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

ride Shank’s pony • ride the cotton pony
ride Shank’s pony—(dated) go on foot; walk: Ed and I chose
to ride Shank’s pony rather than catch the bus, and we walked
back to the camping area.
ride the cotton pony—(U.S. sl., euph.) have one’s menstrual
period: She doesn’t feel like going out with us ‘cause she’s rid-
ing the cotton pony.
ride someone on a rail • ride the rails
ride someone on a rail —punish a person by carrying him on
a rail to be mocked: The gentleman ought to be ducked, rid-
den on a rail, tarred and feathered.
ride the rails —(U.S. sl.) travel by rail, especially without a
ticket: After college, Philip took off on a five-week tour of the
country, riding the rails with hobos, going all the way to
Chicago.
right as nails • right on the nail
right as nails —(coll., dated) said of smth. being satisfactory,
safe, or comfortable: I really believe, in a fortnight I shall be
as right as nails.
right on the nail —(coll.) correct; exactly right: The recom-
mendation to keep stable hours is right on the nail — I’ve tried
to “educate” my son about this but he has not paid much
attention.
right-hand • right-handed
right-hand —
1
. said of smth. situated on the right side :
Carry on past the school and take the right hand turning
towards Heddington. 2. said of a car with right-hand steering:
Not only will you have to deal with driving with a right-hand
car, you will also have to deal with new traffic laws. 3. (of
bidirectional traffic) keeping to the right side of the road:
Czechoslovakia accepted the Paris convention and undertook
to change to right hand traffic.
right-handed —
1
. using the right hand for writing, etc.: Tra-
ditional placement of dishes on the dining table is planned for
a right-handed person. 2. (of things) designed to be used in
the right hand: When a left-hander uses right-handed scissors,
they have to push the thumb and index finger together in an
unnatural way to make the scissors cut.