Clichés of the Day

I will be going over the expressions above during the next class, defining them for you.
Meanwhile, please think about what these expressions mean:


Above board

The president of the company insists that everything is above board, but the state regulators are starting an investigation anyway.


A 180/a one hundred eighty-degree turn

The new director of security will reveal an enforcement agenda that
represents a 180 degree turn from the policy that has been in place for the
past ten years.

Ace in the hole

To encourage the beleaguered staff, management brought in a well-known
motivational speaker as their ace in the hole.

Acid test

The Human Resource Office along with the Office of Fiscal Management conducted an acid test to determine which employees were making effective business contributions.

Add insult to injury

After demoting Charles, the employer added insult to injury by taking his executive
bathroom keys