1. Meaning and etymology:
On the Internet, B2G is business-to-government
(a variation of the term B2B, or business-to-business),
the concept that businesses and government agencies
can use central Web sites to exchange information
and do business with each other more efficiently
than they usually can off the Web. Forexample,
a Web site offering B2G services could provide businesses
with a single place to locate applications and tax
forms for one or more levels of government (city,
state or province, country, and so forth); provide
the ability to send in filled-out forms and payments;
update corporate information; request answers to
specific questions; and so forth. Examples and explanation:
B2G may also include e-procurement services,
in which businesses learn about the purchasing needs
of agencies and agencies request proposal responses.
B2G may also support the idea of a virtual workplace
in which a business and an agency could coordinate
the work on a contracted project by sharing a common
site to coordinate online meetings, review plans,
and manage progress. B2G may also include the rental
of online applications and databases designed especially
for use by government agencies. According to the
Gartner Group, B2G revenue is expected to grow from
$1.5 billion in 2000 to $6.2 billion in 2005. Synonyms:
e-government (see), online government. 2. An Internet site "Bound Together
(B2G)" with the following Charter:
"To foster a sense of community for people
interested in power exchange and/or BDSM in and
around the UK Midlands". (NB:BDSM = Bondage & Discipline /
Domination & Submission / Sadism & Masochism.) 3. Online Community "b2g"
- "better 2gether", "an emerging
national movement of friends in Christ" in
the USA.
B4
(chat) before
BCNU
(chat) be seeing you
BFN
B4N
(chat) bye for now
BRB
(chat) be right back
BRICs
BRIC
briks
brik
(acronym; n., adj.) The countries of Brazil,
Russia,
India, and China viewed as a group of emerging economies
with large potential markets. Examples: 1) "Standard Life" believes
that, by 2050, China will be the second largest market in the
world, with 25 per cent of global capitalisation
while India will have 10 per cent.
The stock markets of the BRICs (Brazil Russia, India and China)
could collectively be as large as the US,
Japan,
the UK and Germany put together. ("Time to be bullish
over China
stocks", Investment Adviser, February 9, 2004) 2) When investment gurus devise acronyms
to describe up-and-coming markets, ordinary investors
do well to beware. Remember the vogue for describing
technology, media and telecom stocks as TMT? The
acronym in vogue now is Brics, which means Brazil,
Russia,
India, and China. (Peter Temple, "How solid are the
Brics?", Financial Times (London, England),
February 7, 2004) Comments:
The image underlying this acronym is the brick,
meaning we're supposed to think of the nascent economies
of Brazil, Russia, India, and China as being akin
to building blocks that, if the rosy forecasts come
true, will form the foundation of the global economy
in the decades to come.
BTDT
(chat) been there done that
BTW
(web, chat) by the way
BYKT
(web, chat) but you knew that
Baconian
[bay-KOH-nee-un]
One who believes that Francis Bacon wrote the works
usually attributed to Shakespeare. Example:
Baconians argue that the wide range of knowledge
exhibited in Shakespeare's plays shows a level of
learning that only Bacon could have had. History: Sir Francis Bacon was a man of many talents:
he was a lawyer, a statesman, a philosopher, and
a man of letters. He is remembered for the style
and expression of his writing, for his power as
a speaker in Parliament, and for his advocacy of
what is today known as the "Baconian method"
of arriving at scientific conclusions by careful
examination of evidence and sorting of facts.
Sir Francis Bacon is also considered, by some
people, to be the true author of Shakespeare's works.
The theory, which was first propounded in the mid-1800s,
flourished from about 1880 to 1930 and is still
subscribed to in certain circles today.
Bangalored
Bangalore
get
bangalored
Shanghaied
Bangalore
torpedo
torpedo
A corporation, project, or employment, having been
relocated to India and lost business or employment due to such
a relocation (a business practice designed to
save money that is arousing passions in some countries,
especially Britain
and the United
States). Examples: 1) After two months of SAP training
CPQ UK's order management stuff was in the process
of being Bangalored. 2) I am a software developer who is
about to be "Bangalored." 3) It may not be entirely correct
for US dictionaries to verbalise outsourcing to
India as Bangalored! With India's capital city also
attracting call centres ... the Americans could
perhaps also talk in terms of their jobs being "Delhi-ted".
("Economic Times" (India), 24 July
2004) History: Bangalore - city and capital (since 1830)
of Karnataka (formerly Mysore) state, southern India.
It is the nation's seventh-largest city. Technologically,
Bangalore is the Indian equivalent of Silicon
Valley in the United States.
"Bangalored" has been discussed
recently in the "Bangkok Post", the "Times
of India" and other Asian newspapers. A search
suggests it has been in use in the USA for about
the past year but is only now beginning to appear
in print. Bangalore is cited in particular
because of its reputation in the USA as a high-tech
city, that has benefited significantly from such
outsourcing. One Web site is selling T-shirts with
the slogan "Don't Get Bangalored"
as a way of telling people about the issue. What's
odd about the term, from the point of view of language,
is that it's rare for a place name to become a verb;
however, "Shanghaied" has
been known since about 1870, at first in the sense
of drugging and kidnapping a person to make up the
crew numbers on a ship, but now more generally to
be forced into doing something against one's will.
One of the possible sources of the word might be
the Bangalore torpedo - a tube packed
with explosive used by troops for blowing up wire
entanglements. It got its name because it was invented
in Bangalore. The term was first recorded
in 1913 and common in both world wars, but now it
is very rare among the public at large; on the other
hand, the phrase was used in the recent film "Saving
Private Ryan", which conceivably might
have brought it to mind.
Be seeing you
see
you
Be
seeing smb.
see
smb.
see
be
seeing
seeing
1. To speak to smb. in person; I will speak
to you in person. 2. (Internet, e-mail, SMS etc.) See
you (later); I will be in contact with you at a
later
time.
Beat around the bush
Beat
about the bush
Beat
around
Beat
about
Beat
around
about
bush
to avoid answering a question; to approach something
carefully or in a roundabout way. Example: Stop beating around the bush. Whom
are you taking to the dance? Etymology:
This expression goes all the way back to the 1500s
when hunters hired people called beaters to drive
small animals out of the bushes so the hunters could
get a better shot at them. The problem for the beaters
was that they might drive the birds or rabbits of
foxes out too soon. They had to be careful not to
drive the animals into the open before the hunters
arrived. So the beaters might use their long sticks
"around the bush" rather than directly
on it. Today, the expression "to beat around
the bush" means talking about things in a roundabout
way without giving clear answers or coming to the
point.
Beauty is only skin deep
Beauty
skin
deep
skin
deep
People use this saying to mean that you can't judge
a person's character by how he or she looks. Example: "That new girl sure is pretty," Kim
said."Yeah, but I wonder if she's nice,
too," Carol said. "After all, beauty is
only skin deep." Beggars can't be choosers
Beggars cannot be choosers
A beggar can't be a chooser
A beggar cannot be a chooser
Beggar
chooser
Needy people have to take whatever they can get
and cannot be concerned about
the quality if they cannot afford to buy it for
themselves. This saying means that when you are
in a weak or disadvantaged position, you shouldn't
be picky aboutthe help that may be offered
- even if it isn't exactly the sort of help you
want. Example:
Beggars can't be choosers. If you don't have money
to go out for pizza, you'll have to eat in the cafeteria. Etymology:
This proverb has been around since the mid-1500s.
It means that people who need
something but who have little or no control over
their situations can't choose what they
get. They have to accept what is offered.
Bennifer
a blended noun describing the couple of Ben Affleck
and Jennifer Lopez. Etymology:
Ben Affleck - actor and co-writer of "Good
Will Hunting" etc. Affleck became engaged
to singer (who wore the sexy dress to the Grammys)
and actress Jennifer Lopez in 2002.
Beware of Greeks bearing
gifts
Beware
Greeks
bearing
gifts
Greek
gift
be suspicious of presents from certain people who
are just looking for something from you; be on guard
against treachery in the disguise of a gift. Example:
Natasha is just giving you that CD because she wants
one of your puppies. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. Etymology:
The great ancient Roman writer Virgil used a similar
sentence in his famous story of the Trojan War,
the "Aeneid". For ten years the Greek
army tried in vain to conquer the city of Troy.
Finally the Greeks pulled a rotten (but clever)
trick on the Trojans. They pretended to sail back
to Greece and left behind a huge wooden horse as
a "gift". The Trojans brought the horse
inside their city, but many Greek soldiers were
hidden in the hollow belly of the horse. They came
out at night, defeated the Trojans, and conquered
the city.
Big Apple
the
Big Apple
Big
Apple
1. A jerky American dance that was popular
in the 1940s. 2. To do the jitterbug. 3. New York City; New York. Example:
Guess what! My friend and I are going to live in
The Big Apple! Etymology:
The term "Big Apple" was
adopted in 1971 as the theme of an official advertising
campaign aimed at luring tourists back to New York
City. The ad campaign aimed to recast New York,
then generally held to be noisy, dirty and dangerous,
in a more positive light by stressing the city's
excitement and glamor. Whee! Just watch your wallet,
folks.
As to the origin of the term "Big Apple"
itself, the prevailing wisdom for many years was
that it was used in the 1930's, by jazz musicians
in particular, but that no one knew where it first
arose or how it became a synonym for New York City.
Fortunately, Professor Gerald Cohen of the
University of Missouri did some serious digging
and uncovered use of the term "Big Apple"
in the 1920's by a newspaper writer named John
FitzGerald, who wrote a horse-racing column
(called "Around the Big Apple")
for the "New York Morning Telegraph".
FitzGerald's use of the term predated the
jazzmen's "Big Apple" by
about a decade.
It was still unclear where FitzGerald got
"Big Apple," however, until
Barry Popik, a remarkably persistent New
York City slang historian, took up the search. Popik
discovered that in 1924 FitzGerald had
written that he first heard the term from stable
hands in New Orleans, who referred to New York racetracks
as "the Big Apple" - the
goal of every trainer and jockey in the horse racing
world.
Armed with the true story of "Big Apple"
(and awesome determination), Popik spent
the next four years trying to convince the New York
City Government to officially recognize FitzGerald
as the popularizer of "Big Apple."
He finally succeeded, and the corner of West 54th
Street and Broadway, where John FitzGerald
lived for nearly 30 years, is now officially known
as "Big Apple Corner."
Bluesnarfing
Blue
snarfing
Bluesnarf
Blue
snarf
Blue
snarfing
snarf
This term refers to a technique by which an intruder
can bypass the security on some Bluetooth-enabled
mobile phones to download the contents of address
books and other personal data. Example:
Bluesnarfing, the latest discovery for the wireless-data
standard, allows data, such as telephone numbers
and diary entries, stored in a vulnerable device
to be stolen by the attacker. (Munir Kotadia,
"ZDNet UK", February 09, 2004) Etymology: "Blue" (from the name of
the Bluetooth technology) + "snarf"
(probably from "sn(ort)" + "(sc)arf
") + "-ing".
The major manufacturers have claimed this is a "far-fetched"
scenario, but are reported now to acknowledge that
some models are at risk. The term was coined by
Adam Laurie of the security firm AL Digital,
who wrote a paper about the problem (February, 2004).
Bluetooth
This is a specification, developed by a consortium
that includes IBM, Ericsson, Nokia, Intel, and Toshiba,
for a radio system that allows electronic devices
to communicate with each other over short distances
without connecting cables. Some 1,200 companies
pledged to support this new format when it was first
announced, including giants like Microsoft. Example:
Any Bluetooth device can talk to any other, no matter
what brand name is on the label or what software
forms their operating systems. ("Arizona
Republic", Nov. 1999) Etymology:
The consortium named it after the tenth-century
Danish king Harald Bluetooth, who united warring
factions.
Bob's your uncle
Bobs
your uncle
all
is bob
bob's
Bob
uncle
1. Either describing a simple task or used
when a task is completed. 2. There you have it; it's all right; a
catch phrase expressing satisfactory completion.
Examples: 1) Make sure you have primed and undercoated
the wood. Then apply the gloss paint and Bob's your
uncle! The wood will stay protected and look good
for another couple of years. 2) You put the plug in here, press
that switch, and Bob's your uncle! Etymology, history:
This is a catchphrase which seemed to arise out
of nowhere and yet has had a long period of fashion
and is still going strong. It's known mainly in
Britain and Commonwealth countries. 1) The most attractive theory-albeit suspiciously
neat-is that it derives from a prolonged act of
political nepotism. The Victorian prime minister,
Lord Salisbury (family name Robert Cecil)
appointed his rather less than popular nephew
Arthur Balfour to a succession of posts. The most
controversial, in 1887, was chief secretary of Ireland,
a post for which Balfour - despite his intellectual
gifts - was considered unsuitable. The Dictionary
of National Biography says: "The country saw
with something like stupefaction the appointment
of the young dilettante to what was at the moment
perhaps the most important, certainly the most anxious
office in the administration". As the story goes,
the consensus among the irreverent in Britain was
that to have Bob as your uncle
was a guarantee of success, hence the expression.
Since the very word "nepotism"
derives from the Italian word for "nephew"
(from the practice of Italian popes giving preferment
to nephews, a euphemism for their bastard sons),
the association here seems more than apt. Actually,
Balfour did rather well in the job, confounding
his critics and earning the bitter nickname Bloody
Balfour from the Irish, which must have quietened
the accusations of undue favouritism more than a
little (he also rose to be Prime Minister from 1902-5).
There is another big problem: the phrase isn't recorded
until 1937, in Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang
and Unconventional English. Mr Partridge
suggested it had been in use since the 1890s,
but nobody has found an example in print. This is
surprising. 2) A rather more probable, but less exciting,
theory has it that it derives from the slang phrase
"all is bob", meaning that
everything is safe, pleasant or satisfactory. This
dates back to the 17th-18th cent. (it's in Captain
Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
of 1785). There have been several other slang expressions
containing "bob", some associated
with thievery or gambling, and from the 18th century
on it was also a common generic name for somebody
you didn't know. Any or all of these might have
contributed to its genesis.
Boxing Day
Boxing
Day
St
Stephen's Day
St.
Stephen's Day
St
Stephen
St.
Stephen
Stephen
In Britain Boxing Day is the day after Christmas
Day, 26 December, a public holiday that is more
correctly called St Stephen's Day.
Example:
Strictly, the public holiday is the first working
day after Christmas Day, but the name Boxing Day
is always reserved for the 26th. History:
We have to go back to the early 17th c. to find
the basis for the name. The term "Christmas
box" appeared about then for an earthenware
box, something like a piggy bank, which apprentices
took around at Christmas to collect money. When
it was full, or the round complete, the box was
broken and the money distributed among the company.
By the 18th c., Christmas box had become
a figurative term for any seasonal gratuity: "A
present or gratuity given at Christmas: in Great
Britain, usually confined to gratuities given to
those who are supposed to have a vague claim upon
the donor for services rendered to him as one of
the general public by whom they are employed and
paid, or as a customer of their legal employer;
the undefined theory being that as they have done
offices for this person, for which he has not directly
paid them, some direct acknowledgement is becoming
at Christmas. These gratuities have traditionally
been asked from householders by letter-carriers,
policemen, lamp-lighters, scavengers, butchers'
and bakers' boys, tradesmen's carmen, etc, and from
tradesmen by the servants of households that deal
with them, etc. They are thus practically identical
with the Christmas-box collected by apprentices
from their masters' customers, except that the name
is now given to the individual donation; and hence,
vulgarly and in dialect use it is often equivalent
to "Christmas present"." ("Oxford
English Dictionary", 1st ed.)
Some time after the beginning of the 19th c., the
word "box" of "Christmas
box" shifted to refer to the day after
Christmas day, on which such gratuities were often
requested and on which the original Christmas
box was taken round. The first recorded use
of Boxing Day for the 26th December
is in 1833. By 1853 at the latest it had become
a scourge that justified Murray's later acerbic
comments, at least to judge from these comments
by Charles Manby Smith in his "Curiosities
of London Life": "We can hardly close
these desultory sketches of Christmas-time without
some brief allusion to the day after Christmas,
which, through every nook and cranny of the great
Babel, is known and recognised as Boxing Day
- the day consecrated to baksheesh, when nobody,
it would almost seem, is too proud to beg, and when
everybody who does not beg is expected to play the
almoner. "Tie up the knocker - say you're sick,
you are dead," is the best advice perhaps that could
be given in such cases to any man who has a street-door
and a knocker upon it".
This custom has now died out, though solicitations
for Christmas tips continue to some extent, especially
from the deliverers of newspapers. Instead, on Boxing
Day people now rush to the first post-Christmas
sales.
Britalian
said to describe the reinterpretation of classic
Italian dishes like pizza and pasta for blander
British palates. Example:
A lasagne in Britian is more "Britalian"
than "Italian". History:
A blend of "British" and "Italian",
this pops up from time to time to describe in particular
the reinterpretation of classic Italian dishes like
pizza and pasta for blander British palates. At
the beginning of September 2004 it was the turn
of Antonio Carluccio, who ran a restaurant
chain in London, to disparage supermarket offerings
of Italian foodstuffs as "a huge crime".
His case was helped by a quote in the "Guardian"
from the executive chef of Sainsburys, who
said the firm tried to make their products "a
bit authentic".
British Summer Time
Summer
Time
BST
Summer
Time
British
The time used in the UK from late March to late
October, that is one hour later than Greenwich Mean
Time and 3 hours later than Moscow time.
Brobdingnagian
Brobdingnag
[brob-ding-NAG-ee-un]
Of extraordinary size; gigantic; enormous; marked
by tremendous size. Examples: 1) Our little dog was frightened by
the Brobdingnagian proportions of the statues in
the park. 2) The venture capital business has
a size problem. A monstrous, staggering, stupefying
one. Brobdingnagian even. (Russ Mitchell, "Too
Much Ventured Nothing Gained", Fortune, November
11, 2002) 3) Any savvy dealer . . . will try
to talk you up to one of the latest behemoths, which
have bloated to such Brobdingnagian dimensions as
to have entered the realm of the absurd. (Jack
Hitt, "The Hidden Life of SUVs", Mother
Jones, July/August 1999) Etymology:
In Jonathan Swift's novel "Gulliver's
Travels",Brobdingnag is
the name of a land that is populated by a race of
human giants "as tall as an ordinary spire
steeple." In Gulliver's first close-up
encounter with the giants, he is attempting to get
past a stile of which every step is six feet high,
when a group of field-workers approach with strides
ten yards long and reaping hooks as large as six
scythes. Their voices he at first mistakes for thunder.
Swift's book fired the imagination of the
public and within two years of the 1726 publication
of the story, people had begun using "Brobdingnagian"
to refer to anything of unusually large size. (Swift
himself had used "Brobdingnagian"
as a noun to refer to the inhabitants of Brobdingnag.)
Bwd
(chat) backward
Byzantine
[BIZ-un-teen] 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic
of the ancient city of Byzantium or the Eastern
Roman Empire. 2. Of or relating to the Eastern Orthodox
Church. 3. (Often not capitalized) Intricately
involved and often devious. Example:
Rosa's novels vividly depict a Byzantine world of
scheming and intrigue. Etymology:
Today, the city that lies on the Bosporus Strait
in Turkey is named Istanbul, but it was once known
as Constantinople (a name given to it when it became
capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine,
Empire), and in ancient times, it was called Byzantium.
Its history is exotic - filled with mystics, wars,
and political infighting - and the word Byzantine
(from Late Latin "Byzantinus,"
for "native of Byzantium") became synonymous
with anything characteristic of the city or empire,
from architecture to intrigue. The figurative sense
of labyrinthine deviousness first appeared in the
late 1930s. It was popularized by its frequent use
in reference to the Soviet Union, whose secrecy
and despotism were equated by Westerners with what
went on in the old ByzantineEmpire.
a person who is inexperienced; a naive, trusting
person Example:
Peter knew his way around junior high, but now
in high school he's just a babe in the woods. Etymology:
In 1595
a story called "The Children in the Wood"
was published in England. It was about a greedy
uncle who was supposed to be taking care of his
rich niece and nephew. Instead, he hired two men
to kill them so he could inherit their money.
One of the men took pity on the children and left
them in the woods rather than kill them. They
did not survive. That's why we can say that inexperienced
people or people that can't take care of themselves
and can easily be misled or exploited are "babes
in the woods".
bablatrice
babbler
a female babbler
babymoon
babymooner
Babymooning
familymoon
A special holiday taken by parents-to-be before
their first baby is born. Related words:
babymoon (v.), babymooner (n.), babymooning(n.) Examples: 1) Getting in one last jaunt for
two before baby makes three has become a hot trend
among expecting couples. It's been called a babymoon.
("ABC News", 18th February
2006) 2) Babymooning seemed like a last
chance for romance, to enjoy uninterrupted hours
in art galleries, to linger over a foreign-brewed
coffee, to see a movie, to finally read "A
Tale of Two Cities". (globeandmail.com
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/ LAC/20050813/BABYMOON13/TPTravel/>,
13th August 2005) 3) Babymooners are looking for special
gifts and tokens that will remind them of their
trip. ("Seattle
Post Intelligencer", 24th April 2006)History, related words: You're a twosome
about to become a threesome. Before the cycle
of round-the-clock feeding and endless nappy changing
begins, why not have a special holiday,your
last chance to have a romantic, carefree, just-the-two-of-you
vacation? There are so many expectant couples
doing just this that we now have a new term for
it - the babymoon.Parents-to-be
who love to travel see a babymoon as
the final opportunity to relax in far-flung locations
before adjusting to the new reality of pushchairs,
baby food and sleepless nights! In the past few
years the babymoonhas grown in
popularity, partly because people are travelling
further and more frequently, and also because
it is now considered perfectly safe for pregnant
women to fly up to their 36th week of pregnancy,
providing there are no other complications. A
very appealing prospect for mums-to-be, travel
companies have seized on the babymoon concept
as a marketing opportunity, putting together special
packages for babymooners. These
might include pamper sessions for the mother,
special menus (anyone fancy pickles and ice cream?),
cigars for Dad, and a babymoonsuite
with chocolates and& not champagne, but sparkling
non-alcoholic cider. The term "babymoon"is of course a blend of "baby"and "honeymoon",a
mid 16th-century compound word where "honey"referred to a marriage's sweetness' and "moon"
to how long it would last, like the changing aspect
of the moon. The expression "babymoon"was coined in the early nineties by pregnancy
and childbirth author Sheila Kitzinger,
who described it as a calm, uninterrupted period
of time needed by parents after the birth of a
baby so that they can spend time bonding with
their new arrival. However, Kitzinger's
original meaning seems to have been eclipsed by
the more recent last fling before the baby arrives'
sense. A related neologism is the term "familymoon",which refers to a honeymoon where the bride
and groom are accompanied by children from previous
marriages or relationships.
bacchanalia
bacchanalian
[bak-uh-NAIL-yuh] 1. (plural, capitalized) The ancient
Roman festival in honor of Bacchus, celebrated
with dancing, song, and revelry. 2. A riotous, boisterous, or drunken festivity;
a revel. Examples: 1) Alpha Epsilon brothers began
their bacchanalia with an off-campus keg party
featuring "funneling," in which beer
is shot through a rubber hose into the drinker's
mouth. (Adam Cohen, "Battle of the Binge,"
Time, September 8, 1997) 2) This is not at all to suggest
that the Revolution was a sort of non-stop bacchanalia,
but that partial drunkenness was often an important
component in a certain type of revolutionary excitability,
particularly in meetings or committees. (Richard
Cobb, "The French and Their Revolution")
Etymology, related words:
"Bacchanalia" comes from
Latin, from Bacchus, god of wine, from
Greek Bakkhos. The adjective form
is "bacchanalian". One
who celebrates the Bacchanalia,
or indulges in drunken revels, is a bacchanal
([BAK-uh-nuhl; bak-uh-NAL]), which is also
another term for a drunken or riotous celebration.
bachelor party
bachelors
party
bachelor
party
bachelors
Also: bachelors party
A party thrown for a groom shortly before his
wedding; a stag party held for a bachelor (usually
on the night before he is married). Example:
Bob Sawyer is one of her lodgers; he owes her
rent, which this little fierce woman bounces in
to demand just before his guests arrive for a
bachelor party. (Burgis, Nina; Slater, Michael;
Bentley, Nicolas. "The Dickens index".
- Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990)
back burner
back
burner
put smth. on the back burner
put
smth. on
the
back burner
put
1. A rear burner on a stovetop. 2. (slang) The place of low priority,
secondary position; not an urgent priority. Examples: 1) To put something on the back
burner is to put something off until later. 2) We worked hard on the project
at first, but when a new project came along, we
put it on the back burner. Etymology:
The 'back burner' of a stove is
where you put things that are slowly cooking,
and that you can leave alone for a while.
back out
back
To get out of an unwanted situation; to withdraw
or retreat from a previous engagement; to leave
or get away from something. Examples: 1) You can't back out of the deal
now--you signed your name on the contract. 2)
I'm going to back out on our plan to go
to Canada for spring break - I'm going to Hawaii
instead.
back seat driver
backseat
driver
back
seat
backseat
driver
back
seat
Someone who gives unwanted advice; someone who
tries to run things even though they don't have
the power or authority to do so; a bossy person
who tells another person what to do. Examples: 1) Rob is the worst back seat driver
I know - he's always telling me what to do. 2)
I wish I could tell my boss to stop being such
a back seat driver. I don't need to hear his comments
every ten minutes! 3) I can fix that computer myself,
but she always tries to be a backseat driver. Etymology:
When automobiles became popular in the United
States in the 1920s, many rich people rode around
in the backseats of chauffeur-driven cars. The
backseat passenger gave orders to the front-seat
driver: where to go, what road to take, how fast
to drive, and so on; this is usually more annoying
than helpful. Today "backseat driver"
refers to any aggressive person, in or out of
a car, who tries to tell others what to do. This
phrase can be used to make fun of someone who
is giving unwanted advice. back stabber
back
stabber
double
crosser
double
crosser
One who attacks another person unfairly, and without
warning; one who secretly plots against a friend.
Examples: 1) You shouldn't trust Mark - he's
a back stabber. 2) I've heard that
Greedie Corporation is a terrible place to work,
because the company is filled with back stabbers
and liars. Etymology:
You can't see your 'back', or the rear part of
your body. So if someone 'stabs' or attacks you
from behind, you can't see it coming to defend
yourself. This phrase usually is used to describe
arguments and verbal attacks, not physical ones.
Synonym: double crosser
back to square one
be
back to square one
back
to the drawing board
be
back to the drawing board
drawing
board
be
back to
square
one
back
to
square
back
board
drawing
return to the beginning because of a failure to
accomplish the desired result. Example:
Our design for a solar-powered washing machine
didn't work, so it's back to square one. Etymology:
There are many board and street games that have
squares or boxes. Each player must start at the
first square and try to advance to the finish
line or last box to win. If, for any reason, you
have to go back to square one, you're starting
over from the beginning. Synonym:
A similar saying is "back to the drawing
board", where architects begin blueprints
or sketches for each project. When a project fails
to work out, you may have to start over again
from the original
drawings to improve your chances for success. back to the drawing board
Back
to
drawing
board
Back
drawing
back
to square one
board
square
one
square
To begin again; to repeat a process, often after
a major setback. People use this saying when something
they're doing doesn't work out, and they feel
as though they need to start over from the beginning.
Examples: 1) Professor Hoopeldinger had to
go back to the drawing board after his experiment
blew up. 2) Our sales plan isn't
working, so I guess it's back to the drawing board!
3) "Ahmad, what are you doing?"
asked his mother. "I'm trying to write a
poem for Kim's birthday. But it doesn't sound
right. I think I need to go back to the drawing
board." Etymology:
If the initial design for a building or aircraft
fails, the designer has to go back to his or her
work table and begin again. Synonym:back to square one. bad 1. poor, wretched, inferior, defective,
awful, worthless, miserable, egregious, execrable,
substandard, unsatisfactory, disappointing, inadequate,
non-standard; (colloq.) lousy, rotten,
crummy; (Slang Brit.) grotty, naff. Examples:
Sometimes they would send him a letter, but he
was a bad correspondent.
We went to see a rather bad play the other night. 2. corrupt, polluted, vitiated, debased,
base, vile, foul, rotten, miasmic, noxious, mephitic,
unhealthy, poisonous, injurious, dangerous, harmful,
hurtful, pernicious, deleterious, ruinous. Example: It wasn't healthy to be so near
the bad air of the sewer. 3. evil, ill, immoral, wicked, vicious,
vile, sinful, depraved, awful, villainous, corrupt,
amoral, criminal, wrong, unspeakable. Example: The man was thoroughly bad and
deserved everything he got. 4. unpleasant, offensive, disagreeable,
inclement, severe, awful, unfavourable, adverse,
inclement, unpleasant; (colloq.) lousy,
rotten. Example: Surely you're not going sailing
in this bad weather?! 5. unfavourable, unlucky, unpropitious,
unfortunate, inauspicious, troubled, grim, distressing,
discouraging, unpleasant. Example: Agreeing to do that job might
yet turn out to have been a bad decision. 6. off, tainted, spoilt or spoiled, mouldy,
stale, rotten, decayed, putrefied, putrid, contaminated. Example: The fridge isn't working and all
the food has gone bad. She ate a bad egg and felt
ill the next day. 7. irascible, ill-tempered, grouchy, irritable,
nasty, peevish, cross, crotchety, crabby, cranky,
curmudgeonly. Example: Don't go near the boss - he's
been in a bad mood all day. 8. sorry, regretful, apologetic, contrite,
rueful, sad, conscience-stricken, remorseful,
upset. Example: She felt bad about having invited
me. 9. sad, depressed, unhappy, dejected, downhearted,
disconsolate, melancholy; inconsolable. Example: I feel bad about you losing your
purse. 10. naughty, ill-behaved, misbehaving,
disobedient, unruly, wild; mischievous. Example: Ronnie isn't a bad boy, he's just
bored. 11. distressing, severe, grave, serious,
terrible, awful, painful. Example: He was laid up with a bad case
of the mumps. bad egg
bad
egg
good
egg
A troublemaker; someone who has a bad attitude
and causes trouble. Examples: 1) Emily is a real bad egg - she's
always starting fights and causing trouble. 2)
We have to get rid of the bad eggs in the accounting
department. Etymology: In this phrase, 'egg' means
'person' or 'individual'. This is probably because
the human head looks a lot like an egg. A bad
egg, then, is a simply a bad person. There is
a similar phrase to describe a good person
- a 'good egg'.
bad hat
bad
hat
(Brit., inform.)1.
a villain, as in a cowboy movie; bad guy. (See: black hat.) bad-mouth
badinage [bad-n-AHZH]
Light, playful talk; banter. Examples: 1) Ken was determined to put the
cares of the world behind him and do what he loved
best - having a few celebrity friends round and
enjoying an evening of anecdote and badinage over
a bottle or two of vintage bubbly and some tasty
cheese straws. (Bel Littlejohn, "My moustache
man," The Guardian, March 24, 2000) 2) The badinage was inconsequential,
reduced to who knew whom and wasn't the weather
glorious in St. Tropez, or the Bahamas, Hawaii,
or Hong Kong? (Robert Ludlum, "The Matarese
Countdown") Etymology:
"Badinage" comes from
French, from "badiner" ("to
trifle, to joke"), "badin"
("playful, jocular").
bagatelle [bag-uh-TEL] 1. A trifle; a thing of little or
no importance. 2. A short, light musical or literary
piece. 3. A game played with a cue and balls on
an oblong table having cups or arches at
one end. Examples: 1) Don't worry about that, a mere
bagatelle, old boy! (Eric Ellis, "Error
Message," Time, February 10, 2000) 2) You know how it often happens; these
strifes and disputes frequently originate from
a mere bagatelle. (Alessandro Manzoni, "I
Promessi Sposi") 3) Excepting the regulars, the troops
were raw as were likewise most of their officers;
and this march of twenty-seven miles, which a
year later would have been considered a bagatelle,
was now a mighty undertaking. (James Ford Rhodes,
"History of the Civil War") 4) So if you eat at his restaurant
every day - off the menu, of course - and slosh
the grub down with a 1966 Chateau Margaux (?800-?1,000 a bottle in a restaurant), even a Ritz bill
will seem a mere bagatelle. ("Do you take
cash?" The Guardian, December 23, 1999) Etymology:
"Bagatelle" derives from
Italian "bagattella" ("a trifling
matter; a bagatelle"), perhaps ultimately
from Latin "baca" ("a berry").
bail out
bail
bale
out
bale
Also:bale out 1. Free on bail. 2. Empty water out of boat. Example:
They were bailing water out as the boat slowly
sank 3. Parachute from plane. 4. Escape
from difficult situation. Example: When the company hit the skids,
she was the first to bail out. 5. Help
somebody out of trouble. Example:
The government had bailed the company out with
the equivalent of 2.7 billion euros in aid. 6. Abandon a project or enterprise. Examples with "bale out": 1) Von Brauchitsch threw the steering
wheel out of the car and baled out. ("Independent",
18 Feb. 2003) 2) "He was heading for a stone
wall and I didn't fancy jumping that so I baled
out", he said after the horse had been caught
and returned safely. ("Daily Telegraph",
11 Feb. 2004) Difference, etymology:
"Bale" is the correct
spelling when we're referring to a large bound
parcel or closely pressed package of some substance,
such as cotton, hay or paper. This comes ultimately
from an old Germanic word that's related to "ball".
On the other hand, when we're clearing water from
the bottom of a boat, we correctly "bail"
it out, from French "baille"
("a bucket"). And if we're speaking
of the temporary release of a person from prison
while awaiting trial, that's "bail",
too, but it comes from yet a different source,
an Old French word meaning custody or jurisdiction,
itself from Latin "bajulare",
to bear a burden: when someone bails a
person from prison, he's taking on the responsibility
of ensuring that the accused person will turn
up for his trial. Among other senses, British
readers know that the crosspieces bridging the
stumps in cricket are also called bails;
this is from the Old French "baile",
meaning a palisade or enclosure, perhaps from
Latin "baculum", a rod or stick.
The comm