The phrase, cut-and-dried, has several meanings. The oldest meaning is “already fully prepared” but today, it is often interpreted as unambiguous, “according to plan”, formalized, etc. It means that there is nothing left to chance, questioning, or creativity. Like a mathematical procedure. The original meaning, in 17th Century England, was based on the use of […]

Each of these three words has several meanings. Break out is a phrasal verb, breakout is a noun, and break-out is an adjective. As with many other English words, the adjective can also be spelled breakout, sometimes. This is a common pattern in English. For example, throw away (verb), throwaway (noun), and throw-away/throwaway (adjective). The pattern is not universal, but is […]

A person born with a silver spoon (in their mouth) is a person born into wealth—a member of a wealthy family. In modern times, this is often said as a criticism. It implies that a person did not earn their money and privilege, and is said enviously. Such a person, we assume, was spoiled, meaning that […]

This saying means that you can give good opportunities and resources to people, but you cannot make them use those opportunities to their advantage. People must act for themselves to take advantage of things they are given. For example, you can place a child in a classroom but you cannot make them pay attention to […]

This phrase is really around the clock, but we often say ‘round the clock instead. Some similar phrases are ‘round the world and ‘round and ‘round (we go). (A)round the clock means “24 hours per day.” This phrase is often used to describe work or business: We worked ‘round the clock to finish the report on time. This store […]