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

at the beginning • to begin with
at the beginning —(also: in the beginning ) initially; at first:
At the begining, he was simply darling to me. Lately, he is
distant and not very responsive.
to begin with —(also: to start with) 
1
. most importantly:
There were other considerations that made Dudley unsuitable.
To begin with he was already married…. 2. = at the beginning:
To begin with he was against the Turks, later he suddenly
changed policy and joined them for a short period.
at the bottom of something • in the bottom of
something
at the bottom of something —
1
. in the lowest part outside
smth.: I stood there at the bottom of the steps. 2. in the part
farthest from the front: The poor relations were seated at the
bottom of the long table. 3. being the real cause of smth. un-
desirable: Greed lies at the bottom of our ecological predica-
ment.
in the bottom of something —in the lowest part inside smth.:
The fish we had caught were flopping about in the bottom of
the boat.
at the bottom of the bag • at the bottom of the
barrel
at the bottom of the bag —(also: in the bottom of the bag ) re-
maining as a last resource or possibility: If there’s one small
favour left at the bottom of the bag, clean-slate my bank ac-
count and credit history please.
at the bottom of the barrel —(also: in the bottom of the barrel)
among the worst or the least desirable elements of a group:
Corporations that don’t have time to deal with these issues
will find themselves at the bottom of the barrel.
at the conclusion • in conclusion
at the conclusion —at the finish of an event or activity: At
the conclusion they remarked that it was a useful exercise and
perhaps should happen more often.
in conclusion —
1
. finally; in the end: He changed sides so
often, that in conclusion no side trusted him. 2. to sum up:
In conclusion, everybody has his own ways of expressing emo-
tions. In any case we should not let our rage out.