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

cause for something • cause of something
cause for something —reason or motive for smth.: The
grannies had no real cause for complaint of the furnishment
of the tea table.
cause of something —an event, person, or thing that makes
smth. happen: It was not surprising to hear that hypertension
was the cause of his death.
chairman of the board • chairman of the boards
chairman of the board —the leader of a corporation’s board
of directors: He was Chairman of the Board of the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute and remains a board
member.
chairman of the boards —(Hockey) a player who controls play
along the boards: One of our sportsmen has been extended
the ultimate compliment by the city of New York. The leg-
endary “Chairman of the Boards” flies out to the Big Apple
on Sunday…
chalk it up to someone • chalk one up for
 someone
chalk it up to someone —(coll.) attribute smth. to or account
for smth. by a person’s age, inexperience, etc.: I apologise for
failing to recall what he said. Please chalk it up to me being
an old guy and subject to memory failure.
chalk one up for someone —(coll.) put smth. to a person’s
credit: I give Cameron credit for what he is as a showman,
but I won’t chalk one up for him for what he isn’t — and he’s
not an artist.
catch someone cold
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challenge someone on something • challenge
someone to something
challenge someone on something —dispute a person’s state-
ment, remarks, etc.: I think Fred is wrong, but I won’t chal-
lenge him on his estimate.
challenge someone to something —dare smb. to do smth.; in-
vite a person to compete at smth.: Your opponent now has the
chance to challenge you to a return game.