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 […]
Difference between Chase two rabbits and Kill two birds with one stone
chase two rabbits —(also: run after two hares) try to fulfill two goals at the same time (with the implication that a person will not succeed in either one): Japanese managers are forced to “chase two rabbits,” that is, Western governance and Japanese honor. Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase […]
Difference between Charlie’s dead and Queen Ann’s dead
Charlie’s dead—(UK) is used to discreetly tell a woman that her slip or panties are showing: “Charlie est mort.” “What did you say?” Marie lapsed suddenly into English…. “Charlie’s dead,” he translated. “Means your petticoat’s showing.” Queen Ann’s dead—(UK) an ironical response to smb. who refers to old news or says smth. very obvious: To […]
Difference between Charge something down to someone and Charge something up to someone
charge something down to someone—(also: put something down to someone) record a sum of money as a person’s debt for later payment: Please charge these goods down to my account. charge something up to someone—(also: charge something upon someone) = charge something down to someone: Why were the expenses of the reception charged up to […]
Difference between Charge someone for something and Charge someone up for something
charge someone for something—ask a person to pay a certain price for smth.: I was charged for a few pounds of overweight luggage. Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase charge someone with something— 1. declare that a person is guilty of smth.: All the members demanded with one voice who […]