1978
1- The acid test
An acid test is something that proves whether something is good, effective, etc, or no
2- A bad hat
Someone who deliberately stirs up trouble
3- In a blue funk
In a state of panic or terror
Just because the bride’s mother is late, you needn’t get in a blue funk.
This term originated in the mid-1700s as in a funk, the adjective blue, meaning “affected with fear or anxiety”, being added a century later.
In a state of dejection, sad
Anne has been in a blue funk since her dog died.
This usage employs blue in the sense of “sad”—a meaning that first emerged in the late 1300s.
4- Set one’s cap Down at heel
Also, on someone’s heels. Immediately behind, in close pursuit.
Literal use
Jean’s dog was always at her heels.
Figurative use
Although his company dominated the technology, he always felt that his competitors were on his heels.
This idiom appeared in the 14th-century romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The expression is sometimes intensified as hard on someone’s heels or hot on someone’s heels
5- To die in harness
Expire while working, keep working to the end
He’ll never retire—he’ll die with his boots on.
She knows she’ll never get promoted, but she wants to die in harness.
Both phrases probably allude to soldiers who died on active duty. Until the early 1600s the noun boot denoted a piece of armor for the legs, which may have given rise to this usage.
Shakespeare used harness in the sense of armor when he wrote: “At least we’ll die with harness on our back” (Macbeth 5:5).
6- Dead as doornail / dead as a dodo or herring
Totally or assuredly dead; also finished
The cop announced that the body in the dumpster was dead as a doornail. The radicalism she professed in her adolescence is now dead as a dodo. The Equal Rights Amendment appears to be dead as a herring.
The first, oldest, and most common of these similes, all of which can be applied literally to persons or, more often today, to issues, involves doornail, dating from about 1350.
Its meaning is disputed but most likely it referred to the costly metal nails hammered into the outer doors of the wealthy (most people used the much cheaper wooden pegs), which were clinched on the inside of the door and therefore were “dead”, that is, could not be used again.
Dead as a herring dates from the 16th century and no doubt alludes to the bad smell this dead fish gives off, making its death quite obvious.
Dead as a dodo, referring to the extinct bird, dates from the early 1900s.
7- To raise coin
To strike one’s colours
9. To carry the day
Win, prevail
At auctions the wealthiest bidders usually carry the day. [Late 1600s]
1977
1- To bear the brunt of
Put up with the worst of some bad circumstance
It was the secretary who had to bear the brunt of the doctor’s anger.
This idiom uses brunt in the sense of “the main force of an enemy’s attack”, which was sustained by the front lines of the defenders. [Second half of 1700s]
2- To call a spade a spade
A person who calls a spade a spade is one speaks frankly and makes little or no attempt to conceal their opinions or to spare the feelings of their audience.
3- To fight shy of
Avoid meeting or confronting someone
I have had to fight shy of invitations that would exhaust time and spirits”(Washington Irving, Life and Letters, 1821).
This usage may allude to a military reluctance to meet or engage with the enemy. [Late 1700s]
4- To cry over the spilt milk
This idiom means that getting upset after something has gone wrong is pointless; it can’t be changed so it should be accepted.
5- To burn the candle at both ends
Someone who burns the candle at both ends lives life at a hectic pace, doing things which are likely to affect their health badly.
Exhaust one’s energies or resources by leading a hectic life.
Joseph’s been burning the candle at both ends for weeks, working two jobs during the week and a third on weekends.
This metaphor originated in France and was translated into English in Randle Cotgrave’s Dictionary (1611), where it referred to dissipating one’s wealth. It soon acquired its present broader meaning.
6- To rob peter to pay Paul
If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you try to solve one problem,
but create another in doing so, often through short-term planning
7- To take the bull by the horns
Taking a bull by its horns would be the most direct but also the most dangerous way to try to compete with such an animal.
When we use the phrase in everyday talk, we mean that the person we are talking about tackles their problems directly and is not worried about any risks involved.
8- Playing to the gallery
If someone plays to the gallery, they say or do things that will make them popular at the expense of more important issues
9- Holding out the olive branch
If you hold out or offer an olive branch, you make a gesture to indicate that you want peace.
10- To make out
Discern or see, especially with difficulty
I can hardly make out the number on the door. [Mid-1700s]
Manage, get along
How did you make out with the accountant? This usage was first recorded in 1820.
Understand
I can’t make out what she is trying to say. [Mid-1600s]
Establish or prove
He made out that he was innocent. [Colloquial; mid-1600s]
Amply or suggest. This usage often occurs with an infinitive
Are you making me out to be a liar? [Colloquial; mid-1600s]
Write out, draw up; fill in a written form
He made out the invoices, or Jane started making out job applications. This usage was first recorded in 1465
1976
1- Trudge along
Point-blank
Close enough to go directly to a target
3- In the doldrums
Depressed, dull and listless
Dean’s in the doldrums for most of every winter.
This expression alludes to the maritime doldrums, a belt of calms and light winds north of the equator in which sailing ships were often becalmed. [Early 1800s]
4- Dole out / on the dole
receiving payment from the government, as relief
They couldn’t afford any luxuries while living on the dole.
5- At cross purposes
When people are at cross purposes, they misunderstand each other or have different or opposing objectives
With aims or goals that conflict or interfere with one another
I’m afraid the two departments are working at cross purposes.
This idiom, first recorded in 1688, may have begun as a 17th-century parlor game called “cross- purposes,” in which a series of subjects (or questions) were divided from their explanations (or answers) and distributed around the room. Players then created absurdities by combining a subject taken from one person with an explanation taken from another.
6- Check by jowl
in close intimacy, side by side
:a row of houses cheek by jowl
7- Succinctly
Characterized by clear, precise expression in few words; concise and terse
a succinct reply; a succinct style.
8- Hilarious detract from 9- Plain sailing
Easy going; straightforward, unobstructed progress
The first few months were difficult, but I think it’s plain sailing from here on.
Alluding to navigating waters free of hazards, such as rocks or other obstructions, this term was transferred to other activities in the early 1800s.
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