butter up

to turn around: to move or face in the opposite direction (S); to completelychange the condition of (S) Examples of TURN AROUND We need to turn around our terrible performance this year. The restaurant was closed and so we had to turn around and go home.

to see about: to give attention or time to (also: to attend to, to see to) Examples of TO SEE ABOUT We need to see about getting the equipment from Beijing to Shanghai. The manager promised last week that she would see about my refund, and I still haven’t received it.

once in a blue moon: rarely, infrequently Examples of ONCE IN A BLUE MOON If once in a blue moon he smiled, it was such a rarity that it was like a scoop. These are discouraging times, but once in a blue moon a bit of hope appears.

to knock one self out: to work very hard (sometimes too hard) to do somethingA reflexive pronoun must divide the idiom. Examples of TO KNOCK ONE SELF OUT She really knocked herself out trying to pass that difficult class. Don’t knock yourself out during practice. Save your strength for the competition later.

to keep time: to operate accurately (for watches and clocks) Examples of TO KEEP TIME The clock keeps quite good time. The old clock keeps perfect time; it’s never fast or slow.

out of order: not in working condition Examples of OUT OF ORDER When my cell phone ran out of battery, I tried the pay phone, but it was out of order. It seems like one of the projectors is always out of order, but the others always work fine.