六十铺中小学教育资源网

001angels







on the side of the angels

If you say that someone is on the side of the angels, you mean that they are doing what you think is morally right.

In addition to being for gun control, the President's on the side of the angels when it comes to racial tolerance, the environment and Indian rights.

The idea perpetrated by Western leaders that we are on the side of the angels seems to me a dangerous fantasy.

002bush







the bush telegraph
If you talk about the bush telegraph, you are talking about the way in which information or news can be passed on from person to person in conversation. This expression is used in British English.

No, you didn't tell me, but I heard it on the bush telegraph.

Jean-Michel had heard of our impending arrival in Conflans long before we got there. The bush telegraph on the waterways is extremely effective.

not beat around the bush
not beat about the bush
If you don't beat around the bush, you say what you want to say clearly and directly, without avoiding its unpleasant aspects. In British English, you can also say that you don't beat about the bush.

I decided not to beat around the bush. `I'm at I told her. didn't come back from his paper route yet. Nobody knows where he is.'

Let's not beat about the bush -- they rejected it. The Review Group said it was their most important single recommendation and the Government rejected it.

003boat







float someone's boat   
If something floats your boat, you find it exciting, attractive, or interesting.

I can see its appeal. But it float my boat.

in the same boat
If you say that two or more people are in the same boat, you mean that they are in the same unpleasant or difficult situation.

We are all in the same boat as the miners. People all over Britain are being made redundant every week.

If baldness is creeping up on you, take heart -- 40 per cent of men under 35 are in the same boat.

We were two mums in the same boat and able to make each other feel better.

push the boat out
If you push the boat out, you spend a lot of money in order to have a very enjoyable time or to celebrate in a lavish way. This expression is used in British English.

I earn enough to push the boat out now and again.

Keep an eye on . He's likely to push the boat out among his friends.

rock the boat
If someone tells you not to rock the boat, they are telling you not to do anything which might cause trouble or upset a stable situation.

While he is careful not to rock the boat Juventus with any ill-timed criticism, there is clearly some frustration that he is not being used to maximum effect.

Diplomats are expecting so much instability in a power struggle after his death that they argue it's unwise to rock the boat now.

If someone is rocking the boat, their behaviour is likely to cause trouble or upset a stable situation. Behaviour like this can be described as boat-rocking.

Before the report was concluded, he pulled back on the subject. I suspect the other parts of the White House complained he was rocking the boat.

I'm outspoken, sometimes critical of the organization, which is seen as boat-rocking, upsetting a comfortable arrangement.

004breath







a breath of fresh air
If you describe someone or something as a breath of fresh air, you mean that they are pleasantly different from what you are used to.

I think you're a great family and I'm glad I'm going to join you. After the stuffy conversation we have at our dinner table, this is like a breath of fresh air.

Basically, I was bored. Brian never wanted to do anything. Life was stagnant. So Mike, my present husband, was a breath of fresh air.

hold your breath
If you say that someone is holding their breath, you mean that they are waiting anxiously or excitedly to see what happens next.

She had been holding her breath and hoping that the agreement would be signed.

The world is holding its breath, he said, as we begin to negotiate the future of our country.

If you say that you aren't holding your breath, you mean that you are not expecting a particular thing to happen, and so you are not worried or excited about it. In a situation like this, you can also advise someone: `don't hold your breath'.

The Chancellor has predicted Britain will drag itself out of the slump -- but don't hold your breath, because he doesn't know when.

in the same breath
If you say that someone says something and then in the same breath they say something else, you are pointing out that they are saying two things which are very different or which contradict each other.

For politicians to demand firm immigration controls and argue against racism in the same breath is a deep contradiction.

In the same breath you say that you are terribly depressed, and in the next, list your good points, which I am sure are very real.

take your breath away
If something takes your breath away, it amazes and impresses you because it is so wonderful.

`Tell me again about the picture.' `It's beautiful. sexy, It's so beautiful it takes your breath away.'

He had never believed he would come to such power. The more he realized it, the more it took his breath away.

waste your breath
If you tell someone that they are wasting their breath, you are telling them that there is no point in them continuing with what they are saying, because it will not have any effect.

He wanted to protest again, but the tone of her voice told him he was wasting his breath.

Before I could get very far he interrupted me to tell me that I was wasting my breath.

You can also tell someone that what they are saying is a waste of breath.

He would admit to the thefts, but deny everything else, and old accusations would be a waste of breath.

with bated breath
If you wait for something with bated breath, you look forward to it, or you wait in an anxious or interested way to see what happens next.

The institution is now waiting with bated breath to see if the results of the next few surveys confirm its current assessment.

They got the people in the villages interested in what was going to to this , so they were then watching with bated breath as the experiment began.

005beer







not all beer and skittles
If you say that something isn't all beer and skittles, you mean that it is not always as enjoyable or as easy as other people think it is. This expression is used in British English.

Others are keen to make clear that City life is not all beer and skittles.

Living on your own isn't all beer and skittles. It can be lonely too.

It's not all beer and skittles when you get to be famous.

small beer
If you say that something is small beer, you mean that it is insignificant compared with another thing. This expression is used in British English.

cost ￡6 million to make, small beer compared to the ￡43 million splashed out on the making of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator II.

The present of royal scandals makes the 1936 abdication look like pretty small beer.

Black films remain small beer; they are doing little to shape the movie business.

006bee







the bee's knees
If you say that something or someone is the bee's knees, you are saying in a light-hearted way that you like them a great deal. This expression is used in British English.

Back in the '80s it was the bee's knees but now it looks horribly out of date.

I bought this white sweatshirt - I thought I looked the bee's knees.

have a bee in your bonnet
If you say that someone has a bee in their bonnet about something, you mean that they feel very strongly about it and keep talking or thinking about it. This is often something that you think is unimportant. This expression is considered old-fashioned in American English.

I've got a bee in my bonnet about the confusion between education and training.

There was no arguing with the boy when he'd got this bee in his bonnet.

007call







a close call   
If you say that something was a close call, you are indicating that someone very nearly had an accident or disaster, or very nearly suffered a defeat. You can replace `call' with `thing'.

`That was a close call,' Bess gasped, as the boat steadied and got under way.

It was a close call and looking back now I have no doubt that if my friend hadn't acted so promptly I would be dead.

The contest had shown that the gap between man and computer was narrowing. `It was an extremely close thing. It shows that it can only be a matter of time before the computer wins.'

008club







join the club
When someone has been telling you about their problems or about their feelings, you can say `join the club' to indicate that you have had the same experiences or feelings.

Confused? Then join the club.

The Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens gave the game away. `I am having difficulty knowing what today's debate is about,' he said. Join the club, Geoffrey.

009card







a calling card
If you describe what someone possesses or has achieved as a calling card, you mean that it gives them a lot of opportunities which they would not otherwise have had.

Some cabinet ministers, comparing their likely pension with their lifestyle, are tempted to look for jobs in the City while their present status remains a calling card.

Gary a former Trupin says Mr. Trupin used the New York magazine cover story about him as `his calling card'.

Despite the temptation to make low-budget films only as Hollywood calling cards, one director has remained true to the independent spirit, that is to making the film he wants to make.

a wild card
You describe someone or something as a wild card when they cause uncertainty, because nobody knows how they will behave or what effects they will have.

The Cossacks are the wild card in Kazakhstan. Armed and of Russian freebooters whom the tsars allowed to push Russia's frontiers outwards in return for a measure of they claim a million supporters and demand official recognition as a paramilitary force.

One wild card in the situation is the recent election of Jean a Quebecois and an ardent advocate of Canadian as the leader of the opposition Liberal Party.

010carpet







on the carpet
call someone on the carpet
In British English, if someone is on the carpet, they are in trouble for doing something wrong. In American English, you say that they are called on the carpet.

The 22-year-old bad boy of English cricket was on the carpet again this week for storming out of the ground when told a Middlesex committee to wear one of the club's sponsored shirts.

In my hospital, if I ever allowed a nurse or a technician to work alongside me without wearing gloves, I'd be called on the carpet immediately for not protecting our staff.

roll out the red carpet
If you roll out the red carpet for someone, especially someone famous or important, you give them a special welcome and treat them as an honoured guest.

The red carpet was rolled out for Mr Honecker during his visit to Bonn in 1987.

The museum staff rolled out the red carpet; although it was a Sunday, the deputy director came in especially to show us round.

You can also say that someone receives red carpet treatment or a red carpet welcome.

Castro says he's open to any business proposition from abroad, and last week he gave the red carpet treatment to some of Spain's most right-wing business people.

Yeltsin arrived in Rome this morning to a red carpet welcome by Italian officials.

sweep something under the carpet
If you sweep something under the carpet, you try to hide it and forget about it because you find it embarrassing or shameful. Other verbs such as `brush' and `push' are sometimes used instead of `sweep'. This expression is used mainly in British English; the usual American expression is sweep something under the rug.

People often assume if you sweep something under the carpet the problem will go away, but that is not the case.

The problem has been brushed under the carpet for decades.

011corners







cut corners
If you cut corners, you save time, money, or effort by not following the correct procedure or rules for doing something.

Don't try to cut any corners as you'll only be making work for yourself later on.

We have to cut corners in order to keep the discussion reasonably clear.

He accused the Home Office of trying to save money by cutting corners on security.

You can refer to this activity as corner cutting.

It was the Chief Inspector for Police who said that the present working culture was `shot through with corner cutting and expediency'.

Corner-cutting contractors build tiny classrooms and narrow corridors.

the four corners of the world
the four corners of the earth
You can use the four corners of the world or the four corners of the earth to refer to all the different parts of the world, especially the parts that are the furthest away from you. Other nouns referring to areas of land can be used instead of `world' or `earth'.

A foreign correspondent makes his friends in all four corners of the world.

Italy has sent 5,000 soldiers to the four corners of the earth to play their part in peace-keeping and crisis-management operations.

Young people came from the four corners of the nation in search of new ideas.

012country







go to the country
If a head of government or a government goes to the country, they hold a general election. This expression is used in British English.

The Prime Dr is about to call snap elections even though he doesn't have to go to the country for another year.

013cows







until the cows come home 
If you say that you could do something until the cows come home, you mean that you could do it for a very long time.

You can initiate policies until the cows come home, but unless they're monitored at a senior level, you won't get results.

Your child will enjoy this lively tape till the cows come home!

014even







don't get mad, get even
If someone says `don't get mad, get even', they mean that if someone harms you, you should not waste your energy on being angry, but concentrate on harming them in return. Compare get even.

It's a case of don't get mad, get even. Mark Leavis wasn't too happy after Judge Carol Shapiro didn't give him what he wanted in his divorce. So a few hours after the ruling, the Seattle lawyer filed to run against the judge in her bid for a second term on the bench.

get even 
If you get even with someone who has hurt or insulted you, you get your revenge on them. Compare don't get mad, get even.

He is so incensed by what he considers shabby treatment that he's determined to get even.

He'd leapt at this chance to get even with the scum who had killed his sister.

He hasn't kept his side of their that and she means to get even with him.

015degree







give someone the third degree
If someone, especially a policeman or person in authority, gives you the third degree, they ask you a lot of questions in an aggressive manner in order to make you confess to something.

He gives me the third degree and wants me to account for where all the money is.

Surely, she thought, they were supposed to read you your rights before they gave you the third degree.

016dirt







dig up dirt
dig for dirt
dig the dirt
If you say that one person is digging up dirt on another, you mean that the first is trying to find out something that may cause harm to the second. You can also say that someone is digging for dirt, or, in British English, that they are digging the dirt.

They hired a detective firm to dig up dirt on rival.

Scoop-hungry reporters have done everything from going through trash cans digging for dirt on celebrities to paying prostitutes to lure Members of Parliament into compromising positions.

You can describe this activity as dirt-digging.

the a dirt-digging James is framed by a corrupt district attorney and sentenced for manslaughter.

dish the dirt
If you say that one person dishes the dirt on another, you disapprove of the way that the first person spreads stories about the second, especially when they say things that may embarrass or upset that person, or damage their reputation.

Many politicians who maintain that their private lives are their own, are not above dishing the dirt on a fellow politician, if it suits their own political or personal purposes.

In his autobiography Life Is Too was no worse than many of the screen icons of his age. Eight wives on and nudging 80, he has treasured memories of his relationships with the beautiful Ava Gardner and the tragic Judy Garland. the singer, dancer, comedian, and actor holds nothing back. He dishes the dirt on his buddies and smudges his own shoes with admissions of womanising, gambling, and drugs.

People sometimes describe this activity as dirt-dishing.

Some publishers believe that by speaking out as he did, has pushed up the potential value of any dirt-dishing memoirs he cares to write.

do someone dirt   
do the dirt on someone
If someone has done you dirt or has done the dirt on you, they have betrayed you or treated you very badly. This expression is used in American English; the British expression is do the dirty on someone.

They tell me you have done me dirt. Tell me it ain't true.

There is an unofficial biography out of Nancy Reagan which is doing the dirt on her all over the place.

017divide







divide and conquer

divide and rule
If someone in power follows a policy of divide and conquer or divide and rule, they stay in power by making sure that the people under their control quarrel among themselves and so cannot unite to achieve their aims and overthrow their leader. `Divide and rule' is used only in British English.

The same principle of divide and conquer that the Roman Empire used so effectively was applied once again by Yugoslavia's occupiers in 1941.

Trade unions are concerned that management may be tempted into a policy of divide and rule by cultural divisions.

Part of the ruling class's divide and rule policy is promoting barriers between sexes, races, sexualities, nations.

When someone is following one of these policies, you can say that they are dividing and conquering or dividing and ruling.

The Summit sends a very strong message to him that he's not going to divide and conquer.

018dog







die like a dog   
If someone dies like a dog, they die in a painful and undignified way, usually after they have been shot or injured in a violent fight. This is an old-fashioned expression.

film begins with our chic hero stealing cars and ends with him dying like a dog in the street.

a dog and pony show
If you refer to an event as a dog and pony show, you mean that it is very showy because it has been organized in order to impress someone. This expression is used mainly in American English.

I'm bombarding him and the others with charts, graphs, facts, and figures. responds by dozing off during most of our dog and pony show.

The first step in Florida, as in most states, is the governor's office applying for a share of federal grant money. If, months later, the money is granted, state agencies spend more months putting on `dog and pony shows' in hopes of getting a share.

dog-eat-dog
You use dog-eat-dog to describe a situation in which everyone wants to succeed and is willing to harm other people or to use dishonest methods in order to do this.

In the 1992 campaign, that if it was going to be `dog eat dog' he would do anything it took to get himself re-elected.

The TV business today is a dog-eat-dog business.

dog-in-the-manger
If you say that someone has a dog-in-the-manger attitude, you are criticizing them for selfishly wanting to prevent other people from using or enjoying something that they cannot use or enjoy themselves.

I think there'll be a certain group of intransigent Republicans who'll take a dog-in-the-manger kind of attitude and that try to frustrate anything the president wants to achieve.

The council has an ambivalent attitude to the Carnival. On the one hand it has a high regard for its tourist benefits, but on the other does not want it to the thunder too too high a . It's a dog-in-the-manger attitude which has taken the fun out of a great event.

a dog's breakfast
a dog's dinner
If you refer to a situation, event, or piece of work as a dog's breakfast or a dog's dinner, you mean that it is chaotic, badly organized, or very untidy. These expressions are used in British English.

The act created what many admitted was an over-complex but inadequate regulate the selling of life assurance, personal pensions and unit . One senior regulator described it as a dog's breakfast.

Now she's having to watch as those whom she grew up with in politics are in Cabinet and making a dog's breakfast of it.

The whole place was a bit of a dog's dinner, really.

every dog has its day   
If you say `every dog has its day', you mean that everyone will be successful or lucky at some time in their life. This expression is sometimes used to encourage someone at a time when they are not having any success or luck.

Former England Davies said: `Every dog has his day, although the way I kicked throughout the game, who would have thought that drop goal would even reach the posts?'

`I don't have any money to fight him. These people are all the time in court, anyway,' Cecchini says. every dog has its day I have lots of patience.'

it's a dog's life   
People say `it's a dog's life' when they are complaining that their job or situation is unpleasant or boring.

It's a dog's life being a football manager.

you can't teach an old dog new tricks   
If you say `you can't teach an old dog new tricks', you mean that it is often difficult to get people to try new ways of doing things, especially if these people have been doing something in a particular way for a long time.

It is a convenient myth that a person cannot change their personality. Or as the saying leopard cannot change his spots' `You can't teach an old dog new tricks'.

This expression is often varied. For example, if you say `you can teach an old dog new tricks', you mean that it is possible to get people to try new ways of doing something.

Our work shows that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

An old dog can learn new tricks if he has both the will and the opportunity.

019dollars







to doughnuts
If you say that it is dollars to doughnuts that something will happen, you are emphasizing that you are certain it will happen. This expression is used mainly in American English.

It's dollars to doughnuts that the bank of the future will charge more for its services.

Well, I'll bet you, Alex, almost dollars to donuts that I'll wake up at 3am, as I do every morning now.

look a million dollars
feel like a million dollars
If someone looks a million dollars, they look extremely attractive and well-dressed. If someone feels like a million dollars, they feel very healthy and happy.

She looked a million dollars when she got off the plane.

Casual trousers, comfortable shoes, immaculate hair. He looks a million dollars.

After all my injury problems I now feel a million dollars.

It was the most relaxed I've felt in ages. I felt like a million dollars.

020dream







a dream ticket
If two people are considered a dream ticket, they are expected to work well together and have a great deal of success. This expression is usually used to refer to people who are well known, for example politicians or actors. It is used mainly in British journalism.

The move raised the prospect of a `dream ticket' of Tony Blair as leader and John Prescott as his deputy.

It should have been Hollywood's dream ticket: husband and wife Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman starring together in a romantic blockbuster movie.

like a dream
If you do something like a dream, you do it very well. If something happens like a dream, it happens successfully and without any problems.

She had noticed, from across the dance floor, that he danced like a dream.

Wilson, an eminent American biologist who has done more than anyone else to popularise the notion of biodiversity, writes like a dream.

The first stages of installation worked like a dream. Then the procedure threw up an error message.

021drop







at the drop of a hat
If you do something at the drop of a hat, you do it willingly and without hesitation. This expression is often used to suggest that someone does not think carefully enough about their actions.

Part of the answer is having officers on both foot and mobile patrols, and more people sorting out their own minor problems and not calling the police at the drop of a hat.

There is a myth that we are a uniquely uncaring generation, shoving our old folk into institutions at the drop of a hat.

a drop in the ocean
a drop in the bucket
If you say that something, especially an amount of money, is a drop in the ocean or a drop in the bucket, you mean that it is very small in comparison with the amount which is needed or expected, so that its effect is insignificant. `A drop in the bucket' is used mainly in American English.

The size of the grants have been attacked by welfare groups as merely a drop in the ocean.

For West Germany, the Albanian refugees are a drop in the ocean compared to the three thousand East Germans who used to arrive here every day.

It's a tax on what's considered unhealthy habits, like cigarettes and alcohol, it wouldn't unfortunately it wouldn't raise a lot of money. It would be a drop in the bucket, really.

022fat







chew the fat
If you chew the fat with someone, you chat with them in an informal and friendly way about things that interest you.

We'd been lounging around, chewing the fat for a couple of hours.

It's a chat show Cilla's which gives her the chance to chew the fat with the likes of Tony Curtis, Diana Ross and Sir Peter Ustinov.

the fat is in the fire
If you say that the fat is in the fire, you mean that someone has said or done something which is going to upset other people and cause a lot of trouble.

Immediately the fat was in the fire, for in making an accusation directly and in the open, the minister for education and science had broken all the rules.

You can say that someone pulls the fat out of the fire when they prevent or stop trouble by taking acting at a very late stage.

Don't rely on pulling the fat out of the fire by launching a late, last-ditch negative campaign against Clinton.

the fat of the land
If you say that someone is living off the fat of the land, you mean that they have a rich and comfortable lifestyle without having to work hard for it. You often use this expression to criticize someone who is rich because they are exploiting people.

He was pretty fed up with these bloated royalists who were living off the fat of the land and off American aid while the rest of the country was starving, literally.

023means







by fair means or foul
If someone tries to achieve something by fair means or foul, they are prepared to use any possible method to achieve it, and they do not care if their behaviour is dishonest or unfair.

She never gave up trying to recover her property, by fair means or foul.

He accused company of being hell bent on achieving its cuts by whatever means, fair means or foul, irrespective of the financial and emotional impact.

024feelers







put out feelers
In a difficult situation, if you put out feelers, you carefully try to find out about other people's feelings or plans, so that you will know what to do next. You can replace `put' with other verbs such as `send', `have', or `throw'.

We're going to the United States in mid-May to put some feelers out and have a bit of a break, but we've really got more than enough work locally.

`I'm looking to play in Britain at the end of the next Australian season,' he said last night. `I've had some feelers out for one or two clubs already.'

025fig







a fig leaf
Something which is intended to hide an embarrassing or awkward situation can be referred to as a fig leaf.

My interpretation is that the pledge to rejoin the ERM was a fig leaf, designed to indicate that the government's economic strategy was not dead but merely sleeping.

The western world was swift to praise America's intervention, behind the fig-leaf of the United Nations in Somalia.

026fish







a big fish
If you refer to someone as a big fish, you mean that they are important or powerful.

In the Seventies three MPs became embroiled in a scandal surrounding the corrupt activities of a Pontefract architect called John Poulson. Two of them were nonentities, the third was a very big fish indeed.

The four who were arrested here last September were described as really big fish by the U.S. Drug Enforcement agents here, and they are wanted for extradition to the United .

a big fish in a small pond
a big frog in a small pond
If you refer to someone as a big fish in a small pond, you mean that they are one of the most important and influential people in a small organization or social group. You often use this expression to suggest that they would be less important or interesting if they were part of a larger organization or group. This expression is very variable. In American English, you can also talk about a big frog in a small pond, with the same meaning.

In Rhodesia I was a big fish in a small pond. But here there'd be many lean years before I built up a reputation.

As a large fish in a small pond, Smith found it easy to dominate fashion photography in Australia.

Being a big fish in a tiny, stagnant pool clearly gives controversial columnists ideas way above their station.

You can refer to someone as a small fish in a big pond if they are not very important or influential because they are part of a much larger organization or social group.

I was used to being a big fish in a small pond. Now I'm the smallest fish in a very big pond. But that has its own advantages because it stretches you as a designer to try to achieve more.

a cold fish
If you refer to someone as a cold fish, you mean that they seem unemotional, and this makes them appear unfriendly or unsympathetic.

Since is generally seen as a cold fish, it is all the more impressive when he does show his feelings.

He didn't really show much emotion -- he is a bit of a cold fish.

drink like a fish   
If you say that someone drinks like a fish, you mean that they regularly drink a lot of alcohol.

When I was younger I could drink like a fish and eat like a pig.

The father was not too bad but the mother drank like a fish.

a fish out of water
If you feel like a fish out of water, you feel awkward or ill at ease because you are in an unfamiliar situation or surroundings.

I think he thought of himself as a country gentleman and was like a fish out of water in Birmingham.

It's not as if I had any obvious trauma in my life; I just felt like a fish out of water.

You can use fish-out-of-water before a noun, to describe a situation where someone feels awkward or uncomfortable.

The fish-out-of-water feeling continued when she went to study in Cambridge, having already spent two years working in Africa.

have other fish to fry
have bigger fish to fry
If you say that someone is not interested in something because they have other fish to fry or have bigger fish to fry, you mean that they are not interested because they have more important, interesting, or profitable things to do.

I didn't pursue it in detail because I'm afraid I had other fish to fry at the time.

Although she nearly lost her temper with Baker, Linda Robinson tried to avoid wasting time on bureaucratic squabbling. She had bigger fish to fry.

This phrase is often varied. For example, if someone has their own fish to fry, they are not interested in doing something because they have business of their own to attend to.

Tony comes and goes. got his own fish to fry, as they say.

like shooting fish in a barrel   
If you say that a battle or contest is like shooting fish in a barrel, you mean that one side is so much stronger than the other that the weaker side has no chance at all of winning.

I heard one case where some of the had come out and they were saying like shooting fish in a barrel.

While Taylor insists that he is not treating this game as a one-off opportunity to shoot fish in a barrel, he is well aware of the necessity for his players to take a high proportion of the chances that are bound to arise.

neither fish nor fowl
If you say that something or someone is neither fish nor fowl, you mean that they are difficult to identify, classify, or understand, because they seem partly one thing and partly another. People occasionally replace `fish' with `flesh'.

Brunel's vessel was neither fish nor fowl: a passenger liner too ugly and dirty to offer much beyond novelty value.

By the mid-1980s, Canada had a constitution that was neither fish nor fowl in terms of political philosophy.

He thought of that young man Corsari, neither flesh nor fowl, who had made a friend of both girls.

there are plenty more fish in the sea   
there are other fish in the sea
If your romance or love affair has ended and someone says to you `there are plenty more fish in the sea' or `there are other fish in the sea', they are trying to comfort you by pointing out that there are still many other people who you might have a successful relationship with in the future.

If your daughter is upset because her boyfriend left her, declaring cheerfully `There are other fish in the sea' won't help.

Never mind, he says, there are plenty more fish in the sea.

027flag







fly the flag
If you fly the flag for your country or a group to which you belong, you represent it at a sporting event or at some other special occasion, or you do something to show your support for it. Verbs such as `carry' and `show' are sometimes used instead of `fly'.

It doesn't matter whether you are flying the flag for your country, or the Horse Trials Group, or your sponsor, the image you present is all-important.

The Kuwaiti team however have made many friends. They won no medals, but said they were only in Peking to show the flag.

He believed in the sacred power of great music: he felt that he was carrying the flag of high culture, speaking of lofty truths to an educated elite.

keep the flag flying
If you keep the flag flying, you do something to show your support for a group to which you belong, or to show your support for something that you agree with.

I would ask members to keep the flag flying by entering some of their plants in both shows.

It's important that people artists say that they have an entirely different opinion and that they will keep the flag of tolerance flying.

a red flag
You can refer to something that gives a warning of a bad or dangerous situation or event as a red flag. This expression is more commonly used in American English than British. Compare a red flag before a bull; see bull.

These are devices that are necessary components of nuclear weapons, and clearly that raised a red flag in the minds of a lot of people.

I have never seen a set of financial statements that showed more red flags and raised more questions in my life.

Cholesterol was the red flag that alerted millions of Americans to the fact that diet really does matter.

wrap yourself in the flag   
drape yourself in the flag
If you say that someone, especially a politician, is wrapping themselves in the flag or is draping themselves in the flag of their country, you are criticizing them for trying to do something for their own advantage while pretending to do it for the good of their country. These expressions are used mainly in American English.

Politicians always try to wrap themselves in the as politicians do on Independence Day, but I think people can see through that.

Mr. Doherty also chastised advertisers for fighting proposed cigarette ad restrictions by draping themselves in the flag and lecturing about their First Amendment freedoms of speech.

028furniture







part of the furniture
If you say that someone or something is part of the furniture, you mean that they have been present somewhere for such a long time that everyone accepts their presence without questioning it or noticing them.

In ten years he has become part of the furniture of English life, his place on the stage firmly fixed and universally respected.

Once cameras have become part of the furniture, witnesses are so absorbed in answering questions that they forget the cameras are there.

029genie







the genie is out of the bottle
let the genie out of the bottle
put the genie back in the bottle
If something has been done or created which has made a great and permanent change in people's lives, especially a change which people regret, you can say that the genie is out of the bottle or that someone has let the genie out of the bottle.

I would say get the criminals off the street rather than get the guns off the street because I think the genie's out the bottle. You can't get all the guns off the street.

If came to believe that parliament was too disruptive, he might dissolve it and call new elections. But having let the democratic genie out of the bottle, he has to be careful.

People often vary this expression, for example by saying that you cannot put the genie back in the bottle.

We cannot unlearn what we know. We cannot put the genie of knowledge back in its bottle of secrecy and mystery.

For a generation, the world's nuclear powers have talked about restraining the nuclear `genie' in its bottle.

030God







play God
If you say that someone is playing God, you are criticizing them for behaving as if they have unlimited power and can do anything that they want.

insisted that the government should not play God: the market should decide what industries should set up.

These are intelligent people whose response to physicians who yelled and tried to play God was to walk out on treatment.