Pair phrases Flashcards
To arrive/turn up/leave in dribs and drabs
to arrive in small numbers/quantity
We’re receiving food, but it is arriving in dribs and drabs.
Bright and early
To wake up/get up/leave very early in the morning.
If we leave bright and early tomorrow morning, we should get there by midday.
By and large
Generally
By and large, people prefer to like the job instead of disliking it.
To be few and far between
not to be very common.
Good jobs are few and far between in days of high unemployment.
to grin and bear it
Accept a bad situation without complaining.
Unemployment, we just have to grin and bear it.
Ins and outs
details of a complex situation.
We have to discuss the ins and outs of his proposal.
To make a song and dance about
to complain to much about.
I was only ten minutes late. Don’t make a song and dance about it.
Odds and ends
small unimportant objects.
Everything has been packed except a few odds and ends.
Once and for all
Finally ends all uncertainty.
He set out to prove once and for all the alibis were lies.
ones flesh and blood
a relative
They are my family, my own flesh and blood.
An out-and-out lie
completely lie.
This is an out-and-out lie.
to be part and parcel of
A basic and fundamental part of.
peace and quiet
calm and tranquility
We took a couple of days off and went to the country for a bit of peace and quiet.
Pride and joy.
be proud of
His car is his pride and joy.
Prim and proper
very conservative and easily offended.
She is far prim and proper to have written anything like that.
