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

in grease • in the grease
in grease —(of an animal) fat and fit for killing: The harts
are “in grease” from August to the middle of October.
in the grease —(of sheep’s wool) not cleansed when shearing:
If you wash the sheep you should do it thoroughly, for oth-
erwise you had better shear in the grease.
Note: 
Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase
be greased—(sl.) be drunk: Look at him stumble around! He
is so greased he can hardly stand on his own two feet!
in green • in the green
in green —
1
. wearing green clothes: The Glaistig is a female
fairy … sometimes described as a little, stout woman, clothed
in green. 2. executed or finished in various shades of green color:
– 189 –
in green

---

The painting is finely executed in green, gold, cream, rust
brown and a hint of blue.
in the green —
1
. in the period of youthful growth: All dis-
obedience is anarchy, young anarchy, anarchy in the green. 2.
(of instruments) showing safe readings: These coolers were
installed in Dick Hansen’s Kittyhawk which has had its tem-
perature in the green ever since.
in half • in halves
in half —
1
. divide or tear into two equal parts: He and Meyer
each signed half of a one dollar bill, tore it in half and kept
each other’s halves, just for good luck. 2. (also: by half ) reduce
by fifty percent of the original amount: He had priced rolltops
in a downtown department store and knew he had cut the
cost in half.
in halves — = in half 
1
: When a square cut in halves makes
two triangles, those two triangles are still only the two halves
of the square.