and

Từ điển LongMan Dictionary

and S1 W1 /ənd, ən; strong ænd/ conjunction
[Language : Old English]
1. used to join two words, phrases etc referring to things that are related in some way:
　 ▪ He’s gone to get some fish and chips.
　 ▪ The film starred Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine.
　 ▪ We’ve dealt with items one, two, and eleven.
　 ▪ He was tall, dark, and handsome.
　 ▪ He plays the guitar and sings folk songs.
　 ▪ She didn’t speak to anyone and nobody spoke to her.

2. used to say that one action or event follows another:
　 ▪ Sit down and tell me all about it.
　 ▪ She picked up the kitten and put it in the box.
　 ▪ He knocked on the door and went in.
　 ▪ You’ll have to wait and see what happens.

3. used to say that something is caused by something else:
　 ▪ I missed supper and I’m starving!
　 ▪ She fell downstairs and broke her leg.

4. used when adding numbers:
　 ▪ Six and four is ten.

5. especially British English used after verbs such as ‘go’, ‘come’, and ‘try’ to show what your intention is:
　 ▪ Shall we go and have a cup of coffee?
　 ▪ I’ll see if I can try and persuade her to come.

6. spoken used to introduce a statement, remark, question etc:
　 ▪ And now I’d like to introduce our next speaker, Mrs Thompson.
　 ▪ ‘She’s getting married in June.’ ‘And who’s the lucky man?’
REGISTER
In written English, avoid starting a sentence with and:
▪ And now we come onto the issue of homelessness. ➔ We now come onto the issue of homelessness.

7. used between repeated words to emphasize what you are saying:
　 ▪ More and more people are losing their jobs.
　 ▪ We waited for hours and hours!
　 ▪ That was years and years ago.
　 ▪ We ran and ran.

8.
a) used before saying the part of a large number which is less than 100:
　 ▪ a hundred and four
　 ▪ five hundred and seventy-six
　 ▪ by the year two thousand and ten
b) used when saying a number which consists of a whole number followed by a fraction:
　 ▪ three and three-quarters
　 ▪ in about two and a half hours’ time
　 ▪ five and a quarter per cent

9. used between repeated plural nouns to say that some things of a particular kind are much better than others:
　 ▪ ‘They said this guy was an expert.’ ‘Yes, but there are experts and experts.’

10. and?
spoken used when you want someone to add something to what they have just said:
　 ▪ ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘And?’ ‘And I promise it won’t happen again.’

conjunction
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a correlation exists between sth and sth
▪ A strong correlation exists between social class and exam success.
a cup and saucer
▪ Do you prefer a mug or a cup and saucer?
a cycle of poverty/activity/birth and death etc
▪ the cycle of violence between the two countries
a map and compass
▪ Always take a map and compass with you in the mountains.
a needle and thread
▪ I got a needle and thread and sewed the button back on.
a shirt and tie
▪ I have to wear a shirt and tie to work.
a star of stage and screen (=a star who has been in plays and films)
▪ Now this much-loved star of stage and screen has been made a Dame.
above and beyond (=greater than it is your duty to show)
▪ medals awarded for bravery above and beyond the call of duty
accident and emergency
aches and pains
▪ Everyone has a few aches and pains when they get older.
aches and pains (=slight feelings of pain that are not considered to be serious)
▪ Apart from the usual aches and pains, she felt all right.
advantages and disadvantages (=the good and bad features of something)
▪ Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.
aims and objectives (=the things you hope to achieve)
▪ These aims and objectives are set out in chapters two and three.
aims and objectives (=all the things someone wants to achieve)
▪ The department should clearly state its aims and objectives.
alive and kicking
▪ The sport is still very much alive and kicking in this country.
alive and well
▪ Apparently he’s alive and well and living in Brazil.
alive and well
▪ Christianity is alive and well in Asia.
and a good thing/job tooBritish English
▪ She’s gone, and a good thing too.
and all that malarkey
▪ You don’t believe in ghosts and all that malarkey, do you?
and also
▪ She sings beautifully and also plays the flute and piano.
and over
▪ People earning £33,000 and over will pay the higher rate of tax.
and that’s final! (=used to say forcefully that you will not change your decision)
▪ She’s not coming with us, and that’s final!
and up
▪ Children aged 12 and up must pay the full fare.
and upwards
▪ children of 14 and upwards
and yet
▪ She does not speak our language and yet she seems to understand what we say.
and you know it
▪ ‘That’s not what I mean, and you know it,’ he protested.
and/or above
▪ officers of the rank of Major and above
and/or above
▪ free medical care for pensioners aged 65 and above
▪ Prize winners must have gained marks of 80% or above.
and/or below
▪ free travel for children four years old and below
and/or below
▪ officers of the rank of captain and below
and/or under
▪ Children aged 12 or under must be accompanied by an adult.
arrive safe and sound (=safely)
▪ It was a great relief when he arrived back safe and sound.
arts and crafts (=things produced by artists and craftsmen or women)
▪ an exhibition of Indian arts and crafts
as different as chalk and cheese
▪ The two brothers are as different as chalk and cheese.
assault and battery
at home and abroad
▪ The books about Harry Potter have been very popular, both at home and abroad.
B and B
▪ a small B and B in the Cotswolds
bacon and egg
▪ Joe always has bacon and egg for breakfast.
ball and chain
▪ The lower-tech side of the business was seen as a ball and chain.
bed and board
bed and breakfast
▪ Is there anyone who does bed and breakfast round here?
be/get out and about (=go to places where you can meet people)
▪ Most teenagers would rather be out and about with their friends.
black and blue
▪ If you do that again, I’ll beat you black and blue.
black and white
▪ black and white photos
block and tackle
blood and gore (=violence)
▪ He likes movies with plenty of blood and gore .
blur the distinction between sth and sth (=make it less clear)
▪ Both sides in the war had been blurring the distinction between military and civilian targets.
board and lodging (=meals and a room)
▪ It’s £90 a week for board and lodging .
bobbed...up and down
▪ The boat bobbed gently up and down on the water.
born and raised (=was born and grew up)
▪ I was born and raised in Alabama.
born and raised
▪ Camus was born and raised in Algeria.
bouncing up and down
▪ Stop bouncing up and down on the sofa.
bound and gagged (=tied up, and with cloth tied around your mouth so you cannot speak)
bound and gagged (=tied up and with something over their mouth that stops them speaking)
▪ He left his victim bound and gagged .
bow and arrow
▪ a bow and arrow
boys and girls
▪ Both boys and girls can apply to join the choir.
bread and cheese
▪ Lunch was bread and cheese.
break down and weep (=start crying)
▪ As she watched his plane taxi away, she broke down and wept.
breaking and entering
bribery and corruption
▪ the major crimes of bribery and corruption
bribery and corruption (=bribery and dishonest behaviour)
▪ He was found guilty of bribery and corruption.
bubble and squeak
came from far and wide (=came from many places)
▪ People came from far and wide to see the concert.
carrot and stick approach
▪ the government’s carrot and stick approach in getting young people to find jobs
cash and carry
cause and effect (=the idea that one thing directly causes another)
▪ What happened was simply a question of cause and effect.
chaos and confusion
▪ Heavy flooding has created chaos and confusion throughout the country.
cheap and cheerfulBritish English (= simple and not expensive, but of reasonable quality)
▪ a cheap and cheerful Italian restaurant
cheap and nasty
▪ The furniture looked cheap and nasty.
cheap and nasty
▪ a market stall selling cheap and nasty watches
cheese and biscuits
▪ After the meal we had coffee with cheese and biscuits.
chip and pin
▪ Most shoppers prefer chip and pin to the old system.
clean and tidyespecially BrE:
▪ I insist my children keep their rooms clean and tidy.
clear and concise
▪ Your summary should be as clear and concise as possible.
cold and unfeeling
▪ Dave had been quite wrong to call Michelle cold and unfeeling.
cold and wet
▪ I was too cold and wet to keep going.
collar and tie
▪ He loosened his collar and tie.
come out and say
▪ At least he’s got the courage to come out and say what he thinks.
compare and contrast (=an expression used when telling students to write about the things that are similar or different in works of literature or art)
▪ Compare and contrast the main characters of these two novels.
comparing and contrasting (=showing how two things are similar and different)
▪ an essay comparing and contrasting Verdi and Wagner and their operas
complete and utter
▪ I watched in complete and utter horror as he pulled out a gun.
cool, calm, and collected
▪ She wanted to arrive feeling cool, calm, and collected.
cool, calm, and collected
▪ Outwardly she is cool, calm, and collected.
cost an arm and a leg (=have a price that is much too high)
▪ A skiing holiday needn’t cost you an arm and a leg.
coughing and spluttering
▪ Bill started coughing and spluttering.
country and western
crash and burn
▪ His bid for the presidency finally did its crash-and-burn.
cup and saucer
▪ a china cup and saucer
Customs and Excise
cut and dried
▪ I don’t think the plan is as cut and dried as people think.
cuts and bruises (=cuts and dark marks on the skin)
▪ He escaped the crash with just a few cuts and bruises.
D and C
Darby and Joan
day and night/night and day (=all the time)
▪ The phones rang day and night.
day and night/night and day (=all the time)
▪ The phones rang day and night.
dead and goneinformal (= completely dead)
▪ Let’s face it, we’ll all be dead and gone soon.
declared null and void
▪ The contract was declared null and void.
Department For Innovation, Universities, and Skills, the
doom and gloom (=when there seems no hope)
▪ The picture is not all doom and gloom - some tourist areas are still drawing in the crowds.
doom and gloom/gloom and doom (=bad things that may happen in the future)
▪ The newspapers are always full of doom and gloom.
doom and gloom/gloom and doom (=bad things that may happen in the future)
▪ The newspapers are always full of doom and gloom.
dozens and dozens
▪ We collected dozens and dozens of shells on the beach.
drag and drop
▪ You can drag and drop text like this.
dribs and drabs
▪ The guests arrived in dribs and drabs.
drift in and out of consciousness (=be awake and then not awake, and then awake again, etc)
▪ He had a high temperature and was drifting in and out of consciousness.
drift in and out of sleep (=keep almost waking up)
▪ I lay in the garden, drifting in and out of sleep.
drifted in and out of consciousness
▪ He drifted in and out of consciousness.
drink and drive
▪ Don’t drink and drive.
drunk and disorderly
▪ Bell denied being drunk and disorderly.
ducks and drakes
each and every one of
▪ These are issues that affect each and every one of us.
ebb and flow
▪ the ebb and flow of the tide
ebb and flow
▪ We watched the tide ebb and flow.
England and Wales Cricket Board, the
Equality And Human Rights Commission, the
every shape and size
▪ The plants grow in every shape and size.
fame and fortune (=being rich and famous)
▪ He came to London to seek fame and fortune.
fast and furious
▪ The action is fast and furious.
fear and loathing
▪ The nightmare left her with a sense of fear and loathing.
fine and dandy
▪ We’re at our hotel, and everything is fine and dandy.
first and last (=it was the only mountain I ever climbed)
▪ The first and last mountain I climbed was Mount Rundle .
fish and chips
▪ Why don't we stop off for some fish and chips on the way home?
fish and chips
▪ fish and chips
fish and chips
▪ Get some fish and chips on your way home.
fish/fruit and vegetable/flower etc market
▪ There’s a good antiques market here on Sundays.
fixtures and fittingsBritish English (= all the equipment that is normally included as part of a house or building when it is sold)
flashed on and off (=shone for a short time and then stopped shining)
▪ Red warning lights flashed on and off.
flora and fauna (=plants and animals)
▪ Tourism is damaging the flora and fauna of the island.
flotsam and jetsam
▪ He would walk along the beach collecting the flotsam and jetsam that had been washed ashore.
flotsam and jetsam
▪ works of art made from the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life
flotsam and jetsam
▪ Camps were set up to shelter the flotsam and jetsam of the war.
foot and mouth disease
footloose and fancy-free (=free and without worries)
▪ When the kids leave home, you’ll be footloose and fancy-free .
footloose and fancy-free
▪ Ten years ago I was footloose and fancy-free.
forever and a day
▪ The meeting seemed to go on forever and a day.
forgive and forget (=forgive someone and no longer think about it)
▪ He didn’t look the sort of man to forgive and forget .
free and easy
▪ the free-and-easy atmosphere of the local pub
friends and relations
▪ We miss our friends and relations in the UK.
friends and relatives
▪ About thirty-five close friends and relatives attended the wedding.
front and center
▪ Prayer in schools has become a front-and-center issue.
fruit and vegetables
▪ fruit and vegetables
further and further
▪ Marcus sank further and further into debt.
get pins and needles
▪ I’ll have to move because I’m starting to get pins and needles in my foot.
gin and tonic
go and get
▪ Shall I go and get the phone book?
good and evil
▪ You have to teach your kids about right and wrong, good and evil.
good and evil
▪ the struggle between good and evil
good and ready (=completely ready)
▪ This time he waited until he was good and ready.
goods and chattels
goods and services
▪ The company provides a range of specialized goods and services.
grin and bear it (=accept it without complaining)
▪ It was a horrible job but she had to grin and bear it.
hammer and sickle
health and fitness
▪ books about health and fitness
health and safety rules
▪ You should follow any health and safety rules which apply to your workplace.
health and safety (=things that are done to prevent people becoming ill or having accidents during an activity)
▪ The Agency’s function is to promote health and safety at work.
health and safety
▪ health and safety regulations
health and well-being
▪ The breakfast program improves the health and well-being of the children.
heart and soul (=all your feelings)
▪ She loved Peter with all her heart and soul.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
here and now
▪ Let’s settle the matter here and now.
highs and lows (of sth) (=good times and bad times)
▪ the highs and lows of an actor’s life
highs and lows
▪ the emotional highs and lows of a new romance
highways and byways (=the important and less important parts)
▪ a scholar exploring the highways and byways of Russian music
hire and fire (=employ and dismiss people)
▪ the power to hire and fire
hither and thither (=backwards and forwards)
▪ Coloured fish darted hither and thither .
hook and eye
hope and pray
▪ I hope and pray that this is a misunderstanding.
hopes and aspirations
▪ their hopes and aspirations for the future
hot and cold food
▪ The bar serves hot and cold food.
hot and sticky
▪ It was hot and sticky and there was nowhere to sit.
hue and cry
hustle and bustle
▪ the hustle and bustle of the market place
if and when (=if it happens or when it happens)
▪ We’ll face that problem if and when it comes along .
in and around
▪ the new housing areas in and around Dublin
in general and...in particular
▪ We’re trying to raise awareness about the environment in general and air pollution in particular.
in the dim and distant pasthumorous (= a long time ago)
▪ Back in the dim and distant past when I was at school, computers didn’t exist.
in the dim and distant past (=a very long time ago)
▪ I think she sang Ireland's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest sometime in the dim and distant past.
ins and outs
▪ I don’t really know all the ins and outs of the matter.
iron and steel
▪ the iron and steel industry
It is only right and proper
▪ It is only right and proper that an independent inquiry should take place.
it is raining cats and dogs informal (= it is raining very hard – this phrase sounds rather old-fashioned)
it was nip and tuck
▪ We made it to the airport, but it was nip and tuck.
Jekyll and Hyde
jumping up and down (=jumping repeatedly)
▪ Fans were jumping up and down and cheering.
keep on and on
▪ There’s no need to keep on and on about it!
kiss and make up
▪ Oh come on! Why don’t you just kiss and make up?
kith and kin
knives and forks
▪ Put the knives and forks on the table.
ladies and gentlemen
▪ Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
law of supply and demand
▪ the law of supply and demand
Learning and Skills Council, the
license and registration
▪ May I see your license and registration, ma'am?
light and airy
▪ All the hotel’s bedrooms are light and airy.
like chalk and cheese
▪ They’re like chalk and cheese, those two.
likes and dislikes
▪ A good hotel manager should know his regular guests’ likes and dislikes.
long and hard (=hard, for a long time, before making a decision)
▪ I thought long and hard about taking the role.
look sb up and down (=look at someone in order to judge their appearance or character)
▪ Maisie looked her rival up and down with a critical eye.
love and kisses (=used at the end of a letter )
▪ See you soon. Lots of love and kisses from Anna.
make do and mend (=when someone manages with the things they have and does not buy anything new)
▪ For many people, make do and mend was a harsh reality.
me and my big mouth (=said when you wish you had not told someone a secret)
meek and mild
▪ He was always so meek and mild.
moaned and groaned
▪ He moaned and groaned all the way there.
moaning and groaning
▪ I’m tired of him moaning and groaning all the time.
morning, noon, and night (=all the time)
▪ She nagged at him morning, noon, and night.
mother and child
▪ the relationship between mother and child
myths and legends
▪ I read and reread the Greek myths and legends.
name and shameBritish English (= say publicly who is responsible for something illegal that has happened, or who has not achieved a particular standard)
neat and cleanespecially AmE:
▪ Her kids were always neat and clean.
neat and clean
▪ His clothes were always neat and clean.
neat and tidy
▪ Everything in the house was neat and tidy.
neat and tidy
▪ Ellen’s room is always neat and tidy.
new and exciting
▪ The theme park has many new and exciting rides.
nice and clean (=clean)
▪ Their job is to keep the streets nice and clean.
nice and quiet
▪ I’d love to go on holiday somewhere where it’s nice and quiet.
nice and warm/clean/easy/quiet etc
▪ The house seemed nice and tidy.
noughts and crosses
odds and ends
▪ He didn’t keep much in his desk – just a few odds and ends.
older and wiser
▪ At the time I thought he was wonderful, but I’m older and wiser now.
on and on (=talked for a very long time)
▪ He went on and on about his job all evening.
on your hands and knees (=in a crawling position)
▪ They got down on their hands and knees to search.
one/two etc and a half
▪ ‘How old is she?’ ‘Five and a half.’
onwards and upwards
▪ With exports strong, the business is moving onwards and upwards.
over and done with (=completely finished)
▪ I’ll be glad when the exams are over and done with.
over (and done) with (=used about something unpleasant)
▪ I’m so glad the mid-term exams are over and done with.
▪ You’d better give them the bad news. Do it now – get it over with.
overworked and underpaid
▪ Teachers are overworked and underpaid.
pacing...up and down
▪ I found Mark at the hospital, pacing restlessly up and down.
pain and suffering
▪ the pain and suffering caused by road accidents
painter and decoratorBritish English
painting and decoratingBritish English
park and ride
pay and conditions (=the conditions in which people work and the pay they get)
▪ The unions are demanding better pay and conditions.
peace and harmony
▪ We must stop these disagreements in the interests of peace and harmony.
peace and prosperity
▪ We have had eight years of peace and prosperity.
peace and quiet
▪ We love the peace and quiet here.
peace and quiet
▪ I’ve had an awful day – now I just want some peace and quiet.
peace and security
▪ The UN was designed to uphold global peace and security.
peace and stability
▪ The people of Congo richly deserve peace and stability.
peace and tranquillity
▪ People come here to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of this lovely area.
peaks and troughs (=high points and low points)
▪ Sales went through a number of peaks and troughs in the last fiscal year.
pen and ink
▪ a pen and ink drawing
pins and needles
▪ I’ll have to move because I’m starting to get pins and needles in my foot.
pitch and roll
▪ the pitch and roll of the ship
plug and play
pluses and minuses
▪ There are both pluses and minuses to living in a big city.
pomp and ceremony
▪ The Queen’s birthday was celebrated with great pomp and ceremony.
pomp and circumstance (=an impressive ceremony)
▪ all the pomp and circumstance of a treaty signing
postage and packingBrE,postage and handling American English (= the charge for packing and sending something you have bought)
▪ It’s yours for £13.99, including postage and packing.
pots and pans
▪ pots and pans
prim and proper
▪ a very prim and proper young lady
profit and loss account
puffed and panted
▪ George puffed and panted as he tried to keep up.
Punch and Judy show
purely and simply
▪ I do it purely and simply for the money.
pushing and shoving
▪ Everyone was pushing and shoving to see the prince.
put some distance between yourself and sb/sth (=go quite a long way from them)
▪ He wanted to put some distance between himself and his pursuers.
rank and file
▪ The rank and file of the party had lost confidence in the leadership.
ranting and raving
▪ He was still ranting and raving the next morning.
ranting and raving
▪ Why don’t you stop ranting and raving for a minute and listen?
read and write
▪ Kerry could read and write when she was five.
ready and waiting
▪ When the doorbell rang he was ready and waiting.
ready and willing
▪ She was ready and willing to work hard.
research and development
rhythm and blues
rise and fall
▪ The rise and fall of the dancers’ bodies creates a pattern.
rise and fall (=period of success followed by failure)
▪ the story of Napoleon’s rise and fall
risk life and limb (=risk your life and health)
▪ Why risk life and limb jumping out of a plane just to raise money for charity?
rock and roll
rocking to and fro
▪ She covered her face, rocking to and fro in her grief.
room and board
▪ You’ll receive free room and board with the job.
rough and tumble
▪ the rough and tumble of public life
round and round
▪ He stared at the washing machine, just watching the clothes go round and round.
rules and conventions
▪ Rules and conventions permeate the whole of social life.
rules and regulations
▪ We must reduce the number of rules and regulations.
rules and regulations
▪ The government keeps introducing more and more rules and regulations.
safe and sound/well (=unharmed, especially after being in danger)
▪ The missing children were found safe and sound.
sales and marketing
▪ a career in sales and marketing
savings and loan association
sb's last will and testamentformal (= sb's will)
sb’s dreams and ambitions
▪ He told her all about his dreams and ambitions.
sb’s hopes and dreams (=all the things someone hopes for)
▪ We talked about all our hopes and dreams for the future.
sb’s hopes and fears
▪ We each had different hopes and fears about the trip.
sb’s hopes and fears (=all the things someone hopes for and is afraid of)
▪ The crew members have different hopes and fears about the trip.
sb’s name and address
▪ We’ll need your full name and address.
science and technology
▪ developments in science and technology
scream and shout
▪ People were screaming and shouting in the streets.
scrimped and saved
▪ They scrimped and saved for years to buy their own home.
search high and low (=search everywhere)
▪ We searched high and low for him, but couldn’t find him.
shampoo and set (=when someone washes your hair and then dries it so that it has a particular style, especially using curlers)
shipping and handling
▪ The jewelry can be yours for $15 plus shipping and handling.
shipshape and Bristol fashionBritish English (= shipshape)
shock and awe
shoes and socks
▪ We took off our shoes and socks and waded in the stream.
short and snappy
▪ Keep your answer short and snappy.
short and sweet (=short in a way that is good, especially not talking for a long time)
▪ I promise to keep the meeting short and sweet.
short back and sides
show and tell
▪ Ramona brought in a fossil for show and tell.
skull and crossbones
slip/stumble/trip etc and fall
▪ He slipped and fell on the ice.
slow but/and steady
▪ She is making a slow but steady recovery.
soap and water
▪ Did you wash your hands with soap and water?
spick and span
stage and screen (=the theatre and films)
▪ a star of stage and screen
Stars and Stripes, the
steak and kidney pudding
▪ steak and kidney pudding
stiff and formal
▪ Their goodbyes were stiff and formal.
strengths and weaknesses
▪ All technologies have different strengths and weaknesses.
strengths and weaknesses
▪ The plan has strengths and weaknesses.
stresses and strains
▪ Holidays help people to cope with the stresses and strains of life.
stresses and strains (=a lot of different worries that are caused by something)
▪ the stresses and strains of everyday life
stuck by...through thick and thin
▪ Jean has stuck by her husband through thick and thin.
stuck together through thick and thin
▪ Then, families stuck together through thick and thin.
stuff and nonsenseold-fashioned (= nonsense)
▪ When asked what he thought of astrology, he replied, 'Stuff and nonsense!'
such and such
▪ They will ask you to come on such and such a day, at such and such a time.
suffered the slings and arrows
▪ We’ve all suffered the slings and arrows of day-to-day living.
supply and demand
▪ the law of supply and demand
swinging...back and forth
▪ He was swinging his bag back and forth.
tall, dark, and handsome
▪ Sam was tall, dark, and handsome.
terms and conditions (=what a contract says must be done)
▪ Before you buy online, make sure you read the terms and conditions.
the advantages and disadvantages of sth
▪ the advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city
the dead and injured/wounded/dying
▪ Most of the dead and injured had been passengers on the bus.
the dim and distant future (=a very long time from now)
▪ He plans to get married in the dim and distant future.
the ins and outs
▪ I don’t really know all the ins and outs of the matter.
The merits and demerits (=the good and bad qualities)
▪ The merits and demerits of this argument have been explored.
the one and only
▪ the one and only Frank Sinatra
the pain comes and goes (=keeps starting and stopping)
▪ The pain comes and goes but it’s never too severe.
the rich and famous
▪ a nightclub used by the rich and famous
the rise and fall of sb/sth
▪ The exhibition tells the story of the rise and fall of the Etruscan civilisation.
there and back
▪ It’s possible to travel there and back in a day.
there and back
▪ It’s too far to drive there and back in one day.
thought long and hard
▪ He had thought long and hard before getting involved with the project.
three score years and tenold use (= 70 years, a person’s expected length of life)
thunder and lightning
▪ After a few minutes, the thunder and lightning moved further away.
thunder and lightning
▪ Rain fell steadily for an hour, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
time and a half
▪ We get time and a half for working on Sunday.
time and motion study
to and fro
to and fro
toing and froing
▪ After much toing and froing, they finally reached a decision.
tongue and groove
▪ tongue and groove floorboards
track and field
trade and industry (=producing goods, and buying and selling them)
▪ He works for the Department of Trade and Industry.
tripped and fell
▪ He tripped and fell.
unbridgeable gulf/gap/chasm etc (between sb/sth and sb/sth)
▪ the unbridgeable gulf between the rich and the poor
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
up and about (=out of bed after an illness and moving around normally)
▪ It’s good to see you up and about again .
up and running
▪ There could well be a few problems before your new computer is up and running properly.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
vim and vigour
▪ She was full of vim and vigour.
wait and see
▪ We’ll just have to wait and see.
warm and comfortable
▪ The house is warm and comfortable even in winter.
warm and cosy
▪ The living room was warm and cosy.
warm and friendly
▪ The Hungarian people are warm and friendly.
warm and snug
▪ The kids were warm and snug in their beds.
was dragged kicking and screaming
▪ The London Stock Exchange was dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century.
wattle and daub (=this frame covered with clay)
▪ walls made of wattle and daub
ways and means
▪ We are discussing ways and means of bringing jobs to our area.
weaving in and out of
▪ cyclists weaving in and out of the traffic
weep and wail (=cry and make loud sad noises – often used humorously)
▪ The baby wept and wailed all the way through the ceremony.
weighing up the pros and cons (=the advantages and disadvantages)
▪ We’re still weighing up the pros and cons of the two options.
weird and wonderful (=very strange)
▪ They sell all sorts of weird and wonderful products.
went on and on about
▪ He just went on and on about his new girlfriend.
went on and on (=continued for a long time)
▪ The screaming went on and on.
wet and muddy
▪ His boots were wet and muddy.
wheeling and dealing
wild and crazy
▪ Donny could be wild and crazy.
winners and losers
▪ In a capitalist society there will always be winners and losers.
worse and worse
▪ The bullying got worse and worse.
yin and yang
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
know sth backwards and forwards
(all) signed and sealed
(and the) same to you!
▪ "Have a happy New Year!" "Thanks - same to you."
(and) deservedly so
▪ It received universally ecstatic reviews, and deservedly so.
▪ Nandina is long favored, and deservedly so.
▪ The move up to verse can be ineffective, deservedly so.
▪ The next day, the press criticism was withering, deservedly so.
(and) what's more
▪ These detergents are environmentally friendly; what's more, they're relatively cheap.
▪ What's more, the price of a mobile home often includes appliances.
▪ All stylishly embossed with your club's emblem. What's more, each item carries an equally attractive price tag.
▪ And what's more it's clean.
▪ And what's more it's encouraging people to be brief and efficient.
▪ And what's more, I can always teach.
▪ And what's more, scarce a word out of you.
▪ And what's more, they're free!
▪ The company is perceived through its design, is judged by it. What's more, people buy design rather than function.
▪ Yes, it had a heater and, what's more, you could even have air conditioning and automatic transmission.
(and) what's more
(every) now and then/now and again
(leave sb/sth) high and dry
▪ Between breakups the continents stood high and dry.
▪ But at Hereford, the oil level had been allowed to drop, leaving the probe high and dry.
▪ It is profitable, but it leaves the comic muse high and dry.
▪ Otherwise, a drop in the water level might leave boaters high and dry and give property owners mudflat views.
▪ Some crews actually rope cell phones down to high and dry rock climbers to get information.
▪ The pirates left us high and dry!
▪ Unfortunately, instead of being integrated in a general hospital as planned, the wing will now be left high and dry.
▪ When Matt married Inez I was left high and dry.
(put) daylight between yourself and sb
(see and) be seen
... and shit
... and stuff
... and the devil take the hindmost
... and the rest is history
▪ But then he started scribbling away at A Year in Provence and the rest is history.
▪ Dependence was imposed and the rest is history and green beans, cotton tee-shirts, patronage, and serfdom.
▪ He was initially hired by the Oxford Mail, then began to concentrate on sport, and the rest is history.
▪ Manufacturers responded by building cheaper modem hardware, and the rest is history.
▪ She noticed that he had a cute bum - and the rest is history.
▪ Then, when he was 17, he picked up a basketball, and the rest is history.
... and what have you
▪ The shelves were crammed with books, documents, and what have you.
... or/and whatever (else)
▪ And the same thing applies to people who have collections of quite valueless things: baskets, keys, hats or whatever.
▪ And then they go and tell their friends that it's either good or bad or whatever.
▪ I was feeling like I had to wrap things up and get dinner for the kids, or whatever.
▪ It favors close-up pictures and whatever can be seen in the immediate foreground.
▪ Learning about landscape design, you know - using natural features, hills or rivers or whatever - and improving on it.
▪ Politics, sexuality or whatever, must be a framework to build on, not a rigid cage which restricts change.
▪ There was a swift flow of air through the room, and whatever it was moved and sat down on the chair.
Ye cannot serve God and Mammon
a ... and a half
▪ Federal employees were again told to stay at home after the city was buried under a foot and a half of snow.
▪ He has been engaged to another girl for over a year and a half.
▪ In the previous half-century it could not have been more than a million and a half in all.
▪ Jones is in a Merseyside clinic after losing a stone and a half in weight over the last seven days.
▪ Raymo led him a block and a half south.
▪ The firehouse is about a mile and a half away from my house.
▪ This phase was to last a year and a half and it was a period of general ineffectuality.
a chicken and egg situation/problem etc
▪ It's a chicken and egg situation really.
a fine line between sth and sth
▪ It's a fine line between guilt and shame.
▪ There's a fine line between clever and stupid and Warrant are nowhere near it.
a fool and his money are soon parted
a happy medium (between sth and sth)
a matter of life and/or death
a song and dance (about sth)
▪ Barney, he had these two sons - tried to set up a song and dance act.
▪ But to the children of Gloucestershire, it's just making a song and dance about having fun.
▪ I think most conductors would have stopped and made a song and dance.
▪ If she had wanted to stay she'd have made a song and dance, but it was better to move.
▪ Look here, there's no need to make a song and dance of it.
▪ This theme has a curious persistence, but one does not need a song and dance about it.
again and again/time and (time) again/over and over again
aid and abet
▪ Activist tendencies aid and abet stage 1, having experiences.
▪ But Selikoff persisted in his campaign against asbestos, aided and abetted by labor unions and environmental groups.
▪ It has been aided and abetted.
▪ It isn't eased by the knowledge that the bankers who aided and abetted these exercises have suffered as much as anybody.
▪ Second, the doctor has aided and abetted the patient only in his refusal to undergo further treatment.
▪ The hack drivers aided and abetted this extortion, hustling unwary tourists to the Davis establishment.
▪ What if these citizens were quietly protected, even aided and abetted, by our elected officials?
▪ Where were those dark Plutonian forces when she needed them to aid and abet her plotting?
all and sundry
▪ After the book signing Clancy stood around talking to all and sundry.
▪ Her sister told her mother, who then told all and sundry.
▪ Also, lifts that are open to all and sundry seem to be readily vandalised or used as public toilets.
▪ By removing the mystique immediately, you avoid the excruciatingly embarrassing guesswork by all and sundry.
▪ Duggie Brown is excruciatingly convincing as the sleazy, no-talent compere whose best reward is to grope all and sundry.
▪ He throws his largesse to all and sundry.
▪ He was, of course, revered by all and sundry in the hutted West Camp, Cranwell.
▪ Innocent must have been beset with petitions and business from all and sundry.
▪ It was not an indiscriminate method of handing out money to all and sundry.
▪ Nevertheless, there are always some cowboys who like to argue with all and sundry, including their horse.
all present and correct
▪ Her face, its small universe, was all present and correct.
▪ Missiles are there, all present and correct as listed by the Pentagon.
▪ The 15 all present and correct had between them an astonishing 533 years' service.
all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy)
all's fair in love and war
▪ Ah, come on; all's fair in love and war, Cameron.
and (all) that
▪ A small part of law work, and that of a very low status, is concerned with the working class.
▪ In this way, the student can gain confidence by knowing that he made the decisions and that they were sensible ones.
▪ They were the things we always did, and that night we took a darling nap and did them all again.
▪ Waugh is indeed aware of it, and that is the piercing tragedy at the heart of Brideshead.
▪ We have learned only that he told the news, and that the people cried out in anguish.
and I'm the Queen of Sheba
and all
▪ Day after day we were fog-bound in East Anglia and all our aircraft were grounded.
▪ Great determination and guts and all that sort of thing.
▪ She had survived the accident, and all that mess afterwards.
▪ Six different nationalities were represented, ages were from 24 to 35 and all were from different backgrounds.
▪ The concept of reason and all speculation about personal opinion would ever after be dismissed as tribal, beliefs fabricated by sects.
▪ These provide clean, comfortable accommodation with private facilities, and all are offered on a bed and breakfast basis.
▪ Yes, about the fancy dress, the Dior accessories, and all of that.
and all that business
and all that jazz
▪ Yeah, bring in the candy bars, the cookies, and all that jazz.
▪ The cookies and all that jazz.
and all the rest of it
▪ Capitalist accompanies its development with a fanfare about freedom of choice, free markets, and all the rest of it.
▪ Groan, groan, and all the rest of it.
▪ I've already lost one house and a business and a car, two cars, and all the rest of it.
▪ I understand the problems in hung Parliaments, and all the rest of it.
▪ None of the overtones of subordination and all the rest of it would have been present to the Hebrew.
▪ The cooking and cleaning and homework-checking and shopping and all the rest of it.
▪ Told me I was jumping to conclusions and weaving fantasies and all the rest of it.
▪ You couldn't care less about education and health and all the rest of it.
and another thing
▪ And another thing! Where's the fifty dollars you owe me?
▪ Oh, and another thing: Prices will go down, too, as much as three to five bucks per dish.
and co
and counting
and don't you forget it!
and everything
▪ Forbes would keep it pure, getting rid of the home mortgage, medical expense and charitable deductions and everything else.
▪ Forms and everything and she said yes.
▪ He is also pledging his private jet and everything else his family owns.
▪ I walked out the door and everything had different colors to it.
▪ I was vulnerable to everyone and everything.
▪ My hearing was gone momentarily, and everything seemed to be in slow motion.
▪ The movies had broken through to a vast new public and everything was on a different scale.
and how!
▪ "Did you like your hot dog?" "And how!"
and it's a big if
and no mistake
▪ A good sort and no mistake.
▪ But there was no fluke, and no mistake, about what happened here Sunday.
▪ It was a Cinderella dress and no mistake.
▪ It was a real kettle of fish and no mistake.
▪ My word, it's a bad business and no mistake.
▪ She was a lively one and no mistake.
▪ They looked like barmen and no mistake.
and now
▪ And now, live from New York, it's "Saturday Night!"
▪ But open-bridging is a big business and now accounts for borrowing of about £430 million a year.
▪ It was once a farmhouse, and now the outbuildings are being converted into self-catering accommodation.
▪ Only one vine grew and now it has one squash, all of three inches in diameter, and about ten flowers.
▪ She became a pilot and now flies jumbo jets between Bali, Hawaii and Los Angeles.
▪ The alleged victim failed to appear in court, and now the case is on appeal in a federal court.
▪ These old men had taught us a lesson, and now the rest of us had to carry on.
▪ They had run out of % el and now drifted here and there with the tides.
▪ Unfortunately the label came detached from the image and now we don't know who painted it!
and rightly so
▪ We were blamed, and rightly so, for this mess.
▪ For the most part, criteria of critical reasoning are internal to disciplines or professional fields, and rightly so.
▪ It will undoubtedly be one for public debate, and rightly so.
▪ Many organizations see this as a blind leap of faith, and rightly so.
▪ Such an arrangement would probably be considered out of the question today, and rightly so.
▪ Symphony No. 88 has always been a favourite and rightly so, as well as the Oxford, helped by its nickname.
▪ The Bolshevik reputation stood high, and rightly so, for at least they acknowledged the question and officially embraced national independence.
▪ The reaction to arguments from silence is usually noisy vituperation, and rightly so.
▪ The White House would not put the president in that position again and rightly so.
and so
▪ So it was in Karachi last week and so it was at Lord's last summer.
▪ Jack is down and so is Fogarty, so put on your kicking shoes, folks.
▪ Please would we list our safety equipment, the radio, the distress beacon, and so forth?
▪ Streptomycin is more stable than penicillin and so it was easier to isolate and manufacture.
▪ The coats of many puppies may be less profuse than that of adults, and so grooming will be more straight forward.
▪ Then it started on Cumbrian limestone, blossomed to Lakeland quarries and so, finally, to Raven Crag.
▪ This helps develop expertise, resources, and competition in the private sector and so facilitates the development of commercial services.
▪ We were supplied quite often with water, C rations, and so forth.
and so forth
▪ The study included women of different ages, races and so forth.
▪ And she thought, oh, maybe she was just overtired, and so forth.
▪ By uh by listing factors and so forth.
▪ He must choose a diet, exercise, relaxation, and so forth.
▪ Motion precedes quiescence, which in turn precedes motion, which in turn precedes quiescence, and so forth.
▪ Please would we list our safety equipment, the radio, the distress beacon, and so forth?
▪ Satan has sovereignties and powers and so forth working for him as well.
▪ Try Yahoo listings of organizations and so forth, and Google for mentions on Web pages.
▪ You browse the Web daily for ideas and download interesting articles from newspapers, magazines and so forth.
and so on/forth
▪ A central zone leads to other areas where you can test yourself, gain information, do puzzles and so on.
▪ And so on and so on, the critiques having merit but missing the point.
▪ Asteroids contain a variety of rare radioactive isotopes of potassium, uranium, thorium, rubidium, and so on.
▪ I also become more mentally sensitive to social problems, the ills of the world and so on.
▪ It would have to be done very quietly and so forth and so on.
▪ Symbols are things that bear some resemblance to what they represent: drawings, silhouettes, and so forth.
and such
▪ Veggie burgers are made from herbs and such.
▪ Family therapy, difficult kids and such.
▪ He says, I got ta friend of mine in such and such a room and his name is Jack Legs Dime.
▪ I can picture it now, a fine velvet cord and such bonny colours.
▪ My name's John James, your name is such and such.
▪ Recently my grandfather died - it was sudden and such a shock after my grandmother's death.
▪ So may demonstrations, mass boycotts of elections and such like political activities.
▪ Taking charge of a child, and such a one?
▪ Typical thoughts for feelings of worry are: Wouldn't it be terrible if such and such happened?
and suchlike
▪ A fertilizer ideal for trees, bushes and suchlike.
▪ You could spend the day doing the garden, cleaning the windows and suchlike.
▪ Honestly, Ethel, she sounded really mad, wittering on about beetles up her pyjama leg and suchlike.
▪ Made him into a company with shares and suchlike.
▪ There's always rates and suchlike.
▪ These are mostly fairly straight forward with clear and concise instructions for jellies, jams, dumplings and suchlike.
▪ Use them to create images for brightening up your newsletters, reports, simple diagrams and suchlike.
▪ Whatever anyone says about muggings and suchlike up here, there'd be no one about at all in the back of beyond.
and that's flat!
and the like/and such like
and the rest
▪ Councillors rejected completely the proposal for a management board with its implied differentiation of councillors into board members and the rest.
▪ It was a bad start to the morning, and the rest of the day lived up to its promise.
▪ Lawless and the rest of the lads assumed he had just done several miles of road work.
▪ Manion and the rest of the management team were still gathering up their materials when Katherine reentered the boardroom.
▪ Sevillana holds 169 billion and the rest is divided among other companies which would also be eligible for the debt securitization program.
▪ The front skiers break a trail in the new snow, and the rest glide smoothly behind.
and then some
▪ This book will tell you everything you wanted to know about wine - and then some.
▪ Some other examples are given of this approach, and then some systems are considered which extend non-statistical methods.
▪ But every now and then some patient managed to break through the mental barrier erected by training, habit, and self-defence.
▪ He met his goal, and then Some.
▪ It usually does, and then some.
▪ So many corpses; and then some more, to sugar the porridge of death.
▪ That they did, and then some.
▪ The Becketts have a full house and then some.
▪ This is a team that will need both, and then some.
and whatnot
▪ You can put all of your paper, pencils, and whatnot in this drawer.
▪ All high tech and computers and whatnot.
▪ Because, because, because of the acid and whatnot.
▪ Does he have religious affiliation and whatnot?
▪ I had no problem relating to the roughs and whatnot.
▪ New York is full of cheats and whatnot.
▪ The ones with infra-red night-sights, little flashing digital displays, electric zooms and whatnots.
▪ Then a ton of C rations and ammunition and whatnot came down on top of me.
▪ There was Diop and slavery and New World colonialism and whatnot.
anywhere between one and ten/anywhere from one to ten etc
at sixes and sevens
back and forth
▪ Brach flies back and forth weekly, between New York and L.A.
▪ The chair squeaks when you rock back and forth.
▪ A few of the mounts shifted their feet; here and there a rider slid his sword back and forth in its scabbard.
▪ It goes back and forth though.
▪ My feet hurt, and the side window waggled back and forth each time I kicked it, but nothing else happened.
▪ Petey heard him trying to brave it out, rocking back and forth to make the pain subside.
▪ The road twisted, two lanes of blacktop angling back and forth up the side of the mountain.
▪ They passed it back and forth.
▪ This gives you the freedom to move back and forth and swing your arm - you must feel free!
▪ To switch back and forth between the two documents, press Shift-F3.
backwards and forwards
▪ He started shaking it backwards and forwards.
▪ It didn't exactly touch my hand, but sort of glided over it, wrinkling backwards and forwards.
▪ Keith throws his right shoulder backwards and forwards, hoping the pads will somehow slide into place.
▪ Pike's head quite often pulses backwards and forwards like a mechanical toy.
▪ The cross is meant to be imagined as oscillating backwards and forwards.
▪ The irregular echo of footsteps passed backwards and forwards along the corridor outside.
▪ Then we noticed that the Pike head was sort of pulsing backwards and forwards like a mechanical toy.
▪ They do not want to waste their time going backwards and forwards to the general practitioner's surgery.
bag and baggage
▪ What if Penry took one look at her and threw her out, bag and baggage?
be (stuck) between a rock and a hard place
be a love and .../... there's a love
be all fingers and thumbs
▪ She was all fingers and thumbs - and worry.
be all fingers and thumbs
▪ She was all fingers and thumbs - and worry.
be all sweetness and light
▪ The negotiations were not all sweetness and light.
be at sb's beck and call
▪ I have never liked to be at anybody's beck and call.
▪ She was always rushing around at her mother's beck and call.
▪ I had to be at his beck and call, night and day.
be bagged and zip-tied
be dead and buried
▪ Gregory converted it too and Northampton knew they were dead and buried.
▪ The defensive concepts of prewar days were dead and buried.
be few and far between
▪ Good jobs are few and far between these days.
▪ The schools are crowded, and good teachers are few and far between.
▪ Toys were few and far between, but the children invented games and played together.
▪ But for all this effort, meaningful accomplishments are few and far between.
▪ Deaf postgraduates, who are few and far between, have little chance of taking a higher degree.
▪ Facilities like the recently opened Russell Cairns Unit in Oxford are few and far between.
▪ Opportunities for young parents to socialize with each other are few and far between these days.
▪ Rough edges are few and far between.
▪ Sanatorium beds were few and far between, and often had to be obtained through influence.
▪ Shop said that all its stores were open but that customers were few and far between.
▪ The instances of this happening are few and far between.
be full of piss and vinegar
be good and ready
be home and dry
▪ And when Chris Allen was upended in the area, United probably thought they were home and dry.
▪ He says he is home and dry.
▪ If Components Bureau can beat the champions for a second time, then they will virtually be home and dry.
be judge and jury
be meat and drink to sb
▪ These figures are heroes to conservatives for their espousal of policies that are meat and drink to the right, especially abortion.
be on pins and needles
▪ I was on pins and needles until I found out I'd won.
be on the up and up
▪ A gliding club that started in a local farmer's barn says business is on the up and up.
▪ We lost at Oxford, but since then we've been on the up and up and won our last four games.
be part and parcel of sth
▪ Occasional unemployment is part and parcel of being an actor.
▪ After all, these inevitable little skirmishes were part and parcel of their relationship.
▪ Defiance was part and parcel of his nature.
▪ Each of them is part and parcel of the turn-of-the-century crisis in the hegemony of the bourgeoisie.
▪ It is part and parcel of an annual commemoration of the dead bound by traditions ancient and arcane.
▪ Much of this is part and parcel of the regime's religion of struggle.
▪ Particularist sentiment was inseparable from aristocratic privilege; local liberties and personal liberties were part and parcel of the same system.
▪ These differences are part and parcel of the whole move away from jobs.
▪ This is the circus of empty promises and dry press releases that are part and parcel of meetings like these.
be sick (and tired) of (doing) sth
▪ Gad, I was sick and tired of life.
▪ I think the archivist who helped me is sick of the sight of me by now.
▪ I was sick of concealments - those retentions of his.
▪ I was sick of following baseball through the abbreviated box scores of the international Herald Tribune.
▪ No one, knowing the Patriarch, could doubt that, after a day of his voice, Zacco was sick of him.
▪ People were sick of the war.
▪ We are sick and tired of the proliferation of guns.
▪ When we first started we were sick of the way many groups would adopt a cool persona for interviews.
be skin and bone
▪ The poor dog was practically skin and bone.
▪ When she died she was nothing but skin and bone.
be skin and bones
be/stand head and shoulders above sb
▪ But the surgery has given him confidence to stand head and shoulders above the rest.
▪ Jackson stood head and shoulders above his confreres, and...
▪ The fourth, who stood head and shoulders above them, was older.
▪ Though short, he stands head and shoulders above most.
being drunk and disorderly
▪ Mr. Bell denied being drunk and disorderly and denied being in breach of the bail condition.
▪ Once, in about 1985 I think, for being drunk and disorderly.
▪ Reportedly, two Houston police officers arrested a black woman for being drunk and disorderly.
belt and braces
▪ It retains the Sympatex lining of the earlier model - belt and braces if you like.
▪ It was sealed with Sellotape and staples, a real belt and braces job.
▪ Three: portly old men should use belt and braces, in case their trousers burst open; the belt hides the disaster.
▪ Where glues are concerned, I, personally, would not scorn to wear both a belt and braces.
between Scylla and Charybdis
between the devil and the deep blue sea
between you and me
▪ Between you and me, I don't think she has a chance of getting that promotion.
▪ Between you and me, I think Elizabeth is a bit of a nightmare.
▪ But - between you and me - he's really past it.
▪ But just between you and me and a few hundred miles, thoughts of ancient spirits still trail closely behind.
▪ C'mon, secretly just between you and me the voice persisted in her head, it would be hard not to.
▪ I wanted everything to start afresh between you and me.
▪ In fact, between you and me, I think she's relieved.
▪ Look, Miranda, he said, those twenty long years that lie between you and me.
▪ This has to stay between you and me.
▪ You know the difference between you and me, Sherman?
between you, me, and the gatepost
betwixt and between
▪ Although the process has not turned them into ordinary men they have, in some degree, become betwixt and between.
▪ Both are figures caught betwixt and between, either compromised or radicalized by virtue of being women within a culture.
▪ They reported feelings of marginality, of being betwixt and between.
bill and coo
▪ Immediately the pigeons began to strut and flutter out, billing and cooing with pleasure.
▪ In August, however, she and Andrew were billing and cooing about each other in Hello! magazine.
▪ One is the Prime Minister, who now bills and coos where she used to bellow.
▪ With wheedling beaks, her brilliant needles bill and coo.
bits and pieces
▪ Do any of these bits and bobs belong to you?
▪ making a mosaic out of bits and pieces of tiles
▪ There are all sorts of bits and pieces in this box.
▪ For the next two decades he made a sort of living finding bits and pieces of editing and translation work.
▪ Having chosen the size of guttering, draw up a list of the various bits and pieces you need.
▪ He circled the house, looking in, and saw nothing but the bits and pieces of ordinary living.
▪ My eyes adjusted, and things became edges, corners, bits and pieces of what they were.
▪ Not a single one had listened to it or even heard bits and pieces on the news.
▪ Storing the furniture and the bits and pieces we didn't need immediately was a bit more difficult.
▪ The bits of information range from play dates with friends to the sometimes frightening bits and pieces of domestic violence.
▪ Why teach in bits and pieces a subject which is a whole?
black and white
▪ "Is the film 'Casablanca' in colour?'' "No, it's in black and white.''
▪ Black and white TV sets are now very cheap to buy.
▪ an exhibition of black and white photos
▪ A small black and white quarter horse was nibbling grass among the trees.
▪ Co. are responding in stark black and white.
▪ More than 350 colour and black and white photos, and illustrations.
▪ Razor bills are black and white with deep, square bills.
▪ That perception of inferiority in turn means that some sort of caste barrier is erected between black and white.
▪ The black and white feeds in a narrow range of tree species and when none is fruiting it eats leaves.
▪ There are now genuine friendships among black and white leaders and there has been progress.
▪ This allows real-life 3-D objects to be digitised in both black and white and colour.
blood, sweat, and tears
blow hot and cold
▪ I can't tell what he wants - he keeps blowing hot and cold.
▪ In our dealings with the police we have found that they can blow hot and cold. Sometimes they are keen to have media help in solving a crime, other times they are more reluctant.
▪ Some of these young officers blow hot and cold.
blow/go hot and cold
▪ Paula was going hot and cold by now.
▪ She went hot and cold, dizzy with confusion.
▪ Some of these young officers blow hot and cold.
body and soul
▪ It makes your body and soul feel better.
▪ She devoted herself body and soul to the fight for women's rights.
▪ But now there is a new battle for the body and soul of Rolls-Royce.
▪ By extension, bodies and souls can exist independently since they are different sorts of entities.
▪ He'd have wished to own her, body and soul, to possess her.
▪ It lasted only one and a half hours but it satisfied body and soul.
▪ She'd finally realised that what she needed was to commit mind, body and soul into something challenging and exciting.
▪ The materials do include assertions about the constitution of humans and do make a distinction between body and soul.
▪ Thus far Plato and Aristotle attribute similar statements to the Orphics: body and soul are separable.
▪ Yet there was, in Orphism, a distinction between body and soul.
born and bred
▪ Meyer's a Texan, born and bred.
▪ David MacKinlay was a Lewisach born and bred, educated at Stornoway who made good in the outside world.
▪ He had been born and bred on the river, but had never seen anything like it before.
▪ He was a Cambridge man born and bred.
▪ I must say this openly: d'Aubigny I liked immediately, a gentleman born and bred, a true courtier like myself.
▪ I was born and bred and grew up in Rossendale Valley and left at the age of 27.
▪ Mr Waigel is a Bavarian born and bred who has little love for Bonn but none at all for the former Prussian capital.
▪ Mum Ann, east Belfast born and bred, is hoping her boy helps the Glens to victory.
▪ They were an ordinary family, all born and bred locally, but their relationship with Alexander was both friendly and relaxed.
both ... and ...
▪ Both he and his wife enjoy tennis.
▪ Donny plays both football and baseball.
▪ Jane's kids are both rude and spoiled.
bound and determined
▪ Klein is bound and determined to win at least five races this year.
bow and scrape
▪ The Oistrakhs bow and scrape in evening dress, on Emi-tape.
bricks and mortar
▪ As a former building contractor, he had an eye for a sound investment in bricks and mortar.
▪ I saw him raining bricks and mortar on the people of Clydebank.
▪ On downtown streets, broken glass covered many sidewalks and fallen bricks and mortar dented cars.
▪ Sound waves can also travel through solids, even such as bricks and mortar.
▪ The original bricks and mortar might be pulled down but Leatherslade Farm will remain for ever at the centre of the legend.
▪ The prospect of delightful gardens was lost and the Brook disappeared under bricks and mortar.
▪ We feel that bricks and mortar are solid investment.
▪ What was a potentially valuable, or at least useful, asset in bricks and mortar rapidly becomes a liability.
bright and breezy
bright and early
▪ Geoffrey was up bright and early on Saturday morning, and had everything packed before breakfast.
▪ I'll be here bright and early to pick you up.
▪ Waking bright and early, I went for a swim and took the dog for a walk.
▪ Despite the awful weather, some executives were at their desks bright and early.
▪ I arrived bright and early at Brian the falconer's house for day one of my course.
▪ Saturday, the day of the match itself, began bright and early for me.
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
▪ Christie was there, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, at 6:30 a.m.
by and by
▪ I was promised the pie in the sky by and by.
▪ It will come all the easier to like him by and by when we are all together.
by and large
▪ By and large, most of the people in the town work at the factory.
▪ Also, he worked, by and large, in second-rank bands.
▪ And by and large, they do a fine job.
▪ But as valuable as animals are, they have a serious drawback: by and large, they hate alcohol.
▪ But the truth was that, by and large, the research university focuses its collective intelligence on other matters.
▪ Hodgkin, by and large, just looks as if he's strayed in here and is making lots of noise.
▪ Society seems bitter turmoil, by and large.
▪ The reproducible arts of photography and printmaking still remain, by and large, categorised as lesser arts.
▪ You know, opposites of each other by and large.
by and large
▪ Also, he worked, by and large, in second-rank bands.
▪ And by and large, they do a fine job.
▪ But as valuable as animals are, they have a serious drawback: by and large, they hate alcohol.
▪ But the truth was that, by and large, the research university focuses its collective intelligence on other matters.
▪ Hodgkin, by and large, just looks as if he's strayed in here and is making lots of noise.
▪ Society seems bitter turmoil, by and large.
▪ The reproducible arts of photography and printmaking still remain, by and large, categorised as lesser arts.
▪ You know, opposites of each other by and large.
by far/far and away
▪ Coolness is by far and away the most important feature of a car these days.
by leaps and bounds/in leaps and bounds
by/in leaps and bounds
▪ As the 1860s drew to a close, Kansas effectively put its violent heritage behind; change accelerated by leaps and bounds.
▪ Existing industries expanded in leaps and bounds.
▪ He has come on in leaps and bounds this season.
▪ In fact, vegetarianism is growing by leaps and bounds, particularly among the health-conscious.
▪ Meanwhile, California was now using up its entire entitlement and still growing by leaps and bounds.
▪ Meanwhile, Charles was recovering in leaps and bounds.
▪ Since Richard left for California last fall, my bank account has grown by leaps and bounds.
▪ The women's confidence increased by leaps and bounds.
by/through trial and error
▪ They learned to farm the land through trial and error.
▪ Each individual achieves his own style by trial and error.
▪ He learned everything just by trial and error.
▪ I did the tutorial that came with the package deal and learned a lot through trial and error.
▪ In any case, they were confident these minor bugs could be worked out through trial and error.
▪ It pointed out that: Everything seems to be done by trial and error.
▪ Science progresses by trial and error.
▪ Some had to learn by trial and error.
▪ These are things we learn by trial and error.
carrot and stick
▪ Current government strategy on unemployment has been described fairly aptly as being the carrot and stick approach.
▪ Headquarters motivates managers to meet targets in time-honoured style: carrot and stick.
▪ Like a biochemical carrot and stick, these systems generate pleasurable or painful feelings that powerfully guide behavior.
▪ Much of the success was fuelled by the multinationals responding to the combination of carrot and stick.
▪ The carrot and stick approach is to do with reward and punishment, incentives and pressures.
▪ The old carrot and stick method of keeping control is now all stick.
▪ Your level of control needs to be high enough so that your carrot and stick power matters and is taken seriously by others.
cast your net (far and) wide
▪ I cast my net wide enough to find parents who vary from house cleaner to fashion designer to electrician to corporate manager.
▪ We cast our net wider and in a different direction.
cease and desist
▪ He commanded all law violators to cease and desist.
chalk and cheese
▪ Middlesbrough and East Cleveland are like chalk and cheese.
▪ The two men are as different as chalk and cheese.
▪ They are psychologically, spiritually and in personality as different as chalk and cheese.
▪ They know that to compare that game to next Sunday's contest is to compare chalk and cheese.
▪ This twin thing ... you are separate people, different as chalk and cheese.
▪ We are chalk and cheese; our personalities are radically different and likely to abrade each other.
checks and balances
▪ Checks and balances required an alert and informed populace.
▪ A triangle is an efficient system of emotional checks and balances, allowing chil-dren to work out complicated feelings without volatile outbursts.
▪ If the new telecommunications age brings unmediated democracy, what will happen to our carefully contrived constitutional system of checks and balances?
▪ Rugby has evolved as a game of checks and balances.
▪ Swings and roundabouts, checks and balances: who'd be a research engineer?
▪ The exchange's rules are subject to the general statutory checks and balances associated with commercial contracts.
▪ The presidential system offers checks and balances but does not ensure consistency between legislation and execution.
▪ They saw their first glimpse of the earth as a complex system with checks and balances, inputs and outputs.
chief cook and bottle washer
children should be seen and not heard
chop and change
▪ Don't chop and change from one style to another. It confuses the reader.
▪ I wish they wouldn't keep chopping and changing. There's a different team on the field every week.
▪ I was still chopping and changing lyrics and order of jokes.
▪ In other words, subordinates are unsettled by a boss who chops and changes between autocracy, persuasion, consultation and democracy.
▪ In the past century the institutions and the external stimuli affecting the relation between finance and industry have been chopped and changed.
▪ So you won't have to chop and change your chops to make sure they're done evenly.
cock and bull story
▪ He gave me a cock and bull story about the glass being smashed by hailstones.
come and go
▪ A force that comes and goes depending on your motion.
▪ As the New Year came and went, so did millions of resolutions to turn over a healthier leaf.
▪ Certainly the various court officials who came and went didn't seem interested.
▪ Generations of policemen have come and gone waiting for that mistake.
▪ He wore a pale green business shirt, and his shave was absolutely perfect, even as midafternoon came and went.
▪ Only this can explain to me why he comes and goes, comes and goes.
▪ The girl was a good worker who came and went quietly about her business.
▪ They each came and went as they pleased.
come right out with sth/come right out and say sth
comings and goings
cowboys and Indians
▪ A small price to pay for a game of cowboys and indians.
criticize/nag/hassle sb up one side and down the other
cross my heart (and hope to die)
▪ I didn't take it, cross my heart!
cut and run
▪ We sensed that Borden could cut and run at any moment.
▪ Its three big domestic rivals do not intend to cut and run either.
▪ My hands felt clammy, the usual signs of old Shallot beginning to wonder whether it is time to cut and run.
▪ No way do you feel the urge to cut and run before suffering the onslaught of hypothermia.
▪ Potential victims never cut and run.
▪ So they cut and run, on matters of supposed high principle.
▪ Walker Stamp & Seal was one of the companies forced to decide whether it would cut and run or stay the course.
divide and rule/conquer
▪ Britain did not divide and rule.
▪ He preferred to divide and rule.
▪ Here too the Party could fend off opposition by a policy of divide and rule.
▪ Power to appoint is power to divide and rule.
▪ That if you play the game of divide and rule long enough then you end up with Sister Souljah?
▪ The well-tried Roman policy of divide and rule had been the basis of Augustan diplomacy and continued during the conquest.
▪ They haven't shown the political will to sort out the problem - there has been an element of divide and rule.
dog and pony show
done and dusted
dos and don'ts
▪ the dos and don'ts of office dating
dot the i's and cross the t's
▪ Well, we haven't dotted the i's and crossed the t's, but the contract's nearly ready.
drag sb kicking and screaming into sth
▪ Mim will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
drive a coach and horses through sth
▪ But how useful would such a right be anyway, if an intelligence agency can drive a coach and horses through it?
▪ Callinicos drives a coach and horses through postmodernism; well and good.
each and every
▪ He was a winner who still felt he could challenge the field each and every week.
▪ I always ask myself: How can the driver bear to do this each and every day?
▪ I suppose I should have put it back, even if it meant wiping off each and every bill.
▪ The Bruins face an opponent that likes to use each and every second of the shot clock.
▪ Then I made the description so precise I would always find some reason to reject each and every candidate.
▪ We need to examine the case for it in relation to each and every old person, whose circumstances vary so greatly.
▪ Yet each and every one of the weird and wacky items have one thing in common they are all absolutely 100% true.
▪ Yet each day these tensions are coped with in some fashion by each and every teacher.
eat sb out of house and home
▪ Our sixteen-year-old is eating us out of house and home.
ebb and flow
▪ Manufacturers need to anticipate the ebb and flow of consumer demand.
▪ A moaning north wind that ebbed and flowed like the sound of surf and ocean waves.
▪ But he related well to me, although his engagement ebbed and flowed.
▪ In the harbour you got a secondary ebb and flow between the main tides.
▪ Inside the room I saw the pulsing ebb and flow of light that meant a fire.
▪ It was ebb and flow, up and down, punch and counterpunch that didn't want to end.
▪ Nixon always will remain a vivid figure for those of us who watched the ebb and flow of his remarkable career.
▪ The ebb and flow of controversy in television news items did not produce corresponding trends in public interest and discussion.
▪ There is always an ebb and flow, an inner energy used to enhance mood and expression.
effing and blinding
every Tom, Dick, and Harry
▪ I didn't want every Tom, Dick, and Harry knowing about my private life.
every nook and cranny
▪ We searched every nook and cranny.
▪ Everything moveable was taken out, every nook and cranny probed.
▪ Scores of supply vessels, tugs and survey ships filled every nook and cranny and even spilled over into the fish docks.
▪ The full survey will ensure every nook and cranny is inspected.
▪ We feel every ache in every nook and cranny, and the nooks and crannies themselves seem to multiply.
every now and then/again
▪ A volcano erupts because a terrible creature is imprisoned in the mountain and every now and then struggles to get free.
▪ Although it would be nice to see some one apart from Strach get annoyed on the pitch every now and then.
▪ But every now and then some patient managed to break through the mental barrier erected by training, habit, and self-defence.
▪ Eventually she could play in the next room with you calling out to her or checking on her every now and then.
▪ He sort of slips the surly bonds of fact every now and then.
▪ I get right sick, every now and then, at the bad news.
▪ The answer is to drop back to conscious competence every now and again to check things out and eradicate the bad habits.
▪ The dailies would clock him every now and then, leaving his flat and cowering under a flash of camera light.
every/any Tom, Dick and Harry
facts and figures
▪ The report contained some interesting facts and figures about the Saturn Corporation.
▪ He doesn't need to remember facts and figures, he actually sees the things and people of his cover-story life.
▪ He is notoriously tough on staff, often challenging them on facts and figures during council meetings.
▪ He learned how to boom out facts and figures to the city council members that they were unable to refute.
▪ It is not easy to make sense of the maze of facts and figures concerning the settlements.
▪ Most of the ones I run into need facts and figures.
▪ Stripped to their essentials his facts and figures are astonishing.
▪ These facts and figures added relatively little to what was already known in outline.
▪ When she left I quickly immersed myself in the safer, less emotional facts and figures of a real estate deal.
far and wide
▪ A topic like this resonates far and wide.
▪ And Jaq would spread the hydra far and wide.
▪ Class embers came from far and wide - a dedicated crew.
▪ Her torso shattered, showering live embers far and wide.
▪ Northampton was another elegant county town and regional market centre and was known far and wide for its horse fairs.
▪ Prosperity came to Knock, as pilgrims came from far and wide; and Father Cavanagh kept his ears.
▪ The-billowing smoke of the bonfire swirled those fragments far and wide over the earth.
▪ We had flung ourselves to the wind, and it had taken us far and wide.
fast and furious
▪ The following round of questions for the President was fast and furious.
▪ With elections about a year away, proposals for tax cuts are coming fast and furious.
▪ From that point on, the primaries come fast and furious.
▪ Gatien won a fast and furious men's final over 17-21 21-14 17-21 21-18.
▪ Inside the fence on the main court, the atmosphere is fast and furious and hot and colorful.
▪ New labels and executive changes are coming fast and furious, including a new indie formed by Neil Young and his manager.
▪ Play around the centre spot was fast and furious, though the ground was in total darkness everywhere else.
▪ The drive from Dundalk was fast and furious, largely because Jessica was late.
▪ The work was fast and furious; working up in the top of buildings in January and February made this easy.
▪ Word of what he done would spread fast and furious among that club.
fetch and carry
▪ She has a positive knack of getting one to fetch and carry.
▪ Some one had to go round with the coals, wash up, sweep, scrub, polish, fetch and carry.
▪ The two girls' job was to clear the table between courses, fetch and carry dishes.
fight like cat and dog
fight tooth and nail
▪ We had to fight tooth and nail to get the government to admit they were wrong.
▪ He fought tooth and nail for 15 months before going to sleep one final night last week.
▪ He would also fight tooth and nail to keep her from the likes of Tommy Allen.
▪ Legislation aimed at forcing the power firms to clean up their act is being fought tooth and nail by the polluters.
▪ They fought tooth and nail through an initial series of leagues and finished in seven knockout matches.
▪ They fought tooth and nail to protect the solicitors' monopoly of conveyancing but eventually compromised by not objecting to licensed conveyancers.
fight tooth and nail (for sth)/fight sth tooth and nail
fire and brimstone
▪ At 19 though, he had lost his fire and brimstone and was withdrawn and melancholy.
▪ But Geneva rules will apply, except in so far as fire and brimstone will be permitted on a strictly controlled basis.
▪ Reggie White delivered 10 minutes of fire and brimstone, condemning Williams as a devil in a blue-and-white uniform.
▪ She responded with some of her fire and brimstone stuff.
▪ Yet for all his proverbial fire and brimstone, my father was not a violent man.
first and foremost
▪ First and foremost, they are looking for ways to save money.
▪ Mayor Agnos is a conservative Christian, but he considers himself first and foremost an American.
▪ What children need first and foremost from their parents is a sense of security.
▪ And Mr Hemsley is first and foremost a producer-not a commodity trader.
▪ Friends say that this was the demand she put first and foremost on the list of what she wanted to achieve.
▪ However my worry is not first and foremost a medical one but a spiritual one.
▪ I really think that first and foremost this one's down to the board.
▪ It has been established that such items as these were employed first and foremost as musical instalments.
▪ It is a film first and foremost about loss.
▪ My other travelling companion, John Lawrence, would describe himself first and foremost as a writer.
▪ This meant, first and foremost, following Bacon in the making of natural histories.
first and last
▪ And a system whose first and last resort was all too often expediency.
▪ At Banff I climbed my first and last mountain - Mount Rundle.
▪ For the first and last time in her life, Amelia was too preoccupied to interact with her peers.
▪ I sat back and treated myself to a cigarette, determined to make it the first and last of the day.
▪ Instead of pressing the spacebar anywhere between the first and last characters of the text, press the Home spacebar.
▪ It was the first and last time that management capitulated in the face of a departing mortgage trader.
▪ She wrote that she was dying of a fever, and asked him to visit her for the first and last time.
▪ These records included the first and last dates of all absences and the reason for absence.
forever and ever
▪ And I want John to love me forever and ever.
▪ Bless the underground stream that gave the town its water, and pray that it flows forever and ever.
▪ He asked you for life, and you gave it to him - length of days forever and ever.
▪ Praised be the Lord who is to be praised forever and ever.
▪ She wanted it to go on forever and ever!
▪ The only way out is to be Dennis's lover forever and ever.
▪ To him be glory forever and ever.
free and easy
▪ a free and easy lifestyle
▪ A free and easy smile, but lop-sided because her face was still puffy from Garty's beating.
▪ Cousin Noreen was arriving on Sunday and life wasn't going to be so free and easy after that.
▪ Gone was the free and easy time of three meals a day and as many hot drinks as we liked.
▪ In this free and easy style, I accustomed myself to the rhythms of school life.
▪ It was as if they were indeed from another world: a happy world, a free and easy world.
▪ Robyn remembered his free and easy hand as he had poured her wine.
▪ The time they shared became special now, where before they had been free and easy.
▪ Their relationship is not free and easy but at least Red is no longer looking daggers at her.
fun and games
▪ It started out as fun and games but became a successful business.
▪ A wild midnight gallop lands her on the very doorstep of her ancestral home, and the fun and games commence.
▪ As head of the Fort Baxter motor pool, Bilko runs all the fun and games on the base.
▪ Free fun and games ... Happy children make happy holidays - for everyone.
▪ In return for the fun and games, the youthful members, whether or not interested in politics, are expected to help with the electioneering.
▪ It was not all fun and games.
▪ Next time the left hand section of Cheedale's Cornice dries out, we should see some fun and games.
▪ Party and Class All this fun and games is not looked upon with disapproval by the seniors in the Conservative Party.
▪ Police suspected that the boys, whose fun and games hurt a lot of people, were on drugs.
give and take
▪ But in the give and take of biology the tubeworm has to supply raw materials to the bacteria.
▪ But once in gear, the collective give and take of a vivisystem takes root and persists.
▪ But with so many areas of potential give and take, the discussions did not run smoothly.
▪ He had no sense of give and take; no idea of the concessions one made for the sake of social comfort.
▪ In this liaison there should be a great deal of give and take, generating trust and mutual respect.
▪ So I think there was more give and take between our performing than any other relationship.
▪ The next fifteen minutes are spent on the rapid-fire give and take that only another teenager could understand.
▪ They seem to give and take without design.
give sb an inch and they'll take a yard/mile
give sth a lick and a promise
give/quote sb chapter and verse
▪ She can give him chapter and verse on Finance Acts and other current legislation, and is rigorous in keeping up to date.
go and do sth
▪ I'll go and get the car for you.
go hot and cold
▪ Paula was going hot and cold by now.
▪ She went hot and cold, dizzy with confusion.
go in (at) one ear and out (at) the other
▪ It goes in one ear and out the other.
go through fire (and water) (for sb)
▪ I would have gone through fire for Peter Docherty.
go to hell and back
go to rack and ruin
▪ He's let his father's old house go to rack and ruin.
▪ It seems that the government is prepared to let all our hospitals and schools go to rack and ruin.
▪ The old farmhouse had gone to rack and ruin.
▪ First they let the house go to rack and ruin, then the garden; now they were sheltering hippies.
▪ Yet the truth of it was that the estates were going to rack and ruin.
good and proper
▪ Now, eight years after the original bike was launched, Ducati has addressed the issue good and proper.
▪ We got our revenge on Kel for 1960 good and proper, and no one else was in it.
▪ Well, they both got it around in 75 and the crowd was on Seve's side good and proper.
grin and bear it
▪ Abu Salim decided that a third day wasn't necessary so I had to grin and bear it.
▪ After debate the team concluded that they had to grin and bear it rather than descend into paranoia.
▪ And up to now, you've had to quit or grin and bear it.
▪ But she was not on the tour, so I had to grin and bear it.
▪ It's not exactly affectionate, but we Limeys can grin and bear it.
▪ There was no alternative but to grin and bear it.
▪ We just have to grin and bear it.
hale and hearty
▪ Horszowski, still hale and hearty at 98, will give a piano recital on May 28.
▪ But by the sound of it your brothers are a hale and hearty pair.
▪ But even should he reappear tomorrow looking hale and hearty, his long absence will have cast a shadow over his position.
▪ Unlike Eb, Josh had come back from the war in one piece, hale and hearty.
half and half
▪ It looked like the crowd was about half and half, men and women.
▪ About half and half, Ralph figured.
▪ I thought you were supposed to enjoy it, and it was half and half really.
▪ Mix the hot water, chicken stock and half and half.
▪ Now it's about half and half.
▪ Others prefer to split the drinking and carrying half and half.
▪ Tamsin, being half and half, could have been in any of them.
▪ Yesterday, you were half and half.
hammer and tongs
haul off and hit/punch/kick sb
have gone and done sth
▪ Kay's gone and lost the car keys!
have your cake and eat it
▪ First, is it an ethical investment policy to encourage people to try to have their cake and eat it?
▪ It appears the Ministry men can have their cake and eat it ... but only if we let them.
▪ It seems as though the council wants to have its cake and eat it.
▪ That way he could have his cake and eat it too.
▪ The benefits of standardization are coupled with the capacity to respond to change-a way to have your cake and eat it too.
▪ They don't imagine they can have their cake and eat it too.
▪ You can't have your cake and eat it.
▪ You can have your cake and eat it; the only trouble is, you get fat.
have/get sb by the short and curlies
hearth and home
▪ the joys of hearth and home
▪ Though there were undercurrents here, I was absorbed by the sense of family, the polished details of hearth and home.
hem and haw
▪ Floyd hemmed and hawed when he was asked to introduce himself.
▪ They hemmed and hawed and fiddled with the data, and called for more aid and more research.
here and there
▪ Sprigs of parsley were tucked here and there around the chicken.
▪ Audible gasps rose here and there together with short, whispered words and the murmur of anticipation.
▪ But here and there some found action on this very camp, and didn't live to tell the tale.
▪ His hair, cut short, was flattened here and there, like an animal's fur when it is out of sorts.
▪ Late summer had exhausted much of the greenness, and here and there the ground showed through in brown, dusty patches.
▪ Men go down here and there before your eyes.
▪ Rushes grew here and there in clumps across the pasture.
▪ She looked like a pixie sometimes, her eyes darting here and there, for ever watchful.
▪ The landscape is a stony desert, smeared here and there with sulphur compounds.
here, there, and everywhere
high and mighty
▪ Afterward he and Corinne went to the White House for lunch and mingled with the high and mighty of official Washington.
▪ For the high and mighty only appear so because we are on our knees.
▪ You know how it is up there on the throne of clouds occupied by the very high and mighty of communications.
high days and holidays
▪ They were people who really let themselves go on high days and holidays, not likely to fuss about anything left over.
hook, line, and sinker
▪ The media bought Stuart's story hook, line, and sinker.
▪ The people seem to have swallowed the government's promises hook, line, and sinker.
▪ What an idiot! He believed the whole story hook, line, and sinker!
hot and bothered
▪ I sit, all hot and bothered, suffering, and mention this.
▪ It was too unsettling, made her feel too hot and bothered.
▪ Not everyone, however, is hot and bothered.
▪ She had got herself all hot and bothered and she felt much safer in the water than she had in the barn.
huff and puff
▪ A couple of pudgy joggers were huffing and puffing along the path.
▪ After all their huffing and puffing, every incumbent was desperate to claim some achievement.
▪ Before long he was huffing and puffing, his dark neck thrust out at a sharp angle.
▪ Brian, furious, would huff and puff as Mazzin unceremoniously threw him back down on his bed.
▪ But however the warning was given, the board, huff and puff as it might, will have to pay attention.
▪ He huffed and puffed-but failed to shake the growing edifice of evidence stacked up against him.
▪ He ascends, huffing and puffing, stopping at each landing.
▪ It was a huffing and puffing.
▪ Now there's to be a schools painting competition about the bulldozers that can huff and puff and pull the house down.
hum and haw
husband and wife
▪ A husband and wife partnership ran a chemist's shop.
▪ Both husband and wife are undecided and somewhat ambivalent about having a child, or buying a house.
▪ If husband and wife are entertaining, then invite another couple.
▪ It's seems that their marriage is a lost cause in which possess the husband and wife not real affection for one another.
▪ Now we had to get the document that would officially make us husband and wife.
▪ The husband and wife, reaching the woods, separated in search of game.
▪ The distribution in the next generation depends on the correlation between the wealth of husbands and wives.
▪ The Plot A husband and wife longed for a child, and after many years the wife became pregnant.
ifs and buts
in black and white
▪ The rules are there in black and white for everyone to see.
in dribs and drabs
▪ He insisted on paying me back in dribs and drabs, five or ten dollars at a time.
▪ News of the accident is coming in in dribs and drabs.
▪ The wedding guests were arriving in dribs and drabs.
in ones and twos
▪ Guests arrived in ones and twos.
▪ There were only about fifty people in the hall, standing around in ones and twos.
▪ Instead, we will separate and make our way downtown in ones and twos.
▪ Mounted men in ones and twos appeared suddenly from the cover of trees, or out of folds in the ground.
▪ Shabby men were walking about, in ones and twos.
▪ Stragglers kept joining in ones and twos.
▪ The Browns started to browse along the wall, and, in ones and twos, other parents made their entrances.
▪ The more moderate, responsible men and women began to leave in ones and twos and then in a landslide.
in the dim and distant past
▪ I am sure in the dim and distant past it had been filched from the wall.
in/by fits and starts
▪ Electoral reform is moving ahead in fits and starts.
▪ Although change often unfolds in fits and starts, organisations can learn to improve.
▪ But civilization was approaching in fits and starts.
▪ But his proposals for electoral reform, now moving ahead in fits and starts, contain no such provision.
▪ He spoke in fits and starts.
▪ It has continued in fits and starts ever since.
▪ The conversation is awkward, moving in fits and starts.
▪ This means the machine tends to go forward in fits and starts, sometimes quite quickly but at other times embarrassingly slowly.
it's six of one and half a dozen of the other
keep body and soul together
▪ Struggling peasants they'd be for the most part, trying to keep body and soul together in difficult times.
kicking and screaming
▪ David would become stiff, fall to the ground, and start kicking and screaming.
▪ General practice is thus being forced kicking and screaming into the computer age.
▪ He was dragged kicking and screaming to a van parked nearby.
▪ Iron Arrow eventually found itself dragged kicking and screaming into the twentieth century.
▪ Many times her parents had carried her kicking and screaming out of the grocery store or the local department store.
▪ Nobody across the programme was dragged kicking and screaming out of their hospital bed into the community.
▪ We are merely animals, creatures that are brought kicking and screaming into this world and then die.
law and order
▪ Neighborhood leaders are working with police to maintain law and order.
▪ The new government is gradually restoring law and order.
▪ His party claims to be the party of law and order, the family, back to basics.
▪ I have tried to show the real gap between Labour and the Conservative party and Government on matters of law and order.
▪ Indeed, it would represent a complete breakdown, not just of law and order, but of all civilised values.
▪ It arises from the need to maintain law and order.
▪ My hon. and learned Friend will be glad to welcome the 16.7 percent. increase for the law and order programme.
▪ Periodic law and order - it's elementary!
▪ Sentencing policies, as a result of law and order campaigns mean the prisoners are younger and more likely to be black.
▪ The hon. Gentleman again raised the question of law and order.
less and less
▪ The fighting has become less and less frequent.
▪ They began spending less and less time with each other.
▪ As the war progressed, this position be-came less and less tenable and was eventually discarded.
▪ Changes over the course of 250 years meant that realities accorded less and less with formal appearances and official regulations.
▪ However, they are less and less willing either to hide or to lead lives of celibacy.
▪ It is merely that there is less and less justification for her position.
▪ It turned out not to be much-and, as it happened, he needed less and less as time went on.
▪ Now I seem to care less and less.
▪ She liked the mail-order concept, saying that working women have less and less time to shop at stores.
▪ Staff were separated less and less from pupils; they used the same library and the same resource centres.
less and less
▪ As the war progressed, this position be-came less and less tenable and was eventually discarded.
▪ Changes over the course of 250 years meant that realities accorded less and less with formal appearances and official regulations.
▪ However, they are less and less willing either to hide or to lead lives of celibacy.
▪ It is merely that there is less and less justification for her position.
▪ It turned out not to be much-and, as it happened, he needed less and less as time went on.
▪ Now I seem to care less and less.
▪ She liked the mail-order concept, saying that working women have less and less time to shop at stores.
▪ Staff were separated less and less from pupils; they used the same library and the same resource centres.
lie back and think of England
life and death
▪ In Catal Huyuk the images of life and death mingle in a way that may strike us as bizarre.
▪ In some cases this might be literally a matter of life and death.
▪ Issues of life and death also ride the roller coaster in the same trivialising way.
▪ Not for reasons of life and death or right and wrong, however.
▪ Or, more accurately, a game of life and death.
▪ Pure happenstance and luck had much to do with life and death on both sides.
▪ The words life and death have no meaning for them.
▪ These two objects are symbolic of life and death.
life and limb
▪ The array of rules and regulations dealing with transport and behaviour on the highway are concerned with protecting life and limb.
▪ The Malvern Hills Classic meeting ... now in its fourth year ... isn't all about risking life and limb though.
▪ This meant I didn't have to get risk life and limb to get a good close up shot.
▪ Villeneuve, who had collided with Ralf Schumacher, gets paid £10MILLION for risking life and limb in Formula One.
▪ We're talking serious grievous bodily here, maybe loss of life and limb.
like Darby and Joan
live and breathe sth
▪ Residents of the city live and breathe high school football.
▪ And how they could live and breathe and make more of themselves.
▪ Bob Darnell lives and breathes motor scooters.
▪ Do you live and breathe whatever the position is about?-Do you have the skills nary for this position?
▪ Fans live and breathe for either Celtic or Rangers.
▪ I won't ever forget you, lad; not while I live and breathe, I won't.
live and let live
▪ She couldn't live and let live.
▪ The Smiths, though, have little time for the live and let live view.
live as man and wife
lo and behold
▪ When we arrived, lo and behold, there was Dave sitting in the front row.
▪ And, lo and behold, it was another rich guy.
▪ So he started exercising regularly and eating low-calorie foods and, lo and behold, trimmed down to a svelte 290.
▪ Treat the wasps with an antibiotic and, lo and behold, two genders reappear among the offspring.
lock, stock, and barrel
▪ He moved the whole company, lock, stock, and barrel, to Mexico.
▪ The Knolls have owned the town lock, stock, and barrel for 15 years.
▪ They sold everything lock, stock, and barrel.
look sb up and down
▪ "Don't be silly - you don't need to lose weight," he said, looking her up and down.
▪ The hotel manager slowly looked the old man up and down and then asked him to leave.
▪ Every day after the first two weeks I would look anxiously up and down the road, hoping to see their car.
▪ Raul looked him up and down, eyes opened wide with derision.
▪ Ron Barton looked her up and down.
▪ She looked him up and down.
▪ She stood there, looking Sherman up and down, as if she were angry.
▪ The eaters were lo-cals; they looked us up and down when we went in.
▪ The guy looked him up and down and then something clicked.
look/search high and low
▪ We looked high and low for Sandy but couldn't find her.
▪ He had searched high and low for these.
▪ Throughout her letters, Clappe was searching high and low for a room of her own.
▪ You say you have looked high and low for new building sites but let me tell you there are some.
loud and clear
▪ The play's message is loud and clear.
▪ And unlike the Democrats' proposals, its message rang home loud and clear with the likes of Jigeehuu and Gankhuag.
▪ But the message is loud and clear.
▪ Converse glanced at the bearded man and the thrill of recognition rang loud and clear.
▪ I did, loud and clear.
▪ I say, and I say it loud and clear.
▪ The voices of the cruel are loud and clear.
▪ Through the crack under the door I could smell Shelly loud and clear.
lovely and warm/fresh/clean etc
▪ All that changed, as inevitably it had to, but it was lovely and warm and fulfilling while it lasted.
▪ I always keep the heater on upstairs, so it's always lovely and warm.
man and boy
▪ Dozens of men and boys take turns trading shots with him.
▪ In the first scene he showed how men and boys prepared for combat and self-defence.
▪ It seemed incredible; what would the Axis want with a bunch of small-town men and boys led by a band conductor?
▪ On 25 May, 1812, the Felling pit in Durham exploded, killing 92 men and boys.
▪ That was fine when manpower was cheap and farming was labour intensive, when families worked in the fields man and boy.
▪ The men and boys were lined up and marched off in one direction, and women and children in another.
▪ The twenty-six men and boys were martyred.
▪ These barbarians are young men and boys, in their teens and early twenties.
man and wife
▪ Mom burst into tears as the minister pronounced us man and wife.
▪ Terry and Meena aren't married but they live together as man and wife.
▪ As man and wife, we will be one flesh.
▪ Binyomin and Tsila had not only kissed but were on the verge of becoming man and wife in earnest.
▪ Both are considered totally private affairs, the secret of which is often not even shared between man and wife.
▪ But they were as man and wife.
▪ It was thought preferable for the schoolmaster and schoolmistress to be man and wife.
▪ One such dispute was settled by Marie with a verdict apparently asserting that true love can not exist between man and wife.
▪ The man and wife arrested with him have been bailed but probably face further questioning about suspected harbouring of an escaped prisoner.
▪ The victims were man and wife.
many and various
▪ Circumstances, many and various, may mean there's no way forward for that relationship.
▪ Conjectures about the newcomer were many and various.
▪ Member States refused to meet the claims of the many and various creditors, third parties to the International Tin Agreement.
▪ The influences on Laski's political and legal thought are many and various.
▪ The reasons why teenage girls get pregnant are many and various.
▪ There are many and various racket strings to choose from.
▪ There were also many and various stories of his birth.
me and my big mouth/you and your big mouth etc
mind your manners/language/p's and q's
mix and match
▪ You can mix and match this home-office furniture to fit your needs.
▪ But juicy fruit-punch shades like orange and lime to be mixed and matched are equally hot.
▪ Chairman Charles Dolan moves close to realizing his longtime vision of mixing and matching sporting events on different levels of television.
▪ Creative maps have been drawn, land swaps considered, municipal powers mixed and matched.
▪ Female speaker Voice over It's mix and match at Chipping Norton, where they're staging their first ever mixed fours.
▪ Lenders may mix and match Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac requirements.
▪ The mix and match formula ensures that shareholders are treated on an equal basis.
▪ The units may be mixed and matched with topics already being delivered in early stages to provide a scientific context.
▪ This is what allows you to adjust the colours and mix and match them for your new palette.
more and more
▪ More and more people are taking early retirement.
▪ I find myself thinking about it more and more.
▪ People seem to be getting allergies more and more.
▪ Today, more and more people commute long distances.
▪ As more and more land was planted with cash crops, the lack of pasture became a serious problem in many districts.
▪ As our unit grew from five to ten, it began to look more and more like Dash Riprock.
▪ At the same time more and more males are accumulating in all-male groups.
▪ Charles began to lose his balance more and more often.
▪ The statistics leave no doubt that the triumph of capital has lead to more and more unequal distribution of income and wealth.
▪ With more and more reactors coming on stream every year, it was inevitable that problems would begin to occur.
more and more
▪ As more and more land was planted with cash crops, the lack of pasture became a serious problem in many districts.
▪ As our unit grew from five to ten, it began to look more and more like Dash Riprock.
▪ At the same time more and more males are accumulating in all-male groups.
▪ Charles began to lose his balance more and more often.
▪ Each layer of desire becoming more and more poignant, each movement more painful, exquisite.
▪ The statistics leave no doubt that the triumph of capital has lead to more and more unequal distribution of income and wealth.
▪ With more and more reactors coming on stream every year, it was inevitable that problems would begin to occur.
morning, noon, and night
▪ I've been going to meetings morning, noon, and night lately.
move heaven and earth
▪ Bishop Auckland have also moved heaven and earth to improve their standing.
▪ If you knew what I was doing you'd have moved heaven and earth to stop me.
▪ So together we moved heaven and earth to ensure, in a difficult year, that the necessary money was made available.
▪ We've all experienced it and most of us would move heaven and earth to avoid it.
mover and shaker
▪ McKee was one of the city's movers and shakers in the late 19th century.
▪ As the movers and shakers of this peculiar saga, Bonnaire and Huppert are unnerving and fascinating to watch together.
▪ He has firm alliances with cable movers and shakers like John Malone.
▪ In doing so, organizers reportedly alienated traditional movers and shakers.
▪ Most of the movers and shakers in society know that they will not be affected.
▪ The annual crowd of movers and shakers at the National Press Foundation dinner presents a good example.
▪ The league brings together a cross-section of Tucson, the young and old, the movers and shakers.
▪ Through it all, Tatum maintained his posture of mover and shaker, champion of democracy, doer of good deeds.
neck and neck (with sb)
▪ Du Pont and others are neck and neck with us.
▪ He and Yeltsin are neck and neck in the polls.
▪ It's neck and neck with Madonna.
▪ Sailing: Leaders neck and neck.
▪ The two main parties are still neck and neck, pointing to a hung Parliament.
night and day
▪ My next door neighbor's dog barks day and night.
▪ Does that thing play night and day, Harding?
▪ Even those who live in the City must wear spectacles night and day.
▪ He is sleepless, crying out night and day.
▪ I had to be at his beck and call, night and day.
▪ Leave pumped water to run night and day to increase oxygen content; add more water if needed.
▪ Seizing upon this opportunity, the Santanistas worked night and day to undermine the Herrera administration.
▪ She drove me crazy, night and day, she wanted sneakers, she wanted sneakers.
▪ The only way into his protective case was through a little trap door he kept locked night and day.
night and day/day and night
nip and tuck
▪ The fourth quarter was nip and tuck, but the Bulls won 92-90.
▪ It was nip and tuck up to 7-7 before Best opened up a 12-9 lead.
▪ Rab won the first game; nip and tuck, not much in it; to lose the next.
not before time/and about time (too)
null and void
▪ If the contract has not been signed by witnesses, it is considered null and void.
▪ The elections were declared null and void.
▪ Also null and void is any stipulation releasing a partner from playing an active role in running the business.
▪ As far as he was concerned, all of the points of agreement that had already been reached were null and void.
▪ He decided that the marriage was null and void.
▪ My effective vote could be my first preference vote, in which case all my other preferences are null and void.
▪ On Oct. 28 the Council declared this clause unconstitutional and therefore null and void.
▪ The contract was declared null and void.
▪ Went in there, saw the judge, and he say the deed was null and void.
▪ Yet it was Shirley Place who kept the interview firmly null and void.
off and on
▪ Rachel and Alan have been dating off and on for five years.
▪ And friendship with Clan Diarmaid, that we've been fighting off and on for five generations!
▪ Baltimore was foreign off and on.
▪ Beck and Phil Woods, both virtuosi, have played together off and on for years, and their rapport is magical.
▪ Even so, I thought about this man off and on for most of the week.
▪ He's lived in the King Edward off and on for 30 years.
▪ He dozed off and on but had no understanding of deeper sleep.
▪ The lights flicker off and on, off and on, the signal that the library is about to close.
▪ We've been together ever since, off and on, helping each other out.
old Uncle Tom Cobbleigh and all
on a wing and a prayer
on and off
▪ It rained off and on for the whole afternoon.
▪ A large blue diamond was flashing on and off.
▪ After she had left the office, Wyatt sat and listened to the ventilator go on and off.
▪ After studying accountancy at Chicago University, he worked on and off as an investment analyst.
▪ My husband has suffered from heartburn on and off for years and has recently been diagnosed as having a hiatus hernia.
▪ The spokeswoman says Disney has 50 to 70 toll-free numbers, which it turns on and off to coincide with special promotions.
▪ Then we went for a walk, with him continually flying on and off my shoulder.
▪ There are thousands of tax-paying jobs generated on and off the reservation.
▪ With the other type switch on and off is non-automatic.
once and for all
▪ Let's settle this matter once and for all.
▪ I had to destroy, once and for all, the vicious circle of poverty and economic stagnation.
▪ I was perilously close to being touched once and for all.
▪ Jackson proved once and for all he was no longer the kid star of the Jackson Five days.
▪ No magic wand exists that can be waved once and for all to end injustice.
▪ Only by exploring these patterns, their causes and effects, is there any possibility of breaking them once and for all.
▪ Seismic tomography showed once and for all that the mantle was indeed in motion.
▪ This was supposed to be her final victory over him, supposed to establish her rule once and for all.
▪ Three blocks south, fancier houses in the 700 block of Commercial Street were shuttered once and for all.
one and all
▪ The pastor is a friend to one and all.
▪ At four corners are smaller octagons, replicas in design of the large one and all very tall.
▪ Hence, the First Amendment, which is meant to encourage gaseous emissions from one and all.
▪ Her professionalism, dedication and attitude should be an example to one and all.
▪ Marge was busy hugging one and all, including Miss Rose, who did not relish a hug.
▪ So Ford took concrete steps to get the idea across to one and all.
▪ They are one and all friendly, kind and tolerant - largely I surmise by virtue of my wife and her approachability.
▪ Unimpeachable classics, one and all.
▪ Yet the program aims to treat one and all with professional respect.
one and only
▪ the architect's one and only significant achievement
▪ Buckingham Palace stresses that this is the one and only way to paint a Monarch.
▪ He was the one and only Jimmy Wheeler.
▪ It is likely to be their one and only chance.
▪ It represents the one and only fundamental urge at the heart of all human suffering!
▪ Mitleid, and he identifies it as the one and only inspiration of inherently moral action.
▪ My one and only love, keep purring in my arms.
▪ That's the one and only test.
▪ The lack of a lock on the one and only toilet was compensated for by the frosted glass panels in the door.
one and the same
▪ Many of their supporters think of the two brothers as one and the same.
▪ At one and the same time he seemed to accept every word and yet to be stricken with fear.
▪ At this stage we don't know if they are one and the same person.
▪ But it is still wrong to think that here research and higher education are one and the same thing.
▪ For several long stretches, the road and a large sandy wash are one and the same.
▪ The two Taylors are one and the same.
▪ Therefore the actual being that contains each possible world is one and the same being that contains all possible worlds.
▪ Victor and vanquished, he was beginning to think, came together in art and were one and the same.
▪ Writing as he did, Marx left the inevitable impression that he and history were one and the same.
onwards and upwards
▪ After the last recession ended, unemployment climbed onwards and upwards for another five years.
▪ And set off, onwards and upwards.
out of the frying pan and into the fire
out of the mouths of babes (and sucklings)
over and above
▪ The city has spent $2 million over and above budgeted funds for the new stadium.
▪ A second response has been the setting of separate targets for each field, over and above those for home students.
▪ By 1910 the inhabitants of Britain consumed a million tons of meat over and above home produce.
▪ Each year, industry spends at least £125 million on charitable activities over and above straight forward donations.
▪ In every site I visited, these funds were over and above the schools' routine costs of doing business.
▪ Proposals over and above the levels so indicated constitute new policy proposals.
▪ Rewards are offered to all participants on an equal basis and these rewards are over and above the normal sales compensation.
▪ The unpaid volunteers will not wear uniforms and will not have any special powers over and above those of ordinary citizens.
▪ We deserve to be punished because we considered ourselves over and above the deceased.
over and over (again)
▪ They just keep playing the same songs over and over.
▪ Almost as if, having proclaimed himself paralytic in court, he was setting about proving it over and over again.
▪ Black teeth and black tongue moving, black lips quite near, saying over and over, My name is Kip.
▪ He saw that the boy had written his name many times on the cover, over and over.
▪ Joy was now standing, reading the two signs over and over.
▪ She'd have to say it to herself over and over again.
▪ She went over to the sink and splashed her face with cold water over and over again.
▪ So how do brokers manage to do it over and over for countless strangers?
▪ The boy appeared skeptical, but then began to chant the aleph-bet, over and over again.
peaches and cream
▪ A young Salvation Army lassie with black curly hair, brown eyes and a peaches and cream complexion had caught his eye.
pick and choose
▪ You can't just pick and choose which laws you're going to follow.
▪ And so you can pick and choose and try to get the right mixture or balance.
▪ At Thrush Green she would be able to pick and choose her employers.
▪ But if you've got your own boat and you're not allergic to work, you can pick and choose.
▪ Friendlies are the easiest to start with, as you can pick and choose your opponents.
▪ He could afford to take it easy and he picked and chose carefully whatever he wanted to do.
▪ Remember, however, to pick and choose your wheat berries according to type.
▪ There have been no secret meetings of the Democrat majority to pick and choose personnel.
▪ Unlike us correspondents, who could pick and choose our risks, they had no choice.
play (a game of) cat and mouse (with sb)
▪ For the rest of the hunting season, the saboteurs will play a cat and mouse game with the huntsmen.
▪ They played cat and mouse with the Bay, now scrambling for the outside, now sneaking back in.
play fast and loose with sth
▪ And there is his willingness to play fast and loose with the facts.
▪ Besides, it is playing fast and loose with the statistics to take 1981 as the baseline for the Government's claims.
▪ In what follows, I shall play fast and loose with these words and the subtle distinctions between them.
▪ They probably see it as a place where government plays fast and loose with tax dollars.
▪ To say that the Wattersons had played fast and loose with their investors' capital was an understatement.
poised between sth and sth
▪ Ahead of it the Wyrmberg turned from a distant toy to several billion tons of rock poised between heaven and earth.
▪ Like families gathered at Christmas, social animals are poised between cooperation and conflict.
pros and cons
▪ After listening to the pros and cons, Eisenhower gave him permission to go ahead.
▪ Again, two subgroups were formed to meet and discuss the pros and cons of the various structural alternatives.
▪ Each has its pros and cons.
▪ Here are a few candidates with the pros and cons of each.
▪ Such issues must be considered thoroughly and carefully; every scheme has its pros and cons.
▪ The pros and cons of taking disulfiram are weighed.
▪ The focus of the drama shifts to discovering the dangers, and weighing up pros and cons of using the magic carpet.
publish and be damned
▪ But it was entitled to publish and be damned.
pure and simple
▪ The motive for the robbery was greed, pure and simple.
▪ A gratuitous promise, pure and simple, remains unenforceable unless given under seal.
▪ But lineage pure and simple was not the only consideration.
▪ But more subtle problems remain-related to sexism, pure and simple.
▪ If they lived in the Middle East they were bad, pure and simple.
▪ The bottom line is in the ledger book, pure and simple.
▪ The first is pure and simple file transfer.
▪ The man wants revenge, pure and simple, and he's working logically through the family, saving Stone until last.
put two and two together
▪ When we found the money and the drugs in his room, it was easy to put two and two together.
▪ As it is, Krauss is probably putting two and two together.
▪ He can be trusted to put two and two together.
▪ He saw the pits, he saw my father, and he put two and two together.
▪ His friends put two and two together, and so did the media, which beseiged his home by telephone and helicopter.
▪ If they found the coins they might put two and two together.
▪ In 1989 Congress put two and two together, in a programme to sell the government's houses to the poor.
▪ It is not difficult to put two and two together.
▪ Still nobody in the chemical industry put two and two together.
put/stick that in your pipe and smoke it
really and truly
▪ I really truly love you.
▪ A trade that really and truly helped both teams.
▪ She was really and truly home.
▪ That she'd been really and truly in love and couldn't go on.
▪ What he would really and truly like was to do this new degree course for Bachelor of Civil Law.
▪ Who really and truly and honestly gives a shit?
really and truly
▪ A trade that really and truly helped both teams.
▪ She was really and truly home.
▪ That she'd been really and truly in love and couldn't go on.
▪ What he would really and truly like was to do this new degree course for Bachelor of Civil Law.
▪ Who really and truly and honestly gives a shit?
right, left, and centre
rise and shine
root and branch
▪ A better solution is to prune roots and branches.
▪ But Staggs's Gardens had been cut up root and branch.
▪ I give my hon. Friend the absolute assurance that the Government will continue to oppose it root and branch.
▪ The roots and branches of the Suez war require an arboretum of their own.
▪ This root and branch reform of personal taxation has many attractions for those on the left.
rough and ready
▪ Here are my calculations. They're a little rough and ready as yet, but you'll get a general idea.
▪ Justice was administered in a rough and ready fashion, without using courts or juries.
▪ All have a kitchen with smoke-blackened stone walls and a rough and ready loo hut.
▪ In a rough and ready way we can divide the ways in which a government controls and influences people into three.
▪ It made the rough and ready assumption that the underlying cure of unemployment would be provided by Keynesian economics.
▪ Only rough and ready figures are available because of problems of definition.
▪ She could talk in quite rough and ready language if occasion demanded.
▪ These can never be anything more than very rough and ready guidelines.
▪ This is a rather rough and ready technique.
sadder and/but wiser
sb and company
▪ Meanwhile, Balog and company raced to fix the ship's power supply.
sb's elders (and betters)
▪ For our purposes it may be more helpful to use the idea of desire when assessing elders.
▪ He roused himself wearily to exchange greetings with the elders as they passed him, and went in to his foster-father.
▪ In this respect at least, the procedures reflected those of a lineage or tribal meeting of elders and shaikhs.
▪ Indeed, the absence of official elders was a source of wonder to visitors from systems run by a selected few.
▪ Some, like Monta o, believe to this day that the city killed their elders.
▪ The Oaks are the Elders of the Forest and the others are aware of it.
▪ The weary elders of the 1980s take revenge at last upon the hapless victims of the 1960s.
sb's likes and dislikes
▪ Don't let personal likes and dislikes get in the way of the job.
▪ Art can be created by groups, producing output that is a synthesis of their likes and dislikes.
▪ As children grow older they will become more consciously aware of the likes and dislikes of those who care for them.
▪ Employees were asked about their likes and dislikes, about general working conditions, and about their feelings toward supervisors.
▪ There are only subjective likes and dislikes, and one should not speak of value at all.
▪ These are all factors that are essentially personal, and we are all different in our likes and dislikes.
▪ This column takes a look at local cooks, their culinary likes and dislikes and favorite recipes.
▪ This is when likes and dislikes of others are first expressed.
▪ We all have different likes and dislikes, different tastes in food, music, films and clothes.
sb's lord and master
▪ Could he bear to see them wired-made vulnerable to the least whim of their lords and masters?
▪ In the rustic humour there were opportunities for poking fun at lords and masters and oppressive authority, both civil and military.
▪ Meanwhile our lord and master would sit and drink one cup of tea after another, barking orders from time to time.
sb's nearest and dearest
▪ I don't deal, not for anybody, not for my nearest and dearest.
▪ It will ensure that the memory of your wedding day will remain uppermost in the minds of your nearest and dearest.
▪ Novels may have changed, but dropping hints about your will remains a sure-fire way to annoy your nearest and dearest.
▪ Or heard yourself screaming in a high pitch while arguing fruitlessly with your nearest and dearest?
▪ Sentimental visits home were punctuated by heated and bitter political arguments with my nearest and dearest.
▪ She had come to this, to a limp white heap who had forgotten the names of her nearest and dearest.
▪ Those whose nearest and dearest suffer hearing loss are offered very little assistance to meet the situation!
▪ Which I most certainly am not, as nearest and dearest, and gangs of so-called friends will confirm.
sb's pride and joy
▪ Christina was an only child, her parents' pride and joy.
▪ The garden was my father's pride and joy, the real expression of his creativity.
▪ Todd's magnificent Rolls Royce had been his pride and joy for many years.
▪ We don't have any children, so Snowball is our pride and joy.
▪ Or if your pride and joy 80 inch needs new swivel hubs, these are readily available.
▪ Peter's pride and joy didn't look quite so pretty any more.
▪ Seven-year-old leukaemia sufferer Paul Hindle was dragged off his pride and joy when the gang pounced as he played with his pals.
▪ Taking pride and joy in my work had seemed just a dream to me once.
▪ The car was her and boyfriend Robert; s pride and joy.
▪ The cottage was Anthea's pride and joy.
▪ Today, his pride and joy is more like a Corolla.
see Naples and die
send shivers/chills up (and down) your spine
▪ Stephen King's novels have sent shivers up readers' spines for more than 20 years.
▪ He kicked her sending shivers up her spine; again she yelped, and everything turned black.
▪ We both kept waiting for the moment when the experience would overwhelm us and send chills up our spines.
share and share alike
▪ The entire estate was bequeathed to the four children, share and share alike.
sit down and do sth
▪ First we should sit down and work out the financing.
▪ But I found I could just sit down and play by ear.
▪ He sat down and pushed at the lid with one filthy paw.
▪ Something that makes you want to sit down and take notice.
▪ The harvesters stopped work, sat down and started to eat and drink.
▪ The Springboks sat down and waited.
▪ Then she sat down and started to eat.
▪ Then the Kuchas sat down and ate the fish in his honor.
▪ We can all sit down and analyze.
sit up (and take notice)
▪ After a bit they sat up and watched the welcome breeze work like an animal through the silver-green barley.
▪ Carol was dying, and he cried out in his sleep and sat up trembling with cold sweats in the heat.
▪ He sat up and stared at the sky in wonder.
▪ I sat up, wondering what the hell!
▪ I was still groggy, but I could sit up.
▪ Léonie sat up straight, tucked her feet to one side, put her hands round her knees.
▪ They sat up side by side in the bed, naked, listening, but Valerie no longer felt safe.
skin and bone
▪ Four feet eleven inches of skin and bone, but a terrible sight to behold when roused.
▪ Remove any skin and bones and rinse in cold water.
▪ Remove chicken, trim off skin and bones, and return chicken in large pieces to the soup.
▪ Remove pheasant carcass and pull off any meat; discard skin and bones.
▪ Remove skin and bones from poached chicken.
▪ The inflammation was where there had been only skin and bone before.
▪ They are eyes and skins and bones and toes and brains and instincts.
▪ When she died, she was just skin and bone.
slings and arrows
▪ Sufficient working capital must be available to meet the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune!
▪ There are several dings and dents in the body where the guitar has suffered the slings and arrows of a curious public.
so near and yet so far
spit and polish
▪ A little spit and polish, and a pair of determined, busy hands.
▪ After the inevitable nil-nil draw it's back to the management section for some between-match spit and polish.
▪ She and Ellen between them had turned out the dining-room, giving it extra spit and polish because of Christmas.
stand up and be counted
▪ I do not want to stand up and be counted as a supporter of those demands.
▪ Those who admire her should stand up and be counted.
▪ We really need more help from you good men to stand up and be counted!
sth will run and run
▪ And like the film Jaws, true or false, this is a story that will run and run.
▪ It is definitely an occasion that will run and run and the teams are looking forward to next year already.
▪ This question will run and run.
suck it and see
swings and roundabouts
▪ A case of swings and roundabouts perhaps?
▪ But life with Thomas isn't just a merry-go-round it can be swings and roundabouts.
▪ In recreation grounds the patches of well-worn grass close to the swings and roundabouts will hold the most money.
▪ It is a long way from swings and roundabouts.
▪ It is a psephologist's handbook, a guide to swings and roundabouts and a heckler's compendium.
▪ The advantages of a small company over a large one is a matter of swings and roundabouts.
tar and feather
▪ These spoke openly of ropes being thrown over high beams and tar and feathers brought into play.
▪ They would tar and feather him and ride him out of the town on a rail for this.
tea and sympathy
▪ It was possible, of course, that she wanted to dispense tea and sympathy, but he had his doubts.
▪ Who would it hurt if we let ourselves be led via tea and sympathy to booze and bed?
that's/it's all well and good
▪ If that helps the government keep up with their debt repayments, that's all well and good.
the alpha and omega
the be-all and end-all
▪ Is food and comfort the be-all and end-all?
▪ However, it was said that looking at the employee's base was not the be-all and end-all.
▪ However, weight is not the be-all and end-all and you must keep a check on your general shape and fitness.
the birds and the bees
▪ For a lesson in the birds and the bees, turn to page 12.
▪ She was to be minister of love, chief of the Department of the Birds and the Bees.
the cut and thrust of sth
▪ Away from the cut and thrust of soccer management, Bates knew how to keep second wife Pam in her place.
▪ It has all the cut and thrust of an ideological conflict.
the great and the good
the hearts and minds of sb
the here and now
▪ You need to live in the here and now and stop worrying about the future.
▪ Attention is needed not only for the here and now but for planning the future.
▪ But Symington is never troubled by the here and now.
▪ By definition, they are concerned only with the here and now.
▪ He believed in the here and now.
▪ What had mattered was the here and now.
▪ What is important is the here and now.
▪ You feel guilty in the here and now about things that happened in the past which you can not correct.
▪ You worry in the here and now about things in the future which may never happen.
the ins and outs of sth
▪ I can't tell you all the ins and outs of the situation over the phone, I'll write to you next week.
▪ I found I needed to spend quite a while learning all the ins and outs of the system.
the land of milk and honey
the length and breadth of the area/country/land etc
▪ But the Jaipur is hoping that eventually passengers will be eating their food the length and breadth of the country.
▪ They dogged him the length and breadth of the country, wherever the small troupe of players appeared.
the life and soul of the party
the long and (the) short of it
▪ The long and short of it is that I had too much to drink and said something I shouldn't have.
▪ There you are, the long and the short of it.
the meat and potatoes
▪ But the meat and potatoes of the newscast is the gathering, preparing, and presentation of the news.
the nuts and bolts of sth
▪ They're good guys, but I'm not sure how familiar they are with the nuts and bolts of the banking system.
▪ He did pioneering work in figuring out the nuts and bolts of sustainability.
▪ That meant that they could not stand the Central Office youths involved in the nuts and bolts of the campaign.
the quick and the dead
▪ The Ojibwa, Gary told me, make no crude distinction between the quick and the dead.
the rank and file
▪ conflict between union leaders and the rank and file at an Alfa Romeo factory
▪ rank-and-file members
▪ The rank and file has lost confidence in the party leadership.
▪ The policy will now have to be approved by the rank and file.
the rights and wrongs of sth
▪ My sisters and I got a long lecture on the rights and wrongs of wearing makeup.
▪ I do not wish to enter into the rights and wrongs of meat consumption versus vegetarianism or alcohol consumption versus abstention.
▪ Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of that dispute, we all know the importance of representatives.
▪ Not the rights and wrongs of conscientious objection.
▪ She would not even bother to argue the rights and wrongs of what had occurred since it would be futile.
▪ She would worry about the rights and wrongs of the situation in the morning.
▪ We can generalise from the rights and wrongs of his account of seeing to the use of the other senses as well.
the straight and narrow
▪ She was frigid and strait-laced and therefore somewhat ill-equipped to keep me on the straight and narrow.
▪ This will help you, both physically and psychologically, to get back on to the straight and narrow.
▪ You may be able to keep us to the straight and narrow.
the top and bottom of it
the whole (kit and) caboodle
▪ He bought the whole kit and caboodle: computer, printer, and modem.
▪ By this meager, solo loop, the whole caboodle is regulated.
▪ Of course it's Yours Truly that's got to dust the whole kit and caboodle!
▪ Then sell the whole caboodle to the nationals-including, if you choose, a fake story of attack.
the whole kit and caboodle
▪ Of course it's Yours Truly that's got to dust the whole kit and caboodle!
the whys and (the) wherefores
the world and his wife
▪ It seemed that all the world and his wife were in Madrid.
▪ Nick and Clem will have invited half the world and his wife, anyway.
▪ Now all the world and his wife seems to have heard of them!
▪ Only all the world and his wife, if I know Igor.
▪ The reason the world and his wife head for these shores is they know that their chances of deportation are virtually non-existent.
▪ This also facilitated close up shots to be taken without the world and his wife looking on.
the/a mean between sth and sth
▪ It's a case of finding the mean between firmness and compassion.
▪ A Nothing in comparison with the Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothing and everything.
then and there
▪ If I come across a mistake, I fix it right then and there.
▪ For a moment he thought of phoning her, then and there, and telling her how he felt.
▪ I probably could have refused, and that would have ended the matter right then and there.
▪ It would have been easy to shoot him right then and there.
▪ Mr Pasta dismisses Manuel then and there and without notice.
▪ Peter wondered about running in then and there.
▪ She decided then and there that she was not going to stand for it.
▪ She saw only the immediate need of a particular individual and tried to meet it then and there.
▪ Two kids still refused to write unless I helped them right then and there.
there and then
▪ He decided against buying a ticket there and then but satisfied himself with getting a list of trains to Rome.
▪ I thought Charlie would be there and then Roderick came.
▪ If she wasn't being paid by his rich over indulgent parents, she would have punished him there and then.
▪ If you make any kind of a mistake, you should re-record the offending passage there and then.
▪ Or perhaps he was waiting for them to start counting their blessings there and then.
▪ She went into labour right there and then.
▪ They want to talk about it there and then, with passion and prejudice.
▪ We wanted to get married there and then.
there is no love lost between sb and sb
▪ There's no love lost between Bart and Stephen.
thick and fast
▪ At first no one was interested in the job but now applications are coming in thick and fast.
▪ Rumors flew thick and fast that the government would close the newspaper.
▪ Rumours flew thick and fast that the company was going to be sold.
▪ Callers, suitably and sombrely attired, came thick and fast.
▪ Finally, may reactions to the paper come thick and fast from all quarters!
▪ Official recognition of the change came thick and fast during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.
▪ The export market has not taken up the slack, so redundancies are coming thick and fast.
▪ The form for Swindon can only get better; the games are coming thick and fast.
▪ The invitations came thick and fast.
▪ The rumours are growing thick and fast as weeds and de Craon must be their sower.
▪ They are falling thick and fast, some of them upon our dead, and some upon their own...
this, that and the other
thrills and spills
▪ Around fifteen thousand spectators came to watch the thrills and spills ... for the organisers it proved another successful Classic.
▪ But they appreciated that getting wet was all part of the thrills and spills.
▪ The audience would love the thrills and spills with the added spice of danger.
▪ There were plenty of thrills and spills as the first round of the East Senior knockout cup got under way.
▪ This provides a safe and sheltered location in which groups of all ages can experience the thrills and spills of watersports.
through and through
▪ After 30 years in Queensland, he felt he was an Australian through and through.
▪ Don't trust him. He's rotten through and through.
▪ Einstein was a realist through and through.
▪ Lofgren is a politician through and through.
▪ But the world of the women is real through and through, and so are their appendages.
▪ Dad was a rationalist through and through.
▪ Einstein, of course, was a realist through and through.
▪ I had always been a mischief-maker through and through, in full command of my impulses and desires.
▪ Marilyn and Dan Quayle are Indiana, through and through.
▪ She might be on the stage, but she was a lady through and through.
▪ The idea warmed her through and through.
▪ Weeping with merriment, gleeful through and through, she never relaxed her grip.
through thick and thin
▪ I'm so grateful to Barb- she's supported me through thick and thin.
▪ The old pull of party allegiance, support for your party through thick and thin, is fading.
tie/bind sb hand and foot
▪ We're bound hand and foot by all these safety regulations.
▪ Then, before she realised what was happening, he fastened her in the double stirrups, binding her hands and feet.
time after time/time and time again
to all intents and purposes
too many chiefs and not enough Indians
top and tail
▪ Lengthier ones such as those in support of specific discovery are not suited and the standard part becomes little more than the top and tail.
▪ Peel off the tough outer skin of the silk squash, or top and tail the courgettes.
▪ There is no need to top and tail them.
▪ There will be four engines in operation with two trains to push, pull, top and tail, and double-head.
toss and turn
▪ Do you fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, or do you toss and turn for hours before dropping off?
▪ She had slept badly, tossing and turning before falling into a fitful doze.
▪ If your tossing and turning is taking up needed sleep time, insomnia may be the culprit.
▪ Recurring thoughts about her conversation with Philippe Fontaine had kept her tossing and turning most of the night.
▪ She had slept badly, tossing and turning in the heat though the room had been cool enough.
▪ This, and the sound of heavy machinery passing underneath the window, kept me tossing and turning.
town and gown
▪ Back to the town and gown.
▪ He says Morse is town and gown.
tried and tested/trusted/true
▪ After all, these methods are tried and tested.
▪ Alternatively you could pick up a pinstripe suit from tried and trusted Marks & Spencer.
▪ Disposable workers Modern methods of super-exploitation, tried and tested in the Third World, are coming home to industrialized countries.
▪ Look for the more creative solution - the tried and true don't always bring the best results.
▪ Others stick to the tried and tested method with a sponge.
▪ Some parts of the blueprint will have been tried and tested, and found to be reliable.
▪ The genre is tried and true, of course, from Animal House to Reality Bites.
▪ These have the advantage of being tried and tested and involve lower cost.
turn around and say/do etc sth
▪ After a couple of months, the Sioux turned around and came back west without permission.
▪ Each was turned around and the wrists cuffed behind their backs.
▪ He turned around and saw the first Stillman shuffling off in the other direction.
▪ He turned around and slowed down, seeing no sign of the monsters.
▪ Lepine turns around and starts spraying the students in the front rows with gunfire.
▪ She turned around and went back to sit in the road.
▪ There was no way to maneuver, even to turn around and get out if we had to.
▪ Why turn around and do the same to one of our own?
twist and turn
▪ And the sporty model, with its bigger tires, felt better in highway twists and turns than its richer sibling.
▪ But the journey of life has many twists and turns.
▪ Despite many bridges, viaducts, embankments, cuttings and tunnels the lines twist and turn in detours around the hills.
▪ First, in high winds the building could twist and turn and pull sections of the walls or windows apart.
▪ Or by the twists and turns of all that is buried in the human heart.
▪ Pros: Lots of pyrotechnics and effects, plenty of twists and turns that keep you hanging on.
▪ She'd twist and turn, she'd fold herself double, she'd cry out.
▪ The roller-coaster ride of the successful entrepreneur has many such twists and turns.
under lock and key
▪ Oswald's FBI file has been kept under lock and key.
▪ If they had kept me under lock and key from my fifteenth birthday until my twentieth, I might have escaped.
▪ Since then, that length of self-healing cable has been kept under lock and key at the railway inspectorate building at Reading.
▪ Smith's copies have spent the last six days under lock and key at its Dunstable depot.
▪ The older children were no longer kept under lock and key.
▪ Wherever they are kept, they should be out of reach of children and, where appropriate, under lock and key.
▪ With Petersen under lock and key, life for the gumshoes of the Office of Security returned to normal.
▪ Your master should really have kept the book under lock and key.
up and do sth
up and down
▪ I want you kids to stop running up and down in the hall.
▪ All night he parades up and down the bar like a brawny old cockerel.
▪ He went down early each morning and jumped up and down in the briny, enjoying every minute of it.
▪ If you build your jig slightly larger than your posts it will slide up and down more easily.
▪ She opened doors, walked up and down, inspected rooms.
▪ The old woman nodded, left and right and up and down.
▪ The whole place reverberated with noise, feet pounding up and down stairs, children yelling, women shouting, doors banging.
▪ Two dancers in harness are walking up and down the pole.
▪ When the Goldwater scholarship was announced this spring, Flores jumped up and down, not for joy, but from surprise.
ups and downs
▪ We had a lot of ups and downs in our marriage.
▪ Eachuinn Odhar had his ups and downs, but more downs than ups.
▪ If you're prepared to take a five-year view, these ups and downs are worth enduring.
▪ Most older people cope with the ups and downs of their daily lives.
▪ Relearning is a longer, gradual process with ups and downs and it is too easy just to give up.
▪ There have been ups and downs of course.
▪ There have been ups and downs, yes, but on the whole my fortunes have grown.
▪ We need to hold tenaciously to our commitment to talk over the ups and downs of our days.
waifs and strays
▪ He also made a special study of the outcasts, the waifs and strays of industrial society the vagrants and the idiots.
wait and see
▪ He decided to wait and see what happened in the other rehearsals.
▪ I promise you, you just wait and see.
▪ I would simply have to wait and see.
▪ Staff at Oxford Regional health Authority will now have to wait and see how many of them are to keep their jobs.
▪ The best attitude to have towards money matters in 1993 is: wait and see.
▪ They therefore had decided to wait and see how the operations progressed before attempting to formulate subsequent war strategy.
▪ Until recently, all she and her family could do was wait and see.
▪ You said you were going to wait and see.
wait on sb hand and foot
▪ Oliver expects us to wait on him hand and foot.
wake up and smell the coffee
▪ While the field has changed with rent control nearly quashed, wake up and smell the coffee of a new day.
warts and all
▪ The biography is an in-depth look at Jefferson's life, warts and all.
▪ Carolyn's Diary warts and all!
▪ Frey brings Toulouse-Lautrec vividly to life, warts and all.
▪ Labour retains a fatal mistrust in the only assured source of wealth which, warts and all, is the market economy.
▪ People can now see them warts and all.
▪ This is warts and all film making which, though done to good effect, is hardly uplifting.
wax and wane
▪ Although the Alsops' fortunes waxed and waned through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, certain family characteristics remained distinct.
▪ Controversy about essential hypertension has waxed and waned for a century, and what is orthodox today may change with time.
▪ Historical Romances continued to appear throughout the century, waxing and waning in numbers and popularity as public taste dictated.
▪ Is it present constantly, does the sensation wax and wane, or does it come in acute attacks?
▪ Over the years, there have been fundamental shifts in policy and strategy as attitudes toward the rural poor wax and wane.
wear sackcloth and ashes
▪ I have no wish to see Aitken go through the rest of his life wearing sackcloth and ashes.
well and truly
▪ After two weeks, the kids were well and truly converted.
▪ But I had been caught, well and truly, and had paid the price, time and time again.
▪ From February, the challenge will have well and truly begun, especially if your birthday falls between August 13 and 23.
▪ It looked as if she was well and truly trapped.
▪ Mind you any food in our stomach was going to get well and truly shaken up.
▪ One word from him and doors that Washington depended on being open would be well and truly slammed.
▪ The padded fabric varieties are well and truly childproof - and look very attractive.
▪ We were all well and truly bitten.
what with one thing and another
wheel and deal
▪ In their case, both ran as outsiders, a tricky strategy in a family known for its insider wheeling and dealing.
▪ She had to concede that Adrienne could wheel and deal in more ways than one.
▪ There was more wheeling and dealing behind the cameras than in front of them.
▪ What makes this cautionary tale so instructive is not just the details of back-room wheeling and dealing that relate specifically to Chicago.
when all's said and done
win (sth)/beat sb fair and square
wine and dine sb
▪ Companies spend millions wining and dining their clients.
▪ Did he tell you to plant this here while he wined and dined me?
▪ He wined and dined Princess Diana after supporting her favourite ballet school show.
▪ He knows they are only interested in exploiting the collective assets, wining and dining, and riding in official cars.
▪ He was well wined and dined by the Wolverhampton chamber of commerce last Friday.
▪ Rest it on your conscience if you wine and dine your lover and claim client entertainment.
▪ The winner will receive two free wine and dine tickets on the preserved railway of his/her choice.
▪ They will all be wined and dined in our private box.
yes and no
▪ "Were you surprised?" "Well, yes and no. I knew they were planning something, but I wasn't sure what."
▪ A decision is more a matter of yes and no: is this thing worth doing or is it not worth doing?
▪ Not words we use much in the Civil Service, yes and no, even in the most impersonal contexts.
▪ There was no significant difference to the manner in which yes and no responses increased over memory set size.
you live and learn
you've made your bed and you must lie on it
your best bib and tucker
your own flesh and blood
▪ He raised those kids like they were his own flesh and blood.
your/sb's bread and butter
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ And where are you going on your vacation?
▪ Come in and sit down.
▪ Do you want a pen and some paper?
▪ Do you want some cake and ice cream?
▪ How much is fifteen and seven?
▪ I'll have a gin and tonic.
▪ Maria finally turned around and confronted the man.
▪ She took some medicine and threw up.
▪ Tara picked up the book and put it on the shelf.
▪ The movie starred Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves.
▪ This is a flexible and user-friendly system suitable for beginners and advanced users alike.
▪ Try to eat less and get more exercise.
▪ We had coffee and hot buttered rolls.
▪ You need to know what rights you have and how to use them.