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

give oneself airs • give someone the air
give oneself airs —act conceited or superior: Sally is always
giving herself airs. You’d think she had royal blood.
give someone the air —(coll.) reject or dismiss a person: I
couldn’t change her views … nor could she convert me to hers,
even when she threatened to give me the air. Cf.: get the air —
be rejected (as a friend or lover): Shirley was afraid she might
get the air from her boyfriend if she went out with other boys.
See also: take air / take the air.
give points to someone • make points with some-
one
give points to someone —
1
. offer an advantage to a contender:
Does the system give more “points” to an applicant who has
a higher level degree? 2. be considerably better than another
person: She could give points to many younger women and
beat them. Cf.: give point to something — make smth. more effec-
tive: His clever illustrations certainly gave point to his argu-
ment.
make points with someone —(sl.) gain favor with a person: I
believe this is window dressing for our politicians. They are
trying to make points with the electorate…
give someone a black eye • give someone a black
look
give someone a black eye —
1
. bruise or discolor smb.’s eye by
a blow: He grew angry and we mixed it. I gave him a black
eye. 2. harm a person’s character or reputation: The constant
complaining gave the whole group a black eye.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase give someone the evil eye— look fierce or vicious; stare
at smb. in a bad way: The Highway Patrolman gave me the
evil eye as we both headed out of the parking lot. He didn’t
look quite so friendly anymore.
give someone a black look —(also: look black at someone) frown
or look angrily at a person: Mama gave her a black look and
everyone else glanced at her for a moment as if she were quite
mad.