[The cat did it!] A humorous and convenient way to pass the blame. •/"My vase is broken!" Mother shrieked in horror. "Well," Dad smirked cynically, "I guess the cat did it!"/
[the creeps]{n.}, {informal} 1. An uncomfortable tightening of the skin caused by fear or shock. •/Reading the story of a ghost gave Joe the creeps./ •/The queer noises in the old house gave Mary the creeps./ 2. A strong feeling of fear or disgust. •/The cold, damp, lonely swamp gave John the creeps./ •/The dog was so ugly it gave Mary the creeps./
[the devil to pay]{n. phr.} A severe penalty. •/If we don’t finish the work by next Monday, there will be the devil to pay./
[the edge]{n.}, {informal} The advantage. — Usually used in the phrases "get the edge on", "have the edge on". •/In the last quarter of the game, our team got the edge on the other team and kept it./ •/Mary has the edge on Jane in the beauty contest./
[the fickle finger of fate] See: ACT OF GOD.
[the idea] or [the very idea] {n. phr.} — Used in exclamations to show that you do not like something. •/The idea! Thinking Mother was my sister!/ •/The very idea of Tom bringing that dirty dog into my clean house!/
[the lid]{n.}, {slang} Something that holds back or holds out of sight. •/The police blew the lid off the gambling operations./ •/John kept the lid on his plans until he was ready to run for class president./ •/The chief of police placed the lid on gambling in the town./
[the likes of]{informal} Something like or similar to; something of the same kind as. •/I have never seen the likes of John./ •/It was a chocolate sundae the likes of which Mary would never see again./
[the long and the short] or [the long and short] {n. phr.} All that needs to be said; the basic fact; point. •/The long and the short of the matter is that the man is no actor./ •/The money isn’t there, and that’s the long and short of it./
[the matter]{adj.} Not as it should be; wrong. — Used in questions or with negatives or "if". •/Why don’t you answer me? What’s the matter?/ •/John may be slow in arithmetic, but nothing’s the matter with his pitching arm./ •/If anything is the matter, please tell me./
[the more --- the more ---] or [the ---er the ---er] — Used in two halves of a sentence to show that when there is more of the first, there is more of the second too. •/The more you eat. the fatter you will get./ •/Get your report in when you can; the sooner, the better./ •/The bigger they are, the harder they fall./ •/The more Bill worked on the arithmetic problem, the more confused he became./
[then] See: AND THEN SOME, EVERY NOW AND THEN, NOW AND THEN.
[then again]{adv.} As an opposite possibility; another thing. •/He may be here tomorrow. Then again, he may not come until next week./ •/I thought you told me about the fire, but then again it could have been Bill./
[then and there]{adv. phr.} At that very time and place in the past; right then. •/He said he wanted his dime back then and there, so I had to give it to him./ Compare: IN ONE’S TRACKS, ON THE SPOT, HERE AND NOW.
[the other day]{adv. phr.} In the recent past. •/I saw an incredible parade of elephants along Michigan Avenue the other day on my way to work./
[the other way around]{adv. phr.} See: JUST THE OTHER WAY.
[the picture]{n.} The way things are or were; the facts about something; the situation; what happened or happens. •/Where does Susan come into the picture./ •/When you are looking for a job your education enters into the picture./ •/Old Mr. Brown is out of the picture now and his son runs the store./ •/After the fight on the playground, the principal talked to the boys who were watching, until he got the whole picture./ Compare: GET THE MESSAGE.
[the pits]{n.}, {slang} 1. A low class, blighted and ill-maintained place, motel room or apartment. •/Max, this motel is the pits, I will not sleep here!/ 2. The end of the road, the point of no return, the point of total ruin of one’s health (from the drug anticulture referring to the arm-pits as the only place that had veins for injections). •/John flunked high school this year for the third time; he will never get to college; it’s the pits for him./ 3. A very depressed state of mind. •/Poor Marcy is down in the pits over her recent divorce./
[the powers that be]{n. phr.} Constituted authority; those in power. •/I have done all I can; the rest is up to the powers that be./
[there] See: ALL THERE, HERE AND THERE, NEITHER HERE NOR THERE, THEN AND THERE.
[There] or [here you are!] 1. Informal way to say, "Here is what you wanted." •/The doorman politely opened the door of the taxi and said, "There you are, sir!"/ •/The clerk wrapped up the package and handed it to the customer saying, "Here you are, ma’am!"/ 2. You have found the correct answer; you are correct. •/"The reason for the violent crime rate is the all too easy availability of handguns," he said. "Yeah, there you are!" Officer Maloney replied./
[there is more than one way to get a pig to market] or [flay a fox] or [skin a cat] There are always new and different ways to accomplish a difficult task. — A proverb. •/"'How did you get Tommy to study so hard?" Eleanor asked. "I simply disconnected the television set," Tommy’s mother answered. "There’s more than one way to get a pig to market."/
[there is nothing to it] Informal way to say, "It is easy." •/Cooking stir-fried Chinese food is really not difficult at all; in fact, there’s nothing to it./
[There you go!] 1. Informal way to say, "You are doing it already and you are doing it well." •/"Is roller skating hard?" Freddie asked. "No," Beth replied, "let me show you how to do it. There you go!"/ 2. See: THERE or HERE YOU ARE(2).
[the ropes]{n. plural}, {informal} Thorough or special knowledge of a job; how to do something; the ways of people or the world. •/On a newspaper a cub reporter learns his job from an older reporter who knows the ropes./ •/When you go to a new school it takes a while to learn the ropes./ •/Betty showed Jane the ropes when she was learning to make a dress./ •/Mr. Jones was an orphan and he had to learn the ropes when he was young to make his way in the world./ Compare: BE AROUND, INS AND OUTS, TRICK OF THE TRADE.