A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   K   L   M   O   R   S   T   W   Back away - Retreat or go backwards Back down - Retract or withdraw your position or proposal in an argument Back off - Retreat Back out - Fail to keep an arrangement or promise Back out of - Fail to keep an agreement, arrangement Back up - Make a copy of computer data - Support Bag out - Criticise Bail out - Save, rescue - Remove water from something that is flooded - Jump out of a plane because it is going to crash Bail out on - Stop supporting someone when they are in trouble Bail up - Talk to someone and delay them - Rob someone at gunpoint Ball up - Confuse or make things complicated - Roll or form into a round shape Balls up - Spoil, ruin Bang about - Move in a place making a lot of noise Bang around - Move in a place making a lot of noise Bang on about - Keep talking about something Bang out - Play a musical instrument loudly Bang up - Put someone in prison - Damage badly Bank on - Count or rely on Barge in - Enter a place and interrupt Barge into - Enter a place and interrupt people rudely Bash about - Mistreat physically Bash in - Break, damage or injure by hitting Bash out - Write something quickly without much preparation Bash up - Break, damage or hurt by hitting Bawl out - Scold, shout at someone - Scold - Sing or shout unpleasantly loudly Be after - Try to find or get Be along - Arrive Be away - Be elsewhere; on holiday, etc. Be cut up - Be upset Be down - Be depressed - Be reduced or less Be down with - Be ill Be fed up - Be bored, upset or sick of something Be in - Be at home or at work - Be submitted, arrive Be in on - Be involved in Be not on - Be unacceptable Be off - Be bad (of food) - Depart, leave Be on - Be functioning (of machines) - Take place - Take medication or drugs, especially when they affect the person badly Be on about - Mean, try to say Be onto - Pursue, be aware of someone's true nature Be out - Be absent from a place Be out of - Have no more left Be out to - Attempt Be snowed under - Have too much work Be taken aback - Be shocked or surprised Be taken with - Like something Be up - Be out of bed - Have increased or risen - When the time for something finishes or expires Be up to - Be good enough - Doing something naughty or wrong Bear down on - Move towards Bear on - Influence, affect Bear out - Confirm that something is correct - Confirm that something is correct Bear up - Resist pressure Bear up under - Cope with something difficult or stressful Bear with - Be patient Beat down - Strong sunshine Beat up - Attack violently Beaver away - Work hard Beaver away at - Work hard doing something Bed down - Sleep somewhere less comfortable than normal - Become established or successful over time Bed out - Move a plant outside Beef up - Make something stronger or more solid Belt out - Sing something loudly Belt up - Be quiet - Fasten your seatbelt Bend down - Lower the top half of your body Bend over - Lower the top part of your body Bend over backwards - Do a lot to try to help or please someone Black out - Fall unconscious - Lose light Blank out - Censor text so that words cannot be read - Have a temporary memory failure Blare out - A loud sound or music Blast off - Leave the ground- spaceship or rocket Blaze away - Fire a gun repeatedly Bliss out - Be extremely relaxed and happy Block in - Park a car and obstruct another car - Shade or fill in Block off - Obstruct an exit to prevent people from leaving Block out - Stop light from entering or leaving - Try not think about or feel something because it is upsetting or painful Block up - Fill a space so that nothing can pass Blow away - Kill - Beat rivals or competitors by a large margin - Impress greatly - When the wind moves something from a place Blow down - When the wind forces something to fall Blow off - Not keep an appointment - Ignore, not do something Blow out - Extinguish candles, matches, etc. Blow over - When a scandal gets forgotten Blow up - Explode Blurt out - Say something quickly without thinking, especially if you shouldn't Bog down - Slow make progress Bog in - Eat enthusiastically Bog into - Eat something enthusiastically Bog off! - Get lost Boil down - Simplify, reduce to the essentials Boil down to - Amount to Boil over - When a hot liquid spills out of a container - When people lose their tempers and things get nasty Boil up - Feel a negative emotion strongly - Cook or heat something to boiling point Bone up on - Study hard Book in - Make a reservation in advance - Check in at a hotel Book into - Make a reservation in advance - Check in at a hotel Book up - Reserve Boot up - Start a computer Border on - Be located next to a place - Be very nearly something Boss about - Use excessive authority to control people Boss around - Use excessive authority to control people Botch up - Ruin or spoil something Bottle away - Store up Bottle out - Lack courage to do something Bottle up - Not express your feelings Bottom out - Pass the lowest point and start rising Bounce into - Force someone Bounce back - Recover Bounce off - Test ideas Bowl over - Surprise someone greatly Box in - Prevent something from moving, especially vehicles Box up - Pack things in boxes to move them Branch out - Move into a different area of business, etc. Break away - Leave an organisation, usually to form a new one Break down - End negotiations unsuccessfully - Start crying - Stop working Break in - Go into a building to steal something - Interrupt something - Train a horse to be ridden Break off - Break a piece from something - End a relationship Break out of - Escape Break through - Pass a barrier or obstacle Break up - Break into many pieces - Close an educational institution for the holidays - Finish a relationship Breeze along - Move easily and quickly Breeze in - Enter a place quickly Breeze into - Enter a place quickly Breeze through - Pass easily, succeed Bring about - Make something happen Bring around - Persuade or convince someone - Bring something with you when you visit - Get someone talking about something Bring back - Cause someone to remember - Return Bring down - Make a government fall - Make something cheaper Bring forth - Produce something, make it known or visible Bring forward - Make something happen earlier than originally planned Bring in - Earn Bring on - Cause something to happen or speed up the process Bring out - Release or publish Bring out in - Cause a health problem or reaction Bring round - Make someone wake up from unconsciousness or an anaesthetic Bring up - Mention - Raise a child Brush off - Ignore, pay little attention Brush up - Improve a skill quickly Bubble over - Become very excited Bucket down - Rain heavily Budge up - Move to make space for someone Buff up - Clear, clean or make something shine - Improve Buff up on - Improve your knowledge quickly Bug off! - Go away Bug out - Open your eyes wide in surprise - Leave somewhere in a hurry Build up - Develop a company - Increase Bulk out - Make something bigger or thicker Bump into - Meet by chance Bump off - Kill Bump up - Increase Bundle off - Send someone somewhere Bundle out - Expel Bundle up - Put on warm clothing - Wrap or tie things together Bunk off - Not go to school when you should Buoy up - Make someone feel more positive Burn down - Burn completely Burn off - Remove by burning or similar process Burn out - Lose enthusiasm and energy to continue in a demanding job Burst into - Catch fire very quickly - Laugh, cry or clap loudly Butt in - Interrupt Butter up - Praise or flatter someone excessively Buy in - Force a CD or record into the charts by buying lots of copies Buy into - Accept an idea Buy off - Pay someone to stop them causing trouble Buy out - Buy somebody's share in a company Buy up - Buy all of something Buzz around - Move quickly around a place Buzz off - Leave somewhere Buzz off! - Go away (imperative) . He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good. Confucius I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty... But I am too busy thinking about myself. Edith Sitwell  Life is a long lesson in humility. James M. Barrie Be modest! It is the kind of pride least likely to offend. Jules Renard Modesty is a shining light; it prepares the mind to receive knowledge, and the heart for truth. Madam Guizot I am no more humble than my talents require. Oscar Levant If I only had a little humility, I'd be perfect. Ted Turner Acting is not being emotional, but being able to express emotion. Kate Reid I have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say, and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions. Dorothy Day I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. John Locke Strong reasons make strong actions. William Shakespeare Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half. John Wanamaker You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements. Norman Douglas Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it. Stephen Leacock Advertisements... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper. Thomas Jefferson I read no newspaper now but Ritchie's, and in that chiefly the advertisements, for they contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper. Thomas Jefferson What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public. Vilhjalmur Stefansson Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties. Aesop It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice. Anne Tyler People who ask our advice almost never take it. Yet we should never refuse to give it, upon request, for it often helps us to see our own way more clearly. Brendan Francis Ask advice only of your equals. Danish Proverb Please give me some good advice in your next letter. I promise not to follow it. Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950), Letters Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you like it not at present. English Proverb Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't. Erica Jong I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite. G. K. Chesterton Never give advice unless asked. German Proverb Some people like my advice so much that they frame it upon the wall instead of using it. Gordon R. Dickson The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right. Hannah Whitall Smith I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it. Harry S Truman   Never take the advice of someone who has not had your kind of trouble. Sidney J. Harris In giving advice, seek to help, not please your friend. Solon Never advise anyone to go to war or to marry. Spanish Proverb Beware of the young doctor and the old barber. Benjamin Franklin To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am. Bernard M. Baruch   Aging is not 'lost youth' but a new stage of opportunity and strength. Betty Friedan There is no old age. There is, as there always was, just you. Carol Matthau Always be nice to those younger than you, because they are the ones who will be writing about you. Cyril Connolly The great secret that all old people share is that you really haven't changed in 70 or 80 years. Your body changes, but you don't change at all. Doris Lessing The surprising thing about young fools is how many survive to become old fools. Doug Larson Though it sounds absurd, it is true to say I felt younger at sixty than I felt at twenty. Ellen Glasgow The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. Frank Lloyd Wright Age to me means nothing. I can't get old; I'm working. I was old when I was twenty-one and out of work. As long as you're working, you stay young. When I'm in front of an audience, all that love and vitality sweeps over me and I forget my age. George Burns   I was always taught to respect my elders and I've now reached the age when I don't have anybody to respect. George Burns   About the only thing that comes to us without effort is old age. Gloria Pitzer   Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough. Groucho Marx The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. H. L. Mencken . My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me. Benjamin Disraeli   It is by universal misunderstanding that all agree. For if, by ill luck, people understood each other, they would never agree. Charles Baudelaire Those who agree with us may not be right, but we admire their astuteness. Cullen Hightower We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us. Francois de La Rochefoucauld If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking. Lyndon B. Johnson I don't necessarily agree with everything I say. Marshall McLuhan If you can find something everyone agrees on, it's wrong. Mo Udall Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong. Oscar Wilde The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be. Walter Bagehot When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary. William Wrigley Jr. America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair. Arnold Toynbee  There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. Bill Clinton   America's one of the finest countries anyone ever stole. Bobcat Goldthwaite There's the country of America, which you have to defend, but there's also the idea of America. America is more than just a country, it's an idea. An idea that's supposed to be contagious. Bono There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 - 1969) The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced. Frank Zappa England and America are two countries separated by a common language. George Bernard Shaw America is a young country with an old mentality. George Santayana America has never been an empire. We may be the only great power in history that had the chance, and refused – preferring greatness to power and justice to glory. George W. Bush America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. George W. Bush America will never run... And we will always be grateful that liberty has found such brave defenders. George W. Bush In the United States there is more space where nobody is than where anybody is. That is what makes America what it is. Gertrude Stein   What's right about America is that although we have a mess of problems, we have great capacity - intellect and resources - to do some thing about them. Henry Ford II This is the story of America. Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do. Jack Kerouac In a country as big as the United States, you can find fifty examples of anything. Jeffery F. Chamberlain America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy. There are three social classes in America: upper middle class, middle class, and lower middle class. Judith Martin, The thing that impresses me the most about America is the way parents obey their children. King Edward VIII Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were. Cherie Carter-Scott When anger rises, think of the consequences. Confucius If you would cure anger, do not feed it. Say to yourself: 'I used to be angry every day; then every other day; now only every third or fourth day.' When you reach thirty days offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the gods. Epictetus Anger at lies lasts forever. Anger at truth can't last. Greg Evans Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry. Henry Ward Beecher Speak when you are angry--and you will make the best speech you'll ever regret. Laurence J. Peter Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change. Malcolm X I have a right to my anger, and I don't want anybody telling me I shouldn't be, that it's not nice to be, and that something's wrong with me because I get angry. Maxine Waters My parents only had one argument in forty-five years. It lasted forty-three years. Cathy Ladman He who strikes the first blow admits he's lost the argument. Chinese Proverb I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect, they don't even invite me. Dave Barry Use soft words and hard arguments. English Proverb The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments. Friedrich Nietzsche   The thing I hate about an argument is that it always interrupts a discussion. G. K. Chesterton No matter what side of the argument you are on, you always find people on your side that you wish were on the other. Jascha Heifetz If you go in for argument, take care of your temper. Your logic, if you have any, will take care of itself. Joseph Farrell Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute. Josh Billings Behind every argument is someone's ignorance. Louis D. Brandeis Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing. Oscar Wilde It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them. Pierre Beaumarchais In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth. Publilius Syrus The argument is at an end. Saint Augustine It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument. William G. McAdoo With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plea; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost. William Lloyd Garrison For they are yet ear-kissing arguments. William Shakespeare   [Abstract art is] a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered. Al Capp Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern. Alfred North Whitehead Painting: The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic. Ambrose Bierce Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in. Amy Lowell Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better. Andre Gide Let each man exercise the art he knows. Aristophanes I believe that if it were left to artists to choose their own labels, most would choose none. Ben Shahn So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering. Brenda Ueland I suppose no matter what I'm drawing, there will always be some sort of question in my mind about it. A work of art (even cartoon art)is never really finished; it is abandoned. Brooke McEldowney, I can't criticize what I don't understand. If you want to call this art, you've got the benefit of all my doubts. Charles Rosin, Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature. Cicero Art forms of the past were really considered elitist. Bach did not compose for the masses, neither did Beethoven. It was always for patrons, aristocrats, and royalty. Now we have a sort of democratic version of that, which is to say that the audience is so splintered in its interests. David Cronenberg, Rocketboom, The idea of a mass audience was really an invention of the Industrial Revolution. David Cronenberg, I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. Duke Ellington Works of art, in my opinion, are the only objects in the material universe to possess internal order, and that is why, though I don't believe that only art matters, I do believe in Art for Art's sake. E. M. Forster Another unsettling element in modern art is that common symptom of immaturity, the dread of doing what has been done before. Edith Wharton Art is on the side of the oppressed. Think before you shudder at the simplistic dictum and its heretical definition of the freedom of art. For if art is freedom of the spirit, how can it exist within the oppressors? Edith Wharton A painting in a museum hears more ridiculous opinions than anything else in the world. Edmond de Goncourt Illusions are art, for the feeling person, and it is by art that you live, if you do. Elizabeth Bowen Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything. Eugene Delacroix Art is making something out of nothing and selling it. Frank Zappa I paint my own reality. The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration. Frida Kahlo Art, like morality, consists of drawing the line somewhere. G. K. Chesterton A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright   I happen to feel that the degree of a person's intelligence is directly reflected by the number of conflicting attitudes she can bring to bear on the same topic. Lisa Alther, Kinflicks, Complaining is good for you as long as you're not complaining to the person you're complaining about. Lynn Johnston A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug. Patricia Neal Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives. William James The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind. William James   A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it. Bob Hope Drive-in banks were established so most of the cars today could see their real owners. E. Joseph Cossman A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain. Mark Twain The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason. John Cage I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may - light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful. John Constable Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together. Petrarch When I'm working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong. R. Buckminster Fuller Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking. Albert Einstein   This paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace a hardcover book - it makes a very poor doorstop. Alfred Hitchcock Bülent Göksal   EnglishEver © 2008