be bad news




be bad news :




bad blood = there is bad blood between

There is longstanding hostility between the parties mentioned.

2001 - Hugh Collins - No Smoke - There are occasional square-gos sometimes, but there's no bad blood between rival gangs.



a bad quarter of an hour

a short but very unpleasant period of time

an unnerving experience

A bad quarter of an hour is a translation of the French phrase un mauvais quart d'heure which has also been current in English since the mid 19th century.



a bad workman blames his tools

someone who has done something badly will seek to lay the blame on the equipment rather than admit to their own lack of skill - proverb

A similar 13th-century French proverb observed
mauveés ovriers ne troveraja bon hostill - bad workmen will never find a good tool and variants of this early saying can be found in English until the mid 19th century until the emergence of the modern version.



be bad news

be a problem or handicap – informal

1996 - City - Paper (Baltimore)- From the moment we see Mark Wahlberg... surrounded by pool-hall scumbags, we know he's bad news.



my bad

used to acknowledge responsibility for a mistake - North American informal



turn up like a bad penny

(of someone or something unwelcome) inevitably

reappear or return

A bad penny is a counterfeit coin which circulates rapidly as people try to pass it on to someone else.



bag and baggage

with all your belongings



a bag of bones

an emaciated person or animal - Compare with
be skin and bone .



a bag of nerves = a bundle of nerves

a person who is extremely timid or tense – informal



a bag of tricks = a whole bag of tricks

a set of ingenious plans, techniques or resources – informal



be left holding the bag = be left holding the baby = be left holding

be left with an unwelcome responsibility, often without warning.



in the bag

(of something desirable) as good as secured

Drunk - US

pack your bag

put your belongings in a bag or a suitcase in preparation for an imminent departure



fish or cut bait

stop vacillating and decide to act on or disengage from something – North American Informal



rise to the bait

React to a provocation or temptation exactly as intended.

The image here is of a fish coming to the surface to take a bait or fly.

1966 - Listener - I should perhaps apologise for having risen to the bait of Mr. Wilkinson's provocative letter.




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