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

Note:
The expression does not correlate in meaning with its
formal French counterpart tête-à-tête— a talk in private with
only two people present: He had tête-à-tête with Maung Aye,
the powerful Burmese army chief, when he visited Thailand.
fact of life • facts of life
fact of life —a thing, especially unpleasant, the existence of
which cannot be ignored: The fact of someone’s presence on
welfare rolls has sometimes been used against them. Cruel as
that may seem it is a fact of life.
facts of life —(euph.) details of the human sexual functions,
especially as told to children: Telling a child of the facts of life
was one of the tasks that the family had abdicated to the
schools.
faint at something • faint from something
faint at something —feel giddy or lose consciousness at the
thought or sight of smth.: A person almost giantlike in
strength and stature may faint at the thoughts of the opera-
tion.
faint from something —feel giddy or lose consciousness be -
cause of fatigue, the heat, etc.: They don’t want to faint from
hunger, so they scarf up what they call a bite before they go.
fair for someone • fair of someone
fair for someone —quite good for a person: She can type two
pages an hour, which is fair for a beginner.
fair of someone —just or honest on the part of a person: I
don’t think it is fair of you to ask me that.
fair game • fair play
fair game —(also: easy game) a suitable object for ridicule,
mistreatment, or exploitation: They were women in a patri-
archal society and that meant that they were fair game to be
demeaned and marginalized by many men.
fair play —behavior that conforms to generally accepted
principles of justice: Traditional standards of fair play on the
football field are so far eroded that terms of suspension for
fouling are regarded as a hazard rather than as a stigma.