Idioms & Phrases Flashcards
up the ante
(third-person singular simple present ups the ante, present participle upping the ante, simple past and past participle upped the ante)
(poker) To raise the stakes of a hand of poker
With three aces and two jacks, he thought it was safe to up the ante.
(idiomatic) To make something more desirable.
The school system cannot raise teachers’ salaries, so they are providing better benefits as an effort to up the ante.
Synonyms
1.sweeten the pot
2.raise the stakes
(informal) to increase the costs, risks, or considerations involved in taking an action or reaching a conclusion
⇒ whenever they reached their goal, they upped the ante by setting more complex challenges for themselves
in letter and spirit
- They will follow it as written, but also know the intent behind what is written and follow that, too.
- implement according to the rule/law/regulation, but also attempting to follow the intent behind same
Explanation:
If you only focus on the “rule of letter”, then your point of view will be narrow. This approach focuses on meeting the minimum requirements under (insert whatever here) in order to comply with rule/law/regulation.
In the spirit exhibits an approach that looks at the idea behind the regulation.
In the offing
likely to happen or appear soon
e.g. Treaty to regulate $70-billion global arms trade in the offing
lex loci
MEANING:
noun: The law of the place.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin lex (law) + locus (place). Earliest documented use: 1832.
NOTES:
Lex loci says that the law of that country or jurisdiction applies where the act was done.
USAGE:
“Another statute book named Conscience is observed lex loci wherever God sees.”
David Mitchell; Cloud Atlas; Random House; 2004.
“He is also survived by his two Labrador retrievers: Lex Loci and Stare Decisis.”
in the offing
Likely to happen or appear soon
A ——- to be reckoned with (or to reckon with)
a thing or a person of considerable importance or ability that is not to be ignored or underestimated.
- cudgel one’s brain (or brains)
2. take up the cudgels
- to try to comprehend or remember something or someone
2. to come to the aid of someone or something
on an even keel
› regular and well-balanced and not likely to change suddenly:
The new manager succeeded in putting the business back on an even keel.
beat a tattoo
> rhythmic tapping or drumming
(“He beat a tattoo with his fingers on the table-top.”) And it’s clearly related to taps in the sense of a bugle call for lights to be put out in army quarters (which was originally also sounded on a drum).
run aground (on something)
[for a ship] to ram its hull into something beneath the water and get stuck.
The ship ran aground on a reef and had to wait for high tide to get free. I was afraid we would run aground in the storm.
‘A rising tide lifts all boats’
This idiom, coined by John F Kennedy, describes the idea that when an economy is performing well, all people will benefit from it.
leave in the lurch
to leave in an uncomfortable or desperate situation, dessert in time of trouble : our best salesperson left us in the lurch at the peak of the busy season
tongue-in-cheek
characterized by insincerity, irony, or whimsical exaggeration
e.g.What made you want to look up tongue-in-cheek? Please tell us where you read or heard it
void ab initio
[Latin, From the beginning; from the first act; from the inception.] An agreement is said to be “void ab initio” if it has at no time had any legal validity. A party may be said to be a trespasser, an estate said to be good, an agreement or deed said to be void, or a marriage or act said to be unlawful, ab initio. Contrasted in this sense with ex post facto, or with postea.
come to naught
to come to nothing; be without result or fruition; fail.
