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

be a back seat driver • be in the back seat
be a back seat driver —suggest unwanted advice; tell a person
in charge how to do his job: It is always easy to criticize and
be a back seat driver.
be in the back seat—(also: take a back seat) take a subordinate
position: Dad is now in the back seat. Jonathan is in control
of the Rowland Capital family trust.
be a bad life • live a bad life
be a bad life —be not likely to live long enough: Elizabeth
all her days was reckoned a “bad life.”
live a bad life —lead a life of wickedness or immorality: He
is leaving a bad life and should be kept away from the young.
be a bomb • be the bomb
be a bomb —(coll.) be a failure or fiasco: Unfortunately, the
film was a bomb and gained a reputation as being the only
film on which Mr. Corman lost money.
be the bomb —(U.S. sl., sometimes spelled “be da bomb”) be
very successful; be received enthusiastically: The show was the
“bomb” back in the day when it first aired.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase make a bomb—(sl.) make or earn a great deal of money:
Many of them are too honest to do any [drug] trafficking but
the ones that do make a bomb.
be a case in point • be the case
be a case in point—be a particular instance of smth.: People
have changed their minds about the Common market, and
Mr. Stonchouse is a case in point.
be the case —(often negat.) be a fact; be true: Please contact
the rightful owner directly to confirm their interest to sell and
if this is the case, to negotiate price.
be a close call • be too close to call
be a close call —(also: be a close shave) said of a dangerous
situation that a person just manages to avoid: Though he es-
caped with his life and his job, it was a close call.
be too close to call —said of the outcome of a competition,
etc. that is very hard to judge: The horses came to the finish
line in a dead heat, and, without a photograph, the results
were too close to call.