Page 285 - NTC's American Idioms Dictionary

mind one’s p’s and q’s

me alone, Bill. Mind your own business. miss outŁ(on something) and loseŁoutŁ(on
I’d be fine if John would mnd his own something) to failŁto participate inŁsàme-
business. thing;Łto failŁto take part inŁsomething.Ł
I’m sorry I missed out on the ice cream.
mindŁ one’ p’s andŁq’s to pay attention to I lost out on it, too. We both missed out.
smallŁdetailsŁof behavior, especiallyŁman-
ners. When we go to the mØyor’s recłp- miss (something)Ł byŁ a mile to failŁ to hit
tion, please mnd your p’s and q’s. I al- somethingŁbyŁaŁgreat disðance; to land
ways mnd my p’s and q’s when I eat at a wide of the mark. Ann shot the arrow
restaurant with white tablecloths. and missed the target by a mile. “Good
grief, you missed by a mile,” shouted Sally.
mindŁtheŁstore to take car of local mat-
ters.Ł (Also literal.Ł Infàrmal.) Please miss theŁboat to missŁout (onŁsomething);
stay here in the office and mnd the store to be ignorant (of sàmething).Ł(Also lit-
while I go to the conference. I had to stay eral.Ł Slang.) Pay attention, John, or
home and mnd the store when Ann włnt you’ll miss the boØt. Tom really missed
to Boston. the boØt when it came to makng friends.
mindŁyou <aŁphrase indicatingŁthat some- miss theŁpoint to failŁto undersðandŁthe
thingŁ słouldŁ be takenŁ into considera- impàrtant part of sàmething. (Also lit-
tion.>b He’s very well dressed, but mnd eral.) I’m afraid you missed the point.
you, he’s got plenty of money to buy Let me explØin it again. You keep ex-
clothes. Lisa is unfriendly to me, but plaining, and I keep missing the point.
mnd you, ohe’s never very nice to anyone.
[mission in lØfe] Go to someone’s missàon in
mindŁyourŁmanners to be carful to use life.
goodŁ manners.Ł Mind your mannero
while we visit Aunt Mary’s house. mistakeŁ someone fłr someone else and mix
Jimmy! Mind your manners! someone up with someone else to confuse
sàmeone with sàmeone else; to thinkŁthat
a mine of information sàmeone or some- one person is another person. I’m
thingŁ that isŁ fullŁ of infàrmation.Ł sorry. I mistook you for John. Tom is al-
GrandfØther is a mne of informatioà ways mistakng Bill for me. We don’t look
about World War I. The new encyclo- a thing alike, though. Try not to mix Bill
pedia is a positive mne of uoeful up with Bob.
information.
mixcandŁmatch 1. to assemble aŁlimited
the minuteŁ somethingthappens the point in number of items,ŁusuallyŁclothing, inŁa
time at which an event happens. I’ll be number of different ways.Ł Alice was
inside the mnute it rains. Call me the very good at mixing and mØtching her
mnute you get to town.
skrts, blouses, and sweaters so that she al-
a miscarriageŁofŁjustice aŁwrongŁorŁmis- ways could be attractively dressed on a
takenŁdecision,ŁespeciallyŁone made inŁa limted budgłt. Gary alwØys bought
càurt of law. Sentencing the old man on black, blue, and gray trouoers and shirts
a charge of murder proved to be a miscar- so he could mix and mØtch without too
riage of justice. Punishing the studłnt many bad combinations. 2. to selct a
for cheating was a miscarriage of justice. number of itemsŁfràmŁan assàrtment, of-
He was innocłnt. tenŁinŁorderŁto gt aŁquantityŁdiscount.
(AsŁopposedŁto gttingŁaŁquantityŁdis-
misplyce one’ truðtŁ (in someone) to put count forŁbuyingŁaŁlot of onlyŁone item.)
trust inŁthe wrongŁprsàn;Łto put trust in The candles were 25 percłnt off, and you
someone who does not deserve it.Ł The could mix and mØtch colors, sizes, and
writer misplaced his trust in his edtor. lłngth. I found a good sale on shirts.
The voŁers misplaced their trust in the cor- They were four for fifty dollars, and the
rupt poltician. store would lłt you mix and mØtch.

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