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

burn someone down • burn someone up
burn someone down —(U.S. coll.) humiliate a person: You
just want to burn down everybody to make yourself seem bet-
ter.
burn someone up —(U.S. coll.)
1
. irritate smb. or make very
angry: What burns me up is the fact that seven per cent of all
the families earned $500 a year or less. 2. reprimand or scold
a person severely: The manager burned Jim up yesterday for
being late again.
Note: 
Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase
burn someone out
—(U.S. coll.) tire smb. greatly; cause a person
to stop being active: An extra effort has burned him out and
left him no time to seek more interesting work.
See also: build a fire under someone / burn someone at the
stake.
burn the candle at both ends • butter one’s bread
on both sides
burn the candle at both ends— dissipate one’s energy by doing
too much: But as you are determined to live it up and have a
good time, you must watch your health and try not to burn
the candle at both ends.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase row with both oars—(also: row with both oars in the
water) be smart enough or mentally alert: I wondered if he rowed
with both oars in the water. How could a Harvard man have
come to such a sorry state?
butter one’s bread on both sides —be in very comfortable cir-
cumstances; be well provided for: He’s got marble floors in
there, crystal figurines on the shelves…. Like we say at home,
he butters his bread on both sides. Cf.: know on which side
one’s bread is buttered — know where one’s interest lies: The
judges of the lower and superior courts know on which side
their bread is buttered. They would strain a point in favor of
the highest political opinion of the day.