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

get to a point • get to the point
get to a point—(also: come to a point) reach a certain stage:
And you, my dear, are a first-water writer. But I think you’re
getting to a point when you have to make some choices.
get to the point—(also: come to the point) 
1
. give the essential
part of what one is trying to say, ignoring what is irrelevant:
“Sit down, McFee,” I said, “and get to the point.” 2. = get to
a point: Now, I am getting to the point where I just want quiet.
I don’t want the noise, the people, the appointments.
get to the bottom of something • get to the
 bottom of the barrel
get to the bottom of something —
1
. (also: reach the bottom of
get the hots for someone
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something ) reach the lowest point of smth.: They were resolved
to renew their work in the same pit but they had scarce got
to the bottom of the stairs that led to the pit. 2. explore smth.
thoroughly (to determine the cause, etc.): We’ll get to the bot-
tom of the problem and get your vehicle back on the road as
quickly as possible.
get to the bottom of the barrel —run out of resources or pos-
sibilities: It seems nobody has any fresh ideas on the subject.
We are getting to the bottom of the barrel.
get warmed up • warm up
get warmed up —become excited and impetuous: They both
got warmed up in their dispute over the merits of the two
candidates.
warm up —be roused from indifference: He soon warmed
up and was able to not only overbeat hostility, but to com-
mand enthusiastic applause.
ghost ship • ghost train
ghost ship —
1
. the apparition of a ship known to have dis-
appeared years or centuries before: The sighting of a ghost
ship is not a good omen, and superstition holds that bad luck
will soon follow. 2. an abandoned vessel found floating with
no crew: What happened on board the ghost ship Mary
Celeste has baffled and tantalized the world for 
1
30 years.
ghost train —
1
. (UK) a riding vehicle in an amusement park
providing exciting and frightening experiences: Grayling calls
this “recreational fear”— the sort we experience during a ride
on a ghost train. 2. a paranormal sighting of a phantom train
wrecked in an earlier crash: Most ghost train sightings have
been recorded in the United States where railway lines were
the most extensive.
See also: dead ship / death ship.