on the rack

• Anxious, often because you are waiting for something or because people are asking you difficult questions

I was on the rack while I waited for the test results.

6👍 3👎

go off on a tangent

To suddenly start talking about a different subject

We were talking about property prices and you go off on a tangent.

16👍 2👎

the only pebble on the beach

to not be the only person who is important in a situation or in a group

Laura always expects to get her own way. It's time she learned that she's not the only pebble on the beach.

3👍 1👎

mend his ways

Improve one's behavior

Threatened with suspension, Jerry promised to mend his ways.

come up through the ranks

Fig. to rise to a position of leadership by working up through the sequence of lower positions.

I come up through the ranks to become a corporate executive. The general came up through the ranks. There is no other way to become a general.