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

honorary degree • honors degree
honorary degree —a degree conferred by the university, etc.
as an honor, without the usual requirements: I got an encour-
agement out of the blue in the form of an honorary degree
from Berlin.
honors degree —a degree conferred by the university, etc.
requiring some specialization and a high level of attainment:
Applicants should preferably be of honors degree standard,
with interest in magnetic devices.
honors of war • military honors
honors of war —privileges granted to a capitulating force:
The French troops shall file out with all the honors of war,
with arms and baggage, to the outside, where they will lay
down their arms.
military honors —the external marks of respect paid by
troops to royalty or high military or civil officials: The allied
troops rendered military honors to the departing commander-
in-chief.
hook, line, and sinker • lock, stock and barrel
hook, line, and sinker—accept or believe smth. completely or
without reservation (usually in the phrase “swallow something
hook, line, and sinker”): You must not swallow hook, line and
sinker all that you have been told or read.
lock, stock and barrel — taking or including everything: Look-
ing back it is hard to believe that we actually moved lock,
stock and barrel to the other side of the world.
Holy Roman Empire, the
– 180 –

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hook someone up • hook up with someone
hook someone up —
1
. (coll.) establish an intimate relationship
between two people; supply a person with a date: I’ve had
some of the worst dates due to my friends trying to hook me
up. 2. (Police) take a person into custody (reference being to the
act of handcuffing): Tags on the car are expired, let’s go ahead
and hook him up.