Common American Phrases in Everyday Contexts (59 page)

Give
one
an inch, and
one
will take a mile
.
AND
Give
some people
an inch, and they will take a mile
.
Allow someone a little leeway, and that person will take even more liberty. (The
people
can be
them, some people
, or a specific group of people.)
A: I told John he could use my ladder, but then he came back and helped himself to my lawnmower, and he hasn't brought either one back. B: Give him an inch, and he'll take a mile
.
First they wanted to wear funny hats to school. Now they want to bring their cell phones. Give them an inch, and they'll take a mile.

Give
some people
an inch, and they will take a mile
.
Go to Give one an inch, and one will take a mile.

give
someone
an earful
to tell someone a great amount of information or make a lot of complaints to someone.
She was really mad
about something and gave me an earful.
I needed to talk to someone, so I gave poor Mary an earful.

Give
something
a rest
.
Go to Give it a rest.

Give you a lift?
Go to (Could I) give you a lift?

Glad to hear it
.
Go to (I'm) glad to hear it.

Glad to meet you
.
Go to (I'm) (very) glad to meet you.

Glad you could come
.
Go to (I'm) glad you could come.

Glad you could drop by
.
Go to (I'm) glad you could drop by.

Glad you could stop by
.
Go to (I'm) glad you could drop by.

Go ahead
.
Please do it.; You have my permission and encouragement to do it.
A
LICE
: I'm leaving. J
OHN
: Go ahead. See if I care
.
J
ANE
: Can I put this one in the refrigerator? J
ANE
: Sure. Go ahead.

(Go ahead,) make my day! 1
.
Just try to do me harm or disobey me. I will enjoy punishing you. (From a phrase said in a movie where the person saying the phrase is holding a gun on a villain and would really like the villain to do something that would justify firing the gun. Now a cliché. Compare to Keep it up!)
The crook reached into his jacket for his wallet. The cop, thinking the crook was about to draw a gun, said, “Go ahead, make my day!
”
As Bill pulled back his clenched fist to strike Tom, who is much bigger and stronger than Bill, Tom said, “Make my day!
”
2
.
Go ahead, ruin my day!; Go ahead, give me the bad news. (A sarcastic version of sense 1.)
T
OM
(standing in the doorway): Hello, I'm with the Internal Revenue Service. Could I come in? M
ARY
: Go ahead, make my day!
S
ALLY
: I've got some bad news for you. J
OHN
: Go ahead, make my day!

Go away
!
Leave me!; Get away from me!
M
ARY
: You're such a pest, Sue. Go away! S
UE
: I was just trying to help
.
“Go away!” the child yelled at the bee.