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

Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase close to the bone—
1
. tactless to the point of offensiveness:
a remark close to the bone; a joke close to the bone. 2. hard
up; destitute: He declined, in a family which was always living
close to the bone, to take on any job.
to the backbone —(also: to the bone of one’s back) = to the bone
1
: Working-class to the backbone, just like us…. And if he’s
been filling you up with a lot of toffee to the contrary, more
fool you.
to the day • to this day
to the day —
1
. (of time measured in days) exactly: “How long
will you take to finish?” “I can’t tell you to the day, but between
two and three weeks should be sufficient.” 2. up until the day:
From the day we arrived in Italy to the day we left Athens, we
had a tour guide showing us every interesting detail.
to this day —until and including today (from the time smth.
happened): Still Crozier would not name his accomplices, and
to this day he has kept silent about them.
to the nines • to the nth degree
to the nines —to perfection (mainly in matters of dress): This
time, Mrs. Bassett was dressed to the nines in a fashionable
frock of black chiffon and a black velvet picture hat.
to the nth degree —to the utmost; to the highest degree: True,
the situations Mrs. Connelly causes are frustrating to the nth
degree, but I guess the whole thing is open to debate.
toad in a hole • toad in the hole
toad in a hole —meat or sausages baked in paste: It looks
more like fish-in-a-pond than toad-in-a-hole: you forgot to
turn the oven on.
toad in the hole —
1
. = toad in a hole: To serve, cut the toad
in the hole into sections with one or two sausages in each. 2.
a game in which lead discs are thrown at holes in a wooden
structure : Toad-in-the-hole probably originated in Tudor
times. Since then, it has been played in many parts of the
world. 3. a form of hide-and-seek: The children got tired
playing toad in the hole in the deep weeds.