A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   K   L   M   O   R   S   T   W   Sag off - Not go to school or work, or leave early when you shouldn't Sail into - Criticise angrily Sail through - Pass easily, succeed Sally forth - Leave somewhere safe or comfortable Sally out - Leave somewhere safe or comfortable Salt away - Save money Save on - Reduce or avoid consumption to cut costs Save up - For money for a particular purpose - Collect or store something for future use Scare away - Frighten someone some much that they go away Scare off - Make someone so frightened that he or she away Scout about - Look in different places for something Scout around - Look in different places for something Scout out - Search for something Scout round - Look in different places for something Scout up - Try to find someone for a task or requirement Scrape along - Manage with little money Scrape by - Just manage to pass something Scrape in - Just get enough to succeed, pass or be accepted Scrape into - Be accepted somewhere, but only just Scrape through - Pass a test but only just Scrape together - Manage to collect enough of something you need, usually money Scrape up - Manage to collect enough of something you need, usually money Screen off - Separate a part of a room with something like a curtain, screen, etc. Screen out - Exclude - Block light - Stop noticing something Screw around - Waste time - Be sexually promiscuous Screw up - Do badly or fail See about - Arrange, consider See into - Accompany someone into an office See off - Chase somebody or something away - Go to the airport, station, etc., to say goodbye to someone See out - Accompany a guest to your front door when they are leaving your house See through - Continue with something to the end - Realise someone is lying or being deceitful See to - Deal with something Sell off - Sell a business or part of it - Sell something cheaply because you need the money or don't need it Sell on - Convince someone - Buy something then sell it to someone else Sell out - Have no more of something left because it has been bought - Lose all artistic integrity in return for commercial success Sell up - Sell a house or business to move somewhere or do something different Send back - Return something Send for - Ask someone to come and help Send in - Order people into a place to handle a problem - Write to get information Send off - Expel a sports player from a match - Post a letter Send off for - Order something by post Send out - Send something to a lot of people Send out for - Order takeaway food by phone Send up - Imitate/impersonate for comic effect Set about - Start doing something Set aside - Overturn a court verdict or decision Set back - Cost Set forth - State or outline an opinion - Start a journey Set in - Change season noticeably Set off - Explode a bomb - Ring an alarm - Start a journey - Counterbalance a debt Set out - Display, show - Start a journey Set up - Prepare equipment, software, etc., for use - Start a company Settle down - Start living a fixed and routine life Settle for - Accept whatever is available Settle in - Get used to Settle on - Agree Settle up - Pay a debt Sex up - Change information to make it more attractive to the reader or listener Shack up - Live with someone when you are in a relationship. - Live somewhere temporarily Shake down - Search - Extort or cheat money from someone Shake off - Get rid of an illness Shape up - Develop in a positive way - Improve to reach an acceptable standard Shave off - Shave completely Shell out - Spend money on something, especially when you think it's too expensive Ship off - Send someone away, often because of a problem Ship out - Leave a place Shoot away - Leave somewhere quickly Shoot back - Return quickly Shoot off - Leave promptly and quickly Shoot out - Go out for a short time Shoot up - Increase quickly Shop around - Look around for the best price, quality, etc. Show around - Take someone to a place to show them certain parts Show in - Take someone into an office or other room Show off - Behave in a way so as to attract attention - Display something you are proud of - Make the qualities of another thing more apparent Show out - Take someone to out of a room or building Show over - Take someone around a site Show round - Take someone to a place to show them certain parts Show through - When a feeling can be seen despite attempts to conceal it Show up - Attend something or arrive somewhere - Become clear or apparent - Make someone feel embarrassed or ashamed Shrug off - Disregard something, not consider it important or harmful Shut away - Imprison or remove someone's freedom Shut down - Close a business, shop, etc. - Turn a computer off Shut in - Prevent someone from leaving Shut off - Close, prevent access Shut out - Exclude Shut out of - Exclude someone from an activity, etc Shut up - Stop talking or making noise - Close for a period of time Shut yourself away - Withdraw from company Shy away from - Avoid doing something because you lack confidence Side with - Support someone Sift through - Examine a lot of things carefully Sign away - Give away legal or property rights Sign for - Write a signature on behalf on someone Sign in - Register in a hotel - Open a computer program that requires a name and password - Write your name when entering a place Sign into - Open a particular computer program that requires a name and password Sign off - End a message - Close a claim for unemployment benefit - Stop doing something to leave - Give someone a letter to be away from work Sign on - Open a claim for unemployment benefit - Agree to participate - Start broadcasting - Employ Sign on with - Sign a document joining or agreeing to something Sign out - Close a computer program that requires a name and password - Sign something to show you have borrowed something Sign out of - Close a particular computer program that requires a name and password Sign up - Give your name to do something - Subscribe Sign with - Make a contract with Sink in - Slowly come to be understood Sit about - Sit and do nothing, especially when you should be working Sit around - Sit idly, doing nothing Sit back - Wait for something to happen without making any effort - Relax in a chair Sit by - Not try to stop something Sit down - Help someone to sit Sit for - Pose for an artist or photographer - Look after children while their parents are out Sit in - Occupy a building to protest about something Sit in for - Take on someone's responsibilities while they are absent Sit in on - Attend as an observer Sit on - Be on a committee - To handle somebody firmly who behaves impertinently, conceitedly - Hold information back or keep it secret Sit out - Not take part Sit over - Eat or drink slowly Sit through - Stay till the end of something dull Sit with - Reconcile different positions Size up - Assess a situation or person carefully. - Make something bigger or produce bigger products Skive off - Avoid doing work or other duty Slag off - Criticise heavily Sleep off - Sleep in order to recover from excess alcohol, drugs, etc. Sleep on - Think about something Sleep over - Spend the night at someone else's house Sleep through - Not wake up Slip out - Leave discreetly Slip up - Make an error Slope off - Leave somewhere without letting others know Slow down - Reduce speed - Become less active Slow up - Slow the progress of something Smack of - Appear to have a negative quality Smash down - Demolish or break something down Smash in - Break something by hitting it repeatedly Smash up - Destroy, break into many pieces Snap off - Break a piece off something Snap out of - Control negative emotions Snap to it! - Do something quickly Snap up - Get, acquire or buy something quickly Sniff around - Look around to see how good something is or to try to find something better Sniff at - Disapprove or be scornful Sniff out - Find something be smell (usually for dogs) - Find out information, especially when people don't want anyone to know Sober up - Stop showing the effects of alcohol or drugs Soldier on - Continue even when things get difficult Sort out - Resolve a problem Sound off - To express your opinions forcefully Sound out - Check what someone thinks about an issue, idea, etc. Spark off - Cause something, usually unpleasant, to happen Spark up - Light a cigarette or joint Speak out - Talk openly and freely Speak up - Talk more loudly Spell out - Explain something in great detail Spit it out - An informal way of telling someone to say something they are unwilling to say Spit out - Say something angrily Split up - Divide into groups - Finish a relationship Spoil for - Really want something Spur on - Encourage someone to continue Square away - Finish or sort something out Square off - Confront someone or prepare to fight them Square off against - Confront someone or prepare to fight them Square up - Pay back a debt - Confront someone or prepare to fight them Square up to - Accept responsibility or guilt Square with - Match, conform to - Check with someone that something is OK Squeeze up - Get more people into a space than normal or comfortable Stack up - Put things in a pile - Accumulate - Increase, accumulate something - Be logical, make sense - Build up the number of planes waiting to land at an airport Stack up against - Be as good as something Staff up - Employ someone for something specific Stamp out - Get rid of something Stand about - Spend time in a place waiting or doing nothing or very little Stand around - Spend time in a place waiting or doing nothing or very little Stand aside - Leave a position so that someone else can take it Stand back - Keep a distance from something - Try to understand something by taking a different perspective Stand by - Support someone - Be ready and waiting for something to happen Stand down - Leave a job or position so that someone else can take it - Finish being asked questions in a court Stand for - Accept or tolerate behaviour - The words represented by certain initials Stand in for - Substitute someone temporarily Stand out - Be extraordinary and different Stand up - Move from a sitting or lying down to a vertical position - Fail to keep an appointment Stand up for - Defend, support Stand up to - Keep your principles when challenged by an authority - Resist damage Start off - Make something start - Begin life, a career or existence - Begin a journey - Make someone laugh Start off on - Help someone to start a piece or work or activity Start on - Begin to use or consume - Criticise angrily Start on at - Criticise or nag Start out - Begin a journey Start out as - Begin life, existence or a career Start out to - Intend, plan Start over - Begin something again Start up - Open a business - Begin, especially sounds - When an engine starts working - Make an engine work - Sit or stand upright because someone has surprised you Stash away - Store or hide something in a safe place Stay away - Not come Stay away from - Avoid, not come Stay in - Not go out Stay on - Remain longer than anticipated Stay out - Not go home Stay over - Stay overnight Stay up - Not go to bed Steer clear of - Avoid Stem from - Originate, be caused by Step aside - Leave a job or position so that someone else can take over Step back - Look at something from a different perspective Step down - Leave a job or position so that someone can take over - Reduce Step forward - Offer help Step in - Get involved by interrupting something Step on it - An imperative used to tell someone to go faster, especially when driving Step out - Leave a place for a very short time Step to - Confront - Chat, talk to Step up - Increase Stick around - Stay in a place for some time Stick at - Continue doing something despite difficulties Stick by - Support someone when they are having difficulties - Support a plan, opinion or decision Stick down - Write something quickly or without thinking about it - Join surfaces with glue Stick it to - Criticise someone - Treat someone badly or unfairly Stick out - Be easily noticed - Extend part of your body - Continue doing something difficult or unpleasant Stick out for - Demand a salary raise Stick to - Not change - Restrict or limit and not change Stick together - Support each other Stick up - Stand on end - Rob using weapons Stick up for - Support or defend Stick with - Not change something - Stay near someone - Not be forgotten - Continue with something difficult or unpleasant Stir up - Make trouble for someone else Stitch up - Sew something so that it is closed - Finalise a deal - Cheat someone or make them look guilty when they aren't Stop around (round) - Visit someone for a short time. Stop back - Return somewhere Stop behind - Stay somewhere when other people leave Stop by - Visit somewhere briefly or quickly Stop in - Stay at home - Visit briefly Stop off - Break a journey Stop out - Be out late, especially when you are expected home Stop over - Stay somewhere when on a journey Stop up - Stay up late - Fill or block something Storm off - Leave a place angrily Storm out - Leave a place angrily Stow away - Hide in a vehicle to travel without people knowing - Store something in a safe place Straighten out - Make something straight - Deal with a problem - Make clear and resolve - Improve someone's behaviour Straighten up - Stand straight - Tidy String along - Deceive someone for a long time - Accompany someone because you haven't got anything better to do String out - Make something last as long as possible String together - Put words together into a coherent text String up - Hang somebody Stub out - Extinguish a cigarette Stumble across - Find something accidentally Stumble upon - Find something accidentally Stump up - Pay for something Suck in - Become involved in something unpleasant Suck into - Become involved in something unpleasant Suck up to - Ingratiate yourself with someone Sum up - Summarise Summon up - Get the energy or courage to do something Suss out - Come to understand Swan about - Move in a dramatic or affected manner Swan around - Move in a dramatic or affected manner Swan in - Enter in a dramatic or attention-seeking manner Swan off - Leave somewhere in a defiant or pompous manner Swear by - Have great confidence in Swear down - Promise that something is true Sweep through - Pass easily, succeed - Move quickly through Syphon off - Take business, support or votes from someone - Divert money illegally . 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   EnglishEver © 2008