1.Life in the fast lane/Go nowhere fast 1
2.Wing it/Take someone under one's wing 4
3.Start from scratch/Up to scratch/Scratch/Scratch the surface 7
4.Raise the devil/Devil's advocate 10
5.There'll be the devil to pay./Give the devil his due 13
6.Fair shake/Fair to middling/Fair weather friend/Fair-haired boy 16
7.Go whole hog/The whole nine yards/A whole new ball game/Made out of whole cloth 19
8.Get in on the ground floor/Mop the floor with some-body/Glass ceiling/Hit the ceiling 23
9.Run like clockwork/Cut and run/Dry run 26
10.Lie low/Let sleeping dogs lie 29
11.Blow-out/Wing-ding/Bash/Blast 32
12.Stag party/Hen party/Tailgate party/Baby shower 35
13.Wet blanket/Security blanket 39
14.Push around/Pushover/When push comes to shove 42
15.Pull for/Pull through/Pull your leg/Pull the plug 45
16.Rat race/Treadmill/Salt mine 48
17.Class act/Hard act to follow/Get your act together 51
18.Go over with a bang/Get a bang out of/More bang for the buck 54
19.Step up to the plate/Get to first base/Touch all the bases 57
20.Have a ball/Ball of fire/Ball up 60
21.Have a lot on the ball/Keep the ball rolling/Ballpark figure 63
22.Plug/Plug away/Plug in 66
23.Have a bear by the tail/Loaded for bear/Bulls and bears 69
24.Cut a deal/Raw deal/Shady deal 72
25.Penny-ante/Penny pincher/Penny-wise/Pretty penny 75
26.Nickle and dime/A dime a dozen/On a dime/Get off the dime 78
27.No brainer/Push the envelope/Cut to the chase 81
28.Ace in the hole/An ace up your sleeve/Within an ace of winning 84
29.Fib/White lie/Lie through your teeth/Whopper 87
30.Button your lip/On the button/Buttonhole 90
31.Foul your own nest/Stir up a hornets'nest 93
32.Feather your own nest/Empty nest 96
33.Scrape the bottom of the barrel/Have somebody over a barrel/Give somebody both barrels 99
34.Buy a pig in a poke/Buy for a song/Buy it/Buy the farm 102
35.Hard sell/Sell a bill of goods/Sell down the river/Sell somebody short 105
36.Pull the strings/String someone along/Hold the purse strings/Second string 108
37.Feel in your bones/Bone up/Throw someone a bone 111
38.Bone of contention/Make no bones about it/Have a bone to pick 114
39.Stand-out/Stand the heat/Stand-up/Stand pat 117
40.Eyes bigger than your stomach/Butterflies in your stomach/Bellyache/Belly up 120
41.Fish or cut bait/Fishing expedition/Other fish to fry 123
42.Pull something out of thin air/Come up for air 126
43.Go to pot/Sweeten the pot/Pot calling the kettle black 129
44.Not playing with a full deck/Not having both oars in the water 132
45.Go bananas/Compare apples and oranges/Hear through the grapevine/Lemon 135
46.Dog tired/Go to the dogs/Rain cats and dogs 139
47.Leam the ropes/Know the ropes 142
48.Rope someone in/At the end of one's rope 145
49.On the ropes/Give one enough rope to hang oneself 148
50.Fight tooth and nail/Fight to the bitter end 151
51.You can't fight city hall./Spoiling for a fight 154
52.Knock-down drag-out fight/Can't fight one's way out of a paper bag 157
53.Legal eagle/Rainmaker/Ambulance chaser/Shyster 160
54.Tongue-lashing/A slip of the tongue/Forked tongue 163
55.Shake-up/Shake-down 166
56.Wait fot the other shoe to drop/The jury is still out./Not over till the fat lady sings 169
57.Kiss something goodbye/Kiss off 173
58.Shoot down/Shoot for/Shoot one's wad/Shoot the works 176
59.Shoot from the hip/Shoot off one's mouth/Shoot the breeze/Shoot oneself in the foot 179
60.Knock around/Knock off/The school of hard knocks 182
61.Knockout/Knock your socks off/Knock them in the aisles/Knock someone dead 185
62.Go off the deep end/Living end/At loose ends 188
63.The short end of the stick/Make both ends meet 191
64.Nail down/As hard as nails/Another nail in one's coffin/Hit the nail on the head 194
65.Name-dropper/Name-calling/Your name is mud./The name of the game 197
66.Bring somebody to account/Square an account with someone 201
67.Take into account/Have an account to settle 204
68.Get up the nerve/Have got a lot of nerve 207
69.A bundle of nerves/Nervous Nellie 210
70.Flesh out/Pound of flesh/Press the flesh 213
71.Pain in the neck/Break one's neck/Wring one's neck 216
72.Stick one's neck out/Neck of the woods 219
73.His number is up./Do a number on somebody/Hot number 222
74.Fit to be tied/Fit and trim 225
75.Fit to a T/Fit for a king/Give someone fits 228
76.Out of the frying pan into the fire/Panhandle/Pan out/Flash in the pan 231
77.The rubber chicken circuit/Launch pad/Dark horse 235
78.Hand in glove/Hand over fist/Hands down/Hand to mouth 238
79.Touch and go/Hard and fast/Fast and loose/Cut-and-dried 241
80.Foolproof/Fool around/Nobody's fool 245
81.Fly by the seat of one's pants/Nose-dive/Bail out 249
82.Raincheck/Right as rain/Rainy day 253
83.Sock away/The shoe is on the other foot./On a shoestring 256
84.Just for laughs/Laugh out of the other side of your mouth/Have the last laugh 259
85.Tune in/Tune someone out/Out of tune 262
86.Change your tune/Sing a different tune/Dance to another tune 266
87.Go off half-cocked/Stick to one's guns/A shot in the dark 269
88.Lay all your cards on the table/Under the table/Turn the tables 272
89.Top dog/Rule the roost/Wear the pants 275
90.Turn tail/Turn one's head/Turn over a new leaf 278
91.Fiddle around/Play second fiddle/Pay the fiddler 281
92.Be on one's high horse/Beat a dead horse/Clothes horse 284
93.A horse of a different color/One-horse town/Horse-and-buggy days/Hold one's horses 287
94.Flashback/Slapstick/Ham actor/Cliff-hanger 291
95.Sitting pretty/Sit in the catbird seat/Happy as a clam 295
96.Walking on air/In seventh heaven/On cloud nine 298
97.Pay through the nose/Cut off one's nose to spite one's face/Plain as the nose on your face/Keep one's nose clean 301
98.Top gun/Top drawer/Off the top of one's head/Blow one's top 304
99.Top to bottom/Rock bottom/Bottom dollar/Bot-tom line 307
100.Monkey around/Monkey business/Monkey wrench 310
101.Tear one's hair/Get in one's hair/Hairy 314
102.Straight from the shoulder/Pull no punches/Lay it on the line/Let it all hang out 317
103.Showdown/Ante up/Poker face/Stack the deck 321