Take In and Bone To Pick

What a view to take in!

Today's phrasal verb is Take In, which has eight meanings:
1.To understand and remember something

Children can't be expected to take in so much new information in one lesson.
The lecture was rather boring and I didn't take in much of what the lecturer said.
 The news was such a shock that we still haven't taken it in.

2. To include something within the scope of something such as a list or plan

The study takes in the whole postwar period.

3.  To deceive somebody by presenting a false appearance

We were all taken in by her plausible manner.
I was taken in by her story until someone told me the truth.

4. To give somebody shelter in your home

We've taken in our brother's best friend, who's currently unemployed.  He'll stay in the room downstairs near the kitchen and will pay for food and rent as best he can until he gets his life in order again
The family took in the three homeless kittens.

5. To go and see some kind of entertainment, scenery or sport

Let's take in a movie this weekend
Hey, you want to take in the Giant's game tonight?  I've got company tickets. 
I took in the view of the Grand Canyon at sunset.    

6.  To do paid work on something at home

She takes in ironing twice a week from the wealthy family on the hill.
She takes in the neighbor's children for babysitting 5 days a week.

7. To alter a garment to make it narrower.

The jacket was far too big around the shoulders, so I had it taken in so that I could wear it
Mom, can you take these pants in? They're too big around the waist.

8. To bring somebody as a prisoner or witness to a police station

The burglar has been taken in to custody

Notes:  Transitive/ Separable [optional]
Synonyms:1. absorb, understand, comprehend, grasp, assimilate, learn, discern, realize, accept, take on board, remember 2.  include, contain, comprise, embrace, encompass, cover, enclose 3.  deceive, dupe, fool, mislead, trick, swindle, defraud, cheat, con, hoodwink, take for a ride, lead down the garden path 4. let in, receive, admit, accommodate, welcome 7. reduce, alter, shrink, shorten, draw in, narrow, gather.

You got a bone to pick with me?

Today's idiom is Bone To Pick, which means:
A dispute that needs to be settled (with some one), an issue to be discussed and resolved between individuals. If you have a bone to pick with someone, you are annoyed about something they have done and want to tell them how you feel.

I have a bone to pick with you. I heard that you are dating my sister and I want to know why.
 I have a bone to pick with the mailman.  He's constantly late and often doesn't even put the letters in the box correctly. 

Bone to pick," dates back to the 16th century, simply refers to a dog chewing endlessly on, and "picking clean," a large bone. A "bone to pick" is thus a subject or issue that is expected to require considerable discussion or argument. A similar phrase, "bone of contention," meaning an issue over which two people argue, also dates back to the 1500s and refers, appropriately, to two dogs fighting over an especially choice bone.

Hand Down and Get One's Ducks In A Row

This fishing boat has been handed down from father to son for 4 generations

Today's phrasal verb is Hand Down, which has three meanings:
1-To pass on to the next generation

>My mother handed this wedding ring  down to me. It has been in my family for five generations.
The land had been handed down from generation to generation in that family.
There is a legend that has been handed down by the people of this region that this area is haunted.
 
2-To make an official decision, especially the verdict of a court. 

The jury wasted no time in handing down a verdict of innocence.
The corporate office  handed down its new policy yesterday.
   
3- To pass clothes on from an older to a younger child. (Often called hand-me-downs, which is an idiom)

His mother handed down the clothes to him that his older brother had worn
I always have to wear my sister's old hand-me-downs.  I never get any new clothes, but she does. 

Notes: Transitive/Separable [optional]
 Synonyms: leave, bequeath, pass down, transmit, will, hand on, pass on

"That's how you get your ducks in a row"

Today's idiom is a cute one: Get One's Ducks In A Row.
If you get your ducks in a row, you organise yourself and your life.

Jane is organized. She really gets all her ducks in a row right away.  
You can't hope to go into a company and sell something until you get your ducks in a row 
The government talks about tax changes but they won't fix a date or an amount - they just can't get their ducks in a row. 

The origin of this phrase is uncertain, but there are several theories.  Here they are.
It refers to the lead weights used by early ship builder draftsmen. They would create the curve lines of the ship with some sort of flexible material and hold it down with the lead weights which they called ducks. This enabled them to draw the curved lines.
It derives from "duck pins," a type of lawn bowling popular in Europe and America in the 1700s.

It refers to baby ducklings following their mother

It refers to the line of metal ducks at a mechanical shooting arcade

URL: http://able2know.org/topic/4102-1

Rig Out and A Closed Mouth Catches No Flies

Rigged out for all contingencies

 Today's phrasal verb is Rig Out, which has two meanings:
1-To put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive (transitive/separable).

She likes to get rigged up in the home team jersey and paint her face with grease paint in team colors when she goes to the games.
The young girls were all rigged out for the costume party as a pirate, a cowgirl, and a clown.
 He rigged himself out in a tuxedo for the gala opening of  the opera season

 2- To provide equipment for somebody or something: to fit a person, place, or object with proper or necessary equipment  (transitive/separable)

They rigged themselves out for a long mountain biking trip   He spent a lot of money rigging out the interior of his automobile. Okay, the living room is rigged out for the party.  All we need now is guests! Synonyms: equip, provide, prepare, furnish, arrange, fit out Synonyms: dress up, clothe, get up, kit out, attire, deck out Mother says, "A Closed Mouth Catches No Flies". Today's idiom, A Closed Mouth Catches No Flies, is a proverb, actually, and it means: You cannot say an unkind or appropriate word if you don't speak at all Jack: What do you think of her dress?  Jill:  A closed mouth catches no flies The origin of this saying comes from an Italian proverb, but it is most famous for being quoted by Sancho Panza in Miguel De Cervantes' Don Quixote.

Hold Out and Bread and Butter

Today's verbal phrase is Hold Out, which has four meanings:
1. To extend something: to stretch out or extend a part of the body, or offer something to somebody by doing this (transitive verb/separable).

She held out her hand.
The rescuers held a rope out to the swimmer.

2. To last: to keep up or continue to be in supply (intransitive verb/inseparable).

Is the food holding out?
 
3. To endure: to continue to resist and not give in to something (intransitive verb/inseparable).

The miners held out for two days without food or water
When the government forces attacked their strong hold, the rebels held out for six weeks.

4.  resist: to refuse to settle something or accept something until all demands or conditions are met (intransitive verb/inseparble)

The bus drivers are holding out for a 6 percent raise  

Synonyms: offer, give, present, extend, proffer, stretch out
stand firm, stand your ground, persist, endure, withstand, persevere, stand fast, last, resist


Antonym: withdraw

My good old bread and butter

Today's idiom is Bread and Butter and means,
someone's basic income; someone's livelihood—the source of one's food.

I can't miss another day of work.  That's my bread and butter. 
I worked as a bartender for a year, and it was the tips that were my bread and butter.  
Teaching at the local college is his bread and butter.    
Our customers are our bread and butter, so treat them with respect.
This a bread and butter issue, one that will affect people directly and in a very important way.
His curveball was his bread and butter pitch 

Kick around and Bone Up

"You won't have Richard Nixon to kick around anymore" (Famous Nixon quote as he conceded victory to JFK in 1961)

Today's phrasal verb is Kick Around, which has five  meanings:
1) To discuss  ( transitive/separable).

We kicked the idea around at the meeting.

2)  To treat badly or abuse  (transitive/separable).

"You won't have Richard Nixon to kick around anymore".

3) To move from place to place (transitive and intransitive/inseparable). 

My in-laws are kicking around the house for the weekend.
We are going to kick around an old mining town and have a picnic in the hills
Let's kick around the mall Saturday afternoon.

I spent the next three years in Italy, kicking around the country on a motor scooter

He kicked around for several years in the minor leagues before he developed into a major league player. 

4) To remain unnoticed, forgotten or neglected (intransitive/inseparable).

This old tennis racket has been kicking around in the closet for a long time.  I decided I would take it out today and play a little tennis.

5)  For a routine event to arrive

When evening kicks around, we'll go out for some dinner
When summer kicks around, we'll have some fun  surfing.


Synonym: kick about



Today's idiom is Bone Up, which means:
To review prior studies, usually at the last minute.  To become reacquainted with.

I boned up for the final French exam.
I boned up my relationship with my old college friend
I need to bone up on the subject.  It's been years since I've studied it. I've forgotten everything

"I have to bone up on how to chomp a mammoth bone. I think my ancestors knew how to do it"

Note: There are two chief theories as to the origin of this phrase. One is that it derives from the practise of using bones to polish leather. So, to 'bone up' on a subject was to polish or refine one's knowledge. The second theory relates to the Victorian bookseller Henry George Bohn (1796-1884). He produced a large catalogue of books, including many study texts. Early citations of the phrase in print, of which there are very few, don't support either idea. Bone was used as a verb meaning 'to study' from the early 19th century onward. The first known citation that explicitly use 'bone up' is in Tenting on Plains by Elizabeth Custer (wife of General George Custer), 1887:

"I have known the General to 'bone-up', as his West Point phrase expressed it, on the smallest details of some question at issue."

The Bohn story has the feel of something retro-fitted to the facts. If it really were true we might expect to find some 19th century reference that linked Bohn name with the phrase, or some example of 'Bohn up' in print. Nevertheless, the term must have come from somewhere, so the polishing with bone seems the most probable. Without further evidence the origin remains uncertain.

Get Off It/Me and Dead In The Water

"I'll do it, I'll do it.  Now will you get off of me?"

The last post was about the phrasal verb, Get Off, which was an extremely long phrasal verb to write about.  However, I am not quite done examining this phrasal.  It has a couple more usages: Get Off Of It and Get Off Of Me, which have very different meanings.  Get Off (Of) It means:
 A way of expressing disbelief  and demanding that someone cease talking,

I knew he was lying so I told him to get off of it. .
Oh, get off it!  You know that performance enhancing drugs are a part of professional sports these days!

Notes:  Intransitive, Inseparable.  There is a great deal of question about just exactly "It" is in this phrasal verb.  Many suggest that "It" refers to a "soap box", thus the idiom "Get Off Your Soap box" which commands people who stand on soapboxes to cease trying to persuade their listeners of some proposition.  Soap boxes were apparently popular for people to stand on when they  exercised their right to free speech and made a speech in a public area. 

Get Off (Of) Me! means:

When someone is  pressuring your space, physically and or mentally.

I walk into a room, and my co-worker impatiently says, "where were you?" I tell her, "I was in the bathroom, get off me".
How many times are you going to ask me to do this for you? I told you "no" the first time.  Get Off Of Me!

Note:  it may be something useful to say to someone who always bombards you with questions that you dont feel like you should have to answer... "get off me!"

"Dead In The Water"

Today's idiom is Dead In The Water, which means:

A project unable to function or move and thus, make no progress. A sailing ship that is dead in the water is stationary, with no wind in its sails to make it come alive. Transferring this to everyday life, it means 'not going anywhere, brought to a halt' 

With no leadership, the project was dead in the water.

We've just run out of gas.  We're dead in the water

With the injury to their two star players at the same time, the team's goal of a winning season was dead in the water.

Get Off and Run Of The Mill

"Where do you get off telling me to get off your foot" "I get off on being in the middle" "Would you all be quiet, I can't get the kids off"...

Today's phrasal verb, Get Off,  is a complex one.  It has thirteen meanings(!):

1.   To leave  a bus, train, etc. to descend from or move off of something.  (inseparable). We will get off the bus  at Montgomery St. station  and then take the subway across the bay. I got off the plane in Jeddah and immediately the humidity from the Red Sea hit me like a wave. Get off of the table, it's not for sitting on. 2. To leave: to set out from a place or position (intransitive verb. Inseparable). We have to get off at the crack of dawn tomorrow. 3. To be able to leave work: to be allowed to leave work, especially at the end of the working day ( transitive and intransitive verb. Inseparable). What time do you get off this afternoon? I just got off work.  Let me take a shower and I'll meet you in a half hour at the cafe.
4. To help a baby or child sleep. (Separable/optional). I can't get the kids off  to bed because of the noise from next door. 5.  To send communication or package: to send a written communication or package (transitive verb. Separable/obligatory). I need to get these letters off tonight. I got three emails off before the meeting.
6. To have a lucky escape: to experience only minor consequences of a mistake, misguided action, or accident (intransitive verb) Considering what might have happened, I think you got off very lightly. He got off with a warning from the police to repair  his license plate.
7. To gain acquittal: to be acquitted in a court of law, or successfully defend somebody in a court of law ( informal: transitive and intransitive verb. Separable/optional). A good lawyer could get him off with no trouble. This defensed lawyer has a high acquittal rate: his clients always seem to get off.  He got off  on a technicality and left the court a free man.
8. To manage to fire a gun (separable/optional). She got off a few shots before she was arrested. 9. To say or write something funny (Separable/optional) She got off some jokes at the start of her presentation. 10. Stop talking on the phone (Inseparable). Let me know when he gets off the phone. I need to make a call. 11. To  be so bold: to be bold enough to say or do something  informal, usually disapproving. intransitive verb) Where does he get off thinking he can speak to me that way?
12. To be aroused or excited, to enjoy: to experience excitement, physical arousal, or the effects of a drug (slang. intransitive verb ) He gets off on old movies. I get off on snow boarding
13. taboo term: a highly offensive term meaning to have an orgasm (taboo. intransitive verb  ) Synonyms: leave, depart, exit, go, embark, quit, go away dismount, get down, descend, come down, climb off, disembark Your run of the mill nature painting

Today's idiom is Run Of The Mill, which means:
Something that common, everyday, ordinary item that does not stand out from all the rest. In other words, something or someone that is "run-of-the-mill" is probably not notable.

Jack: How was the movie?  Jill: It was run of the mill
He is just a run of the mill baseball pitcher.
This pizza is simply run of the mill

Origin:  this idiom is said to derive from early industrialism and is American in origin. The mill in question was a weaving/textile mill and the articles first called 'run of the mill' were clothes that were simply ordinary and functional, nothing more. An early citation of that comes from an advert by Cook, Taylor & Co. of Lowell, Massachusetts in The Lowell Daily Sun, December 1895:"Seconds and the run of the mill, but for all wearing purposes just the same as firsts at twice the price".  However, my sense of the idiom had always been, before learning the above, that it referred to just the ordinary, everyday process of a flour mill going round and round. 

a lovely old flour mill

Sail Through and Fly Off The Handle

Today's verbal phrase is Sail Through, which means:
To pass easily, succeed or to move through something easily. To get through a procedure, evaluation, or vote quickly and easily.

He sailed through  a very difficult surgery and is recovering nicely
He sailed through the final test.  
The kids just sailed right through the ice cream and cake. There was not a bit left. 
You have sailed through your allowance already.
We sailed through traffic  on the motorcycle 

The proposal sailed through the committee with no debate. 

I hope that the mechanic sails through this car repair quickly.

Notes:

- Inseparable, transitive and intransitive verb
Synonyms: do with ease, breeze through.

Today's idiom is Fly Off The Handle, which means:

To lose self control, to lose one's temper.

Every time anyone mentions taxes, Mrs. Brown flies off the handle.  

If she keeps flying off the handle like that, she'll have a heart attack.  

He really flew off the handle when I suggested selling the house.

When we make mistakes, he brings it to our attention, but he doesn't fly off the handle like he used to.

This is an American phrase and it alludes to the uncontrolled way a loose axe-head flies off from its handle. 

This is what I'm afraid I look like when I fly off the handle.