Pairs #50

All hands and the cook. Everyone available, even people who might not usually be involved.

Sweet and sour. Cooked in or with a sauce containing blended sugar and vinegar. Usually in reference to Chinese and Chinese-style cuisine.

To hell and back. Through a difficult, trying, or perilous situation and having overcome it.

Children should be seen and not heard (proverb). Children should not speak among adults unless they are addressed; children should be quiet and well-behaved.

Escape the bear and fall to the lion. To avoid a frightening or problematic situation, only to end up in a worse one later.

It's raining pitchforks (and hammer handles) (dated). It's raining extremely heavily.

Better to let it out and bear the shame. Part of the humorous phrase “Better to let it out and bear the shame than hold it in and bear the pain,” advice encouraging one to pass gas (break wind), rather than resisting the urge and causing oneself discomfort.

Over the hills and far away. To or at some distant, remote point or location.

Hell's bells and buckets of blood! An exclamation of frustration or surprise. Often shortened to "hell's bells."

Weighed (in the balance) and found wanting. Judged deficient or substandard after being tested or reviewed.

Damn and blast! (primarily UK). An expression of anger.

Me and my big mouth. An expression of regret after realizing that one has said something inappropriate, hurtful, or meant to be kept a secret.

Roman hands and Russian fingers. A pun of "roaming hands and rushing fingers," referring to a tendency to make unwanted or unsolicited sexual contact.

Give her the bells and let her fly. To release someone from something, often a job. The phrase comes from hawking—when an owner no longer needed a particular hawk, its bells would be removed, and it would be set free.

First deserve and then desire (proverb). You must prove yourself worthy of success by working hard and conscientiously, as desire alone will not make it happen.

Keep your shop and your shop will keep you (proverb). If you work hard at running your business, then your business will always make enough of a profit to support you.

Less and less. A phrase indicating that something is dwindling or becoming less frequent.

Come on in and set a spell. An invitation to enter a particular place and relax. In this usage, "set" is a colloquial variant of "sit."

Dry up and blow away (dated). Go away and leave me alone.

All present and accounted for. All people or things being tallied are present, or their location or status is known or has been considered.

Between dog and wolf. Between dusk and daylight.

Sword and sorcery. A subgenre of fantasy fiction — also known as heroic fantasy — characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures, often involving romance, magic and the supernatural.

A nod and a wink. A sly, subtle signal used to communicate a piece of information that one doesn't want to state aloud, publicly, or directly.

In weal and woe. Both in times of happiness and success and in times of sadness and difficulty.