American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms
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milk
hand. In addition to the idiom beginning with MILK, also see CRY OVER SPILT MILK.
milk of human kindness, the
Compassion, sympathy, as in There's no milk of human kindness in that girl?
she's totally selfish. This expression was invented by Shakespeare in Macbeth (1:5), where Lady Macbeth complains that her husband "is too full of the milk of human kindness" to kill his rivals.
mill
hand. see GRIST FOR THE MILL; MILLS OF THE GODS GRIND SLOWLY; RUN OF THE MILL; THROUGH THE MILL; TILT AT WINDMILLS.
million
hand. see FEEL LIKE ONESELF (A MILLION DOLLARS); LOOK LIKE A MILLION DOLLARS; ONE IN A MILLION.
mills of the gods grind slowly
One's destiny is inevitable even if it takes considerable time to arrive. For example, I'm sure he'll be wealthy one day, though the mills of the gods grind slowly. This expression comes from ancient Greek, translated as "The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind small." In English it appeared in George Herbert's Jacula Prudentum (1640) as "God's mill grinds slow but sure."
millstone around one's neck
A heavy burden, as in Julie finds Grandma, who is crabby, a millstone around her neck. The literal hanging of a millstone about the neck is mentioned as a punishment in the New Testament (Matthew 18:6), causing the miscreant to be drowned. Its present figurative use was first recorded in a history of the Quakers (c. 1720).
mince matters Also, mince words. Moderate or restrain one's language to be polite or avoid giving offense. Today these phrases are nearly always put negatively, as in Not to mince matters, I feel he should resign, or Don't mince words?
say what you mean. The usage dates from the mid-1500s and transfers cutting something such as meat into small pieces to minimizing the harsh impact of words.
mincemeat
hand. see MAKE MINCEMEAT OF.
mind
hand. In addition to the idioms beginning with MIND, also see BACK OF ONE'S MIND;
BEAR IN MIND; BLOW ONE'S MIND; BOGGLE THE MIND; BRING TO MIND; CALL
hand. In addition to the idioms beginning with MISS, also see HEART MISSES A BEAT;
HIT OR MISS; NEAR MISS; NOT MISS A TRICK.
miss a beat
Hesitate momentarily, out of embarrassment or confusion. This expression is most often used in a negative context, as in He sidestepped the reporter's probe into his personal life without missing a beat, or Not missing a beat, she outlined all the reasons for her decision. This expression alludes to the regular beat of musical time. [Mid-1900s]
miss by a mile
Fall short, fail by a considerable amount, as in Your guess as to the winner missed by a mile. This expression employs miss in the sense of "fail to hit something aimed at," a usage dating from the late 1400s, and by a mile for a great distance or interval, so used since Shakespeare's day.
miss fire
Fail to achieve the anticipated result, as in Recycling cardboard seemed like a good idea but it missed fire. First recorded in 1727, this phrase originally described a firearm failing to go off and has been used figuratively since the mid-1800s.
miss is as good as a mile, a
Coming close to success but failing is no better than failing by a lot, as in He was beaten by just one vote, but a miss is as good as a mile. This proverbial expression, first recorded in 1614, is a shortening of the older form, ''An inch of a miss is as good [or bad] as a mile of a miss."
miss much
hand. see under NOT MISS A TRICK.
Missouri
hand. see FROM MISSOURI.
miss out on
Lose a chance for, fail to achieve, as in Ruth came late to the party and missed out on all the fun, or Trudy missed out on the promotion. [First half of 1900s] Also see LOSE OUT, def. 2.
miss the boat
1. Fail to take advantage of an opportunity, as in Jean missed the boat on that club membership. This expression, which alludes to not being in time to catch a boat, has been applied more widely since the 1920s. 2. Fail to understand something, as in I'm afraid our legislator missed the boat on that amendment to the bill. [Mid-1900s] Also see MISS THE POINT.
miss the point
Overlook or fail to understand the essential or important part of something, as in Chris missed the
point of Gwen's complaint, thinking she was opposed to the date of the next meeting. This expression employs point in the sense of "the salient portion," a usage dating from the late 1300s.
mistake
hand. In addition to the idiom beginning with MISTAKE, also see BY MISTAKE; MAKE
NO MISTAKE.
mistake for
Take someone or something for someone or something else, as in I'm sorry, I mistook you for her sister, or Don't mistake that friendly smile for good intentions; he's a tough competitor. [c. 1600]
mix and match
Combine different items in a number of ways. For example, The store displayed skirts, blouses, and slacks in colors that one could mix and match. [Mid-1900s]
mixed bag
A heterogeneous collection of people, items, activities, or the like; an assortment. For example,
The school offers a mixed bag of after-school activities?
team sports, band practice, a language class. This idiom calls up the image of a sack full of different items. [First half of 1900s]
mixed blessing
Something that has both good and bad features, as in Being accepted by the college was a mixed blessing, since she couldn't afford the tuition. [First half of 1900s]
mixed feelings
A partly positive and partly negative reaction to something, as in I have mixed feelings about this trip; I'd love to go but don't want to ride in that tiny car.
mix it up
Get in a fight, as in The driver got out and began to mix it up with the other driver. This expression uses mix in referring to physical mingling. [c. 1900]
mix up
1. Confuse, confound, as in His explanation just mixed me up even more, or I always mix up the twins.
[c. 1800] 2. Involve or implicate. This usage is usually put in the passive, as in He got mixed up with the wrong crowd. [Mid-1800s]
mold
hand. see CAST IN THE SAME MOLD.
molehill
hand. see MAKE A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL.
moment
hand. In addition to the idiom beginning with MOMENT, also see AT THIS POINT
(MOMENT); EVERY MINUTE (MO
MENT) COUNTS; FOR THE MOMENT; HAVE ONE'S MOMENTS; JUST A MINUTE (MOMENT); LIVE FOR THE MOMENT; NEVER A DULL MOMENT; NOT FOR A MOMENT; OF THE MOMENT; ON THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT; WEAK MOMENT.
moment of truth
A critical or decisive time, at which one is put to the ultimate test, as in Now that all the bills are in, we've come to the moment of truth?
can we afford to live here or not? This expression, a translation of the Spanish el momento de la verdad, signifies the point in a bullfight when the matador makes the kill. It was first used in English in Ernest Heming-way's story Death in the Afternoon (1932).
Monday-morning quarterback
A person who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight, as in Ethel was a Monday-morning quarterback about all the personnel changes in her department?
she always claimed to have known what was going to happen. This expression, first recorded in 1932, alludes to fans who verbally "replay" Sunday's football game the next day, the quarterback being the team member who calls the plays.
money
hand. In addition to the idioms beginning with MONEY, also see COIN MONEY; COLOR
OF ONE'S MONEY; EASY MONEY; EVEN MONEY; FOOL AND HIS MONEY ARE SOON PARTED; FOR ONE'S MONEY; FUNNY MONEY; GET ONE'S MONEY'S WORTH; HUSH MONEY; IN THE MONEY; MADE OF MONEY; NOT FOR LOVE OR MONEY; ON THE MONEY; PAY YOUR MONEY AND TAKE YOUR CHOICE; PIN MONEY; POCKET MONEY; PUT MONEY ON; PUT ONE'S MONEY WHERE ONE'S MOUTH IS; ROLLING IN IT (MONEY); RUN FOR ONE'S MONEY; SPEND MONEY LIKE WATER; THROW GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD; TIME IS MONEY.
money burns a hole in one's pocket
One can't keep from spending whatever money one has. For example, As soon as she gets paid she goes shopping; money burns a hole in her pocket. This hyperbolic expression, which alleges that one must take out the money before it actually burns a hole, was stated only slightly differently by Thomas More
(c. 1530): "A little wanton money . . . burned out the bottom of his purse."
money is no object Also, expense is no object. It doesn't matter how much it costs, as in Get the very best fur coat you can find?
money is no object. In this expression no object means "something not taken into account or presenting no obstacle." It was first recorded as salary will be no object in a 1782 newspaper advertisement for someone seeking a job. Both money and expense were so described by the mid-1800s.
money talks
Wealth has great influence, as in Big contributors to campaigns are generally rewarded with important posts?
in politics money talks. The idea behind this idiom was stated by Euripides in the fifth century
B.C., and some 2,000 years later Erasmus spoke of "the talking power of money" (Adagia, 1532). The precise current locution, however, only began to be used about 1900.
money to burn
More than enough money for what is required or expected, as in After they paid off the creditors, they still had money to burn. This hyperbolic expression implies one has so much that one can afford to burn it. [Late 1800s] This sense of the verb burn is occasionally used in other phrases, such as time to burn ("more than enough time"), but not very often.
monkey
hand. In addition to the idioms beginning with MONKEY, also see FOOL (MONKEY)
AROUND; MAKE A FOOL (MONKEY) OF; MORE FUN THAN A BARREL OF MONKEYS; THROW A MONKEY WRENCH.
monkey business
Silly, mischievous, or deceitful conduct, as in The teacher told the children to cut out the monkey business and get to work, or I don't trust that lawyer?
there's some monkey business going on. This expression transfers the tricks of monkeys to human behavior. [Late 1800s]
monkey on one's back
1. Drug addiction, as in He'd had a monkey on his back for at least two years. [Slang; first half of 1900s] 2. A vexing problem or burden, as in This project has proved to be a monkey on my back?
there seems to be no end to it. Both usages allude to being unable to shake off the animal from one's back.
monster
hand. see GREEN-EYED MONSTER.
month
hand. In addition to the idiom beginning with MONTH, also see BY THE DAY (MONTH);
(FOR MONTHS) ON END.
month of Sundays, a
A long time, as in I haven't seen Barbara in a month of Sundays. This expression, which would literally mean thirty weeks, has been used hyperbolically since it was first recorded in 1832. One writer suggests it originally connoted a long dreary time, since games and other kinds of amusement used to be forbidden on Sunday.
mood
hand. see IN A BAD MOOD; IN THE MOOD.
moon
hand. see ASK FOR THE MOON; ONCE IN A BLUE MOON; PROMISE THE MOON.
moot point
A debatable question, an issue open to argument; also, an irrelevant question, a matter of no importance. For example, Whether Shakespeare actually wrote the poem remains a moot point among critics, or It's a moot point whether the chicken or the egg came first. This term originated in British law where it described a point for discussion in a moot, or assembly, of law students. By the early 1700s it was being used more loosely in the present sense.
mop up
1. Clear an area of remaining enemy troops after a victory, as in They left behind just one squadron to mop up. [c. 1900] 2. Perform the minor tasks that conclude a project or activity, as in Go ahead, I'll mop up these last invoices. [First half of 1900s] Both usages transfer the task of housecleaning with a mop to other kinds of cleanup.
mop up the floor with Also, wipe the floor with. Defeat thoroughly, overwhelm, as in The young boxer said he was sure to mop up the floor with his opponent, or I just know we'll wipe the floor with the competition. [Late 1800s]
moral support
Emotional or psychological backing, as opposed to material help. For example, There's not much I can do at the doctor's office, but I'll come with you to give you moral support. [Late 1800s]
more
hand. In addition to the idioms beginning with MORE, also see BITE OFF MORE THAN
ONE CAN CHEW; IRONS IN THE FIRE, MORE THAN ONE; WEAR ANOTHER (MORE