bar none
bar none :
when the band begins to play
when matters become serious
jump on the bandwagon
join others in doing something or supporting a cause that is fashionable or likely to be successful.
Bandwagon was originally the US term for a large wagon able to carry a band of musicians in a procession.
bang for your buck = bang for the buck
value for money
performance for cost - US informal
1995 - Desktop Publishing Journal - These additions to Run Share... will surely give you the most productive network, the most bang for your buck.
bang goes
used to express the sudden or complete destruction of something, especially a plan or ambition
1895 - George Bernard Shaw - Letter – Somebody will give a surreptitious performance of it and then bang goes my copyright.
bang on
exactly right - British informal
bang people's heads together
reprimand people severely, especially in the attempt to make them stop arguing.
get a bang out of
derive excitement or pleasure from - North American informal
1931 - Damon Runyon - Guys and Dolls - He seems to be getting a great bang out of the doings.
go with a bang
happen with obvious success
break the bank
(in gambling) win more money than is held by the bank.
Cost more than you can afford – informal
under the banner of
claiming to support a particular cause or set of ideas
as part of a particular group or organization
a baptism of fire
a difficult introduction to a new job or activity
A baptism of fire was originally a soldier's initiation into battle.
1998 - Times - Opposition spokesmen do not normally face a baptism of fire, but the Bank of England's unexpected decision... provided the Shadow Chancellor with an opportunity to make an early mark.
bar none
with no exceptions
1866 - M.E. Braddon - Lady's Mile - Your Aspasia is the greatest picture that ever was painted bar none.
the bare bones
the basic facts about something, without any detail
would not touch someone with a bargepole = would not touch something with a bargepole
used to express an emphatic refusal to have anything to do with someone or something – informal
A bargepole is used to propel a barge and to fend off obstacles. The equivalent US expression substitutes a ten-foot pole.
bark at the moon
clamour or make an outcry to no effect.
The barking of dogs at a full moon has been a metaphor for futile activity since the mid 17th century.
bark up the wrong tree
pursue a mistaken or misguided line of thought or course of action – informal
The metaphor is of a dog that has mistaken the tree in which its quarry has taken refuge and is barking at the foot of the wrong one.
1969 - Arnold Bennett - Forty Years On – For sovereign states to conclude agreements on the basis of a mutual fondness for dogs seems to me to be barking up the wrong tree.
someone's bark is worse than their bite
Someone is not as ferocious as they appear or sound.
A similar association between barking and biting occurs in the proverb a barking dog never bites which can be traced back through 13th-century French (chascuns chiens qui abaie ne mort pas, dogs that bark don't bite) to Latin (canem timidum vehementius latrarequam mordere, a timid dog barks more furiously than it bites).
bar none :
Idioms Index – Previous Page
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