A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

by the clock • by the time
by the clock — do smth. paying a lot of attention to the time
(so that one is not late): There are people who just hate to do
anything by the clock.
by the time —at the time that; as soon as: Eddie performed
with various bands and by the time he was nineteen he left
Fort Worth.
Note:
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase by the hour—
1
. during considerable periods at a time:
He would argue by the hour, but never for arguing sake. 2.
(of wages) paid for the hours given to work: The proposal to pay
by the hour instead of by the mile would lower the American
railroader to the level of his Soviet counterpart. 3. (hyperbolic)
very fast: Evidence is mounting by the hour that these regula-
tions are being used by the President’s camp to hide behind,
and rather ungracefully.
by the name of • under the name of
by the name of —is used of a person called by the name men-
tioned: Do you know a boy by the name of David?
under the name of —is used of a person known by a name
different from his own: Hector Munro wrote under the name
of Saki.
by the seat of one’s pants • by the skin of one’s
teeth
by the seat of one’s pants — do smth. using experience and in-
tuition rather than theory: I don’t follow recipes, but prefer to
cook by the seat of my pants, as it were.
by the skin of one’s teeth —only just manage to get smth. ac-
complished: Making my train by the skin of my teeth, I haven’t
had time to buy a paper for the journey. Cf.: it is no skin off
one’s teeth —(also: it is no skin off one’s nose)
1
. it is no difficulty
for a person: I felt it was going to benefit some people who
needed it so it was really no skin off my teeth to get involved.
2. it makes no difference to a person: That said, I opt to wear a
helmet, myself. But it’s no skin off my teeth whether other
folks decide to or not.