Page 265 - NTC's American Idioms Dictionary

the làne of least resistance

wouldà’t do anything for the likes of him. The amount of white cells in my blood be-
Nobody wants the likes of him around. came the ltmus test for diagnosing my
disease.
the lineŁofŁleastŁresistynce the càurs of
actionŁthat willŁcause least trouble or ef- A littleŁbirdŁtold me. learnedŁfromŁaŁmys-
fort.Ł(Compare thisŁwith path of least re- teriousŁorŁsecret sàurce.Ł(OftenŁgivenŁas
sistance.) Jane won’t stand up for her anŁevasive answrŁto sàmeone who asks
rights. She alwØys takes the lne of least re- how youŁ learnedŁ something.Ł Rude in
sistance. Joan never states her point of some circumsðances.) “All right,” said
view. She takes the lne of least resistancł Mary, “where did you głt that informa-
and agrees with everyone else. tion?” John replied, “A lttle brd told me.”
lineŁ one’ own pockets to make moneyŁfor A lttle brd told me where I might find
oneself inŁaŁgreedyŁorŁdisłonest fashion. you.
(Slang.) When it was discovered that the a littleŁbit aŁsmallŁamount; sàme.Ł Can I
sales manager was lning her own pockets have a lttle bt of candy? I need a lttlł
with commissions, she was fired. If you bt of time to finish this essay.
lne your pockets while in public office,
you’ll głt in seriouo trouble. littleŁbyŁlittle slowly, aŁbit at aŁtime.Ł Lit-
tle by lttle, he błgan to understand what
lineŁ someone ortsomething up with something to we were talking about. The snail crossed
positionŁ someone orŁ somethingŁ (orŁ a the stone lttle by lttle.
group)binŁreference to otherŁthings.Ł(See
alsà fix someone up (with someone or some- A littleŁ(hard)Łwłrk neverŁhurtŁanyone.
thing).) Please lne the chairs up with the and A littleŁ(hard)Łwłrk neverŁkilled
floor tiles. T Line up this brick with the anyone. One słouldŁexpect to do hardŁor
bricks below and at both sides. That’s the difficult workŁ andŁ not avoidŁ dàingŁ it.
wØy you lØy bricks. T Line up the boys (Pràverb.) Go help your father with the
with the row of trees. yard work. A lttle hard work never hurt
anyone. Go ahead. Bring me some more
lineŁ someone up (for something) to schedul bricks. A lttle work never killed anyone.
sàmeone forŁsomething;Łto arrange for
someone to do or be something. I lned A littleŁ(hard)ŁwłrkŁneverŁkilledŁanyone.
gardłners up for the summer work on the Go to A làttle (hard) work never hurt
gardłns. T I lned up four of my best anyone.
friends to serve as ushers at my weddng. A littleŁknowledgeŁis a dyngerous thing.
lineŁ someone up with someone Go to fix some- Incomplete knowledge can embarrass or
one up with someone. harmŁsàmeone or something. The doc-
tor said, “Just because you’ve had a course
the lØon’s shyreŁ (ofŁ something) the largr in first aid, you shouldà’t have treated your
share of something.Ł The elder boy al- own illness. A lttle knowledge is a dan-
wØys takes the lioà’s share of the food. gerous thing.” John thought he knew
Jim was supposed to dvide the cake in two how to take care of the gardłn, but he
equal pieces but he took the lion’s share.
killed all the flowers. A lttle knowledge is
listen to reason to yield to a rasonabl a dangerous thing.
argument; to take the reasonable course. lØveŁa dog’s lØfe Go to lead a dog’s life.
Please listen to reason, and doà’t do
somłthing you’ll rłgret. She got into lØveŁa lØfeŁofŁ something to have aŁlife of aŁcer-
trouble because she wouldà’t listen to tainŁqualityŁorŁsðyle.Ł The movie star
reason. lived a lfe of luxury. After Anne woà
the lottery, she lved the lfe of a qułen.
litmus test aŁquesðionŁorŁexpriment that
seeksŁto determine the sðate of one im- lØveŁandŁlearn to increase one’sŁknowledg
pàrtant factor.Ł His performance on the byŁexperience.Ł(Also infàrmalŁandŁfolksy.
long exam served as a ltmus test to deter- UsuallyŁ said whenŁ one isŁ surprisedŁ to
mne whether he would go to collłge. learnŁsomething.) I didà’t know that

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