choose

choose (one's) battles (wisely)

To actively choose not to participate in minor, unimportant, or overly difficult arguments, contests, or confrontations, saving one's strength instead for those that will be of greater importance or in which one has a greater chance of success. As a parent, you learn to choose your battles with your kids so you don't run yourself ragged nagging them. The best politicians choose their battles wisely: if one becomes too embroiled in petty debates, one never gets anything done.

choose the lesser of two evils

To pick the less offensive of two undesirable options. I wasn't excited about going to a seminar all weekend, but I also didn't want to lose my license, so I chose the lesser of two evils and spent the weekend learning about new regulations in our field. Do you really want to get a demerit for not having your blazer? Just choose the lesser of two evils and tell the teacher you forgot it—maybe she'll take pity on you!

choose among someone or something

to make a choice of a person or thing from a variety of possibilities. We will choose among the names on the list you gave us. I need to choose among the car models available.

choose between two people or things

to choose one from a selection of two persons or things in any combination. For dessert, you can choose between chocolate and vanilla ice cream. I am unable to choose between promoting John and hiring one of the others.

choose from someone or something

to make a selection from a group of persons or things. You will have to choose from these people only. Ron chose from the items in the catalog.

See also: choose

choose someone as something

to select someone to be something. We will choose her as our representative. I chose Sam as my assistant.

See also: choose

choose someone or something for something

to select someone or something for a particular purpose, office, title, etc. I chose red for the color or the carpet. I will choose Alice for office manager.

See also: choose

choose something for someone

to select something for someone, perhaps as a gift. I will probably choose flowers for your mother. I chose a funny card for his birthday.

See also: choose

choose (up) sides

to select from a group to be on opposing sides for a debate, fight, or game. (Fixed order.) Let's choose up sides and play basketball. The children chose up sides and began the game.

nothing to choose from

no choice; no choice in the selection; not enough of something to make a choice. I went to the store looking for new shoes, but there was nothing to choose from. By the time I got around to selecting a team of helpers, there was nothing to choose from.

pick and choose

to choose very carefully from a number of possibilities; to be selective. You must take what you are given. You cannot pick and choose. Meg is so beautiful. She can pick and choose from a whole range of boyfriends.

See also: and, choose, pick

pick and choose

to take only what you want from a group You cannot pick and choose which rules to accept and which to ignore.

See also: and, choose, pick

choose up

Select players and form sides for a game or team, as in Jean was always afraid she'd be last when it was time to choose up. [First half of 1900s]

pick and choose

Select with great care, as in John and Kate loved to go to the pastry shop, especially if they had time to pick and choose . Despite its redundancy ( pick and choose are synonyms), this phrase has survived since the 1400s.

See also: and, choose, pick

choose up

To select players and form sides, teams, or some other group for a game or competition: The two captains chose up sides for the baseball game.

cannot choose but

Can only do; cannot do otherwise: We cannot choose but to observe the rules.

pick and choose

To select with great care.

See also: and, choose, pick

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
AbÍLio	ə-BEE-lyoo	Portuguese
Middleton	['midltən]
Meadow	MED-o	English (Modern)
MÁEl Sechnaill	-	Ancient Irish
Maria	mah-REE-ah (Italian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch), mə-REE-ə (Catalan, English), MAHR-yah (Polish), MAH-ree-ah (Finnish)	Italian, Portuguese, Catalan, Occitan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese, Dutch, Frisian,
Ridha	-	Arabic