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Keep his power dry?

In the old days soldiers keep a bag of powders as today’s soldiers carry a supply of metal bullets as ammunition.

Raw end of the deal?

People who get the raw end of the deal are harshly, especially unfairly treated.

Finest hour?

“Finest hour” means the best hour, the moment when something happens that makes your day.

Running up the white flag?

Shoppers running up the white flag means they’re losing the battle against such enemies as inflation, wage freezes and job insecurity.

An endless balancing act

It is a process of doing several jobs at the same time and making sure all jobs are done well, equally well.

Time to call time on cheap, strong alcohol

To call time on something is to say time is up, the game is over and let’s call it a day.

Worth the candle?

It means the gains made from getting some job done won’t be enough to buy the oil burnt from the lamp during the process.

Ebbs and flows

It is used to describe things in life that are affected by such cycles of high and low, up and down.

Train of thought

Train of thought, which, by the way, means a series of connected thoughts developing in one’s mind.

Fair game

Fair play? That means behavior that’s in accordance with rules of a game.

Smoke and mirrors?

Smoke and mirrors, you see, stand for deception, something that blurs or distorts facts.

Long leash?

When the website is given a “long leash”, it means they have a lot of freedom to publish what they want.

Road map to get back to profitability?

A road map here is a metaphor. What they have is not a map of roads, but a clear and detailed business plan .

Bad taste?

If you do something that is described as in bad taste, you do something that is unpleasant, displeasing, discomforting.

Give him the glad hand?

They shake hands with him in public, saying “Glad to meet you” and so forth but the next moment they’re cursing him with closed teeth.

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