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

Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase shout the house down—(coll.) make a terrible commo-
tion: I can’t study while my little brother is shouting the house
down.
pull the house down —destroy or demolish a building or
structure: The lessor was desirous of pulling the house down
and building a new one.
– 59 –
bring the house down

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British Cicero, the • Cicero of the British Senate,
the
British Cicero, the —(hist.) the name given to William Pitt,
Earl of Chatham, a British politician (
1
708–
1
778).
Cicero of the British Senate, the —(hist.) the name given to
George Canning, a British politician (
1
770–
1
827): Canning
was famous for his flowery orations, and was even nicknamed
“The Cicero of the British Senate.”
Brown, Jones, and Robinson • Tom, Dick, and
Harry
Brown, Jones, and Robinson —(dated) used as a generic name
for middle-class Englishmen: A verbatim report of the conver -
sation of Brown, Jones, and Robinson would be uninterest-
ing.
Tom, Dick, and Harry —anybody at all; the average person:
Thoreau’s great fault was disdain for men (for Tom, Dick, and
Harry): inability to appreciate the average life — even the ex-
ceptional life.
buddy up to someone • buddy up with someone
buddy up to someone —(coll.) become immoderately familiar
or friendly with smb.: Now the former loser is an overnight
success, and suddenly everyone wants to buddy up to him.
buddy up with someone —(coll.) join with a person to form
a pair (to share accommodation or do smth. together): I bud-
died up with Carl, and we shared the canoe.