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

bend the ear of someone • bend the ear to some-
one
bend the ear of someone —(coll.) talk to a person at length in
a boring and bothering way: Humphrey bent the ear of
Charles Murphy for nearly two hours.
bend the ear to someone —give favorable attention to smb.:
You can guarantee that the Administration will consistently
bend the ear to its financial backers.
bent out of shape • out of shape
bent out of shape —(sl.) upset, worried or angry: Jane is bent
out of shape because she wanted to go to the zoo, but no one
would take her.
out of shape —(of an athlete) not well trained; in bad physical
form: I also was out of shape, and quickly became out of
breath.
beside oneself • out of oneself
beside oneself —overpowered with some strong emotion (also:
beyond oneself ): Toscanelli was beside himself with joy at find-
ing his belief had proved true.
out of oneself —
1
. out of one’s normal mental condition: She
seemed out of herself, like her spirit had been sunk with that
ship half a world away. 2. = beside oneself: I was out of myself
with emotions. How can you call 9
11
for an emergency and be
put on hold?
Note: 
Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase
above oneself
— used of smb. who is self-important, thinking too
highly of himself: She really is above herself and forgets that she
is in her position because the public thinks she is “one of them.”
beside the question • beyond question
beside the question —not relevant to the subject under dis-
cussion: What you are saying may be true, but in this case it
is completely beside the question.
beyond question —
1
. not subject to doubt or dispute: He
may be a little careless in his work, but his loyalty to the com-
pany is beyond question. 2. unquestionably; without doubt:
I’ve read other books on the Incas and this one is beyond ques-
tion the best single volume on this topic.