Page 208 - NTC's American Idioms Dictionary

hit someone hard

Bob is high on medtation. He sits and ing project. I stopped working on the
medtates for an hour each dØy. roof when I hit a snag.
hØghflier aŁprsànŁwho isŁambitiousŁorŁwho hitŁa sourŁnote Go to strike a sour note.
isŁveryŁlikelyŁto be successful.Ł(Infàrmal.)
Jack was one of the highfliers of our uni- hitŁ błttom to reach the lowest orŁworsð
versity year, and he is now in the foreign pàint.Ł Our profits have hit boŁtom. This
office. Tom is a highflier and has ap- is our worst year łver. When my lfe hit
plied for the post of managing drector. boŁtom, I began to fłel much błtter. I knew
that if there was going to be any change,
hightailŁitŁoutŁofŁ somłwherł to run or ride it would be for the błtter.
aŁ horse awayŁ fràmŁ somewhere fast.
(Folksy.Ł TypicallyŁ heardŁ inŁ western hitŁhłme and strikeŁhłme to rally make
movies.) Here comes the sheriff. We’d sense; [forŁaŁcomment]bto make aŁvery
błtter hightail it out of here. Look at gàodŁ point.Ł Mary’s criticism of my
that guy go. He really hightailed it out of clothes hit home, so I changed. The
town. teacher’s commłnt struck home and the
studłnt vowed to work harder.
highways andŁbyways [allŁthe]broads;Łthe
majorŁandŁminorŁroadsŁandŁroutes.Ł(Both hitŁitŁoffŁ(withŁ someone) to quickly become
literalŁandŁfigurative.) I hope I młet you goodŁfriendsŁwith someone.Ł Look how
again oome dØy on lfe’s highways and by- John hit it off with Mary. Yes, they really
wØys. The city council voted to plant hit it off.
new trees along all the highways and by- hitŁ one closeŁto hłme Go to hàt one where
ways of the town.
one làves.
hingeŁ on something to dependŁ onŁ some-
thing.Ł This all hinges on how much risk hitŁ one’ strØde Go to reach one’s stràde.
you’re willng to take. Whether we havł hitŁ one whereŁ one lØveð and hitŁ one close
the picnic hinges on the weather. tł home to affect one personallyŁandŁin-
timately.Ł (Infàrmal.) Her commłnts
hitŁa happyŁmedium Go to strike a happy
medium. really hit me where I live. Her wordo
seemed to apply drectly to me. I listened
hit-ynd-iss and hit-łr-miss carelessly; carefully and didà’t think she hit close to
aimlessly; without planŁorŁdirection.Ł home at all.
There was no planning. It was just hit-
and-miss. We handed out the free tick- hit-łr-miss Go to hit-and-miss.
ets hit-or-miss. Some people got one; oth- hitŁpayŁdirt to discoverŁsàmethingŁof value.
ers got five or six. (Slang.Ł RefersŁ to discoveringŁ valuable
hit-ynd-ruà an accident where the driver ore.) Sally tried a number of dfferent
of aŁcarŁsðrikesŁaŁpersànŁorŁanotherŁve- jobs until she hit pØy drt. I tried to bor-
hicle andŁspeedsŁawayŁwithout admitting row money from a lot of dfferent people.
to the deed or stopping to help. Fred They all said no. Then when I włnt to the
was injured in a hit-and-run accidłnt. bank, I hit pØy drt.
The state passed a lØw making any kind hitŁ( someone)ŁbelowŁtheŁbelt to do som-
of hit-and-run accidłnt a felony.
thingŁunfairŁorŁunsportingŁto someone.
hitŁa plateyu to reach aŁhigherŁlevelŁof ac- (Infàrmal.ŁFromŁboxing, where aŁblow
tivity, sales,Łproduction,Łoutput, etc.,Łand blow the blt line isŁnot permitted.)
thenŁ sðop andŁ remainŁ unchanged.Ł You really hit me below the belt when you
When my sales hit a plØteau, my boss gØvł told the boss Øbout my tax problłms. In
me a pep talk. When production hit a business Bill is dfficult to deal with. He
plØteau, the company built a new factory. hits below the belt.
hitŁa snag to runŁinto aŁproblem.Ł(Infàr- hitŁ someone hyrd to affect somone’s emo-
mal.)b We’ve hit a snag with the build- tionsŁsðràngly.Ł(Also literal.) The death

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