The World of Words: Vocabulary for College Success ... - eLibrary

Words to Learn 321 Common Phraseshold out an olive branch; offer an olive branch; extend an olivebranch22. olive branchto make an offer of peaceThe government held out an olive branch to rebels when itoffered to negotiate.If I offer an olive branch to my rival, will he accept it?(The term offer an olive branch is acceptable.)A Thorough SearchIn 477 BC, a Greek commander of the city of Thebes won a victory. However,he failed to locate a treasure that he was seeking in the defeated enemy’s camp.So the commander consulted the Delphic Oracle (sort of a mythical questionand-answerservice). The oracle advised him to “leave no stone unturned,” andhe finally found the treasure.23. star-crosseddoomed to a bad fate; unluckyShakespeare described the tragic lovers Romeo and Juliet asstar-crossed.Signs of the StarsFor centuries, people of many cultures have believed that the astrologicalposition, or placement, of the stars at a person’s birth determined the person’sfuture. A star-crossed person was born under unfavorable astrological influences.Copyright © Cengage Learning. All Right Reserved.24. tongue-in-cheekjoking; insincere; without really meaning somethingWhen mom made a tongue-in-cheek comment that sheplanned to get a nose ring, her kids burst out laughing.A popular series of manuals carries such tongue-in-cheektitles as Windows for Dummies and eBay for Dummies.A Joking GestureAt one time, people indicated that they didn’t mean what they said by pushingone of their cheeks out with their tongue.