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can't live with them, can't live without them
A phrase used to express frustration with someone or something that the speaker ultimately cannot give up. My husband is a total slob, but I still love him. Men: can't live with them, can't live without them. Sports: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. This soccer game is going to make me crazy!
you can't live with them, you can't live without them
A phrase used to express frustration with someone or something that the speaker ultimately cannot give up. The object of frustration always precedes the statement, and most commonly is "women." My husband is a total slob, but I still love him. Men: you can't live with them, you can't live without them. Sports: you can't live with 'em, you can't live without 'em. This soccer game is going to make me crazy!
Hands up!
and Stick 'em up!; Put 'em up!Raise your hands in the air; this is a robbery! (Underworld and Old West.) Hands up! Don't anybody move a muscle. This is a heist. Stick 'em up! Give me all your valuables.
If you can't beat them, join them.
and If you can't lick 'em, join 'em.Prov. If you have to give up fighting some group because you can't win, band together with them. (The version with lick is informal.) Jill: I just got a kitten. Jane: I can't believe it! You used to hatepeople who owned cats. Jill: If you can't beat them, join them. Alan: I hear you're a Republican now. Fred: Yeah, I figured, if you can't lick 'em, join 'em.
pack them in
Fig. to draw a lot of people. It was a good night at the theater. The play really packed them in. The circus manager knew he could pack them in if he advertised the lion tamer.
stick someone or something up
to rob someone or a business establishment. (Presumably with the aid of a gun.) Max tried to stick the drugstore up. Max stuck up the store.
stick something up
1. to fasten something to a place where it can be seen; to put something on display, especially by gluing, tacking, or stapling. stick this notice up. Put a copy on every bulletin board. Please stick up this notice.
2. to raise something; to hold something up. she stuck her hand up because she knew the answer. The elephant stuck up its trunk and trumpeted.
stick up
to stand upright or on end; to thrust upward. The ugly red flower stuck up from the bouquet. Why is the worst-looking flower sticking up above all the rest?
up and at 'em
Fig. up and taking action. Dad woke me at seven, saying, "Up and at'em!" It's six-thirty. Time for us to be up and at 'em.
(You) can't win them all.
and (You) can't win 'em all.Inf. a catch phrase said when someone, including the speaker, has lost in a contest or failed at something. (The you is impersonal, meaning one, anyone. The apostrophe on 'em is not always used.) Mary: Gee, I came in last again! Jane: Oh, well. You can't win them all. "Can't win 'em all," muttered Alice as she left the boss's office with nothing accomplished.
pack them in
also pack 'em in to attract many people Her Friday night appearances at the club have been packing them in.
stick up somebody/something
to steal from a person or place, using a weapon as a threat Some guy tried to stick up a coffee shop and got caught.
Related vocabulary: hold up somebody/something If you can't beat 'em, (join 'em)!
(informal) something that you say when you decide to do something bad because other people are getting an advantage from doing it and you cannot stop them. If everyone else is making a bit of money out of it I will too. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, is what I say.
See beat the daylights out of, flog a dead horse, flog to death, bang the drum, without missing a beat, beat swords into ploughshares, beat the tar out ofknock them/'em dead
(informal) to perform so well or to look so attractive that other people admire you a lot You'll knock them dead at the party tonight in your new black dress! (often an order) Just go out there tonight and knock 'em dead!
You can't win 'em all.
(informal) also You win some, you lose some. (informal) something that you say which means it is not possible to succeed at everything you do I'm a bit disappointed I didn't get the job. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. Obviously I would have liked first prize but you win some, you lose some.
See earn spursif you can't beat 'em, join 'em
Also, if you can't lick 'em, join 'em. If you can't defeat your opponents you might be better off by switching to their side. For example, Seeing that no one else was willing to stick with the old software program, Marcia learned the new one, noting if you can't beat 'em, join 'em , or I opposed a new school library, but the town voted for it, so I'll support it-if you can't lick 'em, join 'em . This expression dates from about 1940 and originally alluded to political opponents. The opposite idea is expressed in an advertising slogan used in the 1960s and 1970s by a cigarette company, in which the smoker would fight rather than switch brands.
pack them in
Attract a large audience, as in A big star will always pack them in. This idiom alludes to tightly filling a hall. [c. 1940]
stick up
1. Project from a surface, as in That little cowlick of his sticks up no matter what you do. [Early 1400s]
2. Put up a poster or notice, as in Will you stick up this announcement on the bulletin board? [Late 1700s]
3. Rob, especially at gunpoint, as in The gang concentrated on sticking up liquor stores and gas stations. This usage, dating from the mid-1800s, gave rise to the colloquial phrase, stick 'em up, a robber's order to a victim to raise his or her hands above the head. [1930s]
up and at 'em
Get going, get busy, as in Up and at 'em-there's a lot of work to be done. This colloquial idiom, often uttered as a command, uses at 'em (for "at them") in the general sense of tackling a project, and not in reference to specific persons.
you can't win 'em all
Success is not inevitable, as in
They published your article but not your rebuttal to the reviewer? Well, you can't win 'em all . [First half of 1900s] For a synonym, see
win some, lose some.
stick up
v.1. To project or protrude upwards: When I woke up this morning my hair was sticking up.
2. To cause something to project or protrude upwards: The mayor stuck up her hands and waved to the crowd. Stick 'em up—this is a robbery!
3. To rob someone or something, especially at gunpoint: A robber stuck up the bank and stole thousands of dollars. Two people with shotguns walked into the store and stuck it up.
4. To post something with or as if with an adhesive: They stuck up posters all around the neighborhood. I stuck the photos up on my website.
5. stick up for To defend or support someone or something: I stuck up for my little brother whenever the other kids teased him. You should stick up for yourself and not let people spread rumors about you.
can’t win (th)em all
tv. (one should) expect to lose every now and then. It doesn’t really matter. You can’t win them all.
can’t win em all
verbem
and emm (ɛm)Hands up!
and Stick ’em up! exclam. Raise your hands in the air; this is a robbery! (Underworld and Western.) Hands up! Don’t anybody move a muscle. This is a heist. Stick ’em up, cowboy!
Stick ’em up!
verbnail-em-and-jail-em
and nailer n. the police in general; a police officer. Old nail-em-and-jail-em is going to be knocking at your door any day now. Victor mooned a nailer and almost got nailed.
shoot ’em up
1. n. a Western action movie. Most films are more sophisticated nowadays than the old shoot ’em ups.
2. mod. having to do with a Western action film. He was a shoot ’em up star in the thirties.
up and at them
and up an’ at ’em and up an’ Adam phr. to get up and go at people or things; to get active and get busy. (Adam is a [purposeful] misunderstanding of at ’em.) Up and Adam! The sun is shining.
up an’ at ’em
verbYou can’t win them all
and You can’t win ’em all sent. No one succeeds all the time. (Said when someone fails.) Don’t fret about it, Tom. You can’t win them all.
You can’t win ’em all
verbread 'em and weep
You won't be happy with this news. You're playing poker, and at the end of a hand you hold a full house, aces high. Only you and another player are left in the round. You lay down your hand, and just as you're about to reach for the substantial amount of money in the pot, the other player lays down his cards and says smugly, “Read 'em and weep.” It's a straight flush. Although the phrase is most commonly heard in card games, it has been used in other situations, such as when a garage mechanic with a distorted sense of humor hands you a staggeringly large bill for his services.