teach

teach one’s grandmother to suck eggs to

try to tell or show someone more knowl-

edgeable or experienced than oneself

how to do something. Don’t suggest

showing Mary how to knit. It will be teach-

ing your grandmother to suck eggs. She’s

an expert.  Don’t teach your grand-

mother to suck eggs. Bob has been playing

tennis for years.

teach someone a lesson to get even with

someone for bad behavior. (Also literal.)

John tripped me, so I punched him. That

ought to teach him a lesson. That taught

me a lesson. I won’t do it again.

the teacher ’s pet the teacher’s favorite stu-

dent. (Preceded by be, become, seem like,

or act like.) Sally is the teacher’s pet. She

always gets special treatment. The other

students don’t like the teacher’s pet.

tear into someone or something 1. [with some-

one] to criticize and scold someone.

Tom tore into John and yelled at him for

an hour. Don’t tear into me like that.

You have no right to speak to me that way.

2. to attack or fight with someone or

something. The boxer tore into his op-

ponent. The lion tore into the herd of

zebras.

tear off to leave or depart in a great hurry.

(Informal.) Well, excuse me. I have to

tear off. Bob tore off down the street,

chasing the fire engine.

tear one’s hair (out) to be anxious, frus-

trated, or angry. I was so nervous, I was

about to tear my hair. I had better get

home. My parents will be tearing their hair

out.

tear someone or something down 1. to criti-

cize or degrade someone or something.

Tom is always tearing Jane down. I

guess he doesn’t like her. T It’s not nice to

tear down the people who work in your of-

fice. Why are you always tearing my

projects down? 2. [with something] to dis-

mantle or destroy something. They

plan to tear the old building down and

build a new one there. T They’ll tear down

the building in about two weeks.

tear someone up to cause someone much

grief. (Also literal. Slang.) The news of

Tom’s death really tore Bill up. T Bad news

tears up some people. Other people can

take it calmly.

tee someone off to make someone angry.

(Slang.) That kind of talk really tees me

off! Don’t let him tee you off. He does-

n’t mean any harm.

teething troubles difficulties and prob-

lems experienced in the early stages of a

project, activity, etc. There have been

a lot of teething troubles with the new

computer system. We have finally got-

ten over the teething troubles connected

with the new building complex.

tell its own tale Go to tell its own story.

tell it to the marines I do not believe you

(maybe the marines will). (Informal.)

That’s silly. Tell it to the marines. I don’t

care how good you think your reason is.

Tell it to the marines!

tell one to one’s face to tell (something) to

someone directly. I’m sorry that Sally

feels that way about me. I wish she had told

me to my face. I won’t tell Tom that

you’re mad at him. You should tell him to

his face.

tell on someone to report someone’s bad be-

havior; to tattle on someone. If you do

that again, I’ll tell on you! Please don’t

tell on me. I’m in enough trouble as it is.

tell people apart to distinguish one person

or a group of people from another per-

son or group of people. Tom and John

are brothers, and you can hardly tell them

apart. Our team is wearing red, and the

other team is wearing orange. I can’t tell

them apart.

tell someone a thing or two and tell some-

one where to get off to scold someone;

to express one’s anger to someone; to tell

someone off. (Informal.) Wait till I see

Sally. I’ll tell her a thing or two! She told

me where to get off and then started in

scolding Tom.

tell someone off to scold someone; to attack

someone verbally. (This has a sense of fi-

nality about it.) I was so mad at Bob

that I told him off. T By the end of the day,

I had told off everyone else, too.

tell someone where to get off Go to tell

someone a thing or two.

tell tales out of school to tell secrets or

spread rumors. I wish that John would

keep quiet. He’s telling tales out of school

again. If you tell tales out of school a lot,

people won’t know when to believe you.

tell things apart to distinguish one thing or

a group of things from another thing or

group of things. This one is gold, and

the others are brass. Can you tell them

apart? Without their labels, I can’t tell

them apart.

tell which is which Go to know which is

which.

a tempest in a teapot an uproar about

practically nothing. This isn’t a serious

problem—just a tempest in a teapot.

Even a tempest in a teapot can take a lot

of time to get settled.

thank one’s lucky stars to be thankful for

one’s luck. You can thank your lucky

stars that I was there to help you.  I

thank my lucky stars that I studied the

right things for the test.

Thank you for sharing. <a sarcastic re-

mark made when someone tells some-

thing that is unpleasant, overly personal,

disgusting, or otherwise annoying.>

Thank you for sharing. I really needed to

hear about your operation. Thank you

for sharing, Bob. I hope your parents’ di-

vorce goes well.

thankful for small blessings grateful for

any small benefits or advantages one has,

especially in a generally difficult situa-

tion. (Preceded by be, become, or seem.)

We have very little money, but we must

be thankful for small blessings. At least we

have enough food. Bob was badly in-

jured in the accident, but at least he’s still

alive. Let’s be thankful for small blessings.

That ain’t hay. That is not a small amount

of money. (Folksy.) I paid forty dollars

for it, and that ain’t hay! Bob lost his

wallet with $200 in it—and that ain’t hay.

That makes two of us. The same is true

for me. So you’re going to the football

game? That makes two of us. BILL: I

just passed my biology test. BOB: That

makes two of us!

That sucks. and It sucks. That is worth-

less. (Slang. Use caution with sucks.)

Yuck! That sucks! This meat loaf is ter-

rible. It sucks.

That takes care of that. That is settled.

That takes care of that, and I’m glad

it’s over.  I spent all morning dealing

with this matter, and that takes care of

that.

That tears it! Go to That does it!

That’ll be the day. I don’t believe that the

day will ever come (when something will

happen). Do you really think that John

will pass geometry? That’ll be the day.

John graduate? That’ll be the day!

That’s about the size of it. It is final and

correct. (Slang.) MARY: Do you mean

that you aren’t going? TOM: That’s about

the size of it. At the end of his speech

Bob said, “That’s about the size of it.”

That’s all for someone. Someone will get no

more chances to do things correctly.

That’s all for you, Tom. I’ve had all I can

take from you. One disappointment after

another.  You’ve gone too far, Mary.

That’s all for you. Good-bye!

That’s all she wrote. That is all. (Slang.)

At the end of his informal talk, Tom

said, “That’s all she wrote.” Sally looked

at the empty catsup bottle and said,

“That’s all she wrote.”

2. That is the answer! That’s it! You are

right. That’s it! You got the right answer.

That ’s that. It is permanently settled and

need not be dealt with again. I said no,

and that’s that. You can’t come back. I

told you to leave, and that’s that.

That ’s the ticket. That is exactly what is

needed. That’s the ticket, John. You’re

doing it just the way it should be done.

That’s the ticket! I knew you could do it.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles. Go

to That’s the way the ball bounces.

[the] <Entries beginning with a, an, or the

are alphabetized under the second word

in the entry. That means that a bed of

roses will appear in the Bs.>

The jig is up. Go to The game is up.

Them’s fighting words. Those are words

that will start a fight. (Folksy. Note that

them is is permissible in this expression.)

Better not talk like that around here.

Them’s fighting words. Them’s fighting

words, and you’d better be quiet unless you

want trouble.

then and there right then. I asked him

right then and there exactly what he

meant. I decided to settle the matter

then and there and not wait until Monday.

There aren’t enough hours in the day.

There are too many things to do and not

enough time. I am behind in all my

work. There aren’t enough hours in the

day! We can’t handle all the problems

that come our way. There aren’t enough

hours in the day.

There are plenty of other fish in the

sea. There are other choices. (Proverb.

Used to refer to persons.) When John

broke up with Ann, I told her not to worry.

There are plenty of other fish in the sea.

It’s too bad that your secretary quit, but

there are plenty of other fish in the sea.

there is no doing something one is not per-

mitted to do something. (Informal.)

There is no arguing with Bill. There is

no cigarette smoking here.

There is trouble brewing. Go to Trouble

is brewing.

There, now. Go to There, there.

There, there. and There, now. <an ex-

pression used to comfort someone.>

There, there. You’ll feel better after you

take a nap. There, now. Everything will

be all right.

There you go. Go to Here you go.

There’s more than one way to skin a

cat. There is more than one way to do

something. (Proverb.) If that way

won’t work, try another way. There’s more

than one way to skin a cat. Don’t worry,

I’ll figure out a way to get it done. There’s

more than one way to skin a cat.

There’s no accounting for taste. There is

no explanation for people’s preferences.

(Proverb.) Look at that purple and or-

ange car! There’s no accounting for taste.

Some people seemed to like the music,

although I thought it was worse than noise.

There’s no accounting for taste.

They don’t make them like they used to.

goods are not as well made now as they

were in the past. (Often used as a catch

phrase. Them is often ’em.) Look at this

f limsy door! They don’t make ’em like they

used to. Why don’t cars last longer? They

just don’t make ’em like they used to.

thick and fast in large numbers or

amounts and at a rapid rate. The en-

emy soldiers came thick and fast. New

problems seem to come thick and fast.

thick as pea soup Go to (as) thick as pea

soup.

thick as thieves Go to (as) thick as thieves.

thin on top balding. (Informal.) James

is wearing a hat because he’s getting thin

on top. Father got a little thin on top as

he got older.

thin-skinned easily upset or hurt; sensitive.

(Also literal. The opposite of thick-

skinned.) You’ll have to handle Mary’s

mother carefully. She’s very thin-skinned.

Jane weeps easily when people tease her.

She’s too thin-skinned.

Things are looking up. Conditions are

looking better. Since I got a salary in-

crease, things are looking up. Things are

looking up at school. I’m doing better in all

my classes.

think a great deal of someone or something

Go to think a lot of someone or something.

think back (on someone or something) to re-

member and think about someone or

something in one’s past. When I think

back on Sally and the good times we had

together, I get very sad. I like to think

back on my childhood and try to remem-

ber what it was like.

think better of something to reconsider

something; to think again and decide not

to do something. Jack was going to es-

cape, but he thought better of it. Jill had

planned to resign, but thought better of it.

think highly of someone or something Go to

think a lot of someone or something.

think little of someone or something and

think nothing of someone or something to

have a low opinion of someone or some-

thing. Most experts think little of Jane’s

theory. People may think nothing of it

now, but in a few years everyone will praise

it. The critics thought little of her lat-

est book.

think much of someone or something Go to

think a lot of someone or something.

think nothing of someone or something Go to

think little of someone or something.

think on one’s feet to think, reason, and

plan while one is talking. If you want

to be a successful teacher, you must be able

to think on your feet. I have to write out

everything I’m going to say, because I can’t

think on my feet too well.

think outside the box to think freely, not

bound by old, nonfunctional, or limiting

structures, rules, or practices. (As if

thinking or creativity were confined in or

limited by a figurative box. See also out-

side the box. Compare this with think in-

side the box.) You won’t come up with

good ideas until you think outside the box.

Let’s think outside the box for a minute

and try to find a better solution.

think someone or something fit for something

to believe that someone or something is

suitable for something. I don’t think

John fit for the job. Do you think this car

fit for a long trip?

think something out to think through some-

thing; to prepare a plan or scheme.

This is an interesting problem. I’ll have to

take some time and think it out. T We

spent all morning thinking out our plan.

think something over to consider something;

to think about something (before giving

a decision). Please think it over and give

me your decision in the morning. T I need

more time to think over your offer.

think something up to contrive or invent

something. Don’t worry. I’ll find a way

to do it. I can think something up in time

to get it done. T John thought up a way

to solve our problem.

think the world of someone or something to

be very fond of someone or something.

Mary thinks the world of her little sis-

ter. The old lady thinks the world of her cats.

thinking inside the box thinking tradi-

tionally, bound by old, nonfunctional, or

limiting structures, rules, or practices.

(Compare this with thinking outside the

box.) Thinking inside the box will sel-

dom produce any creative solution for a se-

rious problem. Thinking inside the box

is what got us into this mess in the first

place.

thinking outside the box thinking freely,

not being bound by old, nonfunctional,

or limiting structures, rules, or practices.

(Compare this with thinking inside the

box.) Thinking outside the box will of-

ten produce some creative solutions to a

complex problem. Thinking outside the

box is a popular way to encourage creative

solutions, or it can waste a lot of valuable

time.

a thirst for something a craving or desire for

something. (Also literal.) The tyrant

had an intense thirst for power. The ac-

tor’s thirst for fame caused him to become

unscrupulous.

thirsty for something craving or desiring

something. (Also literal.) The students

were thirsty for knowledge. That evil

tyrant is thirsty for power.

This is it. This is the time, place, or thing

that we have been looking or waiting for.

This is it. This is the chance you’ve been

waiting for! This is it. This is my stop.

I have to get off the bus.

thither and yon there and everywhere.

(Archaic. See also hither, thither, and

yon.) I sent my résumé thither and yon,

but no one responded. The children are

all scattered thither and yon, and it is dif-

ficult for them to get home for the holidays.

a thorn in someone’s side a constant bother

or annoyance to someone. (Preceded by

be, become, seem like, or act like.) This

problem is a thorn in my side. I wish I had

a solution to it. John was a thorn in my

side for years before I finally got rid of him.

thrash something out to discuss something

thoroughly and solve any problems.

The committee took hours to thrash the

whole matter out. T Fred and Anne

thrashed out the reasons for their constant

disagreements.

thread (one’s way) through something to

make a path for oneself through a

crowded area; to make one’s way through

a crowded area. The spy threaded his

way through the crowd.  The joggers

threaded through the shoppers on the

sidewalks.

three sheets to the wind drunk. (These

sheets are the ropes on a sailing vessel.)

I think that guy is three sheets to the wind.

He can hardly stand up. Bob and Bill

are three sheets to the wind. You know,

drunk.