Common American Phrases in Everyday Contexts (209 page)

There will be hell to pay
.
There will be a lot of trouble as a result of some action.
F
RED
: If you break another window, there will be hell to pay. A
NDREW
: I didn't do it! I didn't
.
B
ILL
: I'm afraid there's no time to do this one. I'm going to skip it. B
OB
: There will be hell to pay if you do.

There you are
.
That's the way things are.; This is the way things have worked out.
“There's nothing more that can be done. We've done what we could. So, there you are,” said Fred, dejected
.
A
NDREW
: Then what happened? B
OB
: Then they put me in a cell until they found I was innocent. Somebody stole my watch in there, and I cut myself on a broken wine bottle left on a bench. And now I've got lice. All because of mistaken identity. So, there you are.

There you go
!
Now you are doing it right!; Now you have the right attitude!
A
LICE
: I know I can do it. I just need to try harder. J
ANE
: There you go!
B
OB
: I'll devote my full time to studying and stop messing around. F
ATHER
: There you go! That's great!

There's more than one way to skin a cat
.
There is more than one way to do something. (Some suggest that this refers to skinning a catfish, but there are not really many ways to skin a catfish.)
Q: Isn't there a better way to do this? A: Sure! There's more than one way to skin a cat
.
A: I've done everything I can to convince cousin Sally to join us for the trip to Rome. I've appealed to her sense of family, her need for a vacation, and her love of Italian food. Nothing seems to work. B: Let me take a stab at it. There's more than one way to skin a cat.

(There's) no point in
doing something. There is (no longer) any purpose in doing something.
There is no point in locking the barn door now that the horse has been stolen
.
No point in crying over spilled milk.

(There's) no rest for the wicked
.
Someone is extremely busy. (A catchphrase said to or about someone, including oneself.)
Gee, I've been working my butt off all day. Not a moment's rest. Oh, well. No rest for the wicked, I guess
.
Come on. Get up and go back to work. There's no rest for the wicked.