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

at short hand • in short hand
at short hand— in the short term; quickly: The demo failed
because the problem could not be solved at short-hand.
in short hand —using a quick way of writing which utilizes
signs instead of words: He had attended all the lectures taking
them down in short-hand.
at sight • in sight
at sight—(also: on sight) 
1
. shoot a person immediately on see-
ing him: Had we shot Jodl at sight, that piece of evidence
would never have been obtained. 2. reading music without
previous study: That pianist can read the most difficult music
at sight. 3. (of bank drafts, etc.) to be paid on presentation: I’ll
give you a check at sight on the Pennsylvanian Bank.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase at first sight—(also: at first glance) when first seen or con-
sidered, often with the implication that one’s first impression is
– 23 –
at sight

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probably wrong: At first sight, it would seem they have a point.
However, this reasoning is a bit short sighted.
in sight—
1
. within view: The small jet began to lose height,
and soon airport buildings, a runway, and taxi strips were in
sight. 2. in one’s mental or spiritual vision: His sagacious mind
immediately recognized and caught on to the only plan of sal-
vation in sight. 3. said of smth. likely to happen soon: That
such a development is not now in sight does not offer conclu-
sive proof of technical infeasibility.
at the back of something • on the back of some-
thing
at the back of something —
1
. behind smth.: At the back of
the house there was a large garden. 2. in the part which is far-
thest from the front: a room at the back of the house; a door
at the back of a building. 3. responsible for smth., especially
smth. bad: Mr. Tillotson is at the back of the plan to demolish
those fine old buildings.
on the back of something —
1
. on the reverse side of smth.:
On the back of the letter was a diagram. 2. in addition to
smth.; immediately following smth. (usually of an unfortunate
event): The child had the measles, and then on the back of
that came the scarlet fever.