Phrases.com »

Phrases related to: past times Page #2

Yee yee! We've found 218 phrases and idioms matching past times.

Sort:RelevancyA - Z
thunder pastTo move by loudly, at great speed.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
tick pastTo continue over time.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
whistle past the graveyardTo enter a situation with little or no understanding of the possible consequences.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
whistle past the graveyardTo attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation; To proceed with a task, ignoring an upcoming hazard, hoping for a good outcome.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
a chip on your shoulderBeing angry about something that happened in the past; holding a grudge.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
are you feeling betterAsked to find out whether someone has recovered to some degree from past illness or unwellness.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
bad pennyA person or thing which is unpleasant, disreputable, or otherwise unwanted, especially one which repeatedly appears at inopportune times.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
bygones be bygones, and fair play for time to comeLet all past wrongs be forgotten, with a resumption of cordial relations.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
flutter in the dovecoteI further argued that the principal cause for the political deadlock that persisted for thirty years after the guns fell silent was Israeli intransigence rather than Arab intransigence. The appearance of the first wave of revisionist studies excited a great deal of interest and controversy in the media and more than a flutter in the academic dovecote. — Israel Confronts Its Past.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
forgive and forgetAbsolve completely for a past wrongdoing; pardon with neither resentment nor a view to retribution.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
needs a swift kick in the slats!Depression Expression; Threats and assertions of physical violence toward certain individuals during 'hard times' was common. Circa 1929-1939.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
nemesis theoryTheory of animal extinction, suggesting that a sister star to the sun caused extinction of groups of animals such as dinosaurs. The theory holds that the movement of this as yet undiscovered star disrupts the Oort cloud of comets every 26 million years, resulting in the Earth suffering an increased bombardment from comets at these times.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
over the hillOld, past the prime of life.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
Rally Round the FlagGetting together to express support and backing, particularly during the bad timesRate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
stay wokeFirst used by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter in a 1938 interview afterword of his song Scottsboro Boys-named for nine Black teenagers and young men falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama in 1931. Lead Belly knew the Scottsboro boys, and urged Black listeners and Black persons traveling through that area in Alabama to "Stay Woke" (be vigilant, cautious, and alert) in the spoken afterword to the song. Lead Belly's direct relative, Global Activist and Equality Advocate Greshun De Bouse began the #STAYWOKELEADBELLY movement to acknowledge the phrase's origin, and redefine its present-day meaning as a more generalized, all-inclusive phrase admonishing all to be cognizant of past, present, and future world occurrences.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
time out of mindThe distant past beyond anyone's memory.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
water under the bridgeSomething in the past that cannot be controlled or undone, but must be accepted, forgiven, or forgotten.Rate it:

(5.00 / 1 vote)
worm has turnedpast tense of worm turnsRate it:

(5.00 / 2 votes)
four score and seven years agoAs an opener, a sometimes sarcastic indicator to indicate a past event being mentioned is particularly important.Rate it:

(4.50 / 2 votes)
look backTo reminisce about a past time.Rate it:

(4.50 / 4 votes)
take backTo cause to remember some past event or time.Rate it:

(4.33 / 3 votes)
a bad penny always turns upA person or thing which is unpleasant, dishonorable, or unwanted tends to appear (or reappear), especially at inopportune times.Rate it:

(4.20 / 5 votes)
borne outPast participle of bear out.Rate it:

(4.00 / 3 votes)
days of yorethe past; bygone days (nostalgic)Rate it:

(4.00 / 1 vote)
go byTo pass, to go past, without much interaction.Rate it:

(4.00 / 5 votes)
history repeats itselfThings that have happened in the past will happen again.Rate it:

(4.00 / 2 votes)
pass byTo proceed past something.Rate it:

(3.67 / 3 votes)
of lateIn the recent past; recently; lately.Rate it:

(3.50 / 4 votes)
an old fuddy, duddyOne Whom Remains Stilted, Unwilling to React in an Up To The Moment Attitude; Dwells in the Past. Rejects modern approaches.Rate it:

(3.00 / 1 vote)
any port in a stormAn unfavourable option which might well be avoided in good times but which nevertheless looks better than the alternatives at the current time.Rate it:

(3.00 / 1 vote)
bring backTo cause someone to remember something from the past.Rate it:

(3.00 / 2 votes)
go the way of the dinosaursTo go extinct or become obsolete; to fall out of common use or practice; to go off the firsthand market; to become a thing of the past.Rate it:

(3.00 / 1 vote)
Over the HillOld and past age, beyond one’s prime, past the bestRate it:

(3.00 / 2 votes)
rest on one's laurelsTo rely on a past success instead of trying to improve oneself further.Rate it:

(3.00 / 1 vote)
rush hourThe times of the day when traffic jams are commonplace, due mainly to people commuting to or from work.Rate it:

(3.00 / 1 vote)
saintedSimple past tense and past participle of saint.Rate it:

(3.00 / 1 vote)
throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stickTry the same thing (or similar things) often enough, and, even if the general standard is poor, sometimes one will be successful.2001, And still no one is shouting stop. read in The Kingdom archives at on 02 Nov 06,Many team managers are of the philosophy that if you throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick. They believe that team preparation is all about physical fitness. They run the players into the ground and they believe they will be "flying on the day".2001, Robert McCrum, Let them eat cake, in The Observer 16 Dec 01, read on Guardian Unlimited site at on 02 Nov 06,Australian publishing boomed and in the past 10 years the country's literary culture has undergone a mini golden age, capped by Carey's triumph at the 2001 Booker Prize. As one Australian arts administrator said to me many years ago: 'Listen, mate, if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.'2001, Chris Collin, Re: 2-cp speys on The Strathspey Server mailing list archive at on 02 Nov 06,I am finding that "if you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick". It doesn't always work of course (especially on the nights when the class is mostly the beginners), but the class seems to thrive on the challange.2005, Ray Craft (poster on The right scale blog), Fitzhooie and his Burden, read at on 02 Nov 06,Prosecutors everywhere have bad habits of overcharging lots of cases, knowing that if the throw enough mud at the wall some of it will stick.2005, Sean Kelleher, Spike Milligan: His part in our downfall in Business 07 Aug 05, read at on 02 Nov 06,As long as there is negligible regulation and enforcement anyone can actually try and do the job...Weak regulation allows the industry to build strategies on full time recruitment. The theory goes: throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick.c2005, Everything You've Learned About Marketing Is Wrong, read on LINC Performance website at on 02 Nov 06,They have the money to continue to believe in the repetition side of the equation. You throw enough mud at the wall, some of it will stick. But it still isnRate it:

(3.00 / 4 votes)
garbage in, garbage out(computing, information technology) If input data is not complete, accurate, and timely, then the resulting output is unreliable and of no useful value.1963, Raymond Crowley, "Robot Tax Collector Seeks Indications of 'Fudging'," Times Daily (Alabama, USA), 1 April (retrieved 26 July 2010):Officials explained that the quality of the computer's work depends on the quality of the data fed into it. Neil Hoke, administrative assistant to Stewart, quoted an adage of computer men: "Garbage in, garbage out."2008, Roger K. Lewis, "'In Architectural Design, Brains and Talent Trump the Best Software," Washington Post, 19 July (retrieved 26 July 2010):The old caveat "GIGO"Rate it:

(2.33 / 3 votes)
hindsight is 20/20(idiomatic) In hindsight things are obvious that were not obvious from the outset; one is able to evaluate past choices more clearly than at the time of the choice.Rate it:

(2.00 / 1 vote)
measure twice and cut once(literally, carpentry) One should double-check one's measurements for accuracy before cutting a piece of wood; otherwise it may be necessary to cut again, wasting time and material.1872, "Dressmaking," Hall's Journal of Health, vol. 19, no. 12, p. 280:Look at Carpenters! . . . In old times it was a proverb "Measure twice, and cut once."(figuratively, by extension) Plan and prepare in a careful, thorough manner before taking action.2008, Hilary Johnson, "Mergers rattle bank relations," Financial Week, 9 Nov. (retrieved 9 Nov. 2008):Mr. Paz noted that since the onset of the credit crisis, eBay, like other companies, hasnRate it:

(2.00 / 4 votes)
over and overRepeatedly; again and again; many times.Rate it:

(2.00 / 1 vote)
ye oldePseudo-archaic, pertaining to a historically inaccurate invocation of pre-modern times.Rate it:

(2.00 / 1 vote)
are you for real?Statements, actions. Body language, past history create an image of an individual in a particular situation.Rate it:

(1.00 / 1 vote)
better to light a single candle than to curse the darknessIn the face of bad times or hopelessness, it is more worthwhile to do some good, however small, in response than to complain about the situation.Rate it:

(1.00 / 1 vote)
brush byTo walk past another person, touching them slightly, normally by accident, and ignoring them.Rate it:

(1.00 / 1 vote)
for old time's sakeAlternative form of for old times' sakeRate it:

(1.00 / 1 vote)
the chickens come home to roostA person's past wrongdoings will return to negatively affect them.Rate it:

(1.00 / 2 votes)
Water over the DamEvents that are unchangeable, past eventsRate it:

(1.00 / 1 vote)
about timeFar past the desired time.Rate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)
as everconsistent with past behaviour, as expectedRate it:

(0.00 / 0 votes)

We need you!

Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

Alternative searches for past times:

Quiz

Are you a phrases master?

»
You're choosing to sit on the _______ if you don't pick a side.
A fence
B bank
C stairs
D horse

Browse Phrases.com

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ