* I hate to be the bearer of bad news: I
don’t want to deliver bad news
ex>
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you need a new transmission.
* give up the ghost: to die; be
permanently broken
ex>
My grandfather stopped driving when his old car finally gave up the ghost.
Note>
“Ghost” can describe a person’s soul or spirit (if you believe in such things),
so if you gave it up, possibly to some higher authority, you no longer have it
and you die. Its use in that sense is very old, but the expression is more used
now to describe less dramatic events.
* hang in there: to endure a difficult
situation
ex>
We’ll be all right if we can just hang in there until payday.
ex>
If you can hang in there for three more laps, you will win the race.
* pack it in: to stop functioning; quit
ex>
Our fridge packed it in on the hottest day of the year, so we cooked a
lot of food that day.
Note>
This usage alludes to packing one’s things before departing, and during World
War I became military slang for being killed. It also is used as an imperative ordering
someone to stop, as in “Pack it.”
* luck out: to experience a piece of good
fortune
ex>
My team lucked out and found the hidden treasure before anyone else.
* discontinued: no longer available
ex>
We can’t break any more dishes because this pattern has been discontinued.
* shot:
The term “shot” is used to describe anything that is no longer functioning:
objects, machines, even relationships. They only kinds of things you wouldn’t
say were “shot” would be complicated objects or systems, like a house or a
corporation.
ex>
I’d love to, but my tennis racket is shot. I really have to get a new
one.
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