goes

goes to show you [something] serves to

prove a point to you. It just goes to show

you that too much sugar is bad for you.

Of course you shouldn’t have married her.

It goes to show you that your parents are

always right.

goes without saying [something] is so ob-

vious that it need not be said. It goes

without saying that you are to wear formal

clothing to dinner each evening.  Of

course. That goes without saying.

the going rate the current rate. The

going interest rate for your account is 10

percent. Our babysitter charges us the

going rate.

a gold mine of information someone or

something that is full of information.

Grandfather is a gold mine of information

about World War I. The new encyclo-

pedia is a positive gold mine of useful

information.

gone but not forgotten gone or dead but

still remembered. The good days we

used to have together are gone, but not for-

gotten. Uncle Harry is gone but not for-

gotten. The stain where he spilled the wine

is still visible in the parlor carpet.

gone goose someone or something that

has departed or run away. Surely, the

burglar is a gone goose by now.  The

child was a gone goose, and we did not

know where to look for him.

gone to meet one’s Maker died. (Eu-

phemistic.) Poor old Bob has gone to

meet his Maker.  After a long illness,

Reggie went to meet his Maker.

gone with the wind gone; mysteriously

gone. (A phrase made famous by the

Margaret Mitchell novel and film Gone

with the Wind. The phrase is used to

make gone have a stronger force.)

Everything we worked for was gone with

the wind. Jean was nowhere to be found.

She was gone with the wind.

a goner dead or finished; as good as dead

or nearly dead. (Informal. Preceded by

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

boy brought the sick fish back to the pet

store to get his money back. “This one is a

goner,” he said. John thought he was a

goner when his parachute didn’t open.

good and something very something. (The

something can be ready, mad, tired, worn-

out, etc.) Now I’m good and mad, and

I’m going to fight back.  I’ll be there

when I’m good and ready. He’ll go to

bed when he’s good and tired.

good as done Go to (as) good as done.

good as gold Go to (as) good as gold.

good enough for someone or something ade-

quate for someone or something. This

seat is good enough for me. I don’t want

to move. I’m happy. It’s good enough for

me. That table is good enough for my

office.

good-for-nothing 1. worthless. Here

comes that good-for-nothing boy now.

Where is that good-for-nothing pen of

mine? 2. a worthless person. Tell that

good-for-nothing to go home at once.

Bob can’t get a job. He’s such a good-for-

nothing.

good riddance (to bad rubbish) [it is]

good to be rid (of worthless persons or

things). She slammed the door behind

me and said, “Good riddance to bad rub-

bish!” “Good riddance to you, madam,”

thought I.

good to go all ready to go; all checked and

pronounced ready to go. I’ve checked

everything and we are good to go. Every-

thing’s good to go and we will start

immediately.

goof off to waste time. (Informal or slang.)

John is always goofing off. Quit goof-

ing off and get to work!

the gospel truth [of truth] undeniable.

The witness swore he was telling the gospel

truth. I told my parents the gospel truth

about how the vase broke.

grab a bite (to eat) to get something to

eat; to get food that can be eaten quickly.

(Not usually done by grabbing.) I need

a few minutes to grab a bite to eat. Bob

often tries to grab a bite between meetings.

grace someone or something with one’s pres-

ence to honor someone or something

with one’s presence. “How nice of you

to grace us with your presence,” Mr. Wil-

son told Mary sarcastically as she entered

the classroom late.  The banquet was

graced with the presence of the governor.

graced with something made elegant by

means of some ornament or decoration.

The altar was graced with lovely white

f lowers. The end of the beautiful day

was graced with a beautiful sunset.

graceful as a swan Go to (as) graceful as

a swan.

a grain of truth even the smallest amount

of truth. The attorney was unable to

find a grain of truth in the defendant’s tes-

timony. If there were a grain of truth

to your statement, I would trust you.

grasp at straws to depend on something

that is useless; to make a futile attempt

at something. John couldn’t answer the

teacher’s question. He was just grasping at

straws. There I was, grasping at straws,

with no one to help me.

grate on someone(‘s nerves) to annoy

someone; to bother someone. My ob-

noxious brother is grating on my nerves.

Your whining really grates on me.

gray area an area of a subject or question

that is difficult to put into a particular

category because it is not clearly defined

and may have connections or associations

with more than one category. The re-

sponsibility for social studies in the college

is a gray area. Several departments are in-

volved. Publicity is a gray area in that

firm. It is shared between the marketing

and design divisions.

gray matter intelligence; brains; power of

thought. (Brain tissue is grayish in color.)

Use your gray matter and think what

will happen if the committee resigns.

Surely they’ll come up with an acceptable

solution if they use a bit of gray matter.

grease someone’s palm and oil someone’s

palm to bribe someone. (Slang.) If you

want to get something done around here,

you have to grease someone’s palm. I’d

never oil a police officer’s palm. That’s

illegal.

a great deal much; a lot. You can learn

a great deal about nature by watching tele-

vision. This is a serious problem and it

worries me a great deal.

the greatest thing since sliced bread the

best thing there ever was. (Usually sar-

To hear her talk, you would

think she had found the greatest thing since

sliced bread. Todd thinks he is the great-

est thing since sliced bread.

Greek to me Go to (all) Greek to me.

green around the gills Go to pale around

the gills.

green with envy envious; jealous. When

Sally saw me with Tom, she turned green

with envy. She likes him a lot.  I feel

green with envy whenever I see you in your

new car.

grin and bear it to endure something un-

pleasant in good humor. There is noth-

ing you can do but grin and bear it. I

hate having to work for rude people. I guess

I have to grin and bear it.

grind to a halt to slow to a stop; to run

down. By the end of the day, the factory

had ground to a halt. The car ground

to a halt, and we got out to stretch our legs.

grip someone’s attention to attract and hold

someone’s attention. The scary movie

gripped my attention. The professor’s

interesting lecture gripped the attention of

all the students.

grist for someone’s mill something that can

be put to good use or that can bring ad-

vantage or profit. Some of the jobs that

we are offered are more interesting than

others, but each one is grist for my mill.

The company is having to sell some

tacky-looking dresses, but they are grist for

their mill and keep the company in

business.

grit one’s teeth to grind one’s teeth together

in anger or determination. I was so

mad, all I could do was stand there and

grit my teeth. All through the race, Sally

was gritting her teeth. She was really

determined.

groan under the burden of something to

suffer under the burden or domination of

someone or something. John groaned

under the burden of his new responsibili-

ties. The servant groaned under the bur-

den of a cruel master.

gross someone out to revolt someone; to

make someone sick. (Slang.) Oh, look

at his face. Doesn’t it gross you out? T That

teacher is such a creep. He grosses out the

whole class.

ground someone to take away someone’s

privileges. (Informal. Usually said of a

teenager.) My father said that if I did-

n’t get at least C’s, he’d ground me.

Guess what! He grounded me!

grounded in fact based on facts. This

movie is grounded in fact. The stories in

this book are all grounded in actual fact.

grounds for something a basis or cause for

legal action, such as a lawsuit. Your

negligence is grounds for a lawsuit. Is in-

fidelity grounds for divorce in this state?

grow out of something to abandon some-

thing as one matures. (Also literal.) I

used to have a lot of allergies, but I grew

out of them. She grew out of the habit

of biting her nails.

grow to do something to gradually begin to

do certain things, using verbs such as feel,

know, like, need, respect, sense, suspect,

think, want, wonder, etc. I grew to hate

Bob over a period of years. As I grew to

know Bob, I began to like him.

gruff as a bear Go to (as) gruff as a bear.

grunt work work that is hard and thank-

less. During the summer, I earned

money doing grunt work. I did all of the

grunt work on the project, but my boss got

all of the credit.

guard against someone or something to take

care to avoid someone or something.

Try to guard against getting a cold.

should guard against pickpockets.

guest of honor a guest who gets special

attention from everyone; the person for

whom a party, celebration, or ceremony

is held. Bob is the guest of honor, and

many people will make speeches about

him. The guest of honor sits at the front

of the room on the dais.

gulp for air to eagerly or desperately try

to get air or a breath. Tom gulped for

air after trying to hold his breath for three

minutes. Mary came up out of the wa-

ter, gulping for air.

gum something up and gum up the works

to make something inoperable; to ruin

someone’s plans. (Informal.) Please,

Bill, be careful and don’t gum up the

works. Tom sure gummed it up. T Tom

sure gummed up the whole plan.

gum up the works Go to gum something up.

gut feeling and gut reaction; gut re-

sponse a personal, intuitive feeling or re-

sponse. I have a gut feeling that some-

thing bad is going to happen. My gut

reaction is that we should hire Susan for

the job.

gut reaction Go to gut feeling.

gut response Go to gut feeling.

gyp someone out of something to deceive

someone in order to get something of

value. The salesclerk gypped me out of

a dollar. The taxi driver tried to gyp me

out of a fortune by driving all over town.