left

a back-handed compliment (British, American & Australian, American)

a remark which seems approving but which is also negative. He gave me that classic back-handed compliment. He said I played football very well 'for a woman'.

See also: compliment

be left hanging (in the air/in midair)

if a problem or question is left hanging in the air, it is not dealt with or answered. We failed to resolve the issue at the last meeting and it was left hanging in the air.

See also: hanging

be left holding the baby (British, American)

to suddenly have to deal with a difficult problem or responsibility because someone else has decided they do not want to deal with it. He abandoned the project after a year because he felt that it was going to fail and I was left holding the baby.

See also: baby, holding

be left on the sidelines

stay on the sidelines - to not be actively involved in something. Telephone companies which do not offer competitive rates will be left on the sidelines.

See also: sideline

be out in left field

1. to be completely wrong. They're out in left field, blaming you for this fiasco.

2. to be very strange or very different from other people or things. She's kind of out in left field but she's fun.

See also: field

hang a left/right (American, informal)

if you tell the driver of a car to hang a left/right, you mean turn left/right. You hang a left at the gas station and then drive straight ahead for two miles.

See also: hang, right

the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing

something that you say which means that communication in an organization is bad so that one part does not know what is happening in another part. I was sent the same letter from two different departments. I get the feeling the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

See also: doesn't, doing, hand, know, right

left, right and centre (British, informal, American, informal, American, informal)

if something bad is happening left, right and centre, it is happening in a lot of places or to a lot of people. They were firing at people left, right and centre. The Postal Service has been losing customers left and right these past couple of years.

See also: centre, right

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left and right

everywhere, without any plan or pattern. People are complaining left and right about the new parking regulations.

See also: right

(way) out in left field

not effective, useful, or likely. Some of these ideas are from out in left field, and I can't imagine where my students get them from.

See also: field

out of left field

not expected or prepared for. A fierce storm came out of left field and surprised everyone.

See also: field

take up where someone/something left off

to continue something that was started by someone or something. Five years after their first album, the band takes up where they left with the release of their new disc. If the legislature won't approve the deal, the court will try to take up where the legislature leaves off and impose a settlement.

See also: take