My badSounds juvenile and itís old hat nowGiven free reign (rein)“Reign” is something that kings, queens, and other sovereigns do. Yet the correct idiom refers to the reins that control a horse. When you give a horse “free rein” you let it go where it wants to go.Boldface lie (bald-face)“Bald-face” means shameless or showing no guilt. When a person tells a bald-faced lie, they are openly lying. An acceptable variant of this phrase is a “barefaced lie.îTow the line (toe)To “toe the line” means to follow the rules. It comes from runners who put their toe to the line before running a race.Shoe-in (shoo-in)“Shoo-in” is what you really want to write when you’re trying to say that someone is a sure winner. When you shoo something you are trying to urge something in a certain direction.
