A Practical Guide To Colloquial - BALL, Wilson James

A Practical Guide to
UMAKAK
IDIOM
W. J. BALL
LONGMANS
^'8c
COLLOQUIAL IDIOM
OTHER BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR
CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH
An Analysis of Contemporary spoken English
for Foreign Students
SELECTED TEXTS OF MODERN DIALOGUE

A seleaion of passages of Modern Dialogue Jor oral praaice in reading
and the precis and comprehension of Conversational English
i
COLLOQUIAL IDIOM
BY
W. J. BALL, M. A
LONGMANS
Longmans, Green and Co Ltd
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First Published 1958
Second impression 1959
First Hong Kong impression 1961
PRINTED IN HONG KONG

BY THE CONTINENTAL PRINTING CO. LTD.
Contents
page
PREFACE ix
A NOTE ON IDIOM I
AFFIRMATION AND DENIAL 9

AGREEMENT AND DISAGREEMENT 16
APOLOGIES 21
APPEARANCES 24
APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL 28
ARGUMENT AND DISCUSSION 32
BEHAVIOUR 37
AND DISBELIEF
BELIEF 40
BIRTH AND DEATH 44
BUSYNESS 4^
CAUTION 47
COMMUNICATION Ô
COMPLAINTS 53
COMPROMISE ££
CONFUSION £J
CONSOLATION AND SYMPATHY 60
CONTROL 62
COURAGE AND FEAR 64
DETERIORATION 67
EASE AND DIFFICULTY JO
ECONOMY AND WASTE 73
EMBARRASSMENT 77
ESCAPE AND EVASION 79
EVENTS 82
FEELINGS: Anger 86
Annoyance 87
Resentment 89
Sadness 91
CONTENTS
FRIENDSHIP 92
HEALTH 9^
HIT AND MISS 97
HOME AND FAMILY lOO
HONESTY AND DISHOxNESTY I03
IGNORANCE AND UNDERSTANDING I07
INDIFFERENCE Il2
INEVITABILITY 11^
INFERIORITY AND SUPERIORITY II7
INFLLIENCE I20
INTERFERENCE I22
INVITATIONS 124
KINDNESS 127
LIKES AND DISLIKES 129
LUCK 132
MADNESS 13^
MISCALCULATION I37
MODERATION AND EXCESS I39
OPINIONS AND JUDGEMENTS 142
OPPORTUNISM 146
OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM 1 50
PARTNERSHIP 1^2
PERSISTENCE AND PERSEVERANCE I^^
PLAIN SPEAKING 1^7
POLITENESS 160
PRAISE AND BLAME 163
PROBABLE AND POSSIBLE l6^
PROGRESS 167
QUARRELS AND PEACEMAKING I7I
RESPECT AND DISRESPECT 1 74
RESPONSIBILITY I76
RETALIATION AND RETRIBUTION 1 79
RICH MAN POOR MAN ...
. . . 181
SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION 183
vi
CONTENTS
SCOLDING l86
SECRETS AND CONFIDENCES l88
SENSE AND NONSENSE I9I
SOCIAL RELATIONS I92
START AND FINISH I95
SUCCESS AND FAILURE I98
SUGGESTIONS 20I
SUPERSTITIONS 203
SURPRISE 20^
THE EGO INFLATED AND DEFLATED 209
THE JOKER 212
THOROUGHNESS 214
TOLERANCE AND INTOLERANCE llj
TRIAL AND ACHIEVEMENT 220
TROUBLE 222
VICTORY AND DEFEAT 226
WORK 229
INDEX 233
Vll
Acknowledgments
We are indebted to the following for permission to quote

copyright material:
The Daily Telegraph for extracts from various issues of
thatnewspaper Miss Mary Fitt for extracts from Love from
;
Elizabeth published by Messrs. Macdonald & Co., Ltd.;

Messrs. Hamish Hamilton Ltd. for extracts from The Go-
Between by Mr. L. P. Hartley; Mr. Emyr Humphreys for
extracts from Hear and Forgive published by Messrs. Victor
Gollancz, Ltd.; Messrs. Michael Joseph Ltd. for extracts
from Friends at Court by Henry Cecil; Mr. W. Somerset
Maugham and Messrs. Wm. Heinemann Ltd. for extracts
from Ah King; Messrs. Putnam & Co. Ltd. for extracts from
The Sixth Heaven by Mr. L. P. Hartley; and The Times for
extracts from various issues of that newspaper.
Vlll
Preface
There is a belief that the foreign student should be satisfied

when he can express himself in English fluently and gram-
matically, and that there is no need for him to waste time
on language 'frills' such as colloquial idiom. This belief

rests partlyon a misunderstanding of the nature of idiom
and partly on the mistaken idea that colloquial English is
not exportable and that the effort of learning it is not
commensurate with the results achieved. It also assumes
that advanced foreign students of English are not interested
in the colloquial language. The facts are quite different.
Sooner or later students become aware that to understand
the informal conversation that native speakers of English use
they need something more than a simple knowledge of the
grammar and syntax of English. The colloquial language
interests them vastly, but they lack confidence in using it,
especially when they observe that the native speaker em-
ploys a type of idiom with which they are unfamiliar. Their
reaction to this problem to pore over encyclopedias of
is
idiom and to commit to memory as many 'picturesque*

idioms as possible which they introduce as often as possible
into their conversation, or alternatively to employ collo-
quialisms that are wildly out of place in the context of their
own experience and the particular situation.
To beof any use to the foreign student a book about
idioms has to do something more than tabulate an arbitrary
selection of these linguistic phenomena based on the com-
piler's own tastes and interests. The foreign- student wants
to know which idioms to use in a given situation. He also
wants to avoid the pitfalls of vulgar, inappropriate and
incongruous idioms. In short, he wants both information
ix
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO COLLOQUIAL IDIOM
and guidance. And he wants these not only to assist him in
speaking English but also in understanding it. It follows,
therefore, that some of the idioms he learns will be for use
in conversation, others for recognition purposes.
The standpoint that I have taken in this book is that not
I but the idiom is the master of the situation. Faced by a
certain situation how does the advanced foreign student
express himself in informal English?
The plethora of human situations makes it imperative to
reduce them to manageable proportions. I have asked my-
self which are the commonest themes of human activity.
Without being able to emulate Juvenal's digest of mankind's
affairs
Quidquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas,

Gaudia, discursus, nostri farrago libelli est —
I have reduced them to 79 paragraphs^ representing a spa-
clous bird's-eye view of man's activities. Upon these pivots
of human have hinged a selection of some of the
activity I
most common and useful idioms in current speech. I have

no doubt omitted many that other people will think are
just as useful, but that was unavoidable.
The reader will discover that 1 have included amongst the
idioms a number of proverbial and semi-proverbial sayings.
My reason for doing so is that these are used as comments
—
upon situations and the comment is a popular feature of
conversation. They often sum up a situation concisely,
appositely and without ambiguity. As for those idioms that
are for recognition only, I have usually issued, directly or
by implication, a warning to the reader. If there is no such
1 Satires I, 85-6. "Whatever men are busy with, their hopes and fears, anger
—
and covetousness, their joys and their restless bustle this is the miscellany of my
book."
*Thcy are further broken down in the Index. There are over 1,500 idioms in
the book.
PREFACE
warning he can assume that the idioms he sees are safe for
him to use. Safe is, perhaps, too strong a word. There is
—
no certain defence against a social *faux pas' that of using
a perfectly good idiom (or so it seems) to quite the wrong
—
person but I hope that the student will find in these pages
nothing that will cause him embarrassment. The exercises
will serve the purpose of revision and as additional illus-
trations of the idioms in use.
W.J.B.
DACCA,
EAST PAKISTAN
XI
A Note on Idiom
If the reader looks up Idiom in the Concise Oxford Diction-
ary he will read: *a form of expression peculiar to a
language'. The same source defines 'peculiar' as 'belonging
exclusively to'. This definition will not do. How can we
be sure that an idiom which we think is peculiarly English
is not also found in other languages?
A complete definition of Idiom will have to cover many

features of language. The use offamiliar words in an unfamiliar
sense seems to me to be as adequate a definition as the
foreign student is likely to need, and it has the merit of

offering him a simple standard by which he can discrimin-
ate idiom from non-idiom. For instance, he knows the
meaning of both words in 'Sunday week', but unless he
knows the idiom, its meaning of 'not next Sunday, but the
Sunday after that' will escape him. In the same way the use
of 'it' is unfamiliar in the question, 'Who is it?'; this is
the way we challenge someone to give his name, who has
just knocked our door.^ Every word in the phrase 'He*s
at
burnt his boats' is familiar enough, but the meaning of the
phrase cannot be pieced together from the meanings of its
parts. Indeed one of the most difficult things about an idiom
is that unless you know what it means you cannot, as a rule,
guess its meaning. There are other snags^ too, as we shall
see later.
Briefly, there are seven features of language that are em-

braced by a definition of idiom:
^ When we anszuer the door we may also say, "Who's there?"

2 For snag see appearances.
(a) Ordinary grammatical usages.
Consider, for instance, the tense usages in the following
two sentences:
It's time we went home.
When you come tomorrow I'll pay you back the £i
I owe you.
Went is a past tense; come is a present tense. ^ Yet both refer
in their contexts to future situations.
The use of Jo is often highly idiomatic^, as, for instance:
Do oranges grow on trees? Yes, they do.
Another answer to the question might have been 'I think
which means *I think they grow on trees, but I'm not
50 ',
quite certain.*
The inversion of verb and suppression of 'If' in the next
sentence is also idiomatic (though the use is not colloquial)
Had you come earlier, you would have seen her.
It takes some doing may be explained grammatically, but
its meaning 'It's not easy to do' cannot be derived from
grammatical analysis.
(b) Deviations from strict grammar.

Many colloquial uses are strictly speaking 'ungrammatical'
But it must not be assumed that all deviations from grammar
are 'bad English' (though illiteracies^ are). In fact, to
'correct' colloquial 'bad'grammar is unnecessarily pedantic.
Thus we normally say 'It's me' (him; her; them) and not
'It is r (he she; they). The mother who is tired and sends
;
her noisy children off to bed says to them, Off to bed now, ^
there's good children, nor would it ever occur to her to say,

'there're good children'. We say, 'it's ages since we met';
'He's a friend of mine' (not 'of me'); and, quite often,
1 "I'd rather you didn't speak tomorrow" is equally illogical in tense usage, but
it is good idiom.
* As in my first paragraph, "This definition will not do", i.e. It isn't adequate.
' See Fowler, Modern English Usage, p, 255.
A NOTE ON IDIOM
*
Which dojou like best?' although only two things are being
compared. I do not believe it is Standard American, but I
have heard educated Americans say ^between jou and V (nor
is it uncommon amongst Englishmen).
(c) Allusive expressions.

There is a kind of expression that appears to have a
straightforward interpretation, but idiomatically means
something quite different. It is usually impossible to guess
its meaning. Here are a few examples:
That will do. (= That is enough.)

That's enough /or the time being. (= That's enough for
now.)
What are they up to} (= What and I suspect it's —
something mischievous are they doing?) —
You're /or i£,^ if he catches you. (= You'll be pun-
ished, if he catches you.)
We're all at sea. (= We can't understand what is
happening, or what is being said.)
She's quite well-to-do. (= She is wealthy.)
Let's call it a daj. (= Let's stop work now.)
(d) Conventional phrases oj many kinds.

Most of these are phrases which we use unthinkingly.
There is no reason why we should dig deeper into their
meaning, but if we did we should find something 'peculiar*
about them. Consider, for instance, 'Now then, young fellow,
you can't sit here all night, you know,' (the phrase 'Now
then' is used when we call someone's attention to an
activity which we want him to stop, or, with a different
intonation, the continuation of an argument). Then there
are the phrases "now and then"^ and 'every now and then with
1 The various colloquial uses of /> deser\'e the reader's special attention. He will
find references to it in my Con'versational English, pp. 141, 192 and 207.
the meaning of occasionally, or from time to time. 'A fat lot
of good that will do', means, do no good at

in fact, 'It will
air —
it is a slang phrase. The greeting 'How dyou do?^ (to
which the correct response is the same phrase) does not
ask about your health or how you are getting on. To ask
about a person's health or progress we use such phrases as
'How arejou?' or 'How arejou getting on?' Many combined
phrases border on the cliche class. Their parts do not really
add up to anything more than a single idea: for instance,
part and parcel to all intents and purposes calm and collected
; ; ;
all and sundrj really and truly

; hy leaps and bounds hag and
; ;
baggage \ and so on and so forth.
(e) Many uses of the phrasal verb.

A few examples of this very important feature of collo-
quial idiom must suffice:
I can't make out what he is doing (= understand).
Don't let on I told you (= divulge, tell anybody).

I can't put up with it any longer (= endure it).
What's he getting atl (= Whatdoes he mean?)

Keep on trying (= —
Continue trying but we never say
this).
He laid on a band for the garden party (= arranged
for a band to play).
(f) The phenomenon of English word order.

Those students who know Latin will be aware that it is
inflection that gives meaning there, not word order:

Vilicus cecidit senoim,
and Servum cecidit vilicus,
mean the same thing; but in English
The overseer killed the slave,
and The slave killed the overseer,
have quite different meanings. English has lost most of its
inflections and so has to rely on word order for meaning.
A NOTE ON IDIOM
Contrast, for instance, the meanings in the following pairs
of sentences. The words are the same but a small alteration
in word order makes a big difference in meaning:
(i) It may well be ahead of time. (May well be = prob-
ably is.)
It may be well ahead of time. (Well ahead well in =

advance of the scheduled time.)
(ii) We've got to thank Mr Jones for it. (Got to thank
= must thank.)
got Mr Jones to thank for it. (Got Mr Jones
We've
to thank =
hold him responsible for something, probably
unpleasant, that has happened).
(iii) It's time to go, isn't it? (Answer expected: 'Yes'.)
It isn't time to go, is it? (Answer hoped for: 'No'.)
(g) The piauresque and metaphorical types of idiom.

Most foreign students are all too familiar with these. For
many students, indeed, idiom is s)Tion\TTious with the

picturesque phrase and the more heavily charged their con-
versation is wdth it the better they are pleased. This is a
mistake, of course, since English people are less fond of the
picturesque idiom than foreign students believe. However,
it is common enough in popular literature and so repays
study.Examples of this type of idiom are, to beat about the
bush (= to delay coming to the point) ; to hit the nail on the
head (= to reach the right conclusion); to burn one^s boats
(= to make retreat impossible);^ to send someone to Coventry
(= to refuse to talk or have anything to do with somebody) ;
to cloak one^s identity {= conceal one's identity); shoddy

(== of poor qualit)') to ; be in clover (= to be lucky, or
in happy circumstances).
The criteria for the definition of idiom have now been

established, and some types of idiomatic language have been
^ See also thoroughness.
examined. But there is still something more to be said about
idiom. There appear to be four characteristic features that
all idioms share:
An idiom permits no significant alteration in the
(i)
order and composition of the words, except for normal

grammatical changes (usually of person and tense) or where
recognized variations exist. Thus while we may say
the booths on the other foot (or, leg)y
in one's had (or, black) books,
flog (or, beat) a dead horsey

we cannot say
to bum one's ships ('ships' for boats)
to have a swollen head ('swollen' for swelled)
to pull someone's legs ('legs' for leg)
to rob a march on somebody ('rob' for steal).
The greeting ^How djou do?^ can only be used in the second
person, and only in that formula. On the other hand the
phrasal verb permits some variations of person, tense and
mood, as for instance
/ cant make it out. (To make it out = to understand it.)
Couldntjou make it out either?

It isn't easy to make it out.
I suppose in time we shall make it out.
But although we may say

I can't think what she^s getting at (= . . . what she
means)
or, I suppose you didn't guess what they were getting at,
it is not possible to use a Present Simple tense ('. what . .
she gets at') with this idiom.

(ii) Idioms cannot be created by false analogy. I may, for
instance, be partial to a glass of wine with my lunch (= I

like a glass of wine) but I cannot be 'impartial to brandy'
in the sense of disliking it. A thing that we regard as essen-
tial is a must ; there is no such thing as a must not in the sense
^
A NOTE ON IDIOM
of 'unessential' (though it may conceivably mean a *pro-
hibition'). To 'take your lady friend aside' is permissible;
this not the same thing as to 'take her apart' 'You had
is I
better take care' cannot be used with the present tense of

'have' and although we may not go far wrong we shall cer-
;
tainly do so if we try to coin a phrase 'to go far right'. The

phrase 'God save the Queen is correct, but 'God help the
bride' is not at all the right way to bless the bride.
(iii) Once its meaning is established an idiom is un-
equivocal and, provided it is used in a right context, it

means the same thing to ever^'body. Mixed metaphors, or
idioms that are incongruous in the context, are not the
exceptions that prove the rule. They make a class of their
ovsTi, which we may call the 'grotesque idiom'.
(iv) is very revealing the meaning of
Unless the context
an idiom cannot usually be guessed. For its meaning is not
what the superficial meaning of the words suggests. Thus,
I have no difficulty in understanding a notice that says,
"Professor BrowTi will leaure on the Solar System". But I may
be puzzled if a student remarks subsequently that the pro-
fessor was talking through his hat.^ To 'shop' (or, 'go shop-
ping') is easily understood, but to 'talk shop'^ needs ex-
planation. To 'mind the baby' is one thing, to 'hold the
hahy^ is quite another.
I conclude with a few general remarks on colloquial

idiom. It is often difficult to distinguish between slang
idiom and inoffensive colloquial idiom. It is just as difficult

to condemn an idiom for being slang when it so obviously
fulfils a useful purpose in informal conversation. The
^ Like the correspondent in the Spectator who spoke of "skating on a hornet's

nest' J or, in the Daily Telegraph - "In marrying this girl he married a bit more than
he could chew."
' See SENSE AND NONSENSE. '
i.e. to talk about one's work.
* See RESPONSIBILITY.
pedant, or purist, may say that slang can always be avoided.
But the history of the English language supports a broad-
minded attitude to the problem. Colloquial English has
usually to serve a long period of probation before it gets a
permanent place in the language. But it is by injections of
colloquial idiom that the body of the English language is
constantly being rejuvenated. A great deal of evanescent
idiom is eliminated in the process. It outgrows its useful-
ness, perhaps, or the contemporary context in which it was
understood ceases to have any meaning for a new generation,
or it is displaced, like some schoolboy slang, by a more mod-
em idiom. Sometimes it sinks into disuse, only to be revived
again later when the same circumstance or something like
it occurs again. This then is the dilemma that faces us. We
cannot wait year after year until an idiom gets its certificate
of respectability. Yet, if we don't wait, we risk using, and
advising others to use, an idiom that may be only transitory.
In my ovni choice of idioms I have tried to confine myself
to those idioms that are either firmly embedded in our
ordinary speech or are most likely to survive the vicissitudes
—
of fashion and circumstance ^with what success, time alone
will show.
Affirmation and Denial
Yes is the simplest and most direct form of affirmation, No
of denial. But they are rarely as simple and direct as they
appear. In colloquial speech they have the reputation of
being rather curt, formal and chilly. They are, in any case,
subject to interpretation by the hearer, aswe see from this
passage in Charles Dickens's T>awid Copperfleld:
should say he was one of those men who stand in their own
I
I should say he would never, for example, be worth five

light. Yes,
hundred pound. Traddles was recommended to me, by a pro-
Oh yes. Yes. He has a kind of talent, for drawing
fessional friend.
and stating a case in writing, plainly. I am able to throw
briefs,
something in Traddles's way, in the course of the year; something
— for him — considerable. Oh yes. Yes.
was much impressed by the extremely comfortable and satisfied
I
manner in which Mr Waterbrook delivered himself of this little

word "Yes", every now and then. There was a wonderful expression
in it. It completely conveyed the idea of a man who had been bom,
not to say with a silver spoon, but with a scaling-ladder, and had
gone on mounting all the heights of life one after another, until now
he looked, from the top of the fortifications, with the eye of a philo-
sopher and a patron, on the people down in the trenches.
In manysomething more than a simple affirmation

cases
or denial intended by the speaker. There may be over-
is
tones^ of emphasis, innuendo, uncertainty, incredulity, dis-

belief, irony and so on, which it is the speaker's intention
shall be revealed in his affirmation and denial, and for which
a plain Yes or No is inadequate.
T
Affirmation
I. Simple.
Substitutes for the simple Yes may carry overtones. The
nearest equivalent to a simple Yes is the idiomatic use of a
^ By overtone I mean the additional (or inner) meaning that is given to a word
or phrase usually by a special intonation.
repeated auxiliary verb or the verb 'to be'. It normally
carries no overtone.
Examples
Have you finished reading the book I lent you?
/ have. Thanks very much for lending it to me.
Did you read the book I gave you?

I did. (This can carry overtones implying that it was
a very poor book or that I read it under pressure from

you, and so on.)
Were you at the party last night?

/ was.
Alternative answêrs to such questions are adverbials:

Certainly. In most contexts it means no more than Yes.
Of course. At full strength it means 'It goes wîthout

saying' or 'There's no doubt about it.' In other uses it
is concessive = I grant you this point.
"You know that chap Cam who's wanted in connexion with the
Tristowell murder?"
"Of course." (This implies that the case was common knowledge )i.
The Contessa's eyes glittered. She said: " 'Men must work and
women must weep'. And now I must find a job for myself."
She said that she already had something in mind. We all said,
"Of course, of course", because she was always expected to have

something in mind, and she left us.
Naturally has often the same meanings as 'of course'.
^ The examples are as far as possible taken from contemporary fiction.

2 Authors have their own idiosyncrasies. Ernest Hemingway persistently uses
'absolutely' instead of the simple 'Yes'. Thus in TAe Short Happy Life of Francis
Macomber we read:
"What had I ought (i.e. ought I) to give them?" Macomber asked.
"A quid would be plenty," Wilson told him. "You don't want to spoil them."
(A quid = 20 shillings).
"Will the headman distribute it?"
"Absolutely."
10
. : :
AFFIRMATION AND DENIAL

2. Questions framed in the form:
... is ... , isn't (he)?
. . . did something, didn't (he)?
can be answered by simple affirmation or by such expres-
sions as:
That^s right; That^s so; Quite right; Quite so; You* re right.
But these expressions are not normally used in reply to the
negative question forms:
isn't
. . is he?
. . . . ,
didn't do something, did he?

. . .
Such questions are best answered by the negative form of

the auxiliary verb or the verb *to be'
No J
he isn't.
No, he didnt.
I have seen in Punch:
She's not dead is she?
That's about it. (i.e. Yes, she is.)
But this oddity is not recommended to foreign students.
3 The use of certain verbs vdth so implies some hesitation

to commit oneself to a positive assertion:
Shakespeare was bom in 1^64, wasn't he?
/ think so,
or / believe so, (i.e. but I'm not sure.)

or So they say, (i.e. the speaker will not venture his per-
sonal opinion.)
or So I understand,
or So Vve read.
I suppose so is generally used as a reluctant admission.
"It looks as if we shall have to stay the night here after all."
"I suppose so."
4. Emphatic assertion. This takes many forms, including

that of a humorous or extravagant comment
II
"The cost-of-living is dreadfully high."
rU say it iSy
or It is that (or, sometimes: That it i^),
or It is indeed
or It certainly is,
or It isnt half,
or You dont saj. (This phrase can express, according to
the intonation pattern, irony, surprise or the recognition
of a banal statement.)
£, For the sake of politeness, or because the speaker wishes

to soften the blow, or to minimize the unpleasantness or
unpopularity of his affirmation, he may use the expression,
^Vm afraid so.^
Must you go now?

I'm afraid so.
6. Really and Indeed. These may express a simple comment

on a situation, but are much more often used with over-
tones of surprise, irony, doubt, etc.
There'll be free beer at the 'Red Lion' tomorrow.

Indeed! (or, Indeed?, or, as a simple acknowledgement of fact,
Indeed).
7. By way of comment, a statement can be answered by a

question-tag:
Well, that was a very nice party.
YeSy wasn^t it?
She's got huge feet.

She has, hasn't she?
Denial
I . The simple No has no exact substitute except the use
of the repeated auxiliary verb or the verb *to be'. The
auxiliary verb is used either with or without No:
12
.

Have you bought the tickets yet?
Noy I haven tf
or, / haven t.
Were you at the party last night?

No, I wasnt, or, / wasnt, (See also 3 below.)
2. Phrases like 'I believe so' change in the negative to '/
dont believe he did\ or, 7 dont believe so.^
Did Shakespeare ever act in his native tow^n?

I don't believe he did (or, I don't believe so, or, I don't think so.)
3. The negatives of the adverbials can carry with them

some barbed overtones:
Certainly not Of course ; not ; 'Naturally not ; are somewhat
indignant and bad-tempered (or, at best, condescending)
forms of denial. Phrases like ^That isnt so\ 'That isnt right\
'You re wrong\ are firm but abrupt denials commoner in
arguments
4. Polite and apologetic expressions of ignorance of fact are

7'm afraid not\ 7 cant say that I do, can, have* etc.
Do you happen to know w^here Professor Brown lives?

I'm afraid not (or, I'm afraid I don't, or, I can't say that I do).
"Then you don't know where I come from?"

Tim glanced at Pat, and Pat at Tim.
"No, Miss Augusta, I can't say I do for sure."
"Do you know Frank Johnson? I think he's an R.A. or something

— I taught him to fly."
The girl shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. I haven't been painting all that long."^
£. A firm denial is 'Not at alV {'None at aU\ etc.):
^ Notice the gesture of shaking the head to indicate 'No': she follows it up with the
phrase "I'm afraid not".
13
"Why do you say that? Have you a prejudice against doctors?"
"Not at all. Don't mind me. I've just had a slight argument wîth
one of them, that's all."
"So you have no objection to my plan?"

"None at all."
Indecision finds expression in ^Yes and No':

"Did you mind her doing that?" he asked.
Eustace took a moment to answer.
"Well, yes and no."
EXERCISE
Use a colloquial phrase to fit the mood described (in
brackets)
1. Jill: You'll come to see me again, won't you, Jack?
Jack: (Enthusiastic ajprmation.)
2. Wife: Will you be late again tonight, dear?
Husband: (Apologetic ajffirmation.)
3. Children: May we sit up and see the play on TV,

mummy?
Mother: (Emphatic refusal.)
4. Mr Brown: Can you lend me £1 till Friday?
Mr Jones (a neighbour): (Regretfully)
5. Harry: Have you £1 you could lend me till Friday,

Tom?
Tom: (Willingly)
6. Wife: Do you think we'll get a seat without having
to queue?
Husband: (Confident afiirmation.)
7. Husband: You didn't forget to post my letters, did
you?
Wife: (Reluctant admission.)
8. Wife (at the theatre)-. I hope we shall be able to hear
better than we did last time.
Husband: (Emphatic affirmation.)
14
9. Husband (studying ^What^s on at the theatre): They say
it's the funniest play of the century.
Wife: (Ironical comment.)
10. Host: Must you go so soon?
Guest: (Reluctant admission.)
1 1 . Mr Brown I asked you to cut the lawn yesterday,
:
Smithers. Did you do so?

Smithers (the gardener): (Curt denial.)
1 2 . Mr Brown I asked you to cut the lawTi yesterday,
:
Smithers. Did you do so?

Smithers: (Apologetically)
1 3 . Teacher Does Jimmy usually behave
: like this at home ?
Parent: (Firm hut polite denial.)
^S
Agreement and Disagreement
Agreement and disagreement are possible in respect of (A)
a course of action, or (B) persons and opinions
A. I agree to carry out (or, share in) a course of action.
(Negative: don't agree ... or, I refuse
I .) . .
B. I agree with a person or opinion. (Negative: I disagree

. . . or, I don't agree wîth . . .)
Agreement
A. Of a course of action.
A few special colloquial terms are employed in a general
context
All right; i.e. agreement to do something in response
to a direct appeal.
Verj well; i.e. agreement given, sometimes reluct-
antly, as the result of persuasion.
to he all for it (Negative: to be all against it)
Vm with jou'^
Vm game
Count me in (Negative: Count me out).
I illustrate some of these wîth examples from a modern
novel
"We ought to get away just as soon as we can."
"All right — as soon as I can get this old crock (i.e. old car)
to go."
"There's trouble brewing, I think. We could have some fun if
we stayed."
"Fun?" said Gerald. "In that place? Where —and how?"
Also indicates agreement on a point under discussion. "Are you (still) with me?"
^
can also mean "Do you (still) follow my line of reasoning?" Even more colloc|uiaIly it
can mean, "Are you still listening to me?"
i6
AGREEMENT AND DISAGREEMENT
"Well, if you took dear Augusta for a sail on the creek tomorrow
or a long ride over the hills. That would cause alarm and des-
pondency."
"You can if you like," said Gerald sullenly. "Count me out."
"Augusta," he said, "come for a sail. The evening is beautiful."

He held out his hands. "You don't mind, 2 Mrs Bossom?"
"Call me Jane," said she. "Certainly not. I'm all for it."
"You know I want to take Augusta away?"

"Yes, I know."
"To America."
"Yes."
"Are you with me or against me?" —
"I'm with you," said Tenella.
"And I must ask you to give me your word never to reveal what
I shall tell you."
He hesitated: her self-assurance daunted him.
"Very well," he said.
What dojou say? asks for agreement.

Let's go for a walk. What do you say?
All right. Let's.
If that's all right by jou, seeks approval for a course of

action to which there may be some objection.
"I think I could make it eight-thirty — if that's all right by you.
I might be a bit late."
"Yes. That's all right. And where shall we meet?"
B. Of persons or opinions.
The state, or static concept, of agreement in respect of
opinions is expressed by the following phrases:
to he of the same mind (or, opinion)
to see eye to eye with someone.
A modem cliche, frowned upon by the purists, express-
ing firm agreement with a person or opinion is:
/ couldnt agree more.

2 See APPROVAL and disapproval.
A past participle, e.g., agreed, granted, is also used.
Gerald kicked a stone out of his path.

"Let's get out of here first thing^ tomorrow. I hate the place.
I can't bear any more of those awful dinner-parties. They seem to
go on for ever."
"Agreed," said Sidney.
The use of too is peculiar in this sense
"Nobody liked Abel, but they said he was clever. He was, too."
(i.e. he certainly was clever.)
Disagreement
A state of disagreement exists in these phrases
We're not on speaking terms
We're not speaking (sc. to one another).
Both expressions indicate, as a rule, a temporary breakdown
in good relations.
Disagreement is more active in these phrases
/ have a bone to pick withjou (i.e. You have done some-
thing that wish to complain about.)
I
Do jou want to make something of it? (i.e. Do you wish

to argue about it?)^
Two special phrases are used for determining agreement

or disagreement with motions or resolutions put forward in
debates or meetings. The Chairman says:
All those in favour say Âye^ (or, Raise jour hands).
(The motion in favour is always put
All those against.
first.) The pun on the
'Ayes' and 'Noes' (Eyes and Nose)
of Parliament is explained by the fact that those who vote
for a motion go into one room (for the 'Ayes'), and
those who vote against go into another (for the 'Noes').
Aye = Yes.
^ First thing = early in the morning.
- See alsogUARRELS and peacemaking.
i8
. —— —
AGREEMENT AND DISAGREEMENT
In Other contexts the negative forms 7 dont agree\ 7
dont see eye to eye with (himy 7 refuse (to do somethingY are
,
common.
While there are still minor points on which they do not quite
j
see eye to eye . . . there is now no longer any substantial dis-
agreement.
EXERCISES
I. Replace the words in italics by a colloquial phrase:
1 If your scheme is going to run me into any expense,
/ don^t wish to share in it.
2 . The rest of us are verj favourably disposed to it.
3. Let's start now ijjou have no objection.

4. / suggest we go somewhere else for our holidays this
year.
g. John and I seldom have the same opinions on the way
to educate our children.
6. Jack: I think we'd better leave now.
Jill: / agree y ifjou say so.
7. I can meet you tonight at 6 o'clock, if that meets with
jour approval.
1. Give a suitable colloquial answer (following the direc-

tions in brackets):
1. approve of women smoking? (Strong dis-
Do you
agreement.)
2. I shan't be long. Will you wait for me here? (Agree-
ment.)
3. Don't tell anyone I'm here. Nobody must know.
(Reluctant agreement.)
4. I think boxing is a cruel sport, don't you? (Strong
agreement.)
3. Give a simple non-colloquial phrase for the words in

italics:
19
1. We usually see eye to eye on the things that really
matter.
2. Jane and I arent on speaking terms just now.
3. What dojou say to our resting under this tree?
4. / have a hone to pick with jou. Did you say you'd re-
paired my radiogram? I still can't get a sound out of
it. You can't have repaired it properly.
£. Vm. all against playing games on Simday.
20
:
Apolog les
The following patterns for apologies and excuses will see
the speaker through most, if not all, normal situations.
1. Apology for bumping into someone or treading on his

toes-.i
m so sorrjy
I I do hope
^
I haven't hurt you.
^
/ beg jour pardon ^ J
The polite reply will be:

Not at all.
or, It's all right.
These words of appeasement may not satisfy an exception-
ally irate victim, who may say: 'Can't you look where
you're going?' and go on his way in a huff.
2. Inability to attend a function, or fulfil an engagement,

is excused thus:
Vm afraid I can't make it next Sunday: I find I've got
another engagement.
Vm sorrj, but I shall have to crj offn&xt Sunday.
To these excuses the polite reply will be along these
lines
Vm sorry to hear that. I hope you'll be able to come
another time.
3. An excuse on the grounds of illness may be phrased

thus:
/ don t feel up to it.
4. An apology for lateness is simply:

Vm so sorry Vm late, but (here follows the reason
. . .
why).
^ See also social relations.
21
/ apologise for being late, but . . .
The reply should then be:

That's all right. I quite understand. (Our train service
is just dreadful!)
£. An apology by proxy is transmitted in these terms:

John sends his excuses, but he has been delayed at the
office.
Johns sorry he couldnt come, but he had to leave town

suddenly.
6. Withdrawing from a previous agreement is to back out.
"We can't back out now. He'd be dreadfully offended."
An apology that lacks genuineness is a half-hearted apology

a feeble excuse is a lame one.
An abject apology is to eat humble pie, or to cat dirt.
To have to retract a statement and to apologise for it
is to eat one's words.

Excuse me (or Pardon me) is a common remark for putting
a question to a stranger.
Excuse me, but can you tell me how to get to Sloane Square?
EXERCISES
I. Put the phrases in italics into simple non-colloquial
English:
1 He called me a liar, but later on w^hen he learnt the
truth he had to eat humble pie.
2. I wish I could come, but / really don't feel up to it.
3. Our centre-forward has had to cry off from next

Saturday's game.
4. It seems a lame excuse to me.
£. Please don't try to back out now that everything's been
arranged.
22
.
APOLOGIES
6. His apology seemed to me to be half-hearted.
7. Eventually he realised he was in the wrong and had
\ to eat his words.
2. Express a suitable apology in the following circum-

stances :
1. To your employer: You have forgotten to post an

important letter for him.
2 To your hairdresser You are
: late for an appointment.
3. To a stranger (a man): You have taken a seat at a
table reserved for him.
4. To a stranger (a woman): You have accidentally
trodden on her foot.
^. To You have spoken to him
a stranger in the street:
in mistake for someone you know.
6. To a policeman: You ask him to direct you to the
Post Office. (Address him as 'Officer'.)
7. To a friend (a woman): You have to withdraw from
your arrangement to take her out to lunch.
8. To the Headmaster: You son can't go to school be-
cause the doctor thinks he has measles.
9. To a friend (a man): You are unable to accept his
invitation to play bridge next Thursday.
23
Appearances
There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face.
{Macbeth: Act I, Scene iv)
1. The capacity of Nature, human and non-human, to de-

ceive, and the general unreliability of the senses, have
evoked a variety of comments:
Appearances are deceptive.
There^s more in it than meets the eye.
All that glitters is not gold.
You cant always judge hj the looks.
Handsome is as handsome does (i.e. a pretty face or fair

words are no guarantee of good behaviour).
Where there^s smoke there^s jire. If there is an effect, or
result, there must be a cause, or reason, for it. If, for in-
stance, the impression that Mr X is a man of loose morals
is many people, it is reasonable to suppose that
shared by
hisbehaviour has given them grounds for their opinion. His
dubious behaviour, that is, is the smoke that portends his
(probable) immorality (i.e. the^re).
2. Opinions can, of course, change, and what at first blush

appearance) seemed a sinister affair may turn
(i.e. at first
out to be quite innocent. It is wise, therefore, not to jump

to conclusions (i.e. to judge hastily)
I am not sure that the suggestion is as irresponsible as it may

seem at first blush.
"When did you first consider that an attempt was being made to
corrupt you?"
"When he told me to keep the money."
"Did you not suspect it before then?"
"Yes, sir, I suspected it."
24
APPEARANCES
"When?"
"Well, sir, his whole attitude suggested something of the kind
from the beginning, but, of course, one sometimes jumps to con-
clusions too soon."
3. Suspicion that everything is not what it appears to be

is expressed thus:
There's a snag (or, a catch) in it somewhere. A snag or
catch is a flaw in the weaving of cloth. They are used

metaphorically.
Also, / smell a rat (i.e. I suspect some trickery).
"As far as our clients and we are concerned, you may make what-
ever use you think proper of the information we give you."
"Sounds very fair," said the Chief Constable. "Will you tell me
the catch now or later, or do I have to find it out for myself?"
4. The unpredictability of human nature is summed up in

the proverb:
Still waters run deep (i.e. It is hard to plumb the depths
of human character).
We say of someone who is artful: He's a deep one.
£. Appearances that suggest a certain conclusion:

Itsounds as i/we shall have to find a new chairman.
You don't sound as though you mean it. (Aleant is more
'correct'.)
It looks like rain.
It looks as iJ^Q shall have to walk from here.
Yes, it looks like it (i.e.there seems to be no alternative).
It seems all right to me. Though one can never be a hun-
dred per cent sure.
6. A colloquial phrase that serves to correct a misappre-

hension about the ease and comfort of a job:
An editor's job is not all beer and skittles.
25
7 The precaution of seeing a thing for ourselves and not
taking it on trust from other people is summed up in the
saying:
Seeing is believing, (i.e. If I see it, I'll believe it.)
8. When vsê have no reason for doubt, and yet do not wish
to commit ourselves to a definite expression of belief, wê
say:
W^%
^
ar as
r
So Jar as
1
r
I
can see
can judge
.
}
j
it's
^ ,
harmless enough,
to be cautious
.
° but
,
when you -'

i
it is
handle
ji
best
.^
it.
9. In some social situations^ appearances matter very much.

Itwouldn't ma\e a good impression if, for instance, we turned
up to a party in a pair of pyjamas. We should lose face (i.e.
be discredited in the eyes of our friends and acquaintances)
What causes wars, what makes them drag on so interminably,

but the fear of losing face?
To make an appearance (or, pretence) of doing some-

thing is to go through the motions (i.e. to give the impression
that you're doing it, though in fact you are not).
EXERCISES
I . Explain in simple non-colloquial English the meaning of
the phrases in italics:
1. So farI can see there aren't any snags in his offer.

as
2. The meeting looked like developing into a rough house.
3. If a teacher can't answer simple questions like this
he will lose face with his class.
4. They aren't really working; they* re only going through

the motions.
^ See SOCIAL relations.
26
.
APPEARANCES
£. So Jones wants to sell his shares cheaply, does he?
/ smell a rat.
6. Here is a telegram for you. Now dont jump to con-
clusionsl It may be good news after all.
7. All that glitters is not gold.

8. An entertainer's life is not all beer and skittles.
Use a colloquial phrase in place of the words in italics:

1 The fellow is not so simple as he appears.
2. We shall be thought badly ojii we leave without saying
good-bye to our hostess.
3. You shouldn't accept uncritically what the political par-
ties promise at election times.
4. It seems probable that he is seriously injured.

£. I don't like his proposal. It is not straightforward.
6. It's all right for you to try^ to save his face.^ But what
people are sajing about him cannot be entirely untrue.
^ For this phrase see the ego — inflated and deflated.
27
Approval and Disapproval
Not all countries have the same habits of expressing audible
approval and disapproval. The habit of hand clapping is wide-
spread. But the shouts and cheers with which the British
greet prominent people, especially Royalty, are not shared
by, for instance, the Greeks, whose own royal family will
be greeted in the streets with hand-claps alone. The hands
can express disapproval, too, as when spectators at a cricket
or football match indulge in slow hand clapping. Disapproval
can also take other forms, such as hissing, booing, stamping
the feet (usually from impatience), whistling and assassina-
tion. But these antics lie outside the scope of verbal analysis.
Approval
Approval of people or things (liking them) is expressed
by a physical terminolog)^:
Give him a big hand. This is a direct invitation to people
to applaud by hand clapping. A more formal habit is to give
three cheers for someone —Hip, hip, hurray! (said three
times).
To give someone a pat on the hack. It need not be carried
out literally. (For to give oneself a pat on the back see praise
AND BLAME.)
To give someone full marks (for something).
To be all for it.^
Examples
I gave it a big hand when the series (sc. of talks) began.
"Now, doctor," said Crabtree, "you could only examine his

"
tongue if he put it out, or at any rate if he opened his mouth
"Correct," said the doctor. "Full marks."
^ See also agreement and disagreement.
28
: ,
APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL

"Dr Bulstrode," said the Chairman, "this is not your consulting-
room, nor a music-hall. Please behave yourself. You're in a court
of law."
Approval of sentiments expressed by another person,

especially on formal occasions (e.g., at an after-dinner
speech) is demonstrated by calling out 'Hear, hear!'
Qualified approval, i.e. where there is no objection to a
course of action, is expressed thus
11 f your doing it.
/
r T
don
)
t
.
mmd^ { L ^ .
I it you do It.
You can do it, ijjou like.
So far as I am concerned, you can do it.
Disapproval
2. Disapproval in a general sense, of persons and things
{disliking them), is:
to take a dim view o/'him (it),
or, to take a poor view of him. (it),
or, to have no time for him (it),
or, to he all against it.
To disapprove of an action is to frown on it.

To dissuade someone from doing something may be ex-
pressed thus:
rd rather jou didn't do it.
An unappreciative audience wîll boo or make catcalls or give
him the bird (i.e. whistle shrilly, as birds do) when it
wishes to register its disapproval of an actor. On the other

hand, if it is a good play, it will go down well with the audi-
ence. A popular artiste vdll probably be recalled for several
encores.
To putjourfoot down is a decisive expression of disapproval
with the aim of preventing action.
1 For example see p. 17, line 6.
29
Here, however, my hostess put her foot down. My mother had
written to her that I was delicate and liable to colds ; shewould not
take the responsibility of letting me do battle without first having
my mother's permission.
EXERCISES
1. Give a colloquial phrase for the words in italics:
1 / prefer jou not to call tomorrow.
2 The bigger boys were bullying the smaller boys, until
the Headmaster took steps to stop it.
3. The play was popular with most of the audience.

4. Many people disliked it, however.
£. I have no objection to jour sheltering in my house.
6. The Press praised the king highly for his firm handling
of a dangerous situation.
7. The hostess disapproved of my behaviour at dinner.
8. *Let us all offer our congratulations to
the winners.'
2. How would English people show their approval on the

following occasions?
1 The state visit of a foreign monarch.
2. Victory at an international sporting event.
3. A stirring speech made by a member of a political
party of which they approve.
4. A performance by a very talented artiste.
£. The brilliant success of a close friend or relative.
3 How would English people show their disapproval of the

following?
1 An unpopular public speaker.
2. An unpopular decision by the referee at a sporting
event.
3. A
poor piece of acting on the stage.
4. Excessive delay in starting an entertainment.
£. An unwelcome guest.
30
.
APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL

6. Excessively dull or unenterprising play at a sporting
event.
7 An act of extraordinary stupidity by a person holding
an official position.
31
Argument and Discussion
Argument involves dispute^ and disagreement; discussion
is the dispassionate exchange of opinions.
Argument
Argument may degenerate into a slanging match (i.e. a
noisy battle of wôrds), and people who argue in this con-
tentious and contumelious manner, in which as the passions
flow the validity of the arguments ebbs, are said to squabble
like bargees^ or, like Jish-wives
Argument inspiring only moderate heat is to have words

about something.
To dispute an order is to argue the toss:
Don't argue the toss with me. Do as I tell you!
To have it out with somebody is to settle a dispute by a

battle of words.
A thing in dispute is a bone of contention ; an apple of dis-
cord is a cause of disagreement or strife
I dropped the letter. Crumpled, untouchable, it lay on the

ground between us.
"Was that the bone of contention?" Mrs Maudsley asked.
He must try to prevent the question of church schools becoming

once again an apple of discord between his own party and the MRP
(another French political party).
A comment, when there is little to choose between the

rights and wrongs of the disputants, is:
It*s six of one and half a dozen of the other.
^ The prefix dis implies apart-ness.
^ Men who pilot barges on the rivers.
32
:
ARGUMENT AND DISCUSSION

If I admit having made a false statement in an argument,
/ take it back.
A disputant with a ver^- weak case:
hasnU a leg to stand on.
A devastating argument that leaves the other disputant
defenceless
cuts the ground from beneath his feet.
A question, or argument, to which the other disputant
can make no reply, foors him.
You can put that in jour pipe and smoke it is confidently,
even impudently, said when we think we have clinched
the argument in our favour. If it is displeasing or distressing
to our opponent, so much the better, we think.
To fnd faws in an opponent's argument is to pick holes in
it. It wont hold water recognises the fact that the argument
is leaky, i.e. itwon't bear detailed examination.
In debate a challenge on a point of fact is made in this
way:
ni takejou up on that.
Touche chivalrously acknowledges a debating point made
by your opponent. To win a point yourself, however, is to
score off him:
Felicity: Why do you feel that it wouldn't be right for you to

be my companion-secretary?
MoxiE: Well, I can't type for one thing and my writing's ter-
rible.
Crestwell: The question is one of status rather than actua
achievement.
Felicity (anxiouslj): That's the whole point.
Moxie: You mean it would embarrass my sister less to find me
.n a false position rather than a real one?
Peter: Touche.
A debatable point is a moot point:
It's a moot point whether we should cut our losses or try to

struggle on as best we can.
33
To try to lure an opponent from the point (i.e. to mis-
lead him) is:
lead him off on a false track,

to
or, to trail (or, draw) a red herring across the track.

An argument that outstrips our understanding, gets beyond
uSy so that we get into deep water, or, we get out of our depth.
Discussion
Discussion of a friendly nature is
to talk things over.
To thrash it out is to discuss a matter very thoroughly.

To meet in friendly discussion is:
to get together,
to put our heads together,

to go into a huddle (i.e. to discuss privately).
To weigh the pros and cons is to balance the points in favour
with those against.
To it up with someone is to bring up a topic for dis-
take
cussion.The discussion may take a wrong turn if it doesn't
go the way we hoped it would.
A digression is the introduction of a topic that is beside the
pointy i.e. it is irrelevant. This is sometimes called chasing
hares.
Instead, the debaters tend to chase their own favourite hares and
to show more concern to offer advice than to elicit facts.
To introduce an irrelevant topic into the discussion is to

drag it in.
Conventional phrases for reopening a discussion are:

\ (These need not refer to a topic pre-
j ^
T 1h- / I
vlously under discussion. They refer
" J (to something
' ' '
the speaker has just
Incidentally
thought of.
34
.. .. : :
ARGUMENT AND DISCUSSION
EXERCISES
1 Rewrite in colloquial idiom
1. The inconsistencies in his argument rob the con-
clusion of its validity.
2. I mean to settle the dispute with him when next I
meet him.
3 Commercial rivalry is often a cause of disagreement
between nations.
4. Husbands and wives sometimes disagree about the
way to bring up children.
5. Both parties seem to me to be equally at fault.
6. His argument is beyond my comprehension.
7. Don't dispute my orders! I insist that you obey me.
8. Let us meet for a friendly discussion.
9. That is a completely irrelevant argument.
10. You remember we were talking about floods? Well,
here is a vivid picture of the flood damage in the Po
valley.
2 Explain the difference in meaning between the following

phrases
1. What he's saying isbeyond dispute.

What he's saying isbeyond me.
2 I shall take it up with him later.
I shall have itout with him later.
3. I scored off him that time.
I floored him that time.
4. Come to my office tomorrow morning and we'll talk
it over.
Come to my office tomorrow morning and we'll
thrash it out.
. We must always weigh the pros and cons before
deciding whether to invest our money or to let it
stay in the bank.

It is a moot point whether we should invest our
money or let it stay in the bank.
36
. :
Beh aviour
In general we disapprove of behaviour that conflicts with
known character, as these comments show:
You would think that butter wouldn't melt in his mouth (i.e.
his aggressivebehaviour belies his appearance of being at

other times meek and mild).
You wouldnt think she would say boo to a goose (i.e. she
appears to be too timid, but she can show a surprising
spirit)
Even a worm will turn (i.e. given enough provocation the
timid person will show an unexpected
resistance or bold-
ness.There grudging approval in this comment).
is
Handsome is as handsome does. (This is a critical assessment
of character: see appearances.)

Actions speak louder than words (i.e. it is more important
what a person does than what he says he'll do).
Tories who are complacent about a General Election may find

a shrunken Tory vote. The middle-class 'worm' may not turn, but
there is the possibility that it will stay at home, which is much
worse.
Behaviour that conforms to known character uses these

expressions
It^s (just) like (him) to want to do something different
from everybody else.
He's so generous, he'd give his last penny away to a
beggar. That^s (Bill) all over.
She told herself, it was like her to have attached this person:
from every point of view this was the last straw. ^ (i.e. she seemed
unable to avoid attracting to herself people like him.)
^ For the last straiv see tolerance and intolerance.
c 37
The perplexity that ambiguous behaviour causes finds an
outlet in this type of question:
What's he up to?
". You won't get me to believe that chap is an Irishman. So

. .
what was he up to there, I should like to know?"

"I don't think he said."
"Up to some kind of hanky-panky,^ I should not wonder."
The next three phrases are, perhaps, too colloqxiial for

general use:
What's he after?
What does he think he's plajing at?
What's his (little) game?
"I put a stop to the little game of tapping Edward. You know
I discovered that in five years he had borrowed over four hundred
pounds from Teddy.^"
The injunction Behave jourseJf ^ *

is always positive and
means 'Behave yourself wêll' (although wê never use the
adverb 'well'), or 'Stop behaving badly'.
Mind jour P's and Q^Sy and Watch jour step^
mean 'Behave cautiously' so as not to offend nor to invite
trouble.
Act jour age enjoins the adult to cease his childish be-
haviour. The child that behaves too much like a grown-up
person is called old-fashioned. He
not to be confused with is
the precocious child whose intellectual powers have de-

veloped in advance of his years ^he is the infant prodigj. —
What's he carrying on about?
and Does he always carry on like this?
ask for an explanation of a person's agitated behaviour.
^ Hanky-panky means roguery.

^ "The little game of tapping Edward" is another way of saying that he had per-
suaded Edward on many occasions to lend him money.
3 For example see under approval and disapprovai..
38
..
BEHAVIOUR
EXERCISES
Explain the following phrases used in the illustrations:
1 middle-class 'worm* may not turn.
The
2. was like her to have attached this person.
It
3 So what was he up to there ?

4. I put a stop to the little game of tapping Edward.
, Make a colloquial comment on the following persons:

1 One whose behaviour is sometimes contrary to his
reputation.
2. One who is behaving in a noisy and contentious
manner.
3. One who is behaving incautiously.
4. One who is misbehaving himself. (You urge him to
stop it.)
g. One who
behaving in a suspicious manner.
is
6 . A grown-up person who

is behaving childishly.
7. A
child who behaves in a grown-up manner.
8. One who promises to give a generous donation to
charity but never does.
9. One who behaves in just the way expected of him.
10. A child whose intellectual powers have developed in
advance of his years.
39
Belief and Disbelief
I. Some people are more credulous than others: they are
more easily taken in (i.e. they accept fiction for fact).
General expressions of disbelief are
to have someone on ('You're having me on', i.e. You're
not serious.)
to pull his leg ('You're pulling my leg', i.e. You don't
mean what you say.)
Figments of the imagination are described in these terms
a tall story (i.e. one difficult to believe).
a cock-and-bull story (tale,jarn).
It^ s Jar -fetched (i.e. It strains one's credulity).
A amount of scorn is registered in the following
certain
two phrases, which must, therefore, be used with great
caution
Tell me another one! (i.e. I don't believe this story, so
tell me another that I be more likely to believe).
shall
Tell that (it) to the Marines. (The Marines will, presum-
ably, believe anything!)
Good-humoured protestations, more for recognition than
use by the foreign student, are:
Dont come that one on me (i.e. Don't expect me to
believe that.)
"My dear Donald," said Roger, "if Trent were my pupil I think
I should retire from the Bar!" Then, in a slightly lower tone, he
added: "I'm doing that anyway, 1 suppose."
"Don't come that one on me, Roger," said Donald.
Get away withjou! (i.e. I don't believe a word of what

you're saying.)
Go on! or, Go on withjou!
. . ., mj foot.
40
, :
BELIEF AND DISBELIEF

"I can sit twiddling my thumbs while you search the highways
and by-ways to find me a brief."

"Search the highways, my foot," said Donald.^
(It is ridiculous, that is, to talk of my searching the highways
for briefs for you, since there are briefs available for you just for
the asking.)
. . ., Idont think!
He'll pay you the money back, I don't think!

(i.e. There's not a hope that he'll pay you back.)
You dont say! (Itmay be rather sarcastic.)

A likely tale! (It means, in fact, a most unlikely tale.)
It*s too good to be true is said of unbelievable good for-
tune. The student may use this fearlessly.
"I'd make one good haul and be on easy street^ for life. That's
what I thought! It seemed almost too easy, too good to be true."
If I am asked to believe a story which I think is suspect,

I may say: VU buy it; this implies a willingness to listen to
the story, but an open mind as to its truth.
2. Uncircumspect belief is expressed thus:

to swallow it,
to swallow it, hook, line and sinker,
to take it (all) in,^ (all three are fishing metaphors),

to take it for granted (i.e. accept it as true without
consideration)
to fall for it (i.e. fall into a trap; be a victim of de-
ception) .
Some lingering doubt is present in the following phrase

ril take jour word for it (sc. for lack of better evidence
or proof).
^ A irief is a law-suit undertaken for a client by a barrister. For "twiddling my
thumbs" see economy and waste.
2 See RICH MAN, POOR MAN.
^ Also = to understand^ and, to absorb (everj'thing that is being said).
41
3 . An invitation to hearers to believe you is put thus
Take from me
it . .
.^
Take my word for it . . .
Believe me . . .
It stands to reason . . .
*1 bet these old geysers^ stick to the law. It stands to reason.

Dishing it out all day —wouldn't be able to do anything else."^
EXERCISES
1 Explain in simple non-colloquial English
1 His explanation was very far-fetched.
2. I think you're pulling my leg.
3 You could see from his expression that he was taking

it all in.
4. Take it from me, his political career is not finished

yet.
Well, of course I'll take your word for it, but it seems
5-.
to me a very queer business all the same.

6. It stands to reason they can't both be right.
7. Do you think he'll swallow that explanation?

8. He's told us that cock-and-bull story before.
9. I didn't expect you to fall for that old trick.

10. Can't you see he's just having you on?
2. Give a colloquial equivalent for the phrases in italics:

1. He doesnt really mean what he says.
2. / have no alternative hut to believe what you say.
3. They believed everj word the guide told them.

4. That^s a very improbable story t
£. I cannot believe mj good fortune!
See also tolerance and intolerance. "I -won't take
1 it from you" means "I
will not tolerate being treated in this way by you!"
' Slang for gentlemen.
' By 'dishing it out' is meant 'dispensing justice'.
42
!
BELIEF AND DISBELIEF

6. We now accept without question means of locomotion
that our ancestors thought miraculous.
7. You will never get me to believe that story.
8. Dojou me to believe that?
really expect
9. She spun him a most improbable yarn. But he believed
her.
I o . You do talk such nonsense
43
Birth and Death
The natural processes of human life are unexceptionably
camouflaged by the genteel phrase. Slang, of course, escapes
from this gentility by a picturesque but unfortunately un-
printable phraseology.
A pregnant woman is said:
to be expecting,
to be in thejamilj way,
or, more simply:
to be going to have a baby.
An 'interesting event' is no longer so frequently used for
the impending birth of a child. In the event, the wôman
gives birth to a child, or, more simply, she has a baby: (What
has she got? It's a boy.)
The certain approach of death is expressed thus

He's at his last gasp,
He^s sinking fast.

It's all up with him.
The last is rather casual and matter-of-fact.
Death, expressed in general terms, is:
He passed away.
The separation caused by death is expressed in terms of
loss:
/ lost my father last year.
A person w^ho is buried is laid to rest.
Certain frivolous and slangy expressions are used but they
should not be imitated:
He kicked the bucket.
He popped off rather suddenly.
He^ll come to a sticky end is more recommendable, since
it predicts death in violent or sinister circumstances.
44
— :
Busyn ess'
This word represents the restless activity of people who
can never keep and who are always on the go. The
still
general notion of being busy is variously expressed:

My hands are full.
Vve got my hands fulL
Vve a lot on.
Vve a lot oj work on my hands.
Vm snowed under with work. (The phrase does not vary
with the weather!)
Vm hard at it.
I haven t a minute to spare.

'
TTie busy housewife protests, ^

I have only one pair of hands.
A common simile is as busy as a bee.
Sometimes busyness is of a panic-stricken nature
They're in ajlap.
There's a Jlap on.
They're running around in small circles (i.e. like a cat or
dog chasing its own tail).
To be a general factotum is to be:
at everyone' s beck^ and call,
a dogsbody (i.e. You do all the dirty work, all the

fetching and carrying.)
head cook and bottle-washer.
Students should be reminded that a busy body is not a
busybody he
unless is busy prying into other people's
business: then he is a Nosey-Parker ^ too.^
1 Do not confuse this with ^M«n«j. (See interference.)

2 To beckon is to summon by crooking the forefinger.
2 See also interference
4^
EXERCISE
Explain the following situations:
1 A 'Top Secret' file is missing. There's an awful flap on.
2. What with an invalid mother, three young children
and that vast house to look after, she's got her hands
full, Ican tell you.
3. I'm tired of being at everybody's beck and call.
4. I wish I could help you with the Garden Party, but I
really haven't a minute to spare.

£, My child is very restless; she's always on the go.
6 At the start of term the staff are all running around in
small circles in an endeavour to get everything ready
in time.
7. 'Can't you look after yourselves for once? I've only
got one pair of hands, you know,' said their harassed
mother.
8. I've been kept hard at it at the office all day.
9. It's a good thing you've got Sarah to do your fetching
and carrying.
10. I've a lot on this week, but next week I shall probably
have more time to spare.
46
:
Caution
Caution (or Foresight) uses many general expressions
to think twice (before doing something).
"It isn't very kind to say that a tie I gave you doesn't mean
, anything," said Barbara pouting. "I shall think twice before I give
you another."^
to play safe (i.e. not to take risks),

to see how the land lies (i.e. to see where you are in
relation to your surroundings, and so to be able to
appreciate your position better).
Watch jour step.
i.e. Don*t get into danger
Mind whatjou are up to.
or trouble.
Mind whatjou are doing.
Take care (e.g., Take care of yourself! i.e. Don*t do
anything that may endanger your health or life).
Look out for the nasty bend in the road.

Watch for the traffic signals (i.e. Don't miss them).
Be on the watch for (or, on the look-out for) a stolen car.
Beware o/' pickpockets.
See that the seal is unbroken (i.e. Don't buy it if it
is broken).
Wait and see (i.e. Be patient; Don't decide yet).
Contradictory proverbs suggest that some confusion exists
about the relative values of caution and boldness. Contrast
*Look before jou leap* with ^He who hesitates is lost.*
*
Faint heart never won fair lady comes out quite un-
ambiguously in favour of boldness in the pursuit of romance.
After-the-event wisdom is epitomised in two observa-
tions :
' 'Doesn't mean anything' i.e. It isn't necessarily a sign that she is fond of him.
47
bitten, twice shy. (You won't risk being victimised
Once
same way twice.)
in the
The burnt child dreads the jire. (A useful piece of prac-
tical philosophy in the home.)
The proof of the pudding is in the eating advises you not to
prejudge the merits of a thing. Wait until you've tried it
before you express your opinion about it.
A wise reminder to those who would escape retaliation
is:
People who live in glass houses should not throw stone s."^
Forewarned is forearmed comments upon the practical ad-
vantage of having prior knowledge of possible trouble so
that you can take steps to meet or avoid it.
agreement with someone, when it

In concluding an is
prudent not to rely on his verbal assurances, it is best to
have it (or, to put it) down in black and white (i.e. in ^\Titing).
A cautionary reminder not to believe a thing literally:

Take it with a pinch of salt (i.e. Make allowances for
exaggeration)
If danger Is lurking near, the wise man will make sure the
coast is clear (i.e. see that there is nobody about) before he
ventures out.
To eliminate trouble before it gets worse is to nip it in
the bud.
"His intention is to nip any incipient economic crisis in the bud."
EXERCISES
I. Put into colloquial idiom the phrases in italics:
1 I hope / can stop this catarrhal cold in time.
2. If you have a weak heart, don't overdo the exercise.
It's best not to take risks.
^ Compare the French: Quand on est dans une cour de porcelaine on ne jette pas
de cailloux.
48
.
CAUTION
3. I hopejou'i] think carefully another time before drag-
ing me out of a warm bed to no purpose.
4. / always make allowances for exaggeration when I listen
to old Tom's yams.
g. Hide in that cupboard! They'll be gone in a few
minutes. I'll let you know when it is safe for jou to
come out.
6. I don't believe in verbal agreements. I always insist
on having them in writing.
7. Caution! Double bend. Drive carefully.

8. Dont buy it unless it bears this trade mark.
2. Explain these proverbial sayings:

1 The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
2. Look before you leap.
3. People who live in glass houses should not throw
stones.
4. Once bitten, twice shy.
£. Forewarned is forearmed.
3. In what circumstances could you use the following

phrases .''
1. Mind your head!

2 . Take good care of your little sister.
3. Look out for the milkman.
4. Beware of the dog.
£. Mind what you are doing with my fishing rod.
49
Communication
Establishing communication by words is activity at two
levels: (A) that of physical contact, including talking, con-
versation, writing, telephoning, and (B) that of making
oneself understood, i.e. getting it (sc. one's meaning) across.
A. General phrases for informal talk and conversation in-
clude the following:

to chat,
to have a chat,
to have a wordy'^
to have a few words (i.e. a short talk).
"I want to have a word with him about the fee."
Back-chat consists of insolent replies. To answer back is also

used of an impudent reply.
Trivial conversation is small-talk^ or, more familiarly,
waffe (n. and v.). Gossip (n. and v.) is small-talk, usually
about people, as is also tittle-tattle.
A very talkative person (a chatterbox) is said:

to talk nineteen to the dozen,
to talk the leg off an iron pot,

to talk his head off,
hind leg off a donkey
to talk the ;
but the reader had better not describe such a person to his
face in these terms ! He must resign hiinself to the fact that
he cant get a word in edgeways.
For establishing communication hy telephone we use the
following phrases:
^ N.B. For Vo have ivords' sec argument and discussion. For 'to have a -word'*
see also influence.
;
COMMUNICATION
to ring (someone) up,
to give (someone) a ring,
to call {someone) up,
to get (someone) on the phone.
Letter-writing is more informally described as:
to drop (someone) a line (or, a few lines).
Establishing communication bj any means: some general
uses are
to get in touch with (someone),
to get (send) word to(someone),
to let (someone) know.
To keep in touch is to maintain communication by regular
visits or letters, etc.:
"Keep in touch with me all the time. If necessary, ring me at
home —
you know my number."
B. To get one's meaning across is:
to put (or, get) it across,
to put it over.
If it isput across well, the listener will catch on, get it (or,
you), take it in, i.e. will understand what you mean.
An amusing phrase meaning a belated act of compre-
hension is:
The penny s dropped, (i.e. He's at last got my meaning.)
Remember that to break the news conventionally refers to
imparting bad news only. If it is good news, you simply tell
it to someone.
"You're such a chatterbox. You'd go blurting it out to your

aunts. . They'll be dreadfully upset about it. You know what
. .
they are. And I shall have to break it to them very gendy."
EXERCISES
I . What colloquial phrase will describe each of the follow-
ing activities?
51
1 Ensuring that people understand our meaning.
2. Writing a friendly letter to someone.
3. Engaging in conversation about matters of little im-
portance.
4. Talking very volubly.
5. Getting in touch wîth someone by telephone.
6. Imparting sad new^s.
7. Maintaining communication by regular visits or
letters.
8. Talking informally.
What is meant by the phrases in italics?

1. You dont catch on very easily, do you?
2. The penny's dropped!

3. I wîsh you'd have a word with the gardener about pot-
ting the geraniums.
4. She could talk the hind leg off a donkey,
5. You'll get me any time after 10 o'clock at WISdom
636^.
6. I wônder if he's really taking it in.
7. I'll letjou know my answêr tomorrow^.

8. 'We've reached the point of no return now." "I'm
sorry. The point of no return? / dont getjou.''
P
:
Complaints
We think that it is preferable to air a grievance rather than
to keep it bottled up inside. Releasing the explosive air acts,
as it were, as a safety-valve of the passions this is expressed —
in the phrase to let off steam. A grievance goes sour if bottled
up, and it is much better to get it offjour chest.
To have a permanent sense of grievance is to have a chip

on (one^s) shoulder.
For general complaints of not too explosive a nature
there are several introductory phrases:
It's a bit off, \
It's a bit much, if a man can't leave his car

It's a hit thick, \
outside his own front door
Things have come to a ( without his being
prettj pass, I summonsed.
What' s the world coming to,]
To grumble, or to complain, is to chew the fat. (This is
rather slangy.)
To exaggerate a complaint (or grievance) is
to make a mountain out of a mole hill,

to make a song and dance (i.e. to make a lot of fuss).
"I wouldn't make too much of a song and dance about it, if I
were you," he said.
And I wondered what could have happened in a few hours to

make you feel so different and wondered if you hadn't exaggerated
something a little . . . — it's what's called making a mountain
out of a molehill.
/ like that! An explosive protest is expressed by this curi-

ous 'reverse' phrase (i.e. it means just the opposite of what
it says).
"Me be so rude. I like that. Me be so rude. What about him?"

(Here the speaker is protesting against being accused of rudeness.)
Si
/ have a bone to pick with someone indicates that I have a
complaint against him.
EXERCISES
1. Answer these questions briefly:
1 What is meant by airing a grievance ?
2. What phrase describes a permanent sense of grievance!
3. What phrase describes exaggerating a complaint!
4. What is meant by making a song and dance about some-
thing ?
^. What does 'to chew the fat' mean?

Is it a phrase that you are recommended to use?
6. What phrase describes releasing jour pent-up feelings
of anger or resentment!
7. What does the phrase *I like that!' mean?
What is curious about it? Do you know another
phrase like it? (See belief and disbelief i.)
8. What is meant by getting it offjour chest!
2 . Make verbal complaints using the following introductory

phrases
1 It's a bit off . . .
2. Kindly . .
.1
3. Iwish you wouldn't . . .
4. What's the world coming to, I wonder, when . . . ?
£. How would jou like it if . . . ?
6. Why don't you .? . .
^ Use tlie Imperative mood to express a mild protest.
^4
.
Comp romise
Compromise is dictated as much by ordinary prudence as
by motives of generosity towards others. We know that we
best serve our own interests by a policy o( give and take:
As a via media^ a suggestion is being made in United Nations
quarters that after the Security Council has met publicly and heard
all the parties state their case in opening speeches, it should then
go into closed session to allow of more give and take in the debate
than would be possible in public.
In bargaining we compromise by being willing to meet

(the other fellow) halfway.
It has been said that if you toss a coin enough times it
come down 'heads' just about as often as it will come

will
down 'tails'. Whether or not the so-called law of averages
exists in Nature, in colloquial language we pay homage to
it in such phrases as:
What you lose on the swings, you gain on the roundabouts
(i.e. losses on some things will be compensated for by
gains on other things).
There's reason in all things (i.e. the irrational cannot
prevail for ever. Reason must assert itself at some time.)
Safety often lies in steering a middle course. Other phrases
expressing the Via media'' (or, middle road) between ex-
tremes are:
to strike a happj medium,
to strike a balance (between one extreme and another)
To try to evade a compromise is:
to want to make the best of both worlds,

to want to have jour cake and eat it,^
to try to have it both ways.
^ See below.
* A variant is "to want to eat your cake and have it". Both mean the same thing
('have' = 'keep').
"But suppose that what Mr Glacier says isn't entirely accurate.
—
Suppose he did try to bribe the oflficers it is possible that a dis-
honest policeman would try to get the best out of both worlds by —
reporting the matter to his superior and keeping ten pounds on
the way."
EXERCISES
1 Explain the use in the two illustrations of the colloquial
phrases — ^give and take ; try to get the best out of both
worlds.
2. Toss a coin twenty times and observe how many times
it comes down 'heads' and how many times 'tails'. Does
your result support the theory of a 'law of averages' ?
3. What colloquial phrase expresses the belief that losses

and gains tend to balance one another over a period of
time?
4. What is meant by a 'via media' ?
5". What phrases express the wish to enjoy all the advan-
tages and escape all the disadvantages of a situation?
6. Where do we come across 'swings' and 'roundabouts'?
What do these words mean metaphorically?
7. 'I'll agree to meet you halfway'. Illustrate this phrase
by a context in which you are trying to reach an agree-

ment with someone.
8. Two of the following phrases express sorts of compro-
mise. Which are they?
(a) Let us agree to disagree.
(b) He wants to eat his cake and have it.
(c) It's a case of tit-for-tat. (See retaliation and
RETRIBUTION.)
(J) To make the best of a bad job. (See consolation
AND sympathy; also moderation and ex-
cess.)
(e) To burn the candle at both ends. (See work.)
^6
Confusion
Confusion of (A) thought and (B) action is variously ex-
pressed:
A. You\e got me all muddled up,

Vm all mixed up,
I cant think straight,
B. / donh know which waj to turn,

I dont know what to do for the best,
He doesnt know ij he' s coming or going,
I dont know ij Vm standing on my head or my heels.
Vm at my wits' end registers complete perplexity with

regard to action.
The Government is at its wits' end to know how it is going to

get through its essential business.
Confusion in general. Some common phrases are:

to mill around (i.e. make a lot of agitated and noisy
movements in every direction).
When they arrived large crowds were still milling about, not
yet fully under control.
to run around in small circles (i.e. indulge in a lot of

aimless activity).
Adverbial and adjectival phrases:

all at sixes and sevens (in a state of utter confusion),
all over the shop (or, place),
in a mess (or, muddle, or tangle),
higgledy-piggledj,
topsy-turvy,
57
Helter-skelter (used of precipitate action, often in
making a hasty retreat).
haywire (used of things that seem to act illogically
and uncontrollably).
like a hull in a china shop (describes a person who
harges about in a clumsy fashion).
a bear garden is a place full of noise and confus-
ion. Bedlam'^ is similarly used.
a pretty kettle ofjish (e.g., 'This is a pretty kettle of
fish', i.e. It is a confused and difficult situation).
Perplexity and Indecision use these phrases

to be in a quandarj,
to be caught on the horns of a dilemma,
to be in two minds whether to go or stay.
to fall between two stools is to fail through inability

to decide between two alternatives.
EXERCISE
Fill in the gaps with a colloquial phrase appropriate to the
context:
1. The Government is in It can't decide whether .
to go on with the unpopular bill and risk incurring

public disapproval or to drop the bill and hope to win
praise for boldness and altruistic motives.
2. The soldiers received so many contradictory orders
that they were all at .
3. There is so much noise and confusion. The place is just

like a .
4. My mind is all confused: I .
5. He's so clumsy. He's just like .
^ Compare the French: Un chien dans un jeu de quilles.

' A corruption of 'Bethlehem' — formerly a hospital for mad people in London.
5»
.
CONFUSION
6. This is . I really don't know how we shall get
ourselves out of this mess.
7. If I leave her I know she'll ask for me. But if I stay
she'll only find fault with me. I don't know .
8. I don't know what's happened to the Ruritanians.

Their foreign policy seems to have gone completely
9. When the rain came the cricketers rushed for the

pavilion.
10. When the Queen paid a visit to the town, the reception
committee got into a panic and .
1 1 I'm at I can't think of any solution to

. this dread-
ful problem.
12. Events have happened so suddenly that I .
^9
Consolation and Sympathy
1 A competitor who has put up a meritorious performance

but failed to win a prize may be awarded a consolation prize,
which will make up for (i.e. compensate for) his disappoint-
ment:
"Well, I'm glad you're not annoyed," said Donald. "I didn't
expect you to take it so calmly."
—
"Oh, well," said Roger but he blushed.
"Well, I'd got something to tell you to make up for it."
To have deserved success, without actually achieving it,
excites sympathy, which is expressed thus

Hard lines!
Hard luck!
Bad luck!
Better luck next time!
Never mind. (You put up a good show.)
Other consolatory phrases in common use are:
It can't be helped, (i.e. There's no use grieving over it.)
It might have been worse.

One must learn to make the best of a bad Job.
These phrases must not be used in the case of death or
tragic circumstances. Your heart goes out to people who are
bereaved.
A poor and inadequate consolation is termed cold comfort.
2. Sympathy means sharing another's feelings (i.e. feeling

for him), especially in distress or sorrow. The phraseology
will depend on the particular occasion, of course:
What a shame! What a pity!
How dreadful! How awful!, terrible! etc.
Vm so sorry. (Is there anything 1 can do to help?)
60
. ! ! :
CONSOLATION AND SYMPATHY

Many of the preachers were very nervous young men. . . . One
member (of the congregation) said she always "felt for the preacher"
and her method of showing her sjinpathy was to twist the buttons
off her coat as she \^'orried about how he was doing.
EXERCISE
Which of these phrases would be appropriate
(A) if you were sympathising with someone on a bereave-

ment:
1 Hard Hnes
2. Itmight have been worse.
3. Never mind!
4. I'm so sorry.
(B) if you were consoling somebody on failing to win a

coveted prize:
1 How dreadful
2. Better luck next time.
3. It might have been worse.
4. What a shame!
(C) if you were sympathising with a friend who has been

disappointed in love:
1. Take this £1 note as a consolation prize.
2. Hard lines!
3. It can't be helped.
4. I'm so sorry for you.
(D) if you were commenting politely to a guest who has

accidentally broken a valuable piece of your crockery:
1 Better luck next time.
2. Itcan't be helped.
3. I'm dreadfully sorry.
4. Hard lines!
61
Control
1 Unless we keep a tight rein on affairs they have a habit of
getting out of control. When they do it is necessary to put the
brake on them, and, if possible, bring them to a halt (or,
standstill)
Persons also may get out of hand and may have to be pulled
up.
All the metaphors that are used here are from horse-
riding, or driving a carriage and a team of horses w^hich
are running avsây wîth their passengers.
2 Regaining control of oneself is measured by the capacity:

to get a grip on oneself,
to pull oneself together,
to take oneself in hand:
"Olive was a girl with a lot of self-control and I saw her by an

effort of will pull herself together."
3. Absolute self-control is action taken nonchalantly:

without turning a hair,
without batting an eyelid:
Here they are proposing to run up a bill ten times bigger . . .
without turning a hair.^
4. Losing one's self-control:

to let oneself go (often used of throwîng off one's in-
hibitions),
to fly off the handle.^
His indignation got the better of him.
^ For 'to run up a bill* see economy and waste.

* See also feelings (i) anger.
62
.
CONTROL
£. To lose control of circumstances is:
to lose jour grip,
to slip.
EXERCISE
Explain the colloquial phrases in italics:
1 The Chancellor of the Exchequer will have to keep a

tight rein on expenditure if he is to prevent our finances
getting out of control.
2. Hejlies off the handle at the least provocation.
3. VuU OUTself together, my boy! You must take a firmer
J
grip on yourself.
4. The Prime Minister is losing his grip. He wôn't be able
to command the country's confidence much longer.
£. The wâve of strikes has brought the country s industry to a
standstill.
6. When asked by Detective-Inspector Smogg v^hat he wâs

doing between 8 and 1 1 p.m. on the night of the mur-
der he answered, without turning a hair, 'What murder?
This is news to me.'
7. At last his anger got the better oj him and he told them
all to go to blazes.
8. I had to put the brake on my wije's extravagance, or else
I should soon have been in Queer Street.^
9. There are times when he really lets himself go: then
nobody is better company than he.
I o . The innocent person is often acutely embarrassed when
he is answering the judge's questions. But the guilty
man so much as batting an eyelid.
will tell lies without
^ For 'Queer Street' see ease and difficulty.
63
Courage and Fear
To display tenacity and courage in the face of adversity is
to take it,
to take it on the chin,

to face the music (i.e. not to shirk a disagreeable situ-
ation),
to face up to something (i.e. to confront a crisis boldly).
We had now reached our farthest point on the previous day, and
we faced up to the task of getting a bit further.
To have a particularly rough time is:
to go through the mill,
or, to go through it.
To possess courage is to have guts: the coward hasn^t the

guts to fight.
But even the bravest man has his moments of fear, w^hen
he gets (or, has) the wind up,
he is scared stiff,
he is in a funk (to funk it is to fail to do something

through fear).
They all seemed so strange that I began to get the wind up, and
thought there could only be one explanation —
that I was going
to die.
The heart on such occasions gets displaced, in our collo-

quial speech:
My heart was in mj mouth. (Used of fear and suspense.)
My heart sank (or sank into my hoots). (Used of utter
dejection.)
Some people have the courage to make light o/^ hardships
(i.e. to bear them easily) and can face danger with im-
perturbability. Other people get into a panic:
64
: . "
COURAGE AND FEAR

They get jittery (or, the jitters) ,
They lose their heady

or, They get cold feet.
"We would have liked a little dinner-party to mark the occasion,

she said. "But these Spanish-Americans are very changeable. We
didn't want her to get cold feet. So we said good-bye straight away."
To make someone scared is to put the wind up him.

Prudence, or the elementary principle of self-preserva-
tion, sometimes takes possession of us in time of danger.
This caution is summed up in a proverb: Discretion is the
better part of valour (i.e. as in military matters it seems there
is nothing cowardly about a 'strategic wîthdrawâl' )

A courageous person, especially if something important
is at stake, wîll be willing:
to take (or, run) a risk,
to risk it,
to take a chance
"Go to the nearest registry office and take a chance. "^
To whistle in the dark is to keep fear at haj (i.e. at a dis-

tance) by a pretence of fearlessness.
EXERCISES
I . Explain in simple non-colloquial English the meaning of
the phrases in italics:
1. During the war Britain showed the world that she

could take it.
2. Crossing the Atlantic in a rubber dinghy is no fun.

The three of them must be going through it. But they've
got guts, and no mistake.

3. Many people get the jitters at examination time.
1 Civil marriages take place at a Registry Office. The advice here is to get
married and not to worry about the future.
6j
4. That horror fihn is enough to put the wind up even
the bravest man.
£. As he listened to the judge's words his heart sank into
his hoots.
6. If you get caught you must be prepared to face the
music.
7 If wê are not prepared from time to time to run risks
we shall never make progress.
2. Give a colloquial phrase corresponding to the folio wîng

definitions
1. To keep awây fear by an artificial show of bravery.
2. A justifiable caution that is sometimes better than a
flamboyant show of braveiy.
3. A state of utter panic.
4. To lose one's sense of judgement through panic.
£. To confront adversity with fortitude.
6. To be stricken with immobility in the face of danger.
7. To bear hardships lightly.
66
—
Deterioration
People and things that decay:
fall to pieces (or, bits) (usually of things: physical decay),
go to pieces (a moral breakdown),
are on their last legs (of things : except that it can refer
to a person who is dying),
go to the dogs (only of moral breakdown),
go to pot (physical and moral decay); this is rather
slangy,
go to rack and ruin (usually of things).
It^s seen better days means that it has become shabby and
almost worn-out.
If ever the V.I.P's,! however good answêrs they may have, are
sure that such a voice, from someone in high authority, cannot
reach them, then the country will, indeed, have gone to the dogs.
"She always said that if anything happened to her, the clinic

would go to pieces the next day."
The beginning of a decline, in the case of persons, is
expressed by the phrase to crack up{ v. intr.).

A rapid degeneration is:
go from bad to worse.

to
The phrase has a picturesque offshoot:

to be out of the Jrjing-pan into the fire (i.e. to escape
from one uncomfortable situation into another that is
much worse).
Before the decay becomes irreparable we may try to stop
the rot,
A gentle decline, especially in business, is expressed by
the phrase:
1 V.I. p. = Very Important Person.
67
to fall off (e.g. J
Trade falls off, when there is a slump,
or recession: A work
boy's falls off at school, when
he gets idle or makes many
mistakes, contrary to his
usual custom).
Without being unduly pessimistic we sometimes recog-
nise that things will have to get worse before they can get better,
i.e. they haven't yet turned the corner leading to improve-
ment: when they do, they will begin to look up. When bad
weather shows signs of coming to an end we say, 'The wea-
ther has taken a turn for the better^ (also used of persons who
have been seriously ill and are now turning the corner: they
are not, however, round the bendl (See madness)
To avoid the risk of accelerating decay it is sometimes
better to leave well alone (i.e. any attempt to improve it may
make it worse than it is).
"Where an industry is doing well, it is best for the State to leave
well alone."
When relations between people are strained it is often

wisest to remember the proverb:
Least said, soonest mended (i.e. more words may only
make matters worse, or aggravate the situation).
If a thing is no longer useful or serviceable we write it off:
Must this experiment be written ofip as a failure?^
It can also be used for dismissing a thing from further

consideration:
So the monks wrote it off as sheer superstition and put it al-
together out of their minds.
EXERCISES
I . What colloquial phrase is used of a person who is
I . going into a decline (moral or physical) ?

^ To ivrite off\s7( term used in Accounting to record the cancellation of an entry
or the deletion of an item from an inventory.
68
... :
DETERIORATION
2. dying?
3 improving after an illness ?
4. morally degenerate?
What is meant when we say that things

1 are beginning to look up again?
2 are going to pieces ?
3 will have to get worse before they can get better ?
4. have become shabby and dilapidated?
Explain the phrases in italics in the following contexts:
1. *Don't say anything more to her. You'll only upset

her if you do. Least said, soonest mended.*
2. 'Don't interfere with the television set. It seems all
right now. Let^s leave well alone. If you try to improve
it you may only succeed in making it worse.*
3. It was a disastrous attempt. It's best to write it off and
make a completely fresh start.
4. Just as he was congratulating himself on his miracu-
lous escape from drowning he found himself out of
the frying-pan into the fire. For the sands onto which
he had managed to drag himself were slowly but
surely sucking him down. These were the dreaded
quicksands he had read about.
5. The woollen trade has fallen 0^ seriously in the past
six months and our exports are down by 30 per cent.
6. After the recent gales the weather has taken a turn
for the better.
7. The country will never go to the dogs so long as the

spirit of self-criticism does not blunt our capacity
for action.
69
Ease and Difficulty
I. Comparisons are commonly used to underline the fact
that a thing is easy to do:
/ shelling peas.
falling off a log.
It^s as easy as
kiss your hand.
winking.
Back in 1934 I had escaped as easy as kiss your hand.
Anything that is easy is:
a piece of cake,
or, a gift.
An easy victory, in a general sense, is a walk-over, or a
picnic (very common in the negative form: It^s no picnic,
i.e it's not easy).
Verbal phrases used to express easy triumphs are:
to waltz through (an examination),
to romp through,
to take it in (your) stride (i.e. without putting yourself
to any extra effort).
Certain unusual feats of bodily agility also boast of the
same effortless achievements:
/ can do it blindfold.
1 can do it with mj hands tied behind my hack.
I can do it standing on my head.
Sometimes we miscalculate the ease of the task:
We bite off more than we can chew.
Shakespeare (in Hamlet, Act III, Sc. i) provides us with
a word for a troublesome difficulty: 'Aye, there's the rub.'
. . . the rich silt would grow com and fruit for all, and olives,
and lucerne for the beasts.
70
EASE AND DIFFICULTY
For the beasts? There was the rub. Up those parched, trackless
mountains it seemed that no beast could be driven.
2. A difficult task is a tall order (i.e. a big thing to be asked

to perform), or a hard nut to crack (often used of a parti-
cularly stubborn problem).
Once the difficulties are overcome, it's all plain sailing
froiTi then on.
A modern phrase for smoothing out a difficulty is:
to iron it out (as one does creases in a crumpled garment).
To be in difficulties is, in a general phrase:

to be up against it.
I find that farmers are fully aware of the urgency of this matter,
but when it comes to doing something about it, they say they are
up against it —
and by it I presume they mean the townsman's
insistence on imposing miniature towns in the heart of the country.
To be in queer street usually refers to financial embarrass-

ment. It is far better to be on easy street (i.e. to have abun-
dance of wealth and comfort).
Trickj and stickj (also stichy wicket) are often used to de-
scribe a difficult or critical situation.
I'd like to volunteer. But it's a bit tricky. I might lose my job
if I did.
We're on a sticky wicket (i.e. our position is difficult, if not

even dangerous).
"Kathy's a very rich girl and you're not a very rich chap, and
that can —
be a bit tricky for both parties unless you get it properly
worked out from the start."
EXERCISES
I . Give a colloquial phrase opposite in meaning to the
foliowîng:
(a) Queer Street.
(h) It's a piece of cake.
71
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO COLLOQUIAL IDIOM t
It's all plain sailing for us now. ^
(c)
(J) He can do it standing on his head. i
Give a colloquial phrase for the words in italics: '\
1 . He passed his examination with ease.

2. You ought to be able to pass the examination without
exerting anj extra effort.
3. Overconfidence may occasionally deceive us into

underestimating the difficulties facing us.
4. The situation of the climbers is very critical.
£. The disagreements that arise between employers and
workers can he made to disappear, given goodwill on
both sides.
Complete the following comparisons:

(a) as easy as falling
(h) as easy as shelling
(c) as easy as your hand.
What is meant by:

1 To have to vn-ite a book a month is a tall order ?
2. They had a walk-over in the men's doubles?
3. Soon we shall be on Easy Street?
72
.
Economy and Waste

Economy
1 There are in common speech several proverbial expres-
sions recommending thrift and the avoidance of waste:
Waste not, want not (i.e. Don't wâste things, then you'll
never be in need).
Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of
themselves.(A contradictory saying appears below.)
A fool and his money are soon parted.
A stitch in time saves nine (i.e. attention to a minor tear
now will avoid your having either to do major repairs later
on or even to write the garment off: see deterioration).
The wise man who does not permit his expenditure to
outstrip his income is said:
to cut his coat according to his cloth (i.e. in many con-
texts, to maintain a proper balance between one's
resources and one's ambitions).
2. Economy of effort is exemplified in the saying:

to kill two birds with one stone (i.e. to complete two
tasks with the same expenditure of effort).
I was able to give Allenside his brother's address. I was tempted,

too, him about Roger's behaviour with Helen, perhaps
to tell
hoping he would kill two birds with one stone and save me the
trouble of quarrelling with Roger.
3. There is, however, such a thing as false economy, as, for

instance, when we try:
to do (or, get) something on the cheap.
To spoil the shipjor a ha^porth of tar is to ruin something
by insisting on petty economies.
73
A common saying, Penny -wise, pound-foolish reminds us ^
that bad policy to be careful how we spend small

it is a
sums, and yet to spend large sums wastefully (as, for
instance, by running up bills). '^
This is not a moment for a "penny-wise, pound-foolish" policy.

We must either keep the ships or give them. If the Admiralty thinks
they can be given, now^ is the time to make the presentation in the
most friendly form. Cast your bread upon the waters ;2 it will
return to you in not so many days.
4. In times of economic stress:

we go short (i.e. do without things),
we tighten our belts (i.e go hungry),
we cut down on luxuries (i.e. spend less, or nothing at
all, on unessential things),
we make do (i.e. manage with whatever we can get).
The careful man puts something by (i.e. saves up) for a rainy
day (i.e. for the time when he may be in need).
. . . there would still be over tvvo hundred a year left over for
a rainy day, as they say.
Waste
Waste may refer to:
Effort:
Vm fogging a dead horse (i.e. wasting my energies).
It's like water off a duck's back (i.e. you make no
progress: see progress).
Proverbially, to carry coals to Newcastle, is to use one's
efforts uneconomically (Newcastle already has enough
coal).
It's a wild-goose chase (i.e. a vain pursuit or errand).
Words
^See example under control.
^For 'Cast your bread upon the waters' see kindness.
74
. . 2
ECONOMY AND WASTE

Mv words fall on deaf ears (i.e. nobody listens to me).
/ might as well talk to myself (i.e. nobody else is listening
to me).
/ might as well save my breath (i.e. what I say has no
effect).
What I saj goes in at one ear and out at the other'^ (i.e. You
don't listen to me).
Time:
Must I sit here yu5t twiddling mj thumbs? (i.e. inactive).
Vm killing time (i.e I have time on mj hands^ that I
don't know what to do with).
/t'5 a waste of time jour talking to him.
Money:
My £100 has all gone down the drain (i.e. has been
wasted)
He
soon made ducks and drakes 0/" what I'd left him.*
was money just thrown awaj.
It
Opportunity:
It is no wonder they lost the game. So many chances
went begging.
EXERCISES
I . Say which sort of wastage (whether of time, effort, words
or money) is described by the words in italics:
1 She ran up her dress bills to a ridiculously high figure.
2. Sending a can of olives to Greece would be like
carrjing coals to Newcastle.
3. / might as well save my breath, for all the notice they
take of me.
4. She's nothing else to do, it seems, but sit and twiddle
her thumbs,
1 Wags suggest it is because there is nothing in between (i.e. no brains) to stop it

2 For example see p. 4.1.
2 i.e. leisure.
*The expression means 'squandered'.
7S
5".That's another £5^0 down the drainl
6. It's a wild-goose chase looking for strawberries in the
winter.
2 Explain the meaning of the following proverbial sayings

1. A stitch in time saves nine.
2. Penny-wise, pound-foolish.
3. Waste not, want not.
4. Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar.
3. Give a colloquial phrase meaning:

1 falseeconomy.
2. spending less on unessential things,
3. saving up for a time of need.

4. completing two tasks with the same expenditure of
effort.
5. maintaining a proper balance between expenditure

and income.
4. What is meant by:

1 tightening our belts ?
2 going short ?
3. making do?
4. flogging a dead horse?
g. What I one ear and out at the other?
say goes in at
6. Yet another opportunity has gone begging?
76
:
Embarrassment
Unintentional breaches of social etiquette (i.e. making a
gqffe; making a faux pas) may cause us confusion. We may
describe our embarrassment in these terms:
Was my face red? (A rhetorical question.)
/put my foot in it.
I didnt know where to put myself.
dropped a (frightful) brick (i.e. I said or did something
I
that unintentionally caused embarrassment).
/ could have kicked niyself is used more of making a stupid
mistake when you knew better, or of missing an
opportunity.
CAUGHT. When we are caught unawares at a disadvantage

or in a compromising situation, we are:
caught on the hop; caught bending; caught napping (a
nap is a brief sleep); caught red-handed (i.e. while
actually committing the offence or crime); caught in
the aa; caught out.
To be caught in a position of apparent ines capability is
to be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea (The
devil is said to be a seam on a ship that has tobe tarred
over. The sailor who has to do the job suspended over
is
the side of the ship with his tar-brush and tin of tar.)
or, to be caught between two fires. (The metaphor is military.)
A person who embarrasses another is often said to get in
his hair.
A pertinent comment: ^Two^s company, i.e. a third per-
son is or would be an embarrassment or in the waj.
77
A Statement that embarrasses by verging on the unseemly
is said to be near the knuckle.
EXERCISE
Fill in the blanks in these sentences by completing the col-
loquial phrase:
I. I oughtn't to have been taken off my guard. But his
blow caught me .
2 The thief wâs caught .
3 With his indiscreet remarks he was always in the

President's .
4. I knew the right answer all the time, but for the life
of me I couldn't avoid giving the wrong one! I
could .
g. I could see no escape from my unenviable position. I
was between .
6. I arrived an hour late for dinner and I knew immedi-

ately I caught sight of my hostess's face that I had .
7. Some of his jokes were rather too for my liking.

8 I made when I asked her how she and her husband
were getting along. I'd forgotten that according to the
newspapers they had drifted apart.
9. I'll leave you two love-birds alone! I don't want to
be .
[o. The officer asked me who in heaven's name I was, and

I replied, 'Private Jones, sir. And who in heavens'
name are you?' He answered, 'General Smith.'
Was !
78
Escape and Evasion
Escape may be physical or metaphorical.
1. Physical escape (attempted) is:
to run away,
to take to his heels.
A typical comment is: You couldnt see him for dust. (He
ran so fast!)
2. Physical escape (successful) is:
to get away,
to show a clean pair oj heels,
to make a clean getaway,
to give someone the slip.
To go while the going's good is to escape while there's

a chance.
3. Metaphorical escape:
to get off scot free (i.e. without being punished),
to talk oneself out of something (i.e. argue one's way out
of an awkward situation).
He would get away with murder means that he has a wonder-
ful knack of escaping the consequences of his misdeeds.
To escape from reality is to day-dream^ or to go wool-
gathering (i.e. one's thoughts go roaming; they are not on
one's job). To shut oneself up in an Ivorj Tower is to escape
from the world with all its confusion and distractions so as
to concentrate on meditation or intellectual activity.
A career in a Department of State is less likely than ever to be

an honourable but uneventful spell in a dignified ivory tower.
Those who are trying to recapture a fugitive are said:

to head him off (i.e. get to a certain place before he
arrives so as to prevent his escape by that route),
79
to track him down (i.e. find out where he is concealed),
to run him to earth. (The metaphor is from fox-hunting.)
4. The evasion of responsibihty is expressed thus:

to shirk it,
to hack out of it: to back out of an agreement,

tojight shy of (i.e. be reluctant to do something),
to get out of it (i.e. to disclaim the responsibility),
to give hack word (i.e. withdraw from an invitation or

promise).
I have forgotten his Christian name. Perhaps it will come to me

later: it may be one of the things that my memory fights shy of.
But as the day of departure drew nearer my feelings underwent

a change. Now it was I who wanted to get out of going.
To evade an issue is to hurke it; to evade a question is to
hedge (or, sidestep it).
I didn't like to tell her a deliberate lie, nor to ask her to mind
her own business, and I'd promised Olive faithfully that I would
say nothing until Tim got back. I hedged.
EXERCISES
I. Fill in the gaps in these sentences vdth a suitable col-
loquial phrase:
1. There he goes! After him, men! You go that way.
We'll go this way. With luck we'll before he
reaches the shore.
2. He's in a tight comer. This is one spot of bother he
won't be able .
3. The thief snatched the woman's handbag and

4. It's time we got out of this miserable place. Let's
go now .
5. Everybody thought he would be punished but in-

stead It was all very mystifying.
.
80
ESCAPE AND EVASION
6. How can there be mutual confidence between nations
if some act unilaterally and agreements when-
ever it suits their convenience?
2. Explain the phrases in italics:
1. The Minister didn't know whether to be silent or

to tell what he knew. So he hedged y and asked to have
written notice of the question.
2. Your son often daydreams, Mrs Brown. He is lacking
in concentration.
3. Owdng to ill-health I had to give hack word to the
Vicar, who had invited me to open the Sale of Work
at the church.
4. A poet cannot wrrite well if he shuts himself up in
his Ivory Tower.
£. Jones has all the luck. I swear he would get away with
murder.
6. I always fight shj of calling people whom I don't
know by their Christian names when first we meet.
7. He ran quickly into a maze of narrow streets and
easily gave his pursuers the slip.
81
Events
1. Of a sudden and unpredictable event we say:
It (Only with notional subjects.)
crops up
It' s just one oj those things (i.e. It's one of those things
that do happen from time to time, and we have no

control over them).
"So sorry," said Eagally, when the race was over. "It's just one
of those things. It would happen today. It was a certainty if only
it had raced." (He had confidently tipped the horse to win.)
2. In the same way, people who arrive unexpectedly:

turn up J or show up.
A
person who unexpectedly turns up just as we are talk-
ing about him may be greeted with the ambiguous com-
pliment:
Talk of the devil!
3. To find unexpectedly is to come across.
To be discovered unexpectedly is to come to light.
To meet unexpectedly is to run across.

To see unexpectedly and for a brief time is to catch a
glimpse (or, sight) of.
To hear unexpectedly is to get (or, have) word of.
4. Of things that, in our opinion, should have happened

long ago, we say:
It^s high time (he did). N.B. —The tense, if expressed,
is always past.
"Your father is a tired man, dear. He has worked hard all his
life, and now he wishes to retire, and I agree with him. It is high
time."
. . . , and about time too.
82
. — :
EVENTS
So you've put the washer on the tap? And about time too!
. . ., and not before it^s time.
J. Some things rarely, or never, happen:

Not once in a blue moon does a ship call here (i.e. very,
\very seldom).
Ke'll not learn to swîm in a month of Sundays (i.e.
never)
Sometimes wê are so sure that a thing wîll not happen
that we say:
7'77 eat my hat if it does happen!'
A phenomenon of brilliant but brief life is
a nine- day s^ wonder.
The public soon forgot and the cases became just another nine-
days' wonder.
To happen is, simply, to take place (but the phrase is not

a general substitute for 'happen' in any context, as, for
instance, 'I happened to hear . . .').
6. Coincidences. When we meet someone we know in an

unexpected place or situation we comment:
Jt^s a small world. (Fancy meeting you here! Isn't it a
coincidence?)
"I said ij\ could recognise the woman I'd report her. It's a small
world, coincidences do happen. I might run into her somewhere."
(For run into see above run across.)
7. For results we may use the following phraseology:

It turned out . . .
It transpired . . .
It comes of (with the gerund) . . ., or. That's what comes
of...
"I gave him a general invitation, and this turned out to be the
night he thought he could get away."
83
"But it didn't turn out like that."
Outside the Court Mr Glacier came up to Roger and Mr Plumb.

"I must see you at once," he said.
It transpired that he had taken an opportunity of speaking to the
inspector when no one else appeared to be looking.
"It comes of having a pious wife" (i.e. It is the result of having

a pious wife.)
8. When we haven't seen people for a long time we may

remind them of the fact in these words
A lot of water has passed (or, Jlowed) under the bridge since
we last met.
9. What's happening?
What's going on? (Something unusual.)
What's up? (Some sort of trouble, usually.)
What's all this? (An explanation of your behaviour is
required.)
What's on? (Of programmes at the cinema, theatre,
etc.)
Ipointed to his cup. The room fell silent.
"What's up?"
Bill Hawkes pointed towards the waste-paper basket. "The
Hidden Hand has struck again."
A running commentary is an eye-witness account of an

event while it is in progress.
10. Exceptions. Some comments are:

There's an exception to everj rule.
The exception proves the rule, {proves = tests.)
I also agree with my learned friend that our police force is the
most reputable in all the world. We rely on them and they seldom
let us down. But there must be an exception to the rule from time
to time.
84
.
EVENTS
EXERCISES
1. Put the phrases in italics into simple non-colloquial
English:
1 He's very late. Something urgent must have cropped up,
otherwise he would have been here before now.
2. / came across a curious quotation in that old book I
bought yesterday.
3. John got word this morning that his rich imcle had
died in Canada and left him a small fortune.
4. I gave the beggar sixpence. But he turned round and
said, 'Make it half-a-crown, mate.' That's what comes

of being generous!
£. Owing to rain the garden fete will not take place as
advertised.
6. Do you see that crowd there? 1 wonder what's up?
Let's go and see.
7. Shall I look in the paper and see what's on at the
'Majestic' ?
8. It's high time that that politician forgot his class

hatred.
9. It's past seven o'clock. I think it's too late for him
to turn up now, don't you?
10. / caught a glimpse of the Queen as she passed by this
morning on her way to Windsor.
2. Explain these colloquial expressions:

1. A nine-days' wonder.
2. A running conmientary.
3. The exception proves the rule.
4. It's a small world!
5. Not once in a blue moon.
6. Talk of the devil! (See also surprise)
7. I'll eat my hat if they reach the Cup Final.
»5
Feelings
Anger
There is a multi-coloured metaphorical phraseology to
express anger:
to lose ones temper^
to Jiy into a rage (or, temper),
to see red (the colour is associated in the mind with
blood),
to go up into the air (i.e. explode with rage),
to he (or, get) mad at someone^
to he heside oneself with rage^ (This would appear to take
some doing!)
to be (or, get) hot under the collar,
to fly off the handle,
to go off the deep end,
to cut up rough.
"He's a bit hot-tempered, a word and a blow, you know, flies
off the handle."
"Raymond was mad at her for deceiving him."
"I was preparing the ground. He'd been rather suspicious about
me and John, so I pretended to turn my attention to Godfrey.
Naturally, he was ready to go quite off the deep-end about that."
Other phrases in common use are:

It makes my blood boil,
It makes me wild,
His blood is up,

jump down mj throat,
There^s no need to (i.e. There's no
need to shout angry words at me.)
Ted's a dangerous man when his blood's up.
86
. :
FEELINGS
Annoyance
Apart from the major swear words there are 'explosions'
of amilder nature to express annoyance, disgust, irritation
and exasperation.
1 To be annoyed is
to be vexed (or, peeved),
to be sore (about something; or, at someone),

to be put out.
Marcus was sore about it.
Often when I am feeling merely annoyed, a little put out, I appear

to be blazingly angry or lost in the deepest sulks.
2. Botheration. Exclamations of annoyance are:

bother!
What a bore (or, a nuisance)\
How vexing (or, tiresome \ or, annojing)\
3. Irritation:
For heaven^ s sake stop scraping on that violin! It gets
on my nerves. Must you do it here ?

Why on earth didn't you say so before?
Also, in the same vein of expostulation:
P^
Who on earth, .? . .
What on earth . . . ?
How on earth . . .?
Having conjured heaven and earth we may come nearer

home with:
It (or,He) gets under my skin (i.e. irritates, like an insect
that burrows under the skin).
It got under his skin to hear Brigadier X talk as if officers and

other ranks were diffêrent kinds of people.
87
4. Disgust.
Ugh!
You make me sick.
It sticks in my craw (craw = th.ro3it, gullet).
£. Revulsion.
He (or, It) gives me the creeps (or, the willies). These are
rather slangy.
He (or. It) makes me shudder.
6. Exasperation.
It^s enough to drive a man to drink.
It*s enough to makejou tear jour hair.
Vm sick and tired oj it.
It (or. He) gets mj goat.
It^s enough to try the patience of a Saint (or, ofJob).
It's like a red rag to a hull (i.e. it provokes one to the
point of exasperation).
To annoy someone else (i.e. to tease) is:
to take (or, get) a rise out oJ him. (The metaphor, pre-
sumably, is from a fish rising to take the bait.)
to rub him up the wrong way (i.e. so that he gets annoyed,
like a cat if we stroke it the wrong way)
Any tiresome thing that we are called upon to do or
endure is a nuisance, or a bore.
A permanent source of irritation that puts us out (i.e.
inconveniences us) is a thorn in the flesh,
EXERCISES
I. Explain in simple non-colloquial English the phrases in
italics:
1 It sticks in my craw to see the way young girls go into

ecstasy over a silly crooner.
2. Whatever I say these days seems to rub him up the
wrong way.
88
.
FEELINGS
3 She's still rather sore atjou for neglecting her so much
yesterday evening.
4. Filling in all these forms is such a bore.
£. Do stay the night. It won't in the least put us out^ for

we've plenty of spare beds.
6. Having his house constantly full of gossiping wômen
is enough to drive a man to drink.
7. This wêather gives me the creeps. Nothing but rain,

rain, rain.
2. Use a colloquial phrase in place of the words in italics:
1. / implore jou — please stop that noise!
2. The way the newspapers pry into the private affairs

of eminent people exasperates me.
3. 1 find his behaviour quite revolting. He is completely
insensitive to other people's feelings.
4. I don't like the way they're always trying to make

Ted look ajool.
£. Have you ever seen locusts descending upon a field
of growing com? They make one feel queer.
6. It would be dangerously provocative if you mentioned
her name to him again.
3. (a) Look up in a 'Dictionary of Quotations' the phrase

*a thorn in the flesh' and see where it was first used.
(b) Who was Job? Why do we speak of 'the patience
of Job'?
Resentment
To have a permanent sense of grievance (a grudge) because
we have been badly or unfairly treated is:
to have a chip on one's shoulder.
89
To bear a grudge against someone is:
to hold it against him^

to get jour knife into him,
to have it in for him.
I remembered it was she, and not her mother, who thought I
might be bored, but I didn't hold it against her.
Rather than brooding over (i.e. turning over and over in

your mind) a grievance, real or imagined, it is better:
to air jour grievance,
or, to get it offjour chest. '^
It's a sore point recognises that something is giving grounds
for a grievance.
To give someone cause to be resentful is to put his hack up.
"I know Alban Torel is the cleverest young man in the Service,
but he does manage to put my back up more than anyone I know."
EXERCISE
Explain in simple non-colloquial English the phrases in
italics:
1 Don't let them think you're too clever, or e\sQ.joull

put their hacks up and they wôn't give you the job.
2. Well, I'm ready to hear your complaint. Get it off
jour chest I
3. The foreman's got his knife into John. Nothing the
boy does seems to please him. I think he knows John
has had a public school education. The foreman's got
a chip on his shoulder because he had to leave school
when he was 1 2 years old.
4. They once got a contract that we'd hoped to get.
We dont hold that against them. But it's a sore point that
they keep on boasting about it.
5. There's no point in brooding over imaginary injustices.
^ See also complaints.
90
;
FEELINGS
Sadness
When you are sad, melancholy, despondent, gloomy, dis-
pirited or depressed, you are, or feel, in colloquial terms:
down; down in the dumps; down in the mouth; downcast;
low.
At times the pace and racket of modem life is too much
for you:
It getsjou down. You behave like a bear with a sore head
(i.e. you are bad-tempered and grumpy and you snap at
everybody as a dog does when he is teased too much)
you pull a long face, or have a face as long as a fiddle,
especially if you are asked to do something that doesn't
please you. No amount of pep talk (i.e. wôrds of en-
couragement) can boost jour morale or cheer jou up (i.e.
make you cheerful again). For you think that the end of
the world has come.
I thought the end of the world had come because I had to go

away from home^
91
Friendship
Keep well thy tongue, and keep thy friend.
CHAUCER
General phrases dealing with friendship are:

to make friends with someone. (The plural friends is used
although only one friend may be referred to.)

to be the best offriends (i.e. we are very good friends).
Friendly relations not amounting to a close friendship

are:
to get on well with someone,
to get on well together,
to hit it off well,
to be on good terms.
Acquaintances are often termed casual, or nodding (i.e.
we acknowledge one another by a nod of the head). We
strike up an acquaintance with someone, or we get to know
him, and this relationship may in time ripen into a close

friendship. If we are very close friends we are bosom pals
and all in all to each other.
The days when Mother and I and Peggotty were all in all to one
another. ...
Friends are expected to be loyal to one another, i.e. to
stick by one another. The test of friendship is summed up

in the proverb:
A friend in need is a friend indeed
(i.e. a true friend proves his friendship when he stands by
us in our time of need).
k fair-weather friend will desert you in time of adversity.
He may even turn against you, i.e. actively oppose you. Such
desertion is described in these terms
92
.: — :
FRIENDSHIP
to let (you) down,

to leave (you) in the lurch,
to walk out on you.
I had no more imagined that she could turn against me than that
the good fairy of a fairy story could turn against the hero she
protected.
"Allenside and I are friends, Helen. It would cause him great

inconvenience if I just walked out on him,"
Friendship carries with it reciprocal obligations, summed

up in the saying:
One good turn deserves another.
A somewhat dubious relationship is implied in the
sayings
Birds of a feather flock together^
A man is known hj the company he keeps.
These sayings are more often used, not of a genuine friend-
ship, but rather of a partnership for some purpose that the
speaker doesn't entirely approve of. So, too, to hob-nob may
have a derogatory sense to be in with rather undesirable
friends
I to get into conversation with Roger again. My

became anxious
curiosity was aroused. In the course of duty, I didn't mind any
longer ii it meant hob-nobbing with Rufus Wod again. He said he
worked with Roger in the same office.
Some people impose bizarre conditions of friendship

Love me, love my dog.
This test of friendship is often imposed by a young lady on
the young man who pays court to her. Loving the dog may,
therefore, have a practical significance for the young man
if he wishes to prolong his acquaintance with the young
lady.
Scratch my back and VU scratch yours.
93
That is, do me a good turn now and I'll do you one when
you ask me to.
Friendship collapses when {riends fall out. They can, how-
ever, make it up again, patch up their quarrel, and be friends
again
A false friend is a snake in the grass.
EXERCISES
1. Relate the following phrases to those circumstances
where either we are good friends, or we were good
friends but are not now, or our friendship has been mis-
placed.
1 He let us down badly.
2. We shall stick by you through thick and thin.
3.Joan and I have fallen out again.

4. We
have made it up again.
£. He was a veritable snake in the grass.
6. I was left in the lurch.
7. We are bosom pals.
8. He and I get on very well together.
9. He proved to be only a fair-weather friend
10. Even the best of friends must part.
2. Explain these phrases:

1. To be on nodding acquaintance with someone.
2. To hob-nob with someone.
3. To get to know someone.
4. Birds of a feather flock together.
£. Love me, love my dog.
6. One good turn deserves another.
7. To patch up a quarrel.
8. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
94
Health
—
Health has three fixed states good, middling and bad, with
innumerable intermediate states.
Good health. Some common phrases are:

/'m (or, r m Jeeling) fine (or, grand),
Vm (or, r m fieeling) very well,
Vm (or, Vm feeling) as fit as a fiddle,
Vm (or, Vm feeling) Al,
Vm (or, Vm feeling) in the pink.
Middling health:
Vm (just) middling,
Vm not so bad,
Vm fairly well,
Vm as well as can be expected. (Usually after an illness
or misfortune.)
Poor or bad health:

Vm (or, Vmfeeling) run down (i.e. exhausted and in poor
health),
Vm (or, Vm feeling) poorly (i.e. not seriously ill, but
in poor shape),
Vm (or, Vm feeling) out of sorts,
Vm (or, Vm feeling) under the weather,'^
Vm (or, Vm feeling) oJ[ colour,
Vm (or, Vm feeling) washed-out,
Vm not feeling myself
Vm not feeling up to the mark.
None of these expressions refers to ver^' bad or serious
ill health.
^ But 'to be under a cloud' is to be in disfavour.
9^
At a low ebb and In poor shape ! are less commonly used
of people.
There is no disguising that the Royal Navy's health has been at

a low ebb.
Ill in bed. This state is described thus:

to be laid up;
to be bed-ridden, refers to prolonged, and often per-
manent, confinement to bed.
Better health:
Vm getting on nicely,
Vm on the mend,
Ifeel more like mjselj,
Vve turned the corner (especially after a serious illness).
So long as the First Lord's lips are sealed, it will be difficult

to judge whether the optimism of his statement is that of the
convalescent who believes he is cured because he has turned the
comer.
96
y y :
Hit and Miss
A miss-hit is a stroke imperfectly made, as when, for in-

stance, in cricket we hit the ball in a different manner or
direction from what we intended. So a hit-and-miss affair
is a haphazardly executed enterprise which is as likely to
fail as it is to succeed. A random shot is a shot in the dark,

i.e. there is no guarantee that it will hit the target. (It is
often used of a lucky guess.)
The curses were not really a shot in the dark, though their out-
come had been so sensational. They were aimed at the super-
stitiousness that I instinctively knew my school-fellows possessed.
We
do not always achieve what we hope for and the
our efforts oh^n fall short of out expectations. The
results of
narrow margin between success and failure is variously
expressed:
He came near to establishing a world's record.
He pretty nearly broke the record for the pole jump.
"You pretty nearly cut the chap's eye out."
He all but (or, almost) broke the record.
He was within an ace of breaking the record.

He missed (e.g., death) bj inches.
It missed me by a hair^s breadth.
It was touch and go. (Often used of a serious operation,
or a dangerous task.)
Such marginal results are described as
a near miss (or, thing)

a close thing,
a close shave
by the skin of my teeth.
97
The car vsheel just missed his head. It was a close shave.
We almost missed the last train. It was a near thing. We just
caught it by the skin of our teeth.
It was a narrow squeak is also used of escaping disaster

by a very narrow margin.
A greater margin of failure is expressed in general terms
by:
to be wide of the mark,
to be right off the target,
to be miles off it.
An also-ran someone well back among the

is losers. (The
metaphor is from horse-racing.)
An uncertain risk is a toss-up.
Those who are over-confident may be chastened by the
proverbs
There^s many a slip twixt (i.e. between) cup and lip.
Dont count jour chickens before thej^re hatched.

Those who excuse their failure as having been by only
a narrow margin should remember that
A miss is as good as a mile.
A consolation prize for the person who comes in last is
a booby prize. In sport the wooden spoon is metaphorically

awarded to the team with the least successful record during
the playing season.
EXERCISES
I. Give a colloquial phrase for the words in italics:
1 The bullet just grazed his temple. It almost killed him,

2. My calculations were very Jar from being accurate.
3. The result oj the race was for a long time in doubt.

4. We caught the train a Jew seconds before it was due to
leave.
£. My guess was made at random.
98
HIT AND MISS
6. The favourite was well back among the losers.
7. He almost broke the record for the i ,000 metres race.

8. To lose bj a small margin is just as much a defeat as it is
to lose by a wide margin.

9. Dont be too sure oj winning ; jou may he disappointed.
10. The contributions did not reach the sum we had hoped
for.
1 1 . It^s doubtful whether I should gain more by emigrating
than by staying here.
Explain the following words and phrases:

1. A booby prize.
2. An also-ran.
3. A hit-and-miss affair.
4. A narrow squeak.
£. To be within an ace of succeeding.
6. The wooden spoon.
99
Home and Family
Home is a word with an emotive significance that is probably
unique to the English. Most European languages have no
separate form for house and home.
English idiom is confusing here. On those occasions when
the lodgings (or digs) we have chosen to stay at live up to
the reputation given them by the landlady we call them a
home from home. The housewife who keeps her home spick and
span is, strangely enough, not home-proud, but house-proud
(there is the underlying feeling that the place is kept so
tidy that a man, any rate, doesn't find it homely to live in.
at
It is a house, but not a home). Her home-made cakes and
preserves, however, are a great joy, more so than the home-

truths (i.e. blunt criticisms )i with which she sometimes be-
labours her husband (the word husband means, literally,
'house-slave'!). House-work nowadays goes by the name of
chores. A name, or a commercial product, that everybody is
familiar with is a household word. The children do home-work
(i.e. tasks set them by their teachers) when they return
from school. People who go round soliciting votes, collect-

ing information or money, engage in house-to-house canvas-
sing, etc. When we explain something well and so as to
leave no room for misunderstanding we are said to drive the
point home.
Family ties are naturally very strong. In the words of a
proverb
Blood is thicker than water.
Heredity finds its reflexion in these phrases:
Like father, like son.
* See PLAIN 8PIAEING.
lOO
. . :
HOME AND FAMILY

A chip off the old block.
It runs in the family.
A member of the family who does something to disgrace
it is called the black sheep of the family.
When the children come of age (i.e. reach the age of 2i)
they may have a coming-out party.
The balance of power in the family is liable to be dis-
turbed when the wife wears the trousersl (This will probably
lose its impact on Muslim countries, where women as well
as men wear trousers).
The Commissioner said that Mr 's version of why the mar-
riage began to drift was that his wife "wanted to wear the trousers".
Two of the sons . . . encouraged by their mother began to punch
him.
EXERCISES
1 Complete the following definitions
1 A product that is well kno\\'n in ever^' home is a
word.
2. A woman who is fond of her house is .
3.
4.
—
The
)
A member
tasks the housewife does are called
of a family who disgraces it in some way

(or,
is the .
£. The tasks given to children by their teachers to do

athome are called .
6. Cakes made at home by the housev/ife are .
7. A blunt criticism is a .
8 . To live in comfortable and lodgings is the next

best thing to living at home.
2. Explain in simple non-colloquial English the phrases in
italics:
1 He drove the point home with yet another apt quotation.

2. Red hair runs in our family.
£ lOI
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO COLLOQUIAL
IDIOM
3. A home is not a home if the wife wears the trousers.
4. Mary comedo/' aê next Thursday.
5. You can see he's a chip
off the old block.
6. The hotel was a real home from home.
7. Blood is thicker than water.
102
;
Honesty and Dishonesty

Apart from one proverb and a few negative commandments
Honesty seems colloquially to have little to commend it.
Even its terminology springs from mercenary motives:
Honesty is the best policy.
(A policy, you notice, i.e. a matter of weighing up advan-
tages and disadvantages and deciding where your best
interest lies)
from a pious platitude:
Crime doesnt pay.
(Detected crime doesn't but undetected crime often does)
;
;
or from games of chance (which clearly must have some

ethics or else they would become unplayable):
to put all jour cards on the table.
The honest man does not appear to be quite certain of

himself, if we are to judge by these sayings:
Vm as honest as the next man^
"Whatever you yourself mean by honesty, do you count yourself

an honest —
man as honest as the next man?"
"That rather depends upon who he is," said Mr Glacier.
To be quite honesty y this is the first I've heard

To telljou the honest truth , J about it.
We are suspicious, perhaps, of ^honest Joes^ people who —

call attention to their honesty by attaching to themselves
as 'prefix' the title 'honest'. In the same way a protestation
of honesty lights a spark of doubt or even cynicism in our
minds.
Honestly! is used as a kind of interjection:
Honestly! did you ever see such a comic-cuts? (A comic-cuts is
a person dressed in a ridiculous fashion.)
103
"I only hope and pray the Whiteways don't see through him
before your appointment is made. They're not likely to cherish the
name of Allenside once the understand the kind of man he is. He'll
probably borrow a few Whiteway thousands and fly to South
America, or something of that sort. Honestly, your brother, Teddy!"
If a person or thing is above board, he or it is above

suspicion.
Principles. This jargonistic word appears to enjoy more

favour than Honesty, perhaps because it is vaguer and more
non-committal. Mirabeau's dying speech began wîth the
cynicism: 'Never trust a man of principle.'
It^s against my principles. (It has the ring of honesty, but
wê must go on to ask

—
"What are your principles ?")
It^s the principle of the thing that matters. (No doubt: but
w^hat principle ?)
I am a man of principles. (Yes, but explain them.)
/ object on principle, (i.e. because in my opinion it is a
wrong thing to do.)
I am afraid he has not been in the inside of a church for many

years; but he never passes a church without pulling off his hat.
This shews that he has good principles.
"It's a matter of principle," Whiteway said. "This school is a

model for the future. We need to be especially careful."
To admit or confess to a misdemeanour is:
to own up to ity
to make a clean breast of it,
to come clean. (An Americanism.)
"Why not frankly admit that it will not be long before the
Postmaster-General imposes a 3d. post? . . . Why does he not
come clean right away?"
The affairs of the dishonest man are described as:

underhand,
104
. .
HONESTY AND DISHONESTY

a racket,
shady,
not above board.
He himself is a crook, a shark or a racketeer. He will double-
cross you (i.e. play you false, or be a traitor to you), stab
jou in the back, do jou down —
not because he is without
principles,^ but because his principles are dishonest.
EXERCISES
1 Explain the meaning of the words in italics in the illus-
trations in the text:
1. 'Honestly, your brother, Teddy!' (From Hear and
Forgive.)
2 This shews that he has good principles. (From Boswell's
Life of Dr Johnson.)
3. 'It's a matter of principle,' Whit&wa.Y sdiid. (From Hear
and Forgive.)
4. 'Why does he not come clean right away?' (From
The Times.)
2. Put into simple non-colloquial English the phrases in

italics in the following sentences:
1. The whole business seems very shadj to me.
2. / object on principle to Sunday games.
3 . Perhaps we shall make some progress if we put all our
cards on the table.

4. If you are the guilty person it is best to make a clean
breast of it.
£. Don't trust him. He's just a crook and will double-

cross you when it suits his plans.
6. Will the boy who put the drawing-pin on my seat

please own upl
^ We call him unprincipled.
los
7. 'Just look at that ridiculous hat she's wearing!
Honestly f my dear, the things some people will do to
attract attention!'
8. Don't trust him. I think he's trying to dojou down.
9. I never Tipping is against my principles.
tip the waiter.
10. The transaction seems to be quite above hoard.
06
—
Ignorance and Understanding
Ignorance
1. Ignorance of fact. The simplest and clearest admission
is *I don't know.* There
however, in colloquial speech
is,
a tendency towards a more emphatic statement, as, for

instance:
I haven t the faintest (or, slightest; or, foggiest) idea.
I haven t a clue. (To be clueless is to be in a permanent
state of ignorance.)
Vm completely in the dark (about something).
Ask me another I {sc. another question that one was too
hard!) The foreign student had better avoid using this.
/ wouldn't know (sc. and I cannot really be expected to
know).
First Choir Boy: Now what have we sung the National Anthem
for to-day?
Second Choir Boy: I haven't a clue.
First Choir Boy: I suppose it's because the Queen's horse came
home first yesterday!
2. Ignorance of technique (i.e. not knowing how) is ex-

pressed thus:
Vve no idea (how to do it).
It's beyond me.

It's got me beaten.
3. Ignorance of topography or direction:

You are lost or, at least, unfamiliar with the terrain
(i.e.jou don't know jour way around).
(In response to a call for assistance.) I'm sorry, but I'm
a stranger here mjself,
107
(A pattern of excuse when you ask for pilotage) / seem
to havelost my way (or, my hearings).
4. Ignorance of personal identity:

/ dont know him from Adam. (/ don^t know her from Eve.)
"But wouldn't you like to get away from here for a bit?" said
Eustace, trying another tack,
"Perhaps I should, but not to go among a lot of smart people
I don't know from Adam and who would be bored to death with
me."
He^s a stranger to me (i.e. I've never seen him before).

/ can^t place him.
£. Ignorance of a particular subject (i.e. when your know-

ledge of it is shallow or you are quite unable to understand
it):
Vm out of my depth.
It's all Greek to me.
It's all double Dutch to me.
How often had he begun to discuss music with a musician, only

to find himself out of his depth, clutching at some straw of informa-
tion that was not knowledge, though it had the air of being.
6. Ignorance of someone's intention:

What's he driving at? (i.e. What does he mean?)
You never can tell \ , ^ , ... .
_, , 1 . ) what he will do next.

Inere s no knowing )
7 . Ignorant behaviour
What did you expect? He doesnt know any better.
This is an excuse for someone who unwittingly docs
wrong.
No blame is attributed to any person or body. Where any form
of criticism might be implied, it is generally dismissed by expressing
the view that nobody was to blame because nobody knew any
better.
108
:
IGNORANCE AND UNDERSTANDING

8. Inability to understand is colloquially expressed thus:
/ can^t follow him (or, it).
I dont get it.
Vm all at sea.
I cant make head or tail of it.

I cant make it (or, him) out.
It heats me how people can live in such squalor.
9. Advantage taken of someone's ignorance:

Thej must have seenjou coming.
I had tried to like Laurence and to get alongside him, but we
had very little in common. Privately I thought him a phoney^ and

I suspected that he had seen Helen coming because, of course, she
had a good bit of money behind her.
A proverb that extols ignorance in certain circumstances

is:
Where ignorance is hliss, ^tis folly to he wise (i.e it is
sometimes better for us not to know^ the unpleasant

truth).
To live in afooVs paradise is to be in a condition of
blissful ignorance (that can be rudely shattered at short
notice).
Dog-owners who claim that animal fleas do not attack humans

are living in a fool's paradise. If a dog or cat flea hops by mistake
on to a human, it is quite likely to take a bite before passing back
to its preferred hunting grounds.
A vâming comment upon the possession of imperfect

know^ledge
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
^ A phoney is someone who is not genuine.
109
Understanding
General phrases of understanding include the following:
He knows a thing or two.
He knows what^s what (i.e. he is a shrewd, knowing
person).
He wasnt horn yesterday I
I see is often used with the meaning, "I understand":
"She's going to have a foal."

"I see," I said, but I didn't see. (i.e. I didn't understand.)
To know better:
He knows me (i.e. He knows what
better than to pick on
I shall do to him
he provokes me).
if
If he knows what^s good for him he'll stay away from mc

(i.e. if he wants to avoid trouble he'll keep away
from me).
To come to an understanding with someone is to reach
agreement.
We dont talk the same language, means that we use the
same words but we mean different things by them.
EXERCISES
I. Put the phrases in italics into simple non-colloquial
English:
1. He knows better than to sell me rotten fruit!
2. People who
think that they can maintain their pre-
sent standard of living, let alone improve it, without
working harder are living in aJooVs paradise.
3. I wish someone would tell me what he's driving at.
4. You mean you gave £200 for that old wreck of a

car? Thej must have seenjou coming.
£. Have a look at this patent tin-opener, will you? It's
got me beaten. I can't see how it works.
1 10
IGNORANCE AND UNDERSTANDING
6. The new Headmaster will stand no nonsense from
anybody. He wasnt horn jesterdaj I can tell you.
,
7. very strange at first, but when you have been

It's all
here a bit longer and know jour way around^ you'll

find that life in a hospital can be quite pleasant.
8. It's time you and I came to an understanding about our
respective duties.
Put into colloquial English:

1. His identity is a mystery to me.
2. It is impossible to prophesy what he'll do next.
3. This subject is totally beyond my comprehension.

4. Ifyou want to escape trouble you'll tell us all you
know.
£. An imperfect grasp of a subject gives rise to unsafe
judgements.
6. I don't recognise him at all.
7. We use the same words but with different meanings.
Ill
Indifference
Indifferencemeans either (i) you are unconcerned about
something, jou dont mind what is done, or (2) you are
i.e.
too bored, apathetic or uninterested to care what is done.

1. In this case, these phrases are useful:
/ dont mind.
"I don't mind in the least what the inspector thinks. The object
of evidence is to ascertain facts, not views."
Please jourself : Vll leave it to jou. (These phrases are
used or
either separately, conjointly, to entrust the
responsibility of choice to the other person.)
It's all the same to me (i.e. either choice suits me).
Vm easy (i.e. I agree to anything you say). The foreign
student had better not use this.
It's no concern oj mine if he decides to emigrate (i.e.
what he does isn't my business).

Ijjou dont mind \ I'd rather stay at home
If it's all the same to you I tonight.
The last two examples are polite ways of saying, 'If you
have no objection . .
.'
2 A shrug of the shoulders expresses indifference without

the need of words. In words the feeling is expressed thus:
I don't care.
/ couldnt care less. (Complete indifference.)
Many people find it an objectionable phrase.
Hippocleides sent for a table.and, climbing on it, danced
. .
first some Laconian dances, next some

Attic ones, and ended by
standing on his head and beating time with his legs in the air, . . .
When Cleisthenes saw Hippocleides beating time with his legs, he

could bear it no longer: "Son of Tisander," he cried, "you have
danced away your wife." "I don't care," came the cheerful reply.
. :
INDIFFERENCE
Take it or leave it. (A kind of ultimatum.)
Have it jour own way. CResignation to another person's
will.)
two hoots
I don\ care i a rap
two straws
a brass button.
Ransome, hurt, sore, weary, found the two women's tributes
soothing after Augusta's scorn, though he cared not a fig for either
of them.
"Oh, but one's often heard of couples who've knovMi one another
for years andit's never occurred to one they cared two straws for
each other and suddenly they go and get married."
. . . ,for all I care means 'I am indifferent to it.'
"You can tell him, for all I care."
/ dont care for something means 'I dislike it.'
"I don't care for chips fried in olive oil."
EXERCISES
1 Explain the uses of care in the following sentences
1. He doesn't care a fig for his reputation.
2 . You can go on eating chocolates till midnight for all
I care.
3. I don't care for shrimps. Do you?
4. Mother: If you behave like this I'll never take you
to another party.
Petulant Child: I don't care. I don't like parties,
anyway.
2. Explain in simple non-colloquial English the colloquial

phrases in italics in the following sentences:
I. It^s all the same to me whether we go by car or by
plane.
113
2. Ifjou dont mind I'd rather sit this dance out.
3. She: I think we should phone and let them know
we've arrived.
He: All right, have it jour own way. But after all they
did invite us.
4. She: Shall we take this carpet with the red border
or that plain blue one?
He: Vm easy. ? lease jour self. They'll both look all
right on our lounge floor.

^. Now that there's more competition amongst shop-
keepers there is less of the take-it-or -leave-it attitude
towards their customers.
ii4
.
Inevitability
1 Firstly, there is the inevitability of choice (i.e. either there

are no akernatives to choose from, or you are powerless
to exercise a choice).
/t's Hohsons^ choice (i.e. there is no alternative).
We have no option hut to agree to what you say.
There^s no alternative but to fight.
YouÛ have to do it.
It's all cut and dried (i.e. it's all prearranged).
Ellen: Does that mean you refuse to go?

Albert: Well, I certainly shan't go tomorrow morning.
Ellen: I'm afraid you'll have to.
2. Next, there is the inevitability of action (i.e. nothing now

can stop it happening).
It cant be helped. (The action is irrevocable and any

remorse or apportionment of blame is pointless.)
There's nothing jou can do about it.
There's nothing for it but to stay the night.

As sure as fate he'll break his neck on that ladder.
What must be, must be.
Stephen didn't seem to be open to good-byes. "What about the

work you were going to do? . . . It's only eleven — I shall just
rush round and see them, and then dart back to Stubbs."
"Well, well," said Stephen, who seemed to have recovered his
good humour, "if you must, you must."
A proverb on the same lines: Needs must when the devil

drives (i.e. when we are opposed by irresistible force we
have to give way to it).
1 Thomas Hobson was a sixteenth-century inn-keeper in Cambridge. His

clients, when they needed a horse, had to take the first offered, or go without.
11^
3. There is also the inevitability of the conclusion or result.
He's bound to find out.
He cant help but find out.
He'll find out, oj course.
It's di foregone conclusion.
4. A must is a thing that it is necessary and desirable to have

or do. Many people think that a car is a must nowadays (i.e.
something they can't do without).
EXERCISES
1. Give an alternative phrase expressing inevitability in
place of that in italics:
1. We must swallow our pride and accept their terms.

2. You cannot avoid catching cold this weather.
3. You go on ahead. / must finish this job first. I'll join
you later.
4. You'd better own up. If you don't ôu will certainly
be found out.
£. You leave me with no choice in the matter.
6. There is no point in lamenting its loss.
2. Explain the phrases in italics in their contexts:

1 In any library of records Beethoven's Fifth Symphony
is a must.
2. I can^t help thinking that we've been here before.
3. His election to the Presidency is a foregone conclusion.
4. They are pretending to cast their votes for a new
chairman, but .it's all been cut and dried long ago, I
can tell you.
116
—
Inferiority and Superiority

Nothing is more misleading than the terminology of class
distinctions, and claims to superiority based on birth,
wealth or education. By the working classes is meant in Eng-
land those who work in industry, public services and
agriculture. The employees are nowadays often called
'hands' or 'operatives': those in authority over them are
the 'executives' or 'officials'. Those who, by distinction,
belong to the professional classes (by virtue of some special
training and qualifications) are often called the white-
collared classes. The working classes are paid wages: the
professional classes draw a salary. The former wear boots
and caps: the latter shoes and hats! The former have holi-
days: the latter vacations (or, leaves, as is the case with
the Armed Forces).
A person who tries to impress other people with his
superiority (whether of birth, education or social position)
is a snoby if he possesses these advantages. If he does not
possess them, he
is stuck-up,
shows off,
gets uppish (also used of a subordinate who gets cheeky),
puts it on (i.e. pretends to be what he is not),
puts on airs (or, side),
tries to look big,
gets big ideas (it is often used of being too ambitious).
. . . growTi-up conversation always seemed to me a form of

showing-ofiF.
"We don't know him socially, of course, but he mustn't think

us stuck-up."
117
"My wee girl of twelve paints pictures. But if I catch her putting
on airs because she can put down on paper a thing that looks like
a horse or a chrysanthemum, she'd get the skelping of her life."
{Skelping = a sound beating.)

A person who tries to curry favour with his superiors, or
to soft-soap them, or to butter them up (i.e. in general to act
in an obsequious manner) is called a toady, or a creeper.

Such person sucks up to his superiors, and licks their shoes,
a
i.e acts in a degrading manner towards them so as to win
their favours.
A person in a superior position who abuses his authority
by ill-treating those beneath him is said:

to lord it over them,
to push them around,
to treat them like dirt (i.e. to treat them as if they were
undeserving of any consideration. Such a person will
think it beneath him to perform any task that an inferior
normally does.)
A person who takes advantage of his physical superiority
over others is a bully. To fail to resist his bullying is to take
things lying down, or to knuckle under to him. It would be far
more manly to stand up to him (i.e. resist him).
I felt a who would not

certain envy of the self of those days,
down, who had no notion of appeasement^ and
take things lying
who was prepared to put all he had into making himself respected
in society.
A genuine superiority is acknowledged in the saying:

He cant brother at chess (i.e. He
hold a candle to his
is without doubt inferior to his brother at chess).
To establish superiority, meaning to outwit or out-

manoeuvre, is:
to get the better of him.
ii8
INFERIORITY AND SUPERIORITY
She lost all her money —every single lira — in one day. It was a
matter of a dishonest solicitor, a Neapolitan and a very smooth
scoundrel. There must be few people who have got the better
of the Contessa.
To look down jour nose at somebody is to adopt a con-

temptuous and supercilious attitude towards him.
EXERCISES
1. (a) Explain these terms:
a snob; the working classes; stuck-up; a bully; a
creeper.
(b) Explain these phrases:
to put on airs ; to push people around ; to take things
lying down; to show off; to soft-soap someone.
2. Explain the phrases in italics in these sentences:

1. Some people think it's beneath them to say 'Please'
and 'Thank you'.
2. The big bully! It's time somebody stood up to him.
3. By a clever feint he ôt the better of his heavier oppo-
nent.
4. His sudden affluence has given him big ideas and he
now runs two cars instead of a bicycle.
£. He's always trying to curry favour with his employer
in the hope, presumably, of getting quick promo-

tion.
6. Show them that you too have your pride. Dont let
them lord it over you.

7. For sheer administrative experience this Cabinet
cant hold a candle to its predecessor, which was truly
'a team of all the talents'.
8. When a maid gets uppish it's time she left and found
other employment.
119
Influence
it is fallible human nature to tr)^ to exert pressure in order

to achieve one's ends. When Socrates was in prison he was
visited early one morning by Crito, and the following
conversation ensued:
Socrates: Why have you come at this hour, Crito? It must be

quite early?
Crito: Yes, it is.
Socrates: What is the exact time?
Crito: Dawn is breaking.
Socrates: I am surprised that the warder let you in.
Crito: He knows me, because I often come, Socrates; more-
over, I once did him a favour.^
At this personal level we exert influence when we:

have a word with someone,
put in a wordJot someone (i.e. say something favourable
about him to someone)
alternatively, somebody may get at us with a view to
influencing us.
As the puppet-master controls his dolls by strings, so we
our influence with someone). To have
pull strings (i.e. use
a pull somewhere is useful if we want to get a favour done.
An exceptionally strong pull may be necessary to get us in
through the hack door (i.e. by evading the customary pro-
cedure for admittance).
A person or thing without influence:
doesnt cut any (or, much) ice:
an example of the positive use is
'What he says, with you, then, cuts a good deal of ice.'

' From Plato's 'Crito'. Crito implies that 'one good turn deserves another'.
I20
.
INFLUENCE
The machiner)' of influence is aptly described in the
phrase:
There are wheels within wheels.
Greasing the palm is using bribery to exert influence.
EXERCISE
Give a colloquial phrase for that in italics:
1 Is thereanj chance of jour using jour influence to get
me a ticket for the Centre Court at Wimbledon?
2. I think he must have bribed the doorkeeper.
3. Tell him something favourable about me so that I can get
the job.
4. What he says has little influence with me.
£. John: T>o something for me, will you?
Tom: It depends what it is.
6. His appointment as Headmaster was not achieved

through the usual channels.
7. He's a person over whom I have some influence.
8. It seems as though someone has been putting pressure on
him to change his mind.

9. Exerting influence is quite a complex affair.
10. If you think it will be of any use I will gladly speak
to him on jour behalf.
121
Interference
A person who makes a habit of interfering in other people's

private affairs is called a busybody, Nosey-Parker, meddler or
snooper. (The latter is, however, a special kind of fact-
finder for a meddlesome Government department, political

body, newspaper or commercial product.) You cannot
easily discourage such people, but the following phrases
may help:
Mind jour own business.
Keep jour nose out of mj affairs.
Dont poke jour nose into what doesnt concern jou.
Leave me alone.
What^s it to do withjou?
Who toldjou to put jour oar in?
Indeed, Hilda was always putting her oar in, constituting herself
the voice of conscience.
"This'll be a lesson to me not to poke my nose into other people's

business."^
These expressions are impolite, of course, but impolite-

ness is sometimes the only remedy against busy bodies.
To interfere with someone's plans is:

to spike his guns,
to put a spoke in his wheel,

to throw a spanner in the works.
Sometimes interference is justified. We may intervene in
a dispute or to prevent an injustice or calamity, i.e. we

step in and try to help, perhaps as arbitrator or mediator.
To interrupt a conversation is to butt in, or, to cut in.
^ For further example see p. 80.
122
.
INTERFERENCE
Anything that inopportunely crops up to interfere with
our plans is a snag,'^ or a fly in the ointment.
EXERCISE
Substitute a colloquial phrase for the words in italics:
1 The Government will have to intervene in this in-

dustrial dispute.
2. He's such an interfering person. He's always prying into
things that are not his concern.
3. One tiresome inconvenience is that the house doesn't lie
on any bus route.
4. If he goes on with this mad scheme / shall have to
prevent him in some waj or other before he does harm

to other people.
£. Forgive my interrupting jou when jou were speaking but ^
are you sure what you said was correct?

that
6. As usual the weather was the disappointing feature.
7. Did anyone askjou to interfere?
8. Please, dont bother me. I dislike people who prj into
other people^ s private affairs.
9. Everything was going very nicely and the deal was
almost made —then j'ou had to come and reduce all our
efforts 'to nothing \
10. What concern is it ofjours? When I need your assist-
ance I'll ask for it.
1 See also appearances.
123
Invitations
An informal written invitation is usually in the form of a brief

note, along these lines:
My dear Mary,
Are you and Charles free to come and take pot luck^ with
us next Tuesday, the 8th?. It's a sort of celebration: I'll tell you
all about it later. Come about 8 o'clock. Give me a ring if you
can come.
Yours sincerely,
Judy.
The answer will be:
My dear Judy,
Thank you for your invitation for next Tuesday. Of course
we'll be glad to take pot luck with you, celebration or no
celebration. Sorry I couldn't ring, but the phone's been out
of order.
Yours sincerely,
Mary.
Some general kinds of verbal invitation of an informal

nature, with specimen acceptances and refusals, are:
Would jou care to make up a four at bridge?

rWith pleasure.
lYes, I don't mind.
fSorry: I don't play bridge.
jl wish I could, but I've promised to go with Helen
Uo the cinema.
> i.e. we shan't put on anything special. You will eat whatever we happen to be
having for supper.
124
.
INVITATIONS
How about coming with us to the Club?
I'd love to.
I'm afraid I can't: I've got to wôrk late tonight.
How about a game of tennis ?
All right.
Sorry, I haven't time today.
YouÛ be playing for us on Saturday?

rYes, if you want me to.
ll expect so.
I'm afraid not: I've got to work overtime.
At the close of a meeting the Chairman says:

V7i now call upon (or, ask) Mr Smith to propose a vote
of thanks to our speaker.'
Calling by appointment (you are received by a secre-

tary):
'
Will jou come this waj, sir. Mr Bro\NTi is expecting
you.'
You may have to wait:
'I'm Mr Brown is engaged. Would jou
sorr^',
sir.
mind waiting for a few moments. Please take a seat,

and I'll let you know as soon as he is free.'
An uninvited guest at a formal function is a gate-crasher.
EXERCISES
I . How do you issue (a) an informal written invitation,
(b) an informal verbal invitation, in the following circum-
stances :
1 To a friend and his wife, to have cocktails with you.

2. To a prospective buyer, to call and look over your
house, which is for sale.
12^
3. To a friend, a music-lover, to listen to some new
records you have recently bought.
2. You are chairman of a meeting. How do you invite the
assembly to pass a vote of thanks to a visiting speaker?
3. What is meant by a gate-crasherl
126
Kindness^
Kindness often requires us to go out oj our way to help some-
one (i.e. to help him even at some inconvenience to
ourselves).
To give (or, lend) someone a helping hand,
to do (him) a good turn,
to help a lame dog over a stile (i.e. to help someone w^ho
is unable to help himself),
to he a good Samaritan (i.e. to help the poor and needy),
all describe practical acts of kindness.
He was free with his money and ready to lend a helping hand
to anyone in distress.
To have a friendly feeling for someone is to have a soft
spot for him.
The English traditionally have a soft spot for the things they
laugh at.
Popular comments still stressing the practical aspect of

kindness include the following:
Everj little helps (i.e. the smallest contribution of time,
effort or money is valuable).
Maiiy hands make light work.^
A little hit of help is worth a lot oJ pity.
Occasionally wê shall not spare a friend's feelings if his
ultimate wêll-being requires us to be hard and unsym-

pathetic :
We shall he cruel to he kind.^
1 See also friendship.

Contrast 'Too many cooks spoil the broth'! Nothing will get done
2 if there arc
too many people giving the orders.
^ Compare the French: Qui aime bien, chatie bien.
127
A very kind person has a heart of gold, or a soft heart.
Cast jour bread upon the waters''- is a rather uncommon say-
ing taken from the Bible. It means, Act generously now,

without reckoning whether you will ever be repaid by
kindness.
EXERCISE
Say whether the comments (in italics) on these occasions
are suitable or not. If they are not, suggest others (in the
colloquial idiom)
1. A friend has helped an ex-convict to find a job and
so to get a fresh start in life: 'He has helped a lame dog
over a stile.'
2 . Your neighbour and his son help you to chop a heap
of firewood: 'Many hands make light work.^'
3 . A nurse looks after you with great skill and devotion

during a severe illness: 'She has a heart of gold.'
4. You lend your car to a neighbour since his has un-

expectedly broken down: 'Cast jour bread upon the
'
waters.
£. A boy-scout helps to guide a blind man to his de-

stination: 'A little bit of help is worth a
of pit)'-.' lot
6. An uncle gives you five shillings for your birthday:

'He was a good Samaritan.'
7. The Headmaster has occasion to punish your son for
a serious misdemeanour: 'He has sometimes to be cruel
'
to be kind.
8. Many women are dog-lovers: 'Thej have a soft spot
for dogs.'
For illustration see p. 74.
128
— ^
Likes and Dislikes
We have our likes and dislikes, as the proverb puts it:

all
One mans meat is another man s poison.

In Latin there is a similar saying de gustibus non est —
disputandum —which appears in English as:
There^s no accounting for tastes. (It often implies that
the speaker has the superior taste!)
Sir John said, "Nelly always did like that sort of thing (sc. society
parties). Still, there's no accounting for tastes."
"It wasn't quite my cup of tea," admitted Anne.
To like someone or something is
to be fond of him (it)^
to take to him (i.e. to become fond of him),

to take a liking (or, fancy) to him (it),
to have a soft spot for him (it).
The children took a fancy to her.
I had taken a great liking to Lord Trimingham.
The foreman didn't mind. He had a soft spot for Nikolai.
A likeable person grows onjou (i.e. you get to like him

more and more), and you regard him as someone after jour
own heart (i.e. whom you can accept as a true friend).
To want something very much is to hanker after it.
He talked a good deal of what he would do when he retired.

He hankered after the life of a country gentleman.
^ But Vo iake to drink' means to become too fond of it.
129
To like one course of action more ttian another may be
put in this way:
rd just as soon (walk).
/'J rather (walk).
They'd dine out with people and make themselves very pleasant,
but it was pretty obvious that they'd just as soon have stayed at
home.
A course of action that we dislike is said to go against the

grain. If we don't like a thing, then we dont care for it (i.e.
it is not to our liking) or, even more colloquially, it's not our
cup of tea. "^
If we dislike a person we cant stand him (or, we cant stand

the sight of him). A person who is officially and diplomatic-
ally unwelcome is persona non grata.
We sometimes rather unkindly chastise a person by tell-
ing him
Ijjou dont like itjou can Jump it (i.e. It doesn't matter
to me whether you like it or not).
EXERCISES
I . Give a colloquial phrase expressing the fact that:
1. you like someone very much.
2 . themore you see of someone, the more you like him.
3. you have become fond of someone.
4. you want something very badly.
£. you prefer listening to talking.
6. you dislike a person intensely.
7. you dislike having to accuse an employee of dis-
honesty.
8. you dislike cheese.
9. you disapprove of a friend's choice of neckties.
* See first example on previous page.
130
.
LIKES AND DISLIKES

10. people do not all have identical tastes.
1 1 you are indifferent whether a person approves or
disapproves of w^hat you've done.
2. Explain:
1 Tom
is a person after my own heart.
2. She says she'd just as soon sit and watch the tennis.
3. We've taken quite a fancy to travelling by train.
4. Mountaineering isn't exactly my cup of tea.

£. The second secretary at the Embassy was declared
'persona non grata' and his removal was requested.
6. I'm afraid he has taken to drink.
7. They've taken to school like ducks to water.

8. Mary is hankering after a television set.
31
Luck
Luck is the unpredictable factor that often holds the balance
between success and failure. But luck and its derivatives are
sometimes applied to situations in w^hich chance seems to
have had no part. Thus, a boy who has worked hard for his
examination and succeeded, as he deserved, is just as likely
to be greeted with the remark, "Lucky fellow", as is the
boy to whose success luck has contributed much more than
his own efforts.
1 Expressions of good luck are

You re in luck ] Often said to someone who has not yet
Your luck's in J heard about his good news.
_ ^ - , ,
^ Said to anyone about to go on a jour-
Good luck I ^
r, J ,
^
ney or to engage
^ ^ ^
^
m
.
any enterprise
^ ^
m
'
Best of luck! } /. 1 1 1 1
/ 7 7, which luck may, however remotely, 1
/ wish -^you luck / i ^ ^ "^

J play a part.
Comments that stress the element of good luck:
What a of luck! (usually of good luck only).
stroke
That's a lucky break for you.

Some people have all the luck ! (said rather enviously)
You can thank jour lucky stars nobody saw you. (It im-
plies you were doing vsrong.)
He's got the luck of the devil (i.e. extraordinary and un-
deserved good luck).
2. Commiseration for a.
failure is expressed thus:
Rotten luck!
Bad luck!
Hard lines!
Your luck was out.
Better luck next time!
Never mind. Your turn will come.
132
: :
LUCK
"I say, have you heard? Poor Nobby Clarke's dead."
"No? I say, how awful!"
"Rotten luck, isn't it?"
"Rotten."
Rueful comments of disappointment commonly heard are

Tom: Come and play tennis.
Dick: I've got to work, worse luck,
I went all the way to Darjeeling to see the Himalayas

but they were hidden by clouds. Just my luck I
Jones: Did your wife find the ring she had lost?
Smith: No such luck.
Anyone who is suffering from poverty, unemployment or
constant misfortune is said to be down on his luck.
I stand to (lose a fiver)^ means there is a risk that (I may
lose it).
An invitation to decide an issueby the toss of a coin is

ril toss (You call 'Heads' or 'Tails'.)
jou for it.
Heads I win, tails jou lose, i.e. the circumstances are

such that you can never win. I am a certain winner.
It is said purposely to catch the unwary out. One side
of a British coin bears the head of the reigning monarch.
What could be more unwelcoming than the churlish notice, first

printed goodness knows when, and still placarded at entrances all
over the country: play not guaranteed, no money returned.

Heads I win, tails you lose! This, at least, is one cricket tradition
that is well out of date. (Dailj Telegraph.)
There is romantic consolation for the loser at cards in:

Unlucky at cards, lucky in love.
Af'ver=& five pound (^5) note.

EXERCISES
Say in what circumstances the phrases in italics are used:
1 Better luck next time
2. Bad luck!
3. Best of luck tojoul
4. You can thank your lucky stars nobody saw you take it.
£. Never mind! Your luck will change, Tm sure.

6. Heads I win, tails jou lose.
7. He*s down on his luck.

8. We all stand to lose by a change of government.
9. Let^s toss for it. You can call.
[o. He's won again. My luck is definitely out tonight.

[ I . Sorry, I can't come with you. I'm on duty tonight,
worse luck.
[2. It was just my luck to be out when she called.
Say whether these phrases are used of good or had luck

1 You're in luck.
2 . Hard lines
3 . What a stroke of luck!

4. Just my luck!
£. He's got the luck of the devil.
6. Some people have all the luck.
7. You lucky people!
8. Your luck's out.
13 +
:
Madness
Some colloquial phrases that employ the word mad have
nothing to do with madness in the sense of mental de-
rangement :
To be mad (or, crazy) about something is to be highly

enthusiastic about it, e.g., him
mad about music; crazy about
(her). To be mad on something has the same significance.
Plain mad means angry, and you are usually mad at some-
one. It can also mean reckless:
He's a mad (or, mad-headed) driver.
He drives like mad.
He drives like a madman.
Even to be driven mad is not always as serious as it sounds.
This noise is driving me mad (i.e. it is distressing me a great

deal).
A foolish idea is a mad (or, crazy) idea.

There are few polite terms in colloquial language for
those who lunatic) other than out
are really unhinged (i.e.
of his mind. Amongst the commonest impolite phrases are

these
not quite right in the head,
not all there,
dotty; crackers,
off his head,

round the bend.
Such a person may also be said, impolitely, to have a screw
loose, or to have bats in the belfry \ The foreign student should
avoid using these phrases since they may give offence. But
there is no harm in his understanding what they mean.
I3S
Two familiar similes refeiTing to illogical and prepos-
terous behaviour are:
as mad as a hatter (familiarised in Lewis Carroll* s Alice
in Wonderland).
as mad as a March hare (i.e. like a hare in the breeding
season).
136
:
Miscalculation
A homely phrase that describes an error of judgement is

to miss the bus.The phrase is generally used of missing an
opportunity. Whereas to miss the point is to fail to grasp the
essential meaning of a story, argument or lesson.
Other sorts of miscalculation are
to bark up the wrong tree (i.e. to devote attention to, or
to suspect, the wrong person).
Are not the correspondents who grumble at modem mutations
in our language "barking up the wrong tree"?
to get it all wrong, \ i.e. to misunderstand

to get the wrong end of the stick f completely.
to back the wrong horse (i.e. to misplace your trust).
to bite off more thanjou can chew (i.e. to try to achieve
something beyond your powers; to underestimate the

difficulties).
to put the cart before the horse (i.e. to get things in the
wrong order).
To mislead someone deliberately is:
to lead him up the garden path,

to put him off the scent,
to trail a red herring across the track (i.e. to distract
attention from the real issue).

Advice to those likely to suffer disappointment through
miscalculation: Dont countjour chickens before thejre hatched.^
Compare the French: II ne faut pas vendre la peau de I'ours avant de I'avoir tue.
EXERCISES
Identify the colloquial phrases from these definitions:
1 To overestimate your strength.
2. To misunderstand completely.
3. To get things the wrong way round.
4. To distract attention from the real issue.
£. To miss an opportunity.
6. To have the wrong person under suspicion.
Explain the phrases in italics in the following sentences:

1 He volunteered to make a statement to the police,
and this rather put us off the scent.
2. You are favourites to win, certainly. But my advice
to you is not to count jour chickens before they^re hatched.
3. No, that isn't what he meant at all. You've com-
pletely missed the point of his argument.
4. His promises came to nothing. I'm afraid we've
hacked the wrong horse this time.
£. While the industry was paralysed by the strike, our
competitors stepped in and seized our trade, and we
found we had missed the bus again.
6. Defence counsel should cease trailing red herrings
across our track. I refer, for instance, to his long
recital of the accused's war service —as if that had
anything to do with this case.
138
—
Moderation and Excess

Moderation
Colloquial phrases designed to inspire moderation are a
pitiable handful compared with those describing the results
of excess. In general:
Don^t overdo it. (This precept is as old as Ancient
Greece firjhev dydv.)
Take it easy (or, gently).
Take your time (i.e. Don't hurry).
Specific comments:
Enough is as good as a feast.
Unfortunately, however, the old proverb, enough is as good as

a feast, has not been heeded, and there is such a plethora of corpses,
such a superfluity' of deadly accidents, the effect is risible rather
than exciting.
We have to draw the line somewhere (i.e. we recognise

that there must be limits to indulgence).
My mind made an alarming catalogue of Roger's criminal activi-

ties. Once you started that kind of career there was nowhere you
could draw the line.
Moderation in sorrow or disappointment is expressed by

a consolatory phrase:^
It^s no use crjing over spilt milk.
You must make the best of it.

We must learn to make the best of a bad job.
To take a thing too far is to overstep the mark.
It is possible to have too much of a good thing:
All this di-y weather has been too much of a good thing. We
badly need rain now.
^ Net to be used in case of bereavement (See consolation and sympathy).

Excess
1. To over-indulge in matters o( food is to make a pig of

jourself This is not to be confused with the exercise of a
hearty appetite, which is to eat like a horse.

A typical comment on a person who has helped himself
to more food than he can manage is:
Your eyesight is bigger than jour appetite.
2. Over-indulgence in the consumption of alcoholic drinks

is commented upon in this way:
He drinks like a fsh. (Used of a regular habit. The
phrase is anatomically absurd.)
He's had one too many. (This refers to the specific
occasion.)
He's had one over the eight. (Why eightl Nobody knows.)
He's tight (or, tight as a drum).
The result of such intemperance is next morning a painful
throbbing in the head and a feeling of depression in a —
word, a hang-over (or, a thick head). Some hardened drinkers
find that the best way to rid themselves of this unpleasant
feeling is to treat themselves to another drink similar to
those they had the night before: this process of homoeo-
pathic cure is called a hair of the dog that bit (them).
3 The spendthrift person throws (or, flings) his money about

quite recklessly. We comment that he has more money than
sense.
4. The imagination is used immoderately when it runs away

with a person, or runs riot (i.e. it deviates widely from the
truth).
£. Repetition of a topic or argument goes on ad nauseam

(i.e. until it sickens us).
140
.
. : :
MODERATION AND EXCESS

6. Of a person who abuses concessions we say:
Give him an inch and he will take an ell. (An ell is a unit
of length measuring rather more than a yard.)
Thus, we may tell a small boy that he can beat his drum
just once, and he will proceed to beat it many times.
EXERCISES
I . Give the meaning of the following phrases
1 A hair of the dog that bit you.
2. A hang-over.
3. Take your time!
4. To overstep the mark.
£. Ad nauseam.
1. Complete the following definitions with a colloquial
phrase
1 If you regularly drink a great deal of alcohol you .
2. If you drink alcohol until you are robbed of your

wits you are .
3. If your imagination deviates widely from the truth

it .
4. If a man squanders his money we say that he has .
5. A person with a healthy appetite is said to

6. If we recognise that it is possible to over-indulge we
comment that .
7. If we discourage giving way too easily to disappoint-

ment we say that one must learn .
3 . Explain the illustrations in the text of Enough is as good

as a feast and to draw the line.
41
Opinions and Judgements
I. We should always beware of opinions whose pseudo-
authoritative air tries to reduce our critical faculties. Here
are some such opinions, with possible audience reactions:
You take it ftrom me Why should I? On what
evidence ?
They say (or, tell me) . . . Who are thejl
You cant deny . . . Yes, I can.
Everybody says (or, agrees) . . Theydon't. /don't, for one.
There^s no doubt . . . / doubt it.
You can bet jour bottom I prefer to keep my dollar
dollar . . .
It^s as plain as a pikestaff . . Not to me

It sticks out a mile . . .
It^s as plain as the nose onjour

face . . .
2. More guarded opinions, and therefore more reliable, are

those that begin with such phrases as: / thinky I rather think,
I imagine, I dare say, In mj opinion, I think it's fair to say, etc.
3. Before expressing any opinion it is wise to be as sure

as possible of one's facts. Tutting two and two together usually
makes four but there are times when 2+2 = 5^, because
;
some unknown element has intervened to upset the ex-

pected and logical conclusion.
Felicity: Miss Miranda Frayle, His Lordship's intended bride,

happens to be Mrs Moxton's sister.
Crestwell: Thank you, my Lady. You may rely on my dis-
cretion.
Felicity: You already guessed it?
142
;
OPINIONS AND JUDGEMENTS

Crestwell: By simple deduction and putting two and two to-
gether I had arrived at the conclusion that there was something
a bit dodgy going on. (<iodgy underhand.) =
Then, with still greater force, it struck me that I ought to have
known. It had been obvious from the start, too obvious. But I was
like that. Two and two never made four for me, if I could make
them five. (i.e. He would never accept the obvious.)
4. To misjudge a situation is to get the wrong end of the stick;

whereas to judge (or, guess) accurately is to hit the nail on
the head.
. . . the post brought a series of detailed plans which I reluctantly

had to admit seemed to hit the nail on the head every time.
Any doubts about a judgement may be dissolved by check-

ing up on the evidence. A thorough sifting of the evidence
is described as getting to the bottom oj it.
£. Revision of an earlier opinion is:
to change jour tune,

to think again
also, On second thoughts. . . .
I did not despise him for changing his tune when he knew where
I came from. (i.e. he adopted a different attitude towards me.)
Ellen: Does that mean you refuse to go?

Albert: Weil, 1 certainly shan't go tomorrow morning.
Ellen: I'm afraid you'll have to.
Albert: No. On second thoughts I'm quite content to stay for
the time being.
6 . The consideration of a proposal is to think it over .
I'll think it over and let you know.
I am toying with the idea means that I am giving it some

consideration but have not yet decided w^hether to adopt it.
143
7. Judgements of character are made by weighing up^ or
summing up, the person concerned.
you established diplomatic
Calling had served a useful purpose;
relations by two which gave each party a chance
short, formal calls
to weigh the other up and which committed neither.
A hasty judgement,
or decision, made on the spur of the
moment judgement, or decision, and, in view of
is a snap
its hasty origin, it cannot always be relied upon. To see
through a person, however, is to detect his real character

(the implication usually is that his real character is worse
than his apparent character).
8. To make a decision is to make up jour mind; to alter it

is to change jour mind. Inability to decide is not to know jour
own mind (i.e. to be at the mercy of other people's opinions

or decisions).
EXERCISES
I . Explain the meaning of the phrases in italics:
1 His story sounds very suspicious ; but I intend to get
to the bottom of it.

2. Vm toying with the idea of spending next winter on a
lecture tour overseas.
3. She doesnt know her own mind from one minute to the
next.
4. You say the house is a bargain at any price. Wait
until you've seen it. You maj change jour tune then.
£. I have interviewed hundreds of candidates and I think
I can claim that / can weigh people up pretty accurately.
6. I shall have to explain it to them all over again.
They\e got quite the wrong end of the stick.
7. Putting two and two together I came to the conclusion
that they never seriously intended to honour their
agreement.
144
OPINIONS AND JUDGEMENTS
8. Thank you for your advice. VU think it over and let
you know soon what I have decided.
9. The speaker hit the nail on the head when he said that
we must save ourselves by our own exertions.
10. I'll reserve my judgement until Fve checked up again
on the records.
, Comment on these opinions:

1. There's no doubt that women are the weaker sex.
2. You can't deny that it is much pleasanter living today
than it was in the nineteenth century.
3. Everybody agrees that the best newspaper is that

with the largest circulation.
4. In my opinion it is a mistake to take too much phy-
sical exercise.
£. They say we shall have better weather towards the

end of the year.
6. I think we've got a lot to be thankful for.
7. It's as plain as a pikestaff that strikes do not do the

nation's economy any good.
14^
Opportunism
1 The opportunist always has an eye to his own advantage,
i.e. he is out for himself, or out for what he can get. There are
several precepts in common use reminding him to grasp the
opportunity if it comes his way
Opportunity seldom knocks twice.
Time and tide wait for no man.
Make haj while the sun shines.
The Wolves and Sunderland (English professional football clubs)

. .certainly should make hay on their own grounds now that
.
the sun is shining again, (i.e. They should have no difficulty in

defeating other teams now that the bad weather has ended.)
2 Political opportunism. The opportunist is far from being

a rash or uncalculating person. He tempers boldness with
caution. He likes to anticipate events and to eliminate the
risk of failure, i.e.:
he waits to see which way the wind will blow.
He may sit on the fence (i.e. until he has made up his
mind on which side his advantage lies).
This was vital to gain the i oo per cent support of the loyal Kikuyu.
Many at the moment were 'sitting on the fence' because the
situation was unsatisfactory, (i.e. The loyal Kikuyu were undecided
whether to support the government or not in view of its wavering
and contradictory policy towards the rebel Kikuyu.)
This type of person, to use a more active metaphor, will

try to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, or to have a
foot in both camps.
(This country) had followed a double-faced policy of hunting

with the hounds and running with the hare.
146
—
OPPORTUNISM
He thinks it advisable to have several irons in the fire (so
that, if he has another to fall back on).
one plan fails,
When eventually he makes a decision and jumps on the

hand-waggon he is sure it wîll take him in the direction
likely to be most profitable to him.
The Board of Trade abandoned its control of hire-purchase trad-

ing in July i95'4, since when the ramifications of the system have
proliferated into Never-never^ land. Almost every advertisement,
it seems, advises us to climb aboard the easy-terms bandwaggon
"Everybody's doing it, doing it, doing it I Get your now,
enjoy it this winter, and pay later at leisure!"
3. Opportunism in general. Seizing, or grasping, the oppor-

tunity may be expressed in these terms:
to strike while the iron s hot;
to grasp time hy the forelock (==to anticipate events).

Aman's self-advancement (often called ^looking after
Number One') may bring him into rivalry with other people.
In that case he may resort to unscrupulous tactics, i.e.:
pull a fast one over someone. (The metaphor is from
boxing.)
To steal a march on someone is to get ahead and arrive
first.
Partly in order not to be late, partly in order to see Anchorstone

Hall in the morning freshness that was breathing through his win-
dow, partly in the hope of stealing a march on the others, for he
shrank from the thought of a crowded breakfast table, Eustace
hurried over his dressing.
To jump the queue is to occupy a place to which people

have a prior claim (they were there before you).
To pick someone's brains is to claim and turn to one's
ov^Ti advantage the ideas of other people.
^ To purchase things by part payments at regular inter\'als is often called 'getting

things on the never-never'.
"I want you to come to dinner on the twenty-second; can you
make it? . .1 want to pick your brains! Seriously, I badly need
.
your advice."
He knows which side his bread is buttered on,

and he has an eye to the main chance,
recognise that the opportunist knows exactly where his
advantage and when to seize it.
lies
The attempt to secure an initial advantage, which can lead

to other advantages, is expressed by the phrase:
to drive in the thin end of the wedge.
The metaphor is clear. A woodman sets about splitting a
log by driving in first the thin end of a wedge. This makes
his task easier.
He said that if the application (sc. to hold a theatrical show on

—
Sunday which is against the law in England) was granted it might
prove to be the thin edge of the wedge. Other applications would
probably be made for Sunday entertainments to be allowed.
EXERCISES
Give a colloquial phrase that describes a person
1. who calculates carefully before declaring his loyalty
to a particular policy or political party.
2. who hesitates until he is sure that he knows where
his advantage lies.
3. who is concerned only with his o\vn self-interest.

4. who uses his opportunities well while they last.
5. who makes unfair use of other people's ideas.
6. who occupies a place to which other people have a
previous claim.
7. who relies for success on more than one plan.
8. who tries to be loyal to opposite sides or parties.
148
.
OPPORTUNISM
2. Explain in simple non-colloquial English:
1. Time and tide wait for no man.
2. The thin end of the wedge.

3. To grasp time by the forelock.
4. To jump on the bandwaggon.
g. To make hay while the sun shines.
6. To strike while the iron's hot.
3 Explain the illustrations in small t^-pe in the text of the
section on Opportunism.
149
Optimism and Pessimism
Optimism
In general terms the feeling of optimism is described collo-
quially as:
looking on the bright side.
To look at the world through rose-tinted spectacles, however,
is to deceive ourselves and to become unjustifiably opti-
mistic, as is also the habit of wishful thinking.
To be guardedly optimistic is to hope for the best.
A surer feeling of optimism is expressed in such terms
as:
It will be all right on the night. (The metaphor is taken
from the theatre.)
It will turn out all right in the end.
Proverbs that militate against sombre depression are:
Everj cloud has a silver lining.^
The darkest hour is just before the dawn.
It^s a long lane that has no turning.
While there's life there's hope.
Pessimism^
In general terms:
/ don't give much for his chances.
Things are looking black (or, grim) for him.
Ifear the worst.
Envisaging the worst, though retaining some spark of

optimism, we may say:
* Compare the French: Aprcs la pluie le beau temps.

^ See feelings: Sadness.
.
OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISM

If the worst comes to the worst we can always sleep out on
the sands (i.e. if all the hotels and lodging houses are
flill).
Comments on the deepest depression are:

It never rains but it pours.
Troubles never come singly.
EXERCISES
1 Explain in simple non-colloquial English the phrases in
italics:
1. The Chief Whip assured the Government that the

opposition was unlikely to be strong enough to carry
the motion of no-confidence and that everjthing would
be all right on the night.
2. Our only fault as a nation has been that we have
tended to look at our economic situation through rose-
tinted spectacles.
3. Things look black for him, certainly, but we must hope

for the best.
4. Every cloud has a silver lining.

£. I've never known such a crop of injuries to a team.
It never rains but it pours.
2. Give a colloquial phrase for the words in italics:
1. I am not optimistic about his chances of getting the job.

2. If everjthing else fails I can get a job as an unskilled
labourer.
3. Things often seem most hopeless just before they start to
change for the better.
4. I have a feeling that we shall not be disappointed in the

end.
£. Hope does not die until we do.
6. It is foolish to indulge in unjustifahly optimistic specu-
lation.
Partnership
The sharing of an experience is commented upon by such

phrases as:
We^re all in this together.
We^re all in the same boat refers, however, only to ad-

verse or difficult circumstances.
The mutual support expected of one another is expressed
by:
to pull together. (The metaphor is from rovsîng —the
pulling of the oars in unison.)
to hack (one another) up. (This implies real and solid
support.)
With a less rigid obligation and more as a gesture of
friendship or sympathy, vê say to lend a hand.
To stand by someone in trouble is part of the duty of
friends and partners. To let them down is failure to do one's
duty to them.
Complicity implies partnership for some dubious or
crooked purpose, and we use the phrase to be hand in glove
with one another. There are legal penalties for aiding and
abetting (i.e. supporting an illegal activity). We express our
disapproval of people who take part in such associations by
describing them as being:
tarred with the same brush,
as thick as thieves,
up to no good.
Every gang has its ring-leader (a word never used in a good
sense), and the somewhat sinister unwritten rules of such
associations are summarised in an apt metaphor:
Dog doesnU bite dog.
152
.
PARTNERSHIP
Treacherous behaviour in this kind of association is to
double-cross Jor to rat on one's associates. To run out on them
is also to abandon them.
It is sometimes said that the members of such associations
must hang together to avoid the fate of hanging separately!

A Box and Cox arrangement allows the one partner to
absent himself while the other is present. It implies, that
is, the interchangeability of the partners so that the office
is always manned by one partner at a time. It is rather like
the situation of the husband who works by night and his
wife who works by day, who only meet on the front door
steps when he is returning from work and she is going out
to work, or vice versa.
If these new pieces of machinery are only given a chance to run
in^ . . . these industries may at last be allowed to secure what they
so badly need —an end to the Box and Cox of nationalisation and
denationalisation.
EXERCISES
I. Give a colloquial phrase for the phrases in italics:
1 Unless we co-ordinate our efforts we shall never succeed.
2. I feel ashamed at having failed in my duty to him.
3. We must support one another and tell the same story.
Then they are bound to believe us.
4. It's obvious from his behaviour that he has some
dubious plan in mind.

£. He betrayed his accomplices.
6. I am grateful to you for not abandoning me in my time
of need.
7. Help me to lift this heavy box, will you?
8. He's verj closely associated with the Police in this
affair.
^ When a piece of machineryis new it is run carefully so as to give the moving

parts a chance to settle down smoothly. This process is called 'running in'.
1^3
2. Explain these phrases in simple English:
1. Tarred with the same brush.
2. To aid and abet.
3. A ring-leader.
4. To be in the same boat.
£. Dog doesn't bite dog.
6. To hang together.
3. Explain the use of 'Box and Cox' in the illustration.
^4
: !
Persistence and Perseverance
Persistence is the repetition of behaviour aimed at achieving

a definite result ; for example
to stick out for your rights, i.e. to keep (or, keep on)
worrying someone until he gives you what you think is
your due.
/ shant leave go expresses the same idea of hanging on until
I get what I want.
He^s set on marrying her, means that he is determined to

do it and will persist in his efforts until he does.
To hold on to something implies firm possession; to keep
it up is persistent activity.
The buzz of talk reached me —how they kept it up
To have a one-track mind is to persist in one idea, to the

exclusion of all others.
To hang around is to wait persistently; to harp on a topic
is to keep on talking about it.
And my mother's harping on the heat seemed irrelevant and

almost irritating.
Perseverance is the unremitting effort and determination to
see a thing through or to go through vîth it in the face of

obstacles and difficulties. Otherwise expressed it is:
to keep one^s (or somebody else's) nose to the grindstone,

to keep hard at it,
to peg away at something,

to put jour back into it,
to give it alljouve got,

to keep right on doing it.
^55
1 don't think I should have gone through with it but f'^r Hilda
I shouldn't have had the moral courage.
To put jour shoulder to the wheel is also used of deter-

mined effort in co-operation with other people.
To burn the midnight oil implies vmremitting devotion
to study.
Proverbs (Persistence wdll be rewarded):
If at first jou dont succeed, try, try, try again.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
EXERCISE
Complete the colloquial phrases expressing Persistence or
Perseverance in these sentences:
1. ringing the bell. Someone will answer in the
end.
2 The Headmaster asked all the boys to into their
work.
3. Although the Oxford crew gave they failed to
win the boat race.
4. It*s tiresome to have to listen to him the same
topic every time we
meet.
^, He's becoming a dance-band leader, much to
his parents' disgust.
6. I for more than an hour but he failed to turn up.
7. You can't about anything but cricket. The

talk
trouble with you is that you have a
8. He'll pass his examinations without having .
9. He to his pictures until the last minute before

circumstances compelled him to put them up for
sale.
10. If we put our we shall soon the job .
1^6
y
Plain Speaking
What is called plain speaking means either (A) the use of

imambiguous and firm language to someone, or (B) simply,
the avoidance of prolixity and ambiguity. Plain speaking
goes straight to the point. It doesnt heat about the bush, i.e. it
doesn't ramble around wdthout ever getting to the point.

It avoids mumborjumbo, i.e. incoherent, meaningless speech
sounds.
This so-called plan was a mumbo-jumbo of meaningless words

and phrases.
A. Firm Language, In this case we may say:

/ told him straight
I didrit mince matters,
I didnt pull my punches,
gave
I
rill him it \
f
. , r
straiant from the shoulder,
i i u
him have
I let it J ^ -'
The last three examples are clearly metaphors from box-

ing. Less pugnaciously we may say:
I made it crystal clear ^ ^ t î i.^ r l-• i
, , ^ ^
, > what I thought or him.
,
/ lejt him in no doubt J
°,
To get down to brass tacks is to avoid side-issues and show

that we mean business, i.e. that we will not be diverted from
our main task by irrelevant matters.
It may be necessary sometimes to speak jour mind and to
tell a person some home truths (these are usually unpalatable
reminders of what the hearer already knows).
Prout: You can't argue with anybody. You can only bluster and
rant. I never met a Labour politician who could do anything but
bluster and rant.
1^7
Byres: Oh, is that so? Well, if you're asking for home truths
you'll get them; and if you're asking for a punch on the nose
you'll get it.
But it is always charitable not to go (or, tell tales) behind

his hack J i.e. to attack him when he is unable to defend
himself, but to tell him to his face what is in your mind.
B. Avoidance of Prolixity. A person who is inclined to be

prolix, and who circumnavigates the point, is termed long-
winded. We may
have to advise him to be short and sweet. If
we decide that our story or argument can be condensed we
say so:
To put it in a nut shell, . . .
To cut a long story short, . . .
Not to beat about the bush, . . .
him on?"
"So you led
"He didn't require much leading, sir."
"I was only using your own words, inspector. You led him on?"
The inspector paused for a moment. "Yes, sir, I suppose you may
put it that way ... at a certain stage."
"But it was you who put it that way, Inspector. Let's not beat
about the bush. From the moment you were satisfied he was trying
to corrupt you and the sergeant, you led him on ?"
To avoid ambiguity, when we want someone to be under

no misapprehension about our meaning, we use the ex-
pression:
to call a spade a spade.
EXERCISES
I. Give a colloquial equivalent for the phrases in italics in
the following sentences:
I . andfrmly to him that
/ said forcibly I didn't want him
around the place any longer.
1^8
.
PLAIN SPEAKING
2. The judge advised the witness not to digress from the
subject.
3. Let us concentrate on the main subject.
4. To avoid wearjing jou with all the details of what hap-

pened, woke up and found myself in hospital.
I That's
ail I remember after the accident.
£. I prefer the man who is honest and direct in his

answers to one who is afraid to say what he really Jeels.
6. Ifjou criticise me, please do it to my face.
2. Explain the phrases in italics:
1 The speaker was dreadfully long-winded.

2. The vicar spoke his mind about divorced people being
married again in church.
3. / left him in no doubt about my displeasure at his be-
haviour.
4. There is to be no more procrastination. The Govern-
ment means business this time.
£. The conference resulted in just a lot of academic
mumbo-jumbo.
6. When he brought up the subject of his re-election,
I told him some home truths and made it crystal clear
that he wouldn't get my support.
IS9
Politeness
Politeness, or common courtesy, depends more on intona-

tion than on the words used.
1. Commands. The commonest and politest intonation
pattern is the 'Glide Up',^ with or without 'please':
Close the door, please
| ^^^ ^.^^ ^^ ,q,.^^
^
Llose the door. J
The use of the 'Glide Down'^ in such commands makes

them more curt and peremptory.
2. Requests may be introduced in a number of ways, but

they should always be used with the 'Glide Up' too; e.g.:
Would jou be kind enough to hold this parcel for me?
Would jou mind holding this parcel for me ?
May I trouble JOU for a light?
Would JOU pass the salt, please?
Excuse me, "I but can you tell me how I get to
Pardon me, J St James's Street?
3. Invitations^ are more inclined to follow the intonation

pattern of the question form in which they are framed, i.e.
a 'Glide Down'. Example:

Would JOU care for a drink?
. ( Vd love one, thank jou.

^ '
\ I would, thank JOU.
(Refusal) No, thank jou. Vd rather not.
^ See introductory essay in my 'Selected Texts of Modern Dialogue'.

^ See also invitations.
160
: —
POLITENESS
Can I interest jou in a raffie ticket?
( Idont mind. How much are they?
(Answers) \ Vm afraid Vve no money with me.
i. Vve already got some, thank jou.
May I have this next dance?

., .
f With pleasure.
(Answers) s ,, '^ . , j u
^ ^ ^ I m sorry : it s
•
promised ^to Harry.
4. Offers are usually put in a statement form with a 'Glide

Down' intonation:
/ may as well drive jou home.
Vd better drive jou home.
VU drive JOU home, ifjou like.
I can drive JOU home.
Let me drive jou home.
The replies will depend largely on the warmth of the
original offer (which depends on the intonation pattern
used)
That^s verj kind ofjou. Thank jou verj much.
Would JOU mind? That^s verj nice ofjou.
Please dont bother. It^s no trouble for me to walk.
Vd rather not put jou to any inconvenience. VU walk, ifjou

dont mind.
EXERCISES
1. Request someone politely, in two different ways,
1. to tell you the time.
2. to direct you to the 'Majestic' Hotel.
3. to lend you his lawn-mower.
4. to tell you his name and address.
2. Offer-
1 . to lend someone your umbrella.
2. to help a neighbour erect his wireless aerial.
161
3. to do some shopping for an invalid.
4. to feed your friend's dog while he is on holiday.
3. Invite someone
1 to joinyou in a drink.
2 to view a programme on your television set.
3 to dance with you.
4. to walk home with you.
^. Command someone-
1 to be quiet while you are talking.
2. to speak more clearly.
3. to wait a few moments until you are ready.

4. to remember to look carefully before crossing the
road.
5. Decline politely the invitations in 3.
62
:
Praise and Blame

There is a wise saying: Self-praise is no recommendation. Two
agile metaphorical phrases of self-congratulation are also in
common use:
to blow one*s own trumpet,
to pat oneself on the back.
Praise for other people and things is in general terms to
crack them up.
We may also salute an achievement in these terms:
/ take off mj hat to him (permissible even if you don't
wear a hat!).
/ give him full marks.
I hand it to him; he's got courage.
It is not customary to conceal blame under a cloak of
ambiguous words, though:

/ wouldnt put it past him (beyond him),
implies that, although we have no proof of his misbehaviour,
we think he is capable of it.
The allotment of blame is usually direct
It^s (all) jour fault.
You re to blame.
We've gotjou to thank for the mess weVe in.^
But we can content ourselves, if we wish, with a strong
hint:
If the cap fits, wear it.
i.e. without directly fastening blame on him we let it be

understood that he is under some suspicion. If he feels
unjustly accused he will say:
^ See 'A note on Idiom', p. 5.
163
Whf pick on me? (He absolves himself from blame.)
was fairly dropped on.
/ (The blame came as an un-
expected blow.)
To jind fault with someone is not so strong as to blame
him: to hold it against him is, in other words, to put the
blame on him.^
EXERCISE
Explain the phrases in italics-.
1. / wouldnt put it beyond him to coimtermand all my

instructions when I've gone.
2. We have misguided idealists to thank for the mess we're
in today.
3. / take my hat offtojou for the way you got rid of that
old bore.
4. If I dont blow my own trumpet no one else will, I
suppose
£. It will be all jour fault if we're late.
6. Self-praise is no recommendation.
7. Iwas nowhere near at the time. So why pick on me?
Someone else must have rung your front door bell.
8. The sport of water-skiing is not what it's cracked up
to be.
9. I said that I disliked busybodies. I didn't say you were

one. However, if the cap fits, wear it\
10. My teacher is always finding fault with me. But I don't
hold it against him. If I'm wrong I expect to be
corrected.
* See FEELINGS —Resentment.

164
Probable and Possible
The possible is less capable of fulfilment than the probable.

It^s more than possible means it is probable; and probably
expresses a greater degree of likelihood than possibly. The
greatest uncertainty about chances is expressed by the
adverbs maybe and perhaps. Likely lies somewhere between
probable and possible; probably closer to the former.
it is
The scale of positive gradations, as they move further from

the certain, is roughly as follows:
/ highly (or, verj) probable (almost certain)

I very likely
quite probable
quite likely
not unlikely
not improbable
very possible
{probable
more than possible
likely
C possible
4. < perhaps (adv.)

I maybe (adv.)
Other colloquial phrases in common use are:
It looks as if (or, though) jou re right. (Nearly certain.)
It^s on the cards. (It is quite probable.)
It^snot out of the question. \ ,j . i i i n
^rn i 1^ ? f (It IS probable.)'
There s a chance that . . . J ^ ^
It looks like it. (It is quite likely.)
G 16^
"Is Ted really going to the war?" I asked.
"So you're on 'Ted' terms!" said Lord Trimingham. "Well, it's
on the cards he will."
*. . . a first (sc. first-class in his examination) was not out of the

question, if he went on as he was doing now."
We really felt that the weather was taking a turn for the better,
and it looked as though we had a chance of getting the few fine
days that were essential if our attack on the summit was to have
any hope of success.
The improbable and impossible differ in that whereas the

improbable is still possible, the impossible is neither pos-
sible nor probable. The improbable is:
most (or, very) unlikely.
An improbable but not impossible event is picturesquely
expressed as happening:
once in a blue moon.
. . . once in a blue moon a pearling lugger came in from Thursday

Island or Port Darwin.
To set one's heart on the impossible is to cry for the moon.

Another way of commenting upon a virtually impossible
attempt is:
It's like getting blood out of a stone.
"You say the directors of the clinic are financially rather con-
servative, Miss Cherrington ?"
"It's like getting blood out of a stone," said Hilda vehemently.
"I've had to fight for every improvement."
Advice not to rely on a thing happening:

/ wouldn't bank on it, if I were you. (i.e. It probably
won't happen.)
"He doesn't come to the club very often."
"I hope he will tonight."
"1 wouldn't bank on it. He has an estate about thirty miles away.
It's a longish ride to come just for a rubber of bridge."
1 66
: :
Progress
Colloquial speech disregards the philosophical controversy
about the nature of Time. Time can inarch, fiy, run and
fiow. We can mark, make, kill, heat, save, lose, find, keep and
gain it. We can get before it and behind it. Comment on
the rapid flow of time is
How time fiies.

Slow progress, on the other hand, is stigmatised by
comparisons
as slow as a snail,
as slow as a Juneral.
*
Take jour timeV means 'Don't hurry!'
When good progress is being made things are going swim-
mingly (i.e. successfully).
His papers were in a little confusion, in consequence of Mr Jack

Maldon having lately proffered his occasional services as an amanu-
ensis, and not being accustomed to that occupation; but wê should
soon put right what was amiss, and go on swimmingly.
*We are making good time^ means that we are not late, in
factwe may well be ahead oj time.
Making up arrears of time, as a train does when it is
behind time, make up time.

is to
To catch up on correspondence is to get up to date with

one's letter writing which has fallen behind.
Progress in the affairs of life may be expressed thus:
He's making good. (i.e. He's making a success of things.)
He^s getting on well, (i.e He's making a success of
things.)
How's he making out? (i.e. What progress is he making?)
How's he shaping? (i.e. What are his chances of suc-
cess ?)
167
How^s it going? (i.e. How srejou getting on?)
Ambition is usually defined as a determination to get on
in life.
He was getting on in his career as an architect.
An improvement in affairs may be described in this way

Things are looking up. (N.B. —They never look down!)
When progress is impeded:
We get (or, are) stuck in a rut. (This is often used of a
person without drive or initiative.)
Madge: You've got the chance of a lifetime, and the ability to

carry out a pretty big job, and you . . . wonder about it. Does that
mean you'd rather stick in the same rut for the rest of your life?
Thec: I don't feel I am in a rut. The only possible advantage
that the new job might hold is the added cash.
We get bogged down.

We suffer a set-back.
*How much did that fur coat setjou backV implies a
costly purchase.
We* re held up for cement means that we can't continue
our work because we are without cement.
It*s put the lid on it implies progress thwarted.
Stella said, "Do you still breed those lovely Samoyed puppies?"
"Hitler has put the lid on that, for the time being."
It^s brought things to a head. (i.e. It's brought things to a

climax.)
It^s not getting us anjwhere. (i.e. We're not making any
headway.)
I loathe this cheeseparing policy. It never gets you anywhere.
'Progress' backwards (i.e. Reaction) is denounced as
putting the clock back. (Politicians do so when they introduce

reactionary legislation.)
i68
.
PROGRESS
A refusal to bother about possible obstacles to progress
until confronted by them is expressed thus:
We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
EXERCISES
1. Complete these definitions:
1. When soldiers lift and lower their feet quickly on
the same spot they are said to time.
2. If we take a short cut we time.
3. If we loiter on the way we time.
4. If we are unpunctual we are time.
5. If a train arrives before expected it is
it is time.
6. If a train is behind its scheduled time it has to
time.
2. Explain the colloquial phrases in italics:
1. Take jour time about it.
2. It's a wet day today, so it gives me a grand oppor-

tunity to catch up on my arrears of correspondence.
3. The job's held up since we can't get enough skilled
workmen.
4. John feels he's in a rut and wants to get into a job
that offers more scope for initiative.
£. After recent setbacks the nation's economic health is
beginning to look up at last.
3. Give a colloquial equivalent for the phrases in italics:

1 We'll deal with that problem when it arises,
2. The conference is making little progress. The uncom-

promising attitude of the Ruritanians has brought
things to a critical juncture.
3 Legislation to abolish the teaching of English in the

schools will only be harmful to technological progress.
169
4. I determined at a very early age to make a success oj
whatever I did,
5. I used to go abroad for a month every
year, but get-
ting married and having a family have made that
im-
possible.
170
Quarrels and Peacemaking
Quarrels
When a quarrel is premeditated it is said that

We pick a quarrel with someone.
No, I cannot tell you whom Captain Kelway may have had in
mind; I have no idea. It may have been someone who had been
trying to pick a quarrel with him for some reason.
If we have it in for him (i.e. we wish him harm) we seize

the first chance to have it out with him (i.e. to settle the
matter in dispute by peaceful or bellicose means).
If it is a previous cause of dispute we have an old score to
wipe out.
A quarrel will vary in intensity:
We have words with someone,
We fall out with someone,
We have a row with someone.
None of these involves physical violence. To have a set-to
need not involve more than hard words; and to pitch into
him may be no more than a verbal assault. If, however, it
is we shall suppose that the
a real dust-up, scrap or dog-fight,
combatants were not with rough words but actually
satisfied
came to blows. To get the upper hand in such a fight is to be
top-dog: the under-dog gets the worst of the struggle. A
vigorous set-to sees the combatants going at it hammer and
tongs (not tongues, though these may come into it as well!)
or, going at it for all they are worth.
71
Peacemaking
Peacemaking rejoices in a picturesque phraseology:
to patch up a quarrel,
to make it up with someone,
to bury the hatchet (used of a long-standing quarrel),
to hold out an olive branchy
to agree to let bygones be bygones.
A year ago he held out an olive branch for B , who ignored it.
A lot of agitation about something quite trivial is called
a storm in a tea-cup.
An unhappy life of constant bickering and quarrelling is
describable as a cat and dog life.
EXERCISES
1. Give a colloquial phrase meaning:
1 to agree to stop quarrelling.
2. to cease to be friends.
3. to wish somebody harm.
4. to agree to forget past disagreements.
£. a lot of fuss about nothing.
6. to quarrel vigorously and noisily.
7. to agree to forget a long-standing cause of friction
and disagreement.
8. a verbal quarrel.

italics:
1. We eventually got the upper hand and won the set

without any further trouble.
2. We were having a scrap when the policeman came
and parted us.
172
QUARRELS AND PEACEMAKING
3. Now that he is top-dog he remembers the many old
scores he has to wipe out.
4. I've just had a dreadful row with John.
5. He's had infer me ever since I accidentally ran
it
over
his dog. He thinks I did it on purpose.
173
Respect and Disrespect
To respect a person is:
to think highly of him,

to think a lot of him,
to have a high opinion of him,

to look up to him.
He looked up to me and I felt that his esteem was decidedly

worth having.
To have a lot of time for somebody is to admire him. (It is
more usual in the negative: to have no time for him.)

If we have no respect for a person (or thing)
We look down on him (i.e. despise him),
We dont care a rap for him,
We dont think much of him,
We dont give afgfor him.
The Commission didn't give a fig for money.
I've always taken a pride in my work and done it to the best

of my ability, and anybody who looks down on me for that can
just get on with it!^
To express contempt for someone we may say:

/ wouldnt touch him with a barge pole.
1 wouldnt demean mjselfhy talking to him.
/ wouldn^t lower myself to talk to him.
Disrespectful gestures are implicit in these phrases:
to cock a snook at . . .
to thumb jour nose at . . .
to snap your jingers at . . .
^ They can 'just get on ivith it' means she is indifferent to their opinions.
. : :
RESPECT AND DISRESPECT

Abroad grin broke on his lips and he put his thumb to his nose
and cocked a snook at the Rev. Owen Jones.
To lose people's respect and to become a figure of fun is:

make a laughing stock ofjourself.
to
To show obsequious and humiliating respect for someone is

to kow-tow to him.
To call someone names is to speak of him in an uncomplimen-

tary way.
EXERCISE
in these sentences
italics
1 You know you don't know how to box. If you go

into the ringjou will make jourself a laughing stock.
2. The staff think a lot ofthe^ new Headmaster.
3. We dont think much oj him as Headmaster.
4. He's a crook: / wouldnt touch him with a barge pole.
£. The rude little boy put his tongue out when the lady
rebuked him for throwing stones at her dog.
6. The 'old-hands' look down on new recruits to the
service.
7. Vve no time for this sensational journalism.
8. We should look up to him as a shining example of
devotion to duty.
17^
Responsibility
1. To accept responsibility is to take (something) on. To take
itupon oneself means undertaking something arbitrarily, i.e.

without proper authorisation; to do it off jour own bat is
acting on your own initiative, and your action is usually
regarded favourably.
I cannot feel that this solicitor fellow has done his best ... he
strikes me as taking a bit too much on himself.
Leave it to me, i.e. I'll make myself responsible for it.

It's up tojou, i.e. the responsibility rests with you.
It was up to me to tell her about Helen.
... it didn't rest with me who was to be charged. I simply

swore to the facts, sir.
To have a disagreeable responsibility thrust upon you is
to he landed with someone (or, something).
2. There is a large variety of slang phrase to underline a

reluctance to undertake responsibility and a desire to shift
it onto somebody else, i.e. to let someone else answer
for it:
_ to shift responsibility onto some-

to pass the buck, i.e.
one else to carry (or, take) the can back^ i.e. to have
to answer for other people's misdeeds.
to be left holding the baby (the 'baby' is unwanted!).
to be let in for something i.e. to have no choice in the

y
matter.
Told he would be arrested, said, "I am a mug^ here. I guessed
they were false. I suppose I will have to 'take the can back' for
the lot."
^ Mug, i.e. a person who has been duped or tricked. (Slang.)
176
:
RESPONSIBILITY
3 . Other expressions for evasion of responsibility are
/ wash my hands of it (him), i.e. I renounce all responsi-
bility.
He's hanging back. i.e. He is reluctant to assume re-
sponsibility.
It's not my pigeon, i.e. It's not my concern.
That' s jour funeral . i.e. Whatever happens, you alone
are responsible.
That's jour look-out. i.e. In case of failure, you alone are
responsible.
it to do with me? i.e. 1 disclaim all responsibility.
What's
Have jour own wajy resigns responsibility to someone
it
who has been persistently clamouring for it. If a person has

(or, gets) his own waj he does just w^hat he wânts to do.
I should never have gone to school if he (i.e. my father) had had

his way.
"He (Hercule Poirot) will get at the truth. And the truth
is what we want. Look here, Charles, I take all responsibility on
myself."
Lord Mayfield said slowly:
"Oh, well, have it your owti way, but I don't see what the fellow
can do ." . .
Sir George picked up the phone.

"I'm going to get through to him now." —
EXERCISES
Give a colloquial phrase for that in italics:
1. You may leave your suit-case here, if you wish, but
if someone steals it that's jour responsibility.
2. It is jour responsibility to break the news to her.
3. / am forced to have her as travelling companion.

4. I see no reason why / should have to assume the responsi-
bility for his mistakes.
177
£, You say you've mislaid your wallet? How does that
concern me:
6. Another time, please, don^t book seats at the theatre
without asking me.
italics:
1. You little realise whatjou let jourself in for when you

married Joan.
2. He's a spoilt child. He always gets his own way.
3. He arranged the show completely off his own hat.
4. If you marry that wastrel / shall wash my hands ojjou.
£. John has taken on that job at the office for the time
being.
6. Leave the unpacking to me. Thai's mj pigeon. You can
get the kettle boiling for the tea.
178
)
Retaliation and Retribution
To retaliate is colloquially speaking:

to get even with someone,
to get jour own back on him,

to pay him back,
to settle with him,
I'm not a fellow who wants revenge — I don't want my own back
or anything of that sort — Î just have nothing more to do with him.
I was most anxious to put an end to the persecution and also to

get even with them. Even, but no more: I was not vindictive.
To pay him back in his own coin is to use the same weapons
for retaliation as he used against you. A noun phrase ex-
pressing the same idea is tit for tat: to give tit for tat is to
exchange blows, insults, etc.
When virtue triimiphs over vice, as it does ideally in
romantic poetry, a familiar comment is *It's poetic justice.*
—
This phrase is also used loosely for any occasion when
Justice lifts the bandage from her eyes and deals the wrong-
doer an unexpected but deserved slap in the face.
How wonderful if I could make it the instrument of my ven-

geance There would be poetic justice in that. (Leo had been set
1
upon by his school-mates for using the pretentious word "van-

quished" in his diary. He determines to take his revenge by writing
curses in it against them.
It serves jou rightis an unsympathetic comment reserved
for people who have suffered justly for their misdeeds.

A proverb glorifying retaliation is : Revenge is sweet.
To take it out o/' someone describes an act of vengeance.

A misguided act of retaliation that harms yourself as much,
179
ifnot more, than your enemy is:
to cut offjour nose to spite jour face,
or, to cut jour own throat!
"Are you asking me to forgive Violet?"

The Resident shook head slowly and smiled.
his
"No. You've forgiven her already. I'm really advising you not
to cut off your nose to spite your face."
Evil-doing that recoils on one's own head is said:

to come home to roost.
Threats of future retribution are contained in these

phrases
You just wait!
Don't let me catch you asleep again, or else . . .
You^ll pay for this.
EXERCISE
italics:
1 At the next general election all the government's chic-

kens will assuredly come home to roost. It will serve them
right if they lose.
2. She's a naughty girl. She's always taking it out of her
jounger brother.
3. Practical jokers will be paid back in their own coin.
4. The wrong-doer pays for it in the end.
£. Come down from that tree this minute! It would serve
jou right if you fell and broke your neck.

6. It was poetic justice that this political agitator should
be the first to be arrested and reap the reward of

his subversive activities.
7. I'm just waiting for the chance to get mj own back on
him for the dirty trick he played on me.
8. Take your hands off him immediately, you big bully,
or else . . .
180
Rich Man . . . Poor Man . . .
To be rich is expressed by these turns of phrase:

\ to be well-off,
to be made oj money,
to be on Easy Street,
to live off the fat of the land,
to have money to burn.
Comments on easily-obtained wealth are:

It^s money for old rope,
It's money for jam,
and Easy come, easy go. (i.e. Money can be squandered just
as easily as it is come by.)
I'd make one good haul and be on easy street for life. That's
what I thought! It seemed almost too easy, too good to be true.
To be poor is:
to be badly off,
to be broke (or, stoney broke) , i.e. to have no money at
all.
to be hard-up (to be short of money).
She hastened to be consoling. "Never mind," she said. "Every-

body is poor nowâdays."
"Well, I know that all my friends, absolutely everyone I know,

is very hard-up."
to be down-at-heel (i.e. to be on one^s uppers like a tramp

whose shoes are worn out.)
Vm on my beam ends,
I cant make both ends meet;
both refer to acute financial embarrassment. It will be
necessary for me to raise the wînJ somehow (i.e. to get money)
if I am to avoid being on the rocks (i.e. destitute).
is the type of virtuous poor. Teaching is alleged
Cinderella
to be the Cinderella of the professions, i.e. it is the most
neglected and worst paid of the professions.
A comment on poverty: Beggars cant be choosers.
A cynical comment on alms-giving: Charity begins at home.
(i.e. Make sure that you and your dependents are wêll pro-
vided for before you start giving away to the poor.)
EXERCISE
Give a colloquial phrase to express the fact that:
1 you have little money.
2. you are without money.
3. you are very wealthy.

4. you are quite destitute.
£. you have more money than you need.
6. you get your money effortlessly.
7. you need money urgently.

8. you don't believe in saving money.
9. your profession is inadequately remunerated.
10. you believe in looking after yourself before you help
other people.
182
I
:
Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction

Various degrees of general satisfaction, graduating from the
moderate to the intense, may be tabulated thus:
ItfUs the bill.
I
It (He) comes up to scratch. > Moderate satisfaction.
It suits me. J
I get quite a kick out of it. Fairly intense satisfaction.

It^s just the J oh.
It* s just up my street. High degree of
It* s just my cup of tea. satisfaction.
It suits me down to the ground.
I have not read the original novel. On the evidence before us it
seems to have been just the job for the niillions who want romance
and culture. . . .
He's always gloomy. When you start a case he's worried to death
that the witnesses won't come up to scratch.
Dissatisfaction and disappointment have many causes, and

the more general terminology is of this nature
He*s let me down. (i.e. He's failed me in my time of

need.)
So a let-down is a betrayal of trust or friendship or even
of expectation.
TMn nf r The thing

^ was a swindle, a let-down.
What a sell! J
They were Marian and Ted Burgess were in love! Of

in love!
all it was the only one that had never
the possible explanations,
crossed my mind. What a sell, what a frightful sell! And what a
fool I had been!
183
Vm not (a bit) happj about it, (i.e. I have serious mis-
givings.)
Vve had it (or, him) in a big way. (i.e. I don't want to
have anything more to do with him/it.)
We may left in the lurch (i.e. abandoned in a difficult
be
position); or someone may walk out on us (i.e. leave us to
face a difficult situation on our own).
Extreme disappointment is expressed figuratively:
The bottom^ s fallen out of our world.
It^sknocked the stuffing out of us (i.e. we are completely
disheartened)
To eat jour heart out (i.e. to grieve).
Amongst the commonest phrases of disappointment are
the following:
fed up (adj.= very disappointed.) It can also
{with):
mean that the person has had too much of something
he is sated by it.
What's the use? (A phrase of extreme despair expressing
the hopelessness of things.)
EXERCISE
Put into simple non-colloquial English the phrases in italics:
1. He gets quite a kick out of amusing the children.
2 . Our friends let us down badly during the last crisis
3. He's been eating his heart out ever since Joan got
married to Tom.
4. A camping holiday is just my cup of tea.
£. Don't trust them. ThejU walk out on jou whenever
it suits them.
6. I'm fed up with talking to you. You never listen to me.

7. I'm not a bit happy about this holiday roster. I'm sure
people are going to object.
184
I\
SATISFACTION AND DISSATISFACTION
8. The bottom has dropped out of her world since she lost
her husband and child in that terrible fire.
9. I don't trust his promises. He's left us in the lurch

before, you remember.
10. John: Shall we make a start at g o'clock?
Harry: It suits me.
18^
Scolding
To scold or rebuke someone is
to tell him off (or, to give him a good telling off^.

to tick him off (or, to give him a good ticking off),
to choke him off (or, to give him a good choking off),
to give him a piece ofjour mind,
to give him a good talking to.
Her husband gave her a good telling-off when he heard about it.
We strolled across a busy road, regardless of a policeman on

traffic duty. He called us over and gave us a piece of his mind,
as only a French policeman knows how.
To have someone on the mat, or to haul him over the coals

describe an official reprimand.
To send him away with a jlea in his ear is a severe snub (i.e.
an uncivil rebuff).
A more caustic reprimand is described thus:
He hit (or, snapped) mj head off.
He gave me the rough edge of his tongue.
He put me in my place, (i.e. He exercised his authority
over me.)
An abusive reprimand is contained in the saying:
He called me all the names he could lay his tongue to.
He went for me.
EXERCISE
Fill in the gaps wîth a colloquial phrase oi rebuke:
1. He got a from the boss for being impudent.
2. Junior employees have to be when they get
cheeky.
3. When he asked her for the next dance she com-
186
I
.
SCOLDING
pletely ignored him. This hurt him very much.
4. There's no need to . I only want a civil answêr
to a civil question.
5. That is the fourth time he's asked me how I voted
at the last election. If he asks me again I shall .
What concern is it of his, I'd like to know.

6. The Headmaster had me this morning. He wan-
ted to know who was responsible for the uproar last
night in the dormitory.
7 The speaker was so annoyed that he the hecklers
like a bull charging a matador.
8. I had no idea where on earth she had been all day,
so when she got home I .
187
Secrets and Confidences
1 Can you keep a secret ?

Dont let on that I told you.
Keep it to yourself.
Keep it under jour hat.

Keep it dark. (Also, to keep someone in the dark about
something.)
Dont give the show away.
Keep your mouth shut. (This is rather too familiar.)
"Can I trust you to keep your mouth shut?"

What an idiotic question, I thought, to ask a schoolboy. We were
all sworn to secrecy, I looked at him almost pityingly. "Do you want
me to cross my heart?" I said.
"You can do what you like with yourself," he answered. "But
if you let on " he stopped, and the physical threat that his
presence implied seemed to vibrate through the room.
... I knew that the practical difficulty of keeping Marcus in

the dark about the letters still existed.
2. Of course I can keep a secret.

My lips are sealed.
I wont tell a soul.
We are now coming close to a state of affairs in which a Minister

concerned with defence will say his lips are sealed.
Wild horses couldnt drag it from me,

. . . until someone tempts me, or pumps me for information,
so as to induce me to
give him the low-down,
or, let him in on the secret.
i88
SECRETS AND CONFIDENCES
I have not read the original novel. On the evidence before us
it seems to have been just the job for the millions who want
romance and culture, the low-down on the great. . . .
3. You have talked too much.

You\e blurted it out.
You\e let the cat out of the hag,
Youve spilt the beans. (The foreign student shouldn't
use this.)
Youve given the show away.
It's leaked out.
Until Dr Bor spilt the beans by disclosing that the wretched

thing (i.e. the aspidistra) actually enjoys the damp and the gloom,
it seemed only fair to give it credit for endurance in the face of
adversity.
Albert: Why not tell me straight away I'd got to go because

she was coming back?
Ellen: I didn't want you to know anything about it.
Albert: Why not?
Ellen: You're such a chatterbox. You'd go blurting it out to
your aunts. And it would be fatal if they got to know about it
now.
To try to induce somebody to talk and so to divulge a

secret is to draw him out. It is also used of trying to banish
his shyness.
He must be more forthcoming, take her into his confidence,

draw her out.
4. This is in the strictest confidence.

Entre nous . . .
Between jrou and me . . .
1 can't imderstand your chaps fighting it, my dear fellow, 1
really can't," said Mr Grimes.

"Nor can I," said Roger. "But it's lucky some of them wdll.
Between you and me they're only doing it to keep me in practice."
189
A leakage of information is described thus
A little bird told me.
"How are you, my dear fellow?" said Mr Grimes to Roger out-

side the Court. *A little bird tells me you've applied for silk."
A breach of confidence is to tell tales out oj school:
"You will probably disapprove of what I've got to say," I said

before he could turn to face me again.
"Let me hear it and I'll let you know."
"It's carrying tales out of school."
"Oh!" He became more serious. "Then perhaps you had better
not tell me."
Practical advice to avoid breaches of confidence

Never letjou right hand know what jour left hand is doing.
EXERCISES
1. Explain the colloquial phrases concerned with Secrets
and Confidences in the ten illustrations in the text.
2. Give a colloquial phrase equivalent to the following:

1. Secret (or private) information.
2. To share a secret with someone.
3. To pester someone into giving secret information.
4. I will share this secret only with you.
£. Nothing will induce me to tell you the secret.
6. Don't tell anybody!
7. Someone (I'm not saying who) told it to me.
8. The secret has become known.
9. To be guilty of a breach of confidence.
10. To conceal a secret from someone.
190
Sense and Nonsense
The foreign student will probably hear a bewildering variety

of comment from English people on talk that they regard
as nonsense. He had better refrain from such explosive
comments as the following: Rubbish! Rot! Boloney! Balder-
dash! Bunkum! Fiddlesticks! On second thoughts, I think he
may use the last expression if he is quite unable to restrain
his feelings.
"I never had a conference on time. ... So busy, we have to

keep you vsâiting. Fiddlesticks!"
Apart from interjections there are phrases such as:

.., my foot! (A scornful rejection of an idea.)
.
Ellen: I'm not bluffing you, Albert. I'm ordering you to go.
Albert: Order, my foot! I'll tell you what I think of your
reasons for wanting me out of the house. Bunkum!
He's talking through his hat, i.e. He's talking nonsense.

A clever or witty remark is a crack (or, a wise-crack).
Aperson who talks and acts sensibly and shrewdly has
got his head screwed on. (For a screw loose, see madness.)
A discredited story is a cock-and-bull story, or, an old
wives' tale.
"He has some cock-and-bull story of an echo in the cave."
Nowjoure what you said before was

talking implies that
irrelevant, but now you're talking good sense.
91
Social Relations
To avoid embarrassment in society it is necessary to con-

form to etiquette. Breaches of etiquette are described thus:
to drop a brick,
to make a faux pas (or, to make a bloomer),
to put jour foot in it.
She would be socially unacceptable ; she would make a bloomer.
Social ostracism is expressed by these phrases

to cold-shoulder,
to cut somebody (or, to cut somebody dead): as, for in-

stance, to pretend not to see somebody in the street, or to
refuse to acknowledge his greeting.
To send him to Coventrj means to inflict social censure on
somebody by refusing to speak to him or to have anything
to do vdth him.
To be accepted in society is to be in the swim.
To be constantly striving to reach higher strata in society
is to be a social climber.
It often takes time to get accepted in society, i.e. to
break the ice. (The phrase is also used of getting a party
warmed up.)
Not everybody, in any case, is a good mixer. Many people
at first feel out of place, like fsh out of water, and their in-
experience may cause them to make mistakes, i.e. to get
off on the wrong foot.
There is a lot of ice to be broken between children, they do

not make friends easily, their worlds are private, even their games
are mysterious.
"Afraid I got off on the wrong foot with you last night."
192
.
SOCIAL RELATIONS
I was acutely aware of social inferiority. I felt utterly out of place
among these smart rich people, and a misfit everywhere.
I should feel like a fish out of water among all those Society
people. I shouldn't do you any credit. I should just be a handicap
to you and an embarrassment.
The company may frighten us : some gatherings are very

heavy going (i.e. stiff and formal). We are afraid that we
may cut a sorry Jigure, i.e. appear to look silly.
And what a figure he had cut on the platform, with his red face,
his board-stiff suit, and his strength turned to heaviness.
But we cannot all be social lions (i.e. very popular figures

in the social zoo!), who find it easy to cut a dash (or, cut a
shine) y i.e. to achieve a gaudy success.
To be a wall-flower is used only of ladies who consistently
fail to attract a partner to dance with.
To gate-crash is to gain entry to a social engagement with-

out invitation.
EXERCISES
I . Explain in simple non-colloquial English the phrases in
italics:
1. His fellow-workmen sent him to Coventry because he

refused to join them in the strike.
2. A new hoy feels like a fsh out of water when he first
goes to school.
3 More than a score of people gate-crashed the party for
the film premiere.
4. At dinner I lit a cigarette before the host had given
permission. That was only the first of manj bricks I
dropped that evening.

£. Success has so gone to his head that he now cuts his
old friends dead whenever he meets them.
193
6. John is really in the social swim. He gets an invitation
to a party every night.
7. I find his company very heavy going. He is so dull and
deadly serious.
2 Explain these terms

1 A wall-flowêr.
2. A social lion.
3. A social climber.
4. To break the ice.
5. A good mixer.
3. Fill in the verb in these expressions and say w^hat each

phrase means:
1 to a bloomer.
2. to off on the wnrong foot.
3 to a brick.
4. to a dash.
g. to out of place.
194
;
Start and Finish

To make a start is, in general terms:
to get going,
to get started,
to get cracking (this is slangy),

to set off (always of a journey or race),
to set someone (or, something) off is to start him (it) doing
something, e.g.. The sudden noise set the baby off
crying,
to start the ball rolling is to get it started.
To get under way means the same thing.
Even if French ratification was completed tomorrow, therefore,

the actual process of rearmament would no doubt take consider-
able time to get under way.
A proverb reminds us that a lot depends on making a

good start:
Well begun is half done
and a good finish:
AlVs well that ends well.
A good start is described thus:
to get off to a jlying start.
A bad start to the day is humorously described as:
getting out of bed the wrong side.
A person who does this is usually grumpy and peevish.
It is good to start off with the right omens, or,
to get off (or, start off) on the right foot.
"I think it is so important that a proceeding of this kind should

start oflF on the right foot. .
."^
.
^ See also social relations

The end is near:
We'll soon be through. (This appears to be an Ameri-
canism that is gaining ground in Britain.)
The end is in sight and the result is beyond all reasonable
doubt
/t'5 all over bar the shouting.
A suggestion to make an end:
Let^s call it a day.
The finish:
We are done for (i.e. we've lost all hope).
It's all up with us (i.e. it is useless to resist any longer.)
"It's all up now. I can show fight no more."
It's all over. (A neutral statement = It's finished.)

A good finish to something is to round it off.
The dance rounded off the evening very nicely.
To make short work 0/' something is to end it quickly.

When the supply of something ends it gives out, or peters
out:
It became obvious now that this route, despite its promising

start, was soon to peter out.
EXERCISE 1
Use a colloquial equivalent for the words in italics:
1 The paraffin is coming to an end. We shall soon have
to sit in the dark.
2. When jouve finished, I'd like to have a word with
you in private.
3. The slightest noise makes our dog bark.
4. Victory is practically certain.
£. There is no hope for us.
6. He was very bad-tempered this morning when he got up.
196
START AND FINISH
7. ril make a start with a donation of £10.
8. I've had enough. Let's stop work now.
9. The exhibition made a good beginning with a record
attendance on the first day.
10. She concluded a fine performance with a sensitive
rendering of two Scarlatti sonatas.
H 197
Success and Failure
1. Success is often attributed to luck. (See luck.) But if
it is achieved by a man's own efforts we say that:

he pulled (or, brought) it off,
he made it,
he did it on his own (i.e. unaided),

he carried all before him (i.e. defeated all opposition),
he's a self-made man (i.e. his success is due to his own
efforts).
The lights of Base Camp were a welcome sight, and as we walked

up the last slope towards them we were pretty tired. "Well, we've
made it," I thought.
Pride in success is described in the phrase:

It's a feather in his cap,
2 . Near success
He tried hard,
He did his best,
He put up a good show.
Forecasting a partial success
He'll (or. It'll) get by.
He'll (or. It'll) just get bj.
... he was a year younger than I was, and distinguished neither

in work nor games, but he managed to get by, as we should say.
A wry comment: A miss is as good as a mile.

An ironical comment: Nothing succeeds like success.
A warning that neither success nor failure is permanent:
Everj dog has his daj.
Every cloud has a silver lining. (See also optimism and
PESSIMISM.)
198
SUCCESS AND FAILURE
3. Failure is variously expressed of a person:
He came a cropper.
One has seen the Scots go out in the past . . . and come a cropper
because the enemy proved to be elusive shadows.
He came unstuck.
He met his match (in competition).
He never had a look in, i.e. was hopelessly outclassed.
He came to grief, i.e. disaster overtook him.
He missed the bus, i.e. he failed to grasp the opportunity.
Birmingham missed the bus in the first half. They might have
scored three times then. (Report of a football match.)
An enterprise or event that fails:
falls through,
doesnt come off,
is ajJop, i.e. a failure, or a fiasco.
A person who is a failure is a flop, a down-and-out (i.e.
reduced to the condition of a tramp), a has-been (i.e. his
best days are past).
The realisation of failure is expressed thus:
We^re not getting anywhere.
We\e had it.
EXERCISES
I. Give a colloquial phrase for the words in italics:
1. We failed to reach anj conclusion in our negotiations.
2. The play was a complete failure.
3. He came near to success but didnt quite succeed, (twc

phrases.)
4. Thej missed their chance of winning.
£. His acting dajs are over.
6. No one helped him to put up the tent.
7. I shall ju5t be able to manage on £10 a week.
8. It's a success he can be proud of.
199
2 Explain these proverbial sayings
1 Every dog has his day.
2. A miss is as good as a mile.
3. Nothing succeeds like success.

4. Every cloud has a silver lining.

italics:
1 His front wheel hit a stone and he came a cropper.

2. Robert him in the school sports.
carried all before
3. It wâs tough struggle to reach the summit, but in

a
the end they made it.
4. We shall never reach the summit novsr. Vm afraid
we ye had it^ unless the wêather changes for the better.
£. They came unstuck trying to reach the summit wîthout
guides.
200
.
Suggestions
A suggestion may (a) concern facts, or (b) propose a course

of action.
1 If it deals with facts it will be made in such a way as
to give the impression that the listener's \'iewpoint is of
value to the speaker:
Dontjou think (or, agree) that the grass needs cutting?
(Answers: Yes, it does. No, I don't think it does.)
Wouldnt jou say that there has been more rain this
year than last?
(Answer: Yes, I think there has.)
You dont mean the Minister himself is coming?
(Answer: Yes, I do.)
/ take it you've no objection to a glass of sherr)'?
(Answer: No objection at all.)

I suppose there's no alternative.
(Answer: I'm afraid not.)
2. A suggested course of action is introduced colloquially

in this way:
How about sending him a copy?
What about sending him a copy?
Why not ask him to meet us there?
What do JOU say to our having a nice hot cup of tea?
To agree to a course of action is to fall in with it.
If you made a suggestion to do something she was always glad

to fall in with it.
Suggestions in the form of ad\1ce:

If I were JOU, I'd get out of that job now.
20I
We^d better try next door: there's nobody in here.
Shall I -put it up to the Manager? (i.e. Shall I suggest
it to him?)
Asking for suggestions: What^s the drill? (i.e. What's to
be done?). This is not for the foreign student to use.
To accept an indirect suggestion is to take a hint.
EXERCISES
1. Su^S^st to someone that:
1. the sea is too cold to swim in.
2. he ought to take a holiday, since he is not looking

well.
3. you hope he mistaken in saying that there
is isn't a
ticket for the concert left.
4. if you were in his place you would refuse to accept
the job that has been offered him.
£. he stays to tea.
6. you would welcome his support for your opinion that
atomic power must soon replace coal in industry'.
7. you and he combine to carry out a job.
8. unless you start now you will be too late for the
concert.
2. Explain these phrases:

1 To take a hint.
2. To fall in with a suggestion.
3. What's the drill?

4. To put it up to somebody.
£. I take it you're resigning from your post?
202
: :
Superstitions
Some conventional phrases are aimed at averting bad luck.
They bring in the symbol of the Cross
Touch wood!
Keep jour Jingers crossed.
She said, sharply, "The point of no return?"

"That's the point when it's shorter to go on than to get back,"
Mr Honey explained. "Sort of, half-way."
She breathed. "I thought you meant something dififerent. So you
think there's nothing we can do but sit here with our fingers
crossed?"
We may recall that to double-cross is to act treacherously,

and that Cross my heart is a s^'Tnbolic assurance that I am
telling the truth.
Number J 3 is an unlucky number, and Friday (especially
when it falls on the 13th) an unlucky day.
"When were you last inside?"

"Came out ten months ago. it was a Friday. Friday the thirteenth.
That's a day to let you out."
The stars are commonly supposed to influence our

destinies
You can thank jour lucky stars . . .
We climbed up to a large block that seemed a little more stable

than the rest, and looked back down "Hellfire Alley", thanking
our lucky stars that we were safely out of it.
There is a common belief that success will come, if not

earlier, at any rate by the third attempt:
Third time lucky.
203
Of course he lost again. But Gertrude cleverly deluded him into
the thought that he had won the third race by his own merits,
and she could see that he was again not displeased.
Third time lucky seems to be your motto," said Gertrude. "You
can beat me easy when you learn."
It is believed that when your ears are hot, someone is
talking about you. Hence the familiar question:

ArejouT ears burning?
A sequence of unexplained disasters or a run of bad luck
is described in terms of a hoodoo being upon the person or
thing.
204
.
Surprise
1 Arrival.
Talk of the devil! (Used when someone arrives just as you
were talking about him and you had no reason to expect
his arrival.)
He turned up (sc. unexpectedly).
He showed up (sc. you had given him up ;
you thought he
wasn't coming).
The invitation came out of the blue (i.e. it was unexpected).
A holt from the blue is an unexpected happening. The bolt is

a thunderbolt: if it comes from a clear blue sky it will
certainly be unexpected!
(The novel) contains some wildly funny passages: these hit the
reader 'out of the blue' like an income-tax rebate.
2. Meetings.
I came upon him (it).
Well, I never! Look who^s here!

I ran across (or, into) him in town.
He went on: "Now, when I saw old Frankie in London the other
"
day
" You saw him ? This time — since he came over ?"
"Mm-mm. Why not?"
"You ran into him?"
"Far from it —
we'd got a date."
Guess who / bumped into this morning?
3. Finding.
I came across it in a book I was reading, (i.e. I wasn't look-
ing for it. I found it by chance.)
20^
When I came upon the diary it was lying at the bottom of a
rather battered red cardboard collar-box, in which as a small boy
I kept my Eton collars.
4. Callers.
They dropped in (i.e. called without warning).
_5-. Keeping something as a surprise.
To have (or, keep) something up jour sleeve. (As a conjuror

does.)
To spring it on someone, (i.e. The person was not expect-
ing it.)
Gorse had anticipated this situation and had up his sleeve what
he believed was an unbeatable card.
6. Gifts.
a windfall,
a god-send.
Just now the hypothetical Liberal vote ... is swollen by dis-
contented refugees from the Conservative party. But this is a

windfall (i.e. it is unlikely to recur).
Advice: Dont look a gift horse in the mouth (i.e. don't be

critical of a free gift). We observe a horse's teeth to esti-
mate its age.
7. Results.
an eje-opcner (i.e. it makes you wake up and take notice!)
J r 1 ( (Both of thesemay spring a surprise by

a QarR norse, l . . . r 1 1
, < winnmg agamst more strongly' tavoured
an outsider,
.
^ °. °
^ opponents.)
a surprise packet. (Such as one gets in a 'Lucky Dip'.)
8. Fancy!
Fancjjour knowing him!
Just fancy that! (i.e. Who would have believed it
possible?)
206
. .. !
SURPRISE
9. Humorous exaggeration.
That made him sit up/ (i.e. It was a great surprise to him.)
You could have knocked me down with ajeather! (sc. I was
so surprised.)
EXERCISES
1 Explain the colloquial phrases expressing surprise in the
five illustrations in the text.
2. Give a colloquial phrase for the following:

1 I found it accidentally.
2. They arrived unexpectedly.
3. They called on us without warning.
4. It happened unexpectedly.
£. I met him accidentally.
6. An unexpected piece of good fortune.
7. A startling occurrence.
8. He won unexpectedly.
9. Itwas a great surprise to me.
10. He arrived, though we had given him up long
ago.

italics:
1 Fancy jour meeting my brother in Athens

2. Well, I never I Look who's here! If it isn't George him-
self.
3 . The £10 you sent me was a real god-send. I have never

been in greater need of money than I was then.
4. Don^t look a gift horse in the mouth.
£. Tom and Mary dropped in for a chat last night.
6. I ran across her in the public library yesterday.
207
I
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO COLLOQUIAL IDIOM I
7. When I told him I was married it made him sit up^ I

can tell you. He had always thought I was a confirmed
bachelor.
8. Don't underestimate Brown. He's something of a
dark horse and he may yet spring a surprise on us.
208
I
:
The Ego — Inflated and Deflated

The word ego has strayed into common speech from the
vocabulary of Philosophy where it is used to describe the
individual in abstraction from his experience. Its more
popular use gives it the meaning rather of personality.
The inflated ego is self-importance paraded. It is to be
conceited. Colloquial descriptions are:

to have a swelled head,
to he too big for one's hoots,
to have quite an opinion oj oneself,
to fancy oneself (This usually implies a conceit shared
by no one else.)
to think jourself somebody y
(i.e. to think you are an im-
portant person, though you are not really),
to be a little tin god, (Other people feed your self-
importance by fulsome flattery.)

to get above oneself (i.e. to claim an authority which he
does not possess).
It has gone to his head means that success has given him
an exaggerated opinion of himself.
The deflation of the ego can be described thus

to teach somebody a lesson,
to give him a dose of his own medicine (i.e. make him

suff'er as he has made other people suffer),
to take him down a peg.
He thought I still needed taking down a peg.
to knock him off his perch,
209
Moxie: It's all very well for you, Fred Crestwell, you're safe.
You've got what you call a philosophical outlook, and you never
stop ramming it down all our throats until we're sick and tired
of it. You are all right, you are! Nothing's going to knock you
off your perch.
to wake him take a back seat,

to make him play second fiddle ^
He didn't mind taking a back seat. He rather enjoyed playing

second fiddle.
to snub^
He went away with his tail between his legs (as a dog does
when he has been scolded).
He was hoist with his own petard (i.e. his own weapons,
or, as often, arguments, were turned against him).
Humihation: to make someone lick jour boots.
Voluntary deflation of the ego: to pocket (or, swallow) one's
pride (sc. in the interest of a resumption of friendly re-
lations).
To debunk is to deflate a false reputation; to explode a
theory is to show up its falsity; to run someone down is to
disparage his reputation.
To save his face is to save his reputation.
Here are some proverbial comments
His bark is worse than his bite (i.e. he talks aggressively
but he is really quite harmless).
The boot's on the other fioot now (i.e. the positions have
become reversed).
He'll be laucjhincj on the other side of hisface soon (sc. He'll
be crying soon!)
'^
See SCOLDING.
2IO
.
THE EGO INFLATED AND DEFLATED

He who laughs last laughs longest, and so, also: to have
the last laugh (i.e. to triumph in the end).
See also apologies; inferiority and superiority;

VICTORY and defeat.
EXERCISES
1 Give 3 colloquial phrases meaning to he conceited.
2. Give 3 colloquial phrases meaning to have one's pride

humbled.
3. Explain in simple non-colloquial English the phrases

in italics:
1. He doesnt like plajing second Jiddle to anybody.
2. Now that they need our help the booths on the other
foot. They didn't rally round when we needed their
help.
3. Being a schoolboy film-star has quite gone to his head.
4. He means well. His bark is worse than his bite.

g. Why can't you swallow jour pride and tell her you are
sorry and want to be friends again?
6. He's always running me down in front of my friends.
7. It'stime we gave the scoundrel a dose of his own
medicine.
8. I don't hold with people licking mj boots. Vm no tin
god. I'm just an ordinary fellow like the rest of you.

9. Critics think they have debunked Rudyard Kipling, but
his reputation will stand the test of time, whereas
Idoubt whether theirs will.
10. He's always trying to be clever. He wants taking down
a peg.
211
The Joker'
A practical joke inflicts physical indignity on the victim, as,
for instance, if you tie a person's shoe laces together while
he is sleeping in his chair, so that when he gets to his feet
he finds that he can't walk properly. Plajing a joke (or,
trick) on people is not confined to children, although they
are (or, get) most often into mischief. Adults especially de-
light in leg-pulling (i.e. harmless deception). If the victim
whose leg is being pulled doesn't see the humour of the
situation we say that:
he doesnt see the joke,
or, he cant take a joke. (Notice *a' joke, not 'the' joke.)
We protest the innocence of our fun in these phrases
/ was only kidding (i.e. I wasn't serious).
/ was just having jou on.
I only did it for fun.
"I don't like the man, David. I never have. He's made use of me
and of the school. And all the time I kidded myself that I was
handling him beautifully for the good of the school."
If a joke is taken too far the situation is described thus

It^s (gone) beyond a joke.
It^s no joking matter.
It^s no joke.
"Of course you know this is perfectly absurd, Albert. I think

you must be out of your mind."
"Do you, my dear? Fancy that!"
"I'm not angry with you, I'm only amused, but a joke's a joke
and should not be carried too far. I've come to take you home."
A Stale verbal joke is an old chestnut.
* It is the extra (53rd) card in the pack.
212
.
THE JOKER
EXERCISES
1. Explain the difference between the following:
a joke, a practical joke, an old chestnut, a leg-pull.

italics:
1 Arejou kidding ?
2. Cantjou take a joke?
3. I think jôu're pulling my leg.
4. Stop this tomfoolery. Ws gone beyond a joke,

5. We shouldn't tease animals —^not even for fun.
6. I mean it. / was just
didn't really having jou on.
7. The joke about 'When did you stop beating your
wife?' is an old chestnut. Canjou see the joke?
213
Thoroughness
A thoroughfare is, by definition, a road open at both ends
and allowing traffic to pass through. Oxford City Corpora-
tion have improved [sic] on this by erecting a notice at the
northern end of the city: No through Thoroughfare!
I . Of a person who behaves in a forthright manner we

say:
He never does things by halves.
There are no half measures about him.
He goes the whole hog.
2. To make a thorough job of something is described thus:

/t's all tied (or, buttoned) up.
He^s got it taped (i.e. It's thoroughly under control).
"Oh, M. Poirot! I don't think anjthing's so interesting — so

incalculable as a human being."
"Incalculable? That, no."
"Oh, but they are. Just as you think you've got them beautifully
taped —
they do something completely unexpected."
To make a clean sweep of something is to eliminate all
rivals or obstacles.
To dot the 'i'5 and cross the Ws is to put in the final
touches.
3. To make a decision that is final and irrevocable is:
to burn jour boats.
4. A forthright refusal is:
to turn it down flat \ so, also, Ônceand for all. No.'

Lack of thoroughness is described in these terms:
214
THOROUGHNESS
to make a mess of it,
untidy, unsystematic),
J l-(=
makeshift (i.e. a temporary expedient),
We made a makeshift table out of a packing case.
He tied the parcel up after a fashion (i.e. in a rough-

and-ready fashion).
To leave a Jot of loose ends is to fail to finish a job
tidily.
Shallow behaviour: His loyalty is onlj skin deep.
EXERCISE
italics:
1. We've got our holiday arrangements all buttoned up

early this year.
2. She made a clean sweep o/'the awards for roses at the
Flower Show.
3. This job must be well done. / dont want a lot of loose
ends left about.
4. Thej turned my proposal down fat.
g. This is a makeshift arrangement, but we'll try it and

see how it works out.
6. The Inspector had the finger prints taken of the
entire male population of the village. He never does
things bj halves.
7. If you decide to give the job up jou will have burnt
jour boats, for they'll never reappoint you.

8. His affection for her is only skin deep.
9. She dresses in a very sloppj manner.
21^
10. I'd like to leave this draft with you for you to look
it through, dot the 'i'^ and cross the *t's, and then let
me have back for signature.
it
1 1 Whatever he does he makes a terrible mess of it.

12. I'll let the Press know as soon as Vve got the case taped.
Until then they'll not get a word out of me.

13. Your work has been very slipshod this week.
14. She makes clothes after a fashion, but I wouldn't call
her a dressmaker.
i^. The distinguished speaker went the whole hog in dis-
pensing with his aitches.
216
Tolerance and Intolerance
Features of tolerance that are reflected in colloquial lan-
guage are respect for other people's opinions and non-
interference in their private lives:
Live and let live.
Let (him) have (his) say.

To he broad-mindedis to have respect for other people's
view^s even though they may differ from one's own.
Well, I'm a married woman, I'm as broad-minded as most, but

that gentleman's love life defied description.
The exercise of discipline is, however, necessary in cer-

tain specific circumstances:
I put my foot down, i.e. I exercise firmness in opposing
or stopping a course of action.
/ make him toe the line, i.e. I make him do exactly w^hat
I tell him.
What was strange to me was the way this man told them, as if
to say, This is war, and a good thing, too — it's time you spoilt
women learnt to toe the line."
/ keep a tight rein on something, i.e. I control it very

carefully.
/ lay down the law, i.e. I show^ my authority in control-
ling someone.
/ pin him down to . . ., i.e. I make him stick to a definite
undertaking, time, date, promise, etc.
I spent one whole day going over his accounts trying to pin him
dowTi. But for every question he had an answer and a good one.
People do not like being ordered about (this implies that

authority is exercised in an aggressive manner).
217
And he's so gentle, too. I mean, he doesn't order me about.
They resolve not to tolerate it, i.e. not to put up with it.
They had to put up with an old Ford to get about in, but Tim
had a real car.
They wont stand for such treatment. It's more than they can
stand. When their patience is tried too far it only needs a
slight incident to make them rebel: this is the last straw.
The proverb is 'It is the last straw that breaks the camel's
back.'i.e. You can load the beast up to a certain point,
beyond which it is disastrous to increase the load.
its export markets whittled away over the

Lancashire has seen
past years often by what seemed in one way or another unfair
practices. To be attacked in the home market, which now absorbs
y £ per cent of Lancashire's output, is the last straw.
It's the end, and It's the limit, are phrases of extreme
annoyance and mark the end of toleration.
"Do you think I have no sense of humour, David?" she asked me

seriously.
"Dear me, no," I answered at once — and then began to consider
the question seriously.
"That's what your friend Allenside said. He really was the limit."
Intolerance in opinions is expressed by adjectives like

narrow-minded, bigoted, or dogmatic.
In industry a closed-shop will not tolerate the employment
of workers from a rival Trades Union.
/ won't take itfromjou means 'I won't tolerate such treat-
ment from you.'
EXERCISES
I . Explain the colloquial phrases of tolerance and intolerance
in the seven illustrations in the text.
2i8
.. !
TOLERANCE AND INTOLERANCE

italics:
1 I am fairly broad-minded but I dislike jokes that are

positively indecent.
2. I hope to pin her down to a definite undertaking to
sing at our charity concert.
3. I can't put up with this noise any longer.
4. Donh lay down the law to me I I shall say ^vhat I think
and nobody's going to stop me.
£, I thought it was the limit when our new maid said she
would dr)^ the pots if I washed up

6. He has to keep a tight rein on his passion for collecting
jade.
3. Give a colloquial phrase for that in italics:
1 / cannot hear the way you treat that poor dog.

2. I don't believe in preventing other people from
expressing their opinions.
3. When she suggested selling the car in order to buy

herself a new mink coat, / opposed it resolutely.
4. Don't give me orders! Vm not used to being told what

to do and what not to do in that disagreeable manner.
£. Vll see that they submit to discipline when they report
back for duty.
6. It made me finally lose my patience when the last bus
sailed past me, half empty, and the driver just

ignored my signal to him to stop.
219
Trial and Achievement^
To trv is:
to have a crack at something (i.e. make an attempt),

to have a shot at it,
to have a go.
you've tried. Now let me have a go.
To persist until the finish, ^^'in or lose:

to go on to the bitter end,
to keep on trying,
to stick it out,
to see it through.
To be reluctant to continue:
They're getting cold feet.
He wants to hack out.
Let's call it a daj (sc. I've had enough).
Let^s have done with it.
Mrtually certain achievement:

It's in the bag.
The battle's as good as won.
We shall make it.
He can't stay the pace impHes a lack of staging power, or

stamina.
EXERCISE
Complete the folloNNing sentences \\'ith a suitable colloquial
phrase:
1 If you can't lift it, let me .
2. Don't give up now. Keep .
^ See i.ls.0 persiterance; success; start and riNiSH.
220
TRIAL AND ACHIEVEMENT
3. I've had enough of this. Let's .
4. We've managed quite well so far. Why do you

want now ?
£. I am confident that in the end we it.
6. Tom's not very courageous. He when there's

any danger about.
7. I'd like to have being a farmer. It's the sort of
life that I often think would
suit me.
8. Nothing can rob us of victory. It's .
9. He'll never get very far. He can't .
o. Very well, state your terms and let's .
22
Trouble
1. Asking for trouble, i.e. behaving in such a way as to

invite trouble, is in colloquial language:
to ask for it,
to bring it upon jour own head (i.e. as a result of your

own actions),
to put jour foot in it (sc. inadvertently).
"Fancy stealing a car," he said, "and then leaving it outside your

own house. Asking for trouble. ..."
Provocation is expressed by the phrases:

to trail ones coat,
to tread may happen inadver-

on somebody^ s corns. (This
tently, when, for instance, you mention something
as
about which a person is particularly sensitive.)
to stick jour neck out (i.e. to invite trouble unneces-
sarily).
Comment: It^s like a red rag to a bull. i.e. It's very pro-
vocative.
2. Trouble making.
He'5 stirring up trouble, i.e. He's a mischief-maker
That has put the cat amongst the pigeons.
To make (or, kick up) a dust (or, shindy).
To stir up a hornet's nest.
He^s got inforjou, i.e. He's looking for a chance to

it
stir up trouble with you.
3. Warning of trouble to come.

Trouble^ s brewing.
The fat's in the f re.
Ill
TROUBLE
We was to give him a ring again first thing next morning
left it I
when he'd got back to London. When I did ring, the fat was in
the fire. The hotel had just been notified he'd popped off (i.e. died).
And more, his law)'ers had taken over, and on their instructions
they'd locked his room up.
You'll catch it, ^
You' re for it, > Danger ahead!

He's on the war-path. J
You'd better watch your step, 1 ^r i i i

„ , , , , ,
-^ ^ >You have been warned.
You d better look out. J
4. Avoiding trouble.
Keep the right side of him (and you'll keep clear of
trouble).
Keep out of it.
Steer clear of it.
£. In trouble.
I'm in the cart,
I'm in the soup,

I'm in a jam (hole, fix),
The theatres are in the biggest financial jam in the whole of

their chequered history.
I'm in it up to the neck,
I'm in hot water (but, / shall get into hot water).
own juice suggests that they have got

Let them stew in their
into trouble through their own folly, so they must get out
of it wdthout help from anybody else.
"My dear fellow, what can you do with a perfect fool? The only
thing is to let him stew in his own juice."
6. Troubles over.
It's all blown over.
All's quiet on the . . .front.
223
Perhaps viewers are more accommodating than mere listeners.
Anyhow, the B.B.C. tell me all has been quiet on the television
front. 1
7. Taking advantage of other people's troubles is:
tojjsh in troubled waters. (See also opportunism.)
8 Comments on a sea of troubles

Troubles never come singly.
It never rains hut it pours (i.e. Whenever it rains it rains
very hard.)
9. To put jourself out is to go to exceptional lengths to do

a service for someone, or to go to a lot of trouble for him.
I always think it kinder not to let people feel one has put oneself
out for them.
EXERCISE
italics:
1 to your advantage to keep the right side of me.

It is
2. Youve brought this on jour own head, you wêre so

impatient.
3. Now we are well and truly in the soup.
4. It^s asking for it to put a w^holly inexperienced player
in the team.
5. Why has she got it inforjou? What have you done to
her?
6. All's forgiven. You can come back now^. AlVs quiet
on the home front.
7. The new^ boss is a terror. Youd better watch jour step
OTjouU catch it.
^ From the Daily Telegraph. A public figure had distressed some listeners by using
a swear word. No 'viewer', it seems, had complained.
224
TROUBLE
8. Joan's on the war-path. She's found out where you
were last night when you were supposed to be
having dinner with her.
9. Don't mention 'automation' to him. It's like a red
rag to a hull.
[o. Someone's divulged that several members of the

team have been receiving special bonus money con-
trary to the rules. It's put the cat amongst the pigeons
and there's to be a public enquiry.
[I.I advise you to steer clear of that sort of company.
They won't do you any good.
[ 2 . This is all the thanks I get for putting myself out to
please them.
3. You 11 catch it if your father sees you using his chisel
as a screwdriver.
4. You 11 get into hot water if you type the wrong
addresses on the envelopes again.
22s
Victory and Defeat
Victory^
A complete and easy victory in a competition is a walk-over.

This happens when we run rings round an opponent. We leave
him standing ; we win hands down ; him
we wipe the floor with ;
we knock him into a cocked hat ; him or we

we knock spots off
settle his hash. The foreign student had better avoid the more
picturesque idioms here.

To come through with flying colours is to be triumphant. To
hold jour own with someone is to match him in strength.
(He) once or twice joined issue with the ladies on points which
they could not help knowing more about than he, but he held his
own, that was the main thing, and the encounter was by no means
a failure.
To win by doubtful, unscrupulous or underhand means is:
to pull a fast one,^
to put one over (somebody),

to do the dirty (on somebody),
to queer somebody s pitch (i.e. make it difficult for some-
one else to win or succeed).
"When he does the dirty on a friend it isn't of any importance."
Victory and defeat in the balance: It was touch and go.

somebody is to change possible
To turn the tables on defeat
into victory. (Compare 'The boot's on the other foot'.
See THE EGO INFLATED AND DEFLATED.)
^ See also success: trial and achievement

2 See also opportunism.
226
.
VICTORY AND DEFEAT

Confidence in ultimate victory:
It*s in the hag^
It^s all over bar the shouting.
Over-confidence: He's bitten off more than he can chew.
The end justifies the means: AlVsfair in love and war.

The end doesn't justify the means:
Play the game,
We dont hick a man when he^s down.
Defeat
Abject defeatism:
to take it lying down,
to throw in the towel,
to throw up the sponge.
He's down and out,
He's out for the count.
All these are boxing metaphors.
Nobility in defeat:
to take it on the chin,
to take jour
medicine like a man.
Surrender to stronger forces:
to go to the wall.
In wars and in internal revolutions it is the man of intellect who

goes to the wall.
EXERCISES
1 Give 3 colloquial phrases for an easy victory.
2. Give 3 colloquial phrases for a complete and utter

defeat.
3 Give 3 colloquial phrases for a victory gained by doubt-

ful means.
227
4. Give a colloquial phrase meaning that success was
achieved by a narrow^ margin.
£. Give a colloquial phrase implying over-confidence.
6. Give a colloquial phrase meaning to change almost cer-

tain defeat into victory.
7. Give a colloquial phrase signifying defeat by superior

forces.

italics:
1 . They have the championship in the bag for the seventh

year running.
2 He's queered his pitch wîth that unfortunate intervievs^.
The public vsall never forgive him when they read
about it in the papers.
3 He tried hard to put one over me but I was too clever
for him.
4. She can hold her own in debate with any man.
£. You've been caught red-handed, so now jrou must take
jour medicine like a man.
6. He was in two minds whether to throw up the sponge
or to stick it out a bit longer.
7. Many newspapers have gone to the wall because of the
increasing cost of newsprint.
228
Work
At work.
To be at work is to be on the Job ; to be getting on with
the job; to be getting down to it; to be hard at it.
We were hard at it all the time.
"I know she'd like to get down to things again."
Waiting for work.

To be waiting for work is to kick one*s heels.
What's his job?
What's his linel
"Politics is my line," he said, to my surprise.
To dislike work:
to be work-shy y
to shirk (i.e. avoid work whenever possible),
to slack (i.e. work half-heartedly).
To finish work for a short period:
to knock off (e.g. y for lunch),
to pack up (e.g. for the day),
to call it a day.
Discouraged, tired, and not a little scared, we decided to call
it a day, and slowly made our way back to the comforts and safety
of Base Camp.
To abandon work for good:^

to pack it iny
to give notice (i.e. to give official warning of your in-

tention to cease employment),
^'For good' = 'for ever*.
I 229
w down tools. (This may be only temporary; as is to
strike.)
to walk out. (sc. without giving due notice.)

To be dismissed from work:
to get the sack,
to get the push (unusual and slangy).

to get (or, be given) jour cards,
to be kicked out (used of ignominious dismissal).
A worthwhile job of work is one that you can get jour
teeth into.
HeÛ have his work cut out to finish the job in time, implies
that there is some doubt whether the person's competence
is adequate for the job.
To break the back of a job is to get over the hard, pre-
liminary work. Hard, unrewarding toil is donkey work.
"Special responsibility in a school," Allenside said wearily, "is
just a euphemism for extra work, donkey work usually."
A rest from work is a break.
A week-end at Brighton makes a nice break.
To work too hard (especially when you are studying) is
to burn the candle at both ends (i.e. late at night and early
in the morning) ; also to overdo it.
To be at a loose end is to have nothing to do although you

would be occupied.
like to
A finalproverb
All work and no plaj make Jack a dull boy.
EXERCISES
I . Give a colloquial phrase for that in italics:
I . Thej were summarily dismissed from their jobs.
7. Thej dont like work.
230
WORK
3. I need a rest from work.
4. She has nothing to do to occupj her time.
£. It^s doubtful whether theyÛ have the bridge repaired in
time.
6. Your health will suffer ijjou try to work from early
morning till late at night.
7. It'stime to cease work for lunch.

8. He's a good workman. He's always first to start work.
9. We are waiting for work.
10. I gave that job up after a week.
italics:
1. Vve given notice. Let them find another typist!

2. In an hour's time we shall have broken the back of the
job.
3. After the holidays the pupils are always slow to get
down to it again.
4. I want a job / can really get mj teeth into.
£. He says his line is bee-keeping.

6. After so much inactivity it's good to be hard at it
again.
7. Over 100 men downed tools this morning at the
factory.
8. If the men don't return by tomorrow they II get their
cards.
9. Why do I always have to do the donkey work while the

rest of you just sit around?
10. All work and no play make Jack a dull boj.
23
8 8 2
INDEX
Readers are advised to look in the index for the key words
of any idiomatic expression on which they wish to consult
this book. Where there is some elasticity in the form of the
idiom, the verb is given in the infinitive, and nouns, pro-
nouns etc., may be represented by "s-one" (someone),
"s-thing" (something) or "one".
A. I., feel, 95^ airs, put on, 117

about time too, 82 all apainst, to be, 16, 29
above board, 104 at sea, 3, 109
oneself, get, 209 but . . ., 97
accounting for tastes, no, 129 buttoned up, 214
ace, be within an, 97 for it, to be, 16, 28
across, get s-thing, 5-0, £i in all, 92
actions louder than words, 37 in the same boat, 152
act your age, 38 in this together, 1^2
Adam, not know from, 108 one is worth, for, 171
ad nauseam y 140 over 196
(finished),
afraid, I'm (link), 161 over bar the shouting, 196, 227
not, 13 over, that's so-and-so, 37
so, 12 over the shop (place), gj
after?, What's he, 38 right (agreement), 16
a fashion, 2 i
g right by you, if . . ., 17
one's own heart, 129 right in the end, i ô
against one's principles, 104 right, it's (re apology), 21
the grain, 130 right on the night, i 5c
, those, 1 there, not, 13^
age, act your, 38 the same to me, 1 1
, come of, 1 01 this?.What's, 84

agree more, couldn't, 17 up with ., 44, 196
. .
agreed, 1 work and no play, 230

ahead of time, 167 you've got, give it, i^^-
aiding and abetting, 1
5-2 all's fair in love and war, 227
air a grievance, 5^3, 90 quiet . . . front, 223
, go up into the, 86 well that ends well, 19^
233
INDEX
also-ran, an, 98 bark up the wrong tree, 137
alternative but to . . ., no, 115 . worse than
. . bite, 210 . . .
annoying!. How, 87 bar the shouting, over, 196, 227

another one, tell me, 40 bat, off one's own, 176
answer back, to, 5^0 bats in the belfry, i
3 g
176
for, batting an eyelid, without, 62
anywhere, not get one, 168 battle's as good as won, 220
appearances are deceptive, 24 bay, keep fear at, 65-
, to all, 26 be kind enough to ., 160 . .
apple of discord, 32 beam ends, on one's, 181

a propos . . ., 34 bear garden, a, ^8
argue the toss, 32 with a sore head, 91
ask for it, to, 222 bearings, lose one's, 108
me another, 107 beat about the bush, £, 1^7, 1^8
at a loose end, 230 time, 167
awful!. How, 60 beaten, got one, 107
'Aye', 18 beats me, it, 109
beck and call, at everyone's, 4^
BABY, going to have a, 44 Bedlam, g8
back chat, 5^0 bed-ridden, 96
door, through the, 120 the wrong side, get out of, 195
into, put one's, i^j beer and skittles, not all, 2^
out, (want) to, 80, 220 before time, not, 83
seat, take a, 2 1 o beg your pardon, 2 i
s-one up, 1^2 beggars . . . choosers, 181
the wrong horse, 137 begging, go, 7^
up, put s-one's, 90 begin to look up, 68
bad books, to be in one's, 6 behave yourself, 38
job, make best of, 139 behind one's back, 1^7
luck!, 60, 132 time, 167
not so, 9 J
, believe me . . .,42
to worse, go from, 67 so, to, I I
badly off, 1 8 belt, tighten one's,74

bag, in the, 220, 227 bend, round the, 68, 13^
balance, strike a, ££ bending, caught, 77
balderdash, 191 beneath one, 1 1 8
ball rolling, start the, 19^ beside oneself, be, 86
bandwaggon, jump on, 147 the point, 34
bank on s-thing, not, 166 best, do one's, 198
bargees, squabble like, 32 of a bad job, make, 60
barge pole, touch with, 174 of both worlds, make, gg
234
7
INDEX
best of it, make the, i
39 out of a stone, 166
what to do for the, ^7
, thicker than water, 100
bet your bottom dollar, 142 bloomer, 192
better days, have seen, 67 blow one's own trumpet, 163
luck next time, 60, 132 blown over, 223
of ., get the, 62, 118
. . blows, come to, 171
one had, 161, 202
, blue, bolt from, 20^
between devil deep blue . . . sea 77 moon, 83, 166
two fires, caught, 77 , out of the, 20 J
two stools, fall, ^8 blurt it out, 189
you and me, 89 i blush, at first, 24
beware of 47 . . . ,
board, (not) above, 105-
beyond a joke, (gone), 212 boats,burn one's, £, 214
one, be (get), 34, 107 bogged down, 168
big hand, give s-one a, 28 boloney, 191
ideas, 1
1
boltfrom the blue, 205
way, have had ... in a, 184 bone of contention, 32
bigoted, 218 to pick with ,, 18, ^4 . .
bills,to run up, 74 boo, 29

bird, give s-one the, 29 to a goose, say, 37
told me, little, 190 booby prize, 98
birds of a feather, 93 boost morale, 91
birth to ., give, 44
. . boot's on the other foot (leg), 6,
bit much, it's a, ^3 210
off, it's a, 5-3 boots, heart sinks into, 64
thick, it's a, ^3 , too big for, 209
bite off more . . . chew, 70, 137, bore, a, 87, 88
227 born vesterdav, not, iio
s-one's head off, 186 bosom pals, 92
bits, fall to, 67 both ends meet, make, 181
bitten twice shy, once, 48 ways, have it, gg
bitter end, go on to, 220 bother!, O, 87
black and white, down in, 48 ,
please don't, 161
books, be in, 6 bottle-washer, head cook and, 4^
sheep of family, loi bottled up, keep things, 5-3
, things look, 15^0 bottom dollar, 142
blame on . . ., put the, 164 of . . ., get to the, 143
, s-one is to, 163 bottom's fallen out . . . world, i 84
blindfold, able to do . . ., 70 bound to ., be, . . 45-
blood boil, make, 86 Box and Cox, 15-2

is up, 86 brake on ., put . . the, 62
INDEX
brass button, not care a, 113 buy it, I'll, 41
tacks, getdown to, 1

^7 bygones be bygones. 172
bread buttered, know . . . side.
148 CAKE and eat it, have one's, £g

bread . . . waters, cast, 128 , a piece of, 70
break, a (rest), 230 call a spade a spade, 1^8
the back (of a job), 230 it a day, 3, 196, 220, 229
the ice, 192 s-one names, 175^, 186
the news, î (s-one) up, to, î
breath, might as well save, jg upon s-one to . . ., 12^
brick, drop a, 77, 192 can, carry (take), 176
bridge, cross the (that), 169 candle at both ends, bum, 230
bright side, look on, i ô to . . . , hold a, 1 1
bring it upon . . . o\^ head, 222 can't be helped, 60

s- thing off, 198 cap fits . . ., if the, 163
to a halt (standstill), 62 cards, get (be given), 230
to a head, 168 ,on the, 16^
broad-minded, 217 on the table, 103
broke, be, 181 care a rap, not, 174
brood over s-thing, 90 for . . ., not to, 130
buck, pass the, 176 for . . . ?, Would you, 160
bucket, kick the, 44 less, couldn't, 112
bull in a china shop, gS , not to, 112
bully, a, 1 1 , take, 47
bump into s-one, 20 to . . . ?, Would you, 124
bunkum, 191 carry all before one, 198
burke s-thing, to, 80 coals to Newcastle, 74
bum midnight oil, i ^6 on about . . ., to, 38
one's boats, 5-, 214 on like ., to, 38 . .
the candle . . . ends, 230 the can back, 176

burnt child dreads the fire, 48 cart before the horse, 137
bury the hatchet, 172 , in the,223
bus, miss the, 137 cast your bread . . . waters, 128
bush, beat about the, 1^7, 1^8 casual acquaintance, 92
business, mind one's own, 122 cat among the pigeons, 22 2
busy as a bee, as, 4j and dog life, 172

busybody, 45, i 22 out of the bag, let, 189
butt in, 122 catcalls, make, 29
butter up, to, 118 catch a- glimpse (sight), 82
wouldn't melt ., 37 . . in it, there's a, 2^
buttoned up, all, 214 it, to, 223
2J6
2 1 7
INDEX
on, to, Si coast is clear, make sure, 48
up on ., 167 . coat according . . . cloth cut, 73
caught bending (napping), 77 cock-and-bull story, 40
in the act (out), 77 a snook at ., 174 . .
on the hop (red-handed), 77 cocked hat, knock into a, 226

certainly (affirmation), 10 cold comfort, 60
is, it, 12 feet, get, 6^, 220
not, 13 -shoulder, to, 192
chance, take a, 65- collar, hot under the, 86
that ..., a, I ex- colour, be (feel) off, 9^
change one's tune, 143 come a cropper, 199
charity begins at home, 182 across . . ., to, 82, 20^
chase hares, to, 34 clean, 104
chat, have a, £o home to roost, 180
cheap, do (get) s-thing on the, 73 of age, 10
check up on . . ., 143 off, not, 199
cheer one up, 91 that oneon me. Don't, 40
chest, get . . . off, 5-3, 90 thisway, 12^
chestnut, an old, 2 1 through flying colours, 226
. . .
chew the fat, ^3 to a sticky end, 44

chickens . . . hatched, count, 98 to blows, 174
137 to grief, 199
chin, take it on, 64, 227 to light, 82
china shop, bull in £8 a, imstuck, 199
chip off the old block, loi upon s-one (s-thing), 20^
on . . . shoulder, 5^3, 89 up to scratch, 183
choke s-one off, 1 86 comes of ., that's what, 83
. .
chores (housework), 100 coming or going, not know if, £j

Cinderella, 182 out party, loi
clean breast, make a, 104 commentary, running, 84
pair of heels, show a, 79 company, man is known by, 93
sweep of . . ., make, 214 two's, 77
,
cloak one's identity, £ completely in the dark, 107

clock back, put the, 168 conceited, be, 209
close shave (thing), 97 concern of . . ., no, 1 12
closed-shop, 218 concerned, so far as . . ., 29
cloud . . . silver lining, iô, 198 conclusions, jump to, 24
clover, be in, 5^ contention, bone of, 32
clue, not have a, 107 control, get out of, 62
clueless, 107 comer, turn the, 68, 96
coals to Newcastle, carry, 74 couldn't agree more, 1
237
INDEX
count chickens . . . hatched 98 DARE say, I, 142
137 dark, completely in the, 107
me in, 16 horse, 206
course, of (affirmation), 10 , keep it (s-one in the), 188
Coventry, send to, g, 192 darkest hour . . . before dawn, 150
crack at, have a, 220 dash, cut a, 193
s-one (s-thing) up, 163 day, call it a, 3, 196, 220, 229
up (deteriorate), 67 -dream, to, 79
crackers, be, 13^ dead horse, flog (beat) a, 6, 74
cracking, get, 19 £ deaf ears, words fall on, y£
craw, stick in one's, 88 debunk, to, 210
crazy about ...,135^ deep end, go off, 86
creeper, a, 1 1 one, a, ig
creeps, give one the, 88 water, get into, 34
crime doesn't pay, 103 demean oneself by . . ,, 174
crook, a, 10^ deny . . ., you can't, 142
crop up, to, 82 depth, out of one's, 34, 108
cropper, come
199 a, devil deep blue sea, between,
. . .
cross my heart, 203 77

the (that) bridge, 168 drives, needs must . . ., 115-
cruel to be kind, 127 , luck of the, 132

cry off, to, 2 , talk of the, 82, 20^
over spilt milk, 139 digression, a, 34
crystal clear, make, 1^7 digs (lodgings), 100
cup and lip, . . . slip . . ., 98 dilemma, on the horns of a, ^8
of tea, just one's, 183 dim view, take a, 29
of tea, not one's, 130 dirt, eat, 22
curry favour, 1 1 , treat like, 1 1
cut a dash (shine), 193 dirty, do the, 226

a long story short, 158 discretion . . , valour, 6^
and dried, all, 1 1
£ dog doesn't bite dog, 1^2
a sorry figure, 193 -fight, a, 171
down on, 74 has his day, every, 198
ice, not to, 120 dogmatic, 21 8
in, to, 122 dogs, go to the, 67

off . . . nose to spite . . . face, dogsbody, be a, 4^
180 do it on one's own, 198

one's coat cloth 73 . . . one's best, 198
I
s-one (dead), 192 *
the dirty, 226
the ground feet, 33 . , . things by halves, 214
up rough, 86 without things, 74
238
1 2 1 g
INDEX
done for, 196 ducks and drakes, make, 75
donkey, talk the hind leg off, ô dumps, down in, 91
work, 230 dust, make a, 222 (kick up)
don't come that one on me, 40 , unable to see s-one for, 79
think, ... I, 41 -up, a, 171
you think . . . ?, 201
dose . . . own medicine, give, 209 EAR . . ., in at one, y
dot the 'i's . . ., 214 ears burning, 204
dotty, 13^ earth . . ., Why (How, etc.) on, 87
double-cross, to, 10^, 15-2, 203 easy as falling off a log, 70
Dutch, 108 as kiss your hand, 70
doubt ., no, 142
. . as shelling peas, 70
down and out, 227 as winking, 70
-and-out, a, 199 , be, 1 1
-at-heel, 181 come easy go, 181

, be, 91 , take
it, 139
, do, 10^ Easy Street, on, 71, 181

,
get one, 9 eat dirt, 22
in the dumps (mouth), 91 humble pie, 22
on one's luck, 133 like a horse, 140
the drain, go, 7^ one's hat, 83
to . . ., get, 229 one's heart out, 184
tools, to, 230 one's words, 22
to the ground, to suit, 183 ebb, at a low, 96
downcast, 91 edgeways, get a word in, 50
drag s-thing in, to, 34 ego, 209
drain, go down the, yg eight, one over the, 140
draw s-one out, 189 else ....... or, 180
the line, 139 encore, 29
dreadful!. How, 60 end, all right in the, 1^0
drill?. What's the, 202 of the world, 9
drink, drive to, 88 , the, 218
like a fish, 140 enough . . . good as a feast, 139
drive one mad, 13^ entre nous, i 89
the point home, 100 Eve, not know from, 108
the thin edge wedge, 148 . . . even a worm will turn, 37
to drink, 88 with ., get, 179 . .
driving at?, What's . . ., 108 every cloud silver lining, . . . 15^0,
drop a brick, 77, 192 198

in, to, 206 dog has his day, 198
(s-one) a line, 51 little helps, 127
239
INDEX
everybody says (agrees) . . ., 142 fashion, after a, 215^
exception rule, 84 . . . fast one, pull a, 147, 226
excuse me ., 22, 160 . . fat lot of good, a, 4
excuses, send one's 22 of the land, live off, 1 8
expected, well as can be, 95^ fat's in the fire, 222

expecting, be, 44 fate, sure as, 1 1 ^
explode (a theory), 210 father like son, like, 100
eye-opener, 206 fault, find, 164
to eye, see, 17 , it's (all) your, 163
to the main chance, 148 faux pas, 77, 192
eyesight . . . bigger . . . appetite, i 40 favour, those in, 18
fear at bay, keep, 6^
FACE as long as a fiddle, 91 the worst, to, 15^0
, lose, 26 feast, enough . . . good as a, 139
red?, Was . . ., 77 feather, birds of a, 93
, tell s-one to his, 1^8 in one's cap, 198

the music, 64 , knock down with a, 207
up to s-thing, 64 fed up (with), 184
faint heart never wôn fair lady, 47 feel oneself, not, 95-
faintest idea, not the, 107 up to it, not, 21

fair in love and war, 227 fence, on the, 146
sit
to say ., 142 . . fetching and carrying, all the, 4^

-weather friend, 92 fiddle, face as long as a, 91
fairly dropped on, 164 , fit as a, 9^
well, (feel, be), 95- fiddlesticks, 191
fall between two stools, ^8 fig for . . ., not give a, 174
for it, 41 , not care a, 1
1
oflF, to, 68 fight shy of . . ., 80

out, to, 94, 171 fill the bill, 183
short of , . ., 97 find fault, 1
64
through, 199 flaws, 33
to pieces (bits), 67 time, 167
falling off a log, easy as, 70 fine, feel, 9^
false track, lead off on a, 34 fingers crossed, keep, 203
family way, be in the, 44 fires, caught between two, 77
fancy oneself, to, 209 first blush, at, 24
, take a, 129 fish, a pretty kettle of, ^8
(that)!, 206 , drink like a, 140
far as . . . concerned, so, 29 in troubled waters, to, 224
as one can see, so, 26 out of water, a, 192
-fetched, 40 -wives, squabble like, 32
240
INDEX
fit as a fiddle, feel, 95^ full marks, give, 28, 163
fix, in a, 223 fun, do s-thing for, 2 1 2
flap, be in a, 45 funeral, slow as a, 167

on, there's a, 45- , that's your, 177
flaws, find, 33 funk, to (be in a), 64
flea in his ear, 186
flies, time, 167 GAFFE, a, 77
fling money about, 140 gain time, 167
flog a dead horse, 6, 74 game, be, 16
floor s-one, to, 33 ?, What's little, 38 . . .
flop, a, 199 garden path, lead up the, 137

flows, time, 167 gate-crash, to, 193
fly in the ointment, a, 123 gate-crasher, a, 125'
into a rage, 86 gently, take 139 it,
off the handle, 62, 86 get above oneself, 209

flying colours, with, 226 a kick out of 183 . , .
,
start, off to a,
19^ at s-one, 1 20
foggiest, not the, 107 away with you!, 40
follow, unable to, 109 beyond one, 34
folly to be wise, 109 by, (just), 198
fond of ., be, 129
. . cracking, 19^
fool and his money . . ., a, 73 down to . . ., 229
fool's paradise, 109 down to brass tacks, i 5-7
foot down, put one's, 29, 217 even with . . ., i 77

in both camps, a, 146 going, ^19^
in put one's, 77, 192, 222
it, in one's hair, 77
, ... my, 40 into deep water, 34
for all I care, . . ., 113 into hot water, 223
fun, 212 in touch with . . ., î
it, to be, 3, 223 it all wrong, 137
the best, what to do, ^7 it, not, 109
the time being, (enough), 3 it off one's chest, ^3
foregone conclusion, 1 1
^ it, to, ^1
forelock, time by the, 147 off on the right foot, 19-,
forewarned forearmed, 48 is off on the wrong foot, 192
friend in need, 92 off to a flying start, 19^
friends, best of, 92 one's knife into . . .,90
with . . ., make, 92 one's owTi back on . . ., 179
from bad to worse, go, 69 one's teeth into . . ., 230
frown on . . ., to, 29 on well (progress), 167
frying pan . . ., out of the, 67 on well with (together), 92 . . .
241
INDEX
get on with the job, 229 , have a, 220
out of . . ., 80 on (with you)!, 40
out of bed the wrong side, 19 j out of one's way, 127
s-one on the phone, î short, to, 74
s-thing across, ô, î sour, to, ^3
started, 195^ the whole hog, 214
the better of . . . , 62, 118 through it, to, 64
the sack (push), 230 through the motions, 26

together, to, 34 to a lot of trouble, 224
to know, 92 to one's head, 209
to the bottom of . . ., 143 to the dogs, 67
under way, 19^ to the wall, 227
word to . . ., î while the going's good, 79
worse before . . . better, 68 god-send, a, 206
getaway, make a clean, 79 going at . . . for all . . . worth, 171

getting anywhere, not, 199 ,
get, 19 J
on?, How . . ,, 4 ?, How's it, 168
on nicely, 96 on?, What's, 84
gift, a, 70 good choking off, a, 186
horse . . .mouth, look a, 206 for one, know's what's, no
give a fig for . . ., not, 174 mixer, a, 192
a hand, 127 Samaritan, 127
and take, ^g show, put up a, 198
back word, 80 talking to, a, 186
birth to . . ., 44 telling off, a, 186
. . . dose . . . own medicine, 209 terms, on, 92
. . . inch . . . ell, 141 thing, too much of a, 139
it all one's got, i
gg ticking off, a, 186
much for . . ., not, 1^0 time, make, 167
notice, 229 turn deserves another, 93
out, to, 196 turn, do a, 127
s-one the slip, 79 gossip, ô

the impression . . ., 26 grain, against the, 130
the show away, 188, 189 grand, feel, 9^
glass houses, . . . live in, 48 granted, 18
glimpse, catch a, 82 grasp (opportunity), 147
glitters is not gold, all that, 24 grease the palm, i 2 i
goat, get one's, 88 Greek to me, all, 108

go behind . . . back, 158 grief, come to, 199
down well, to, 29 grievance, air a, 5^3, 90
for s-one, 186 , brood over a, 90
242
7
INDEX
grim, things look, i go hanker after . . . , 129
grip, lose one's, 63 happy about . . ., not, 184
on oneself, get a, 62 medium, strike a, gg
ground feet, cut the, 33
. . . hard at it, be, 4^, 229
grow on one, to, i 29 at . . ., keep, igg
guns, spike s-one's, 122 lines (luck)!, 60, 132
guts, have (the), 64 nut to crack, a, 71
-up, 181
HAD ... in a big way, 1 84 hare . . ., run with the, 146
it, to have, 199 harp on . . ., to, i^^
hair, get in one's, 77 has-been, a, 199

of the dog, 140 hatchet, bury the, 172
's breadth, miss by, 97 hat, take off one's, 163
, tear one's, 88 , talk through one's, 191
, without turning a, 62 hatter, mad as a, 135-
half-hearted apology, 22 have a baby, be going to, 44
, It isn't, 12 a crack at . . ., 220
-measures, no, 214 a go, 220
way, meet, gg a lot of time for . . ., 174
halt, bring to a, 62 a pull, to, I 20
halves, do things by, 214 done with ., 220 . .
hammer and tongs, 171 it both ways, gg

hand, get out of, 62 it in for ..., 90, 171, 222
,
give (lend) a, i 27 it out with ., 32, 171 . .
in glove, be, 1^2 it . way, 113, 177

. . own
it to . . ., have to, 163 no time for ., 174 . .
, take oneself in, 62 one's say, 2 1
handle, fly off the, 86 . . . opinion of oneself, 209

hands down, win, 226 s-one on, 40, 212
full, have one's, 4^ to (obliged to), 1
1^
. . work, many, 127
. light your cake and eat it, gg
,lot of work on one's, 45- hay while the sun shines, 146
tied behind back, 70 . . . haywire, ^8
, time on one's, 75- he who laughs last . . ., 211
handsome is as handsome does, 24, head, bring to a, 168
37 cook and bottle-washer, 45-
hang around, i
gg ,
gone to one's, 209
back, 177 , lose one's, 65-
on, i^^ off, bite (snap), 186
-over, a, 140 or . . . heels, standing on, gj
together, 1^2 or tail of, make, 109
243
INDEX
head, screwed on, 191 home, drive s-thing, 100
s-one off, to, 79 from home, a, 100
heads I win; tails ., 133 . . -made, 100
together, put, 34 to roost, come, 180
heart, after one's own, 129 truths, 100, 1^7
goes out, one's, 60 -work, 100
in one's mouth, have 64 homely, 100
of gold, a, 128 honest as the next man, 103
out, eat one's, 184 Joe, 103
sinks (into boots), 64 , to be quite, 103
heaven's sake, for, 87 truth, to tell the, 103
heavy going, 193 honestly!, 103
hedge, to, 80 honesty . . . best policy, 03 (
heels, take to one's, 79 hoodoo, 204
held up, be, 168 hook line and sinker, swallow, 41
help but . . ., can't, 1
1^ hop, caught on the, 77
worth . . . pity, a little 127 hope for the best, 1 5-0
helped, can't be, 60, 115- hornet's nest, stir up a, 222
helps, every little, 127 horns of a dilemma, on the, £^
helter-skelter, ^8 horse, eat like a, 140
hesitates is lost, he who, 47 flog (beat) a dead, 6,
, 74
higgledy-piggledy, S7 hot under the collar, 86
high opinion . . ., have a, 174 water, in, 223
time, it's, 82 house-proud, 100
highly of . . ., think, 174 -to-house, 100
hind leg . . . donkey, talk the, S<=> household word, 100
hint, take a, 202 how about ?, 125:, 201
. . .
hit-and-miss, 97 dreadful (awful, terrible)!, 60

it off, 92 d'you do?, 4
the nail on the head, £, 143 's it going?, 168
hob-nob, to, 93 huddle, go into a, 34
Hobson's choice, 11^ humble pie, eat, 22
hoist with own petard, 2io . . .
hold a candle to 1 1 . . . , ICE, not cut any (much), 120

. . . against . . ., 90, 164 idea, have no, 107
. . . olive branch, 172 ideas, get big, 1
17
one's own, 226 if at first you don't succeed 1^6
. . .,
on to \££
. . ., I were you ., 201 . .
water, won't, 33 the cap fits . . ., 163

holding the baby, 176 you like,. . ., 29
hole, in a, 223 ignorance is bliss, 109
244
22 1
INDEX
imagine . . ., I, 142 my luck!, 133
impression . . ., give the, 26 the job, 1 53
, make a good, 26
in ajam (hole, fix), 223 KEEP hard at . . ., i
^j
at one ear . . ., 7^ in touch, î
the bag, 220, 227 it (s-one in the) dark, 188
the cart, 223 it to oneself, to, 188
the family way, be, 44 it under one's hat, 188
the pink, 95- (it up) (on), iss
the soup, 223 . . . nose . . . grindstone, i^j
the swim, 192 . . . nose out of . . . , 122
the way, be, 77 one's fingers crossed, 203
two minds, ^8 one's mouth shut, 188
with . . ., be, 93 on trying, 4, 220
inch . . . take ... ell, give an, 141 out of 223 it,
inches, miss by, 97 right on, i^^

incidentally . . ., 34 the right side of . . . ,223
indeed, (It is), 1 time, 1^7
infant prodigy, an, 38 kettle of fish, a pretty, 58
interest you in ... ? Can I, : 6i kick a man when he's down, 227
iron it out, to, 71 oneself, to, 77
pot, talk the leg off an, ô one's heels, 229
's hot, strike while the, 147 out of . . ., get a, 183
irons in the fire, several, 147 the bucket, 44
ivory tower, shut ... up in an, 79 up a dust (shindy), 222
kicked out, be, 230
JAM, in a, 223 kidding, only, 2 1 2
, money for, 1 8 kill time, yg, 167

jittery (the jitters), get, 6^ two birds with one stone, 73
job, just the, 183 kind enough to . . ., be, 160
, on the (get on with), 229 kiss your hand, as easy as, 70

Job, patience of, 88 knife into . . ., get one's 90
joke, play a, 2 1 knock down with a feather, 207
joking matter, no, 212 into a cocked hat, 226
judge by looks, to, 24 off, to, 229
, so far as one can, 26 s-one off his perch, 209
jump down throat, 86 . . . spots off . . ., 226
on the bandwaggon, 147 the stuffing out of . . ., 184
the queue, 147 know any better, not, 108
to conclusions, 24 a thing or two, 1 10
just as soon, one had, 130 better than . . ., no
HS
INDEX
know . . ., get to, 92 it to you, I, 1 12
one's own mind, 144 s-one standing, 226
what's good for one, 1 10 well alone, 68
what's what, 1 1 o left holding the baby, 176
which side . . . buttered, 148 leg-pulling, 2 I 2
, wouldn't, 107 ,
pull s-one's, 40
knowing (person), a, no to stand on, not a, 33
, there's no, 108 lend a hand, 127, 1 52
knowledge . . . dangerous, a little, let bygones be bygones, 172
109 -down, a, 83 1
known by the company he keeps, . . . have . . . say, 217

93 in for . . . , 176
knuckle, near the, 78 off steam, ^3
under, to, 118 oneself go, 62
kow-tow to . . ., to, 17^ on, not, 4, 188
s-one down, 93, 15^2, 183
LAID to rest, 44 s-one know, £i
up, be, 96 s-one in on . . ., 188
lame dog over a stile, help a, 127 the cat out . . . bag, 1
89
excuse, a, 22 lick s-one's boots (shoes), 118, 210
land lies, see how the, 47 lid on . . ., put the, 168
landed with . . ., be, 176 life there's hope, while . . ., 1^0
language, not talk the same, 1 10 light of . . ., make, 64
last gasp, at one's, 44 like father like son, 100
legs, on its (one's), 67 , if you, 29
straw, the, 218 it . . . lump it, if . . ., 130
laugh . . . other side . . . face, 2 1 o that!, I,
^3
laughing stock, lyg . . . to . . ., It's (just), 37
laughs last laughs longest, 2 1 likely tale!, a, 41
lay down the law, 2 1 , very (quite), 16^
on (a band), 4 liking, not to one's, 130
one's tongue to, 186 . . ., take a, 129
lead up the garden path, 137 limit, the, 2 18
leak out, to, 189 line (occupation), 229
least said; soonest mended, 68 lion, a (social), 193
leave . . . alone, 122 lips . . . sealed, i 88
a lot of loose ends, 2 1

£ little bird told me, a, 190
go, not to, igg help worth . . . pity, a, 127
... in no doubt, i
^7 knowledge . . . dangerous . . .,
in the lurch, 93, 184 109

it to . . ., 176 tin god, a, 209
246
j 1 1 1
INDEX
live and let live, 2 17 low, be (feel), 91
off ihe fat of the land, i 8 -down, give the, 188

long face, pull a, 91 ebb, at a, 96
lane has no turning, i ô lower oneself to . . ., 174
long-winded, i ^8 luck, down on one's, 133
look a gift horse . . . mouth, 206 !, Good (Best of), 132
as if (though), to, 25-, 165- , be in, 132
before you leap, 47 , no such, I 33
big, try to, 117 of the devil, the, i 32
black (grim) for . . ., i jo is (was) out, one's, 132
down one's nose, 119 lucky break, a, i 3 2
down on s-one, 174 stars, thank . . ., 203

in, not have a, 199 lurch, leave in the, 93, 184
on the bright side, i jo lying down, take . . ., 118, 227
out, better, 223
-out for . , ., be on the, 47 MAD about . . ., 135'
-out, that's your, 177 (angry or reckless), 135-

up, begin to, 68 as a hatter (March hare), 13^
up to s-one, 174 at . . ., be (get), 86
who's here!, 20 -headed, 135-
looking after Number One, 147 made of money, 1 8
up, things are, 168 main chance, an eye to the, 148

looks like . . ., it, 2^, i6j make a dust, 222
, to judge by, 24 a mess of 21^ . . .,
loose end, at a, 230 a pig of oneself,

140
ends, leave a lot of, 21^ both ends meet, 1 8
lord it over . . . ,
118 do, to, 74
lose face, 26 good, 167
one's grip, 63 hay while the sun shines, 146
one's head, 65- it (succeed), 21, 198, 220
one's temper, 86 it up, 94, 172
. . . swings . . . roundabouts, jj light of . . ., 64
s-one (death), 44 matters worse, 68
time, 165- out, to (progress), 167
lot of . . ., think a, 174 . . . out, 4, 6, 109
of time for . . ., have a, 174 short work of . . ., 196
of trouble, go to a, 224 s-one sit up, 207
of work on one's hands, a, 4^ s-thing of it, want to, 18
on, have a, 4^ the best of it (a bad job), i
39
love me; love my dog, 93 time, 167
one, I'd, 160 up for . . ., j8
247
INDEX
make up one's mind, 144 what you are doing (up to), 42
up time, 167 . ?, would you, 12^,
. . 1 60
makeshift, 2 1
£ your P's and Q's, 38
man is known . . . company minute to spare, not have a, 45^
93 mischief, get into, 212

many aslip cup lip, 98 . . . . . . -maker, 222
hands make light work, 127 miss by inches (hair's breadth), 97
March hare, mad as, 13^ is as good as a mile, a, 98, 198
marches, time, 167 the bus, 137, 199

Marines, tell it to the, 40 the point, 137
mark, not feel up to the, 9^ mixed up, be all, 57
time, 167 mixer, a good, 192

mat, on the, 186 money about, throw (fling), 140
match, meet one's, 199 for jam (old rope), 181
may as well ., 161 . .
, made of, 181
I trouble you . . .?, 160 than sense, more, 140
mean business, to, i
£j to burn, 1 8
. . .?, you don't, 201 month of Sundays, a, 83
meat . . .poison, one man's, 129 moot point, a, 33
meddler, a, 1 2 2 morale, boost, 91
medicine, take one's, 227 more like oneself, feel, 96
meet halfway, gg
. . . money than sense, 140
one's match, 199 than one can stand, 2 1
meets the eye, more in than, 24 than possible, 165-

mend, be on the, 96 motions, go through the, 26
mess, be in a, gj mountain out of a molehil ^3
of . . ., make a, 215- mouth, down in the, 91
middle course, steer a, gg shut, keep one's, 188
middling, 9^ much, a bit, ^3
midnight ^6 oil, i of . . ., not think, 174
might have been worse, 60 muddle, in a, 57

mile, a miss is as good . . . 98 muddled up, be all, £j
, sticks out a, 142 mumbo-jumbo, 15^7
miles off", be, 98 music, face the, 64
mill around, to, gj must, a, 1
5"
1
,
go through the,64 be must be, what, 1 1
g
mince matters, not to, i gj my foot!, . . ., 40, 191
mind, make up (change) one's 144
, not, 29, 112, 161 NAIL on the head, hit the, '43
g,
, out of one's, i
3 j names, call s-one, 17^
. . . own business, 1 2 2 napping, be caught, 77
248
3 1
INDEX
narrow-minded, 218 Number One, looking after, 147
squeak, 98 number 13, 203
naturally (affirmation), 10 nut shell, put it in a, i j8
not, 13
near miss, a, 97 OAR in, put one's, 122
the knuckle, 78 of course, 10, 115^
to . . ., come, 97 course not, 1
neck, in it up to the, 223 off colour, be (feel), 9 j

out, stick one's, 222 , it's a bit, ^3
needs must . . . devil drives, 1 1

£ one's head, be, 13^
nerves, get on one's 87 one's own bat, 176
never can tell, you, 108 the scent, put . . ,, 137
had a look in, 199 ointment, fly in the, 123
let right hand know
. . . ., 190 . . old chestnut, an, 212
mind, 60, 132 -fashioned (child), 38
rains but it pours, it, iî, 224 rope, money for, 181
news, break the, î score, an, 171
next man, honest as the, 103 olive branch, hold out an, 172
nicely, getting on, 96 on earth . . . ?, How (Who, etc.),
night, all right on the, 15-0 87
nine days' wonder, a, 83 Easy Street, 1 8
nineteen to the dozen, talk, ô one's own, do it, 198

nip ... in the bud, 48 principle, 104
nodding acquaintance, a, 92 the cards, 165^
none at all, 13 the cheap, do (get) s-thing, 73
nose, look down one's, 119 the go, be, 4^
on your face, plain as . . ., 142 the job, 229
out of . . . , keep one's, 1 2 2 the mat, 186
to spite . . . face, cut off, 180 the war-path, 223
to the grindstone, keep . . ., i^^ the watch for . . ., be, 47
Nosey-Parker, 4^, 122 once and for all, 2 14
not at all, 13, 21 bitten twice shy, 48
so bad, 9^ in a blue moon, 83, 166
nothing . . . can do about . . ., 115- one good turn deserves ...,93
for it, there's, 1 15- man's meat poison, 129 . . .
succeeds like success, 198 of those things, just, 82

notice, give, 229 over the eight, 140
now and then, 3 too many, 140
then . . . , 3 -track mind, a, i gg
you're talking, 191 only one pair of hands, have, 4 j
nuisance, a, 87, 88 skin deep, 215
249
INDEX
opinion, be of the same, 17 pay for this, you'll, r8o
, in my, 142 s-one back, 179
of oneself, have ., 209
. . peeved, be, 87
opportunity . . . knocks twice, 46 peg away at . . ., i^j
option but to . . ., no, 1 1^ , take s-one a, 209 down
or else . . ., 180 pence, take care of the, 73
order s-one about, 2 1 penny's dropped, the, î
out for oneself, 146 penny-wise pound foolish, 74
for the count, 227 pep talk, 91
for what one can get, 146 perch, knock . . . off, 209
of control, get, 62 persona non grata, 1 30
of hand, get, 62 peter out, to, 196
of one's depth, 34, 108 phone, get s-one on the, î
of one's mind, be, 13^ pick a quarrel, 171
of one s way, go, i 27 holes in . . ., 33
of place, feel, 192 on . . ., 1 10, 164
of sorts, be (feel), 95- s-one's brains, 147
of the blue, 205- picnic, a, 70
of the frying pan . . ., 67 piece of cake, a, 70

of the question, 16^ of one's mind, a, 186
outsider, 206 pieces, fall (go) to, 67
overdo it, 139, 230 pig of oneself, make a, 140
overstep the mark, 139 pigeon, not my, 177
own back on ..., get one's, 179 pikestaff, plain as a, 142
coin, pay back in, 179 pin s-one down to . . ., 217
head, bring upon . . ., 222 pinch of salt, take . . . with a, 48
up, to, 104 pink, in the, 9^
way, have (get) one's, 177 pipe and smoke it, put . . ., 33
way, have it your, 177 pitch into s-one, 171
pity!. What a, 60
p's AND q's, mind one's, 38 place, over the, £y
all
pack up (it in), 229 , feel out of, 192
pair of hands, only one, 4^ ,
put s-one in his, 186
pardon, beg your, I 2 s-one, be unable to, 108
me ., 22, 160
. . plain as a pikestaff, 142
pass away, to, 44 as . . . nose . . . face, 142
the buck, 176 sailing, all, 71
past ., not put it, 163
. . play a joke (trick), 212
patch up (a quarrel), 94, 172 safe, to, 46
patience of a saint (Job), 88 second fiddle, 210
pat on the back, a, 28, 163 the game, 227
2^0
28 1
NDEX
playing at?, What . .
., 38 . in your pipe . . . smoke it,
please yourself, 1 1 2 33
pleasure, with, 161 it on, 1 17
pocket one's pride, 210 it over, ji

poetic justice, 179 it past (beyond) s-one . . ., 163
point, beside the, 34 itup to ., 202 . .
poke one's nose into . . ., 122 one over, 226

poor shape, in, 96 one's back into . . ., i^-^-
view, take a, 29 oneself, not know where to, 77

poorly, feel, 9^ oneself out, 224
pop off, to, 44 one's foot down, 29, 217
possible, very, 16^ one's foot in it, 77, 192, 222
pot, go to, 67 one's oar in, 122
luck, take, i 24 one's shoulder . . . wheel, 1^6
practical joke, a, 2 1 out, be, 87, 88
pretty kettle of fish, a, £8 something by, 74
nearly . . ., 97 s-one in his place, 186
pass, come
to a, ^3 s-one off the scent, 137
principle of the thing, the, 104 the blame on ., 164 . .
principles, (man of), 104 the cart before the horse, 137
probable, highly (quite), 16^ the cat among the pigeons, 222
proof of the pudding . . ., the, 48 the clock back, 168
propos . . ., a, 34 the wind up s-one, 65-
pros and cons, weigh the, 34 two and two together, 142
pudding is in the eating, proof . . up a good show, 198
48 up with .,4, 217 . .
pull a fast one, 147, 226

, have a, 120 QUANDARY, in a, ^8
oneself together, 62 quarrel, patch up a, 172
one's punches, not, 15-7 ,
pick a, 169
s-one's leg, 40 queer s-one's pitch, 226
s-thing off, 198 street, be in, 71
strings, 120 question, out of the, 16^
together, 152
pulled up, have to be, 62 RACK and ruin, go to, 67
pump s-one, to, 188 racket, a, 105"
punches, pull one's, i
£j racketeer, 105
push . . . around, 1 1 rains but it pours, never, iî, 224
,
get the, 230 rainy day, save up for a, 74
put cards on the table, 103 raise the wind, 1 8
in a nut shell, 1^8 rap, not care a, 113, 174
2S1
INDEX
rat on . . ., to, 152 rub s-one the wrong way, 88
rather . . ., one had, 29, 130, 160 , there's the, 70
really!, 12 rubbish!, 191
reason in all things, there's, ££ run across ., 82, 20^ . .
, it stands to, 42 around in small circles, 4^, ^7

red-handed, caught, 77 away, 79, 140
herring, trail (draw) a, 34, 137 down, (feel), 9^
rag to a bull, a, 88, 222 in the family, loi
, see, 86 out on . . ., 15^2
rein, keep a tight, 62 rings round . . ., 226

responsible for . . ., make oneself, riot (imagination), 140
176 s-one dovra, 210
rest with . . ., to, 176 s-one to earth, 80
revenge is sweet, 179 up
bills, 74
right by you, if that's all, 17 with the hare ., 146 . .
foot, get (start) off on, 195^ running commentary, a, 84

hand know . . ., let . . ., 190 runs ., time, 167
. .
in the head, not, 135^ rut, stuck in a, 168

, it's all, 2
,
quite (that's), 11 SACK, get the, 230
side of . . . , keep on the, 223 safe, to play, 47
ring, give (s-one) a, î saint, patience of a, 88
-leader, 152 Samaritan, good, 127
s-one up, î same boat, all in the, 152
rings round . . ., run, 226 mind, be of the, 17
rise . . ., take a, 88 to . . ., all the, 112
risk it, to, 6^ save face, 210
, take (run) a, 6^ one's breath, ... as well, 7 j
rocks, on the, 1 8 time, 167
romp through, to, 70 up for a rainy day, 74
roost,come home to, 180 say boo to a goose, 37
rose-tinted spectacles, i ô it is, I'll, I 2
rot!, 191 , let . . . ., 217have . .
, stop the, 67 ?, What do you, 17

rotten luck, 1 3 2 . . .?, wouldn't you, 201
rough and ready, 2 1 g ,
you don't, 12, 41
, cut up, 86 scared stiff, 64
edge of one's tongue, 186 scent, put s-one off the, i
37
round the bend, be, 68, 13^ school, tell tales out of, 190
roundabouts, lose . , . swings . .
., g^ score, an old, 171
row, have a, 1 7 off s-one, to, 33
2^2
INDEX
scot free, get off, 79 shark, a, 10^
scrap, a (fight), 171 shelling peas, as easy as, 70
scratch, come up to, 183 shindy, make (kick up) a, 222
my back, 93 shine, cut a, 193
screw loose, a, 135 shirk, to, 80, 229
sea, all at, 3, 109 shoddy, £
second fiddle, play, 210 shop, all over the, sj
thoughts, 143 short and sweet, i ^8
see (understand), no .
go» 74
a joke, not, 212 work'of . . ., make, 196
. . . coming, 109 shot at . . ., have a, 220
how the land lies, 47 in the dark, a, 97

it through, 220 shoulder, a chip on one's, 89
red, 86 , straight from the, i £j
, so far as one can, 26 to the wheel, 1^6
that .,47 . . show away, give the, 188, 189
through s-one, 144 off, to, 117
seeing is believing, 26 up, to, 82, 205-
seem to have lost one's way, 108 sick and tired of . . ., 88
seems . . ., it, 2^ , make one, 88
seen better days, have, 67 side, put on, 1 17
seize (opportunity), 147 sidestep . . ., to, 80
self-made man, a, 198 silver lining, . . . cloud has a, i ô
-praise, 163 sinking fast, be, 44
183
sell, a, sit on the fence, 146
send away . . . flea in . . . ear, 186 up, make s-one, 207
to Coventry, £, 192 six of one and half a dozen ...,32
word to . . ., 5^1 sixes and sevens, all at, 57
serve one right, 179 skin deep, only, £ 2 1
set-back, a, 168 ,
get under one's, 87
off, 19 S of one's teeth, by the, 97
on , . ., be, iss slack, to, 229
one back, to, 168 slanging match, a, 32
-to, a, 171 sleeve, have (keep) . . . up, 206
settle s-one's hash, 226 slightest, not the, 107
with . . ., to, 179 slip, to, 63
several irons in the fire, 147 , to give s-one the, 79
shady, 10 j twixt cup and lip, many a, 98
shame!, What a, 60 slipshod, 21^
shape, in poor, 96 sloppy, 21^
, to (progress), 167 slow as a snail (funeral), 167
2^3
INDEX
small circles, run around in, 4^, £y speaking, not, 18
-talk, ô terms, not on, 18
world, a, 83 spike s-one's guns, 122
smell a rat, 25- spill the beans,
i 89
smoke there's fire, where . . ., 24 spilt milk, cry over, 139

snag, a, 2^, 123 spoil the ship ha'porth of . . . tar,
snail, slow as a, 167 23

snake in the grass, a, 94 spoke in . . . wheel, put a, 122
snap at s-one, to, 91 spots off . , ., knock, 226
(judgement), 144 spring a surprise, 206
one's fingers, 174 it on s-one, 206
s-one's head off, 186 squeak, narrow, 98
snob, a, 1 17 stab in the back, a, log
snooper, a, 122 stand by s-one, 92, 15-2
snowed under (with work), 4^ for . . ., not, 218

snub, a, 186 , more than one can, 2 1
, to, 210 (the sight of) . . ., can't, 130

so I understand (I've read), 1 to (lose), 133
,
Quite (That's), 1 up to s-one, 1 18
they say, 1 standing, leave s-one, 226
social climber, 192 on .head, can do it, 70
. .
soft heart, have a, 128 on .head or. heels, £y

. . . .
-soap s-one, to, 118 stands to reason, it, 42
spot for . . ., have a, 127, 129 standstill, bring ... to a, 62

some people ... all the luck, 1 3 2
stars, thank one's lucky, 132
start the ball rolling, 195^
somebody, think oneself, 209
started, get, 195-
song and dance, make a, ^3
stay the pace, 220
sore about (at) . . ., be, 87
steal a march on . . ., 147
point, a, 90
steam, let ^3 off,
sorry (link), 161
steer a middle course, ££
figure, cut a, 193
clear of ., 223 , .
, so, 21, 60
step in, to, 122
sorts, out of, 9^
, watch one's, 38
soul, not tell a, 188
stew in . . . own juice, to, 223
sounds as if . . ., it, 2^ stick by (a friend), 92
soup, in the, 223 in one's craw, to, 88
sour, go, ^3 it out, to, 220
spade a spade, call a, ij8 one's neck out, 222
spanner in the works, throw a, i 22 out for . . ., to, I
££
speak one's mind, 157 sticks out a mile, 142
2^4
INDEX
Sticky end, come to a, 44 swim, in the, 192
(situation), 71 swimmingly, go, 167
wicket, a, 71 swings . . . roundabouts, lose
still waters run deep, 25- the, £S
stirup a hornet's nest, 222
up trouble, 222 TABLES on . turn the", 226
stitch in time saves nine, a, 73 tail between . legs, with .
stoney broke, 1 8 210

stools, fall between two, 58 take a back seat, 210
stop the rot, 67 a chance, 6^
storm in a tea-cup, a, 172 a hint, 202
straight from the shoulder, i
£j a joke, not, 21 2
, tell s-one, i
^7 a joke too far, 2 1 2
to the point, ^7 i a turn for the better, 68

stranger here myself, a, 107 a wrong turn, 34
to me, a, 108 care, 47
street, up one's, 183 care of the pence . . ., 73
stride, take it in one's, 70 . . . down a peg, 209
strike a balance, ££ it, 64
a happy medium, ££ it (all) in, 41
up acquaintance, 92 it back, 33
while the iron's hot, 147 it easy (gently), 139
strings, pull, 120 it from me ., 42, 141 . .
stroke of luck, a, 132 it from s-one, not, 218

stuck in a rut, 168 it . . ., I, 201
-up, 117 it in one's stride, 70
stuffing out . . ., knock the, 184 it lyingdown, 227

succeed . . ., if at first . . . don't, it on the chin, 64. 227
it or leave it, 113
succeeds like success, nothing, 198 it out of s-one, 179
suck up, to, 1 18 it upon oneself ., 176 . .
suit . . . down to the ground, 183 off one's hat to . , ., 163

suits me, it, 183 oneself in hand, 62
sum s-one up, 144 one's medicine, 227
suppose ., 201
. . one's time, 139, 167
so, I I place, 83
sure as fate, 1 1
£ word for it, 41
s-one 's
surprise packet, a, 206 s-one up on s-thing, 33
swallow it (hook, line, sinker), 41 s-thing in, £i
one's pride, 2 10 s-thing on, 176
swelled head, 209 s-thing on trust, 26
^SS
INDEX
take s-thing up with . . ., 34 thank for . . ., have (got) ... to,
things lying down, 1 1 8 163
to s-one, 129 one's lucky stars, 132, 203
. . . with a pinch of salt, 48 that's right (so), 1
taken in, be, 40 they say . . ., 142

talk nineteen to the dozen, go thick, a bit, ^3
of the devil, 82, 20^ as thieves, as, 1^2
oneself out of s-thing, 79 head, a, 140

one's head off, ô thin edge of the wedge, 148
the hind leg off a donkey, ô thing or two, know a, 1 10
the leg off an iron pot, ô think again, 143
the same language, not, no ..?, don't you, 201
.
things over, 34 highly (a lot) of . . . ,

174
through one's hat, 191 , . . . I don't, 41
to oneself, might as well, y . . ., I (rather), 142
talking, now you're, 191 it over, 143

of . . ., 34
much of . . ., not, 174
to, a good, 186 oneself somebody, 209
tail order, a, 7
so, to, I I
straight, unable to, ^7

story, a, 40
tangle, in a,
twice before . . ., 47
5^7
third time lucky, 203
taped, have s-thing, 214
thorn in the flesh, a, 8 8
tarred with the same brush, 1 j2
thrash s-thing out, 34
tastes, no accounting for, 129
three cheers, give, 28
tea-cup, storm in a, 172
through, be, 196
teach s-one a lesson, 209
it, go, 64
tear one's hair, 88
the mill, go, 64
teeth, by the skin of one's, 97 throw away (money), j
into . ., get one's, 230
.
in the towel, 227
tell a soul, not, 188 money about, 140
it to the Marines, 40 up the sponge, 227
me another one, 40 thumb one's nose, 174
s-one off, 186 tick s-one off, 186
s-one some home truths, i
£j tied up, 214
all,
s-one straight, £y i tight (as a drum), 140
tales behind back, 1^7 , . .
rein, keep a, 62, 217
tales out of school, 190 tighten one's belt, 74
... to s-one's face, 158 time and tide wait fcr no man, 146
temper, lose one's, 86 being, enough for the, 3
terrible!, How, 60 by the forelock, 147
2J6
INDEX
time for have no, 29, 174
. , ., turn agamst . . ., 92
, make, (kill, etc.), 167 a hair, not, 62
on one's hands, have, j deserves another, good, 93
take one's, 139
, . . . down flat, 214
tin god, a little, 209 for the better, take a, 68
tiresome!, How^, 87 out, to, 83
tit for tat, 179 the comer, 68, 96
tittle-tattle, ô the tables on ., 226 . .
toady, a, 1 1 up, 82, 20^

toe the line, make s-one 217 twiddle one's thumbs, y£
together, get, 34 two birds with one stone, kill, 73
too big for one's boots, 209 hoots, not care, 1 1
far, take a joke, 2 1 minds, be in, ^8

good to be true, 41 's company . . ., 77
much of a good thing 139 straws, not care, 1
1
top-dog, 171
topsy-turvy, 57 ugh!, 88
toss for it, 133 under-dog, 171
-up, a, 98 one's hat, keep . . ., 188
touch and go, 97, 226 one's skin, get, 87
.barge pole, not, 174
. . the bridge, water . . . . . ., 84
, keep in, î the weather, be (feel), 95
with ., get in, î
. . way, get, 19^
vvôod, 203 underhand, 104
louche, 33 xmderstanding, come to an, no
toy with an idea, 143 unhinged, 13^
track s-one dowTi, 80 unlikely, most (very), 166
trail a red herring, 137 unlucky at cards . . . love, 1 33
one's coat, 222 unstuck, come, 199
transpire, 83 up againstit, be, 71
tread on s-one 's corns, 222 one's sleeve, 206

treat s-one like dirt, 1 1 one's street, (just), 183
tricky (situation), 71 to . . ., it's, 176
trouble's brewing, 222 to no good, 15^2
you . . .?, may I, 160 to the mark, not feel, 95
troubles never come singly, iî to the neck, in it, 223
224 to?. What's ., 38 . .
trousers, wife wears the, loi upper hand, get the, 1 7

trumpet, blow one's own, 163 uppers, on one's, 181
trust, take s-thing on, 26 uppish, be, 1 17
tune, change one's, 143 use?. What's the, 184
257
INDEX
VERY well, 1 what about (do you say to) . . .
vexed (vexing), 87 201

via media y ££ a pity (shame)!, 60
view, take a dim (poor), 29 a sell!, 183
do you say?, 17
WAFFLE, 5^0 must be must be, 115^
wait and see, 47 's . . . after (up to)?, 38
!, just, 180 's all this (on, up)?, 84
to see .blow, 146
. . wind . . . 's . . . carrying on about?, 3S
wake up and take notice, 206 's it to do with me?, 177
walk out, 230 's the use?, 184
out on ., 93, 184 . . 's the world coming to?, ^3
-over, a, 70, 226 's ... to do with . ?, 122 . .
wall-flower, a, 193 what, know, 1 1 o

's
,
go to the, 227 wheels within wheels, 1 2 i
waltz through, to, 70 where there's a will . . ., i ^6

want to make s-thing of it, i 8 while there's life . . . hope 1^0
war-path, on the, 223 whistle in the dark, to, 6g
wash one's hands of . . ., 177 white collared, 1
17
washed-out, feel, 9^ whole hog, go the, 214
waste not want not, 73 why not . . .?, 201
of time, a, 75- wide of the mark, 98
watch, be on the, 47 wild-goose chase, a, 74
for . . ., to, 47 horses couldn't . . ,, 188
one's step, 38, 47, 223 , make one, 86
water off a duck's back, like, 74 will there's a way, where . . ., i ^6
. .under
. bridge, 84 . . . win hands down, 226
way around, not know the, 107 wind blow, wait to
. . . see . . .,
, be in the, 77 146
to turn, not know which, ^j up, get (have) the, 64
wears the trousers, wife, loi up . . ., put the, 6^
weather, under the, 9^ windfall, a, 206
wedge, thin edge of the, 148 winking, easy as, 70
weigh s-one up, 144 wipe the floor with . . .
, 226
the pros and cons, 34 wish s-one luck, 132
well begun is half done, 19^ wishful thinking, i ô
,
get on, 92, 167 with pleasure, 161
I never!, 20^^ s-one, be, 16
-off, 181 within an ace of . . ., be, 97
-to-do, (quite), 3 wits' end, be at one's, ^7
, Very, 16 wooden spoon, 98
2S8
INDEX
wool-gathering, go, 79 worse before . . . better, get, 68
word for it, take s-one's, i 20 luck, 133
, have a, ô might have been, 60
,
in edgeways, get a, £o worst comes to the worst, if , . .
of . . ., get, 82
to s-one, get, £i would you (mind) . . . ?, 160
with . . ., have a, 120 wouldn't you say . . . ?, 201
words fall on deaf ears, 75- write s-thing off, 68,73
, have, 32, 171 wrong end of the stick, 137, 143
, have a few, go foot, get off on the, 192
work and no play . . ., all, 230 horse, back the, 137
cut out, have one's, 230 turn, take a, 34
on one's hands, a lot of, 4^ way, rub . . . the, 88
-shy, 229
working classes, 117 YES and no, 14
world coming to?, What's the, ^3 you can't deny . . ., 142
. . . rose-tinted spectacles, i ô don't mean . . .?, 201
worm will turn, even a, 37 don't say!, 41

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A Practical Guide to

SELECTED TEXTS OF MODERN DIALOGUE

Orient Longmans Private Ltd

(0) W. J. BaU 19^8

PRINTED IN HONG KONG

AFFIRMATION AND DENIAL 9

We are indebted to the following for permission to quote

Elizabeth published by Messrs. Macdonald & Co., Ltd.;

There is a belief that the foreign student should be satisfied

on language 'frills' such as colloquial idiom. This belief

idiom and to commit to memory as many 'picturesque*

Quidquid agunt homines, votum, timor, ira, voluptas,

most common and useful idioms in current speech. I have

A complete definition of Idiom will have to cover many

foreign student is likely to need, and it has the merit of

Briefly, there are seven features of language that are em-

^ When we anszuer the door we may also say, "Who's there?"

(b) Deviations from strict grammar.

there's good children, nor would it ever occur to her to say,

(c) Allusive expressions.

That will do. (= That is enough.)

(d) Conventional phrases oj many kinds.

of good that will do', means, do no good at

all and sundrj really and truly

baggage \ and so on and so forth.

(e) Many uses of the phrasal verb.

Don't let on I told you (= divulge, tell anybody).

What's he getting atl (= Whatdoes he mean?)

(f) The phenomenon of English word order.

inflection that gives meaning there, not word order:

It may be well ahead of time. (Well ahead well in =

It isn't time to go, is it? (Answer hoped for: 'No'.)

(g) The piauresque and metaphorical types of idiom.

many students, indeed, idiom is s)Tion\TTious with the

to cloak one^s identity {= conceal one's identity); shoddy

The criteria for the definition of idiom have now been

order and composition of the words, except for normal

flog (or, beat) a dead horsey

Couldntjou make it out either?

I suppose in time we shall make it out.

But although we may say

she gets at') with this idiom.

instance, be partial to a glass of wine with my lunch (= I

better take care' cannot be used with the present tense of

tainly do so if we try to coin a phrase 'to go far right'. The

equivocal and, provided it is used in a right context, it

I conclude with a few general remarks on colloquial

idiom and inoffensive colloquial idiom. It is just as difficult

^ Like the correspondent in the Spectator who spoke of "skating on a hornet's

I should say he would never, for example, be worth five

manner in which Mr Waterbrook delivered himself of this little

In manysomething more than a simple affirmation

tones^ of emphasis, innuendo, uncertainty, incredulity, dis-

Did you read the book I gave you?

a very poor book or that I read it under pressure from