weigh

weigh on someone’s mind [for something]

to be in a person’s thoughts; [for some-

thing] to be bothering someone’s think-

ing. This problem has been weighing on

my mind for many days now. I hate to

have things weighing on my mind. I can’t

sleep when I’m worried.

weigh someone down [for a thought or

worry] to worry or depress someone.

(Also literal.) All these problems really

weigh me down. T Financial problems

have been weighing down our entire

family.

welcome someone with open arms Go to

receive someone with open arms.

well and good Go to (all) well and good.

well-fixed Go to well-heeled.

well-heeled and well-fixed; well-off

wealthy; with sufficient money. My

uncle can afford a new car. He’s well-

heeled. Everyone in his family is well-

off.

well-off Go to well-heeled.

well-to-do wealthy and of good social po-

sition. (Often with quite, as in the exam-

ples below.) The Jones family is quite

well-to-do. There is a gentleman wait-

ing for you at the door. He appears quite

well-to-do.

wet behind the ears and not dry behind

the ears young and inexperienced.

John’s too young to take on a job like this!

He’s still wet behind the ears! He may

be wet behind the ears, but he’s well

trained and totally competent. Tom is

going into business by himself ? Why, he’s

hardly dry behind the ears. That kid

isn’t dry behind the ears. He’ll go broke in

a month.

wet someone’s whistle to take a drink of

something. (Folksy.) Wow, am I thirsty.

I need something to wet my whistle.

Hey, Sally! Give her something to wet her

whistle.

What are you driving at? What are you

implying?; What do you mean? (Infor-

mal.) What are you driving at? What

are you trying to say? Why are you ask-

ing me all these questions? What are you

driving at?

What do you want me to say? You caught

me and I’m sorry, and I don’t know what

more to say. (Informal.) What do you

want me to say? I apologized. There is

nothing more I can do. Okay, so I’m

wrong. What do you want me to say?

what for why?; for what reason? “I want

you to clean your room.” “What for? It’s

clean enough.” What did you do that

What have you been up to? I haven’t seen

you for a long time, so tell me what you

have been doing? (Informal. In other

persons also.) Hi, Tom. Where have you

been? What have you been up to? What

have you been up to? Busy, I am sure.

what if what would be the result if some-

thing were true? What if you had all the

money you want?  What if everyone

thought you were great?

what makes someone tick something that

motivates someone; something that

makes someone behave in a certain way.

(Informal.) William is sort of strange.

I don’t know what makes him tick.

When you get to know people, you find out

what makes them tick.

what makes something tick to cause some-

thing to run or function. I don’t know

what makes it tick. I took apart the ra-

dio to find out what made it tick.

What one doesn’t know won’t hurt one.

Unknown facts cannot worry or upset a

person. (Proverb.) Don’t tell me that I

have made a mistake. What I don’t know

won’t hurt me. Don’t tell him the truth

about his missing dog. What he doesn’t

know won’t hurt him.

Whatever will be, will be. Whatever will

happen will just happen and there is lit-

tle we can do about it. (Proverb.) There

is little I can do at this stage. Whatever will

be, will be. The doctors have done all

they can. Whatever will be, will be.

What’s done is done. It is final and in the

past. (Proverb.) It’s too late to change

it now. What’s done is done.  What’s

done is done. The past cannot be altered.

What’s keeping you? What is taking you

so long?; Why are you still there and not

here? Dinner is ready, and you are still

at work. I telephoned to ask what’s keep-

ing you. What’s keeping you? I am ready

to go and you are still in there dressing.

What ’s new? How are you? Tell me what

you have been doing. (Informal.) Good

to see you. What’s new? What’s new?

How are things down your way?

What’s up? Hello. What is happening? (In-

formal.) What’s up? How’re you doing?

Hey, Chuck! What’s up?

What’s with someone? What is bothering or

affecting someone? (Slang.) John seems

upset. What’s with him? There’s noth-

ing wrong with me. What’s with you?

wheel and deal to take part in clever (but

sometimes dishonest or immoral) busi-

ness deals. John loves to wheel and deal

in the money markets. Jack got tired of

all the wheeling and dealing of big business

and retired to run a pub in the country.

when all is said and done when every-

thing is finished and settled; when every-

thing is considered. (See also after all is

said and done.) When all is said and

done, this isn’t such a bad part of the coun-

try to live in after all. When all is said

and done, I believe I had a very enjoyable

time on my vacation.

when hell freezes over and until hell

freezes over never. (The first entry is al-

ways affirmative and the second is always

negative.) I’ll say I’m sorry to you when

hell freezes over! I won’t apologize un-

til hell freezes over.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

One should behave in the same way that

the local people behave. (Proverb.) I

don’t usually eat lamb, but I did when I

went to Australia. When in Rome, do as

the Romans do. I always carry an um-

brella when I visit London. When in Rome,

do as the Romans do.

when it comes right down to it all things

considered; when one really thinks about

something. When it comes right down

to it, I’d like to find a new job. When it

comes right down to it, he can’t really af-

ford a new car.

when least expected when one does not

expect (something). An old car is likely

to give you trouble when least expected.

My pencil usually breaks when least

expected.

when push comes to shove when the sit-

uation becomes more difficult; when

matters escalate. (See also if push comes

to shove.) When push comes to shove,

I will take a stronger position. When

push comes to shove, I will come up with

the money you need.

When the cat’s away, the mice will play.

Some people will get into mischief when

they are not being watched. (Proverb.)

The students behaved very badly for the

substitute teacher. When the cat’s away, the

mice will play. John had a wild party

at his house when his parents were out of

town. When the cat’s away, the mice will

play.

when the chips are down at the final,

critical moment; when things really get

difficult. When the chips are down, I

know that I can depend on Jean to help

out. I knew you would come and help

when the chips were down.

when the going gets rough Go to when

the going gets tough.

when the going gets tough and when

the going gets rough when things get

extremely difficult; when it becomes dif-

ficult to proceed. (Also literal when re-

ferring to travel. A second line is some-

times added to the main entry phrase:

When the going gets tough, the tough get

going. This means that when things be-

come difficult, strong people began to

work or move faster and harder.)

When the going gets tough, I will be there

to help you. I appreciate the kind words

you sent to us when the going got a little

rough last month.

where one lives Go to close to home.

Where there’s a will there’s a way. One

can do something if one really wants to.

(Proverb.) Don’t give up, Ann. You can

do it. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

They told John he’d never walk again af-

ter his accident. He worked at it, and he

was able to walk again! Where there’s a

will there’s a way.

Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Evi-

dence of a problem probably indicates

that there really is a problem. (Proverb.)

There is a lot of noise coming from the

classroom. There is probably something

wrong. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.

I think there is something wrong at the old

house on the corner. The police are there

again. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.

Where was I? Go to (Now), where was I?

Where’ve you been hiding yourself?

Hello, I haven’t seen you in a long time.

(In other persons also.) I haven’t seen

you in a long time. Where’ve you been hid-

ing yourself ? Where’ve you been hiding

yourself ? We missed you at the meeting.

whet someone’s appetite to cause someone

to be interested in something and to be

eager to have, know, learn, etc., more

about it. Seeing that film really whetted

my sister’s appetite for horror films. She

now sees as many as possible. My ap-

petite for theater was whetted when I was

very young.

whether or not either if something is the

case or if something is not the case; one

way or the other. I’ll drive to New York

tomorrow whether or not it rains. T I’m

going to the mall whether you come with

me or not.

whip something into shape Go to lick some-

thing into shape.

whip something up to prepare, create, or put

something together quickly. (Informal.)

I haven’t written my report yet, but I’ll

whip one up before the deadline. T Come

in and sit down. I’ll go whip up something

to eat.

white as a sheet Go to (as) white as a

sheet.

white as the driven snow Go to (as)

white as the driven snow.

white elephant something that is useless

and which is either a nuisance or is ex-

pensive to keep up. (From the gift of a

white elephant by the kings of Siam

[Thailand] to courtiers who displeased

them, knowing the cost of the upkeep

would ruin them.) Bob’s father-in-law

has given him an old Rolls-Royce, but it’s

a real white elephant. He has no place to

park it and can’t afford the maintenance

on it. Those antique vases Aunt Mary

gave me are white elephants. They’re ugly

and take ages to clean.

Who do you think you’re kidding? I don’t

believe you, and what makes you think

you can deceive me? (In other persons

also.) Who does he think he’s kidding?

Nobody believes him.  A: You are the

finest batter I’ve ever seen. B: Who do you

think you’re kidding?

Who do you think you’re talking to? Do

you know the importance of the person

[me] you are talking to? (In other persons

also.) Who do you think you’re talking

to? I’m the boss here, you know! Don’t

talk to me that way! Who do you think you

are talking to?

Who would have thought? I would never

have guessed that something so surpris-

ing could happen. So he’s run off with

the maid. Who would have thought? It

turns out she robbed a bank when she was

18. Who would have thought?

the whole ball of wax and the whole

shooting match the whole thing; the

whole matter or affair; the entire affair or

organization. John is not a good man-

ager. Instead of delegating jobs to others,

he runs the whole shooting match himself.

There’s not a hard worker in that whole

shooting match. I will be glad to be fin-

ished with this project. I want to be done

with the whole ball of wax. I am tired

of this job. I am fed up with the whole ball

of wax.

(whole) new ball game a new set of cir-

cumstances. (Slang. Originally from

sports.) It’s a whole new ball game since

Jane took over the office. You can’t do

the things you used to do around here. It’s

a new ball game.

the whole shooting match Go to the

whole ball of wax.

whoop it up to enjoy oneself in a lively and

noisy manner. (Informal.) John’s

friends really whooped it up at his bache-

lor party. Jean wants to have a large

party and whoop it up to celebrate her

promotion.