child’s game—said of a person’s behavior more appropriate for a child: He knew it was just a child’s game—to stare at someone and not look away first. Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase easy game—(also: fair game) a suitable object for ridicule; a person easily persuaded or taken advantage of: […]
Category: Confusing Phrases
Difference between Childish behavior and Childlike behavior
childish behavior —(used showing disapproval) behavior characterized by lack of emotional restraint or similar adult qualities: The strategy requires that you not react to her childish behavior. Until she calms down, you don’t respond at all. childlike behavior—the kind of behavior more appropriate for a child than an adult: Shana … newly dependent on her […]
Difference between Child of nature and Natural child
child of nature—(euph.) a person in an uncivilized or uncultivated state: She felt that he wanted her to be a child of nature. That suited her very well. natural child— 1. a child actually begotten by one in contrast to adopted: With little prospect of natural children, we applied for adoption all the sooner. 2. […]
Difference between Child of man and Man-child
child of man —(liter.) a human being: The elephant lays down his life to save the child of man, and, consequently, innocence and honesty triumphs over selfishness. man-child—(pl. men-children) a male child; a boy: Three years later another little girl was born, and lastly a handsome little man child was born to this family in […]
Difference between Chicken soup and Duck soup
chicken soup— 1. a book featuring a collection of short, motivating essays: Compiled of new and previously published stories, this Chicken Soup collection brings inspiration for the holidays. 2. smth. that provides a mysterious but effective way to solve the problem: “Hey, my Mac [computer] is messed up. It won’t work.” “Try re-building your desktop, […]
Difference between Chicken feed and Feed the chicken
chicken feed —(coll.) anything of little importance, especially a trifling sum of money: That meant only chicken feed for the proprietary companies and big producers. Cf.: chicken feeder—(sl.) a poor tipper: The only people I waited on in the restaurant were chicken feeders. Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase bird […]
Difference between Chew the cud and Chew the fat
chew the cud—think about smth. slowly and carefully: Near the Acropolis is the Archaia Agora, ruins that were once the square where philosophers chewed the cud. chew the fat—(coll.) 1. chat at length in a relaxed manner: Blount’s great talent is that he’s comfortable chewing the fat with just about anybody. 2. discuss a matter, […]
Difference between Chess player and Chessman
chess player—a person who plays chess: A champion chess player will often lose a match game to a far inferior opponent. chessman—one of the pieces with which chess is played: Chessmen of fanciful shapes and forms are often made as curiosities.
Difference between Cheese it and Say cheese
cheese it—(sl., often imper.) 1. stop doing smth.; leave off: I say, cheese it! If you bang about much more you’ll have the ceiling down. 2. run away quickly: When a police car came into the neighborhood, we acted as if they were after us, and the cry went out “Cheese it, the cops!” say […]
Difference between Check someone up and Check up on someone
check someone up— 1. (also: give someone a check-up) give smb. a medical examination: The doctor checked me up and I was told I was in bad shape. 2. establish the truth about smb.; investigate a person: The cop doesn’t even take the trouble to check me up, he knows me damn well. check up […]
Difference between Check on something and Check something
check on something—examine or assess smth. (such as a person’s health, etc.): We checked on the possibility of shipping some of our newly acquired paintings back to the States. check something— 1. examine smth. to learn whether it is correct: The child should be taught how to check his spelling against that of the dictionary. […]
Difference between Chat someone up and Talk someone up
chat someone up—(UK coll., of men) try to make friends with a woman by talking to her: I did my clumsy best to chat her up and talked to her about my interest in archaeology. talk someone up—(chiefly U.S.) praise smb.; speak in support of a person: The coaches have been talking him up since […]