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Phrases related to: bad time Page #8

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put forwardTo change the time in a time zone to a later time.Rate it:

(3.50 / 2 votes)
sally forth!An archaic military term. To exit a fortified position in order to assault a besieging force. The meaning has become more metaphorical over time.Rate it:

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Happy RamadanAn expression used during Ramadan to wish someone a happy time during the holiday.Rate it:

(3.33 / 6 votes)
ancient historyThat which happened a long time ago and not worth discussing any more.Rate it:

(3.00 / 3 votes)
any port in a stormAn unfavourable option which might well be avoided in good times but which nevertheless looks better than the alternatives at the current time.Rate it:

(3.00 / 1 vote)
bring downTo make someone feel bad emotionally.Rate it:

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Cook Your GooseTo bring someone down, spoil someone’s quality time or to wreck a happy plan or projectRate 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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dust offTo use something after a long time without it.Rate it:

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every dog has its dayEveryone has a time of success and satisfaction.Rate it:

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fiddle aboutTo waste time; spend time idly.Rate it:

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fiddle while Rome burnsTo neglect helping when one's time is needed most; to ignore the major problem at hand (whilst doing something less important); to be idle, inactive, or uninterested in a time of great need.Rate it:

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fuck aboutTo waste time with unimportant activities, often used as an admonition to urge the other party to stop wasting time.Rate it:

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good things come to those who waitA patient seeker will be satisfied in due time; patience is a virtue.Rate it:

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have legsTo have endurance; to have prospects to exist or go on for a long time.Rate it:

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hold overSomething left from an earlier time.Rate it:

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managerial inbreedingBad management, caused by managers making poor selection choices in recruitment, rewards, and promotions of the staff that report to them, leading to another generation of managers who lack the necessary skill sets to reward and promote the most effective staff.Rate it:

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nine times out of tenvery often, mostly, most of the timeRate it:

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nobody's perfectUsed when someone's mistakes or flaws are acknowledged, to remind that everyone else makes mistakes and has flaws1995, New York Magazine Vol. 28, No. 5, 30 January 1995, The de-moralization of society (Book Review)Hypocrisy, particularly in sexual matters, is excused on the grounds that hey, nobody's perfect, and at least folks back then felt bad enough to lie.2000, Madonna, Nobody's PerfectI feel so sad. What I did wasn't right. I feel so bad and I must say to you: Sorry, but nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. What did you expect? I'm doing my bestRate it:

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not here to fuck spidersUsed to indicate one has serious business to pursue and should not be wasting time.Rate it:

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run downTo find something or someone after searching for a long time.Rate it:

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run for one's lifeTo attempt to escape an extremely bad situationRate it:

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run onTo continue talking for a long time.Rate it:

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swear offTo quit or cease completely, or to promise to quit, as of a bad habit.Rate it:

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take a picture, it will last longeran ironic statement said after being stared at for a long time.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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too many balls in the airAttempting to accomplish many projects in one time period.Rate it:

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wet the bedTo go bad, to fail (said of machines; a euphemism for shit the bed).Rate it:

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from can see to can't seeFrom the time when it is barely light enough to see until there is no light remaining whatsoever: from sunup to sundown, from dawn to duskRate it:

(2.67 / 3 votes)
one who hesitates is lostA person who spends too much time contemplating what to do may miss a valuable but fleeting opportunity.Rate it:

(2.67 / 3 votes)
grace periodA length of time during which rules or penalties do not take effect or are withheld.Rate it:

(2.50 / 2 votes)
holy fuckExpression of terror, awe, surprise, shock, etc., often at something seen for the first time or remembered immediately before using this term.Rate it:

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no news is good newsA lack of information about a situation suggests that nothing bad has happened.Rate 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:

(2.34 / 15 votes)
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:

(2.33 / 3 votes)
aemulatio dupliciter dicitur, ut et in laude et in vitio hoc nomen sitthe word aemulatio is employed with two meanings, in a good and a bad sense.Rate it:

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against the clockRunning out of time.Rate it:

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for onceFor the first time, after many instances to the contrary; in a rare exception to the rule; as an exception to the usual.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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jerk offTo do nothing; to waste time.Rate it:

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les extrêmes se touchentExtremes meet; Too far east is west; Too much care may be as bad as downright negligence.Rate it:

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measure twice and cut once(literally, carpentry) One should double-check one's measurements for accuracy before cutting a piece of wood; otherwise it may be necessary to cut again, wasting time and material.1872, "Dressmaking," Hall's Journal of Health, vol. 19, no. 12, p. 280:Look at Carpenters! . . . In old times it was a proverb "Measure twice, and cut once."(figuratively, by extension) Plan and prepare in a careful, thorough manner before taking action.2008, Hilary Johnson, "Mergers rattle bank relations," Financial Week, 9 Nov. (retrieved 9 Nov. 2008):Mr. Paz noted that since the onset of the credit crisis, eBay, like other companies, hasnRate it:

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no-good assA bad person, especially a bad boyfriend.Rate it:

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one-offOccurring once; one-time.Rate it:

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snatch defeat from the jaws of victoryTo suddenly lose a contest one seemed very likely to win, especially through mistakes or bad judgment.Rate it:

(2.00 / 1 vote)
T-minusUsually specifies the remaining time until some future event.Rate it:

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touch woodTo make contact with wood to avert bad luck, in accordance with a folk practice.Rate it:

(2.00 / 1 vote)
day or nightAt any time; 24/7Rate it:

(1.50 / 4 votes)
gather dustto remain unused for a long period of timeRate it:

(1.50 / 2 votes)
keep one's eye on the ballMy ethos has always been to be very straight with people, tell it as it is. It doesn't often make people happy but I found that over a period of time it's better to be that way. So being straight, also being very focused on your objectives, keep your eye on the ball and not get deflected away from it.Rate it:

(1.50 / 2 votes)

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It's _________ cats and dogs out there.
A snowing
B thundering
C storming
D raining