Read Webster's New World American Idioms Handbook Online

Authors: Gail Brenner

Webster's New World American Idioms Handbook (58 page)

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put away
♦
Please
put away
your toys.
♦
Someone forgot to
put
the milk
away,
and now it’s sour.

When you
take away
something, you remove it from its current location or you confiscate it. The main idea is that the item is gone, removed, or missing.
Take away
is separable.

take away
♦
When we finished our meal, the waiter promptly
took away
our empty plates.
♦
The company has
taken away
some of our benefits.

Here are a few final examples that show the contrast in meaning between
put away
and
take away
:

His teacher said, “Tim, if you don’t
put away
that game, I’ll
take
it
away.”
Lisa,
take
those scissors
away
from your little brother, and
put
them
away
in the drawer.

Note:
Take away
is also used in mathematical problems and means to subtract, as in: “Seven
take away
three equals four.” (7 − 3 = 4)

Give Away
and
Throw Away

When you don’t want something anymore — and you don’t intend to sell it — you can either
give it away
or
throw it away. Give away
and
throw away
both mean to dispose of or get rid of one’s things, but they are used to show different methods of disposal. If you
give away
something, you give one of your own possessions to another person free of charge. If you
throw away
something, you don’t give it to someone else; you put it in the garbage. The following are some examples:

give away
♦ T
he radio station is
giving away
free concert tickets.
♦
I like to
give
my used books
away,
so someone else can read them.

throw away
♦
Don’t
throw away
those empty cans and bottles; recycle them.
♦
I had to
throw
the book
away
because I left it out in the rain.

Grammar Note:
Give away
and
throw away
are separable. When you use the simple verb
to give,
you can say “I gave it
to someone,
” but with the phrasal verb
give away,
you don’t add the words
to someone.

Throwing Money Away

Who would actually throw money away or throw money in the trash? No one! But that’s what people say about investing in a bad deal or paying for something that turns out to be useless or of poor quality. “It’s like
throwing money away!
” they might say. Here are a few examples:

I bought my son some expensive new shoes, and now he won’t wear them. I’ve just
thrown my money away!
I’m not going to
throw money away
on something I don’t need.
They
threw their money away
on a bad investment. Now they have nothing.

The adjective
good
is sometimes added to the expression:

I just
threw good money away
on the sweater that shrunk in the wash.

The following examples show additional meanings of
give away
and
throw away:

give away

1.
to reveal or tell a secret, to reveal the answer to a riddle or question ♦
If you talk to Mary, don’t
give away
anything about her surprise party.
♦
He
gave away
the answer before I had time to solve the riddle.

2.
for the father or male relative to walk with a bride to the altar or similar place where she will stand with the groom — literally, for the father to give the bride to the groom; now a symbolic gesture ♦
She asked her uncle to
give
her
away
because her father was not living.
♦
Some women today don’t like the traditional idea of being
given away.

throw away

to reject, ignore, or choose to miss an important opportunity ♦
Maybe I’m
throwing away
a good opportunity, but I’ve decided not to take that job.
♦
He
threw away
his chance to be King of England when he married the woman he loved.
Note:
A common phrase is
throw one’s life away,
meaning to waste one’s life, typically because of alcohol or drugs.

Phrasal Verbs with
Under
and
Over

A few phrasal verbs are formed with the preposition
under,
while many phrasal verbs are formed with
over.
A verb plus
under
or
over
may or may not form an idiom, depending on the meaning and context.

Phrasal Verbs with
Under

There are only three commonly used phrasal verbs with the preposition
under.
They are
come under, go under,
and
fall under.
They have at least one meaning in common: to fit into or belong to a specific category or classification. Each idiom has other meanings also. Phrasal verbs with
under
are transitive and non-separable, as indicated by
(NS).
One exception is the intransitive form of
go under
when it means financial loss. [For more information on transitive and intransitive, separable and inseparable phrasal verbs, see Chapter 18.]

The following entries give more specifics on how these idioms are used:

come under

1. (NS)
to belong to a category or classification ♦
Reading instruction
comes under
the heading of Language Arts.
♦
Polio
comes under
the classification of viral diseases.

2. (NS)
to be in the jurisdiction or control of; to be supervised or protected by ♦
Your job
comes under
my department.
♦
Minors
come under
the protection of the Child Protective Services Organization.

go under

1. (NS)
to be put into a category or classification ♦
On the form, your financial information
goes under
the section Paying Your Tuition.
♦
Please file this material
under
the heading of advanced grammar.

2. (NS)
to be known as; to be called by a different name ♦
To hide his identity, he often
goes under
an assumed name.
♦
When the movie star checks into the hotel, she
goes under
the name Mary Smith.

3.
to suffer financial loss ♦
In the first two years of operation, many businesses
go under. ♦
We’re very lucky that we didn’t
go under
during the recession.

fall under

1. (NS)
to be in or fit into a category or classification ♦
Her favorite movies
fall under
the genre of film noir.

2. (NS)
to be in the jurisdiction or control of; to be supervised or protected ♦
The town of Boulder Creek
falls under
the county jurisdiction.
♦
Hiring new employees
falls under
my responsibilities.

Phrasal Verbs with
Over

Over
is used much more often than
under
to form phrasal verbs. Phrasal verbs with
over
may be transitive or intransitive depending on the verb or its meaning. For example,
think over
(to think carefully about) is transitive. You must think over
something.
On the other hand,
come over
(to come to someone’s house for a visit) is intransitive. You can’t
come over
something; you simply come over.

Transitive verbs with
over
are separable or non-separable, depending on meaning and usage, as indicated by
(S)
or
(NS)
below. For example,
think over
is separable. You can say “
think over
something” or you can say “
think
something
over.
”

Come Over
and
Go Over

The idioms
come over
and
go over
have a number of different meanings and uses, and both idioms are very common.

In the first group that follows, the idiom uses either
come
or
go
depending on the location of the speaker, or the person being spoken about at the time of speaking.

come over
or
go over (NS)

1.
to make a casual visit to someone’s home or other location ♦ Come over
and visit any time.
♦
Would you like to
come over
for dinner tonight?

2.
to span or traverse a space, particularly a body of water, from one side to another ♦
My grandparents
came over
from Russia in 1897.
♦
As you
go over
the bridge, you’ll see a wonderful view of the city skyline.

3.
to change loyalties, change sides or positions ♦
We’ll never convince him to
come over
to our way of thinking.
♦
The Republicans were shocked when one of their senators
went over
to the other side and became a Democrat.

Go Over Like a Lead Balloon!

Go over like a lead balloon
is a colorful expression that means to fail to gain support, interest, or approval; to be dismissed or rejected as an idea or suggestion. This expression alludes to the fact that a balloon made of lead could never rise in the air; it would sit heavy and useless on the ground.
Go over like a lead balloon
is often used to refer to an idea or proposal that has been rejected or is very unpopular. Sometimes after making a suggestion that no one likes or supports, a person will say, “Well, that
went over like a lead balloon.”
Here are some other examples:

My suggestion that we all volunteer for community clean-up day
went over like a lead balloon
with our teenagers.
The district proposal to extend the school day by one hour
went over like a lead balloon
with teachers and students alike.

In the following examples, the idioms
come over
and
go over
have different meanings. The idiom uses only
come over
or only
go over;
the choice of verb is not dependent on the location of the speaker, as it is in the preceding items.

come over (NS)

to affect someone suddenly and unexpectedly in a profound way, often said of an illness; to cause someone to act in a certain way seemingly involuntarily ♦
The illness
came over
him without warning.
♦
I don’t know what
came over
me; I’m usually very polite.

go over (NS)

1.
to exceed an expected amount; also put as to
be over
♦
We try to stay within our monthly budget, but sometimes we
go over. ♦
Everyone will get a bonus if the sales reps
go over
their projected sales quotas.
Grammar Note:
This idiom can be separated by an adverb, as in “We’ve gone well over our budget.”

2.
to be accepted or approved of by others, as an idea, performance, or advice. Sometimes put as
to go over big
or
well.
♦
We presented our proposal to the board of directors, and it
went over
very well.
♦
The play has
gone over
big with audiences of all ages.

[Also see
go over
in this section under “When Over Means With Careful Consideration”]

When
Over
Means Again

When
over
is joined with the verb
do,
or a few other verbs, it means again. To
do over
means to repeat, or do something again, often for the purpose of improving or correcting it, or just for practice. This idiom is separable and is usually put in the separable form. The expression
over and over
is often used to mean that the practice or action is repeated many times. Here are some examples: