[She] has personally rolled up her sleeves to stiffen the White Paper's sustainable sinews and it seems highly improbable that the nuclear industry will get more than a token nod along the lines of "keeping the door open for the long term". Jonathan Porritt, quoted in the Observer Feb23 03 According to Shakespeare, before the Battle of Harfleur Henry V encouraged his soldiers to "stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood". You can stifffen your own sinews, but not somebody else’s, especially not a piece of paper’s. And that’s even before we get to nodding and keeping the door open.

A boiler-suited Ravel’s Bolero (even with the ghosts of Torvill & Dean hanging heavy in the wings) was near the mark. Guardian , Dec 16 99

a breath of spectacle and magic. Jeremy Paxman

a long road to hoe     You use a hoe to remove weeds from your rows of beans etc.

A massive recruitment drive has failed to stem the spectre of teacher shortages haunting state schools this September. Independent Aug 8 01 (You stem a flow, lay a spectre.)

A new powerhouse in London’s art scene would provide a breeding ground for the nation’s artisan and design businesses. Letter, Guardian  Aug 2 00

a pivotal and volatile juncture     Volatile chemical mixtures are likely to vapourise. A juncture is a meeting point.

AScourge We Must Root Out headline in Independent Jan 30, 00     You usually root out weeds, not whips.

a sop to the European Capital of Culture bandwagon Times Aug 20 08     You could possibly nod to a bandwagon – a cart carrying musicians. Or throw a sop to a monster. A sop is a bit of bread soaked in wine, to be thrown to Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the Underworld.

a suite of targets across a basket of core activities Framework for the Future: Libraries, Learning and Information in the Next Decade    Sofas, dartboards, baskets, apple cores.... confused?

Agency under fire as IVF storm gathers pace – Caught in the slipstream of an accelerating scientific and social revolution. Guardian headline October 5, 2000 Poor old agency, it’s being shot at, rained on and whirled away by a slipstream.

All eyes were peeled on this worthy pin-up. imdb (Internet Movie Database)

Although having children to rekindle a shaky marriage often has disastrous results.    You can prop up a shaky marriage, rekindle a slow-burning marriage, kick-start a sputtering marriage, or revive a dying marriage.

Although the US patent office is also part of the government, its wheels grind slowly. New Scientist March 4 2006     Its wheels turn slowly – they’re cog wheels rather than mill wheels. It’s the mills of God that grind slowly (but exceeding small).

an accelerating worldwide struggle

an unlikely bond forged in the crucible of the cold war.     You don’t forge a bond, they’re made of leather or rope. And you don’t forge anything in a crucible, that’s where you melt or refine. Links are what you forge.

Antiquated Empire Gongs Face Axe headline Guardian 2003

Anyone who’s ever felt crushed by the steely boot of unaccountable authority. Guardian Feb 2008     They’re thinking of steel toe-caps. A steel boot would be unwearable.

Apple Wooing Smaller Labels Slashdot June 03

Ariel Sharon gave an ultimatum to the Palestinians: either come to the negotiatingtable under the umbrella of the road map to peace or face unilateral action by Israel. Guardian  December 19, 2003     You could use a map as an umbrella, until it went soggy.

Arts Funding Freeze Sparks Fury Guardian headline December 14, 2004

ball and chain for wrecking ball     "took a ball and chain to her marriage" Times July 26 08 Prisoners used to be chained by the ankle to an iron ball; wives may be jocularly referred to as "the ball and chain".

bare foot for bare bones     A barefoot doctor has basic training; something bare bones is pretty basic.

Bill Bailey used to be lord of the cul-de-sac, digging himself into one inextricableflight of fancy after another. Alex Games, Evening Standard July 28 00

bitten the bullet for bowed to the inevitable, bit the dust or grasped the nettle      When having your leg amputated without anaesthetic on a battlefield, you’re given a (lead) bullet to bite on. When you fall to the ground you bite the dust. When confronted with a nettle, if you grasp it firmly you won’t be stung – allegedly.

bolt from the blue for manna from heaven       A bolt from the blue is an unexpected disaster, like lightning out of a clear blue sky; manna from heaven is free food when you’re starving – see Exodus.

Both rub shoulders with a kaleidoscope of modern dance. Radio 3

brain child for master mind, or the brains behind     A brain child is not the same as a brainbox. Athena (the Greek goddess of wisdom) was born "fully formed", i.e. as an adult, directly from the head of Zeus.)

bread and butter for daily bread     Bread and butter work is grunt work that earns your basic subsistence; daily bread refers to the mundane things you come across every day.

Britishleg would be flashpoint Times headline re Olympic torch route Mar 08

bubble: a key driver of the bubble

bubble: at theheight of the bubble

bubble: China is in the grip of a classic bubble Times Jan 10

Bury it under the carpet     You brush dirt under the carpet when you can’t be bothered to brush it into a dustpan.

calling the shorts     To call the shots is to be in control. ("Pull!" Bang!)

cash cow for money pit, fatted calf for cash cow     A cash cow just goes on producing cash; a money pit absorbs all the cash you throw into it; you get served the fatted calf when you return home after being given up for lost.

chaffing at the bit for champing, chafing     To chafe is to rub; to champ (or, as the Americans say, chomp) is to chew.

Chazz Palminteri was a natural choice to continue the Italianate torch in film. imdb     He'll be carrying the torch.

Countries had to meet a series of hurdles set by the IMF.    You leap hurdles; you meet conditions.

creates a runaway greenhouse     I think that's "runaway greenhouse effect".

dead in the water and ripe for takeover     Sailing ships are "dead in the water" when there's no wind.

defuse or diffuse tension     You render a bomb harmless by removing its fuse; tension can slacken or tighten; you diffuse a crowd by spreading it out.

El Nino Alert as Pacific Brews Possible Beast Reuters headline     You brew beer; you spawn beasts.

exploration forges new discoveries

explosive cocktail     Only if it’s a Molotov cocktail.

fall between two stalls    Andrew Anthony Observer June 11 06    That's "stools".

fell out of his pram is a garbled version of  "threw his toys out of his pram"

fiends in human clothing for fiends in human form Letter to Daily Mail Sept 14 2004.      If the fiends just donned human clothing they’d be easily spotted.

flood-torn Britain Guardian August 25, 2004     Britain was flood-soaked in 2004.

Goldman Sachs, Fabrice Tourre and the complex Abacus of toxic mortgages. April 16 Daily Telegraph 2010

He drew in the old, seasoned atmosphere that so resonated within his soul. Theremin, Albert Glinsky

He drove the Italian dairy giant into an $18 billion hole with a complex web of fraud and deception.    A web is just the thing for driving giants into holes.

Heavy Rain Spawns Flooding in Central US    It just causes flooding, really.

I haven’t seen him for donkey’s ears!     That’s "donkey’s years" – donkeys are supposed to live a long time.

I won’t pursue that avenue.     You go down avenues, not chase them.

I’m not King Neptune. I can’t keep the sea out. Guardian April 18, 2008     Neptune was King of the Sea. King Canute reputedly tried to hold back the sea (actually he deliberately demonstrated that he couldn’t).

If they wore balaclavas and immersed themselves in a slice of predictable direct action. Carol Sarler, Observer Jan 28 01     She may be thinking of "a piece of the action", which means "a share in the profits".

in which sex and violence rear prominently Evening Standard July 1, 2008     The cliché goes "rear their ugly heads", but how about "figure prominently"?

Indian Tech Group Forges New Ground USA Today, Feb 00

It is no longer enough, it seems, to smile while fading into the woodwork. Maureen Freely, Guardian , March 14 00. Unwelcome wildlife (bedbugs or termites) crawls out of the woodwork where it has been hiding. Political wives are more likely to fade into the background.

It scrapes the underside of the barrel.   You scrape the bottom of the barrel when you've removed all its contents.

It's best simply to take a leaf from Robert Redford and Kevin Costner on screen Guardian arts blog October 07     The writer means "take a leaf from the books of Redford and Costner".

I've got absolutely no musical forte at all!    Music is not my forte (or strong point).

Jerry Falwell’s brimstone and treacle sermons Times May 18, 2007     Brimstone (sulphur) and treacle was a laxative given to Victorian children; fire and brimstone are allegedly found in Hell.

join the bandwagon for jump on the bandwagon     A parade of floats goes by, accompanied by a band on their own wagon. The only way to join them is to jump on the wagon as it goes by.

Join the Reaper for join the Great Majority      "Does the world need two foodie magazines and three bridal magazines, which are all down by huge numbers of ad pages, published by the same company? Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Brides, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride are all likely suspects to join the Reaper." People are cut down like grass by the scythe of the Grim Reaper, ie Death. And then they join the Great Majority. (Grim Ripper gets 42,500 hits on Google.)

laid at the feet of for laid at the door of      Tributes are laid at someone’s feet; blame is laid at their door.

low-lying fruit for low-hanging fruit Guardian December 9, 2003     Low-hanging fruit is easy to pick; low-lying fruit would be a windfall.

moves the goalposts for pushes the envelope/boundaries     If you move the goalposts in the middle of the game you subtly change the question under discussion, or redefine the terms; when you push the envelope you test something’s performance to the limit; when you push the boundaries you try and expand your enterprise.

No skin off your teeth.     The cliché goes "no skin of my nose"! But you escape by the skin of your teeth, which since it’s non-existent is pretty thin.

Numerical targets become straitjackets. Guardian Aug 2 00

Old hurdle bedevils climate conference. Guardian July 20, 2001     Oh, those Satanic hurdles! The old ones are the worst.

On the prairies and the pampas, it ploughs a lonely furrow, but grass plays second fiddle to the garden's brighter lights. Observer Sept 10 06

Peasant farmers show strength in cauldron of grassroots politics Guardian headline September 10, 2003

reap a windfall     You reap grain with a sickle, but pick up windfalls.

recharging its ancient trade links

Schools are cutting their cloth by cutting the number of head teaching posts. BBC News February 10, 2010     The cliché is “cutting your coat according to your cloth” which means using the resources you have and not having big ideas you can’t accommodate.

Scientists lock horns in race to build biggest supercomputer. Guardian June 27, 2007     You can’t run very fast if your horns are locked.

Scots are readily sickened by the avalanche of money that has rendered them impotent. Melanie Reid, Times October 22, 2007

shatter an aura of invincibility     Auras are smoky, wispy things and are more likely to dissipate than shatter.

shooting in the foot for shooting in the back    Shooting yourself in the foot is like scoring an own goal - you clumsily damage yourself instead of the enemy. Tho you might shoot yourself in the foot deliberately so as to get sent home to Blighty. To shoot someone in the back is to betray them.

Spanish border toll rocks the thaw on Gibraltar/The measure appears to be designed to undermine a dramatic thaw in relations... OK, so they wanted “rock” in the headline. But you can only slow or reverse a thaw. And you certainly can’t undermine it. Times July 21, 2010

spark a flood of...     Surely the flood would put out the spark?

taking a page out of the Tennessee Valley Authority     How about "taking a tip from"?

Teetering between duelling images Britannica, 15 Aug 00   Dithering between contradictory images?

temporary market hiccups hammer rate-payers.     There's nothing worse than being hammered by a hiccup.

tensions may erupt     Volcanoes erupt, tensions snap.

That triggered a tidal wave of anger and grief. Independent 11 Jan 01

The better-organised community weathered the flail of war. Guardian January 14, 2004    The community weathered the war – no need to bring archaic threshing equipment into this.

The British “have a more insidious cross to bear”. Nick Clegg May 2010

The City of London cemetery at Manor Park is plastered with some eight miles of roads. Guardian July 8, 2004 Criss-crossed by?

The company tapped a neglected niche.     You tap a wine barrel to draw off its contents. A niche is an indentation in a wall designed for a statue.

The debate had finally moved on to more fertile turf. The Senator who mined this turf most profitably was Barack Obama.    Turf only grows grass. And if you mined turf all you'd find would be grass roots.

The door of history often swings on tiny hinges.

The great edifice of Soviet power hung precariously in the balance. Theremin, Albert Glinsky. Where to start? A huge building is on one side of some scales (a balance). Yes, sounds pretty precarious.

The hunt was fruitless.     Despite the keen pack of fruit-hounds.

The lifeblood has been drained out. It’s a process of slow strangulation. Woman quoted in Observer Sept 14 08

The Lower Ninth is Rising from Katrina’s Awful Ashes headline in Guardian Aug 29 07     Floods don’t leave ashes, that’s fires.

The marriage was a carefully calibrated smokescreen. Evening Standard March 30 01     Calibrating a smokescreen would be like knitting with fog.

the multilateral umbrella of the WTO. Europa

The race card masks the cancer of corruption.     "The race card masks corruption" would have done.

The talent pool has been drained dry and clubs are being forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel of that pool like a drowning man clutching at straws. (Web) It’s a pool, it’s a barrel, it’s a pool...

the wildest of goose chases    It's the goose that's wild, not the chase.

the writing is pretty grim      This is a cross between "the writing is on the wall" and "the outlook is pretty grim".

They held a smoking gun to my head! A smoking gun is a giveaway – you can't pretend it hasn't been fired.

There is no gene pool to sculpt [among bdelloid rotifers]. Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor’s Tale    Sculpting a pool? Good luck with that. Hmmm – unless you froze it first.

There may also be a barbed echo.      They’re the worst kind.

Theremin was the goose charged with forging one golden egg after another. Theremin, Albert Glinsky    The goose laid golden eggs. You forge iron and steel, not gold.

There's clear blue water between the two camps.     But only if they’re on separate islands.

These events spawned a new strata of products aimed at the developing niche.    The events start off as frogspawn and then become a layer of rock pointing at a chink in a cathedral wall which is undergoing a process of transformation.

They conducted their heroics under a tight veil of secrecy. CNN Sept 29 00     Make that a thick veil. You’re thinking of tight security.

They have to rewire their DNA.     They could possibly rewrite it, using only the letters A, C, G and T.

They remain a mirage, a Holy Grail waiting patiently in the wings.     This is wonderful nonsense.

They tread upon the last-fool hypothesis, as only hollow men can. political-analysis.org     And this is completely incomprehensible.

This is a watershed, fraught with further erosion of relations. It encourages tensions to snowball.     A ridge determining the course of a stream is filled with freight, rubbed away, pulled tight and then rolled down a hill getting larger as it goes.

This is music in which Gergiev has few peers today: he brings an epic, symphonic and dramatic integrity to its vast, multifaceted canvas. Sunday Times

touch fetlock for touch or tug forelock (Guardian)     A fetlock is a horse’s ankle; a forelock is a fringe. "Touch your forelock" is a roundabout way of saying "salute", or make a hat-tipping gesture if you’re not wearing a hat.

Watchdog to police Chinese cures. Guardian headline 23 July 00

We do not continue the treatment long enough for the full-blown glove-and-stocking picture to appear. (It’s a rose, it’s  some clothes, it’s a work of art…)

We know it is a very tight edge we were walking, we knew that when we were doing it. But I feel passionate that it’s a good edge. Woman in Guardian August 20, 2004, about producing nude calendar for Rwanda rape victims.

We’re throwing down a red flag and saying, if this is true, then stop it.    You raise a red flag for danger; you throw down a gauntlet as a challenge.

We’ve worked ourselves half to death in order to conquer the career ladder. Evening Standard July 30 08    You climb ladders, not conquer them.

Which egg did they sprout from? Tanya Gold Guardian 3 Oct 09 (On Boris and Dave)

White Paper May Be Watered Down     Don’t do that – it’ll go soggy.

You are stuck with the persona you are wearing when the wind blows. Guardian July 20 09     When you make a horrible face, your mother says "Don’t do that – if the wind changes you’ll get stuck like that."

You have to keep on your toenails and fingernails.     You keep on your toes, but hang on by your fingernails.