noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a close-run thing
▪
The Labour Party won the seat, but it was a close-run thing .
a foretaste of things to come
▪
Two wins at the start of the season were a foretaste of things to come .
a positive thing
▪
That's not a very positive thing to say.
a terrible/stupid/odd etc thing to say
▪
I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but I wish he’d just go away.
all that matters/the only thing that matters
▪
All that matters is that you’re safe.
▪
Money was the only thing that mattered to him.
All things considered
▪
All things considered , I’m sure we made the right decision.
amount to the same thing
▪
Ultimately, their ideas amount to the same thing .
and a good thing/job too British English
▪
She’s gone, and a good thing too.
a...silly thing to do
▪
I left my keys at home, which was a pretty silly thing to do .
awful thing
▪
I’m sure Suzy is dead but the awful thing is not knowing how it happened.
bad thing to do
▪
Making big changes in your diet all at once is a bad thing to do .
be onto a good thing/a winner
▪
I think she’s onto a real winner with this song.
be the hottest thing since (sliced bread) (= used about someone or something that is very good and popular, so that everyone wants them )
be/become a thing of the past (= not exist any more, or stop existing )
▪
We hope that smoking will become a thing of the past.
did the decent thing (= did what people thought he ought to )
▪
The chairman did the decent thing and resigned.
don’t know the first thing about (= I know nothing about )
▪
I don’t know the first thing about looking after children.
extraordinary thing to do/say/happen
▪
What an extraordinary thing to do!
first thing in the morning (= at the beginning of the morning )
▪
She set off first thing in the morning.
For one thing...For another
▪
He couldn’t bring himself to say what he thought. For one thing , she seldom stopped to listen. For another , he doubted that he could make himself clear.
forget the whole thing
▪
If we can’t get any funding we might as well forget the whole thing .
get/keep things moving
▪
The plan should boost employment and get things moving in the economy.
How are things
▪
‘ How are things with you?’ ‘Fine.’
I couldn’t eat another thing spoken (= used to say that you are completely full )
▪
Thanks, that was lovely, but I couldn’t eat another thing.
just the thing (= exactly the right thing )
▪
A nice hot bath – just the thing to relax sore muscles.
keep things ticking over
▪
Jane will keep things ticking over while I’m away.
knows a thing or two (= knows a lot )
▪
My cousin knows a thing or two about golf.
living things (= people, animals, and plants )
▪
The sun affects all living things .
make life/things difficult for sb (= cause problems for someone )
▪
She’s doing everything she can to make life difficult for him.
make things...easier
▪
Having you here does make things a lot easier for me.
measure the distance between things
▪
Now we are able to measure the distances between the planets.
money is tight/things are tight
▪
Money was tight and he needed a job badly.
move on to higher/better things (= get a better job or social position – used humorously )
▪
Jeremy’s leaving the company to move on to higher things.
One of the nice things about
▪
One of the nice things about Christmas is having all the family together.
pack your things/belongings
▪
Kelly packed her things before breakfast.
patch it/things up (with sb)
▪
He went back to patch things up with his wife.
poor little thing (= used to show sympathy )
▪
The poor little thing had hurt its wing.
rush it/things
▪
When we first met, neither of us wanted to rush things.
sb is imagining things (= someone has a false or wrong idea about something )
▪
She’s imagining things if she thinks she has a chance of winning the prize.
see how it goes/see how things go (= used when you are going to do something and will deal with problems if they happen )
▪
I don’t know. We’ll just have to see how it goes on Sunday.
stir things up
▪
Dave’s just trying to stir things up because he’s jealous.
take...mind off things
▪
Want a game? It might take your mind off things .
that kind of thing
▪
He usually wears trainers and jeans, that kind of thing.
the best thing to do
▪
The best thing to do is to apologize immediately.
The best thing
▪
The best thing you can do is wait here.
the breakfast things (= dishes, packets etc )
▪
Dad was clearing the breakfast things away.
the exact same thing/way etc informal (= exactly the same thing/way etc )
▪
If you’d been there, you’d have done the exact same thing.
the first thing/time/day etc
▪
The first time I flew on a plane I was really nervous.
▪
In the first year, all students take five courses.
▪
He said the first thing that came into his head.
▪
the first step towards achieving a peace agreement
▪
There’s a meeting on the first Monday of every month.
the funny thing is
▪
People tell me I ran the greatest race of my life, but the funny thing is I can’t remember much about it.
the hardest thing
▪
Telling my parents is going to be the hardest thing about it.
the last person/thing etc to do sth
▪
Anna was the last person to see him alive.
the last thing sb needs/wants
▪
The last thing she needed was for me to start crying too.
the many people/things etc
▪
We should like to thank the many people who have written to us offering their support.
the most natural thing in the world
▪
At the time, accepting his offer had seemed the most natural thing in the world .
the odd thing was
▪
What she did was unforgivable, but the odd thing was he didn’t seem to mind.
the real thing
▪
Artificial flowers can sometimes look better than the real thing .
the sad thing (= the sad part of a situation )
▪
The sad thing is that there’s little we can do about the situation now.
the sensible thing to do
▪
Moving house seemed like the sensible thing to do .
the shape of things to come (= an example of the way things will develop in the future )
▪
This new technique is the shape of things to come .
The strange thing is
▪
The strange thing is all four victims had red hair.
the way things are going
▪
I feel very encouraged by the way things are going .
The whole thing (= everything about the situation )
▪
The whole thing just makes me sick.
there is a similarity between things
▪
There are lots of similarities between the two bikes.
the/that very thing
▪
How can he say that it's wrong, and then go and do that very thing himself?
things are looking up
▪
Now the summer’s here things are looking up !
things are picking up
▪
We’ve been through a bit of a bad patch, but things are picking up again now.
things get too hot (= a situation becomes too difficult or dangerous to deal with )
▪
If things get too hot , I can always leave.
things go wrong
▪
If things go wrong, they’ll blame me.
Things have come to a pretty pass
▪
Things have come to a pretty pass , if you can’t say what you think without causing a fight.
Things like
▪
Things like glass, paper, and plastic can all be recycled.
things...calm down
▪
It took months for things to calm down after we had the baby.
what worries me is .../the (only) thing that worries me is ...
▪
The only thing that worries me is the food. I don’t want to get food poisoning.
where/how do things stand? (= used to ask what is happening in a situation )
▪
Where do things stand in terms of the budget?
wind things up
▪
It’s time to wind things up – I have a plane to catch.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
bad
▪
Political parties have often been attacked as bad things in the body politic.
▪
For these people, that inflation was the worst thing in the world.
▪
Indeed, one of the worst things you can do with anger is suppress it.
▪
She has a way of blocking out most of the bad things in her life.
▪
Which was not an entirely bad thing in itself.
▪
And the worst thing was that I really had little choice but to bow to their wishes.
▪
Even if I could make an impression it'd be the worst thing I could do.
▪
Prolonged cold spells on reasonably full lakes are not a bad thing .
big
▪
I like the man who's playing this great big shiny thing like a fog horn.
▪
And if Lutz ever break down and give it to him... he gon na have a big thing .
▪
I drifted off into non-league and he went on to big things at West Ham.
▪
The big thing that hurt us was our giveaways.
▪
There's this man on this big white car thing going round cleaning the floor.
▪
The biggest thing I learned from the experience was that there are people out there that do want to help and care.
▪
A few, like Cliff Michelmore, went on to bigger things .
▪
Two big things happened that meant a lot to me.
damn
▪
The company own the yacht, we never use the damn thing .
▪
The fact of the matter is that when he was at the Quincy Ledger he hardly wrote a damn thing .
▪
In any case, he told himself with sinking heart, the damn thing would only follow him again.
▪
It works out to about seven cents an issue -- precisely, it turns out, what the damn thing is worth!
▪
But to all who valued Hoover, of course, it couldn't mean a damn thing .
▪
After all, Frank was not a lawyer, and I was the one who had filed the damn thing .
▪
Of course the damn thing wouldn't start and that was the last straw.
▪
The damn thing about the money, though, is that we get paid too much.
different
▪
Hasn't it been changed over the years to say different things from what the original writers intended?
▪
They showed him in different poses and doing different things .
▪
The muscles and the contours appeared to do different things , point in different directions.
▪
That may well be, but the border represents different things to different people.
▪
How different things seem with a little light on the subject, I mused.
▪
Intuition and mysticism are two entirely different things , Comrade... ah... uh...
▪
Answer guide: Often budgets will mean different things to differing people in an organization.
▪
The irony, of course, is that the figures mean very different things to academics and to politicians.
funny
▪
The funny thing was, this was less frightening, even though it was real.
▪
A funny thing happened to Jane Mendelsohn on the way to the best-seller list.
▪
It is one of the funniest things to see.
▪
It does funny little things inside you.
▪
Love's a funny thing , isn't it?
▪
A lot of money can do a lot of funny things to people, not all of which are funny.
▪
Dear Feedback, it is up to the listener to decide how funny things are and not loutish Mr Baker.
▪
However, funny things do happen on the peripheries of the lame story, particularly from the talented supporting cast.
good
▪
I hoped the baby would bring out all the good things Alan had the potential to be.
▪
When we succeed, we talk about how good things are today.
▪
You actually see far more than is registered in your conscious mind - and this is probably a good thing .
▪
One of the best things about recommending Napa Ridge wines is that consumers can find them easily.
▪
Perhaps getting away from her for a little while would be the best thing that could happen.
▪
It was ten-thirty before Simon was able to think of another good thing about Tony Angotti.
▪
This came about because insurance is a good thing and having more of it is better, if you can afford it.
▪
Limiting excessive jury awards is a good thing , but this went too far.
great
▪
Might not that be the greatest thing ?
▪
Pitched in the playoffs and been part of all the great things this team had done.
▪
That's the great thing about having a car.
▪
What a great thing to do!
▪
When I saw the little ones crawling under those great iron things , I was so frightened.
▪
One of the great things about setting a text is that it widens the musical vocabulary greatly.
▪
And the Minister was prepared to predict great things for the candidate should he win.
▪
In addition, a great number of things round about, on every side, are causing what is happening now.
ill
▪
Then the worst thing in my life happened.
▪
The worse thing for me has been to realize that kind of cruelty exists.
▪
Perhaps that was the worst thing that could happen to a human being.
▪
But it was the worst thing I could have done.
▪
That was the worst thing she could say about anybody alive.
▪
Embarrassed was the worst thing I could have been then, and the worst of it is, I still am.
▪
Metal fatigue has to be one of the worst things that can happen.
▪
At a time when the world is struggling to get out of recession, it is just about the worst thing that could happen.
important
▪
You lose, that's the important thing to me.
▪
The important thing was that he was getting out.
▪
I learnt that to love and to be patient are the most important things in the world.
▪
The important thing to remember is that music is not an either / or proposition.
▪
The important thing is to harness growth to self-knowledge, a ready acceptance of change, swift-moving business practice and sound judgement.
▪
In reality, there are probably more important things in life than baseball games.
▪
The important thing about shamans is that they exist in order to bring spiritual power to bear on human pain.
little
▪
It's the little things in life really.
▪
They are little things that snowball against the weaker team until the contest becomes no contest.
▪
The witness began to cry, and said they had a quilt and other little things .
▪
I want to tell you a little thing you should always remember.
▪
The poor little things look white and strained and old.
▪
Such solace can be drawn from little things like that breeze-song.
▪
It seems it's the little things that count.
▪
We take the little things serious, and the big ones as a joke.
living
▪
The first living things evolved in its absence, and many organisms even today still respire without its aid.
▪
Her brooding sense of unease wouldn't be placated by his explanation. Living things inhabited caves, didn't they?
▪
Simple sieving, on its own, is obviously nowhere near capable of generating the amount of order in a living thing .
▪
This amplification becomes possible once a system is controlled, and is most dramatic in living things .
▪
In the sea, living things fight to keep water out.
▪
The objects need not be living things .
▪
The anatomy of living things is so complex and delicate that they could only have been created by a Supreme Creator.
main
▪
At least he knew where he was, and he always found that that was the main thing .
▪
The main thing is the head.
▪
But the main thing is the link with Kahlenbergerdorf.
▪
Still it was appreciated and thats the main thing .
▪
The main thing I've learned from him was how to deal with disaster.
▪
Tic main things to are how to a phrase, how to search on multiple, and how to exclude certain words.
▪
Listen, the main thing is, he's happy.
▪
The main thing was that my intuitions about Alison had been confirmed.
natural
▪
In terms of the dominant concepts of the age, feudalism appeared as the natural order of things .
▪
Moreover, the most natural thing of all about evolution is that some natures will be pitted against others.
▪
In this way a social contrivance appears to be founded on the natural order of things .
▪
It seems, like the dandelions in spring, to be the natural order of things .
▪
He'd no patience with women putting on airs and moaning about the most natural thing in the world.
▪
In the natural scheme of things , Glover should have expired on the day Johnson was born.
▪
They just happened in the natural order of things .
▪
I have always believed in natural things .
nice
▪
That was the nice thing about the horses' strange stable: its cathedral-like aloofness from the weather.
▪
I can not say enough nice things about Chandra.
▪
That was the nice thing about it, a straight forward love story.
▪
Besides, loving children says nice things about you, too, as a caring and decent person.
▪
Frankie was a nice little thing actually, when there were no screams coming from that amazing letter box mouth.
▪
One of the nicest things to watch?
▪
Anyway, I want to be able to get nice things for the baby.
▪
Once merely a nice thing to have on a resume, computer literacy is now essential for virtually anyone in the workplace.
only
▪
The only thing we know for sure is that shit happens.
▪
The only thing invincible about the Machine is that it gets him elected.
▪
I did the only decent thing I could do.
▪
Their end is often positively tragic, because they eventually realize that business is not the only thing in life.
▪
It was the only thing she could do.
▪
The only things she'd bought herself were the bed and bed-linen.
▪
But geometrical figures are not the only modes, and so are not the only things whose real essences we can know.
▪
Nor are waste dumps the only things being shaken-up.
other
▪
The bright chestnut is considered the most characteristic colour and, all other things being equal, the one to be preferred.
▪
The other thing that I remember was that this session was very quick.
▪
But during this autumn of 1962 there were other things on his mind.
▪
He had in those days of innocence seen the Edition as a finite task that would lead on to other things .
▪
Version 1.2 changes that an other things .
▪
The answer was to sell other things in the same style: china, lighting, textiles, rugs and kitchenware.
▪
Broomhead Smith had other things on his mind besides the horse.
▪
This passage, among other things , mocks a woman who reads Locke.
poor
▪
Papito took her in, poor skinny little thing , and I guess Mamita taught her to cook and iron and clean.
▪
It was true that Penelope was a vicar's sister-in-law, but that was a poorer , meaner thing altogether.
▪
Whack, the sound of the hatchet decapitating the poor thing .
▪
The poor things shrivel up in protest.
▪
What a poor thing you must all think me!
▪
He had had to go out on exercise one night, and was on duty another, poor thing .
▪
All I know is that when I went out this morning I found the poor little thing , run over.
real
▪
Voice over It's fairly simple to spot the difference between the real thing and a fake.
▪
Not the real thing , of course, but rather a pandemic of stories about anarchists and conspiracies and such.
▪
Adorno, then, is certainly talking about real things .
▪
We enjoy these tasks for themselves; it is a pleasure to do real things in a real house.
▪
They rarely look anywhere near as good as the real thing , but they will be cheaper, and easier to keep clean.
▪
These artificial neurons bear only a modest resemblance to the real things .
▪
This is the real thing , it has no need for added colour or flavourings.
▪
This teaches the hearer a valuable lesson: dealing in symbols is safe when compared with acting on the real thing .
right
▪
As adults we have active consciences which help us do the right thing .
▪
We had not done the right thing when we shot the deer.
▪
She knew the right thing to do would be to leave, and the sooner the better.
▪
They perceive me as very sensitive, eager to do the right thing .
▪
However, I was in no doubt that I had done the right thing by leaving him.
▪
Is it the right thing to do?
▪
She had done the right thing and Robert's note promised friendliness.
▪
In my heart I know I did the right thing .
strange
▪
Obviously he behaved in a highly suspicious manner today, but a guilty conscience can inspire one to do strange things .
▪
The strange thing is that they are so few.
▪
But the strange thing had happened.
▪
She wrote: But then a strange thing happened in my sleep.
▪
Tourists do strange things on the Granada Studios tour.
▪
At that moment a very strange thing happened.
▪
Then strange things started to happen.
terrible
▪
It's got to be like cuddling up to a cushion as well as doing that terrible , animal thing .
▪
Instinctively we knew that terrible things were going to happen in our elderly aunts peaceful living room.
▪
No wonder she'd lied when so many terrible things had started happening all around her.
▪
It was a terrible thing to contemplate, but all the evidence seemed to support my conclusion.
▪
Tempers cool but the Doctor realises that he said some terrible things to his unwilling passengers.
▪
In a democracy, compromise is not a terrible thing .
▪
The most terrible , awful thing that could have happened.
▪
Sleeping people do all kinds of terrible things to one another.
well
▪
There were better things in life, for a young man like him, than plodding round London after a pick-pocket.
▪
Slowly, but with growing momentum, better things begin to happen to Katie.
▪
You would think he had better things to do with his time.
▪
These reasons are your motivating factors that will urge you on to bigger and better things .
▪
As one young male noted: I had better things to do than just sit in an office talking.
▪
I could think of a lot better things to live on but I could also think of worse.
▪
Oh, Milord mustn't lose one precious minute of his time or attention when he has better things to do.
▪
We have better things to worry about.
whole
▪
To be honest, the whole thing seemed a little suspect.
▪
Erme was the linchpin of the whole thing .
▪
Then a shin guard is pulled over the whole thing .
▪
He was making too much of the whole thing .
▪
They made me go through the whole thing three times, though I had hardly anything to tell them.
▪
I played the whole thing again.
▪
I associated the whole family thing with being older and I was holding on to my youth.
▪
With Brown and Maddux working Game 1, fans better look fast or they might miss the whole thing .
■ NOUN
way
▪
This seems to be the way things are heading.
▪
The way things were going, in 20 years, the Republicans would be all-white and the Democrats all-black.
▪
This is the way things are created!
▪
Juno was very well satisfied with the way things were going, but even so Venus was quite undisturbed.
▪
My dad blames my mum for the way things turned out for me.
▪
Conflict is viewed as inevitable and a normal part of the way things get done.
▪
The way things actually happened, with all the side-tracks and misconceptions, makes them doubly remarkable.
▪
And so when a son marries, his family may, with reason, mourn the dissolution of the way things were.
■ VERB
change
▪
John would be indignant and angry on my behalf but it would change things if he knew.
▪
But things are changing , Aggie, things are changing.
▪
McCain's win changes many things , both for himself and for Bush.
▪
And if that can change things , so much the better Female speaker He's the little man having a kick.
▪
I used to change my mind about things right in the middle of doing the shit.
▪
It would change all sorts of things .
▪
Just the usual, I guess. Change things .
do
▪
She's afraid that the same people who did that to her son will do the same thing to her.
▪
You can do the same thing with the decor, even if it turns you off.
▪
But I realise there are a lot of guys out there trying to do the same thing .
▪
Only on the left do things feel as they should.
▪
The muscles in her legs are just... she has to do this electric stimulation thing .
▪
Ranieri liked to he surrounded by people he could do things for.
▪
I do the same thing on the plane.
▪
Were you what we call an enabler-someone who really makes it possible for an abusive person to do their thing ?
happen
▪
The fastest way to show people that something is happening is to build things .
▪
Acid house has happened , and things you smoke belong to the sixties.
▪
What happens when a thing no longer performs its function?
▪
He could not think what had happened for things to have become so out of hand.
hear
▪
The local man said he'd never heard of such a thing .
▪
I guess you have heard that thing called payback....
▪
We haven't heard a thing from them.
▪
She is not interested in hearing that all things come to those who wait.
▪
Bernie I hear so many things during the day, I find it impossible to remember which one was the secret one.
▪
There was a time when I heard about good things only.
▪
But out here we have searched and looked and listened - and we have heard things .
▪
From what I hear , things are out of control there enough I almost think I could get away with it.
keep
▪
I kept doing all the things I'd been taught.
▪
Dunn said the toys have a lot of random events that keep things interesting.
▪
The areas where neighbours would keep an eye on things were Wester Ross and Speyside, both close-knit farming communities.
▪
Aunt Edmonia would be there to keep things in hand.
▪
Women like to keep important things themselves.
▪
In our celebrity-obsessed society, it is nice to see some one keeping things in proportion.
▪
Keep working at it. Keep trying new things .
▪
You have to keep things in perspective and keep your goals in mind.
want
▪
I thought the snake thing wanted Lollo.
▪
Right now the last thing she wanted was to have them say it to her.
▪
With household costs inevitably rising, the last thing he wants is a larger mortgage than he can reasonably afford.
▪
This kind of one-upmanship is the very thing that Paul wants to avoid.
▪
He began searching through the house gathering clothes and other things he wanted to take with him.
▪
A child's education - they would teach it things I didn't want it to learn, at school.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
I'll tell you something/one thing/another thing
▪
Let me tell you something - if I catch you kids smoking, you'll be grounded for a whole year at least.
It's one thing to ... it's (quite) another to
X number of people/things
a (whole) host of people/things
▪
I am extremely -; oh, a host of things, but not angry any more.
a close run thing
▪
Exciting Ormskirk made it two wins out of three but it was a close run thing against New Brighton.
▪
It was a close run thing.
all (other) things being equal
▪
All other things being equal , schools where parents are highly involved are more likely to run effectively.
▪
Both snail genes and fluke genes stand to gain from the snail's bodily survival, all other things being equal .
▪
But all other things being equal , the gay and lesbian community has responded well to examples of perceived corporate goodwill.
▪
But all things being equal , most movie makers would like their facts to be right.
▪
It shows the quantities of a product which will be demanded at various prices, all other things being equal .
▪
Significant improvements in clarity and stereo imaging are amongst the more obvious benefits of such parity, all other things being equal .
▪
The bright chestnut is considered the most characteristic colour and, all other things being equal , the one to be preferred.
among other things/places/factors etc
▪
But that study was highly criticized for poor mammograms, among other things.
▪
I'd like him to look specifically at Personnel's computing problems among other things. 3.
▪
It was noticeable, among other things, that she was drinking faster than anybody else.
▪
Sniping by the president's men has, among other things, forced the foreign minister to resign.
▪
That could mean, among other things, grouping inmates by race in counseling.
▪
That meant, among other things, keeping them from making any deal that gave real estate to the Vietminh.
▪
The industrial revolution, among other things, necessarily produced general literacy.
▪
You have to give Cronenberg credit for nerve, among other things.
amount/come to the same thing
▪
And even if it is not significant, it has the potential to be so-which amounts to the same thing.
▪
And literature will amount to the same thing: all writers are copycats.
▪
At once she thought: I could have taken two thousand, three - it would come to the same thing.
▪
Or rather, politics and morality come to the same thing.
▪
Or they act as if they do, which comes to the same thing.
▪
Since it formed a halo over the puck, did that amount to the same thing?
▪
The public purse would not get anything; after all, it all comes to the same thing.
▪
When electrical currents flow they produce magnetic fields and so it is possible that these two therapies amount to the same thing.
and another thing
▪
And another thing! Where's the fifty dollars you owe me?
▪
Oh, and another thing: Prices will go down, too, as much as three to five bucks per dish.
any old thing/place/time etc
▪
He could play with Orlando any old time.
▪
If you believed that, then you'd believe any old thing.
be a near thing
▪
The Cairo Conference was a near thing for her.
be another thing/matter
▪
And that is another matter entirely.
▪
But for many of us, reading is another thing altogether.
▪
But the administration that has now begun work in Washington will be another matter altogether.
▪
Defending a U. S. Senate seat is another matter.
▪
Indeed it can: but whether the argument would carry any weight is another matter entirely.
▪
Real art is another matter and, despite recent genuflections towards Rembrandt, a rarity becoming rarer.
▪
Whether I understood them was another matter.
▪
Whether they will be allowed to evict their unwelcome, unsavoury, tenants, from belfries and elsewhere, is another matter.
be hearing things
▪
Oh, you are there. Good, for a second I thought I was hearing things.
▪
I thought I was hearing things.
be neither one thing nor the other
be onto a good thing
▪
When he first invested in the company, he knew he was onto a good thing.
▪
His senses told him he was onto a good thing and his senses were rarely wrong.
▪
Many directors who take dividends in lieu of salary may think they are onto a good thing.
▪
Maybe he thought he was onto a good thing.
▪
Multiply that up by two or three hundred stores, and you will see he was onto a good thing.
▪
The plots were essentially the same; like any successful entrepreneur, Alger knew when he was onto a good thing.
▪
They felt they might be onto a good thing.
be seeing things
▪
""Did that man just wave at me?'' ""Of course not, you must be seeing things.''
▪
I thought I saw Patty arrive. I must be seeing things today.
▪
And now he was seeing things.
▪
At only 18, Dundas will be seeing things through young and excited eyes and I wish him the best.
▪
How Rab sat, his weakened state: his first night out, and he thought to be seeing things.
▪
I suggest that the mirror has severe distortions, and perhaps Harley is seeing things grossly out of proportion.
▪
In fact, as Steves eventually came to realize, they were seeing things that often elude travelers who spend far more.
▪
Oh yes, he was seeing things all right.
▪
The first time i spotted a puffin I thought I was seeing things.
▪
Thomas seemed to be seeing things through the wrong end of a telescope.
be the last thing on sb's mind
▪
Marriage is the last thing on my mind right now.
by/from the sound of it/things
▪
Ana was trapped here, though, by the sound of it.
▪
And all this provided by Summerchild, from the sound of it.
▪
But by the sound of it your brothers are a hale and hearty pair.
▪
But then Summerchild didn't know himself to start with, by the sound of it.
▪
He heard Lee shooting them down, then him whistling. From the sound of it he was still around.
▪
In the other boat, the priest had started gabbling in Latin - the Dies Irae, by the sound of it.
▪
Something hissed - steam escaping, from the sound of it.
▪
You've had a hard day, and by the sound of it not an easy life.
call it/things even
▪
Since you bought the movie tickets and I bought dinner, let's just call it even.
chance would be a fine thing!
cut it/things fine
cut it/things fine
enter into the spirit of it/things
▪
Mercer was entering into the spirit of things, Bambi also but more coolly.
every second year/person/thing etc
▪
Dalziel was well known, hailing and being hailed by nearly every second person they passed, it seemed to Pascoe.
first thing
▪
I'll call her first thing in the morning.
▪
I'll telephone her first thing, I promise.
▪
Leave it on my desk and I'll deal with it first thing tomorrow.
▪
Sharon wants that report on her desk first thing tomorrow.
▪
Double advanced mathematics first thing in the morning.
▪
I will go to see Ken Hurren first thing tomorrow morning and tell him that Summerchild was working on defence.
▪
In this case, the first thing to go was his appetite.
▪
The first thing I saw when my eyes blinked into focus was an ant marching over a small stone.
▪
The first thing to do is make sure the doors themselves are strong enough.
▪
The first things that were provided were pubs and working men's clubs.
▪
What is the last recollection before losing consciousness and the first thing recalled after regaining awareness?
first things first
▪
Okay people, first things first: does everybody have their safety helmets?
▪
Anyway, not to worry, first things first.
▪
He declared that, in this situation, it was a case of first things first.
for one thing
▪
No, of course you can't go. For one thing, you have too much homework to do.
▪
We can't invite everyone - for one thing, it would cost too much.
▪
A higher body count score, for one thing.
▪
He was responsible for Loredana's death, for one thing.
▪
He was tall, for one thing: tall and athletically built, although there was a laziness about his movements.
▪
It would be tolerable but for one thing: She shares the space with eight children.
▪
The ex-steelworkers, for one thing, have not gone away.
▪
Their love of wine leads to raised levels of alcoholism, for one thing, which balances out the supposed benefits.
▪
Well, for one thing she takes her readers and our intellect seriously.
▪
Well, for one thing, women have a different experience in life.
get into the swing of it/things
▪
As the afternoon wears on, Paul Merton gets into the swing of things.
▪
But once you get into the swing of it, the anatomy takes care of itself.
▪
In the evening a fun event will be held to get into the swing of things.
have a good thing going
▪
They've got a good thing going with that little business of theirs.
how are things going?/how's it going?/how goes it?
▪
"Hey, Al, how's it going ?" "Fine."
in the nature of things
▪
In the nature of things, a shrinking economy means less job security.
▪
Anyhow, something dreadful in the way of retribution had occurred, in the nature of things.
▪
But, in the nature of things, old people spend much more time indoors.
▪
Disputes over authorship are fiercely fought, and in the nature of things, frequently impossible to resolve with finality.
▪
His extraordinary revenue came, in the nature of things, in irregular bursts, mostly concentrated in his first ten years.
▪
It was in the nature of things, for time and tide would wait for no man.
▪
That is in the nature of things.
in the scheme of things
▪
What I'm doing is unimportant in the big scheme of things, but people find it interesting.
▪
But the teachers are in charge in the scheme of things proposed here.
▪
People began to question the role of humans in the scheme of things and there was a resurgence of shallow religious soul-searching.
▪
Prejudice and bias have no place in the scheme of things.
▪
She had a place in the scheme of things; she had significance, even importance.
▪
She wasn't important ... not in the scheme of things, whatever that meant.
▪
The reassurance that there is a place for all of us in the scheme of things should help a little.
in the swim (of things)
▪
Rolling bream and line bites told me that fish were in the swim .
▪
When I have a shoal of feeding bream in the swim I can not rest easy.
it's a good thing
▪
It's a good job you didn't scream.
▪
It's a good thing I brought my camera.
▪
It's a good thing you remembered to bring napkins.
▪
I decide it's a good thing that I don't see Sean try to capture Ian's incandescent dance.
▪
I think it's a good thing.
▪
It's a good thing we got here in time, he thought.
▪
Male speaker It's a good thing for the area.
▪
Male speaker It's a good thing we check them - we can find any injured birds and help them.
▪
So it's a good thing to get one's mind off in one's spare time.
▪
Still, it's a good thing from the hunt's point of view that new blood is coming along, surely?
last thing (at night)
▪
Take a couple of these pills last thing at night to help you get to sleep.
▪
I agree with that last thing.
▪
It was the last thing he wanted to do.
▪
The last thing he said to me last night: I still want that money.
▪
The last thing Republicans need is a nominee who runs from the Republican House, who is defensive about their agenda.
▪
The last thing she felt, apart from the pain, was surprise.
▪
The last thing that I want to do is stray out of order.
▪
The last thing you need is confusion over that.
▪
Working is the last thing on their minds.
last thing at night
▪
Lock the doors and turn off the lights last thing at night .
▪
The soldiers are supposed to polish their shoes last thing at night .
▪
Empty ashtrays last thing at night , and don't smoke in bed.
▪
It's the first thing I look at when I wake up, the last thing at night .
▪
It was after dark; the last thing at night .
▪
Of course, only in moderate quantities, and generally to be taken last thing at night .
▪
The only times my father could be found in his room were first thing in the morning and last thing at night .
▪
The rosary last thing at night .
▪
This can be carried out last thing at night , once the puppy has been outside to relieve itself.
▪
Why not set a few moments aside first thing in the morning and last thing at night ?
make a clean breast of it/things
▪
He needs to go before the public and make a clean breast of it.
not a damn thing
▪
He hasn't done a damn thing today.
not a solitary word/thing etc
▪
His father had not spoken a single word to him, just followed him around the house, not a solitary word.
of all people/things/places etc
▪
A kitten, of all things.
▪
He of all people picks his words carefully.
▪
She heard, of all things, a piano.
▪
She was a homeless wanderer until tiny Delos alone of all places on earth consented to receive her.
▪
So, in Missouri, of all places, my Koreanization began.
▪
The rest of my offences were committed in self-defence, when I found the hands of all People were against me.
▪
There I was admitted by the butler, of all people.
▪
William Forsyth began it before he sold out, with the help of John Brown, of all people.
sb's kind of person/thing/place etc
set things aright
sort of thing
▪
Bet you get a cheap thrill out of that sort of thing, don't you?
▪
Julia Bransby told me all sorts of things at lunch-time.
▪
Mind you, she's done this sort of thing before.
▪
They supply those - and filing cabinets and desks and desk chairs and all that sort of thing.
▪
They were in the Resistance together, that sort of thing.
▪
This was the sort of thing he could listen to all night.
▪
What sort of things can our people do in schools?
sure thing
▪
Elbert cautioned, however, that funding is far from a sure thing.
▪
Helen has no inhibitions about mixing woods, or making sure things match in style or period.
▪
In either case, the outcome is pretty much a sure thing.
▪
Kip was sure things were going to turn out great.
▪
Our idea was that at last we could have a real go at it, make sure things worked out.
▪
That gives you an idea of how much of a sure thing Lyubov Klochko turned out to be on Sunday.
▪
The only sure thing in Iowa is that nothing is sure.
▪
They wanted instant access, just to make sure things were in place.
the best/greatest thing since sliced bread
▪
Now, I didn't get it because I was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
the last person/thing
▪
Chad's the last person I would ask for advice.
▪
The last thing we wanted was to go into debt.
▪
And you were the last person to see her.
▪
He was the last person a nerve-racked trader wanted to see.
▪
I already had two children, and the last thing I wanted was a third.
▪
I know you had a terrible time and the last thing I meant to do was to upset you.
▪
Kris Johnson will be the last person to wear Marques' No. 54.
▪
So the last thing I want to do is watch somebody else do it.
▪
You know, in your heart, it is the last thing that charlatan wants.
the main thing
▪
Saving the peace plan is the main thing right now.
▪
The main thing is to impress Bora and get on the team.
▪
As for the LeBaron, the main thing in its favour was that the roof came off.
▪
But the main thing is the link with Kahlenbergerdorf.
▪
Enjoy them, that's the main thing!
▪
Listen, the main thing is, he's happy.
▪
Still it was appreciated and thats the main thing.
▪
That was the main thing, there was very little money, so we charged everything.
▪
This thing of being a hero, about the main thing is to know when to die.
▪
We had all this unused energy, that is the main thing I remember.
the nearest thing/equivalent to sth
▪
A little bit of sleep was the nearest thing to consolation left for people like us.
▪
Here was perhaps the nearest thing to alchemy that had ever been seen in the field of politics.
▪
I think she and Phil were the nearest thing to soccer hooligans that canoeing can produce.
▪
It was the nearest thing to a coherent defence system yet seen at Verdun.
▪
So let us accept that I am the nearest thing to a father that Nana has available.
▪
Still, as Jane belonged nowhere, Sussex became the nearest thing to home.
▪
That and the fact that it lost faith in the nearest thing to a charismatic it had had since Rose Fox.
▪
The United Nations General Assembly has been called the nearest thing to a world parliament.
the next best thing
▪
If I can't be home for Christmas, this is the next best thing.
▪
He can't ask them, so he is doing the next best thing.
▪
I guess they figured calling their game Arnie was the next best thing to having a blockbusting movie title.
▪
It is the next best thing to crossing the deserts of the world oneself.
▪
The new switch is the next best thing we could do to moving.
▪
The room is the next best thing to being outside.
▪
Video may seem like the next best thing to being there, but electronically mediated interactions are different from real-life meetings.
▪
We do, however, have the next best thing: a place to go for more information.
▪
We went to the bookshelves to find the next best thing.
the next best thing
▪
He can't ask them, so he is doing the next best thing.
▪
I guess they figured calling their game Arnie was the next best thing to having a blockbusting movie title.
▪
It is the next best thing to crossing the deserts of the world oneself.
▪
The new switch is the next best thing we could do to moving.
▪
The room is the next best thing to being outside.
▪
Video may seem like the next best thing to being there, but electronically mediated interactions are different from real-life meetings.
▪
We do, however, have the next best thing: a place to go for more information.
▪
We went to the bookshelves to find the next best thing.
the next thing I/she etc knew
▪
And the next thing I knew, I was here.
▪
But the next thing she knew she was crying.
▪
He slipped something in my wine and the next thing I knew was that we were on the Continent.
▪
I fell asleep, and the next thing I knew, some one was waking me.
▪
I had hardly dated, and the next thing I knew I was getting married.
▪
I must have fallen asleep, for the next thing I knew I was woken by the ringing of the telephone.
▪
I started to run and the next thing I knew I was lying on the kitchen table.
the obvious thing (to do)
▪
But they haven't done the obvious thing and abandoned ship.
▪
I had always loved walking so it seemed the obvious thing to do.
▪
It would be the obvious thing to do under the circumstances.
▪
Looking at it from a businessman's point of view, it's the obvious thing to do.
▪
To drop it as soon as it was ready seemed natural, the obvious thing to do.
the only thing/problem is ...
▪
But the only thing is they are really small.
▪
I did some um and the only problem is size.
▪
In fact the only problem is deciding where to start.
▪
It duplicates perfectly in production, so the only problem is making the first copy.
▪
Well, no problem with the casting, the only problem is remembering the plot.
the order of things
▪
A new physical model of the place of male and female in the order of things had emerged.
▪
All innovation is a contravention of the order of things.
▪
An animal which can not be classified defies the order of things.
▪
But it did seem that something in the order of things had been altered.
▪
It disturbed the order of things.
▪
On silent feet, she returned to her duties, mindful of her place in the order of things.
▪
Will the youngsters and the older newco ers change the order of things?
there's no (such thing as a) free lunch
there's no such person/thing etc as sb/sth
▪
He says there's no such thing as a citizens arrest.
▪
Raymond runs the exclusive Manoir aux Quat Saisons in Wheatley, where there's no such thing as a free lunch.
▪
To the professionals who work with troubled couples, however, there's no such thing as the wronged spouse.
these things happen
▪
It was a tough loss, but these things happen .
▪
But if neither of these things happen , Labour will be forced to decide whether it is prepared to raise taxes.
▪
But these things happen at Catalina.
▪
Every now and again you're going to get exceptional circumstances and these things happen once in a while.
▪
In the event none of these things happened .
▪
In the way these things happen , the oppressed are sometimes revealed to have a hold on the oppressors.
▪
Once in a while these things happen and then you can communicate better.
▪
Possibly you see a great number of these things happening in your school, or perhaps you see very few.
▪
When these things happen , death flashes before our eyes.
work it/things
▪
But no one should underestimate the amount of hard work it would take.
▪
Don't try and work it out any more.
▪
Every work it says here is true.
▪
For the purpose of this work it has two meanings, one musical and one socioeconomic.
▪
Hard work it was, but good, clean fun.
▪
He had worked it all out, everything.
▪
In terms of work it was a real way out for Hereward from his appalling home background.
▪
In the light of revisionist work it is difficult to treat Nicholas's resistance to liberal reform as a matter of chance or historical accident.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
A funny thing happened to me on the way to work this morning.
▪
All that lovely fresh air -- that's the best thing about living in the country.
▪
He's got one of those electronic things, you know, that you can record all your addresses in.
▪
He gave her half the money because it was the right thing to do.
▪
I cried during the whole thing .
▪
I don't have a thing to wear!
▪
I have better things to do with my time.
▪
I know I shouldn't have hit him - it was a dumb thing to do.
▪
In the new version of the story, a few things have been changed.
▪
One of the things I like about Susan is the way she always keeps smiling, even when there are problems.
▪
She was wearing one of those Spanish type jacket things.
▪
So many things have happened since I last saw you.
▪
That was a really nice thing to do - I know Leona enjoys your visits.
▪
The thing that I really hate about this job is having to work late at night.
▪
The first thing I'm going to do when I get home is take a nap.
▪
The first thing we have to discuss is the price.
▪
The first thing we need to do is call Becky.
▪
The first thing you should do is connect the printer to the computer.
▪
The nicest thing about Richard is that he doesn't mind being criticized.
▪
The only thing she ever talks about is her boyfriend.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
He has a good point, but there are other things to consider.
▪
She was never in doubt about one single thing in her entire life.
▪
Sources say most things work but hundreds of fine points have to be checked.
▪
The first thing they realised was that they would have to slow things down.
▪
The most outstanding thing about the palace is the ceilings in several rooms.
▪
There was a sense of importance, of being at the heart of things.