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Phrases related to: things are tough all over Page #16

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Can't Get Blood from a StoneTo be unable of doing impossible things,Rate it:

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cat and mouse gameTwo individuals and/or groups repeatedly keeping check on each other in a suspicious or self-protective way, often with the goal of one or both parties trying to gain a malicious advantage over the other.Rate it:

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daft as a brushDescribes someone who is known to do and say silly things.Rate it:

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dicksize warA pointless competition, dispute or conflict, often over some trivial matter.Rate it:

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drain the swamp when up to one's neck in alligators(idiomatic) When performing a long and complex task, and when you've gotten utterly immersed in secondary and tertiary unexpected tangential subtasks, it's easy to lose sight of the initial objective. This sort of distraction can be particularly problematic if the all-consuming subtask or sub-subtask is not, after all, particularly vital to the original, primary goal, but ends up sucking up time and resources (out of all proportion to its actual importance) only because it seems so urgent.Rate it:

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ejusdem generisA canon of construction holding that when a general term follows a list of particular terms, the general term only applies to things similar to the particular terms. For example, in the list "sun, moon, and other large objects", the phrase "other large objects" only includes celestial bodies, not houses and elephants.Rate it:

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go hand in handOf two things, to be closely related or to go together well; see hand in hand.Rate it:

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guarded rightsThose rights laid down by a constitution as being guaranteed to all individuals in the society; human rights.Rate it:

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handy as "pockets in your underwire"Means "not at all handy"Rate it:

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have it both waysTo have two things which are mutually incompatible.Rate it:

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have one's fingers in many piesto be involved in many different things.Rate it:

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have someone by the short and curliesto exercise total control over someone.Rate it:

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jump onTo attack someone verbally, or criticise them over strongly for small errors.Rate it:

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Kill Two Birds with One StoneTo achieve or carry out two things with one effort, to do two things in one actionRate it:

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land of plentyA utopia that provides for all one's needsRate it:

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lay aboutTo strike blows in all directions.Rate it:

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lay offTo place all or part of a bet with another bookmaker in order to reduce risk.Rate it:

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On the Horns of a DilemmaHaving to decide between two things, faced with the decision making with both the options unfavorableRate it:

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overleapTo leap over, to jump over, to cross by jumping.Rate it:

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pass byTo pass over. disregard, overlook.Rate it:

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pass downTo hand over, pass through or transfer to a lower level, next generation, etc.Rate it:

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quick on the uptakeAble to readily understand things; intelligent.Rate it:

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Sweet ToothHaving great desire to eat sugary foods and items, craze for sweet thingsRate it:

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tackle the jobDetermine tools and manpower needed, Move on site, Begin and complete necessary demolition, Launch make-ready tasks in order for all trades to move on site and begin the new construction.Rate it:

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tell apartTo be able to know the difference between things; to distinguish.Rate it:

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throw dirt enough, and some will stickIf enough allegations are made about someone or something, then even if they are all untrue, people's opinion of the person or thing will be diminished.1759, John Wesley, letter to John Downes, Rector of St. Michael's, Wood Street, read at Wesley Center Online at on 14 Oct 06.I hope...that you are ignorant of the whole affair, and are so bold only because you are blind...And blind enough; so that you blunder on through thick and thin, bespattering all that come in your way, according to the old, laudable maxim, 'Throw dirt enough, and some will stick.'1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays, read at fullbooks.com on 14 Oct 06,But whatever harm a spiteful tongue could do them, he took care should be done. Only throw dirt enough, and some will stick.1864, John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Penguin Classics (1994), p. 10,Archbishop Whately used to say Rate it:

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throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stickTry the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful.2001, And still no one is shouting stop. read in The Kingdom archives at on 02 Nov 06,Many team managers are of the philosophy that if you throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick. They believe that team preparation is all about physical fitness. They run the players into the ground and they believe they will be "flying on the day".2001, Robert McCrum, Let them eat cake, in The Observer 16 Dec 01, read on Guardian Unlimited site at on 02 Nov 06,Australian publishing boomed and in the past 10 years the country's literary culture has undergone a mini golden age, capped by Carey's triumph at the 2001 Booker Prize. As one Australian arts administrator said to me many years ago: 'Listen, mate, if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.'2001, Chris Collin, Re: 2-cp speys on The Strathspey Server mailing list archive at on 02 Nov 06,I am finding that "if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick". It doesn't always work of course (especially on the nights when the class is mostly the beginners), but the class seems to thrive on the challange.2005, Ray Craft (poster on The right scale blog), Fitzhooie and his Burden, read at on 02 Nov 06,Prosecutors everywhere have bad habits of overcharging lots of cases, knowing that if the throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick.2005, Sean Kelleher, Spike Milligan: His part in our downfall in Business 07 Aug 05, read at on 02 Nov 06,As long as there is negligible regulation and enforcement anyone can actually try and do the job...Weak regulation allows the industry to build strategies on full time recruitment. The theory goes: throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.c2005, Everything You've Learned About Marketing Is Wrong, read on LINC Performance website at on 02 Nov 06,They have the money to continue to believe in the repetition side of the equation. You throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick. But it still isnRate it:

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what mattersIt takes all the little things that makes the big things matterRate it:

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win the dayto gain complete victory or success over something or someoneRate it:

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breadwinnerThe member of a household who earns all or most of the incomeRate it:

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a wild goose never laid a tame eggmost things are inherited and predeterminedRate it:

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eat an elephant one bite at a timeTo do something one step at a time; to do something in steps rather than all at once.Rate it:

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every man jackAll the members of a group with no exceptions.Rate it:

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go back to square onerevert to the beginning and start all over againRate it:

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the fucking you get isn't worth the fucking you get(vulgar) The sexual satisfactions that one receives from a spouse or romantic partner are not sufficient to compensate for the significant periods of bad faith and unpleasant treatment which such relationships routinely involve.1971, Allen Churchill, The Literary Decade, ISBN 9780135375228:Years later she expressed her disillusionment with sex by saying, "The fucking you get isn't worth the fucking you get."1999, Ben Sonnenberg, Lost Property: Memoirs and Confessions of a Bad Boy, ISBN 9781582430454, p. 93:Maitland got drunk at his parties and threw his arm around you and pulled you over to his wife and made you look down her dress, saying, "The trouble with marriage is that the fucking you get isn't worth the fucking you get."2008, Joseph Heywood, Blue Wolf In Green Fire, ISBN 9781599213590, p. 63:"I can't believe a little pussy got me into dis mess." "Shit happens," Service said. "Sometimes the fucking you get isn't worth the fucking you get."Rate it:

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Hit the BooksTo seriously pay attention to studies, be ready to go good for class with all work done carefully.Rate it:

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little pitchers have big earsSmall children often overhear more of what is said than adults realize or desire.1844, Charlotte M. Yonge, Abbeychurch, ch. 2:Seeing me listening to something she was saying to Mamma, she turned round upon me with that odious proverb, "Little pitchers have long ears."1939, "Bedtime Bedlam," Time, 17 Apr.:A caution to U. S. parents, but a joy to radio merchandising, is the dread truth that little pitchers have big ears.2002, Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, ISBN 9780743455961, p. 185:I suppose he might say pushed or went woowoo, but took a shit is, I fear, very much in the ballpark (little pitchers have big ears, after all).Rate it:

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airmailTo throw the ball well over a fielder's head where that fielder is unable to make a play on the ball.Rate it:

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Black Sheep of the FamilyA disrespected member of a family, community or any other group or society due to certain actions. It happens when all other are performing or doing well but one person lacks it allRate it:

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divide and conquerA combination of political, military and economic strategies that aim to gain and maintain power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy.(computing) Applied to various algorithms, such as quicksort, that solve a problem by splitting it recursively into smaller problems until all of the remaining problems are trivial.(as imperative, proverb) In order to rule securely, don't allow alliances of your enemies.Rate it:

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from cover to coverAll the way to the last page.Rate it:

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God's gift to womenSomeone irresistible to women, someone whom all women find attractive.Rate it:

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have one's head up one's assTo be oblivious to the real state of things, from either stupidity or stubbornness.Rate it:

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hindsight is 20/20(idiomatic) In hindsight things are obvious that were not obvious from the outset; one is able to evaluate past choices more clearly than at the time of the choice.Rate it:

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Lose Your ShirtTo lose all one have, particularly moneyRate it:

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make upTo resolve, forgive or smooth over an argument or fight.Rate it:

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Mexican breakfastA breakfast consisting of a cigarette and a glass of water, supposedly because that is all Mexicans can afford.Rate it:

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money can't buy happinessMoney can buy external things, but true happiness comes from inside.Rate it:

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not a patch onNot an improvement over something; not nearly as good as something; much worse than.Rate it:

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nuit blancheAn all-night celebration or festival.Rate it:

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