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

dead man • dead soldier
dead man —
1
. an object buried in the ground and used as
an anchorage: A deck hand was killed by being struck on the
head by a “dead man.” 2. (sl.) an empty liquor bottle: I re-
turned to my table and finished my drink. When the owner
appeared again I asked if I could help remove the dead men.
dead soldier —(sl., also: dead marine) 
1
. = dead man 2: There
weren’t any prints on that bottle. That dead soldier was as
clean as a whistle. Cf.: wounded soldier —(U.S. sl.) a partially-
finished can or bottle of beer that can still be consumed: “I can’t
find any more beer anywhere, Ted.” “Here, take this wounded
soldier off me.” 2. a cigarette butt: He collected dead soldiers
to use in building a whole smoke.
dead money • dead on the money
dead money —money invested in unsold products which
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dead money

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cannot therefore be used: This will tell you how much “dead
money” is tied up in the three products.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase dead rent— a fixed rent for a mining concession, etc.: A
claim for an increase in the amount of the dead rent fixed in
a contract cannot be upheld.
dead on the money —(coll.) totally correct: I have always read
Howard’s articles with a great deal of interest, as they are usu-
ally dead on the money.
dead right • dead to rights
dead right—(coll.) absolutely right: You are dead right about
the Web connection being the most critical part for a classroom
teacher now.
dead to rights —(in the phrase “catch someone dead to rights”)
catch a person in the act of committing a crime: He was caught
dead to rights with the goods on him.