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

give someone a break • give someone an even
break
give someone a break —(coll.) give smb. a chance or special
consideration: Roush gave him a break two decades ago when
he gave a kid from Batesville a chance to achieve his dreams.
Note: 
a) The expression does not fully correlate in meaning
with the phrase give me a break—
1
. (sl.) stop trying to fool or
bother me: Oh, give me a break. You spent an entire night
together and you don’t remember her name? 2. (coll.) give me
a chance or an opportunity: I worked on Music Row for two
years, and nobody would give me a break, and I could not
save up the money to make a record.
b) The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase
take a break
— have a rest; take time off from an activity: There
was that cold January morning when I took a break from wash-
ing the dishes.
give someone an even break —(coll.) give smb. an equal or
fair chance; give a person the same opportunity as other peo-
ple: Women have been subject to second class status for cen-
turies and it is time to give them an even break. Cf.: never give
a sucker an even break —(cliché) one should not allow a fair
chance to smb. who may be easily deceived: Doesn’t capitalism
teach that one never gives a sucker an even break? It damn
sure does.
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give someone a break

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give someone a foot up • give someone a leg up
give someone a foot up— help a person in time of need: If
we can’t help them, we try to recommend them to another
agency. Our motto is to give a foot up and not a handout.
Note:
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase give someone a foot in the door—let smb. start working
at a low level in the hope of getting a better position in the future:
The freelance work that I did gave me a foot in the door.
give someone a leg up —
1
. help smb. to mount a horse or to
climb up smth.: The wall is very low, sir, and your servant
will give you a leg up. 2. = give someone a foot up: Keep on
your regular patients and give that young dentist a leg up by
recommending any newcomers to him.