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Common

American

Phrases

in Everyday Contexts

A Detailed Guide to

Real-Life Conversation

and Small Talk

Third Edition

RICHARD A. SPEARS, Ph.D.

New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retr ieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-177608-0

MHID: 0-07-177608-7

The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this tit le: ISBN: 978-0-07-177607-3,

MHID: 0-07-177607-9.

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TERMS OF USE

This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ("McGrawHill") and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is sub ject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicen se the work or any part of it without McGraw-Hill's prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to comply with these terms. THE WORK IS PROVIDED "AS IS." McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMATION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the funct ions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterru pted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccuracy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the w ork. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inabilit y to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arise s in contract, tort or otherwise.

Contents

About This Dictionary v

Guide to the Use of the Dictionary vii

Terms and Symbols ix

Dictionary of Common American Phrases 1

Key Word Index 241

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v

About This Dictionary

This dictionary is a collection of more than 2,100 everyday sentences and utterances that Americans use over and over in their greetings, good-byes, and everyday small talk. The third edition has been enlarged and updated to include the latest contemporary, high-frequency con- versational idioms. Whereas it is true that there is an infinite number of possible sentences in any language, it is also true that some of those sentences are used repeatedly from day to day. The effective use of language is not in being able to create and understand an infinite number of sentences but in knowing and using the right sentence in the right way in a given context. Nonnative speakers of English have found the first two editions extremely useful for unraveling the short- ened sentences and sentence fragments that they hear in personal encounters, both formal and informal. The kinds of expressions recorded in this collection include com- plete sentences as well as sentence fragments and phrases. In many instances, fragments are punctuated as complete sentences (initial capital letter and terminal punctuation) because such utterances can stand alone just like complete sentences. Phrases and fragments that are always included or imbedded in other sentences do not have initial and terminal punctuation. The utterances here are presented without profanity, swearing, or slang unless the latter is a necessary part of the utterance. Depending, on age, class, context, and personal choice, actual use of these entries may be replete with profanity, swearing, and slang. The style of the typical entry and the examples is highly collo- quial. Many of the examples express joking, anger, and sarcasm. In general, this is not the type of language that one would choose to write, unless one were writing dialogue for a script. It is the type of language that one hears every day and needs to understand, however. This collection is not only a dictionary but also a resource for the learning of these expressions. The user is encouraged not only to use the dictionary as a reference book but also to read it from cover to cover. An index of key words is included that allows the user to find the full form of a phrase by looking up any major word in the phrase.

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vii

Guide to the Use of the Dictionary

1. Entry heads are alphabetized word by word.

2. Entry heads appear in

boldface type. Cited entry heads appear in this type

3. An entry head may have one or more alternative forms. The alter-

natives are printed in boldface type and are preceded by "and."

Alternative forms are separated by semicolons.

4. Definitions and descriptions are in roman type. Alternative or

closely related definitions and paraphrases are separated by semi- colons.

5. A definition or paraphrase may be followed by comments in

parentheses. These comments give additional information about the expression, including cautions, notes on origins, or cross- referencing. Each numbered sense can have its own comments.

6. Many expressions have more than one major sense or meaning.

These meanings are numbered with boldface numerals.

7. Sometimes a numbered sense will have an additional alternative

form that does not belong to the other senses. In such cases the and and the alternative form follow the numeral.

8. The definitions of some entries are preceded by information in

square brackets. The information provides a context that narrows down the scope of the definition. E.g., [of truth] undeniable.

9. The first step in finding an expression is to try looking it up in

the dictionary. Entries that consist of two or more words are entered in their normal order, such as

Act your age! Phrases are

never inverted or reordered like age! Act your.

10. The alphabetizing ignores a,an, and the at the beginning of an

entry head. Look for expressions beginning with a,an, and the under the second word. viii

Guide to the Use of the Dictionary

11. If you do not find the expression you want, or if you cannot

decide what the form of the expression you seek is, look up any major word in the expression in the Key Word Index, which begins on page 241. Pick out the expression you want and look it up in the dictionary. ix

Terms and Symbols

? (a box) marks the beginning of an example. andindicates that an entry head has one or more variant forms that are the same or similar in meaning as the entry head. catchphrase describes an expression meant to catch attention because of its cleverness or aptness. clichéan expression that is overused and sounds trite. compare tomeans to consult the entry indicated and look for simi- larities to the entry head containing the "compare to" instruction. entry headis the first word or phrase, in boldface, of an entry; the word or phrase that the definition explains. go tomeans to turn to the entry indicated. see alsomeans to consult the entry indicated for additional informa- tion or for expressions that are similar in form or meaning to the entry head containing the "see also" instruction.

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1 A an A for effort recognition for having tried to do something even if it was not successful. ? The plan didn"t work, but I"ll give you an

A for effort for trying.

? Bobby played his violin in the concert and got an A for effort. Tom said, "It sounded terrible!" Able to sit up and take (a little) nourishment. Go to (I"m) able to sit up and take (a little) nourishment.

About that time. Go to (It"s) about that time.

Absolutely! a strong affirmation. ?Mother: Do you want another piece of cake? Child: Absolutely! ? Q: Are you ready to go? A:

Absolutely!

Absolutely not! a strong denial or refusal. (Compare to Definitely not! )?Bob: Will you please slip this bottle into your pocket? Bill:

Absolutely not!

?Bob: Can I please have the car again tonight? Father: Absolutely not! You can"t have the car every night! Act your age! Behave more maturely! (A rebuke for someone who is acting childish. Often said to a child who is acting like an even younger child.) ? Johnny was squirming around and pinching his sister. His mother finally said, "Johnny, act your age!" ?Child: Aw, come on! Let me see your book! Mary: Be quiet and act your age.

Don"t be such a baby.

Adios. Good-bye. (From Spanish. Used in casual or familiar conver- sation.) ?Bob: See you later, man. Bill: Yeah, man. Adios. ?Bob:

Adios, my friend. Mary: See you, Bob.

Afraid not. Go to (I"m) afraid not.

Afraid so. Go to (I"m) afraid so.

after all in addition; considering the fact that; thinking in retro- spect. ? You should really be nicer to him. After all, he is your brother. ? A: But he acts very rude sometimes, and he"s so boring.

B: But really, Sally, after all!

After while(, crocodile). Good-bye till later.; See you later. (Croco- dile is used only for the sake of the rhyme. This is the response to See you later, alligator.)?Mary: See you later. Bill: After while, crocodile. ?Jane: After while. Mary: Toodle-oo. After you. a polite way of encouraging someone to go ahead of oneself; a polite way of indicating that someone else should or can go first. ? Bob stepped back and made a motion with his hand indicating that Mary should go first. "After you," smiled Bob. ?Bob: It"s time to get in the food line. Who"s going to go first? Bill: After you. Bob: Thanks.

Afternoon. Go to (Good) afternoon.

Again(, please). Say it one more time, please. ? The play director said, "Again, please. And speak more clearly this time." ?Tom: I need some money. I"ll pay you back. Bill (pretending not to hear): Again, please. Tom: I said I need some money. How many times do

I have to say it?

Age before beauty. a comical and slightly rude way of encouraging someone to go ahead of oneself; a comical, teasing, and slightly grudging way of indicating that someone else should or can go first. ? As they approached the door, Bob laughed and said to Bill, "Age before beauty." ? "No, no. Please, you take the next available seat," smiled Tom. "Age before beauty, you know." Ahem! Excuse me!; Look in this direction!; Give me your attention! (This is a way of spelling the sound of clearing one"s throat to draw someone"s attention.) ?Andy: Ahem! Don: Did somebody say something? Andy: Ahem! Dave: Oh, sorry, Andy. What do you want? ?Dave: Ahem! Andy. Andy: What? Dave: There was a spider crawling up your pants leg, but I don"t see it now. Ain"t it the truth? Isn"t that just the way it is?; I agree with you completely. (Informal.) ? A: Things aren"t the way they used to be in the good old days. B: Ain"t it the truth? ? A: You just can"t buy good shoes anymore. B: Ain"t it the truth? alive and kicking Go to alive and well. alive and well and alive and kicking; safe and sound safe, healthy, and unharmed. ? Q: How have you guys been? Haven"t seen much of you. A: We"re alive and well. Having a great time! Q: Have you heard from Tom and Jan? Did they go out of town? A:

No, they"re at home, safe and sound.

After while(, crocodile).

2

All the best to someone.

3 all in all and all things considered; on balance a transition indicating a summary, a generalization, or the announcement ofquotesdbs_dbs48.pdfusesText_48

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