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

each to his own • every man for himself
each to his own —is used to say that it is acceptable for people
to have different preferences: “I find it hard to believe that
anyone enjoys gardening.” “Ah well, each to his own.”
every man for himself —said of people trying to save them-
selves from a difficult situation without trying to help anyone
else: “It was not the behaviour of a friend.” “My dear boy,”
he said. “Have you not yet learnt that it’s every man for him-
self?”
eagle vulture • vulturine eagle
eagle vulture —a large black-and-white western African bird
(Gypohierax angolensis): You should also see herons and eagle
– 109 –
eagle vulture

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vultures. Around you will be the expected wildlife of the
African bush.
vulturine eagle —a black-and-white eagle (Aquila verreauxii)
of southern Africa: The vulturine eagle makes the mountain
precipices its abode.
earlier on • early on
earlier on —at an earlier time: Oh, by the way, your son
telephoned earlier on to say he wouldn’t be able to come.
early on— at an early stage of smth.: We decided early on
that we wanted to create a site that was attractive, but more
importantly was easy to navigate.
early bird • early man
early bird —
1
. smb. who gets up early; an early riser: If you
like to get up early, you are an early bird and will probably
perform better in the morning. 2. smb. who arrives earlier
than the expected or arranged time: Be an early bird to get a
table at this restaurant which is usually very crowded.
early man —a prehistoric human being: We need to under-
stand the degree to which religion integrated with the life of
the early man.
Early English • Old English
Early English —
1
. Middle and Early Modern English lan-
guage (
1
066–
1
400): Yet another Early English text appears
under the editorship of an American scholar. 2. the early
style of Gothic architecture which developed in England in
the 
1
3th century: So far as architecture is concerned the book
covers three periods, Early English, Geometric, and Early Dec-
orated.
Old English —the English language of the period before the
Norman conquest in the 
11
th century: In this dictionary, the
language of England before 
11
00 is called, as a whole, “Old
English.”