Go belly up
Go bankrupt; fail
Examples
The company was about to go belly up.
They’ve been warned! If leadership fails to act and these funds go belly up. The risk is on YOU!
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A / one common thread
A / one common thread
An idea or theme
Examples
There is one common thread in the narratives : the temporality of human life.
Another common thread is the power of character.
There is a common thread running through all the picks: Loyalty.
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Perma smile; permasmile; perma-smile
Perma smile; permasmile; perma-smile
Insincerely constant smiling expression on the face, as opposed to being a true expression of the person’s feelings
—My face aches from smiling so much, so hard.
—You’ve got “Perma smile”.
Because she’s always wearing that perma-smile, it’s hard to know what’s really going on with her.
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Wired to the moon
Wired to the moon
Muddled; dreamy
Example
He is clearly wired to the moon, he needs to wake up and smell the coffee.
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Trickle out
Trickle out
To flow or come out slowly and steadily
Examples
But the feeling takes a while to trickle out into the streets of a new city.
Truth is trickling out now; that number will be revised in a couple weeks
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Stoke
Stoke
Encourage or incite (a strong emotion or tendency)
Examples
His composure had the effect of stoking her anger.
It was a moment of history, a moment of symbolism. It could have stoked bitterness and glee, but there was no sign of either.
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Do cart wheels, do cartwheels
Do cart wheels, do cartwheels
Be extremely excited or joyful
Examples
I was so happy when I got accepted into my dream school that I did cartwheels.
The winner is already doing cart wheels.
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High stakes
High stakes
Situations where there is a lot at risk; circumstances where the outcome has significant consequences
Examples
The politician made a high-stakes decision that could affect his career.
It’s high stakes. Their schemes could be a big hit but could be a very bumpy ride.
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Go whistle
Go whistle
Go to the devil
Examples
For Christmas last year, amongst the mountain of food I’d already got for the special day, I was going to get a turkey but, besides the fact that I don’t like turkey (too dry and somewhat gamy for my liking), going at almost £40 a piece I decided the dry bird could just go whistle… or gobble… or whatever it does.
Those who think I am a racist or whatever, all those lot can go whistle.
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Scared stiff
Scared stiff
Very afraid
Examples
So I think it’s crucial that this is highlighted, people are scared stiff.
Say it like it is, call a spade a spade. Don’t be scared stiff.
English Journalistic Gems 