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The S drawer

77 phrases beginning with S.

Sackcloth and ashes An outward display of deep remorse, penitence, mourning, or public self-reproach. Often humorous or exaggerated when applied to public apologies…
Saddle someone with To burden or load someone down, stuck.
Sadfishing Posting exaggerated or emotional claims about one's personal problems online in order to attract sympathy, attention or followers. A dismissive…
Safe and sound Completely out of danger and found or returned without physical injury, loss, or damage. Sound retains its old whole or uninjured sense in this…
Salad days A youthful period of inexperience, enthusiasm or carefree behaviour. Usually plural and commonly preceded by a possessive. It may be affectionate or…
Salt of the earth A genuinely good, honest person, solid and humble.
Saved by the bell Rescued at the last possible moment from defeat, danger, embarrassment, an unwanted answer, or another difficult situation. Current and informal. In…
Say uncle Admit defeat, surrender, or ask for an ordeal to stop. Current informal expression, often associated with children's contests Regional use: United…
Scapegoat Someone made to carry the blame for the mistakes or wrongdoing of others; by extension, to 'scapegoat' a person is to punish or publicly fault them in…
Scarce as hen's teeth Extremely rare or effectively nonexistent, like teeth in an adult hen, which has a beak rather than visible teeth. Informal and emphatic. Because the…
Scot-free Without punishment, payment, injury, or other adverse consequence. The first element is scot, not Scott. It can concern harm as well as formal…
Scraping the barrel Using the last or worst options, down to dregs.
Screw the pooch Make a serious, conspicuous, or disastrous mistake. Current but crude even in euphemised form Regional use: United States military, later general…
Sealioning A harassment tactic in which someone persistently demands evidence and answers to questions while performing politeness and sincere curiosity, wearing…
See a man about a dog Leave while deliberately withholding the real reason, often as a euphemism for going to the toilet. Informal euphemism. The usual modern inference in…
See the elephant Gain a much-anticipated but often harsh or disillusioning experience. Historical and now obscure Regional use: United States, especially 19th-century…
See which way the wind blows To wait and gauge the situation, testing the drift.
Sell someone down the river To betray someone, especially by quietly acting against their interests while pretending loyalty, leaving them in serious trouble. The betrayal is…
Send someone packing Dismiss, reject or drive someone away abruptly and decisively. Informal and forceful. In sport it commonly means eliminate from a competition…
Send someone to Coventry Deliberately ostracise someone by refusing to speak to or acknowledge them. Describes organised or collective silent treatment, not merely sending…
Set your teeth on edge Cause an unpleasant physical sensation in the teeth or make someone acutely irritated or uncomfortable. It can describe either a literal dental…
Shanks's pony Travelling on foot, especially because no vehicle or other transport is available. Informal and jocular. Apostrophe placement varies because speakers…
Sharenting The practice of parents regularly sharing photos, videos and personal details about their children on social media. Usually neutral in news usage but…
Sharp as a tack Very quick or smart, keen.
Shipping Fandom slang for endorsing or hoping for a romantic pairing between two fictional characters or, more riskily, real people; a ship is the pairing…
Shipshape and Bristol fashion Neat, orderly and efficiently arranged; in excellent working condition. Approving and mildly old-fashioned. Hyphenation varies; the modern closed form…
Shoot from the hip To act or speak fast and loose, without much thought.
Shoot the breeze To chat idly or casually, passing time with aimless talk.
Short shrift Little time, attention, sympathy or consideration given to someone or something. Usually occurs with give, get or receive. The modern sense does not…
Show a leg Get out of bed, get moving, or demonstrate that you are awake. Informal and brisk. The accompanying story about sailors' wives should be labelled…
Shrinkflation The practice of reducing the size, amount or volume of a product while keeping its price the same, so that consumers effectively pay more per unit…
Sick as a dog Real ill or down, laid low.
Sick as a parrot Deeply upset or disappointed, down low.
Sick as a pig Real ill or down.
Sick to death Fed up or done.
Sick to the back teeth Fed up past full.
Signs of the times Events or trends regarded as characteristic evidence of the present period. Singular is common for one example; plural often refers to a cluster of…
Sing like a bird To spill or sing out free, all voice.
Sing like a canary To spill secrets or confess freely, chirping out everything.
Sitting duck A person or thing that is an easy, helpless target for attack, criticism, or exploitation, having little or no means of defense or escape. It is…
Situationship A romantic or sexual relationship that is deliberately left undefined, with the partners unclear about the exact nature or extent of their commitment…
Six of one and half a dozen of the other Used to say that two options, explanations or parties are essentially the same, so that choosing between them, or dividing praise or blame between…
Skeleton in the closet A hidden secret or shameful past kept out of sight, lurking like a grim relic that could ruin a reputation if revealed.
Slacktivism Support for a political or social cause expressed through minimal-effort actions such as liking posts, changing a profile picture, or signing online…
Sling your hook An informal and often brusque British command telling someone to leave, go away, or remove themselves from a place or situation. Informal and…
Sly as a fox Cunning or sharp, sneaky smart.
Smart aleck Someone irritatingly smug about being clever or knowledgeable. Current informal and mildly insulting Regional use: United States, with early Western…
Snake oil A fraudulent or worthless remedy, and by extension any product, scheme or claim sold with false promises; a snake-oil salesman is someone who…
Soft day, thank God A mild, damp or lightly rainy day, acknowledged with gratitude or dry humour. Regional and often wry rather than devout. It can sound stereotyped when…
Soft launch In dating and social media slang, to hint at a new relationship online without officially confirming it, for example posting a photo of a partner's…
Sow wild oats To spend a period of one's youth on frivolous, immoderate, or dissolute pursuits, with the implication that this is a phase to be got through before…
Spare the rod and spoil the child The traditional claim that a child will be badly formed without firm correction or discipline. Historically associated with corporal punishment and…
Spend a penny Use the toilet, especially to urinate. Historically associated particularly with women's pay cubicles because men's urinals were often free. Regional…
Spick and span Exceptionally neat, clean and fresh-looking, with everything in an orderly and polished condition. Usually complimentary and somewhat informal. It now…
Spill the beans Reveal secret or previously hidden information, often indiscreetly or sooner than intended.
Spill the tea To share gossip, secrets or the real story behind a situation; 'the tea' means the juicy information itself. Often used as an imperative inviting…
Spit and image A person who looks strikingly like another person, especially a close relative. Informal and normally used of physical resemblance. Spit and image can…
Splice the mainbrace Issue or take a celebratory alcoholic drink, especially under naval authority. Naval and celebratory. Historically it authorized a ration rather than…
Sportswashing The use of hosting, sponsoring, or promoting sport to burnish a tarnished reputation or deflect attention from human-rights abuses and other…
Square the circle To try an impossible task, seeking what can't be.
Stag and doe A ticketed party held to raise money for an engaged couple's wedding. Current regional social-custom term Regional use: Canada, predominantly Ontario…
Stan An extremely devoted fan of a celebrity, franchise, or fictional character; also a verb meaning to admire or support with that intensity. Originally…
Steal someone's thunder To take credit for someone else's idea or success, or to overshadow their moment by preempting it with your own, often with a sense of unfairness or…
Steelman The strongest, most charitable version of an opponent's argument, reconstructed before responding to it. To 'steel man' a position is to actively…
Stick your neck out To take a bold risk or chance, exposed.
Stiff upper lip Deliberate emotional restraint in the face of distress or adversity: to keep a stiff upper lip is to stay calm, resolute, and undemonstrative rather…
Still waters run deep A quiet or reserved person may have substantial intelligence, feeling, or complexity beneath the surface. Now usually approving, though older examples…
Stir up a hornets' nest To provoke an outburst of anger, criticism or trouble, usually by raising a controversial subject or disturbing a settled state of affairs. A hornet's…
Stool pigeon An informer, especially one working for the police against other offenders. Dated but understood in crime contexts Regional use: United States, later…
Straight from the horse's mouth Directly from the original, authoritative, or best-informed source.
Strange bedfellows An unlikely, surprising or uneasy pairing of people, groups or ideas, often created by necessity or shared interest. Often used in political…
Straw man A misrepresentation of an opponent's argument, invented so it can be easily attacked and defeated. Instead of engaging with what was actually said…
Suffer fools gladly Tolerate foolish, incompetent, or irritating people patiently, without showing open annoyance. Most often appears in the negative to describe an…
Sunsetting The deliberate, announced phasing-out of a product, service, or feature, typically with a published timeline running through end of sale, end of…
Swan song A final performance, appearance or piece of work, produced at or just before retirement or the end of a career; occasionally of something completed…
Sweet as Excellent, acceptable, agreed or all right. Informal. Sweet-as with a hyphen may be used before a noun, while the unhyphenated phrase commonly stands…
Swing the lead Avoid work or duty by pretending to be ill, incapable or busier than one is. Disapproving. It alleges deliberate shirking, so it can be unfair or…