to get one's eye in
To adjust one's sight at cricket, billiards, golf, bowls, etc.
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to get one's flag
To become an admiral. Cp. FLAG-OPFICER. I da not believe that the bullet is cast that is to deprive you of life, Jack; you'll get your flag, as I hope to get mine.— KINGSTON: The Three Admirals, xiii.
to get one's goat
An old Americanism for annoying one, making him wild. To separate the sheep from the goats.
to get one's hand in
To become familiar with the work in hand.
to get one's monkey up
To be riled or earaged; monkeys are extremely irritable and easily provoked.
to get one's second pip
To be promoted from second to first lieutenant. These army ranks are marked by "pips" on the shoulder- straps.
to get round one
To take advantage of him by cajoling or flattery; to have one's own way through deception.
to get the bird
To be hissed; to meet with a hostile reception. See BIG BIRD.
to get the drop on someone
To have him in your power., probably from the early method of pistol shooting whereby the weapon was raised high and then lowered, or dropped, towards its target.
to get the kick out
To be summarily dis- missed; given the sack or "the Order of the Boot.
to get the needle
To become thoroughly vexed, or even enraged, and to show it. A variant of the phrase is to get the spike.
to get the upper hand
To obtain the mastery. To give one's hand upon something. To take one's oath on it; to pledge one's honour to keep the promise.
to get the wind up
To become thoroughly alarmed and, in consequence nervous, over- anxious, funky.
to get the worst of it
To come off second best; to be defeated, worsted.
to get there
To succeed; to "arrive"; attain one's object.
to get up
To rise from one's bed. To learn, as "I must get up my history." To organize and arrange, as "We will get up a bazaar.
to gird with the sword
To raise to a peerage. It was the Saxon method of investiture to an earldom, continued after the Conquest. Thus, Richard I "girded with the sword" Hugh de Pudsey, the aged Bishop of Durham, making (as he said) "a young earl of an old prelate.
to give a basket
To refuse to marry. In Germany it was an old custom to fix a basket to the roof of one who had been jilted.
to give a leg up
To render timely assistance, "to help a lame dog over a stile," Originally from horsemanship — to help one into the saddle.
To give a sop to Cerberus
To give a bribe, to quiet a troublesome customer, Cerberus is Pluto's three:headed dog, stationed at the gates of the infernal regions. When persons died the Greeks and Romans used to put a cake in their hands as a sop to Cerberus, to allow them to pass without molestation.
to give a wide berth
Not to come near a person; to keep a person at a distance; literally, to give a ship plenty of room to swing at anchor.
to give and take
To be fair; in intercourse with others to practise forbearance and consideration. In horse-racing a give and take plate is a prize for a race in which the runners which exceed a standard height carry more, and those that come short of it less, than the standard weight.
to give away
To hand the bride in marriage to the bridegroom, to act the part of the bride's father. Also, to let out a secret, inadvertently or on purpose; to betray an accomplice.
to give chapter and verse
To give the exact authority of a statement, as the name of the author, the title of the book, the date, the chapter referred to, and any other particular which might render the reference easily discoverable.
to give charge over
To set one in authority over. I gave my brother Hanani .... charge over Jeru- salem.— Neh. vii, 2.
to give in
To confess oneself beaten, to yield. To give it anyone, to give it him hot. To scold or thrash a person. As "I gave it him right and left." "I'll give it you when I catch you.
to give in charge
To hand over a person to the charge of a policeman.
to give it the gun
In R.A.F. parlance during World War II, to open the throttle of an aeroplane suddenly and hard.
to give one a leathering
To beat him with a leather belt; hence, to give him a drubbing.
to give one hell
To make things very un- pleasant for oneself.
to give one his head
To allow him complete freedom, let him go just as he pleases. Another "horsey" phrase.
to give one law
A sporting term "law,'* meaning the chance of saving oneself. Thus a hare or a stag is allowed "law" — i e. a certain start before any hound is permitted to attack it; and a tradesman allowed "law" is one to whom tune is given to "find his legs.
to give one points
To be able to accord him an advantage and yet beat him; to be con- siderably better than he.
to give one rope enough
To permit a person to continue in wrongdoing till he reaps the con- sequences. "Give him rope enough and he'll hang himself" is a common saying of one ad- dicted to evil courses.
to give one the lie
To accuse him to his face of telling a falsehood.
to give one the push
To give him his conge, give him the sack.
to give one the slip
To steal off unperceived; to elude pursuit.
to give one three times three
To give him a rousing ovation, cheer after cheer.
to give oneself away
To betray oneself by some thoughtless action or remark; to damage one's own cause by carelessly letting something out.
to give out
To make public. Also, to come to an end, to become exhausted; as "My money has quite given out.
to give the bob to anyone
To deceive, to balk. Here bob is from M.E. bobben, O.Fr. bober, to befool.
to give the cue
To give the hint. In another sense cue means a person's frame of mind — in a good or bad skin.
to give the glad eye to
To cast inviting glances at. To have, or keep, an eye on. To keep strict watch on the person or thing referred to.
to give the lie to
To show that such and such a statement is false ; to belie. Lie (A.S. licgan, to 'bide or rest).
to give the whisper
To give the tip, the warning; to pass some bit of secret informa- tion.
to give tongue
Properly used of a dog barking when on the scent; hence sometimes applied to people.
to giye someone to the miller
To engage him in conversation till enough people have gathered round to set upon the victim with stones, dirt, garbage, and all the arms which haste supplied a mob with (see MILL).
to go
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
to go against the grain
Against one's inclination. The allusion is to wood, which cannot be easily planed the wrong way of the grain.
to go ahead
To prosper, make rapid pro- gress towards success; to start.
to go at a great lick
To run, ride, etc., at great speed ; to put on a spurt.
to go back on one's word
To withdraw what one has said; to refuse to perform what one has promised. To go back on a person is to betray him.
to go by the board
To go for good and all, to be quite finished with, thrown overboard. Here board means the side of the ship.
To go by Walker's bus
To walk. Similar expressions are, "To go by the Marrowbone stage," "To ride Shanks's pony.
To go by Weeping Cross
To suffer and repent of one's misdeeds. There are said to have been crosses called thus at Oxford, Shrewsbury, and Stafford.
to go farther and fare worse
To take more pains and trouble and yet find oneself in a worse position.
to go for a dip
To go bathing. This is a very old English phrase.
to go for a man
To attack him, either physically or in argument, etc.
to go halves
To share something equally with another.
to go hard with
To fare ill with; usually followed by but, implying "unless so-and-so happens.
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