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

brand-name dropping • name-dropping
brand-name dropping —attempting to impress others by
mentioning the brand names of goods that one owns: We just
lay there on my Thermarest Ultra-Light listening to my tiny
Grundig shortwave and had a great old time. Sorry about all
the brand-name-dropping…
name-dropping —attempting to impress others by familiarly
mentioning the names of distinguished people in order to
imply one’s own importance: Clarke loves to make fun of his
name-dropping. “Name-dropping is vulgar as I told the
Queen last week,” he joked.
brand-iron • branding iron
brand-iron —
1
. framework of metal bars used to support
burning wood: What are usually called dog-irons on the
hearth are called brand-irons, having to support the brand or
burning log. 2. (dated) a tool used red-hot for branding cattle
or implements: In one farm, the brand iron did not correspond
to the brand registered on the official bulletin of the owner.
branding iron — = brand iron 2: The branding iron must
burn deep enough to burn the hair and the outer layer of skin.
brass hat • tin hat
brass hat—(coll.) 
1
. a senior officer in the armed forces: For
two hours in late January, the brass hats of the Pentagon clois-
tered themselves with President Clinton. 2. any important or
influential person: The trouble was that he was a curate, and
the brass hats of the Church look askance at curates who swat
parishioners.
tin hat—a steel trench helmet: The trench hat, “the old tin
hat,” is coming into quite extensive use as a means of head
protection against small falls of rock in mines.
brave it out • put up a brave front
brave it out— deal with a frightening or upsetting situation
in a brave way: Several were wading about in the water. Two
were braving it out in swim-trunks.
put up a brave front—make a pretence of courage and brav-
ery: We know that Mary is frightened, but she is putting up
a brave front.