so

so-and-so a despised person. (Informal.

This expression is used in place of other

very insulting terms. Often modified, as

in the example below.) You dirty so-

and-so! I can’t stand you! Don’t you call

me a so-and-so, you creep!

So be it. This is the way it will be. If you

insist on running off and marrying her, so

be it. Only don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Mary has decided that this is what she

wants. So be it.

so clean you could eat off the floor [of

a room or a house] very clean.

kitchen is so clean you could eat off the

f loor! It’s so clean here you could eat off

the f loor. I prefer a little mess, myself.

so far as anyone knows Go to (as) far as

anyone knows.

so far as possible Go to as far as possible.

so far as someone or something is concerned

Go to (as) far as someone or something is

concerned.

So far, so good. All is going well so far.

We are half finished with our project. So

far, so good. The operation is proceed-

ing quite nicely—so far, so good.

So it goes. That is the kind of thing that

happens.; That is life. Too bad about

John and his problems. So it goes. I just

lost a twenty-dollar bill, and I can’t find

it anywhere. So it goes.

so long good-bye. (Informal.) So long,

see you later. As John got out of the car,

he said, “Thanks for the ride. So long.”

so long as Go to as long as.

so mad I could scream very mad. I am

just so mad I could scream! Why is he such

a jerk? She makes me so made I could

scream.

so much for someone or something that is the

last of someone or something; there is no

need to consider someone or something

anymore. It just started raining. So

much for our picnic this afternoon. So

much for John. He just called in sick and

can’t come to work today.

so much the better even better; all to the

better. (Informal.) Please come to the

picnic. If you can bring a salad, so much

the better. The flowers look lovely on the

shelf. It would be so much the better if you

put them on the table.

so quiet you could hear a pin drop Go

to so still you could hear a pin drop.

so-so not good and not bad; mediocre. (In-

formal.) I didn’t have a bad day. It was

just so-so. The players put on a so-so

performance.

so soon early; before the regular time;

ahead of schedule. I got there early be-

cause my bus arrived so soon. Because

the meeting ended so soon, I had some ex-

tra time.

so still you could hear a pin drop and

so quiet you could hear a pin drop

very quiet. (Also with can.) When I

came into the room, it was so still you

could hear a pin drop. Then everyone

shouted, “Happy birthday!” Please be

quiet. Be so quiet you can hear a pin drop.

so to speak as one might say; said a cer-

tain way, even though the words are not

exactly accurate. John helps me with my

taxes. He’s my accountant, so to speak.

I just love my little poodle. She’s my baby,

so to speak.

soaked to the skin with one’s clothing wet

clear through to the skin. I was caught

in the rain and got soaked to the skin.

Oh, come in and dry off! You must be

soaked to the skin.

sober as a judge Go to (as) sober as a

judge.

sock something away to store something in

a safe place. (Informal.) While I worked

in the city, I was able to sock $100 away

every month. T At the present time, I can’t

sock away that much.

soft as a baby’s bottom Go to (as) soft as

a baby’s bottom.

soft as down Go to (as) soft as down.

soft as silk Go to (as) soft as silk.

soft as velvet Go to (as) soft as velvet.

soil one’s diaper(s) [for a baby] to excrete

waste into its diaper. The baby soiled

his diapers. I detect that someone has

soiled his diaper.

soil one’s hands Go to get one’s hands dirty.

sold out [of a product] completely sold

with no more items remaining; [of a

store] having no more of a particular

product. The tickets were sold out so we

couldn’t go to the concert. I wanted new

shoes like yours, but they were sold out.

solid as a rock Go to (as) solid as a rock.

(some) new blood new personnel; new

members brought into a group to revive

it. This company needs some new blood

on its board to bring in new ideas. We’re

trying to get some new blood in the club.

Our membership is falling.  Our club

needs new blood. It has become boring.

The firm’s management has at last got a

little new blood. Things should improve

now.

someone or something checks out someone or

something is verified or authenticated.

(Informal.) I spent all afternoon work-

ing with my checkbook, trying to get the

figures to check out. The police would-

n’t believe that I am who I say I am until

they made a few telephone calls to see if my

story checked out.

someone of note a person who is famous.

We invited a speaker of note to lecture at

the next meeting. The baseball player

of note was inducted into the Hall of

Fame.

someone’s ace in the hole something or

someone held (secretly) in reserve; any-

thing that can help in an emergency.

(Slang. Refers to an ace dealt facedown in

poker.) The hostages served as the ter-

rorists’ ace in the hole for getting what they

wanted. The twenty-dollar bill in my

shoe is my ace in the hole.

someone’s bread and butter someone’s in-

come; someone’s livelihood—the source

of one’s food. (Work or a job leads to a

paycheck that will buy bread and butter.)

I can’t miss another day of work. That’s

my bread and butter. I like to go to busi-

ness conferences. That’s good because that’s

my bread and butter.

someone’s goose is cooked one is finished;

one has been found out and is in trou-

ble. It’s over. His goose is cooked! If

I get caught, my goose is cooked.

someone’s last will and testament a will;

the last edition of someone’s will. The

lawyer read Uncle Charles’s last will and

testament to a group of expectant relatives.

Fred dictated his last will and testament

on his deathbed.

someone’s pet hate something that is dis-

liked intensely by someone and is a con-

stant or repeated annoyance. My pet

hate is being put on hold on the telephone.

Another pet hate of mine is having to

stand in line.

someone’s pet peeve one’s “favorite” or most

often encountered annoyance. My pet

peeve is someone who always comes into

the theater after the show has started.

Drivers who don’t signal are John’s pet

peeve.

someone’s place of business a place where

business is done; a factory or office.

Our place of business opens at noon each

day. You will have to come to our place

of business to make a purchase.

someone’s swan song the last work or per-

formance of a playwright, musician, ac-

tor, etc., before death or retirement.

His portrayal of Lear was the actor’s swan

song. We didn’t know that her perfor-

mance last night was the singer’s swan

song.

someone’s train of thought someone’s pat-

tern of thinking; someone’s sequence of

ideas; what one was just thinking about.

(See also lose one’s train of thought.)

My train of thought is probably not as clear

as it should be. I cannot seem to follow

your train of thought on this matter. Will

you explain it a little more carefully,

please?

someone wrote the book on something to be

very authoritative about something; to

know enough about something to write

the definitive book on it. (Also literal. Al-

ways in past tense.) Ted wrote the book

on unemployment. He’s been looking for

work in three states for two years. Do I

know about misery? I wrote the book on

misery!

something else something wonderful;

something extra special. (Also literal. In-

formal.) Did you see her new car? That’s

really something else! John hit a ball yes-

terday that went out of the stadium and

kept on going. He’s something else!

something else (again) something en-

tirely different. (Informal.) Borrowing

is one thing, but stealing is something else.

Skin diving is easy and fun, but scuba

diving is something else again.

something of the sort something of the

kind just mentioned. This is a spruce

tree, or something of the sort. Jane has

a cold or something of the sort.

something or other something; one thing

or another. (Informal.) I can’t remem-

ber what Ann said—something or other.

A messenger came by and dropped off

something or other at the front desk.

something to that effect and words to

that effect something like what was just

said. (Informal.) She said she wouldn’t

be available until after three, or something

to that effect. I was told to keep out of

the house—or something to that effect.

something’s up something is going to hap-

pen; something is going on. (Slang.)

Everybody looks very nervous. I think

something’s up. From the looks of all the

activity around here, I think something’s

up.

(somewhere) in the neighborhood of an

amount approximately a particular mea-

surement. I take somewhere in the

neighborhood of ten pills a day for my var-

ious ailments. My rent is in the neigh-

borhood of $700 per month.

somewhere to hang (up) one’s hat and a

place to hang one’s hat; a place to call

one’s own a place to live; a place to call

one’s home. What I need is somewhere

to hang up my hat. I just can’t stand all this

traveling. A home is a lot more than a

place to hang your hat.

son of a bitch 1. a very horrible person.

(Informal. Use with caution. Usually in-

tended as a strong insult. Never used ca-

sually.) Bill called Bob a son of a bitch,

and Bob punched Bill in the face. This

guy’s a son of a bitch. He treats everybody

rotten. 2. a useless annoyance; something

worthless. This car is a son of a bitch.

It won’t ever start when it’s cold. This

bumpy old road needs paving. It’s a real

son of a bitch. 3. a difficult task. (Infor-

mal.) This job is a son of a bitch. I

can’t do this kind of thing. It’s too hard—

a real son of a bitch.

son of a gun 1. a horrible person. (Infor-

mal. A euphemism for son of a bitch. Use

with caution.) When is that plumber

going to show up and fix this leak? The stu-

pid son of a gun! Bob is a rotten son of

a gun if he thinks he can get away with

that. 2. old (male) friend. (Informal. A

friendly—male to male—way of refer-

ring to a friend. Use with caution.)

Why Bill, you old son of a gun, I haven’t

seen you in three or four years. When

is that son of a gun John going to come visit

us? He’s neglecting his friends.

soon as possible Go to (as) soon as

possible.

sooner or later eventually; in the short

term or in the long term. He’ll have to

pay the bill sooner or later. She’ll get

what she deserves sooner or later.

sorry Go to (I’m) sorry.

sort of something and kind of something al-

most something; somewhat; somehow.

(Informal.) Isn’t it sort of cold out?

That was kind of a stupid thing to do,

wasn’t it?

sort something out to clear up confusion; to

straighten out something disorderly.

(Also literal.) T Now that things are set-

tled down, I can sort out my life. This

place is a mess. Let’s sort things out before

we do anything else.

sound as a dollar Go to (as) sound as a

dollar.

sound as if and sound like to seem, from

what has been said, as if something were

so. (Sound like is colloquial.) It sounds

as if you had a good vacation.  You

sound like you are angry.

sound like Go to sound as if.

sound like a broken record to say the

same thing over and over again. (From an

earlier age when a crack in a 78 rpm

record would cause the needle (or stylus)

to stay in the same groove and play it over

and over.) He’s always complaining

about the way she treats him. He sounds

like a broken record! I hate to sound like

a broken record, but we just don’t have

enough people on the payroll to work

efficiently.

sound like something to seem like some-

thing. That sounds like a good idea.

Your explanation sounds like an excuse!

sound someone out to try to find out what

someone thinks (about something). I

don’t know what Jane thinks about your

suggestion, but I’ll sound her out. T Please

sound out everyone in your department.

soup something up to make something (es-

pecially a car) more powerful. (Slang.)

I wish someone would soup my car up. It’ll

hardly run. T Bill spent all summer soup-

ing up that old car he bought.

sour as vinegar Go to (as) sour as vinegar.

sow one’s wild oats to do wild and foolish

things in one’s youth. (Often assumed to

have some sort of sexual meaning.)

Dale was out sowing his wild oats last

night, and he’s in jail this morning. Mrs.

Smith told Mr. Smith that he was too old

to be sowing his wild oats.

spare someone something to exempt someone

from having to listen to or experience

something. I’ll spare you the details and

get to the point. Please, spare me the

story and tell me what you want.

speak for itself and speak for them-

selves [for something] not to need ex-

plaining; [for things] to have an obvious

meaning. The evidence speaks for itself.

The facts speak for themselves. Tom is

guilty. Your results speak for themselves.

You need to work harder.

speak for themselves Go to speak for

itself.

speak highly of someone or something to say

good things about someone or some-

thing. (Note the variation in the exam-

ples. See also think a lot of someone or some-

thing.) Ann speaks quite highly of Jane’s

work. Everyone speaks very highly of

Jane.

speak ill of someone to say something bad

about someone. I refuse to speak ill of

any of my friends. Max speaks ill of no

one and refuses to repeat gossip.

speak off the cuff to speak in public with-

out preparation. I’m not too good at

speaking off the cuff. I need to prepare

a speech for Friday, although I speak off

the cuff quite well.

speak of the devil said when someone

whose name has just been mentioned ap-

pears or is heard from. Well, speak of

the devil! Hello, Tom. We were just talk-

ing about you.  I had just mentioned

Sally when—speak of the devil—she

walked in the door.

speak out (on something) to say something

frankly and directly; to speak one’s mind.

(See also speak up.) This law is wrong,

and I intend to speak out on it until it is

repealed. You must speak out. People

need to know what you think.

speak the same language [for people] to

have similar ideas, tastes, etc. (Also lit-

eral.) Jane and Jack get along very well.

They really speak the same language about

almost everything. Bob and his father

didn’t speak the same language when it

comes to politics.

speak up 1. to speak more loudly. They

can’t hear you in the back of the room.

Please speak up.   What? Speak up,

please. I’m hard of hearing. 2. to speak

out (on something). If you think that this

is wrong, you must speak up and say so.

I’m too shy to speak up.

speak up for someone or something to speak

in favor of someone or something; to

speak in someone’s defense. If anybody

says bad things about me, I hope you speak

up for me. I want to speak up for the

rights of students.

speak with a forked tongue to tell lies; to

try to deceive someone. Jean’s mother

sounds very charming, but she speaks with

a forked tongue. People tend to believe

Fred because he seems plausible, but we

know he speaks with a forked tongue.

spell something out 1. to spell something (in

letters). (Also without out.) I can’t un-

derstand your name. Can you spell it out?

T Please spell out all the strange words so

I can write them down correctly. 2. to give

all the details of something. I want you

to understand this completely, so I’m go-

ing to spell it out very carefully. T The in-

struction book for my computer spells out

everything very carefully.

spick-and-span very clean. (Informal.)

I have to clean up the house and get it

spick-and-span for the party Friday night.

I love to have everything around me

spick-and-span.

spill the beans Go to let the cat out of the

bag.

spin a yarn to tell a tale. Grandpa spun

an unbelievable yarn for us. My uncle is

always spinning yarns about his childhood.

spin one’s wheels to be in motion, but get

nowhere. (Slang.) This is a terrible job.

I’m just spinning my wheels and not get-

ting anywhere. Get organized and try to

accomplish something. Stop spinning your

wheels!

spin something off to create something as a

by-product of something else. When

the company reorganized, it spun its bank-

ing division off. T By spinning off part of

its assets, a company gets needed capital.

spit (something) up to throw something up;

to vomit something. (A little gentler than

throw (something) up.) I guess that the

food didn’t agree with the dog, because he

spit it up. T The baby has been spitting

up all morning. T Bob spit up his whole

dinner.

split hairs to quibble; to try to make petty

distinctions. They don’t have any seri-

ous differences. They are just splitting

hairs. Don’t waste time splitting hairs.

Accept it the way it is.

split one’s sides (with laughter) to laugh

so hard that one’s sides almost split. (Al-

ways an exaggeration.) The members of

the audience almost split their sides with

laughter. When I heard what happened

to Patricia, I almost split my sides.

split people up to separate two or more

people (from one another). If you two

don’t stop chattering, I’ll have to split you

up. The group of people grew too large,

so we had to split them up. T I will have

to split up that twosome in the corner.

split the difference to divide the differ-

ence evenly (with someone else). You

want to sell for $120, and I want to buy for

$100. Let’s split the difference and close the

deal at $110. I don’t want to split the

difference. I want $120.

split up [for people] to separate or leave

one another; [for a couple] to divorce or

spearate. I heard that Mr. and Mrs.

Brown have split up. Our little club had

to split up because everyone was too busy.

spoken for taken; reserved (for someone).

I’m sorry, but this one is already spo-

ken for. Pardon me. Can I sit here, or is

this seat spoken for?

spook someone or something to startle or dis-

orient someone or something. (Folksy.)

A snake spooked my horse, and I nearly

fell off. Your warning spooked me, and

I was upset for the rest of the day.

spoon-feed someone to treat someone with

too much care or help; to teach someone

with methods that are too easy and do

not stimulate the learner to independent

thinking. (Also literal.) The teacher

spoon-feeds the students by dictating notes

on the novel instead of getting the children

to read the books. You mustn’t spoon-

feed the new recruits by telling them what

to do all the time. They must use their

initiative.

a sporting chance a reasonably good

chance. (See also fighting chance.) If

you hurry, you have a sporting chance of

catching the bus. The small company

has only a sporting chance of getting the

export order.

spout off (about someone or something) to

talk too much about someone or some-

thing. (Informal.) Why do you always

have to spout off about things that don’t

concern you?  Everyone in our office

spouts off about the boss. There is no

need to spout off like that. Calm down and

think about what you’re saying.

spread it on thick Go to lay it on thick.

spread oneself too thin to do so many

things that you can do none of them well.

It’s a good idea to get involved in a lot

of activities, but don’t spread yourself too

thin. I’m too busy these days. I’m afraid

I’ve spread myself too thin.

spring for something to treat (someone) to

something. (Slang.) John and I went

out last night, and he sprang for dinner.

At the park Bill usually springs for ice

cream.

spring something on someone to surprise

someone with something. (Informal.)

I’m glad you told me now, rather than

springing it on me at the last minute. I

sprang the news on my parents last night.

They were not glad to hear it.

spruce someone or something up to make

someone or something clean and orderly.

I’ll be ready to go as soon as I spruce my-

self up a bit. T I have to spruce up the

house for the party.

square accounts (with someone) 1. to set-

tle one’s financial accounts with some-

one. I have to square accounts with the

bank this week, or it’ll take back my car.

I called the bank and said I needed to come

in and square accounts. 2. to get even

with someone; to straighten out a mis-

understanding with someone. (Infor-

mal.) I’m going to square accounts with

Tom. He insulted me in public, and he

owes me an apology. Tom, you and I are

going to have to square accounts.

square deal a fair and honest transaction;

fair treatment. (Informal.) All the

workers want is a square deal, but their

boss underpays them. You always get a

square deal with that travel company.

a square peg in a round hole a misfit.

John can’t seem to get along with the peo-

ple he works with. He’s just a square peg in

a round hole. I’m not a square peg in a

round hole. It’s just that no one under-

stands me.

square someone or something away to get

someone or something arranged or prop-

erly taken care of. See if you can square

Bob away in his new office. T Please

square away the problems we discussed

earlier.

square up to someone or something to face

someone or something bravely; to tackle

someone or something. You’ll have to

square up to the bully or he’ll make your

life miserable. It’s time to square up to

your financial problems. You can’t just ig-

nore them.

square up with someone to pay someone

what one owes; to pay one’s share of

something to someone. (Informal.) I’ll

square up with you later if you pay the

whole bill now.  Bob said he would

square up with Tom for his share of the

gas.

squared away arranged or properly taken

care of. Is Ann squared away yet? I

will talk to you when I am squared away.

squeak by (someone or something) to just

barely get by someone or something. (In-

formal.) The guard was almost asleep,

so I squeaked by him. I wasn’t very well

prepared for the test, and I just squeaked

squirrel something away to hide or store

something. (Folksy.) Billy has been

squirreling candy away in his top drawer.

T I’ve been squirreling away a little money

each week for years.

stack the cards (against someone or some-

thing) Go to stack the deck (against some-

one or something).

stack the deck (against someone or some-

thing) and stack the cards (against

someone or something) to arrange things

against someone or something. (Slang.

Originally from card playing.) I can’t

get ahead at my office. Someone has

stacked the cards against me. Do you

really think that someone has stacked the

deck? Isn’t it just fate?

stake a claim (to something) to lay or make

a claim for something. (Informal.) I

want to stake a claim to that last piece of

pie. You don’t need to stake a claim. Just

ask politely.

stall someone or something off to put off or de-

lay someone or something. The sheriff

is at the door. I’ll stall him off while you

get out the back door. T You can stall off

the sheriff, but you can’t stall off justice.