bring home the bacon




bring home the bacon :




a back-seat driver

a passenger in the moving vehicle who constantly gives the driver unwanted advice on how to drive

someone who lectures and criticizes the person who is actually in control of something



bend over backwards to do something

make every effort, especially to be fair or helpful - informal



know something backwards

be entirely familiar with something

1991 - William Trevor - Reading Turgenev - People who lived in the town knew it backwards



save someone's bacon

rescue someone from danger or difficulty.



bring home the bacon

supply material provision or support

achieve success – informal

This phrase probably derives from the much earlier save your bacon recorded from the mid 17th century. In early use bacon also referred to fresh pork, the meat most readily available to rural people.



saved by the bell

preserved from danger narrowly or by an unexpected intervention.

In boxing matches a contestant who has been knocked to the floor can be saved from being counted out by the ringing of the bell to mark the end of a round.



have something to say for yourself = have nothing to say for yourself

Contribute (or fail to contribute) to a conversation or discussion.



say the word

Give permission or instructions to do something.



go without saying

Be too well known or obvious to need to be mentioned.



there is no saying

It is impossible to know.



throw away the scabbard

Abandon all thought of making peace.

This expression derives from the proverb he who draws his sword against his prince must throw away the scabbard. It implies that the person in question has no choice but to fight.



like a scalded cat

at a very fast speed

at a greater rate of growth

1997 - T3 - If you're in a desperate hurry you can bury the accelerator and take off like a scalded cat.



the scales fall from someone's eyes

Someone is no longer deceived.

In the Bible, this expression described how St Paul, blinded by his vision on the road to Damascus, received his sight back at the hand of God (Acts 9 : 18).



throw something on the scale = throw something into the scale

Emphasize the relevance of something to one side of an argument or debate.



tip the scales at = turn the scales at

Have a weight of a specified amount.



turn the scales = turn the balance

Alter the probability of the outcome.




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