sailor boy and ruin yourself for good. TOHo It's very badly done. I' ll have to put another coat of paint on myself, but I' ll wait till his back's turned.He' ll never notice if nothing is said. □ also pl turn their backs; often pass in dependent clause beginning when(ever), while, as soon as, every time, no sooner, etc. turn the corner [V + O pass] come to the end of a time of difficulty, poverty, struggle, dan-gerous illness, etc and start on a more favour-able or prosperous course o His temperature is still going down, and he's breathing more easily.I think we can safely say he's turned the corner.□The corner was turned, this time it seemed for ever, and the Albert Hall, freshly cleaned,trimmed and refurbished, had started a new career. OBS□ There's no doubt in my mind: thisEngland team under Ron Greenwood has turned the corner, and is on course again to be a real 567 <568> (take/ be) a turn for the better/ worse— turn tail (and flee) force in world football. TVT (take/ be) a turn for the better/ worse(show, be)achangethatpromises improvement/ deteriorationS:patient.weather, things, business, world affairs a When her father's mental illness took a turn for the worse, the Ministry released her on compassionate grounds. Pw o However, these effects (of science on our lives) appear to have taken a turn for the worse with pollution and weapons of mass destruction. L o Robert had certainly drunk enough. From being very silent he had become extremely talkative. To some extent il was a turn for the better. EMo The situation can be radically changed in his favour only by a sharp turn for the better in ElSalvador. OBS turn sb's head [V + O pass] cause sb to become vain, ambitious or infatuated with sb/sth $; praise, adulation, success o I had never been spontaneously approached by a publisher before and such condescension rather turned my head. UTNo'I'm glad,' Mavis said later. ' these things, like that letter, happened now, and not when I was 25. I think my head would have been turned then. I wouldn't have been stable enough to fit it all in. 'OBS o Mr Beaton's zeal has in-comparably enriched a national archive (ie of photographs), that will long be around to turn the heads of young dress designers, and to evoke an age when craftsmanship was still remembered. L o But I observe women a lot.Basically I think we are vain. A woman's hap-piness is how many heads she can turn—— especi-ally the Northern women I know. RT turn King's/ Queen's Evidence [V + O](GB) give evidence against accomplices in a court of justice o A year later he turnedQueen's Evidence in the £200,000 jewel rob-bery at the house of Harry Oppenheimer. DS□King or Queen used depending on the sex of the reigning monarch; used of a convicted or acc-used person. the/a turn of events [Comp (NP)] a change or development in circumstances, often un-foreseen or beyond one's control v: △ be,seem; think sth. adj: strange, unexpected, sur-prising, pleasing, happy o Brigit realized then that she was misjudging the girl. Her excitement about the turn of events was superficial.Beneath it she was alarmed and frightened. DCoIt was only a fortunate turn of events that enabled him to be present. a turn of phrase a way of expressing, defining or describing sth adj: neat, amusing, unusual,startling, offensive, interesting □ ALISON(quot-ing her husband) Poor old Daddy—— just one of those sturdy old plants left over from the Edwar-dian Wilderness that can't understand why the sun isn't shining any more. (Rather lamely.)Something like that anyway. COLONEL: He has quite a turn of phrase, hasn't he? LBA o ' My meal was interrupted and now I have an un-finished taste in my mouth.'' A very expressive, if unpolished, turn of phrrece, if I may say so.'al don't often agree with his points of view but Ienjoy reading his articles for their turns of phras@.o 'I' ll do it if it kills me,' ' I don't like your turn of phrasi, said his wife. ' You shouldn't tempt Providence.' 568 a turn of the screw [O (NP)] a degree of pressure, cruelty, irony etc added to a situation already difficult to bear or understand V: add,give, apply. det:a, another, (just) one more oDante never thought up that turn of the screw for his condemned lovers. Paolo was never· promoted to Purgatory. QA □ (house-buying)Less erhical gazumping occurs, The later it is before exchanging final contracts, the more vul-nerable the buyer becomes to a further turn of the screw(eg raising the price of the house). ST□I' ve always been puzzled and fascinated by the question of why private soldiers should perform the feats of endurance and heroism that they do.It adds a turn of the screw to think of Indian soldiers who often did the same, but under British officers. L a turn of speed [O/o (NP)] a swift, usu tem-porary, acceleration of movement or progressV: display, produce; put on, lay on, prep: with□ He stepped into the lift, but Dr Hasselbacher,putting on a turn of speed, entered too. OMIHoI thought the guard-dog would grab him but he got over that fence with a turn of speed that amazed me in suck a fat man. turn the other cheek [V + O pass] not com-plain or retaliate when attacked, rebuked or punished(and even be ready to accept further humiliation) o (source) Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,turn to him the other also. MATTHEWV39□Jesus said that one should turn the other ch eek when attacked. He went so far as to command one to love one's enemies. No State that has so far exis-ted has been run on such lines. OBS□I wondered why I seemed determined to be a boor. Then she said, without a smile,' It was kind of you to come down tonight.' This was certainly turning the other ch eek and somehow not like the MissMiles I knew or thought I knew. PPo But she couldn't endure the thought of even this much communication with him. Besides there are limits, prescribed mathematical limits, to turn-ing the other cheek. PW turn one's stomach[V+ O pass] cause sb to be revolted, disgusted o (TV programme) If viewers want a real good wall ow in violence for its own sake, smeared in treacly sentiment,I sug-gest they try this. It certainly turns my stomach. RT o The story shows Paul Kersey taking the law into his own hands when his wife is killed and his daughter rendered catatonic (a‘schizophrenic’ state) by three crazy muggers.The scene of assault is stomach-turning, as it needs to be if one is in any way to endorse Ker-sey's subsequent actions. NS □ also pl; adj com-pound stomach-turning; variant one's stomach turns. turn tail (and flee) flee as the result of defeat,timidity or fear(from the behaviour of animals)o Then, suddenly, the dogs' courage failed them.and they all turned tail and fled up the hill again, leaving the mongoose on its hind legs in the field of battle. B8a As they walked through a stone archway Mrs Shaw went chalk white and started trembling. After a few seconds she tur-ned tail and ran out of the castle. RTo' Dr Has-selbacher,' Wormold called to him. For a mo-ment Wormold thought he was going to turn teil without a word. ' What's the matter. Hassel- <569> turn turtle— two minds with but a single thought hacher? ” Oh, it's you, Mr Wormold.'OMIHturn turtle (cause to) turn right over (and sink); (cause to) be/ fall in an upside down position (and be helpless, immobile) $: ship.dinghy; car; horse o This vessel rolled alarming~八. Indeed, she had turned turtle on being laun-ched, an occurrence that caused the GermanKaver to c ull her the biggest little afloat' , wi a turning point [Comp (NP)] an incident that causes or marks the beginning of a new trend in sb's life. a project, the course of events v:△be.make sth, regard sth as, rank as o The capture of Brill on i April 1572 must rank us a turning point not only in Netherlands history but in world history an event of the order of the fall of the Bastille, or the execution of Charles I, or the shot that rung round the world' ut Concord, Max-suchusetts. Lo ' Now you tell Mr Stravinsky what your teacher said. So the ho y planted his feet in the middle of the rug and said. ' My teacher said that you represent the turning point in the his-tor v of music, OBSaI think we are now at one of the turning points in the human spirit and it enables us to begin to see u way out of the problem of prejudice. Lo stress pattern a turning point. Tweedledum and Tweedledee contes-tants, disputants, rivals, representatives of equal(un) importance and scarcely distinguish-able from each other o (source. with onomatopoeic reference to the sound of tiddling, concerning a quarrel between the musicians Handel and Bononcini) Strange! that such a high dispute should bei' Twixt Tweed-ledum and Tweedledee. (J BYROM 1692-1763) oTweedledum and Tweedledee/ Agreed to have a battle:/ For Tweedledum said Tweedledee/ Had spoiled his nice new rattle. THROUGH THELOOKING-GLASS (LCARROLL 1832-98) □ Greater principles were at issue than two kinds of bigot playing Tweedledum and Tweedleded and shaking their fists at each other. NSa... so-called middle ground where Tweedledum for ever em-bruces Tweedledge in a lugubrious excess of moderation. NS twice over [A(AdvP)] not just once but twiceV: pay. say. tell, shave, stretch o The tourists gazed into the wishing well; they had flung in enough coins to have paid for their drinks twice over. OMIH o It was stupid of you not to have taken measurements first. You' ve bought enough paper to cover the walls twice over.口 emphatic;usu end position. twiddle one's thumbs [V + O] sit or stand with fingers interlocked and circle one`s thumbs round each other; (fig) do any unimportant thing merely in order to pass time o Seeing vast helds where sheep seemed to he grazing in their thousands. I imagined the owner twiddling his thumbs or fishing for trout. But these farmers are both hard-working and anxious. OBS□ Don't just sit there twiddling your thumbs. Do some-thing useju!' on compound thumb-twiddling. twist sb's 8mm[V+ 0 pass](informal) eat-nestly persuade, cajole, unfairly influence, or improperly force sb to do sth he does not want to A: to write the letter, to accept his son as a trainee; for a loan o She conceded that sometimes the members of the panel were rude to people who had written in.' It distresses me when the team takes someone apart. But then I don't twist unybody's arm to write in. After all, they know the way the programme works.'RToI tried to persuade him to write a book about his war-time e. xperiences. I suppose we met four or five times with me twisting his arm and him saying.No, he couldn't do it. OBS □ His arm has been twisted hardhy several MPs. He has undergone a dramatic conversion and now campaigns vigorously for our exit from the Common Mar-ket. NSD also pl; n compound arm-twisting. twist sb's tail [V + O pass] tease, torment.satirize, harass etc sb o These women's antics are only the product of male permissiveness.However, I get a great deal of amusement twist-ing both their ' advanced' tails. ASA o That hedraggled old institution, the family, has taken quite a pounding lately. and John Hopkins is noi the man to stand idly by while there are tails to he twisted and hands to be slapped. NS twist(s) and turn(s) [n + n non-rev] various and confusing tactics intended to achieve or evade sth (often with the implication of pre-varication or deceit) □ Probably the least prepossessing quality of A G Gardiner was that he cared too much about the ephemeral in poli-tics: and Mr Koss displays excessive zeal, to my mind, in teasing out these cares to the last twist and turn. Lo We are aware that this account ofMr Jenkins's behaviour is very different from the current Fleet Street version which contrasts the twists and turns of Mr Wilson's devious poli-tics with the manly and straightforward honesty of Mr Jenkins's support for the Common Mar-ket. NS□ sometimes used as [v + v non-rev]. two blacks/ wrongs do not make a white/ right (saying) one cannot justify a wrong action by saying that another has done something similar or by pleading revenge for a wrong done to oneself o ' And I suppose you' re going to say that I am no great shakes as a wife?Is that it?' ' I know that two blacks don't make a white, but you cannol really complain about your husband, whatever he is or does. At least,Idon't think you can.'TTo He said mantraps were illegal. ' So's poaching,'I reminded him. And then he started some dunderheaded argument about two blacks not making a white or two whites not making a black. RMo Well, professor, two wrongs do not make a right, so should not our wonderful modern technology have done some-thing about quietening down our factories before producing this super-plane? RT two can live as cheaply as one (saying) an argument advanced in favour of two people living together (esp from a man's point of view when women were not commonly assumed to he wage-earners too)□ In spite of what they say.two can't live s choeply as one. And wives hanker after certain standards, and ought to have them- - within reason, of course. The little money I have won't run to them. TST two heads ere better than one(saying) two people co-operating are likely e· rh to make up for deficiencies in the other's reasoning, mem ory, methods or plans o‘What about Edward’Do I tell him?' ' That I must leave to you. Two heads are often better than one. TCBtwo minds with but a single thought(catchphrase) two people concerned with the 569 <570> … (where) two or three (are) gathered together— under the aegis of sth/ sb same subject, intent or purpose;(facetious) two people who happen to think of, say or do the same thing simultaneously o (source) Two souls with but a single thought/ Two hearts that heat as one. MARIA LOVELL 1803-77□ They hurried down to the quay, two minds with but s single thought that they shrank from putting into words. □ ' What a coincidence!' And fromMark a brilliant, Two minds with but a single thought!' - - - as it transpired that she had chosen today to come here to picnic also. YWT(where) two or three (are) gathered together (catchphrase) (where there is) a group, however small, (that is) united in fellowship, interests or purpose □(source) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.MATTHEW XVIII20a To speak into a microphone in a studio is a private pleasure, because you do not think of an audience. You think of two or three gathered together. You picture the family by the fire, the student lighting and relighting his pipe. Lo We are in danger of forget-ting the community. Two or three gathered together lies at the heart of our Christian tradition. NS two and two make etc four(saying) it is a straightforward and simple calculation; it is a matter of fact, a self-evident proposition V:make, △are, add up to, come to o Anybody with brains enough to know that two and two make four could have guessed the outcome of U U/ non-U upper class/ non-upper class usage in language and social behaviour (from UPPERCLASS ENGLISH USAGE (A C ROSS b1907) and see also NOBLESSE OBLIGE (ed N MITFORD 1904-73)) 口'I' ma schoolteacher.' It seemed to him non-U to say ' schoolmaster' here, like ' perspiration' in-stead of ' sweat'. TGLY a Deep in the English character, there is an instinct for a U and non-Upronunciation as strong as it ever was. Lo many people feel the distinctions are arbitrary and not to be taken seriously. an ugly(-looking) customer a person, or animal, that is or might be dangerous, violent,difficult to control or deal with o The two deck hands, ugly-looking customers both of them,moved a little nearer. o As far as the general public is concerned, chimps are only lovable up to the age of 6 years or so, and indeed an old male can be ar ugly-looking customor. an ugly duckling (becomes etc a swan)a child, chick, puppy etc born less attractive than his brothers and sisters who later sur-passes them (from THE UGLY DUCKLING(HCAN-DERSEN 1805-75),a story of a swan chick hatched with ducklings and at first compared unfavour-ably with them) V: becomes, changes into,grows into, is transformed into o This situation develops into a dictionary of comedy clichés, in-cluding a comic politician and an ugly duckling who grows up into a swam. L o EleanorRoosevelt was throughout her life an awkward person to have around--not merely because she was born and remained the classic ugly duck- 570 that situation.□ Don't talk to me about children.All your life you sweat your kishkers out to give them a good education and everything they want,and what happens? Davey turns round and tells me that two and two don't add up to four, andLottie joins the Communist party. HSGtwo's company,(three' sa crowd)(catch-phrase) it is (more) pleasant, easy, relaxing for two people to be together (than it is for three)(the implication often being that two =`a woman and a man in love with each other' and that no third person wants to intrude on the couple) □They say that two's company, but after years of observing my parents together Ihave very strong doubts on the matter.□ ' Why didn't you join us?' ' Oh, you know, three's a crowd——I didn't want to intrude on you two,'o variant two's company, three's not/ none. atwopenny halfpenny/ tuppenny ha' penny affair etc a cheap, insignificant, or paltry affair etc n: affair, thing, arrangement,gadget o Bangladesh has an army, but it is a twopenny halfpanny affair kept deliberately weak, with the security forces split into three separate groups. Go The way she went on you'd think she’ d lost the Crown Jewels instead of a tuppenny-ha' penny coloured glass pendant. oThere's no good conversation. All they talk about is football, or their families, or their twoperny-halfpenny jobs. □ form tuppenny ha' penny,reflects pronunciation. ling but also because in her own person she em-bodied the old-fashioned American Puritan ethic. NS□A long time ago. I was in an awful play where I had to come downstairs transformed from an ugly duckling into a beautiful lady. TVTthe unacceptable face of capitalism etc(catchphrase) an aspect of capitalism etc, or sth that may happen within the system of capital-ism etc, that cannot be accepted n: capitalism,trade unionism, local government, law enforce-ment, patronage o (source— comment about the conduct of a financial and business com-pany, 1973) This is the unacceptable face of capitalism. EDWARD HEATH(then Prime Minis-ter). o The unwcceptable face of public medicine? Is it true that in some hospitals termi-nal patients consent to exploratory operations and experimental treatments in the belief that a reasonable chance of cure or alleviation is being offered?□ The Poulson case has shown how local government too, has its unacceptable face.OBS 口 variant capitalism etc has its unacceptable face. under the aegis of sth/ sb[A(PrepP] protec-ted, supported, or sponsored by sth/ sb, esp an institution or public body (from aegis, the shield of Zeus or Athene and a symbol of divine protection) V: perform, appear; study, work oThis is the Morse collection of seventeenth-century Chinese painting, which has come to theBritish Museum under the segis of the ArtsCouncil. STo Incidentally, Mr Harrison is now working on his original material under the <571> under cover of sth— an unknown quantity segis of Sussex University and may before long be publishing some of it. L under cover of sth [A (PrepP)] shielded, or concealed, by sth;(fig) using the excuse, pretext or explanation of sth V: move, manoeuvre, as-semble, disappear. o: darkness, the bushes; the confusion caused, the noise of the bands oGeorge Hutchins jammed his chair against hers and surreptitiously took her hand under cover of a newspaper, HDo He leaned forward to pat(the horse`s) neck and under cover of the move-ment extracted the Mauser. ARG□Under cover of the general excitement, he has slipped away unseen.□/ heard reports of big military installa-tions under construction, stories of widespread forest clearance under cover of forest fires.OMIH under foot [A (PrepP)] on the ground; on the surface where one walks V: crush, trample, sth□ Here the grass ended and there was a loose sandy soil under foot.□I wish I'd worn my Wel-lingtons. I didn't realize it would be so muddy underfoot. o often written as underfoot. under the guise of sth {A (PrepP)] while ap-pearing, or pretending, to be, or do, sth o:friendship, entertainment;a trade conference□The great issue for their country is the struggle against a slide towards dictatorship. This, they feel, is what the Prime Minister, under the guise of outward democratic forms, is aiming at.OBS o She's an expert at imposing her will on other members of the family under the guise of encouraging them to make their own decisions. under sb's nose[Comp/A(Prepp)](informal)in full view of sb: openly, or defiantly, in sb's presence V: be; vanish, disappear, destroy sth,steal sth, remove sth o ' Have you a match to light the gas with?’‘There’ s a box of matches right under your nose.'o In every tense situation that takes place in public there are always one or two people about who don't see what is happening under their noses. CON□One of Bill's jobs was to swim ashore in the darkness under the noses of the Germans. RFW o (reader’ s letter) TheBritish public is subject to a barrage of depravity and corruption from so-called progressive writers, while at the same time real social progress is being quietly nibbled away under our very nosegs. L under one's own etc name [A (PrepP)]using one's own etc name to claim, or accept.identity, ownership, credit, responsibility etc V:appear, perform; write. det: one's own,another('s), one's father's. adj: (replacing one's own etc)a borrowed, a false □ Quorum were impressed and three weeks ago asked her to design a (dress) collection for them under her own name. ST o The breed (of dog) received official recognition by the Kennel Club and was granted a separate register under its present name. OBS□I' ve had grave suspicions that you'd planted yourself here under a false name in order to get information out of me. TCB□ There is only one who is a recognisably classic artist at all points, and he secretively walks the earth under the name of Randy Newman. Lo also pl under their own names; variant under the name of sb/ sth where person/ thing is specified, as in last example. under one's own steam[A (PrepP)] (infor- mal) by efforts or means of one's own; without help from anybody else V: proceed, move; con-tinue, carry on o PHILIP: Where's Rosemary?She said she'd get here under her own steam.EHOW□Oh, he's got the hang of the job now. I' ll leave him to carry on under his own steam for a bit.□' Have you made up your mind if you wantMyrtle to go with you to America or not? ' If she likes to go under her own steam, I said. SPLunder par[Comp(PrepP)] unwell V:△be; feel,look. seem o ' Sue won't be at the meeting this afternoon. She's gone home ill.' I'm not sur-prised. She's been looking a bit under parrecent-ly.'o par = (golf) ' the number of shots that has been set as a standard for a good player for each individual hole or for all eighteen holes on a particular golf-course'. ◇ △ be par for the course. under protest [A (PrepP)] while protesting.objecting V: accept sth; comply, obey o ' Diso-beying a superior officer, I remind you, is a serious offence.' ' Very well, but I want it written down that I am carrying out the order under protest.'a The police claimed a rise of 35 per cent, and their spokesman accepts an average of16 per cent under protest. SCo The children,who never went to bed except under protest.were at last got rid of. □ usu follows v it modifies. to understand all is to forgive all (saying)when all the facts are known and understood it is possible to forgive a person for anything □' She never used to be like this, did she?'' She has problems, that woman, ' he said ' To understand all is to forgive all.'TTo(TV interviews) Why doesn't he ever get tough with his guests or sub-jects? Something in his format or his approach makes Harty the man who understands all and forgives all. NS union/ unity is strength (saying) groups have more power to act, or resist the actions of others, than individuals have V: is; gives; means o(reader's letter) The old saying still holds good---to beat the Tories we must have unity. Unity is strongth. NS united we stand(divided we fall)(saying)a group of people acting together can achieve a desired aim which the members of that group will not be able to achieve if each acts alone oThe photograph shows the front ranks of the marchers, with banners aloft, and all of them with united-word expressions on their faces.□ Well, what's it to be? United we stand— or are there any dissenters?□(caption) United they stand,a family from a Welsh valley. RTOattrib use a united-we-stand expression, at-titude etc. the (most) unkindest cut of all the worst insult, case of ill treatment, etc among several o (source — referring to Brutus' part in the assassination of Julius Caesar) Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar lov'd him!/ This was the most unkindest cut of all. JULIUS CAESARIII2□ Perhaps the unkindest cut of all comes in u swift interview with an old female classmate ofNixon's, retailing how,a non-dancer himself, he made (ie got himself elected) student president by campaigning for dancing on campus. NS an unknown quantity (mathematics) a quantity, number not(yet) determined;(fig) sb. 571 <572> (how) unlike/ different from the home/ private...-up and leave etc sth one has no experience of, or whose actions,performance, mood etc one can never predict oTest pilots approach each flight circumspectly.They know they are dealing with on unknown quantity, so they prepare thoroughly and always have a ' contingency plan' at the ready. TVT oThomas continued to be somewhat of an un-known quantity. To this day, I don't know how he earned his money, or whether he was single,divorced or a widower. SC (how) unlike/ different from the home/private life of our own dear Queen(catchphrase) (how) unlike some, possibly idealized, standard of civilized home life,behaviour, business practice, etc(from a remark allegedly made by a Victorian woman during a performance of‘Antony andCleopatra`) o You don't know what it is like to have to run such a disorganized household—not very like the home life of our dear Queen,I'm afraid.□(a television series) On Saturday Igot myself hypnotised for a while by ' Face theMusic’, its unalloyed jollity always so unlike the private life of our dear, bitching and back-biting profession. L o Your real diarists - -something notable seems to happen to them every day, be it a publisher's party or a witty encounter with a bank manager, or a quip from KingsleyAmis: how different from the home life of your humble incumbent of this week. NS□ often adapted, as shown. the unspeakable in (full) pursuit of the unaatable (catchphrase) fox hunting as a sport o(source) The English country gentleman galloping after a fox— the unspeakable in full pursuit of the unestable . A WOMAN OF NOIMPORTANCE (O WILDE 1854-1900)□George Millar hunts, or used to, and turned his author's eye on the mores of those whom another author once described as theunspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable; what matters is the society of the chase not the victory over the quarry. ST o(NONCE) Many observers consider the Rock Fes-tival to be a dying form. Too often it means the uncomfortable in pursuit of the inaudible. NSo often adapted, as shown. unwept, unhonoured and unsung {Comp(AdjP)] the object of nobody's regard, respect or remembrance V: △ be, go; die, depart;remain o (source) And, doubly dying, shall go down/ To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,/Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung. THE LAYOF THE LAST MINSTREL (W SCOTT 1771-1832) oHousework provides the daily backdrop to the lives of a social underclass whose members are not only unwept, unhonoured and unking, but unpaid into the hargain. NS o Why should one goldfish occupy so much valuable space in a serious weekly maguzine when hundreds of thousands of goldfish die every week unwept,unhonour-ad and unsung? NS an unwritten law a long established custom that is difficult to break or disobey o ' Your women are forbidden to marry outsiders. ' Frank said. ' Or so I have been told.' ' There is an un-written law.’ ARGa There’ s no caretaker in the block and according to some unwritten law the ground floor tenant is responsible for keeping the common entrance clean. up (with) sb/ sth exclamation of, or appcal 572 for, support, approval of sb/ sth o: the Party,the revolution; devolution, free bargaining □What's the use of Up with the Party' and theoretical flag-waving when you can't be bothered to attend branch meetings?□(ScottishNationalism) The throne would serve the same function as in other Commonwealth countries and the Queen's status or place in the affections of her Scottish subjects has nothing to do with the up-home-rule-and-down-with-Whitehall argu-ment. SCo Such virtues as most people practise are dictated by self-interest.'' Then up with self-interest, say I.'o attrib use the up-home-rule argument. ◇ down with sb/ sth. up and coming(informal) likely to add to the progress, success, popularity one has begun to achieve n: generation; architect, doctor, foot-baller; publishers □ She says he's gota very good reputation as one of the up and coming young doctors. RFW□Jolson's health was not good, and he decided he was too old for the part. Up-and-coming Larry Parks was signed, and Jolson dubbed the songs. RTo He has to operate under.the 1968 Transport Act which was steered through Parliament by an up-and-coming poli-tician named Richard Marsh, RTo Davis, from the East End of London, is up and coming,having turned pro after a successful junior career, TVT o usu attrib, an up-and-coming politician, but also predic, as shown. up and down the country/ land in various places throughout a particular country o The product itself is prepared in bottling plants up and down the land. OBS□(reader's letter) The launching of the lifeboat was the perfect comple-ment to the programme, reminding us of the great debt we owe to that fine body of men up and down the country. RTO up and down non-rev; usu prep p modifying a preceding n. up and down (the) stairs [A (PrepP)] with repetitious(and/ or tiring) use of stairs from one level to another V: go, run, toil o I don't mind living in a top flat. Going up and down stairs will be good exercise for me.□DAVIES: You want to (= should) do all the dirty work all up and down them(= those) stairs. TC□ Th e tall Ed-wardian houses had been built in the Square's palmier days, when servants toiled up and down the many stairs. AITC o up and down non-rev.up hill and down dale [A (PrepP)]everywhere; to, from etc many places;thoroughly; exhaustively; vigorously V: run.chase, search; curse, chivvy, harangue, sb o l wish you'd say where you' re going, and not have people chasing up hill and down del e trying to find you when you' re wanted. □ (That your legs are sore) is not surprising, the way you' ve run them up and downstairs and over hill and dale— let them have their rest. DC o Johnson won't like your taking his best workmun away.' He' ll be cursing me up hill and down dale, I ' ve no doubt.'o non-rev; variant over hi li and dale. up and leave etc suddenly, unexpectedly, or disconcertingly leave etc V: leave, go; say、 do.sth o His Austrian grandfather was an operu singer who abruptly upped and left his wife inVienna. TVTo Courting on the sly like that and suddenly upping and saying he was married,without having mentioned a word of it before.LLDR□ Barry Brown, as the fellow in this slender <573> tale, is unutterubly dull and it is a great relief all round when Daisy ups and takes a fever at theColosseum. 1. a infin, or present or past simple tenses. up stakes/ sticks [V + O] move (with one`s belongings) to another place of residence or work (from pull up stakes (US), originally referring to the formal abandoning of a claim to land for pioneer settlement or prospecting)o Then Morris fotund a job as a book-keeper inJerusalem, in the family upped stakes and moved once again. STo Dana left home all right.hul not the family. They simply upped sticks and went with her. RT□ Everybody from depart-mental directors to Parliamentary ushers has to up-sticks and move from Luxemhourg to Stras-hourg when Parliament is in session. L up to a point [A (PrepP)] partly; in some degree V: agree, approve; tolerate sb/ sth; be,seem. adj: true, acceptable, tolerable □ Up to a point, this is true, hut the difference is slight and the over-ull agreement considerable. SNP□ This haul is encouraging but only up to a point. SToIt was proper for the Judge to encourage the jury up to a point to come to a definite conclusion. Tu ' We say that the signal saturates. Is that all clear, John?’' Up to a point. What I don't see is how the wave-length comes into it.'TBCo front,middle or end position. up yours etc(taboo) be quiet; go away; drop dead²(qv); (taboo) get knotted (qv); get lost(qv);(taboo) get stuffed (qv) pron: yours, you.n: (replacing yours etc) your arse, theEstablishment o ' And there' ll be five pounds for replacing the lock you broke.`' Up yours!'I said,giving him two fingers. o ' The Dawsons will be complaining about the noise again. ' Oh, up them. People have to live, haven't they?'a In the60 days after he retired from Avis (a business concern), Townsend wrote a book impishly titled' Up the Organisation', RT o exclamation of contempt and/ or defiance, with or without the accompanying gesture of a turned-in hand with first and second fingers raised together (not spread as in the V/ victory sign). an uphill task etc[Comp (NP)] a difficult task, undertaking, either in itself or because of opposition met with V:△be, become; find sth.n: an... task,△an... fight, an... struggle; work.going a He never has much to say; sustaining a conversation of more than a few minutes with him is uphill work.□So far, I'm finding ' The LongMarch of Everyman' (Radio 4. Sundays at10.10) uphill going. NS□At long last it did seem that we might get a dividend from the uphill fight we had been waging with the Government.MFM□The House of Lords is not prone to wast-ing counsel's time, but the union certainly had an uphill struggle from the first day with LordWilberforce. ST ộ ⚠ be downhill all the way¹. upon my soul/ word certainly; truly; my goodness o I believe I could earn more money charring(= cleaning houses, offices etc for pay-ment), upon my soul I do. v ' In-eff-icient!' SirJulius let the syllables fall one by one with an air of shocked amusement. Upon my soul, that is about the last epithet I should have expected to hear applied to me, from such a source, Mrs Car-stairs!'EM□(advertisement) That pretty frock.too, has surely a special freshness. Upon my up stakes/ sticks—— use one's head/ loaf word! What a difference starching with‘Robin’makes. WI o rather restrained exclamation,associated with older middle-class speakers and emphasizing a comment, promise, threat, or expressing delight, astonishment etc. the upper crust (informal) the aristocracy;people who think themselves, or are thought by others to be, on a high social level o But, on the whole, working-class people, and in particular the men, simply do not include the upper crust in their picture of life nowadays. ULo While such social types in England can move automatically from Eton into the Cabinet, it's a heavy handicap for an American politician to have gone to Har-vardand have an upper-crust accent. Lo In ' TheMillionairess' he's the upper crust handsome idiot who's married to the rich Mrs Fitzfassen-den. RT o We were shown the old style upper crust who won the war, naval officers breezing into battle through a barrage of heroic music. NSo attrib use an upper-crust officer, accent.sport etc. the upsand downs(of sb/ sth) [n+ n non.rev] an alternating pattern of good and bad periods in sb's/ sth's fortunes, health, spirits etc o: life, career, marriage; controlling the econ-omy, running a business o People, we assume,are much the same everywhere: personality will out, and the ups and downs of life are much the same everywhere too. L o Since she could not discuss the baby's up$ and downs with Joe.Virginia discussed them with Lennie, who was always ready to listen. AITC □ They needed a security beyond the accidents of their daily life,with its ups and downs of feeling and its too intense dependence oneach other. PWoAndas theHallé(Orchestra) it became the pride and joy of the North, and of course, not without sormups and downs, to this day. OBS□ She had had her ups and downs, but she had always managed to pull herself together and have a good time. Ho often in construction have one's ups and downs. upset the/ sb's applecart [V + O pass] spoil a plan or arrangement; disrupt events; disprove a theory o Setting the tray down she gave a squeal. I say, you do look a sight! Something upset your apple-cart?’ US o‘She was in, of course. I knew that.'' No, she wasn't, she went out, that was what upset the applecart.'TSMP□Still, in climbing this high George McGovern has upset enough applecasts to choke all the highways in Miami Beach. NSa I think it is rough-ly true that Swift was the fellow who upsetMarlborough's apple-cart, and a very good thing, too. L use one's head/ loaf [V + O] (informal) (be able to) think effectively, use one's intelligence(from Cockney rhyming slang, loaf =‘loaf of bread’= ` head’)o He can put things right if he will only use his heed and be unselfish. AHo That box will hold all the empty bottles if you stack the top layer upside down. It's just a case of using your head, you see. o(football) He can cut off a move by using his loaf when a younger player might have to sprint 60 yards to gain the same result. TVT o ' Oh, use your loaf, for Christ's sake!'I shouted. His incomprehension was begin-ning to get me down. CON o also p l use their heads/ loaves. 573 <574> the valley of the shadow of death [o(NP)]a place, or circumstances, in which one is in danger of, or has narrowly escaped, dying V: be in; go, pass, through o (source) Yea, though Iwalk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. PSALMS XXIII 4 □(reader's letter) The precise literal meaning of the Hebrew words used by the Psalmist is the valley of the shadow of death'. Nobody has ever taken them otherwise than metaphorically.To (book review) This life in the valley of the shadow of death is on the whole painfully con-vincing. NS value for money [0 (NP)] worth the price paid V: give, get; want, expect□(1971) Undoubt-edly, some people in the trade have cashed in on the inability of British housewives to recognise value for money in decimal currency. SC oThey' re ordinary working folk who want to enjoy a night out and get value for money. TVTo Well,I thought, that's three quid((slang) = pounds(sterling)) for adjectives—— perhaps the rest of the book will give value for money. It does. L a value judgement [O (NP)] a subjective as-sessment of sb/ sth's value, usefulness, interest etc which is not, or cannot be, based on evidence or experiment V: make; offer, deliver□ One of the great problems is to understand clearly the relative importance in one's life of value judgements' as opposed or compared to' knowledge' judgements. L o In all the above examples, the tribunal was forced to make a value judgement on the behaviour of working people and employers using simple tests of' reasonableness'. ST variations on the theme (of sth) different forms of an original, or basic, theme, topic or activity (from theme and variations as a par-ticular type of formal musical composition) oHer devious husband, aiding and abetting her,thought out new variations on the theme of burglary and blackmailing. DC□ Before the War more space was given in ' The Times' to obituary notices. There were many variations on the theme that the world' would be the poorer for his passing. AH D occas sing. variety is the spice of life(saying) new, or different, things to do or experience, make life interesting, prevent one from becoming bored or dull o (source) Variety's the very spice of life,/ That gives it all its flavour. THE TASK (WCOWPER 1731-1800)□ I'm just an odd-job man,really, for anybody who needs one. Oh well, vari-ety is the spice of life, as they say. o(NONCE)Useless information is the spice of life, and it is surely nice to know who was the second youngest prime minister. L very good, (sir/ madam) yes; certainly; that is agreed;I will do as you say o ' You wish me to undertake this enquiry, sir?'' Until you can hand it over to the proper authorities—— yes.'‘Very good, sir. 'EM o ' Those ginger biscuits are as hard to bite as cracking nuts.’ Very good.madam,' said Palmer, and she picked up the of- 574 fending plate. WDM口 esp used as formally civil reply to an order or request from a superior,employer, customer etc. very well all right; I agree; I can do that (the implication usu being unenthusiastic or reluc-tant agreement or consent) □ ' My lord, this juror wishes to affirm (instead of taking the oath).'' Very well, then,' says the judge in that world-weary way judges have. NS o‘No, no. Iinsist on paying my own fare.' Very well, if you feel that way. It's not worth argument.' the vexed question/ subject (of sth) a subject about which there is much argument and variety of opinion;a problem to which no satisfactory solution has yet been found o Will the Prime Minister bear in mind that the Chinese government regards the vexed question of For-mosa as of much greater importance than a seat on the United Nations? T o Then there is the vexed question of baptism and education of children of mixed marriages. Go Still on the vexed subject of cheap houses for London com-mulers, this is a sketch of new terraced houses on an estate at East Tilbury (38 minutes from Fen-church Street). ST o One of the most vexed questions in assessing the dangers of pollution by insecticides such as DDT is the way in which they are distributed worldwide from the places where they are used. T a vicious circle/ spiral a situation in which a reaction, or effect, increases the original cause or makes the whole process continue o Debtors were caught in a viclous circle: they could not be freed until they had paid their debt, and were not able to pay their debt as long as they were in prison. L o It vexed her to feel as she did, and vexation turned to guilt, and guilt increased her unrest: it was a vicious circle. PW□ The lack of a sense of proportion is exemplified by the assumption on the Republican side that any and every action by the Army, whatsoever the provocation that preceded it, justif ies the con-tinuation of bombing and shooting. The whole situation is locked in a vicious spiral. L the village idiot a stock example of a sim-pleton, eccentrically stupid or foolish person oChristian Rodska can claim that he made his television debut as a village idiot. But he's cer-tainly proved he's nobody's fool as an actor. TVT□He's an old rogue. Playing the village idiot is not going to get him out of trouble this time. the villa in of the piece [Comp (NP)] the villain in a drama; the person, or group, re-sponsible for mishandling, or interfering with,a situation in politics, business, or social lifeV:△be; regard sb as, think sb o Is the company she has been so loyal to for so many years the villain of the piece? TVT □ The villain of the piece is suspected to be Lord Aldington. Toby Aldington,the story goes, is encouraging Ted in his wilful ways. NSo The original idea for the conference came from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It's ironic that Mr Barber, as host, is also one of the willsins of the piece. L <575> virtue is its own reward—— one's walk of life virtue is its own reward (saying) the satis-faction gained from virtuous conduct etc is suf-ficient, outweighs any other consideration oDon't they say that virtue is its own reward?It had better be; for even where Good Works are concerned, the bingo business (ie pure luck) still applies. TVTo(NONCE)CLIVE: Well, poetry's its own reward, actually— like virtuse. All Art is.FFE □ often adapted. one's vital statistics one's body measure-ments (esp the bust, waist and hip measure-ments of a woman) □ (Metrication Board ad-vertisement) Here's how this lady's vital statis-tics are written down in metric: Height: 165 cm(5ft5ins) Bust:91cm(36 ins) Waist 74cm(29in) Hips 97cm(38 ins).□Soviet girl models, and there are a few, asked by some pushy Western male journalist for their vital statistics, are as offended as Victorian ladies. NS one's voice breaks¹ a boy's voice changes W the wages of sin (is desth) the inevitable consequence of wrong-doing is punishment and suffering;(facetious) the pleasure and pro-fit that one gets for having sinned □(source) For the wages of sin is desth; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.ROMANS VI23□ She had enough faith in spiritual values to feel that they would be the better for it(a blessing). The wages of sin did no one any good. PW□Shivering, he thought of the warmth and light of the hotel where Robert Tharkles had taken Betty. The wages of sin. HD waifs and strays [n + n non-rev] homeless people, dogs, cats etc, esp, formerly, orphaned or abandoned children who had to find what shelter and food they could o Aunt Annabel(who fed stray cats as well as her own) snuggled against the cat in her arms. ' This is Renoir. He's so fat — He's my own treasure. He merely tolerutes the waifs and strays. DC D nouns can be used separately. wait and see [v + v non-rev] wait to find out what will happen, or be done, before, or instead of, taking action, making a decision, or forming an opinion, oneself o It is probably one of those things that are too complicated for direct cal-culation. We shall have to wait and see, I'm afraid. TBC□ Kate says as far as her future goes.we' ll all have to wnit and see. TVTo A break-down of the Scottish economy is too near to allow continuance of wait-mod-see policies. SC □often used with will, would, must, have to; attrib use a wait-and-sq o policy, philosophy etc. wait etc till/ until the cows come home wait etc for a very long time, indefinitely V:(will/ may/ can) wait, complain, argue, sit there□ He' ll go on talking about his experiences inParaguay till the cows come home unless someone stops him.□One can bat the slogan that' It's Scotland's oil' to and fro across the table until the cows come home(or until the Ameri-cans have built all the rigs)—— the English have not the slightest intention of letting it becomeScotland's oil. NSoA writer should make himself from the higher voice of a child to the lower voice of a man o He used to sing in the choir atEton till his voice broke. WDM□It is interesting that though Caruso's treble appears to have been a deep one, it broke as a baritone. OBSone's voice breaks² emotion prevents one from speaking evenly or without interruption aI don't think I could read these lines without my voice breaking. Get someone else to do it. the voice of conscience the sense, aware-ness, that one has failed or sinned; the still small voice (of conscience)(qv)□A civilised society is one which sees the evil in itself and provides means to eliminate it where the voice of con-science is active. NS□(politicians being severely addressed) The curious thing is that they accept his manner as if they knew that all good English-men should be made to listen to the voice of conscience from time to time. OBS as clear as reasonably possible. But he cannot be as clear as possible, just like that, because the idea of clarity is, as jurists say, infinitely defeas-ible, or, to put it more loosely, open to stupid objections until the cows come home. NS □stress pattern , wait tilt the ' cows come home. wait one's turn [V + O] not (try to) do sth.obtain attention or service, before others who may have prior rights o To see the waiter (who knew' us) taking our order and making them wait their turn was too much for a formidable matron among them. AH o I had hoped the game would finish in time for me to catch the 4.15 but at 4.15 I was still waiting my turn to bat. (would) wake etc the dead[V +0] be rousingly, disturbingly, or excessively loud V:wake, △ waken, awake, awaken o His voice came echoing down the stairs.' What's going on down there? Who's prowling about?' Nurse Ellen gave Brigit a resigned glance. ' That foghorn would wake the very dead.'DC□He goes roar-ing by fit to waken the dead on that motorbike of his. walk before one can run master the first stages of a skill, or study, before risking failure at a more advanced or ambitious level modal:must, ought to, need to. V: learn to, want to, try to o The L. C. C. architects (careful men) say they want to welk before they can run. OBSoIwas in too much of a hurry in those days. I was trying to run beforelcould walk. TVT□WilliamSaroyan learned to run before he could walk.It has been a long run, and a merry one. SC o walk and run rev. one's walk of life one's place in society as determined by profession, trade, occupation,social background, age group, etc det; one's.another, all, every o I talked with many people in every walk of life. MFM□ Meeting people in' mis walks of life' is not always the psychological uplift for media professionals that people in all walks of life suppose. Lo A man in Ilford had jobs for insurance salesmen. He was saying' But we have people from all works of life' for the 575 <576> walk the plank—— warm the cockles (of sb's heart) third time when I rang off. NSo ' Or one could ask someone in another walk of life. One could askMrs Perfect, for instance,' ' Our daily woman?'PWoAll walks of life provide candidates, and the final selection represents a cross-section of the teenage population. RT o in constructions from/in all walks/ every walk of life. walk the plank [V+ O] go/ be sent to one`s death; be destroyed (from pirates making their prisoners walk blindfold along a plank jutting out from the ship, till they fell into the sea) oYou might as well ask a man to walk the plank as drive in this fog.□I don't know whether(Eng-lish language) standards are going up or down.I just know that in terms of should be made to walk the plank. NS walk a tightrope [V + 0] have to act in a situation where there is little scope for manoeuvre or adjustment and where an exact balance must be preserved (from the tightrope on which acrobats perform) □ As a manager,you walk a tightrope. The dividing line between success and failure is very, very thin. Lo Two young cops walk a tightrope in the world of crime, starring Paul Michael Glaser as ' Starsky'and David Soul as ' Hutch'. RTo Secondly, the law centres walk a precarious tight rope be-tween pure case work and more active involve-ment in the community's problems. STo Not sinceCharles Blondi n crossed the Niagara Falls in1885 can there have been a piece of tight-rope walking to rival Mr Healey's performance yes-terd ay afternoon. G o may be tightrope/ tight-rope/ tight rope; n compounds tight-rope walker,tight-rope walking. a walking dictionary etc[Comp (NP)] sb who has and uses an extensive vocabulary, or who possesses the qualities or functions of sth specified to an unusual degree V:△be, become,turn into. n: dictionary, adding-machine; mir-acle, disaster; rag-bag o He's a walking dic-tionary. And by the way he's a great reader of your books. RMo The lady, even her best friends say, is a walking calculator. TVT□Pooh, for his size, ate more than any other animal I have every come across. This walking stomach had a daily ration of... DF o Even when the actuality was more than good enough to get by on, Ford was compelled to improve the truth: he was a walk-ing credibility gap. L o also pl. walls have ears [V + O](saying) sb may be listening surreptitiously o ' Shall I come to your hotel?'' Better if we meet in the Park. Walls have ears.'a You don't know what it is to live in a police state where walls her s ears and your own children may be encouraged to inform against you. wall-to-wall carpeting etc a covering which extends over the whole floor area;(fig)things or persons that/ who are present everywhere, or in large numbers n: carpeting;luxury, clutter; women, policemen o You can treat yourself to a weekend of wall-to-wall huxury at the London Hilton(Hotel), of course.for a mere £200-£300. OBS□ Mae West was still working on her film ' Sextette' late at night when50 basketball players stopped to watch her. She stopped to watch them, drawling ' Nothing I love more than wall to well man, but it's been a long day and I' ma little tired. One of you will have to 576 leave.'TVT□Grenada's wall-to-wall greenery extends right down the steep hillsides to some of the best beaches in the Caribbean. OBS a Walter Mitty a type of day-dreamer who(habitually) imagines himself the hero in dan-gerous, important or romantic situations(from the title-character in THE SECRET LIFE OF WAL-TER MITTY (J THURBER 1894-1961)) D He's a realWaiter Mitty. With a broken marriage and stuck in a job he hates. I suppose he needs to escape from reality sometimes, o There is a Wal-ter Mitty side to many people,a conviction that,given the opportunity and the self-confidence.they could move unscalable mountains, or at least scale them. SCo He enjoys writing fiction.' It's a means of escape. You crawl back into a happy womb where you can be anything and do anything. It's the old Waiter Witty thing.'OBS□But it wasn't just a case of a man convicting himself of megalomania out of his own mouth .There was also the ease of the professor's own passage straight into Walter-Mitty-land. NS□often attrib use a Walter-Mitty character, exis-tence etc. a wandering Jew an itinerant, restless, or unsettled person (from the legendary wander-ing Jew who spurned Christ and was condemn-ed to wander the earth until Christ's second coming) o CISSIE: Ronnie met her when he came to work in Norwich. ESTHER: Another wander-ing Jew. Another one who can't settle himself.Hopping about all over the country from one job to another. ITAJ the war to end war(s) an optimistic slogan of the First World War 1914-18 when it was believed, or hoped, that such a major war would never occur again o ' Joined up when Iwas seventeen, ' he said. ' January, nineteen-fifteen. Served four years.’‘The War to EndWars.’ TToI had known all the wishful cant (=insincere talk) about Tommy Atkins (= theBritish soldier), and the Russian steam roller,and the was to end war, and making the world safe for democracy. AH a war/ battle of nerves a struggle for power,or control, between people, groups or nations which is conducted by means of threats, tactical manoeuvres, psychological pressures, etc oThe Russian war of nerves, or battle of wits.was looked on not as a bluff but as an indication that hostilities would break out at any moment.MFMa The railway carriages containing terror-ists and hostages were two hundred yards away.across an open field. Both sides prepared for a long drawn-out battle of nerves. war to the knif●[Comp (NP)] bitter and im-placably continued fighting, quarrelling,rivalry V:△be; become, turn into o Victor's lot tumbled to it that they'd been set up(by the rival gang) for the police and after that it was war to the knife. OBS warm the cockles (of sb's heart) [V + 0pass] make sb feel pleased and cheerful o For the rest of the day the port presented a scenario of furious productivity, guaranteed to warm the cockles of any dock boss's heart. STo To know one's way around the intellectual history of the19th century is to be familiar with instances of generosity and friendship that would warm the cockles of historians' hearts. NSa This tea is <577> the warp and woof of sth—— watch this space very comforting. Briggs. It warms the cockles.EM o ' You must meet my daughter, ' Wormold said, the whisky warming his cockies. OMIH◇raise sb's hackles. the warp and woof of sth [n+ n non-rev]the (two) elements that form the nature and pattern of sth (from weaving) o: experience,life; democratic government, Western music oThus thewarp andwoof of my days at San Jose consisted in trying to learn more about the mys-terious, fascinating process of teaching. OBS □You cannot teach a child what he cannot learn so that, in a sense, any child is a product of a kind of self-education — imitation and experiment being the warp and woof of it. warts and all with no defects omitted from a description or judgement□(referring to source)Cromwell's instructions to his painter. Sir Peter.Lely were, ' to paint my picture truly like me and not flatter me but remark all these ruffness, pim-ples, warts and everything as you see me;otherwise I never will pay a farthing for it.’ RToHis portrait is presented in lively style, worts and all, by his friend. NS waste not, want not (saying) if you never waste anything, eg food, money, resources, you are not likely to lack what you need o The jays were inveterate hoarders. Their motto was ob-viously ' waste not, want not'. DF□(a gold-smith's workshop) For the same reasons of economy. all washing water is specially filtered,and all the sweepings are burnt and sifted.Weste not, want not. RT waste(one's/ sb's) time[V +O pass](cause sb to) do nothing, or sth useless, unwanted,unimportant etc, when some necessary or worthwhile action is needed A: looking for it;on formalities; in school o It's you who are a fool standing there wasting time talking when we should be arranging to get away. DC□ Equally.Parliament and the Police are wasting their time if penalties are so small that it pays people to go on offending. Lo There are always a few people who come in and weste the agent's time with a hundred and one questions about property.□ Bruno has a job waiting for him in an uncle's electro-welding business and sees another year of schooling as a waste of time. □ The chassis's rotten with rust, sir. It would be a waste of my tim@ and your money to try to repair it,口 variant a waste of (one's/ sb's) time; n compound time-wasting, ◇ lose/ waste no time (in) doing sth. watch the clock [V + 0] be careful not to work any longer than the hours stipulated;(habitually) calculate, or check, how soon one will be entitled to take a break, or finish for the day o I wouldn't have him on the premises. Chat-ting up the typists and watching the clock is all he's good for o(advertisement) Believing deeply in what they' re doing, almost everybody works the hours that are necessary to produce the results. There is no time or room for clock-watchers. STO used esp of an employee;n com-pounds a clock-watcher, clock-watching. watch every penny etc[V + 0] consider carefully before committing oneself to any item of expenditure, procedure, speech, diet etc O:penny (one spends), word (one utters), move(one makes), bite(one eats)□ Also, he watches overy penny he spends, which gives him a reputation for meanness. OBSa She is so ready to take offence and to imagine insults or criticism that you' ve got to watch every word you ulter.o often follows have to, must, need to. watch it (informal)(warning to sb to) be care-ful about, not go too far or any further with, a course of action, topic, way of behaving, type of comment o But recent information indicates that Ponia is working his cops round the clock to spell out a simple lesson. I am in control here, he is saying: so watch it. NS□' Look at Clyde. He's so dozy.’ Watch it,' said Clyde. STo Don't take any wooden pesetas or whatever the bloody things are, and watch it with the local talent. So long, Taff. ILIH watch/ mind one's language/ tongue [V+ O] (informal) not be, or stop being, im-pudent, indiscreet, blasphemous etc o Watch your tongug. my lad, and wipe that grin off your face unless you want me to do it for you. □ IIwould pay him to watch his language and pull his socks up (= improve himself). L watch (sb/ sth) like a hawk [V + 0 + Apass] keep sb/ sth under close and constant ob-servation; be purposefully alert for/ to do sth oYou know how unreasonable girls are and she' ll be watching her sister and me all the time like a hawk. RMo' It's true that Ralph is wary about the audience.’ Sir John says. ' He watches it like a hawk.’ OBS□ Here, Moses. That dog of mine needs watching like a hawk. Surprisin'(= surprising) he's not been run over long ago.Lo He must have been watching like a hawk for just such a moment of confusion that would give him his chance. CONa The Dashes thrive on a diet of porridge, apples, oranges and bananas, two loaves of bread and jam a day — and Billy watches hawk-like to ensure they don't leave the crusts. TVT o I don't like living near a busy road when my daughter's so young. She needs to be watched like a hewk to stop her running out into the traffic---she' ll get run over one day. □variant watch hawk-like. watch and pray[v + v non-rev] be alert, atten-tive, careful, while seeking God's help and sup-port o (source) Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. MATTHEW XXVI 4| □ You must watch, my dear, and pray. It is the only way to be a scholar, to watch and pray. MM□In those days when anybody caught pneumonia there was little to be done but watch a ru d pray.watch/ mind one's step [V + O] (informal)be very careful how one behaves, speaks etc in order to avoid danger, difficulty, criticism etco'I'm the chucker-out.' said Charles, ' so watch your step.' HD o Watch your step with this fellow. He's been around a bit: he maybe knows just as much as you do. PE watch this space [V+O](catchphrase) keep alert because sth to inform, interest or surprise you will appear here/ in this connection (from the caption on reserved advertising space when a (full) notice or advertisement is to follow) oWhen Johnny got married he wrote ' Watch ThisSpace instead of ' None' in the ' Children' section of his Income Tax Return. □ This week BerkelyPetroleum returned to West Dorset--and to parts of Somerset — to start a series of seismographic tests. Watch this speco. ST oThatcher has said she will abolish the rating sys- 577 <578> watch (the rest of) the world go by—a way out (of sth) tem. Watch this space. She won't. No one will.Not ever. NS watch (the rest of) the world go by ob-serve the passing scene, what is going on around one; live a self-sufficient, withdrawn,limited life□ The newspaper lay unopened beside him. Watching the world go by was sufficient entertainment on a fine evening.□' Of course,' she laughed, the problem of staying here permanent-ly is that one would just sit back and watch the world go by. ’ RT a watched kettle/ pot never boils(saying)waiting attentively for sth to happen, a stage to be reached, makes it seem to take longer o l wonder if you would like a cup of cold consomménow? It won't spoil your appetite for lunch, but it will remove that feeling of the watched pot which never boils. RM □ Don't you know me watched kettle never boils? Whether they' re late or early, looking out of the window won't bring them here any quicker. (in/ through) the watches of the night(formal) (during) night hours when one is on duty, or simply awake, instead of sleeping o I'm going to economize. Suddenly in the watches of the night I realized what an expense I was to you. OMIH o (General Election results on television) The star performers. Burnet,McKen-zie and Butler, were on hand to describe how they would keep themselves and us awake through the watches of the night. Lo The story was too unbelievable to be really frightening though Iadmit it's not the sort of reading with which I'd choose to beguile the night watches. o variant(in/ through) the night watches. a watching brief [0 (NP)] (legal) a com-mission to be present at, and to protect a client's interests during, court proceedings;(fig) an agreement or understanding to observe,supervise, report etc on sb's behalf in any situa-tion V: hold, have, keep; give sb, entrust sb with□ Lord Pomfret and Mr Wickham were now well away about the iniquity of the proposed draining at Starveacres Hatches with Noel holding ·watching brief. WDM□ The next few months were spent tidying up loose ends and discussing with De Beers the retention of a skeleton staff to keep a watching brief. DS□ Eventually, as the situation cooled somewhat, it became what reporters call a watching brief: nothing much doing, but always the possibility of trouble. Lo ByJune 1955 Attlee had broken with precedent by publicly announcing specific watching briefs for each of his 12 elected shadow colleagues. NS(meet) one's Waterloo(be faced with, esp after previous success) a final defeat,a difficulty or obstacle one cannot overcome o (source—from the defeat of Napolean at Waterloo 1815)Every man meets his Waterioo at last.SPEECHES(W PHILLIPS 1811-84)□(home repairs) It all went reasonably well until, becoming con-fident. I tried my new toy on a cupboard door.That cupboard door was my Waterioo. SC wave the flag [V + O] show and/ or stir up patriotic, group, or ideological feeling,(the im-plication often being that those concerned have not examined their beliefs, feelings etc care-fully) o He obviously pictures the National(Theatre) as another prestige project, an expen-sive way of waving the flag. Lo These memor- 578 anda suggested that the President said: ' Well,I' ve got to give this speech at Philadelphia on the4th, and I don't want to talk just about patriotic,flag-waving things.' Lo Nevertheless, it is prob-ably true that any Scots man or woman, however far removed from the ranks of the flag-werers,is aware of an identity in no way equivalent to that of the provincial English. SC o n com-pounds a flag-waver, flag-waving. ◇△ show/ fly the flag. wave a(magic) wand(and do sth) [V + 0pass](try to) find a means of doing, easily and quickly, sth that is difficult or impossible o I can meet you at the entrance and you can wave your magic Wend and get me a pass in. HD o An international manager's job is thankless. He has no vital club roots nor regular playing staff, but is still expected to www.www.and produce the goods three or four times a year. TVTo You' ve got to overcome this yourself.If I could whev@ #wand and make you better again, I would. o' National security' is a magic wand which tends to anaesthetise opposition—— and those entrusted with waving it have a power more menacing than can be found in any statute. NS wax and wane [v + v non-rev] increase and then decrease o His Kingdom stretch from shore to shore,/ Till moons shall wax and wan e no more. ENGLISH HYMNAL 420o The weakness of the Dyak theory is the problem it leaves regard-ing the nature of the force of things. What is it like? Can it begin working of its own accord? Can it wǒ x and wane? NDNo' Auriculas and Prim-roses' is a highly informative book devoted to these fascinating flowers which have walked and waned in popularity, through the centuries. STthe way one's mind works how one tends to think, learn, reason etc; how one is thinking at a particular time o According to the way their minds work, some will patiently piece evidence together till it points to a conclusion,others will postulate a conclusion and see if the evidence fits it. o It (a speech) has been published already but I make no apology for including it here since it shows the way my mind was work-ing in March 1944. MFM a way of life the normal pattern of social, or working, life of an individual or group o DrBottwink, you are a foreigner. Naturally, you are not altogether familiar with our customs, our habits, our way of life. EM o There is evidence that unemployment is becoming a deeply planted cultural phenomenon, not to say a way of life.NS□Banking was a way of life,a service with its own peculiar satisfactions and excitements. TOOoccas pl other ways of life. the way of the world what many people do(whether we approve or not) and what we are all accustomed to seeing done o Neither of them understood or sympathized with my passivity(about being asked to resign). To me it seemed the way of the world. SPL a ' The way of the world, rather than a particular time, that's what we are satirising, ' he says. OBS a way out (of sth) [Comp/O (NP)] a way of avoiding, or solving, a problem, difficulty etcV:(it/ there) be; see, look for, find, take. det:a,no, some, another, no other. adj: the only, the best, the easiest o ... a man who knows he's caught in a trap but is still convinced that <579> the way to a man's heart is through his stomach/ belly--wear thin somewhere, somehow there is a way out. NS□I think we are now at one of the turning-points in the human spirit, and it enables us to begin to see www out of the problem of prejudice.Lo You' re a spirited chap: you' ll come through. If I lend y' (= you) money, that will be the easy way out. US□(reader’ s letter) Please help me. I can't think straight any more. I'm worried I may lose Joan's friendship if I tell. What is the best way out? H o The one thing we cannot afford is to take the usual way out—— and cut back investment. OBS the way to a man's heart is through his stomach/ belly (saying) men enjoy good food, expect to be fed well and a woman, esp, can please them, or gain their affection, by providing this o I was holding her hand. ' Men are carnal, I said, as a more highbrow way of expressing that they way to a man's heart is through his belly. SMLo The theme of the way to a man's heart is through his stomach' was important in the script, and the cast had to eat enormous meals and drink wine endlessly. TVT ways and means [n + n non-rev] methods and/ or resources(whereby one can do or obtain sth) A: of making a living; getting round the regulations; to make a living, to prevent you oThere are ways and means of making a living,even in this country,' assures afriend, NSo All the feeling she had started out with had perished in the search for ways and means to express it. PW□' How did you get the dollars to come throughAmerica?’ I grinned. ' There are ways and means.’ RFWo often follows there are. we shall me what we shall see (catch-phrase) a particular outcome cannot be foretold o Now I see what the trouble is. Ah well. \as for the civil servants that's not so serious, and as for the liaison, well we shall see what we shall see. TBC□' Dick's going to give up smok-ing.' ' That wouldn't be a bad idea. We shall see what we shall see, however.'o often said scep-tically about a promise to do sth, or about a statement that sth will happen. we was/ wuz robbed (catchphrase) com-plaint, esp in sports, that one, or one's team,should have won, but had extraordinary bad luck, or suffered from an umpire's/ referee's wrong decisiono ' We wuzrobbed' is, ofcourse,a famous boxing expression, but the Australians'attitude over the pitch at Headingley has none of the colourful charm of that phrase and seems to be much deeper seated. NS□ wuz = was. we' re only here for the beer (catchphrase)we don't pretend to be present in order to help,show goodwill, etc but just to get the drink, or other hospitality, offered (from an advertise-ment for‘Double Diamond’ beer)o One of the virtues of these old advertisements, quite apart from their wit, was the emphasis on ' brand image’. There is a contrast here with another slogan, part of our folklore—— We' re only here for the beer.'NSo Already proficient on piano and whistle, he has just added a year's singing training and can be heard around the Manchester pubs with a folk group. ' But we' re only here for the bear.'TVToHe worked for a while as a stand-up comic in the Northern Clubs. That certainly toughened me up. You never know how you' re going to go, because basically they' re only there for the beer.'RTo. occas with other prons and with there(for here) which breaks the rhym-ing jingle. weak at the kness[Comp (AdjP)](informal)temporarily weak, trembling, perhaps hardly able to stand, from illness, emotion etc V:△be,feel, go o‘How do you feel?’‘Fine, really. A bit week at the knees but that will soon pass.'o Ru-dolph Valentino, the Adonis of the silent films.had one great quality— to make women feel week get the knders. TVT a weaker vessel a person less able to with-stand physical or mental strain, temptation or exploitation, than others o (source) Likewise,ye husbands, dwell with them according to know-ledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life. IPETERIII7□ There was a danger that the administrative echelons and units might accept the position of being the weeker vessels and decide that fighting was not their business.MFM□I'm asking you, as a kindness to a breaker wessel than yourself, to make the arrangements. US wear one's learning etc lightly [V + 0 + Apass] not be self-important about, nor try to impress others with, how much one knows n:learning,△ wisdom, culture, brightness o His considerable erudition keeps cropping up, and this can be disconcerting. He was never one to wear his learning lightly. RT o The show is stamped with his lightly-worn brightness and real love of reading. RT o The' Observer's' SueMcHarg jaunted through Tuscany recently wearing her culture lightly. NSD variant one's lightly-worn learning etc. wear one's/a legal etc hat [V + O] fill, play,a different role; speak, or act, as a lawyer etc in contrast with other interests or opinions one may have adj: legal, official, administrative;doctor's, manager's, referee's; (a) different oThis is not a novel or a new book of stories. Don-leavy is wearing a very different her this time out. G □ Kidnapping, flight from creditors, a publicity stunt— these theories are widely can-vassed— the latter dangerously embarrassing for Larkin, wearing his publicist's hat. SC oMr Brian Baird, a public relations consultant, is masterminding the proceedings. He, as they say in the PR (= Public Relations) business, is wéning a lot of hats. STo' You are Purdes, MrLawrence?'‘Purdeys,’ said Mr Lawrence who,until 1970, had been the firm's Managing Direc-tor, ' is one of the hats I wear.' tvt wear and tear [n + n non-rev] deterioration and damage from(continued) use adj: fair, nor-mal, general o (advertisement) The luxurious interior sprung mattress is guaranteed by the manufacturers for 5 years against fair wear and teas. OBS□(characters in a Shakespeare play)Claudio and Hero are less likely to survive what high court judges call the water and tear of mar-ried life than the sparkier Benedick and Beatrice.Go Most conditions of the elderly dog or cat are the result of general women and tear throughout their lives. SC wear thin [V + Comp] (begin to) become ex-hausted, less effective, less interesting or less amusing$: idealism, patience; mask, pretence;friendship; style, joke. adv mod: a little, a bit,rather, very o It is the same enthusiasm that 579 <580> wear the trousers/ breeches— well done(!) made him the youngest Methodist minister in the whole of New York State at 19, and the youngest ex-Methodist minister at 22. That was when the idealism wore a little thin. SCo It was even more imperative to present a smiling face to him. But the mask, she was afraid, was going to wear thin.DC □ Indeed the friendship, though never aban..doned, did ultimately wear thin. SCo Did the joke, even the music, begin to wear a little thin in Act 2? ST wear the trousers/ breeches [V + O] be the dominant partner in a marriage o It would be quite false to call Tom a hen-pecked (=dominated by his wife) husband; nevertheless one does gather the impression that she wears the trousers. □ I choose his clothes for him. Not that he doesn't wear the trousers in our house.He does what he wants. TVT o pron S usu stressed. the weather breaks/ holds good weather changes for the worse/ weather, of any kind,continues unchanged o Next day the weather broke. Tantrums of rain burst across the Grand'Place. US□After going through the family newsLydia told Eleanor about the plans for the water-party, provided the weather held. WDM oYoungsters enjoy this snowy breather. Ours are praying for it to hold till the weekend so that they can go sledging. weather/ ride the storm [V + O] (nautical)endure and survive a storm; (fig) surmount opposition, criticism, difficult circumstances,without being seriously affected; ride out (Vol1)(qv)□ Rural outlets(shops etc) though gener-ally small, tend to enjoy higher profitability and will be better able to weather the storm. Go LaScala has had long practice in weathering whatever storm is passing. RTo(chess) We' ll certainly have to look at that nineteenth game with Spassky's bold sacrifice of two pieces andFischer calmly weathering the storm. NS□ The scale and selectivity of the work recall WinstonChurchill's war memoirs, and so does the title of the volume, ‘Riding the Storm’. L wave a/ one's spell[V + O pass] have a magical effect; charm, interest or influence sb or sth in its own special way o It's too much expense and effort at my age. If I could weave a spell and have myself carried there, I'd go . oWe all have to go through it—— fresh air. hard training and clean living begin to wave the ir spell OBS weigh anchor[V + 0](nautical) raise the an-chor(s); prepare to leave the docking berth, or moorings o He looked over to the L. C. T. (=landing craft); she was weighing anchor to get away before the falling tide left her stranded.RFW weigh the consequences (of sth) [V + 0pass] consider carefully what will, or may be,the result(s) of doing sth, or of sth happening o:disobedience, failure: strike-action; claim,decision; declaring war, resigning from office □It was precisely because we had weighed and compared the consequences of Mr Wilson remaining Leader of the Labour Party with the consequences of his deciding to go that we published our leading article at all. NS□ A foot-baller's mind has to work fast, as well as his feet.He can't stop, like a chess-player, to weigh the consequences of every move. weigh the evidence[V + O pass](try to) as-sess how much evidence there is, and what value it has; compare evidence for and against sth in order to decide which is the more con-vincing o Some believe that a person's political opinions are consciously arrived at after a thorough weighing of the evidence and are modifiable. SNPo Lawyers are used to weighing the evidence of witnesses and getting through a lot of it. L o cf the weight of evidence =‘the extent of the evidence', as in Given the weight of evidence on his side, in any rational, informed debate Wheldon would probably have little to fear. NS weigh a ton (informal) be very, or com-paratively, heavy, esp to hold or to carry o That damn suitcase weighs a ton before you start putting anything in it. o There was also an eighteenth-century Indian elephant, made of wood though weighing a ten. OBS weigh one's words [V + O pass] speak, or write, with deliberate care in choosing one's words, either for stylistic reasons or to make one`s meaning perfectly clear, avoid giving of-fence, etc o He was as deliberate in his speech as he was in his work, weighing his words momentously. AITC□And a multitude of similar horrors ' helter-skelter development' (a pro-liferation of fairgrounds?) suggest that Gros-venor and Macmillan are hardly men who weigh●ach word. NS weight of numbers the combined weight,strength, influence etc of a group which out-numbers another□ In modern warfare, mobility and sophisticated weapons are more important!than weight of numbers. o(a football match)Manchester began to dominate, if only by sheer weight of numbers. Go often in prep phrase by sheer weight of numbers. a welfare state a state, country(esp UK from1946), that makes itself responsible for the wel-fare of its citizens by providing social and health services, subsistence payments, etc oPolitical minds seemed to be concentrated on the creation of a wellfere stato. MFM□What kind of welfare state is it in which a health service sim-ply cannot meet the demands made on it?□ Not only in a pre-Weffere State were they(children)an insurance against old age, but a large family in one's prime meant an increase of dignity, in-fluence and wealth. G well aware of sth/ that [Comp (AdjP)] fully informed, conscious, of sth/ that V: △ be, ap-pear; make sb. o:(of) that, the fact; my faults,your loyalty. cl: (that) it will be a difficult job.he dislikes me, money doesn't grow on trees □Disraeli was well aware of the scepticism which he continually provoked. NSo What this means is that the planners are well aware that in the past more schemes have failed to reach their target profits. STo He was addressing a committee al-ready well swigre of the difficulties. well done(1) comment, or exclamation, of approval and congratulation o At the final whistle he marches to the dressing room. ' Well done, lads,' he tells them as they come in. OBS。The boy pianist himself arrived, smiling calmly,to join them in the wings.' Well done, mate,' LewLewis said, patting him on the back. ST 580 <581> well and good----what could be more natural etc(than sth)? well and good that is all right; that is good, or satisfactory o If there was no heast-and al-most certainly there was no heast - in that case, well and good. IF o If the labelled diamonds turn up in the day's production at the sort-house. well and good. But if someone picks one up and tries to smuggle it through the turn-stiles a sort of Geiger counter sets off an alarm bell. DS□ Some would argue that it is industry which should be fostered, and that if, for various reasons, the traditional tourist business is weakened, well and good. SC o non-rev; usu end position in if-cl. well hooled [Comp (AdjP)] (informal) pros-perous in appearance and in fact; having plenty of money V:△ be. appear, look o The women in particular; they were mainly the sort who are100 well-heeled and too idle to take up any sort of work on reaching adult years. CON□ Both(communities) are reasonably well hoeled and comfortably off, and both enjoy a high amenity coefficient. SC o The discriminating and well-hooled tourist can be entertained to lunch and dinner and be the house-guest of some of the most famous princely names of Italy. L o sometimes hyphenated; stress pattern well ' heeled; attrib use a wall-heeled tourist. O be down at heel(Vol 1). well I never (did)(!) (informal) exclamation of pleased or displeased surprise o Well, Inever did. French or noi, you certainly don't look like a schoolmistress. TGLYo ' Wellingverl'she exclaimed in the midst of reading her cousin's letter.' How stories get garbled as they' re passed around! You' ll be surprised to hear what you' ve been doing. well met a comment that it is a fortunate, or convenient, occasion of meeting o ' Fine day for a shoot,' Patrick said. Julian then said to them all: ' Well, this is well met, what?' TGLY o‘General,’ he called. ‘What can I do for you?’' Hail. ' the Brigadier said. ' Well met, Larkin.'DBM well and truly[adv+ adv non-rev] completely;thoroughly o Then he manages to get dug in.well and truly dug in, in a publishing business.PP o We made our exodus, determined not to get lost again. Within the hour we were well and truly lost. OBS a A number of relatives might suspect that people like you in your anxiety to get a kidney might wish to take the kidney out before their dear relative is well and truly dead. Lo modifies adj or pp. wet the baby's head [V + O pass] have a drink, give or take part in a drinking party, in order to celebrate a birth o The night Mark was born, in March 1955, Bonar was out with Ber-na rd Braden and a few of the boys ' wetting the baby's heed, ' he said. TVTo The tragedy hap.pened after the crew of the Scottish registered boat visited a quayside pub to ' wet the baby's head.' sc wet/ not dry behind the●gars[Comp(AdjP)](informal) immature; inexperienced; naive(from the state of young animals after birth)V:△be, seem, remain. adv mod; still;a little,a bit.somewhat o (reader's letter) Any bloke that let himself he lumbered with all the different tasks that Mrs Kantypowicz mentions must be a little wet behind the ogrt. RT o There seemed to be something wrong about tough old NCOs (=Non-Commissioned Officers) having to jump to attention for some rosy-faced kid of an officer not vet dry behind the ears. a wet blanket [Comp (NP)] (informal) sb/ sth that discourages, reduces pleasure or enthusiasm V:△be, appear, feel□ I don't drink,smoke or dance and I haven't much light con-versation either. I'd just be a wetblanketat your partv. o He allows us neither to lose all sympathy for William nor to feel none for the die-hard Ger.man wet-bianket he eventually married. NSoThe weather cast a wet blanket over Ascot: theEarl Marshal's strictures against the wearing of hot pants in the Royal Enclosure became an academic question. o also pl; sometimes hyphenated. a wet nurse a woman employed, esp formerly,to breast-feed an infant; (fig) someone who gives another person support, encouragement(the implication being that the person receiving the support etc is behaving childishly)□' He just needs to be given confidence in himself. ' Well,somebody else can try. I don't see myself in the role of wet nurse to his deprived little ego.'o He has no strength of character. He's always need-ing to be wet-nursed. O stress pattern a wet nurse; variant (v, used only in fig sense) wet-nurse. wet or fine [adj + adj non-rev] whatever the weather; come rain, come shine (qv); (in) fair(weather) and/ or foul (qv); in any case/ event(qv) o A warm, sunny day will be nice, butBritain will enjoy the Royal wedding whether the weather's wet or fine for Prince Charles andLady Diana.□ So I took my umbrella, which Ialways do, wet or fine. RM 口 can function ad-verbially, as in second example. wet one's whistle [V + 0](dated informal)have an (alcoholic) drink □ Are you coming out to wet your whistle, Dad, or do you want to watch the rest of that programme? a John thought of turning down the whisky but the chair-man said that, if it was his speech he was worry-ing about, he'd be all the better for wetting his whistle first. o also pl wet their whistles. what are we waiting for? let us go ahead and do sth just previously indicated□' Why not come over to our place instead? We have cold salmon in the fridge and a roast in the oven, and wine to go with both. '' What are we welting for?' said John, rising at once.□' Have you any-thing really shocking, Reggie? I adore mucky books.''I like my pornography in real life.'I said.' Well, what are we waiting for?' RATT Oenthusiastic response to a suggestion etc; often facetious or ironic. what the butler saw(catchphrase) sth(mild-ly) improper, or embarrassing because usu not done or seen except in private (from, formerly.penny-in-the-slot peepshows)o What the but-ler mew when the phone rang in the Rothschild residence in Mayfair in the late 1890s was this superbswitchboard, its fittings in gleaming ivory.OBSo Then they set up the round contrivance. It had two eye-holes in it, and as she looked at itVictoria cried: Tt's like things on piers. What the butler smw.'TCB what could be more natural etc(than sth)? nothing could be more natural etc(than 581 <582> what d' you call him— what if? sth) adj:(more) natural, suitable, appropriate,beautiful, inviting; nicer, worse o What could be more natural than that everyone should be brought here who might have learned anything from me? TBC□ It's not good for father to be living alone, and since he's marrying a woman we all like and respect what could be mort suit-able? □ Now what could be nicer than this simple meal you' ve just served us?□ refers to sb/sth in a previous clause, or in a following than-cl. what d' you call him (informal) sb/ sth whose name one cannot recall, perhaps for the mo-ment O: him, her, it o ' Haven't you got a what d' you call it?'' A darning needle? Would I be doing it this way if I had?'o Then I ran into old what d' you call him. You know, the fellow who keeps the corner shop. o usu said to sb who is expected to know who/ what one means;n com-pound a what d' you call it. what do you know(I) (informal) exclama-tion introducing, or commenting on, an interesting, or surprising, item of information o' And what do you know, my dear,' continuedMrs Clipp excitedly, ' you know that interesting looking man?I' ve found out who he is.'TCBo ' Bill tells me that he's getting married to Jane next month.'' Well, what do you know! They' ve kept it very dark, the pair of them. " what do you mean, lazy etc?/! (informal)I don't understand; I question, or contradict,your statement $: you, they; the man, his teacher. adj: lazy, stupid, crooked, devious o' Get up, you lazy thing.' ' What do you man,lazy? I' ve done a lot more work today than she has.’ o‘The petrol tank’ s nearly empty.’‘What do you inven, neverly empty! I filled up on my way home.’ o MICK: Well, you say you' re an interior decorator, you'd better be a good one.DAVIES: A what? MICK: What do you man, b what? A decorator. An interior decorator. TC□indignant or angry challenge or denial; ex-pression repeats adj used by previous speaker.what do you think you' re doing? (infor-mal) why are you doing this? why are you etc acting, or behaving, in this way? S: you, he; the idiots, your mother. A: throwing stones at the hens, bursting in here; down there on your hands and knees o He picked up a handful of gravel and drew back his arm to throw. Stop it,Patrick, ' Jenny called. What do you think you' re doing? For shame, leave them alone.'TGLYo What the blue blazes(dated exclamation indicating surprise and, usu, disapproval) do you think you' re doing slouching across the parade ground like a bag of rags?' tvt o usu indicates disapproval, criticism, scorn etc. what does one/ sb(go and/ have to) do but do sth(informal) expression of irritation,self-disgust etc when sb unexpectedly, incon-veniently, or foolishly does sth S:I, you; the silly fellow, the Board of Management. cl: fall on my face, forget to lock up, turn down the offer o Stepping forward to receive my award what do I do but fall flat on my face. o We had just notified all the parents about the arrange-ments when what does the Bus Company go and do but change the timetable. o I have more teapots than I' ll ever use so what does she have to do but waste money buying me a new one. D previous clause or sentence gives circumstances in which foolish action is performed. what the eye doesn't see(the heart doesn't crave for/ grieve over) (saying)you can't, or shouldn't, be troubled about sth you don't know exists o ' It's a shame not to keep some of these strawberries for the children.’' Then there wouldn't be enough for everybody— and what the eye doesn't see, the heart won't crave for.'o When I was very young and first married I was very idealistic. But one changes as one gets older. Fidelity is not all that important. What the eye doesn't so----STo But it's better they shouldn't know that I was deliberately responsible for their being sent here.What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over. TBC what has sb got that I/ we haven't(got)?(informal) why is sb (so much) more popular,successful etc than me? □ I long to be seductive and tempting. What's Alice got that I heVen't got? RATT□ Here they were, regular customers.and she had turned them all down in favour of this comparative stranger. ' What has he got that we haven't got?' demanded, plaintively, the drunkest of the three. Pw o plaintive or ironic comment. (and/ or) what have you(informal)(and/ or)other person(s), thing(s), or event(s) of a similar kind; and so on; et cetera o If you add on rates.insurance, heating and what have you, that man is paying something approaching half his income just to have a roof over his head. ST□ And mem-bership of these castes is advertised by clothes, by house fronts, by cars, by the plethora of modern urban dialects—— camp, hippy, deb, media-freak,or what-have-you. Lo sometimes hyphenated.what the hell (informal) an exclamation ex-pressing a defiant‘don’ t-care’ attitude about one's action or about a situation o During his time with the Army of Occupation, certain illegal transactions in marks (but what the hell, every-body does it) had enabled George to pay off the mortgage on it, and so now the house was his own. PE□ ' Are you coming on with us, Bill?' 'Ishouldn't, but what the hell. I'm going to get into trouble when I get home, anyway. ThenJohnny came up. ' What the hell, Margot,' he said, and they resumed their quarrel. H what the hall etc? (informal) what, which thing? n:(flaming/ merry) hell, △devil, blazes,heck, dickens o‘What the hell has it got to do with you where I work?' he would have liked to say. HD□ Well, what the merry Ellen(= merry hell) does he think we' re sitting here waiting for?BFA 口 usu expressing speaker's bad temper,hostility, scorn etc. ◇△how the hell etc? where the hell etc? who the hell etc? why the hell etc? what a hope(1) (informal) an exclamation,emphasizing the improbability of sth just men-tioned either happening or being done o AFrench brigade would fall back, leaving theLothians to hold the line until midnight. We would then withdraw and embark at St Valéry.What a hope, thought I. STo Perhaps she thinks looking at outdoor clothes will bring her nearer to wearing them. What a hope, poor thing. DC◇△ not have a hope (in hell) (of sth). what if?' what will happen, what will we do, if?o You make it all sound very easy, but what if 582 <583> the idea doesn't come off?□ If I'm not back by the time you arrive, get a key from the people next door.'' And what if they' re not in?'o We can't sit here in the first-class. What if the ticket collector comes along? o if introduces possibil-ity to be considered. what if?² what does it matter, why should we care, if? cl: he does, it is, they have o ' Take your mac. It looks as if it's going to rain.' What if it does?I'm not made of paper.'o' It has a telescop-ic tube.'' What if it has?' ' It might telescope at the wrong moment.’ OMIHo‘All his life he’ s been used to giving orders.’‘What if he has? He’ ll have to get unused, now that he's retired.'o dis-misses possibility that has already been men-tioned as being of no importance. what is all this etc in aid of(?) (informal)what is the reason for, or the explanation of, all this etc? S: all this, that outburst, these ques-tions o 'I suspect you' re wondering what all this is in aid of,' he said. I said yes. NMo' And what,may I ask , is this song of hate in aid of?'' Fer-gus, we' re going to have a baby.'DC□ as a ques-tion, may express surprise and indignation. what is one doing, doing sth? (informal)why is one doing this job etc? $: you, he; theCouncil; the old fellow,a nice girl like you; your mucky boots, a photograph of her. cl: doing this job, climbing up there,(sitting) here, work-ing in a dump like this, lying on the table,among his papers o I meant, of course, what are you doing doing this job? HD□' And who the devil may you be?' he asked truculently. ' What are you doing, hanging about here?’ EM o l could be in St Tropez, what was I doing going on a week's thrash round mountains?OBS□Com-placent manufacturers were apt to chuck MarionGiordan under the chin during factory tours and ask what was a nice girl like her doing in a place like this? RToo implies surprise, puzzle-ment, disapproval, suspicion etc. what is done cannot be undone (saying)what has already been done cannot be changed□ But we can't change him, so we must make the best of it. What's done can't be undone, no use crying over spilt milk. AITC o I can't forgive so many bad novelists for having written about(Leonardo da Vinci). But there you are, what's done cennot be undone. ASA o often said to console sb who regrets what has happened. what is eating sb? (informal) why is sb depressed, cross, sulky etc?□ ME: What's get-ing you? JENNIFER: It's That Awful Woman. ME:Miss Perkins? JENNIFER: Who else? Ho' You' ve no business taking up the whole pavement with your prams,' said a stout woman. ' What's out-ing her. I wonder?’ said Anne. what/ that is sb's (little) game(?) (infor-mal) what/ that is the scheme, purpose, decep-tion etc sb is trying to effect(?) o I don't know what your game is, but I assure you we' re going to find out.□ So that were your little game! Get me a temporary transfer and then work yourself into my job.□ But this sneaking hotel business is just the way the Campbells would go to work.However,I' ll stop their little game. RMO can be short question; variant spot/ spoil/ see through/stop sb's (little) game. what is/ was good enough for my father etc is good enough for me/ us(saying) if what if?—— what is the next step? a belief, practice, way of life, method of work,etc satisfied previous generations, other people,etc, that is a good enough reason for retaining it o: my father, their mistresses, my doctor;royaltyo My father was a Liberal, and his father before him, and what was good enough for my father is good enough for me. o What was good enough for our predecessors can never be good enough for us, because we live in dif-ferent conditions and are different people. AHwhat is the hurry/ rush? (informal) why are you hurrying, wanting to do sth immediately;there is no need to hurry, to start now o ' Let's get it over.' ' Get it over? What's the hurry?'AITC o ' Have you written that letter yet?'' What's the rush?' what is it to sb?(informal) it doesn't affect or interest sb cl: to come home the other way; that people starve in another country, that I'm wor-ried out of my mind; if I spent twice as much on clothes as I do; whether we' re married or not oWhat's it to Johnny to carry in a few logs when he's here? a He gets his three meals a day and what is it to him if thousands starve elsewhere?□‘You’ re charging a guinea a week, is that right?’ What's it to you if I am?' hD what etc is the matter/ wrong(with sb/sth)(?) what is wrong(with sb/ sth)? what is the nature of sb's illness, sb/ sth's weakness or failing? $; what? whatever? something. (not)anything, nothing. o: you; the patient, the in-valid; her husband, those young people; the record-player, that car o What's the matter,Mrs Gaye? Are you feeling sick? DCo ' The girl's unusually quiet these days, ' said her father. ' Is there anything the matter, do you know? 'a' Chris!' ' All right, Nat, forget it. ' ' There's something the matter.’ PM o What, for in-stance, is the matter with Perthshire? Dumbar-ton county sends twice as many (students) asPerth to the universities. SC o' The car's giving trouble.’ ' For goodness sake! What's the matter with it now?' what etc is the matter/ wrong with sb/sth? what can be said against that? how can that be criticized? what objection is there to that?S: what? anything, something, nothing. o:(going) this afternoon,(seeing him) now,(ap-pointing) Jones o ' We really must see theBrowns while we' re here.' ' What's the matter with this afternoon, then?’ a l only spoke the truth—— there's nothing wrong with speaking one's mind, is there? (and) what is more [Conj] furthermore; as must also be noted;(and) more importantly oThe difficulties are considerable, for we now have to carry yet another rocket and its fuel. What is mos@, we have to make sure that the braking rocket is pointing the right way. NSCo' There's a sight too many folks after a man's money in this town.'' And what's more, they get it,'HD o usu front or middle position. what is the next step? what should, can one do next? where does one go from here? (qv)□' We' ve arranged for the principal speakers and booked the conference hall. What's the next step?’' We must book hotel rooms— but not until we know how many people will be at the conference.’ o If the fight to regain economic stability has created so much unemployment al- 583 <584> what is so special etc about sb/ sth?—— what (do you) say we etc do sth? ready and that fight has sull not been won, it is a little frightening to think what the next step na v have to be. what is so special etc about sb/ sth? what makes one person thing any different from another? (the implication being that the speaker expects a negative answer) adj: special,wonderful, remarkable, unusual, awful, dis-graceful. o: him, that; religion, politics: France.Wales o What's so special about motorisis. "uYou' re a wonderful woman: I don 't know how you manuge. What's so wonderful about me? 'o Oh, I couldn't ask him to sleep on the floor. ' What would be so terrible about that?'what a life! exclamation of complaint, or exas-peration, in not very serious circumstances oNow I shall have to write another letter. telling them they' ve sent the wrong forms. Oh dear,what a life!□' How many times have you been up und down these stairs with trays, Mary? " About the same as you. What a lifef'o comments on one's own or another's whole life style usu in-clude adjeg Whatarotten, tragic, downtrodden.easy. interesting etc life (he has, I lead, etc)1 what little money etc one has etc the small amount of money etc one has etc n:money, time, room; leisure, patience, informa-tion: (few) belongings. (few) friends. cl: one has, he can spare; they remember; is available.can be got, remain; there is, there are o 1um not a rich woman but what little money I have will be yours when I die. □ What little space there was below the sloping ceiling was as closely covered with pictures as an Italian votive chapel.AITC□ Dicky Torver spends what little time he has left over from the mill-girls in drinking him-self to death. RATT□ My parents eat little at their age, but what little they do eat they like to be good. RFW o few used with p l nouns. what/ that makes sb/ sth tick (informal)that which motivates sb/ sth and makes him it live、 behave, react as he/ it does o You' re a mys-terious little person. I don't know what makes you tick at all. TGLYo Mrs Tuchman's new book provides most of the answers for those who, like myself, have wondered for years what made that astonishing man tick. STo' More understanding of capitalism and of what makes industry tick must. he demanded, ' he got across to the products of higher education.'NSo Where wouldMr Goodrich be without his chip on the shoulder.his grievance against women? It was that that made him tick, to use a vulgarism. PW what Manchester says/ thinks today,London/ the world will say/ think tomorrow (dated saying) what starts as an opinion, belief, theory etc held in one small geographical, intellectual, or social field rapidly becomes accepted far more widely o It was even said that What Manchester says today, Lon-don will say tomorrow—— upronouncement that is almosi unintelligible in this age of centralisa-tion. Lo ' What Manchester thinks today the world will think tomorrow, is an outdated belief . The old parochial outlook has become u world view. T what more can one ask etc? surely this is an ideal, or entirely satısfactory. state of affairs.arrangement. lot in life. etc? V: ask、(for), want, desire o Happiness with family or 584 friend、 anducontented marriage partner. What more can you ask? 10o An easily-run chaler near a sa fe beach - what more can you want for u family holiday? what a nerve etc(1) (informal) an exclama-tion of astonished disapproval or outrage at sb's presumption, impudence; of all the nerve etc(!)(q、)n:a nerve.小a cheek,a neck o Will you be taking a wee dram( = a small drink of whisky)” At half past six in the morning.” MrsOdd exclaimed. ' What a nervel' RM o We' re used to kids stealing our fruit. But what a neck.coming over the wall with a basketl ◇ 小 have(got)/ with a nerve. what of it? is it important? does it matter?(the implication being that the speaker doesn't think so)a The man was a curious mixture, and besides, Charles had little or no experience of the type he represented. Well, what of it? He needed help and here it was offered. HDo You' re not having your meal just now. I hope?' the neigh-hour hesitated. ' Yes, we are, what of it? Come right in. 'o stress pattern what of it? what on earth/ in the world? (informal)what, which thing? o And isn't it a blessing we have Prissie. What one arth would we have done without her? DCo' We' ll kidnap the dog.' I said.Finn stared at me. ' What in the world for?' he said. UTNo / wondered dully what on earth l ought to do about her bank books, for she had considerable sums of money in Seattle and inEngland. RFW D emphasizes questioner's bewilderment, indecision etc. ◇ ⚠ how on earth/ in the world? where on earth/ in the world?who on earth/ in the world? why on earth/ in the world? what a pity/ shame(!) I'm so sorry! cl:(that)you can't be there.(that) it had to rain today:for the children to miss it; about your headache□ Oh, dear-we' re leaving for our son's wed-ding in Germany on the 12th. What a pityl Is that the only time you could come?□Oh, Paul.what a pity you didn't call in to see MrsMacroon. RM□I hear you had your bike stolen.Patrick. What a shmm/ o exclamation of regret or sympathetic concern. what price that etc?(informal) how likely is it that sth will happen or be done? what do you think of sb/ sth? how would you value sb/ sth(now)? pron: that、 this, those, these. cl:(repla-cing that etc)(that) he`s on the next Honours list.(that) the project never gets off the ground:(this/ that) for an excuse: your old man; the rule of law, equality of opportunity□ Having French lessons now, Ma. Eh? What price that? BFA oWhat price this for a nattygents'suiting?' Meg laughed, showing him a sample of tweed in large purple and vellow checks.□ But if thirty or forty thousand dockers do defy the court, as they have done and probably will do again, what price the rule of law? Lo He was toiling through the night bringing a restraining British influence to bear.What price that influence now? The plain truth of course, is that it never existed. NS what (do you) say we etc do sth? (infor-mal) shall we do this? don't you think it would be a good idea to do this? cl: we have a party.you have lunch with me. we go swimming□ He heard Ma agree that the cocktail was a beauty.What say we have a cocktail party and give <585> (and) what sb says goes— wheeling and dealing them this one?' DBMo It's a lovely afternoon.What say we skip this lecture and take a walk by the river? (and) what sb says goes (informal) (and)people, sb's employees, sb's family etc have to obey, agree with, sb; sb`s word is law (qv) o' He's the sort of Nero of this region, said theDistrict Officer,' and what he sgys goes. 'BBoLina Lalandi makes a point of introducing promising newcomers during the festival. It's a one-woman show and what she says goes. OBS□ stress pattern (and) what sb says goes. what will they think of next?/!(informal)a comment on hearing of an invention, new law, fashion, art form, gadget etc(the implica-tion being that it is astonishing or ridiculous)oInnocent bicycle pumps had proved to be plastic hombs and gone off at the stroke of eleven.What' ll they think of next?' people said at par-ties. QA o In one scene Fields peers through the keyhole of u n hotel bedroom to ascertain if he is in the right corridor. As he straightens up he murmurs. What will they think of next/'RT what with sth(informal) because of sth o: the bad weather, the noise and the dirt; being so tired o What with the bad weather this spring Iwasn't able to do much gardening. o What with income tax and alimony---I tell you, it's a dog's life. PE□But nowadays, what with ConservancyBoards and drainage schemes and things, the river runs away much quicker than it used to. EMo often precedes list of two, or more, items given as reasons or explanations; the list of items may be followed by and so on, and what-not, etc. what with one thing and another (infor-mal) because of various duties, burdens,engagements, incidents etc o It occurred to him that, what with one thing and another during the day, he had never checked Tillie's informa-tion about the warehouse robbery. PE o BESSIE:What with one thing and another I don't know if I'm coming or going. HSG o‘We are a little upset, what with one thing and another, saidMrs Pettigrew. MM o front, middle or end position. what's the big idea? (informal) what is the reason for such behaviour, such an action, or arrangement?(the implication being that there is no valid reason) □ They tell me you' ve taken a job at the hospital as an orderly. Carrying huckets and emptying bedpans. What the bloody hell's the big idea? HD□' All these particulars(= details) are on my application form, he said.losing patience, ' so what's the big idea of making me go over them all again?" what's cooking(?) (informal) what is being planned or done(?) A: in here; at the office;down Exeter way (= near Exeter) o What's cooking in television's most star-studded quiz game? Find out as Bob Monkhouse fires the questions. TVTo The club usually has something special on, on a Friday night, We' ll drop in and see what's cooking, anyway.□ Tony Marchant may have met the girl of his dreams. But Mum mustn't know what's cooking. TVT what's in a name? a name is no reflection of its owner's worth or merit□(source) What's in aname? that which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweel. ROMEO AND JULIET Ⅱ2□ She's not ashamed of the name Bloggs—after all, Mozart might have been called Bloggs.if God or Nature or whoever hadn't decided otherwise. What's in a mome? L what's the odds? (informal) what does it matter? one action, choice, result etc will be as good, or as bad, as another; make no odds(qv)□ SAM: I' ve been poisoned by someone or some-thing. What's the odds? By my life or my wife.HSG o ' Do it tomorrow instead if you'd rather.'What's the odds? I shall be just as busy tomor-row.’ whatever happened to sb/ sth? (catch-phrase) where is sb and what is he doing now?is sb/ sth that we used to know, hear about, talk about still in existence? o: him, her, them; the traditional granny; romantic love, student revolt o As a postscript to' People' we also begin a series entitled ' Whatever Happened To--',devoted to personalities whose names used regularly to hit the headlines and are still remem-bered. OBS□This week's movie aspirant is SimonWard of the super-colossal ' Young Churchill'.Will we ever he saying whatever-happened-to-him? STo There are two things that a discussion series like Radio Three's ' Whatever Happened to Equality?’ can hope to achieve. OBS whatever is, is right (saying) nothing in nature can be said to be unnatural;(the belief that) one should not question, or rebel against.established practice or conditions□(source) All discord, harmony not understood;/ All partial evił, universal good;/ And, spite of pride, in erring reason's spite./ One truth is clear, Whatever 'IS,is RIGHT,'ANESSAY ON MAN(A POPE 1688-1744)□My contention is that most people are subjected to a sustained and ever-increasing bombardment of invitations to assume that whatever is, is right, so long as it is widely accepted and can be classed as entertaining. UL whatever you do, (don't do sth) [Conj]whatever the circumstances may be (don't do sth specified by the speaker) cl: don't tell Mary,don't forget to switch off. don't let him get away D Now, whatever you do, don't tellMary. She's always saying I can't look after myselʃ. □ That's the only key I have. Don't lose it, whatever you do, o front, middle or end position; two parts of expression can be re-versed, as in second example. wheeling and dealing (informal) intense,and often unscrupulous, bargaining and intrigue to win commercial, or political, advan-tage o Wheeling and dealing was taking place on a level which made the English attempts at trading look like a church charity sale. STo This week's ' Man Alive' shows how glamour has taken a back seat to the whoeling and dealing.RTa People want to be nominated for the NobelPrize, even if they have no chance of getting it. It is the nature of human beings that there must be a certain amount of wheeling and dealing: 'I' ll back your chap if you back mine.' Lo He was one of those fringe personalities, on first-name terms with the Hollywood barony, who had never seemed able to find a continuing niche for his own talents--a wheeler-denier whose deals kept coming unstuck. STo(General Robert E Lee、USA) He had an extraordinary sense of the.humanity of quite inhuman people, and tolerated 585 <586> the wheels of industry etc— where is our wandering boy/ girl tonight? them long enough to win them over: powerful men, who were really the scum of the Republic,gun contractors, war profiteers, wheeler-dealers of every stripe. L o I don't like these business conferences— the drinking goes on late into the night as everyone wheels and deals and fixes big contracts. □ non-rev; n compound a wheeler-dealer; variant wheel and deal. the wheels of industry etc that which ena-bles industry to function o: industry, society,the Parliamentary system, higher education oThere would be a thriving tourist trade and the wí. eels of industry would be turning. OBS oCourtesy, and even a little hypocrisy at times,will help the wheels of any community system to run smoothly. wheels within wheels a complex arrange-ment of influences, or centres of power and decision-making, which make quick settle-ments difficult and which often baffle the on-looker □ (source) And they four had one like-ness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. EZE-KIEL 1 16□ The ordinary citizen often feels that,with a little good-will, some matter of interna-tional politics could be easily settled, but there are always wheels within wheels. o There are some people quite high up in Admin who don't know everything that's going on. It's a great place for wheels within wheels. when all is said and done when one has considered all the circumstances and facts; after all(qv)□(advertisement) When all's said and done oil's cheaper to run. RTo Bul when all is said and done, my mother was a most remark-able woman, with a strong and sterling character.MFM□When all's said and done, exterminating one's enemies is still the most satisfying occupa-tion. L o accompanies a statement of what sb believes to be a fact; said and done non-rev; usu front or middle position. when/ while the cat's away, the mice will play (saying) people will take advantage of the absence of authority, supervision, to do as they like, enjoy themselves, etc o ' The hotel is run by a Miss Dupont. But it seems she's away in Brest for the day.'' When the cat's away.'Ma said. BFA□Play up to her, won't you? Be the husband who's taking a holiday — playing while the cat's away. Pw o often adapted, as shown. when Greek meets Greek (then is/comes the tug of war)(saying) when two people of equal calibre, strength, determina-tion, cunning etc oppose each other(then there is a real struggle) o (source) When Greeks joired Greeks, them was the tug of war! THERIVAL QUEENS (N LEE 1655-92) o Greek meetsGreek. It's a match worthy of Greek legend:Archbishop Makarios versus General Grivas—the wily, subtle prelate seeking to outmatch one of the most practised exponents of urban guer-rilla warfare. L when in Rome, do as the Romans do(say-ing) adjust your habits to suit the customs of the place you are living in, or of the people you are living with (from the Latin of St Ambrose(4th c))□ Taking opium in China is totally dif-ferent from taking it in Berwick-on-Tweed. One is. I think, an experience---' do in Rome as the 586 Romans do.’ The other is a violation of the laws of the country. Lo' Just tell your friends you can't eat three enormous meals a day.’‘I wouldn’ t like to offend them. In Rome, better do es theRomans do—— especially as it's only for a week.'when etc she is good she is very, very good (but when she is bad she is hor-rid) sb/ sth can, at his/ its best, be charming,talented, helpful, outstanding etc(but can, at his/ its worst, be rude, obtuse, unhelpful,mediocre etc)$: she, it; Mary, ducal families; it,that magazine □(source) There was a little girl/Who had a little curl/ Right in the middle of her forehead./ When she wes good/ She was very.very good,/ But when she was bad she was horrid. H W LONGFELLOW 1807—82 a(a tennis player) They accept that when she is good she is very, very good and when she is bad she is horrid—— capable of being beaten by the lowliest player on the circuit. RToIt is nice to read in these pages that, sometimes when ducal families were good, they were very, very good and were even praised by American journalists. LoWhen ' Hers' is good, it is very, very good but when it is bad it is surprisingly flat and banal for a poet's novel. Lo often adapted to criticize people or things. where the action is (informal) where people are doing things and there are things to be done;a busy centre of work, amusement etc V: be:look for; find out o Pug claims they still miss the hills and streams of Tennessee. But Vegas is where the action is and his wife accepts his way of life. STo Friends fly in from London sometimes and ask where's the action and I have to ring another friend to find out. OBS where does one go from here? (catch-phrase) what (more) can one do now? what is the next step?(qv) a One question becomes in-creasingly disturbing: where do we go from here? August will see the end of the scheme and of government subsidies. RT□ Al l the time it (my mind) wandered back to Phuong and the one thought---suppose Pyle is right and I lose her:where does one go from here? QA where the hell etc? (informal) where?whereabouts? n: hell, △ devil, blazes, heck,dickens o We searched the other rooms, but without much hope. ' Where the hell else can we look?' asked Finn. UTNO usu indicates speaker's bad temper, hostility, scorn etc. ◇ △how the hell etc? what the hell etc? who the hell etc? why the hell etc? where is sb/ sth going to stop? is there any point beyond which sb/ sth will not go? (usu a reference to behaviour, conditions etc that is/are regarded with disapproval) o If a man is going to be able to walk through a girl's bath-room wall, where is he going to stop?TSToIl was petty theft and, however trivial in this case,once you let that kind of thing pass in a business where is it going to stop?□often follows if-cl.where is our wandering boy/ girl tonight? (catchphrase) said of anybody who is not where he/ she is expected to be or ought to be o (source) Oh! Where is my wandering boy tonight7/ The boy who was bravest of all.ANONYMOUS SONGo ' Where is our wandering girl tonight?' Hanna looked away, but Emma was hard to stop. 'I wonder.' she whispered, ' if <587> where on earth/ in the world?---a white-/ blue-collar job etc T-- - '(a man I hardly knew) ' is on his lone-some.’ NMO usu facetious. where on earth/ in the world? (informal)where? whereabouts?oJIMMY: Going out? On aSunday evening in this town? Where on owfh are you going? □ emphasizes questioner's bewilderment, indecision etc. ◇ Δ how on earth/ in the world? what on earth/ in the world?who on earth/ in the world? why on earth/ in the world? where/ while there's life there's hope(saying) as long as I breathe, I hope (from theLatin dum spiro, spero) o You never feel squeamish. Nurses don't. You don't mind what you' re having to do because where there's life there's hope. TVToMR FISH: Where there's life there's hope. MRS FISH: Will hope light the gas?Will it fill the belly? DPM□/'m sure myother niece wouldn't mind my mentioning it (ie childless-ness), for even if they have been married for near-ly ten years while there's life there's hope, as they say. WDM where there's muck there's money (say-ing) dirty work means profitable work; slag-heaps, mill-chimneys etc are signs of wealth for somebody o This incident gives me a picture of a shrewd movie mogul. Where there's muck there's money. DM□Best slate was so plentiful that any piece that was not almost perfect went on to the scrap-heaps, which grew prodigiously--muck begetting money in copybook style.OBS口 variants muck and money go together, muck means/ begets money. where there' sa will there' sa way(saying)if one is sufficiently willing or determined, a way to do or obtain sth can usu be found o 'Idon't see how you can put them all up for the night.'' Oh, where there'sawill there' saway.We' ll manage.' where would one be/ what would one do without sb/ sth? one's life or work would be almost impossible, very difficult, greatly diminished in quality, etc without sb/ sth $: I,you, she, he, they; the country, your boss;working mothers. o: you, her, him, them, me;the voluntary services, your help; convenience foods, something to complain about o ThankGod for the mobile shop. I don't know what Iwould do without it.□And isn't it a blessing we have Prissie. What would we have done without her? DC□ When I applied for a posting they told me,' No, you' re doing important work.Where would our boys be without you? Their teeth would fall out.'ST which/ that is not saying much which is no great praise; which indicates very little dif-ference s: which, that, it; to say that o IndeedFrench (rugby) selectors receive just about the same respect from their Press and public as doFrench politicians, which, of course, isn't say-ing much. RT o The (Women's Liberation)movement emerges with more sympathy than al-most anything else in the book. which is not saying much. Nobody, in this world of petty manoeuvres and skirmishes, is particularly ad-mirable: nobody is particularly bad. NS□‘She’ s a better cook than the last one, though.'' That's not saying much, is it? Anybody would have to be.' a whiff of grapeshot gunfire, as a swift means of suppressing disorder, rebellion etc.(source) .. . and as far as this which you call ThirdEstate (ie the common people) brave Broglie(commanding the army) with a whiff of grapeshot, if need be, will give quick account of it. The whiff of grapeshot can, if needful,become a blast and tempest. THE FRENCHREVOLUTIONIV3(TCARLYLE 1795-1881)a My only quarrel (with the plot of the novel) is that a whiff of grapeshot is more likely to move the electorate in favour of the Government in power than against it, especially if it is a ConservativeGovernment. ST the while [A (NP)] at the same time (that one is doing sth else) o When he had done that he thought he would try a gin and tonic. He did,reading some book or other the while. TGLYoHe's also given to elaborating anxieties about his commitment, or lack of it, to revolutionary causes—— sipping champagne in the Ritz the while. O end position; usu pres p phrase;equivalent to while + clause, eg while he sipped champagne in the Ritz. a whipping boy [Comp(NP)]a scapegoat: sb/sth that is blamed, punished etc instead of others (from, formerly, a boy kept to be whipped for the misbehaviour of a young prince)V:△be, become; treat sbas□ ' Imperial-ists' are treated as before— as handy whipping boys. To Communism became· good whipping boy for Lewis from his earliest days in power. Si□(dental decay) Manufacturers felt that nobody had yet proved that chocolate or confectionery was the real villain— although it was certainly the whipping boy. OBS□ stress pattern a ˈwhip-ping boy. whistle stop(s) short stop(s) on a journey.esp to meet and talk to an electorate, business associates, prospective customers, etc(fromUS, where politicians on tour used to address rural voters from the observation platforms of trains, the‘stops’ having been previously adver-tised) o In spite of a physically exacting winter election campaign—— much of it by train with frequent' whistle stops'—— the Prime Minister appears to be well. To Mostly because she was too busy with whistle-stop tours to Australia and the Continent to have settled at home at all,Cilla is glad that she and Bobby didn't marry until 1968. RTO attrib use a whistle-stop tour.a white Christmas snow at Christmas time oThere seems to be snow in the air. To judge from the forecast, we may expect a white Christmer.EM □ The woman rubbed her hands and observed that it was cold enough to have a white Christ-mas yet. AITCo And may all your Christmas be white. WHITE CHRISTMAS(IBERLIN b1942) a white-/ blue-collar job etc professional,business and clerical employment/ manual work, or skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled labour n: job, worker; home, district; demands,attitudes □ Th e expansion of higher education onOxbridge lines led increasing numbers to expect well-paid white-coller jobs. NS o Boys from blue-collar homns are still 4 times less likely to get to a university (and girls 10 times less likely)than the children of parents in non-manual work.SC □ In America there is now a phenomenon familiarly called ' blue-coller blues' . It is an expression of individual revolt which takes the 587 <588> a white elephant----(wash) whiter than white form of widespread absenteeism. Lo He was the white-collar one of the family, the one who was going to make good and redeem all their for-lunes. CON D white collar, blue collar sometimes without hyphen. a white elephant sth useless, seldom used, or too costly to be worth maintaining□ ' Crux' in the ' New Statesman' subsequently described theLund Commission as 'a white elephant', NSc It is something of a surprise to come across a com-pact, well-sited and sheltered outdoor sports stadium neglected, moss-grown, decrepit. This sporting white elephant lies within the Royal and Ancient Burgh of Linlithgow. SC□The recentBudget has offered hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up private enterprise and to finance such white elephants as Concorde and the Channel Tunnel. NSo There's a white-elephant stall at the Charity Sale. You know.people donate some household article they don't want that someone else may have a use for. □attrib use a white-elephant stall. the white feather a symbol of fear, cowar-dice, or timidity (from cock-fighting, where a game cock displaying the white rim of feather under his hackle acknowledges defeat, wants to give up)□ The early attacks(on Britain) from the air were noticeable enough for a naval officer to he heard saying playfully to another. " What!Going to sea, are you? So you' re showing the white feather!’ AH a (great) white hope a talented person who is thought likely to bring success or victory(cg in sport)□Our white hope wrecked his knee on the eve of the match— so we were doomed from the start. BM□ Still only thirty-two, Kubrick is one of the great white hopes of the commercial film industry. OBSoI'm going to go and look at some of his other works before trying to guess whether we really do have a new UK white hope shaping up in the gym. NS a white lie a lie that does no harm and is merely more convenient, or polite, than telling the truth o ' Have you ever told a white lie?' Cer-tainly, to have to admit to having told lies is to put oneself in a poor light, yet very few people could iruthfully answer ' No'. SNPoI said there was no more drink in the house-- - a white lie amply justified by the need to get him sohered up. □ also pi. the white man's burden the former concept(justifying colonization etc) of the European's duty to advance civilization, education, trade,public health, etc in underdeveloped parts of the world □(source) Take up the White Man's burden----/ Send forth the best ve breed----Go.hind your sons to exile/ To serve your captives'need. THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN(R KIPLING 1865-1936)(reader's letter) If we look back to the bad old days of exploration, colonisation and empire building… and, remember, at the time, all these were considered most commendable, the white man's burden' in fact- - we had one enviable reputation. SCo In shuttered rooms were stored the littered remains of the white man's burdan scouling staffs. punchbags. dumb-bells. chest-expanders. smashed cricket buts. Lo His behef in the Greater Britain and the modern version of the white man's burden (the peace-keeping role in Asia) is to be found in that speech. NS 588 the white man's grave the name formerly given to various(tropical) regions with climates and/ or endemic diseases to which white men could not easily adjust o The malaria-carrying mosquito is honoured in Sierra Leone today for making the country the white man's grave' in the past and preventing Europeans settling here.1 a white night a sleepless night (from French nuit blanche with the same meaning) o I didn't feel particulary tired, or sleepy, after my white night. It was the day after that again, that it hit me. SC□IsabeI didn't sleepat all that night. it was a nuit blanche, the first she had ever had, pw o also pl. a white slave a white-skinned prostitute, esp one inveigled into a foreign country by the promise of other employment a It has never been suggested that the employment agencies engage in what used to be called, a generation or two before the permissive age, the white slave traffic. OBS□People say that Earl's Court is the centre of the white slave trade, and I wouldn't doubt it. There's a continual sexual electricity in the air. Lo' And would she then be shipped off toSt Milo's like a white siave?' Isabel smiled. ' It wouldn't be done like that, of course. You ' re so uncivilised, Harold!' pwo also pl; attrib use, the white-slave traffic, trade, often found and may be hyphenated or not. white trash any person(s) of European orAmerican extraction who is/ are thought(by sb or by another group) worthless or despicable(from. formerly, the description used about members of the poor white population in theSouthern States of the US) o Cosmo undDorothy where shown up for what they were:white trash, on the other side of the line.irretrievably ' petit-bourgeois' . US a whited sepulchre [Comp(NP)]a hypocrite:sb who pretends to be pious, righteous, al-though he is not V:△be; think sb. regard sb as□(source) For ye are like unio whited sepul-chros, which indeed appear beautiful ourward,but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. MATTHEW XXIII27□ Th e revelation not only shocked Mary, but made her wonder how many more of her hitherto respected elders might be whited sqpulchres. a whiter shade of pale [Comp (NP)] (fa-cetious) become extremely pale in the face etc as a result of illness, shock, fear V: △ be, turn,become o There was no need to add the gory.details except for the malicious pleasure of watching his audience turn a whiter shade of pale. □ Although I was called the lady in white.a lot of my clothes were verging on cream. Any-way, it's very difficult to find two whites the same---I just used to wear a whiter shade of pale and hope for the best. tvt (wash) whiter than white (make sth be seem) unusually, unnaturally, or exaggeratedly white. pure, holy, perfect etc(from the advertis-ing claians of soap and detergent manufac-turers) □ Success in life appears to be measured by the horse-power of your car and whether you have the ability to overtake at 200 km. p. h., the whiter-than-whiteness of your wash and the degree to which your possessions are brand-new.L o At such a difficult time it is particularly ob- <589> who am I to argue etc?— why on earth/ in the world vious that the Government must wash whiter than white. But at any time it is essential that confidence should be maintained in the standards of public figures. SToI suggested to Steiger that it was a pity that the characters his co-star, Sid-ney Poitier, usually depicted were, morally, so much whiter than white. RTo There was Dick.centre-stage. Behind him,a large choir dressed in whiter than white raiment. NS 口 n compound(the) whiter-than-whiteness (of sth): attrib use whiter than white ruiment. who am I to argue etc? what authority,moral strength, etc have I that entitles me to argue etc?S:1, he, she, you, they. Inf: to argue,to object, to interfere; to decide(what's best). to pass (judgment) o The good book, if we are to believe it, says we are entitled to three score years and ten. Who am I to argue? OBS□ Alice is a woman now with her own rights. Who am I to say what's best for her? TST a Who are they to tamper with the sacred Rules of Golf? ST who cares? (informal) nobody cares, I, at least, don't care O: what he wants; whether they come or not; how it ends o Ahout ' BuchananDying', John Updike's long play dealing with the last days of America's fifteenth president, the reader will prohably also ask the one truly fatal question: who cares? NS□ If you' re really so kind as to buy a drink for us,I' ll have a dry Mar-tini. ” Who cares (Charles thought) what he wants? A gentleman would have asked the girl what she wanted first. HD □ often contradicts suggestion, or assumption, that sth matters or is important. who does he think he is? (informal) why does he etc behave, talk so pretentiously,authoritatively? (the implication being that he has no right or reason to do so)$: he, she, they;the Joneses, the Council. pron: he, she, they. o' What pretensions!' I kept repeating. ' Who on earth does he think he is?' DOP o (reader's letter) Who does Christopher Headington think he is when he complains that the audiences were not in the right frame of mind? RT□' Who does he think he is, then?' asked the holiday-maker, ' The Archbishop of Canterbury or some-thing? RT who the hell etc?(informal) who? which per-son? n: hell, △ devil, blazes, heck、 dickens □The presence of yet another unexpected guest was the last straw.' And who the devil may you be?’ he asked truculently. EM 口 usu indicates speaker's bad temper, hostility, scorn etc.◇△how the hell etc? what the hell etc? where the hell etc? why the hell etc? who/ what is he/ that he's/ it's when sb's/ sth's at home? (facetious) who/ what is sb/ sth? cl: (who) he.. . he`s. Claire... she`s:(what) that… it's, a palaeontologist…… it`s o ’ Amaster to whom all we poor novelists bo w the knee, said Goodrich. Harold sniffed: What is he, when he's at home?'PWo 'I haven't got my first degree y et but I'm very interested in endocrinology. ' ' Will you listen to the boy'What's that when it's at home?' who on earth/ in the world? (informal)who? which one?o Now who on earth is going to break the news to his mother?□Who in the world could have guessed that he'd turn up?△ how on earth/ in the world? what on earth/ in the world? where on earth/ in the world? why on earth/in the world? the whole/ full bag of tricks (informal) all the articles, items, procedures, manoeuvres etc that are relevant and possible o He talked to me as if I was his equal in knowledge and under-standing of gynaecology and the whole bag of tricks. AH□ ' The Vardons were the darlings of the gods — wild, lawless. and proud as the devil, his invention ran uhead as he spoke, ' mur-der, rape, incest, the whole bag of tricks. HAA□He has made no attempt to prevent the top brass of the civil service from resorting to the full bag of tricks to head off any serious investigation into their privileges and powers. NS the whole caboodle (informal) the whole amount or number o The answer, of course, is a terrible disappointment for all those who im-agined little Dickie dreaming one day of being in the driving seat, not just of one engine, but the whole caboodle. RT a I knew there was a MrsWiggins and seven little Wigginses hu t he never indicated he was bringing the whole caboodle with him. ◇ △ next entry. the whole shooting match(informal) every member. item, event、 aspect o What he'd have liked to do was sack the whole shooting-match and recruit u work force of his own. SCoNo concervable writer or painter (especially painter) could have been trusted to render the scene honestly: the whole shooting match would have sunk without trace under the assaults of their ' personal vision'. ILIH□ It contained the gist of the whole dehate and it's worth quoling.because it will be fed to the Communist millions as the only true report of what the whole shooting match was about. Lo with or without hyphen. ◇△ previous entry. (those) whom the gods love, die young(saying) the only consolation for the death of good, talented, beautiful etc young people is that their presence is wanted in ' heaven' o(source) ' Whom the gods love die young was said of vore. DONJUAN(GGORDON,LORDBYRON1788-182410 You have only got to read books about that time(1914-18) to read about the marvellous people who were killed then the very best seemed to go. Yes, those whom the gods love die young . Lo After the war Eric became MP forGrantham and a year or two later suddenly fell dead in his garden, only in his early forties—u case, if ever there was one, of Those whom the gods love, die young. ST why the hell etc? (informal) why? n:(flaming/ merry) hell. △ devil, blazes, heck.dickens o Why the hell did you have to tellJames that I'm taking Mary out to dinner tonight- don't you know he 's keen on her. too?□ Why the blaces has Jack resigned? He's just been promoted, even if he doesn't like his new boxs very much. o usu expresses speaker's exaspera-tion and or perplexity ◇ △ how the hell etc?what the hell etc? where the hell etc? who the hell etc? why on earth/ in the world? (informal)why? for what reason?o Why on earth did she have to go all the way to London Airport for dinner2 Wi ◇ ▲how on earth/ in the world? what on earth/ in the world? where on earth/ in the world?who on earth/ in the world? 589 <590> why and wherefore(7)—a wildcat scheme etc why and wherefore(?) for what reason(s)(?)o Any intelligent child will want to know why and wherefore he is being ordered, or forbidden,to do this or that.□ A trip from Wales to London was nothing to them; and no one asked them the why and the wherefore— and if they did, busi-ness. the sacred word business, covered it all. Pw□I learned not only secrets of reviving flagging flowers, drying leaves and blooms without loss of colour but the whys and wherefores as well.ST□I found, when I was about 16 years old, thatI didn't sleep and I was able to do without it. I' ve never looked into the whys and wherefores of it. It's just a simple fact. Lo non-rev; variant the why(s) and (the) wherefore(s) (of sth). wide awake [Comp (AdjP)] fully awake, not half-sleeping or drowsy; (fig) aware and alert,understanding and/ or taking advantage of events or circumstances V:△be, look, feel o In-stantly, realizing what had happened, she was wide awake. In her dream she had walked, and her legs, obeying the fantasy in her mind had disturbed the bedclothing. IX' o I am sure the wide awake people of this country will par-ticipate in the debate. SC□ This new secretary of his, Simpson realized, was too wide awake br half. He'd have to see about getting rid of her. o attrib use a wide-awake mind,a wide-tweke person. a wide boy(dated slang) sb who is shrewd and unscrupulous in business, or who tries, or manages, to impress and outwit others in small dealings o The idea of himself as a ' wide boy',so dear to many men. was foreign to Harold. But he believed himself to he a man of the world. Pw□And of course the speakers attacked advertising trends: This is the first generation of mugs with money, and the wide boys are after it.' Lo The harman grinned at the man at the other end of the bar.' Three of the wide boys.' he observed. ' We don't want their sort in here. 'PE wide of the mark[Comp(AdjP)] off target(eg in shooting); (fig) inaccurate as an estimate,description, definition S: it; the shot, his sugges-tion. V:△be, go o In their valuation of collec-tors' items, the amateurs' team sometimes went as wide of the mark as £500 or more. RT□Actu-ally the drawing is like the work of a minor illustrator of children's books. and the suggestion that it's like a Klee is very wide of the mark. NSthe widow's cruse a small store or supply of sth that seems self-renewing or inexhaustible(in allusion to the miracle described in 2KINGSIV I-7) □ I' ve never known a gas cylinder last so long. I was beginning to think I'd got hold of some kind of widow's cruss. the widow's mite a small contribution, esp of money, that is as much as, or more than, the giver can afford (in allusion to MARK Xil 41-44)o Don't feel ashamed---we don't despise the widow's mite, and, as they say, every penny helps. a widow's peak hair growth, or styling, which slopes back at each side from the centre of the forehead o He was a tall, colourless man, with hair that receded from a thinning widow's peak.AITC widow's weeds black mourning clothes, in-cluding a hat with black veil (from what was,formerly, conventional wear for a widow for a 590 period following her husband's death)o I often saw women in widow's weads. By 1918 the anonymous slaughter had created a grief too vast for dressing up. NS a wild goose chess a search for sb/ sth who/that can, or will, not be found; a useless inves-tigation or enterprise;a fool's errand(qv)o ' On this wildgoose chase after an imaginary mon-ster, eh?' he asked. RM□No,I can't explain now.But I' ll tell you what, if you think by lunch-time tomorrow that I' ve got you out on a wild-goose cheese, I' ll stand you a crate of Scotch. TBCol spent a pleasant evening with a man who had quit the wild goose chase of journalism to catch lobsters in North Wales and who had come over to buy a good second-hand boat. L o often follows be on/ be sent on; stress pattern a wild' goose chase; may be wild goose/ wild-goose/wildgoose. wild horses couldn't/ wouldn't drag him there etc(informal) no power, or persuasion.would make sb say or reveal sth, or make him leave etc cl: drag the information out of me,drag him to church, keep her at home, make me do otherwise □ MR PARADOCK: Middie's coffee is made by a secret process, Bug, Wild horses wouldn't drag it out of her. ARTo Wild horses will not drag from me the name of the extreme-ly grand and prosperous Sunday newspaper that had someone going around London last week. NSo As soon as I read about the monster in the' Daily Tale' wild horses couldn't nave kept me in Nottingham and I came to Little Todday.RMọ ' You sweet idiot,' thought Victoria, ' don't you know wild horses wouldn't drive me away from Baghdad!'TCB a wild man an extremist in a political party,creed or profession, uncompromising in his views or actions o‘We want Lewis Eliot in on this,' he said. ' Why?' asked Mounteney. ' Be-cause you' re a wild man, Arthur, and he's a cunning old dog.'NM O also pl. the Wild West the western territories of theUS around the middle of the 19th c, while they were still not developed nor under stable government o The Wild West was exactly that:even in a sheriff's posse the difference between the good man and the bad and the lucky was very blurred. Lo He was reading a Wild West story.a It sells papers in various languages, and women's magazines, and Westerns and ScienceFiction and Amazing Stories. UTN口 attrib use.a Wild West story, now rare— books, films etc dealing with life in this area(esp during 19th c) usu described as Westerns; variant the wild and woolly west (next entry (qv)). wild and woolly[adj + adj non-rev](informal)rough, uncivilized, or uncultured (from the` wild and woolly West', facetious variant of previous entry (qv)) D I like to spend my holidays where there's a bit of life and entertain-ment. I wouldn't fancy these wild and woolly places in the north of Scotland that you favour.□(opening of a residential college for young writers) They may be a bit wild and woolly when they first arrive, but they' ll soon settle down. HAA a wildcat scheme etc a rash, hazardous and,probably, impractical scheme, esp for making money n: scheme, △ venture; speculation o <591> When it came to deciding which troops would carry out these wild-cat schonnes, the answer was always the same. MFMo The lawyer might have seen it as his business not to be too efficient if he thought a young client was launching out on# wildcat wenture. a wildcat strike a strike suddenly, or irres-ponsibly, decided upon by a group of workers,esp one not authorized or backed by a TradeUnion o Frantic mobs of native workers gathered around the water points each night when the rations were doled out, and wildcat strikes were breaking out among the unloading parties. BN the wilder shores of love etc(catchphrase)the extreme, most extravagant, unusual,unrestrained etc forms of love etc(source prob-ably the book title THE WILDER SHORES OF LOVE(L BLANCH b1907)) o: love, farce, tastelessness,bigotry, popular journalism o Barker is actu-ally, by training and instinct,a traditional actor shipwrecked on the wilder shores of farce. RT□ The Tribunites (ie British left-wing LabourMPs and supporters) are remounting the old barricades. The wilder shores of trade union-ism are lapped by similar rhetoric. Go JohnHeilpern reports on an explosive dispute on the wilder shores of psychistry which, he says,points up conflicting attitudes to madness. OBSoI'd make it (Professor Randolph Quirk's' TheUse of English`) compulsory reading for anyone engaged with words, and particularly for those of my fellow Scots who have got stranded on the wilder shores of linguistic metionalism. L a will o' the wisp [O (NP)] a flicker of light from marsh-gas; (fig) a fanciful or imprecise idea, belief, ambition etc that is either an illusion, or is difficult to define or substantiateV: follow, pursue, chase □ Apart from this, the poor fellow's following the with-o'-the-wisp of surgical specialization struck sympathy from my bosom. DILD If John had been in his place, he would have been pursuing a wild wilt-o'-the-wisp half his life, upsetting the balance of theEnglish historical profession. ASA O O' =‘of’;can be hyphenated or unhyphenated. will/ would (not) wash (informal)(not) be acceptable as valid, true, reasonable, likely etcS: it, that; the story, his explanation, that theory o Bacon's own defence of his actions is rather more interesting and illuminating, al-though how far it would wash in a modern courtI could not presume to guess. SC□Then there is the military cost. We are told that this is ir-relevant, that the troops ' have to be stationed somewhere'. But this will not wash. NSo‘Per-haps he wore a monocle because he had some-thing wrong with one eye.’ Charles said. Burge turned to face him. ‘Won’ t wash,’ he said curtly.HD o a terse comment on the unreasonableness etc of sth. a willing horse a willing worker (contrasted with sb who complains or resists) o In TedHeath's place a willing horse was eventually found in Willie Whitelaw; and it was he who had to perform tirelessly throughout. NSO You' re too obliging for your own good. Remember, it's the willing horse who gets the load. □ ' The others don't do much to help, do they?' ' Well, that's partly my own fault—— the will ing horse, you a wildcat strik●—— the wind of change know.'o also pl; sometimes used in expression lay the load on the wINing horse. win/ lose by a (short) neck (horse racing)win/ lose by the length of a horse's neck;(fig)succeed/ fail by a (very) narrow margin o (a horse race) Golden Pleasure, a filly that has run well this season, was expected to romp home(=win with ease) in this afternoon's race. But some of the other runners gave her stiff competition and she won only by a short neck . o There were many very well. qualified people interviewed for that job. You lost it only by a neck— and that's no disgrace. ◇ △ neck and neck (with sb/ sth). win etc the hand(and heart) of sb[V+ 0pass] (formal) become sb's husband or wife V:win, △ gain; seek o Anyone who hopes to win the hand of the fair Gillian would need to have a lot more money than lan. □Their father had been surprised that neither of them had wron the heart and hand of an officer in the RAF. RM oShe was a Jewess whose hand had been sought in marriage a year earlier by a Protestant, whose feelings she returned fully. SNPo hand and heart rev. ◇ △ win the heart of sb. win hands down win without effort or by a clear lead (from horse-racing where a jockey lowers his hands to a relaxed position when he knows he is winning easily) o (advertisement)In the unanimous opinion of the judges Helen wins hands down on the value she got and the comfortable energy-saving way she did it. SToIt's hardly surprising that when they come to the 11plus, the middle-class children win hands down and that they win most of the places in the academic streams at the comprehensive schools.L o As far as having influence (was concerned).Sir Harold Johnson had the edge over Annette's father, hands down. SML o (film review) TheAmericans have it hands down this week, or maybe hands up. NS o variant have sth hands down. win the heart of sb [V + 0 pass] endear oneself to sb; engage sb's affection o ... OlgaKorbut, the 17-year-old little Russian girl who won the hearts of everyone in the gymnastic hall. RTo The child has quite won the old man's heart.□Both my parents who, as I have indicated elsewhere, led nomadic lives, used to win the hearts of their servants. AH△win etc the hand(and heart) of sb. win or lose[v + v non-rev] whether one wins or loses, succeeds or fails o Full of doubts about the German war, knowing what it meant for them, win or lose, they nevertheless fought it.NMo Win or lose, Docherty's team will provideEngland with a further opportunity to study some of the difficulties which are likely to be encoun-tered against Italy in the World Cup. Go front,middle or end position. the wind of change (catchphrase) signs of change, esp in political, or social, conditions(first used by Prime Minister Harold Macmil-lan in 1960 with reference to (the need for) con-stitutional reforms in Africa and its gradual de-colonization)o But his warning that the ' wind of change' should not become a ' howling tem-· pest’ comes a little late: the storm has already broken across Central Africa. OBS o Nobody prepared them for the ' wiwds of change'. TheFourth Republic allowed the myth that Algeria 591 <592> wind and weather— wish sb well/ ill would remain French forever to take root. NSo(reader's letter) Perhaps the party system itself requires a waft of the wind of change. T wind and weather [n + n non-rev] varying weather of all kinds, esp weather that one is exposed to, or that affects natural or man-made objects o The seamen who could to a certain extent laugh at wind and weather had made a joke of the rock. PMo It wasn't merely its ten rooms, its raw newss, its glaring red brick of the type which is supposed to mellow with wind& nd weather... RATT wine and dine [v + v rev] have, or share, or entertain sb to,a set meal with wine, as a social or formal occasion o So we dined and wined and walked and talked, and when I stopped to think, as occasionally I did, I thought, ' Well, it won't last.'PPo(astrologist's forecast) A perfect week for the happy-go-lucky Piscean. Plenty of opportunities for wining and dining and flirting outrageously. TO o But there is no evidence that advisory councils have ever been taken seriously,after their wining and dining was done. L wine, woman/ women and song(symbols of) social pleasures or indulgences o (source— translated from German—— attributed to MLUTHER 1483-1546) Who loves not wine, woman,and song/ Remains a fool his whole life long. o(NONCE) If he was wondering how much of his fifty pounds Robert had drawn out to squander on wing, women and drugs, instead of using it to finance his exhibition, he was keeping the ques-tion to himself. CONo(NONCE)' Bang went a pun'note (= £1) — maistly (= mostly) on wine.woman(= women) and seggers(= cigars).BBCTV a winter of discontent (catchphrase) a period during the winter months made additionally unpleasant by strikes in key public .services, e g hospitals and the water supply industry(used esp with reference to the winter of 1978 in Great Britain)□(source) Now is the winter of our discontent/ Made glorious summer by this sun of York. RICHARD THETHIRD I to The spectre of a winter of industrial discontent nagged at investors. BBCR o Once more the people of Britain are experiencing e winter of discontent. BBCRo (interview with hospital worker's leader) Do you think there is a likelihood that that winter—— the winter of disconternt as it was called —— could be repeated? BBCR o Do you envisage a winter of discontent owing to the Government's6% pay limit on the public sector? BBCR wise after the event [Comp (AdjP)] know,realize, what should have been done, thought,or provided for, in connection with an event,but only after it has happened V: △ be, appear□ MR PARADOCK:I could see it coming. MRS PA-RADOCK: You mean you think you could see it coming. You' re being wise after the event again. ARTo It is difficult to imagine a time whenMozart's ' The Marriage of Figaro' did not exist and, wise after the event, we cannot conceive of it being accepted as anything else but a master-piece. RToGILL: Old Mr Wise-after-the-event,who's always read the reviews and then chastises the other reviewers before he lays himself on the line. ST o I do not want to trouble a picture of the beginning with wisdom after the event. LWKO 592 unusual variant wisdom after the event.◇△with(the wisdom/ ease of) hindsight. a wise guy(US informal) a sharp and knowing person, esp one who is, or thinks himself, witty,good at repartee, etc o David Frost goes down frightfully well in the States. The Americans like wise guys, whereas we love our failures. RT o stress pattern a ' wise guy. 8wise/ foolish virgin a provident/improvident person (in allusion to MATTHEWXXV I-12)□ At the rare stations boiling water was on tap, and the overcoated passengers queued with teapots: my Czech, like a wise virgin, had provided us with one before leaving Harbin. AH□ also pl. wish etc(that) the ground would (open and) swallow one be so embarrassed, or ashamed, that all one wishes to do is to disap-pear from sight V: wish, △ hope, pray o ' An awkward moment?''I' ll say it was. All I wished was for the ground to open and swallow me.'o Houseman was clearly hoping that the ground might swallow him at that second and there were few among the Chelsea (football)following who wouldn't have gladly dug the hole.ST wish one had a pound etc for every book etc an exclamatory comment on a great num-ber of items, or on how frequently sth occurs O:pound,△(slang) quid(= pound), shilling(for-mer unit of GB currency), dollar. o: every book on these shelves, every mile you' ve travelled,every time I' ve heard him say that o 'I wish Ihad a shilling.’ said Derek looking round the room, for every book on these shelves.'o My grandfather often said he wished he had a dollar for every mile he led his span(of oxen) by the head through the veld. LWK the wish is father to/ of the thought(say-ing) one thinks that sth is true, or likely,because one wishes it to be so; wishful thinking(qv) o (source —— the King is ill and old)PRINCE HENRY:I never thought to hear you speak again./KING HENRY: Thy wish was father,Harry, to that thought./I stay too long by thee.I weary thee. 2HENRY IV 5 o He tends to avoid painful choices of policies by making the wish the father of the thought. As he sees it, theBritish policies towards the underdeveloped world that are morally right are also profitable.STo Her parents say, though there the wish may be father to the thought, that Annette is not seriously interested in this young man. wish/ hope to God (that) (informal) wish/hope emphatically, or earnestly (that) cl:(that)they would leave soon,(that) you had,(that) it would stop raining o 'I nearly came to see you yesterday evening.''I wish to God you had, for then I wouldn't have been cleaning the windows and so I wouldn't have fallen off the step-ladder.'□(They) shuffled in and out of the Ministry underMr Healey's awful eye, opening new WarrantOfficers' Messes at Devonport and hoping toGod that they would move on soon to a post where there was a real job of work to be done. STwish sb well/ ill give sb one's good wishes for success, health, happiness/ hope that sb will not achieve success etc; hope that sb will have good/bad luck in his life or dealings o Show-business agents come and go in his London hotel room, <593> wish you were here—— with flying colours talking of Dusty Hoffman and wishing each other well. OBSo Pritchett will be working with a new secretary. I wish them both well. NS□It's becoming increasingly difficult not to wish that old lady ill. She's tyrannizing her whole family.□ It's not that I wish Johnston any ill— — we just don't see eye to eye about anything. wish you were here (catchphrase) I would enjoy your company and you would enjoy the scenery, circumstances etc if you were where IaIn now(in allusion to the shortened greeting or message sent on a holiday postcard to a relative or friend)□ The card just said ' Having wonderful time. Wish you were here,' or some such thing.CONo In Radio 4's study of tourism, " Wish YouWere Here', he described Blackpool as 'a resort in which people can come along and forget their inhibitions.’ L wishful thinking persuading oneself that sth is true, or will or could happen, because it is what one would like; the wish is father to/ of the thought (qv)o When Ministers predict that we are on the verge of a boom, they are naturally suspected of wishful thinking. SC□ In the event of an emergency! What had given rise to such a phrase? Refinement? Wishful thinking?Hypocrisy? War was now a certainty. AH o(reader's letter) Let's not waste a precious second on wishful thinking or useless regrets.Lif e really is too short. TVT to wit[Conj(PrepP)](formal) that is; namely;(more) specifically o There were plainly hopes in the family that a more intimate tie would develop between landlord and tenants, to wit, through the marriage of his lordship to Marcus's sister,Marian. RTo' They should have appointed a more responsible person.'' To wit yourself,I suppose.'□ It seemed fair to assume that such objectives occupied the same place in Mr Arblaster's think-ing as in his book: to wit, none. NS O often facetious, as in second and last examples; usu front position, preceding the n or pron denot-ing the thing(s) or person(s) named. wit and wisdom [n + n non-rev] quickness of mind and sagacity, esp seen as an ideal com-bination of qualities in a speaker or writer o /would not have traded one minute of his wit and wisdom for an evening's local news and views. L□All in all, then,a ratting good Celtic yarn with a few fragments of wit-and-wisdom thrown in.NS□One of the great space-fillers of this time of year for newspapers is the ' Sayings of the Year'feature, in which we are reminded of all the wise and witty things that our political masters have uttered in the past year. L o variant witty and wise [adj + adj rev]. the witching hour/ time (of night) mid-night(when witches were once supposed to be specially active and powerful) o (source) ' Tis now the very witching time of night,/ When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out/Contagion to this world. HAMLETIII2o(changing watch at sea) ' She's all yours and the Old Man((slang) = captain of the ship) is in one of his moods, so watch out for sparks.' ' See you again at the witching hour.'PM with all one's might [A (PrepP)] using all one's physical strength, mental or nervous energy, powers of concentration, powers of persuasion, etc; with might and main(qv)o He looked, and saw Bullivant on his feet thumping the boy at the desk in fronl with all his might.LLDR □ Don't blame me. I tried with all my might to make her change her mind. with bated breath [A (PrepP)] scarcely breathing because one is tense with excitement,expectation, anxiety etc; excitedly; anxiously;expectantly V: wait; watch, listen; proceed o l waited with ' bated breath' , as you would say.for the solution. but once again none came. TBC□Carefully we undid the door and stood watching.with bated breath as the tiny animals scuttled into their new home. BB with the best (of them) [A(PrepP)](do sth)as ably, efficiently, as the best practitioners of an art, skill or trade V: argue, haggle, do battle;gamble □ Of course he can give a course of lec-tures and contribute an essay to an academic volume with the best of them. STo(rugby) Now21 boys began playing with an unbridled ferocity which I found infectious. Within a short time Ifound myself hacking and charging with the best of them. OBS with the best will in the world [Disj(PrepP)] however good one's intentions are;even if one is as well disposed as possible oWith the best will in the world,(the job is) too.much for one pair of hands. DILo The established museums by the nature of things can never, with the best will in the world, be expected to cater indefinitely for the individual student. SDoStraw-berry plants from one's garden are not the kind of presents to give or receive. With the best will in the world, one can spread disease and trouble.SC o usu accompanies a statement of what can-not be done or allowed; usu front or middle position. (spelt) with a capital S etc[A (PrepP)]using a capital initial letter to emphasize the importance, for the speaker and/ or in a par-ticular context, of a word usually spelt without a capital S etc o: A, B.... X, Y, Zo There's a very great oversimplification in thinking that there is something called Science, with ecapital'S'. Lo'I' ve been thinking about us.'I said, trying to make it sound as if ' us' was spelt with a capita1U. SMLo' This is St Clair Road,' she said.' We live at the top. It's T' Top(= The Top) inWarley, though, with a capital T.'RATT with a difference having an individual qual-ity;(doing sth) in a individual way that distin-guishes sb/ sth from others of the same kind n:hotel, memorial; performance, pop-singer. cl:wears the uniform, sings her mother's song, gets drunk, practises medicine o (source) OPHELIA:There's rue for you; and here's some for me; we may call it herbof grace o’ Sundays. O! youmust wear your rue with a difference. HAMLET IV5oBut the deepest pleasure is that of raising up, for the first time for all to see, the monument withe difference'. STo You can't judge by appearances in ' The Norman Conquests': a domestic comedy with a devastating differnonc。TVT o modifies preceding norclause. with flying colours [A (PrepP)] with con-spicuous success (from a fighting ship with all her flags still flying after defeating an enemy) V:come through, emerge, pass (the test) o Well,you' ve come through the ordeal, if ordeal it was,with flying colaurs. □ My son is convinced that 593 <594> with (a) good grace—— with etc(no) strings(attached/ binding its use) if he had been interviewed by a high-qualified chemist like his professor he would have got through with flying colours. SML o There are circumstantiai accounts of two Cabinet crises out of which the author emerges with flying colours. Lo On these grounds there is little doubt that the lie-detection technique emerges with flying colours. SNP with (a) good grace [A (PrepP)] good-temperedly; without anger or resentment V:accept, take, sth; lose, surrender; join in o Wal-degaard's team seemed prepared to accept the decision with good grace. G o This was not a question of accepting the inevitable with as good a graces possible. A free vote offered a likely advantage to the government. NS□ Brian.I noticed, put up his hand last of all. He said: 'Ithink it should be unanimous, Mr Chairman.That's the way we like it,' losing on behalf of his friends with very good grace. STo MPs should remember that membership is a privilege worth having and that if we go in we should go in with a good grace. SC o variant with as good a grace as possible. with gusto [A (PrepP)] with obvious enjoy-ment of what one is doing V: devour, attack;sing, perform. adj: great, such, tremendous oElbows up and heads down, they demolished the platefuls of steaming meat and vegetables with gusto. o In the film's battle scenes Berber tribes-men played themselves with great gusto and USMarines from a nearby base stood in for theForeign Legion. OBS 口 often in expression with great gusto. with (the wisdom/@a$@ of) hindsight [A(PrepP)] with, helped by, understanding of the nature of events only possible after they have occurred o Without this incident, their relation-ship would have broken up anyway though per-haps a little later—— and with hindigi ght we think we can see why. OBSD Of course it can be argued that Guthrie wrote with the case of hindsight a century after the events he describes.NS△ wise after the event. with knobs on(informal) in an extreme form;to an extreme degree o ' I think you' re being a selfish pig!" The same to you with knobs on.'oI have still to see anything better than the shoe-shop routine in' The Barkleys of Broadway': that was trick photography with knobs on. RT o' Was it a tough interview?' ' With knobs on!They had me on the line all right.'o can follow(and modify) a n, or be used independently. with/ without the knowledge and con-sent of sb [A (PrepP)] (formal) with the full permission of sb/ without sb, who ought to be informed, knowing anything about it V: move,arrive; occupy, take over, sth; enlarge, extend,build, sth o The subsequent decision to abandon convertibility and later the decision to devalue the fl were both taken with the knowledge and consent of the US authorities. SC o Your insurance policy doesn't cover theft by somebody occupying the flat with your knowledge and consent. o If you build an extension to your house without the knowledge and consent of the local planning authorities, you may have to demolish what has just been built. o knowledge and consent non-rev. with malice aforethought [A (PrepP)] 594 (legal) with premediated intention to commit a crime; with deliberate intention to harm, ob-struct, annoy or embarrass sb o On radio discussion programmes premeditated oaths are out, a ruling which strikes me as both sensible and well-mannered. I have no wish to spit in the ear of any listener with malice aforethought.L with might and main [A (PrepP)] using all one's physical strength, mental or nervous energy, etc; with all one's might (qv) V: strive,struggle, fight o I'm sure I' ve striven with might and main to bring these children up properly, but sometimes I think I haven't made a very good job of it.□Three of the local lads have formed a group. They play with more rwight and main than musicianship but they' re all right for dancing to. with one hand/ both hands tied behind one's back [A (PrepP)] (try to do sth) when severely restricted; (be able to do sth) even though restricted V: fight, beat, sb; achieve,win, stho Mr Nixon told us that ' the time is past for the United States to compete with one hand tied behind her back.’ NSo Nothing to it. I can run this pub with one hand tied behind my back. AITC□ But the real problem in tackling the story of the Whitechapel murders is that most listeners will be in no doubt that they could have written a better script with their eyes shut and both hands tied behind their backs. RT with one voice [A (PrepP) unanimously; ex-pressing the agreement of all concerned V:speak, say; agree, consent to, approve, sth;decry, oppose, sth o They said with one voice that they have been hoping and waiting for such an approach for a long time. MFMo It is rare to find the three teachers' organisations in Scotland speaking with one voice. SC with respect (to sb) [Disj (PrepP)] respect-fully; not insolently, nor dismissing another's authority, opinion, knowledge, experience etc adj: all, due, the greatest o' Well, what are you hanging about for?’‘With respect, sir, wouldn’ t it be better to send a policewoman?'o I would suggest, with all respect to the parents, that they are not always the best judges of a child's capabilities. O front or middle position.previous entry; in respect of sth; in terms of sth.with respect to sth (formal) with reference to sth; in/ with regard to sth(qv)□ Some people,harking back to Locke's distinction between pri-mary and secondary qualities, are willing to con-cede the force of this argument with respect to colour, but balk at its extension to shape. SNPoWith respect to your other enquiry, about pen-sion rights,I enclose an explanatory leaflei.◇ in respect of sth, previous entry. with etc(no) strings(attached/ binding its use) [possess] with(no) special conditions which limit the use, or enjoyment, of sth prep:with, △ without. V: have, (there) be o I don't think the Government should give an increase with no strings attached to doctors while they give dentists a possible increase with strings atteched. SC□The(Polish) Ministry of Culture lent us a car, chauffeur and a pretty and wildly energetic guide-interpreter. There were no party strings attached. OBS□ They are the UNspecial agencies, the one undoubted success <595> with a vengeance--without more/ further ado which the l' nited Nations can claim. No other dispenser of aid without strings is in sight. SC□(Rockefelier) He's the only philanthropist I can think of who gave away his fortune with ab-solutely no strings binding its use. Lo attached almost always used. with a vengeance [A (PrepP)] to an extreme degreeo / was warnedit would he hard work, and hardwork with a vengeanceit was. oI'm afraid ourways have diverged with a vengeance! Nev-er mind, we' ll try and forget sore subjects. just forChristmas, shull we?EM□Un der Albert u nd Vic-toria,(the concept of) House, Hearth and Virtue took rool with a vengeance. NS □ can also modify a preceding n. as shown in first example.with a view to doing sth with the intention and hope of doing sth, either soon or later cl:being called to the Bar, settling there, becoming a teacher, improving conditions, opening another branch o I went to Mr A N Seligman's chambers in Lincoln's Inn with a view to getting called to the Bur (= qualifying as a barrister).RFW □ Attempts are being made to organise a conference with a view to setting up an interna-tional convention on adoption law. Lo 13 Corps was to break into the enemy positions and operate with 7th 4moured Division with a view to drawing enemy armour in that direction.MFM with a will [A (PrepP)] with willingness and determination V: set to. go to it; work. dig.promote o Having heen promised fleach if they made a good job of it, the boys set to with a will.□She tried to throw herself with a will into life umong the deck-chairs. spades, buckets and ther-mos flasks. PW□ Top soloists can be capricious and eccentric in the extreme. But youthful con-ductor Christopher Seaman takes on the job of backing' any soloist with a will and rare skill.R1 one's withers are unwrung (formal) one does not feel any distress, sorrow or pity (when one might possibly be expected to feel such distress etc)o(source) We that have free souls.it (a play) touches us not. Let the galled jade winc'. our withers are unwrung. HAMLET III2J Since nothing we learn about Chinaski suggests that he could ever have done anything more than deliver letters, and that isn't exactly the world's worst job, our withers remain umwrung. LoMiss Stassinopoulos hopes that her book will destroy the Women's Liberation movement. We jaded (Lib) writers may be galled by malicious misrepresentation, and even more by the unsym-pathetic depiction of our own sillinesses, but the withers of the movement are unwrung. Lo(SON(1) Bill Douglas has magnificently retained the child's sense of confusion and mystery. Our withers are wrung precisely because we under-stand so much more than the child can. NS within/ in living memory [A (PrepP)] at, or during, a time that people still living can recall o Langham (Hotel) managed to be raffish und highly respectable at the same time. Within living memory, Haile Selassie, Mrs Simpson und Aleister Crowley could have been found there. L u The country was occupied within living memory by whites through a combination of force und deceit. SCo Never write a hiography of a ' churacter' who has died within living memory. NS□ Prices have been going up faster for longer than at any time in living memory.OBS within reason [Comp/A (PrepP)] reasonable;to a reasonable degree; not immoderate(ly), ex-travagant(ly) or ridiculous(ly)V: be; spend, eat,smoke, exercise□ ' Do me a favour.' ' Of course.Anything you like.' He smiled at her. ' Within reason.'PE a Name a price within reason andI' ll take the house off your hands. o A husband with a family should drink ' within reexam', that is, should know when he has had enough, and should always ' provide'. UL□ He would spend as much time in the constituency as was within reason. ST without benefit of clorgy etc{A (PrepP)}without the professional services of the Church or a minister of religion, etc(benefit of clergy originally = ' benefit to clergy', ie a right.abolished in 1827, that clergy should not be tried for crime in a secular court) o: clergy, law,medicine; Press, schooling o War overtook them and closed churches so they ' married'without benefit of clergy. □ So this time theCity establishment is determined to show that they can run their own ship on lighter lines without benefit of law. Go From this picture of violence and passion and love the victims of Cap-tain Segura were alone excluded —— they suf-fered and died without benefit of Press. OMIHwithout fail [A (PrepP)] with absolute and dependable certainty V: return, start; pay o 'I' ll be back by 7.30, withourt fail.'' See and remem-ber that, then—— for I won't wait for you.” oJENNY: Every time there's bin(= been) a rise someone gets sacked. Without fail. R without fear or favour[A(PrepP)](formal)impartially, according to one's understanding of the truth or of one's duty o The Northern Ire-lund Secretary, Mr William Whitelaw,proclaimed to the people of Ulster ' We will not desert you. We will do our duty to you all without fear or favour.' Lo(a non-commercial radio-station) Names are named in all their programmes, without fear or favour to the limit allowed by American law. L without a hitch [A (PrepP)] (informal) suc-cessfully; without interruptions, mishaps or ob-structions V: go, work; carry through, operate,sth o The removal van was quite prepared to come in the evening when it was dark, and the whole operation went without a hitch. TSMPoThe first of the units to be used privately in Bri-tain has been working for more than three months ' without a hitch' at Dalreagh nursing home, Stockport. Go And if the meeting comes off without a hitch— well, it might be the saving of everything. TCB without more/ further ado [A (PrepP)]without delay, fuss, or hesitation V: begin, set out; leave, depart o She was working at an oil painting upon an easel, and she went back to this without more ado. RFWa Another legal conun-drum that needs to be sorted our, without more ado, is the apparent failure of the authorities to make it possible for people to be tried in Welsh in the Crown Court. NSo The stage has thus been cleared for his songs, and they are performed without further sdo by a cast of ten. Lo com-parative, more/ further, does not necessarily 595 <596> without prejudice (to sth)— sb's word is (as good as) his/ her bond imply there has been earlier delay. without prejudice (to sth) [A (PrepP)](legal) without any negative, harmful or restricting effect(on sth) o: one's case, a ruling.a benefit o It was finally agreed that the British and Americans would provide food for one month for the population in their sectors of Berlin,without prejudice to any future decision on the question of principle. MFM□ The judge overruled the objection, saying that the defendant could answer prosecuting counsel's question without prejudice.□Cover claims made on Policy Bwere without prejudice to any claims lodged in res-pect of Policy A. without a/ one word [A (PrepP)] without making any comment, explanation, or com-plaint o I recognized it as the parcel containing my manuscripts. I reached out for it and she passed it over without a word. UTNo Who was this dark-haired dark-eyed girl? Why had Fergus decided to bring her here without one word to her first? DC □ Th e old man looked up. For a moment Wormold thought he was going to turn tail without a word. OMIHO front. middle or end position. without a word of a lie [Disj (PrepP)](infor-mal) what I'm telling you, describing, is ab-solutely true, however unlikely it seems oWithout a word of a lie,I sat there for an hour and a half before they even came to take my name. o front, middle or end position. woe betide sb the person mentioned will/would surely be punished, reprimanded etc oHe knew that many of the men had to hand theirs(paypackets) over as soon as they came home onFriday, and woe betide them if the seal was not intact. AITCo Judge Maude said: ' Woe betide anyone who should injure Mr Gardiner as a result of this case.'Io He would throw at me a great tome on money matters and question me on Mon-day morning about it. Woe betide me if I hadn't done my homework over the weekend. Loalmost always precedes if-cl. a wolf in sheep's clothing a person who appears to be friendly, or harmless, but is really an enemy or evil-doer□(source) Beware offalse prophets, which come to you in sheep's cloth-ing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.MATTHEW VII15□ Stevenson hadn't heen an inno-cent dupe of anyone: he too was a wolf in sheep's clothing. σ(NONCE) It is true, as Eli-cabeth Longford says, that Churchill describedAttlee as ' a sleep in sheep's clothing. Yet when Colville asked him which of his Labour colleagues he respected most, he replied,' Attlee',L wolf whistle(s) loud whistling directed at a woman. esp in the street or other public places.to show that men find her physically attractive o(He) gave a wolf whistle when he saw her in the dazzling white dress. AITCo Then he would retire with Milly to England, where there would be no Captain Seguras and no wolf-whistles.OMIH O stress pattern ' wolf whistle(s). a woman's/ wife's place is in the home(saying) a woman's role in life is to manage a home and bring up children o In 1952 #woman's place was widely regarded— dare l say it— as in the home. L o The opinions of past generations that ' e woman's place is in the home' and that 'a man should be the bread-winner' stillinger on. OBSaBeryI's male chauvin-ist neighbours are up in arms. According to them.a woman's place is in the home---not in the library. TVIo I' ve got some very old-fashioned ideas about matrimony because I really believe that a wife's piece is in the home. If I ever married I would certainly give up my career. TVTo a maxim now widely contested. a woman's touch the handling of (domestic)arrangements, of a delicate situation, etc that a woman may be supposed to be better at than a man o His London flat near High Street, Ken-sington, is the sort of mess of books, records and empty wine bottles that cries out for a women's touch. TVT o'I suppose we shall have to soothe the fellow down.’’ Perhaps you should go;women's touch might do the trick.' (in) the womb of time(in) the period before sth happens, becomes known or reveals itself o(source) There are many events in the womb of time which will be delivered. OTHELLOI3o Mam-mal fossils exist from this period, but man him-self. as we know him, was still in the womb of time. a ' And I don't just mean that as a com-petitor with Robin, or almost any other man living, I'm in a grotesque position.' What he did mean remained unuttered so long that Patrick felt it might never leave the womb of time.TGLY women and children first(catchphrase) the accepted order of precedence in rescue or relief work, esp evacuation of a sinking ship o If the police are not there before us, they are obviously making a sweep tonight. Women and children first. The professor can wait. OMIH o He preferred to sail in ships of a nationality that shall be nameless because in the event of a disas-ter there would be no nonsense about womor and children first. wonders will never cenesa comment when sth. perhaps comparatively trivial, happens to surprise and please one o 'I' ve got it, Minnie!'' No!' said Mrs Paxon, ' Well, wonders will never crew@.'WDMo' Where's Johnny?' ' Round the back, washing the car.'' What! Wonders will my ver cees.” word for word with exact repetition of every-thing said, or written; verbatim o I suppose you' ll be wondering how it is that I'm able to tell you word for word what Jim's man said to him.LLDR o If you just listen to Walter Pigeon's speech(in ` Forbidden Planet`) you' ll notice it is an almost word-for-word adaptation of ' TheTempest' Act IV Scene I: ' The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces...'RT o attrib use a word-for-word adaptation. a word in séason [O (NP)] sth that is said to sb. esp as advice, sympathy, warning etc at the.time when circumstances make it appropriateV:△ offer. give, utter o(source) The LordGod hath given me the tongue of the learned, thatI should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. ISAIAHL4□But you will admit that I tried, however obliquely, to give you a word in $8850n. US□ Sometimes it is only sen-sible to interfere. A word in segson might have saved Paterson from his own folly. sb's word is (as good as) his/ her bond sb`s promise is as much to relied upon as if it 596 <597> sb's word is law—— work a miracle/ wonders were legally binding o The qualities that he stands for are the old-fashioned mahogany ones:that a man's word should be his bond. that bargains should be honoured, that there comes a time when you have to trust even your opponents.NS o People long for the days of fair play, when an Englishman's word was his bond, he says.OBSo But we ' ve got Adam's word on paper—though far he it from me not to remember that his word is as good as his bond. WDM ◇△as good as one's word. sb's word is law sb must be, or always is.obeyed、 agreed with;(and) what sb says goes(qv)o The Decca supporters made out a strong enough case to cause the Federal AviationAgency — whose word is law where US air traffic control is concerned—— to offer to make a full-scale trial of Decca under American con-ditions. NSCDD ad was just being a big show-off.He likes to think his word is law at home. (the) word is that it is said, reported. that cl:that Mark's been sacked, that the house will be sold o I don't know if it's true hu t word is thatMark's been sacked for embezzling company funds. D The word in the City (= London's financial centre) is that one of the major oil multinationals will sell off its interests in textiles. a word of warning(to sb) a warning state-ment, remark(made to sb) o It is unlikely that professional historians or students of history will need this word of warning. Lo Today there are still dotted round the world powerful criminals living beneath a cloak of sunny respectability. Aword of warning to these far from gentle readers. It is most unlikely that the name of any one of them was not on the files of IDSO inLondon or Johanneshurg. Ds o also pl two words of morning. (by) word or sign [n + n non-rev] (formal)(by) saying sth, or by gesture/ facial expression o The historian was too well versed in the cus-toms of the English to be surprised at the fact that his companions preferred to breakfast without acknowledging by word or sign that he was not alone. EMo'I heard you the first time.'' Well if you give neither word nor sign that you did how am I supposed to know?' o often neg, as in second example. word perfect [Comp (AdjP)] able to repeat a passage of verse or prose, a part in a play, etc without mistakes or hesitations V: △ be,become, get; make oneself o By Friday, when the show is recorded, we are all expected to be word perfect. TVTo With each repetition, he (a young child) takes renewed delight in the rhyth-mic. euphonic. reduplicated sounds and soon becomes word(or rather sound) perfect. MFFa word to the wise a word is enough for the wise; an intelligent person can take a hint, draw his own conclusions without a lot of explana-tion (translation of Latin Dictum (later Verbum)sapienti sat est. PERSA (PLAUTUS ?184 BC) often abbreviated in English speech or writing to verb sap) o When the one thing that can be said in a man's favour is 'I know nothing against him' l take that as a word to the wise. o Verb Sap means— well, it's short for something. I don't exactly remember what, but it's the same as' Amen' or ' Enough said'. RM words fail one/ sb one cannot (continue to) express, or describe, sth, either because one feels any attempt would be inadequate, or because one is overcome by embarrassment.anger、 astonishment etc o People who take an active part in war aren't given to writing about the experience. It is not that they lack im-pressions, but words fail them. Lo Here words failed his lordship who went red in the face and said no more. WDMDWords do not fail me about this pitiful travesty: contempt cuts them short.NS words of wisdom wise or sensible remarks.advice V: offer, give, proffer, utter a With ten-sion mounting on the borders of Israel, and Euro-pean economies half-crippled by the Arab oil policy, these words of wisdom seem doomed to fall on story ground. SCo And the rest of the fel-lers(= fellows) fell for the press gang's(here =Youth Employment Officer's) words of wis-dom. The idea was: go and work at the factories which are on your doorstep. Lo Since he's known and grown up with some of the vintage villains of our time and has himself been done (= convic-ted) three times, he was worth a visit for some modern words of wisdom on that other worldST o often ironic. work it/ things (so) that etc(informal) ar-range affairs, a situation, to suit a particular purpose A: (so) that…; ▲ better; that way,another way o I wanted to work it so that Ididn't get asked in, or at any rate no further than the hall. CON o We' ll try to work it that we travel down to London together. □ Why the devil can't they work things so that a candidate gets his medical before the interview?o' He might accept help if he thought it was a grant from some trust or public body. ' Well, we' ll see if we can work it that way.'o Maybe, if she had worked things better, she might have had more time with David. work like a charm be quickly and easily suc-cessful; have an immediate effect o The shrewd scheme was about to work like a chorm when unfortunately the authorities wouldn't allow him to fly his planes over the planned route. OBS o' There, ' he said. ' Drink that, it' ll help you to pull yourself together.'I don't know what was in it but it worked like = charm. work like a Trojan etc work very hard; work harder and longer than is normally expected of anyone n: Trojan,△black, slave;horse□ To do the battery full justice, both officers and men appreciated the situation and worked like siaves. SDo My husband left a fortune of over a million pounds, all made by his own efforts, He worked like a black from the time he was twelve.PP□The 14th is too soon. Even if we all worked like horses from now till then the exhibition couldn't be got ready. o Army teams did Trojan work rescuing people and animals trapped by the floods. o use of black(=' negro') in this context now considered offensive; variant (do) Trojan work. work a miracle/ wonders [V + O] have an unusually, or marvellously, beneficial effect; do etc wonders/ miracles (for/ with sb/ sth)(qv) A:for the industry, for these patients; in bringing on backward pupils, in increasing circulation figures o She had thought that being happy would work a miracle in him and turn him into 597 <598> work or want----(think/ consider) the world owes one a living a normal confident person. DC□(advertisement)For many years Trill developed by L' Oreal ofParis in the world's greatest hair beauty labora-tory, has been working near miracles for dry hair sufferers. WI□ But the Japanese hope that the success of their small-sized, low-fuel-consumption cars will work wonders. G o n compound a miracle-worker. work or want [v + v non-rev] work hard or suffer a life of poverty; earn what one needs or do without it o HELEN: Listen Jo, don't bother your head about Arabian mystics. There's two w's in your future. Work or want, and no Ara-bian Knight can tell you different. TOH o It was work or want in those days and our father applied the rule to us boys as well as to himself.work the oracle[V + O] produce the desired result or decision (esp by cunning, influence or bribery) o If you can't persuade him to lend us the money, how do you expect me to work the oracle?□ And then from the end of the corridor came this blast of music. 'I think it must be theSupply (teacher) working the oracle— nothing like a nice bit of music for an easy half-hour.'TTwork etc till/ until one drops continue(working etc) until one collapses V: work, walk,keep on, practise □ She shops in the chain stores and claims that the clothes that she buys have to work till they drop.' OBS o But there was tremendous competition, and the only way to get on was to practise and practise till you dropped, and then get up and practise again.TVT work etc a treat (informal) work (= ` func-tion`) etc well. so as to give pleasure or satis-faction V: work, (roses) grow. (sun shine,(drink) go down. (colour) suit sb. (sb) look oEarlier , bush telegraph worked a treat. There were back-to-work announcements in the local hingo halls, in pubs and clubs and a power of telephoning and a door-knocking. STo And, yes please. a little more of the wild bo ar with Satzle(home-made-pasta) and another glass of wine would go downs treat. SC□ Effe Bunce's sisterRuby undertook to clean all the silver, saying she'd make the brights shine a treat; an ex-pression at which Palmer shuddered and drew in her breath. WDM a world away from sth very different from,widely separated from, sth in space or time o It was a world away from the ordinary presenta-tion of politics: the prepared public appearances.Lo This is all a world away from the day just over 20 years ago when Gordon Parker, who is the chairman of the company, bought a derelict and silted up dock. ST o Indeed his interests are e world away from Hollywood. He says he feels sorry for friends who are caught up in the film world with no other means of work. RTO also pl worlds away from sth. the world, the flesh, and the devil all that is not holy; all that tempts mankind to wicked-ness or imperfection o(source) From the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil, GoodLord, deliver us. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER □There are a lot of irritating things about‘AnyQuestions' (a radio programme). First, there's un immaculate attention to balance—— the politi-cal, the social, male and female, the world, the fiesh and the odd devil. L (all) the world and his wife all, or most,people; a very large company of people oAcross the room was a tall and languid citizen and the world and his wife knew him for an actor. a Man of the Theatre with an international name. PP□ It's to be a very grand fête. All the world and his wife will be there. the world is/ remains one's oyster one is fortunate enough to do in life, or get from life,whatever one wants or enjoys □(source) FAL-STAFF:I will not lend thee a penny. PISTOL: Why,then the world's mine oyster/ Which I with sword will open. MERRY WIVES OF WINDSORⅡ2oThe world remains very much a young people's oyster. How well they use it depends on the skill and judgement with which they open the shell. G□I used to lie in bed, listening to the sirens of ships as they dropped down the London river. I knew the world would be my oyster while I was still a snotty-nosed((slang) = supercilious) kid. Lo(crime detectives on radio and television) The rat is bound to be cornered in penthouse apart-ment, dockside dive (= disreputable bar),luxury yacht, Amsterdam night-club or airport lounge. The world is their oyster— how theyget about! RTO is almost always used. the world is one's parish one's interests and activities are very wide; one travels widely, is knowledgeable about many peoples and places o (source) I look upon all the world as my parish. JOURNAL (J WESLEY 1703-91)□ Their for-bears protected dependants and servants and poor neighbours; they themselves were displaced and migrant, and the world was their parish. AH the world is so full of anumber of things life is so interesting, so full of things to see and do□(source) The world is so full of a number of things,/I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings. A CHILD'SGARDENOF VERSES(RLSTEVEN-SON 1850-94)o Indeed the rhapsodies of Ruskin.like ' The Princess' and ' The Ring and the Book',down to the notes and poems of Hopkins, and even Kipling, all share something of enthusiastic accumulation. If the world is so full of a num-ber of things, they are all kept happily busy recording the fact. L a/ the world of difference a very great dif-ference, disparity(between X and Y)□(adver-tisement) When you buy it you' ll see what e world of difference there is in a margarine made only from the best ingredients. WI□ There was a world of difference between these people and the couple in the loft; they were harder, more brutal, less absorbed in pursuits outside them-selves. HD the (whole) world over everywhere; in any place in the world; all over the world o It would appear that the direction the world should take ought to depend, not on politicians, but on the co-operation of scientists the world over. Lo Wher-ever the young and impatient saunter down the street, the transistor rocking from their wrist, theAmerican language envelops them. The world over,a Basic American is now the jargon of hope—— or, to put it more dubiously, of zestful greed.L (think/ consider) the world owes one a living (think that) one is entitled to be well supported, or provided for, either on account 598 <599> (think etc) the world well lost----(well) worth it etc of one's merits or simply because one exists oSo many people think the world owes them e living and they don't go and do anything about it. OBS□STANLEY (raging): Just who the hell do you think you are? So the world owe s you e living; is that it?FFEo For the simple reason that we have no natural resources to speak of, the world doesn't oweus a living. Lo(NONCE) Win-ning the Bardic crown is a tremendous thrill. You get mistaken ideas about yourself, that you' re a genius and that Wales ownes you a living. RT(think etc) the world well lost(think that)the loss of many of life's advantages and rewards is either not regrettable, or is amply compensated for (by sth specified by the context) V: think, △ count, consider. A: for love, for Christ; in such a cause, in each other's company o (source) All For Love or TheWorld Well Lost. (title of a play by J DRYDEN1631-1700)a So many of his heroes and heroines find happiness as comrades bravely challenging society, or considering the world well lost by going into retreat in Labrador or France or Italy.L the world will/ would be a poorer place/the poorer the quality of life for all, or for an individual, will/ would be diminished A: for his death; without the much-maligned do-gooders.without her kindly presence. cl: if we forget the old values, if we couldn't have a good laugh sometimes o The the world will be a poorer place if the younger musicians aren't given a proper hearing, perhaps on Radio 3. Lo(obituary notices) There were many variations on the theme that the world would be the poorer for his passing', that ' his death has cast a gloom over a wide circle’, or that ' he has left a gap which can never be filled'. AH world without end [A (NP)] (formal) eter-nally; for ever; incessantly, without respite; too long or too frequently o As it was in the begin-ning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen. BOOKOF COMMONPRAYERo They' re right to question at least the wisdom of their elders as intelligent young people always have and I hope, world withoutend, always will. o In my job I get the occasional word of praise, some useful suggestions, and complaints world without end. O usu end position. worldly wise[Comp (AdjP)] experienced and shrewd in worldly affairs, business, social behaviour, current trends, etc(in allusion to MrWorldly Wiseman, a character in THEPILGRIM`S PROGRESS(JBUNYAN 1628-88))V:△be,become, appear o I shut away the sense of outrage, my own sense of outrage as well as his,and brought out the workly wise, official's ar-gument. NM o(references to dirty jokes in comedians' scripts) All comics do it. You get a big laugh because the ones that know the joke feel flattered at being told how worldly wise they are, and the rest of them laugh because the others do. HD□ Morton, for all his worldly wisdom.was as susceptible to flattery as the next man. o n compound worldly wisdom. the worm turns a humble, timid or dominated person rebels, retaliates, asserts himself o The 70s will surely be the decade in which the worm turned. Through a whole net-work of agencies the ' little man' turned on those who oppress and abuse him, and answered back.RTa Women were on the move. Boatloads of them emigrated: governessing worms turned; doves became hawks. L the worse for wear[Comp (AdjP)] worn or damaged (by use, misuse, age, temporary stress, etc)V:△be, seem, feel, look. adv mod:somewhat, a bit,a little,(not too) much, none,(not) any o Perhaps in five years people will have forgotten me, perhaps not. I' ll be 46. I won't be100 much the worse for wear. And I' ll finally be able to live like everyone else. OBS□Carefully we undid the door and the tiny animals scuttled into their new home. None appeared to have got wet.which relieved me, though one or two of them looked a bit the worse for water after the jour-ney. BBo The book's out of print, but I have a copy somewhat the worsefor wear I could lend you. worse luck (informal) which is a pity, a mis-fortuneo We' ll see you at Robin's party,I hope?''I'm on duty that night, worse luck.'a I suppose that's why my old man would never hang himself.worse luck, because he never gets a look into his clock ((slang) = a look on his face) like this bloke((slang) = man) had. LLDRO comment on sth previously mentioned by speaker or by another person; middle or end position. worse than useless {Comp(AdjP)] positively harmful;a positive hindrance or drawback; ab-solutely no use, good or help at all V: △ be,become make sth o Again, excavations if not properly conducted were worse than useless in that they involved the destruction of historic evidence. SDo The road map he lent me, which Isubsequently discovered had been published in1972, was worse then uwieless. worse things happenstses(saying) our lot could be worse; worse things happen every day,to other people, in other places, etc o But the really flat ones(phrases) are a minority; in most the note is of a cheerful patience: ' grin and bear ir', ' we' re short o' nowt (= of nothing) we' ve got';' worsethings' appen(= happen) at sur'.UL worship the ground sb walls/ treads on be completely devoted to, or infatuated with, sb o I am not one of these mothers who worahip the ground their sons walk on but John's got a lot more to him than you' ve ever given him credit for. D And my daughter Janice—— you made a big hit with her. Do you think that's too colloquial? I could say ' worships the ground you tread on'. PW (well) worth doing etc[Comp (AdjP)] cer-tain, or very likely, to repay the effort, time,sacrifice etc given; next entry (qv) V: △ be,seem; make sth. presp: doing, making, looking at o I had no intention of looking for Anna, but by the time I was passing Bond Street it really seemed that there was nothing else in the world that was worth doing. UTN a Such detours are well worth making and can greatly reduce the soporific boredom of motorway driving. SCo She was worth looking at. A tall, beautifully propor-tioned figure, with brown hair caught back by a ribbon. TST (well) worth it etc[Comp(AdjP)] certain, or very likely, to repay the effort, time etc, given;previous entry(qv)V:△ be, seem; make sth n: 599 <600> (not) worth a row of beans----wouldn't be seen dead (in a ditch) with sb/ in sth a visit, a drive, a second showing; the trouble dI' ve cut smoking to a packet a week in order to pay the bill, but it's worth it. OBS□ The Sur-realist Art Centre at 31 Brook Street is well worth a visit.□As there would not have been the slightest question of getting them to agree to the proposal once you had driven it into their heads.it would hardly have been worth the trouble.CON (not) worth a row of beans [Comp (AdjP)](informal) (not even) of slight value, impor-tance. or significance V:△be, seem; make sth o I'm perfectly aware I haven't any influence on him that's worth a row of beanis. NM□ Your assurances aren't worth a row of beans, never have been. What I want to see is results. worth one's salt [Comp (AdjP)] deserving what one earns; fulfilling one's function, or per-forming one's work, competently (a reference to a ration of salt included in forms of payment given to Roman soldiers) V:△be, seem; think sb. n: anybody; youngster, teacher, journalist,editor o These have ambition, as every man who is worth his sa lt should have. MFMo She hoped,being quite humble inside, that they would feel she was worth her salt. WDMo(hitch-hiking) As long as there is the possibility of keeping holiday funds for necessities like food and souvenir buy-ing, no youngster worth his salt is going to squander money on travel. ST o Any journalist worth his salt will naturally welcome the oppor-lunity for a really good bit of investigative reporting. L o often modifies a preceding n. worth a try [Comp(AdjP)] sufficiently likely to achieve a successful result to justify one's trying it; give it/ sb a try' (qv); give sb/ sth etc a trial(qv) $: plan, project, procedure; request;remedy. V:△be, seem, find sth o HELEN(think-ing patient reasonableness may be worth a try):She simply said that she's going to church with me. I don't see why that calls for this incredible outburst. LBAoIt would be such good publicity if he agreed to speak. It seems worth a try. worth one's/ its weight in gold (to sb)[Comp(AdjP)] unusually valuable or useful (to sb)V: be,△seem; find sth□ Hotel managers are ten a penny but a good cook is worth his weight in gold. o Add to this that he was a born ex-hibitionist and we had the kind of person worth his weight in gold to a skilled biographer. SCo(reader's letter) May I thank the BBC for the two words often seen in musical programmes in brackets (‘First performance’). They are worth their weight in gold to the real music-lover. RT□I ask you what sort of an inflated woman is that?She's got bosom, bosom and still more bosom. Ibet every inch of her chest is worth its weight in gold. TOH worth while [Comp (AdjP)] worthy; having value in itself; sufficiently important, interest-ing, profitable etc to give a good return for time,effort, attention spent V:△be, become sth o In practice, however, to do one's duty is worth while, and it is possible to get real happiness out of trying to do it. WIo' But since we are among friends,' he continued, conscious now that he had among his audience someone whom it might con-ceivably be worth while to impress. EMo That's what made the(illicit) traffic really worth while.DS□(police recruitment advertisement) You' ll be well-paid for doing a worthwhile job. OBS□It's worth-while noting that this year the negotiations for British entry were conducted by the Council of Ministers. Lo sometimes spelt as one word, or hyphenated, even when used asComp as in the last example; attrib use a worthwhile job; stress patterns it's , worth' while, a ' worthwhile job. ◇ △ next entry. worth sb's while [Comp (AdjP)] profitable,or interesting, to sb S: gamble, investment;examination, trail. V: △ be; think sth, make sth. A: coming; to love me o He stayed so short a time it was hardly worth his while coming. oThe trouble is I am an old man. You do not think it worth your while to love me. OBS□Gangs would approach an Export Express driver and make it substantially worth his while to leave his car unattended in a moment of carelessness.HD□ He wasn't convinced that attendance was worth his while. ◇ △ previous entry. worthy of the name deserving to be named,or defined, as sth(which is specified by context)n: nurse, doctor; training, education; entertain-ment, spectacle; religion o All theatre worthy of the name is a form of education, and deserves official encouragement for that reason alone. NS□ Most designers worthy of the name can be witty without too much tongue in cheek, produc-ing clothes for a giggle that are clever as well. SC□ I realised that Sartre's work was a lifelong dialogue with Marx, and that the same could still be said of any French intellectual worthy of the numers. L o No taxpayer worthy of the name would have grudged Elkin and his guest their dinner in the Mother of Parliaments. PP口 almost always modifies a preceding n. would as soon do A(as B)(informal) would as willingly, or more willingly, do sth (as sth else)□ Let Susan have my ticket since she's keen to see the show. I'm so tired I'd as soon stay at home anyway. aI' ll tell you this——I would es soon cook for people me make beds. □‘Let me ring for a taxi to take you home.'' No thanks. I'd somer walk, really I would.’ a HELEN: Would you soone r I stayed here with you? JO: No,thanks. TOHO variant would sooner do A(than B).would you believe (it)(?) (informal) ex-clamatory comment expressing, or inviting,astonishment or dismay o What we didn't need was the heavens to open(= a very heavy rain)— and, would you believe, come straight through the roof. TVT o (preparing a film set)Peter Graham Scott is harassed. ' They' ve knocked the skull off the skeleton, ’ he says.' Would you believe it? We' ve got to find another.’ RTo(advertisement) D. I. Y.(= do it yourself) double glazing? Would you believe?Crittall factory-made-to-measure panels can cost less than kits that leave you to do all the work yourself! TVT o stress pattern would you be' lieve (it)(?). wouldn't be soon dead (in a ditch) with sb/ in sth(informal) strongly dislike, despise sb/ sth A: with him, with any of them; wearing one of her hats, carrying a shopping-bag; in such clothes, in his company, in a car that cost less than £5000 o 'I wouldn't be suen dead in the clothes Wally wears,' he said. TVT o Every pediar finds customers ready to buy everything,from shawls the fans wouldn't be see n dead in 600 <601> wouldn't know/ recognize sth if one saw one----the wrong way round back home, to keyrings of footballers passing balls. OBS□ And I think they regard it (‘The RedFlag') as some deviationist song and tune that they would not be seen dead with. Lo ' Most people favour one or the other party.'' Well Iwouldn't be seven dead in a ditch with either of them. ’ o ’ As for doing commercial television adverts, Patrick concludes, 'I should infinitely prefer to be see n dead in a ditch.'RT 文 ▲ die in a ditch. wouldn't know/ recognize sth if one saw one (informal) not even know what a particular object, animal etc is; know nothing about an activity, skill, trade etc indicated by a specific object etc o He hoped Cosmo would not glance in that direction or, if he did so, that he might be one of those untroubled by dental caries.who would not recognize a drill if he saw one.□I wouldn't know a nasturtium if I saw one.□ Fisheries experts! They wouldn't know a sole if they saw on@, unless it was fried and lying on a plate. (flee from) the wrath to come(formal)(try to escape from) the threat of anger, punish-ment, revenge or persecution foreseen as threatening one □ (source) O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to coma?MATTHEWIII7o(New Zealand)We don't realise here that there are a fair number of American expatriates, fleeing from the wrath to com. OBS□ The Commandant of theLoyal Citizens of Ulster can be depended upon to warn of the wrath to come. He knows the Lord supports his cause. ST wreak havoc[V+ O pass] cause disruption or destruction A: in the ranks; with their pros-pects; among the crops o Just when the face ofLondon was being changed by Nash and those who followed him. Cubitt and Peto andLadbroke, the railways came and wrought even greater havoc. L o ' It's genuine quick bowlers that win matches, and at the momentEngland just don't have one.' The moment we do, presumably, we shall once more be in a position to wreak havec among the Australian ranks. RT□ His business agility and restless-ness w reak hevoc in his personal life. TVT oAs in his great days, Nielsen's lightning services wresked havoc with his opponents'leads. DM o past tense form is wrought, but cf last example. wring one's hands [V + O] squeeze and twist one's hands together as a sign of anxiety,distress or despair o The congratulations droveSir Derek Walker-Smith, one of the leadingConservative opponents of (Common Market)entry, to quote Sir Robert Walpole: They are ringing their bells now: soon they will be wring-ing their hands.' Lo Stop wringing hands and bandying insults. Men do not, alas, become wiser by being told they are stupid. OBS a Congress heard that the Carter staff was doing an exhaus-live study on reforming welfare, but the leaders in Congress and the leaders of Mr Carter's own party started to wring their hands and shoul:' Promises, promises! Studies, studies! But where are the bills?'L wring sb's neck [V + O pass] strangle. throttle, sb (a reference to the usual method of killing hens)□' Of course he has to come in to our office.'' To see you, no doubt. If he ever makes a pass at you, I' ll wring his neck.'AITCo Daniel could have wrung both their necks. o He was certain the man had marked him down, was out to wring his neck before pitching the dead chicken that remained over the heads of the crowd. LLDRO usu expression of anger or exas-peration, or a form of threat; often with will/would/ could. writ large/ small in enlarged/ reduced form;made more/ less obvious, conspicuous口(source) New Presbyter is but old Priesl writ large. ON THE NEW FORCERS OF CONSCIENCEUNDER THE LONG PARLIAMENT (J MILTON 1608-74)□ As I saw it. a chase for power had probably brought them together. They might use other other words for it, words writ large in flowering script. PP□Glasgow has other cities' problems writ large. NSo Disappointment was writ large on the faces of the British team. Go They are the lessons of the concentration camps writ small;and it is typical of Lewin's integrity that we are never allowed to forget either that black prisoners were worse off than he is. ST o often modifies a preceding n, as shown. the writing(is) on the wall there are unmis-takeable signs that warn of failure, disaster,defeat (in allusion to DANIEL V) o Miss Todd's view (is) that no British-sponsored political solution is possible, on just terms. As with Ulster,the question is whether the writing on the wall can be read in time. OBS o I destroyed the only source of income my family had. Though they survived the initial disaster, the writing was on the wall. ST o The ' Daily Sketch's' death sen-tence all too starkly underlines the writing that has been on the Fleet Street waW, for all to see.since 1966. NS□(young players) When their op-timism and defensive shortcomings were exposed the writing w ait on the wall. G a wrong ' un [Comp (NP)] (dated slang) a dishonest, or criminal, person; an unreliable, or untrainable, domestic or sporting animal; a counterfeit coin, or note, or other false articleV: △ be, look; find sb/ sth to be o He sent me some business without knowing me from Adam;I might have been a complete crook for all he knew. If I'd been a wrong ' un where would he have been? PWaI sometimes think the only thing to do with my car is to push it over a cliff. It's been a wrong' un from the start. O ' un =‘one’;also pl wrong ' uns. the wrong way round [A(NP)] in the wrong direction; with the correct sequence or relation of parts, items, priorities etc reversed V: be; go,point, face; place, put, sth; get it, tell it □ ' Anna loves you,' I said. ' Yes, of course, ' said Hugo.' She's as crazy about me as I am about Sadie.But I thought you were in on all this, Jake?''I was in on it,' I said. 'I got it all the wrong way round, that's all!' UTN o Most Britons over 30were tuught foreign languages the wrong way round: first to read them, then to write them.third to speak and fourth to hear and understand.OBS o Now all the journalists want to become lycoons. I think it is the wrong way sound. L 601 <602> X x marks the spot (catchphrase) a cross in-dicates the exact location (from, originally, an explanatory caption to a newspaper photo-graph or drawing of` the scene of the crime`, in which a cross showed the position of the victim`s body, etc) o (postcard message)Mother's house is white blob half hidden by large tree in top right-hand corner—— but x marks Y (from) the year dot(informal)(from)a start-ing point far back in the past;(at) some distant time in the future o You know the fascination now of old and yellowed press cuttings from the year dot. For your great grand-children, the year dot is now. STo(fuel shortage)... trying to get people to realise that this isn't something that's going to happen in the year dot but within the lifetime of the youngest of us. SCoPRINCESSANNE: Any wedding list, let's face it, is going to have omissions. We' ve tried very hard to think of people who' ve helped us—— especially from my point of view—— from the year dot onwards. L the Yellow Peril fear(first raised, esp in Ger-many and North America, in the 1890s and whipped up from time to time since then) that the Chinese and/ or Japanese nations will over-run the world o We were scornful of messmates who held that if war in the Far East did come it would not be between European Nations but be-tween Whites and Yellows: had not the GermanEmperor spoken of the Yellow Perif? ‘Non-sense!' we scoffed. BM □ In Lyndon Johnson's final days in the White House his own Secretary of State publicly defended the Vietnam War by evoking the spectre of the Yellow Peril'. NSoThe other myth that's now quite abandoned is that of the Chinese as a' yellow peril' wanting to flood through Asia with invading hordes. L. the yellow press newspapers, journalism,specializing in sensational items of news, or in presenting any items as sensationally as pos-sible o(news coverage of an air crash) The gra-tuitous film reports of the Hong Kong and French disasters were in the worst traditions of the yellow preser. L yes and no one cannot agree, consent, report success etc in every respect o‘Would you sayAndrew was a good teacher?'' Yes and no. He gets marvellous results from his pupils in exams,but few of them seem to be able to think for themselves once they have left school.'a ' Well?'said the Prime Minister. ‘Yes and no,’ wasParkinson's answer. I' ve had to promise to fit the place up as a regular scientific establishment.TBC□ non-rev. yet awhile(not) until a little/ some time later oOh, someone' ll be going our way to drop us off.sure to. Don't want to start making tracks (=leaving) yet awhile, though, do we? TGLY exact spot, o We managed to get this photo ofPhilip's boat moving out ahead of the leader as they both rounded the lighthouse. X marks the spot! □ now used facetiously on holiday postcards or snapshots with reference to a cross indicating one's hotel bedroom, a favourite meeting-place, etc. you ain't soon nothing yet (catchphrase)there is much better/ worse to follow o It's really true —— as Jolson would say: You ain't spgin nothing yet.' Prepare for Hughie Green as you ' ve never seen him. TVT o' Is this the kind of food they give you here?’‘Boy, you ain’ t seen nothin' yet. This is high class for here, this is.'□' Conditions aren't as bad as they expected. Let them hang on—— they haven't soon anything yet.’ o usu second person, but can be third person, as in last example; ain't here =‘haven’ t’. you (can) bet your (sweet) life (that)[Disj](informal) I confirm to you (that); it is certain (that); I' ll/ you bet (that)(qv)o All my life I worked in the open air and you be t your life I'm going to die there —— come on. MrSegal, push me into the garden. HSGo' Will lever learn to speak French well?' ' You can be t your sweet life you will, and very soon, too.'o If you do that again, out you go—— you can bet your sweet life on that. O front or end position;variant you (can) bet your sweet life on sth. △1(' ll) bet. you can keep sth/ sb(informal)I don't like,I have a poor opinion of, sth/ sb O: it, him; city life, foreign cuisine, Italian opera o ' You can keep the city life, ' says Ern Gray's partner and girlfriend, Judy Bateson,a physiotherapist fromLiverpool who originally came to Wales to con-valesce after a car accident. TVT□ Why should it be considered such a virtue to be ' good with child-ren'? You can keep children as far as I'm con-cerned. o abrupt dismissed of sth or sb. you can prove anything with/ by statistics/ figures (catchphrase) it is pos-sible to use statistical, numerical, information to support any argument, esp if a set of figures is quoted without balancing them against another relevant set or against other informa-tion o (source) A witty statesman said, you might programything by figures. CHARTISM(TCARLYLE 1795-1881)o When the psychologist at-tempts to employ statistical methods he encoun-ters the usual obscurantist notion that you can prove anything with statistics. SNP o Don't quote that sort of stuff at me. We all know you can use figures to prove anything, and they need to be construed in the context of the indivi-dual programmes. T o variants you can use 602 <603> you can say that again— you know what stc statistics/ figures to prove anything, statistics/figures can (be made to) prove anything. you can say that again (informal) you are undeniably correct; that is absolutely true; you said it (qv); you' re telling me! (qv) $; you, he,she, they o MARY: I'm worried about Dad, Andy.He's gone to bits. Andy, it's serious! ANDY: You can say that again! OBS o ' Day and night Iroamed Los Angeles gathering data, I became a data addict.' He can say that again (and does,incidentally). Lo The local (ie man) tugs on his cap(and says)‘Mind you, you’ d never know it.was a brewery.' Hecan say that again. It's hard to find the brewery down the meandering country lane. RT o used to express emphatic, and often ironic, agreement; stress pattern you can say' that again. you can/ can't take sb/ sth anywhere(catchphrase) a child, animal, dependant etc can/ can't be trusted to behave well, be found acceptable, anywhere o If a dog has been properly trained you can take him anywhere. oWhen our second daughter was three years old she was so badly behaved you couldn't take her anywhere. o(advertisement for whisky) You can take a White Horse anywhere. OBS a You couldn't take Ursula anywhere, but it was no fun going without her. L you can't win (catchphrase) whatever one chooses to do has an unhappy conclusion, does not please or satisfy o Love is in the mind, in the past, round the corner, slipping through the fin-gers. You can't win. NSo She would ladle fresh supplies(of food) on to his pile so that he eventu-ally refused any more. ' Wassamatta(= what's the matter) you don't like my food no more?'This is what is known as the ' Can't Win' situa-tion wherein whatever the child does, the mother has left herself an opening to feel aggrieved. TVTyou could have fooled me (informal) Iwouldn't have thought so(and still don't, or am still not sure)□' What a nice hair-do you' ve had.'' Oh don't pretend you don't know it' sa wig.'' No!Well, you could have fooled me.'o 'A triumph of naturalism and human values over aesthetic pretensions,’ one reviewer described his work.You could have fooled me. O stress pattern you could have , fooled ' me. you could say(that) it is fairly true or correct(that); it is a possible opinion (that) o You could say I have a fair amount of responsibility— if neglected, a machine could grind to a halt.ST □ Neil has been slimming. You could say he was blackmailed into it. RToYou could say that this triangle is the geometric hub of the WestMidlands, maybe of England too. A distribution corridor for anything on wheels and much else beside. G D stress pattern you ' could say (that). you don't mean to tell me/ say(that)? can it really be truě that? $: you, he, she, they o‘You’ ve heard of —— of Jehovah’ s Witnesses?’Her head swivelled round. She was trying to keep her startled eyes on his.' You don't mean to say you' re one of them?’ HD o HELEN: You don't mean to tell me he's really gone? JO: Now that you' ve been rude to my friend. HELEN: What an arty little freak! TOH□He doesn't mean to tell us, I hope, that Mike's been cheating him? o expresses surprised disbelief; neg and/ or inter-rog; usu second person; variant do you mean to tell me/ say (that)? you don't say(so)l(catchphrase) can that be true! I'm surprised to hear that!o(advice from an Income Tax consultant) ' Do you claim for the room you work in, for instance?"' Good Lord,no. Could I?' ' Yes, and for your stationery and typing and for a proportion of your telephone calls——' ' You don't say sol' PWo 'I' ve a touch of indigestion.’‘Comes from eating too much.’' You don't say/'a often genuinely astonished response to information but sometimes ironic as in last example; stress pattern you don't ' say(so)! you have (got) to be/ must be joking/kidding(informal) you must be, can only be,joking o‘Turn the volume down?’ said one disco manager.' You haveto be joking. The kids want it loud enough to go right through them, and if we lowered the level, they'd go somewhere else tomorrow night.'OBSa He decides to move fromManhattan to Brooklyn in order to come to grips with ' real life and the significant issues of our time'.' You' ve got to be kidding,' says his wife.L o Then one of the strangers stepped forward:' You' re under arrest.' The charge was armed robbery of the Mercury Savings and Loan Asso-ciation in nearby Buena Park. De Palma laughed shakily: ‘You must be kidding.’ OBS □ joking esp GB, kidding esp US; said to or about sb,almost always to express disbelief or scepti-cism. you know' you know or understand very well;you are a person I don't need to tell, explain,things to o I' ve never really noticed anybody.Not noticed what kind of person he was: just whether he was a good businessman, a sound employee, or a serious rival—— you know. HDo‘What sort of girl is she?’‘Well, you know, old man. The sort of girl one runs into in London.'TGLY o I'm hopeless at explaining myself, you know, so why didn't you speak up for me? □often preceded by short pause; fall-rise tone on know. you know²I am informing, or reminding, you□‘You know I didn’ t ask you to the party,Wicks,' said Lydia,' but you' re always welcome.'WDMo You' ll never catch that train. It's half past three now, you know. o' That's good jam. " Well,my wife makes her own your know.'o usu front or end position; low tones on you and know. you know³ I am giving you my opinion, or advice o You know, Elsie, it's a most frightful thing to say, but I think Daddo is getting old. RM□She ought to have dancing lessons, your know.she's crazy about dancing. DC□ usu front or end position; low tones on you and know. you know⁴ I am correcting, or contradicting,you o ' Bill's a good husband.' ' He isn't, you know.'a If you don't give it to me, I' ll take it from you.’‘You, won’ t, you know. But try if you like.'o usu end position; mid tone on you, fall-rise tone on know. you know what etc(informed) sth etc that is known by the speakers but is not named for any of a variety of reasons, eg prudery, a wish to keep sth secret, a fear of being overheard, etc pron/ adv: what,△ where, who □' Shall I go on about you know what?' Chadwick said toDusty. ‘Listen,’ said Dusty, ’ this bloke((slang)= man) was at College with Goldilocks. Make 603 <604> you know what you can do (with it/ sth)-----you and whose army? with the dirt (= provide the information).'TTo' Good luck with your plans,' she finished off the letter, ' and don't let you know who bully you.'you know what you can do (with it/ sth)(informal)I don't want sth, will have nothing to do with it, refuse to accept it, etc; next entry(qv)8: you, they; Jane, Mr Ashton. o: it, that;your apology, your lawyer's letter; his£5, their free gifts o He has been taken into their con-fidence, and cannot decently tell them that they know what they can do with their typescript.AH□' Another 75p a week is all I can offer. ' 'Isuppose you know what you can do with that.'□ I' ll tell her what she can do with her rules if she quotes them at me any more. □ euphemism,abruptly and discourteously rejecting a sugges-tion; variant tell sb what he can do with sth. you know where you can put sth (infor-mal)I am not interested in, refuse to accept, sth;previous entry(qv)S: you, she, he, they; Jack;the County Council O: it; that idea, AuntMary's plans a You know where you can part that idea. I' ve never heard anything so stupid in my life□ I'm not interested in Jack's sales report— it's rubbish. He knows where her can put it. o I don't care if your Aunt Mary wants to go to Spain this summer. If she doesn't stop interfer-ing, I' ll tell her where she can purt her ideas. Deuphemism, abruptly and discourteously rejecting a suggestion; variant tell sb where he can put sth. you and your meetings etc(informal) teas-ing, impatient, or contemptuous remark about sth that sb often does, says, suggests etc pron:you, her, him, them. adj: your,△ her, his, their.n: meetings, fishing, football; friendships, love;dog D Oh, you and your committee meetings!I think that's all you live for!a(to Peter who has given his food to a tramp) Ah, get out of it, you and your high and bloody mighty gestures. Iwork for my living. Fool! TKo‘Uncle Fred has to take care of his health now.'' Him and his health! He' ll probably outlive the lot of us.'o usu second person. you name it(they have it etc) every person,thing, place, you care to name or think of (we have met, enjoyed, visited etc) cl: they have it,he's done it, we' ve seen it o In the New Philhar-monia Chorus we get around — Parma,Florence, Lisbon, Coventry, Gothenburg, Paris,Edinburgh, you name it; one gets to be quite a connoisseur of audiences. RTo Fund-raising is as much a part of American life as baseball; for museums, public television, deprived children——you name it,a group is supporting it. NS□(He)has sounded off about everything on television and in papers and magazines. You name it, he actually says 'I' ve written it.' TVT o Broken bones, torn muscles, displaced vertebrae, mul-tiple bruises—— you name it and these men get it. TVT you/ we only live once (saying) let people enjoy themselves while they can; life is short so why should people spend time doing what they dislike when they could be enjoying themselves o Forget your diet and have another chocolate.You only live once, and you can starve yourself tomorrow. o The harmaid looked at him and said: ‘Well, we only live once, don’ t we? WhatI say is, why not have a good time while we can.' 604 PEo' We live only once.' said Aznavour.' We are going to have plenty of time to rest so why rehearse?’ TVT O S usu you. you and the other (ninety-) nine (catch-phrase) I don't believe you can; you and who else?(qv); you and whose army?(qv)o '/ would build a better wall myself.''I daresay you could,you and the other nine.’ o‘I’ m gonna thump(=going to hit) you.'' Where's the other dimety-nine?” D variant where are the other (ninety-)nine? o derisive reply to a boast or threat. you pays your money and (you) takes your choice (catchphrase) you choose what-ever alternative course, explanation etc you like(from a cockney stallholder's cry to prospective customers) o Could Blake and Philby be the greatest triple agents of all time? Could Blake really have escaped from the Scrubs without an official blind eye? You pays your money and takes your choice. OBS o For the city is a dressing-up box,a dime store of identities. You pay s your money and you takes your choice.L o Today's set-to in the Commons on housing.land prices and the environment was once again a matter of ' you pays your money and you takes your choice.’ T you said it (informal) I agree wholeheartedly;you are absolutely right; you can say that again(qv); you' re telling me!(qv)□GEOF: She likes to .make an effect. JO: Like me? GEOF: You said it.TOHoALEX: Isn't she fat?PETER: You said it. I'm sure one day she' ll just float away. DPM O ex-presses emphatic agreement; stress pattern you said it. you scratch my back and I' ll scratch yours(informal) you help me, bring me busi-ness, get me into office, etc and I' ll do the same for you o These ' Americans of a certain class'stick together. For the marrieds, it's you scratch my back, /'# scratch yours. NSo Our nerve has failed and we are implicitly saying to the reader: ' Don't hit me and I won't hit you', or you scratch my back and I' ll scratch yours'.L o often suggests unfair arrangements for mutual help between privileged persons. you what! (informal) an exclamation of dis-belief, shock, anger etc about sth reported to one o 'JO: My baby may be black. HELEN: You what, love?JO: My baby will be black. TOHo' Joe was bulldozing down the orchard wall, as I was passing.'' Ne was whatt/—OhmyGod!'o' Where did you get that doll?''I swapped the kitten for her.'' You what/'o usu second person; variants he was (doing) what! you did whati you and who else? (catchphrase) you can't,are not able to— not without help anyway;you and the other(ninety-) nine(qv); next entry(qv) pron: you, her, him, them o ' Come on, I' ll race you.’‘You blinkin’((slang) = (taboo)bloody) won't mate.' 'I blinkin' well will.' ' You on'(= and) who else?'TTo' Pete won't let you go. He'd tie you up first.'' Oh yes, him and who else?' o usu second person; derisive reply to boast or threat. you and whose sorry?(informal) you can't,are not able to— not without help anyway;you and the other (ninety-) nine(qv); previous entry(qv) o ' lf you leave the bathroom untidy again, I' ll make you clear it up.'' Oh yes? You word whose my?'o ' If you won't stop Mother <605> making a fool of herself,I will.' You and whose army?'o usu second person; derisive reply to a boast or threat. you' re the boss (informal) you decide; I am prepared to do as you say pron: you, he, she oJO:I' ll meet you down by that ladies' hairdressing place. BOY: Okay, you' re the boss. TOH o 'Ithink we should drive straight home.'' Carry on then, you' re the boss.'o ironic, often good-humoured, acknowledgement that sb is in charge; stress pattern , you' re the ' boss; usu second person. you' re a long time dead(saying) life is short.so enjoy yourself, make yourself useful, happy,experience all you can, etc while you have the chance o DAVID: Look, just leave me alone. Idon't think we want any today. SAM: Oh, cheer up, Davey, you' re a long time dead. HSG you' re only young once (saying) let young people have what freedom and fun they can get,because they' ll have enough work and worry later o It is a selfishness which the parents con-done and support; there is all the rest of life to come and you cannot do much about that; you must let them'' ave(= have) a good time while they can'; after all, ' ver(= you are) only young once'. ULaMR BUTCHER So we' ll all forget for a few hours and enjoy ourselves. A few drinks?You' re only young once? DPM you' re telling mel (informal)I already know,and emphatically agree with what you say; you can say that again (qv); you said it (qv)□‘ByGod it's cold!' ' You' re telling me!'o ' How canI help worrying (about the baby). If she just wouldn't cry so much it wouldn't be so bad.'You' re telling me,' Joe said bitterly. AITC o stress pattern you' re telling' me. you' re welcome (esp US informal) it's a pleasure; it's no trouble at all; don't mention it(qv) o ' Cheerio, then and thanks for the lift.'' You' re welcome.'o' You' ve been most helpful.'' You' re welcome. That's what we' re here for.□ reply after being thanked for a service, in-formation etc given. you' ve said it all (informal) you' ve summed up the situation pefectly o 'A decision might have to be taken within a matter of weeks.because the opportunity suddenly recurred.'' Jack, you' ve said it all.' o emphatic form of agreement. a young hopeful a boy or girl who has hopes for the future, or for whom hopes are felt oThat was a long time ago. Jack's a married man with four young hopeful s now.□ Eliot's identif-ication of London office-workers with the oc-cupants of Dante's hell, must have persuaded many a young hopefulthat it would be not mere-ly tiring but downright uncultured to get a job of wiork. L the young idea young people, esp schoolboys or schoolgirls and students □(source) Delight-ful task! to rear the tender thought,/ To teach the young idea how to shoot. THE SEASONS(JTHOM-SON 1700-48) o (archaeological excavation) Al-coc k and I took it in turns to instruct the your-ger idea. And to do it justice, the young idea took the somewhat strenuous ordeal exceedingly well. SDo We were a tame lot, really—— ours not to question why. The young idea is a little more sure of itself today. you' re the boss---yours truly young and old [n+ n rev](people) of all ages□ Letters of complaint poured into ' The SundayTimes' by the hundreds. Young and old, town and country, home and abroad were in a state of fury. SToI managed to cover eight cities and met enough Germans, young and old, to bring my opinions up to date a bit. L your best friend won't tell you (catch-phrase) even friends don't like to inform you(of an embarrassing thing about yourself)(from a former caption for' Lifebuoy' soap, which was advertised as a safeguard against BO = body odour)o Now your best friends won't have to tell you. Surgeons in Denmark have come to the rescue of people who have serious problems with underarm sweating. STo(NONCE) Whatever sub-jects are or are not taboo, that you are getting a bit thin on top or have developed a bald spot is something that even your best friends delight to tell you. SC your guess is as good as mine (catch-phrase) don't ask me because I don't know the answer either (the implication often being that perhaps nobody does) □ ' Do you believe they intend war eventually?' the Chief asked. ' Your guess is as good as mine.'OMIH□DAVID(to his father):I wish I really knew what you really wan-ted of me. SAM (shrugs): I wish you knew what you wanted of yourself. Anyway, your guess is as good as mirre. HSG D usu second person,though meaning may be ' any person's guess is as good as another's'. your humble servant(dated)I; me; myself;a way of acknowledging an order or request from a superior; an expression which precedes the signature of a letter on petition from an inferior to a superior o' And do you do all this extra work for the same salary?'' They expected me to, but that's where your humble servers dug her toes in.’ o usu facetious as in example. your need is greater than mine (catch-phrase) you may, or must, have sth because you need it more than I do adj': your, my, his;Jack's. adj²: mine, yours, hers; Jane's o (source— said on giving his water-bottle to a dying soldier on the battle-field at Zutphen, 1586)Thy necessity is yet greater than mine. SIRPHILIP SIDNEY 1554-86a We all enjoyed the story.When it was done, I offered Raseh the ten dollars. He refused it. He did not say that my need was greater them his, because that would have been manifestly untrue. NDNo Carter said.'I drank most of it in the plane. There's only one glass left in the flask.'' Obviously our friend here must have it. ' Mr MacDougall said.' His need is greater than ours.'OMIH yours to command (formal) ready to obey your orders, to do what you want adj: yours,hers, his, theirs口 CLIVE: What is your wish, Ma-dam?I am yours to command. LOUISE: I' ve told you already, my little Cossack. Be happy. FFEoIf that is what the readers want, I am their s to command; and after all who is fool enough to kill off a golden goose? G o usu second person;often facetious. yours truly (informal)I, me, myself (from the use of‘yours truly’ before putting one’ s sig-nature to a letter) o DIXON: Y' know(= you know), it's a funny thing but even the best of us can fall by the wayside and yours truly is no 605 <606> the zero option exception. OBS□PRINCESSANNE: Pressmen were all over the place, just trying to get a picture of yours truly in tears. BBCTV oAnd guess who's Z the zero option a proposal made by PresidentReagan's administration on 19 November 1981that, in return for the removal of certain Soviet medium-range missiles aimed at European tar-gets, the US and its allies would cancel their1979 agreement to install new types ofAmerican missilesin various European countries □ The zero option calls on the Soviet 606