on the safe sidemod. taking the risk-free
path. Let’s be on the safe side and call
first. I think you should stay on the safe
side and call the doctor about this fever.
on the same pagemod.have the same un-
derstanding or amount of knowledge. (As
if people were reading from the same
page.) We’re not on the same page. Lis-
ten carefully to what I am telling you.
Everyone in the room was on the same
page, so the meeting went very smoothly.
on the same wavelengthmod. thinking
in the same pattern. We’re not on the
same wavelength. Let’s try again. We
kept talking until we were on the same
wavelength.
on the saucemod. drinking regularly; al-
cohol intoxicated. Poor old Ron is on
the sauce again. He is on the sauce most
of the time.
on the shelf 1. mod. not active socially; left
to oneself in social matters. I’ve been
on the shelf long enough. I’m going to
make some friends. She likes being on
the shelf. 2. mod. postponed. (See also on
the back burner.) We’ll have to put this
matter on the shelf for a while. I have
a plan on the shelf just waiting for an op-
portunity like this.
on the side 1. mod. extra, such as with a
job or a side order of food. I would like
an order of eggs with toast on the side,
please. She is a bank teller and works
as a waitress on the side. 2. mod. extra-
marital; in addition to one’s spouse. He
is married, but also has a woman on the
side. She has boyfriends on the side, but
her husband knows about them.
on the skidsmod. on the decline. (See also
put the skids under someone or some-
thing.) My newly started business is on
the skids. Her health is really on the
skids, but she stays cheery anyway.
on the slymod. secretly and deceptively.
She was stealing little bits of money on the
sly. Martin was having an affair with
the maid on the sly.
on the squiff[...skwIf] mod. on a drink-
ing bout. (See also squiff.) Bob is out
on the squiff again. Bart is always on
the squiff, except when he’s shooting dope.
on the street 1. mod. using drugs; selling
drugs; looking for drugs. (Drugs.) Fred
spent a year on the street before he was ar-
rested. Max will be on the street all his
life. 2. mod. engaged in prostitution.
Mary said, “What am I supposed to do—
go on the street?” All three of them went
on the street to earn enough money to live.- mod. widely known. Sue put it on
the street, and now everyone knows. It’s
on the street. There isn’t anyone who hasn’t
heard it. 4. mod. on Wall Street or else-
where in the New York City financial dis-
tricts. (Similar to sense 3, except that it
refers to a specific street. Usually with a
capital s.) I heard on the Street today
that Apple is buying IBM. It’s on the
Street that the market is due to crash
again. 5. mod. at discount prices; as avail-
able from discounters. (As if some item
were being sold on the street by a ped-
dler.) It lists at $2200 and can be got
for about $1650 on the street. On the
street it goes for about $400.
on the takemod. taking bribes. (Under-
world.) I heard that the mayor is on the
take. Everyone in city hall is on the take.
on the tank and on a tankmod. on a
drinking bout. All the guys were on the
tank last Saturday. Paul spent all week-
end on a tank.
on the up-and-upmod. legitimate; open
and aboveboard. Is this deal on the up-
and-up? What’s the catch? Everything
I do is on the up-and-up. I am totally
honest.
on the wagonmod. not now drinking al-
coholic liquor. How long has John been
on the wagon this time? He’s on the
wagon again.
on the warpathmod. very angry. The
boss is on the warpath again. Watch out!
I am on the warpath about setting goals
and standards again.
onto a good thingmod. having found
something that is to one’s advantage,
such as something easy, profitable, inex-
pensive, etc. I think that Bill got onto
onto a good thing