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vain

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IN VAIN,

TAKE ONE'S NAME IN VAIN.

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Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms

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in vain

[in vain] {adv. phr.} 1. Without effect; without getting the desired result; without success. * /The drowning man called in vain for help./ * /To cry over spilled milk is […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

take one's name in vain

[take one's name in vain] {v. phr.} 1. To call upon (God) as a witness to your truth or honesty when you are lying; swear by (God) untruthfully. * /You […] A Dictionary of American Idioms

name

[name] See: [CALL NAMES], [HANDLE TO ONE'S NAME], [IN NAME], [TAKE ONE'S NAME IN VAIN], [TO ONE'S NAME]. A Dictionary of American Idioms

Ambrose Bierce

(1842-1914) Take not God's name in vain; select a time when it will have effect. www.english-slang.com

Slang is

"very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid and ephemeral than ordinary language" (Random House Unabridged Dictionary) - learn ~600 slang expressions

An idiom is

an expression "whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements… or from the general grammatical rules of a language"

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(1884-1924) Lawyers: persons who write a 10000 word document and call it a brief.

IKON

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out of town

[out of town] {adv. phr.} Having left one's usual residence or place of work on a longer trip. * /"Mr. Smith is out of town […]

matter of record

[matter of record] {n. phr.} A fact or event that is kept officially as a legal record. * /If you are convicted of speeding […]

screw around

[screw around] {v. phr.}, {vulgar}, {avoidable} To hang around idly without accomplishing anything, to loaf about, to beat or […]

R.B. Cunningham-Graham

(1852-1936) in letter to Teddy Roosevelt, 1917 God forbid that I should go to any heaven in which there are no horses.

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