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

Note: 
The expression does not fully correlate in meaning with
the phrase in the open air—
1
. = in the air 
1
: In the early evening
Ernest went to speak to a group of the neighboring inhabitants
in the open air. 2. unsheltered or unprotected from the elements:
I myself saw new motors and parts piled up unprotected in
the open air.
up in the air —
1
. = in the air 2: If you’re up in the air and
something goes wrong, you pull that parachute, and the whole
plane goes down slowly. 2. = in the air 3: Our plans for a vaca-
tion are still up in the air, but we’ll be going sometime after
the new year. 3. (coll.) angry; excited: He is all up in the air
because he had to wait a few minutes.
Note: 
Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase
on the air
—
1
. speaking over the radio: If Bucky Maynard
doesn’t like you, you got a lot of trouble. I mean, he can
destroy you on the air. 2. (of a program) being broadcast: Mc -
Gannon is asking that stations be obliged to set aside a time
when only children’s programs would be allowed on the air.
in the blinking of an eye • without blinking an
eye
in the blinking of an eye —very quickly: Mrs. Shaw’s mood
changes in the blinking of an eye during an hour long inter-
view — sullen one moment, warm and witty the next.
without blinking an eye —without hesitation or remorse:
Why is the police chief, a loving family man at home, able to
torture a man to the edge of death without blinking an eye?
in the bottom of the bag • in the bottom of the
barrel
in the bottom of the bag—(also: at the bottom of the bag)
remaining as a last resource or possibility: If this be done,
which is in the bottom of the bag, and must be done, we shall
be able to buoy up our reputation.