Phrazle Answer Archive

Put Your Foot Down

Use your authority to stop negative behavior

Bang for Your Buck

Value for money

Happy Go Lucky

If you are a happy-go-lucky person, you are cheerful and carefree all the time.

Butterflies In My Stomach

To be nervous

Above Board

Openly, without deceit. Honestly, reputably.

Heart and Soul

With all one’s energy or affection

Get Off Scot Free

Be accused of wrongdoing but pay no penalty at all

In a New York Minute

Very quickly

Hive Mind

The knowledge of humans as a group

Scorched Earth Policy

Ruthless, extremely destructive

Put Out Some Feelers

Make discreet, informal suggestions, ask around

Let Bygones Be Bygones

Agree to forget about a past conflict

Big Apple

An informal name for New York City

A Hard Nut to Crack

A difficult problem or a difficult person

Train Wreck

Anything that develops in a disastrous way

As American as Apple Pie

Very or typically American

King of the Hill

At the top of one’s field; the most influential person in a given field or area

Apples and Oranges

Of two different classes, not comparable

Selling Like Hotcakes

Be sold very quickly

An Ace Up My Sleeve

To have a hidden advantage

Cool as A Cucumber

Calm and composed even in difficult or frustrating situations; self-possessed

Circle the Wagons

To prepare as a group to defend against attack, adopt a defensive posture

Bet My Bottom Dollar

Be certain that something will happen

Reinvent the Wheel

Devise a solution to a problem for which a solution already exists

Pass With Flying Colors

To succeed brilliantly, as on an exam or other test

Give the Green Light

Approve something; allow something to proceed

Shape Up or Ship Out

Behave properly or leave the organization

Take it with a grain of Salt

If you take what someone says with a pinch of salt, you do not completely believe it.

Go Down in Flames

Fail in a spectacular way

Six Ways to Sunday

In every possible way

In the Cards

Likely; likely to occur

Pushing Up Daisies

Dead

Under Wraps

Temporarily hidden, secret

Get the Picture

Understand what’s happening

Hang It Up

To retire, to end an activity one has pursued for a long time

Take a Rain Check

Decline an invitation but suggest that you’ll accept it at a later time.

Run the Table

Win every game or contest

Stem the Tide

To stop or control the growth of something, usually something unpleasant.

Let My Hair Down

To relax and enjoy themselves.

Be A Peach

Someone or something that is extremely good, impressive, or attractive

Up in Arms

Angry, protesting (usually said of a group)

Beat Me to the Punch

Do something before or faster than someone else

Pay an Arm and a Leg

A very high cost

All The Same

Anyway; nevertheless; nonetheless.

A Life Of Its Own

An independent existence

Lipstick on a Pig

Make cosmetic changes to something bad

Get the Ball Rolling

Do something to begin a process

Sleep with the Fishes

Dead, often by murder