The guard was asleep at the switch when the robber broke in.If I hadn't been asleep at the switch, I'd have seen the stolen car.

I'm behind in my car payments.She's behind on her work.

A bullet hit the sheriff in the chest, and he bit the dust.Poor old Bill bit the dust while mowing the lawn. They buried him yesterday.

Bob invested all his money in the stock market just before it fell. Boy, did he come a cropper.Jane was out all night before she took her tests. She really came a cropper.

Mr. Jones has really come down in the world since he lost his job.If I were unemployed, I'm sure I'd come down in the world, too.

The artist wept when her canvas came to grief.The wedding party came to grief when the bride passed out.

So all my hard work comes to nothing.Yes, the whole project comes to naught.

Poor Chuck really crashed and burned when he made his presentation at the sales meeting.Mary just knew that the whole project would crash and burn if she didn't keep a close watch on it.

The whole family was completely crushed by the news.I was just crushed by your attitude. I thought we were friends.

He missed the exam. He's a dead duck.Yes, John's a dead duck. He drove his car into a tree.

The manager tried to get rid of his assistant, but he dug his own grave. He got fired himself for trying.The committee has dug its own grave with the new tax bill.

This project was doomed to failure from the very beginning.The play is doomed to failure because there is not a good story line.

They rushed her to the hospital, but they did it in vain.We tried in vain to get her there on time.

Everything was going fine in the election until my campaign manager dropped the ball.You can't trust John to do the job right. He's always dropping the ball.

The team kept losing because the coach was falling down on the job.Tom was fired because he fell down on the job.

I fell flat on my face when I tried to give my speech.The play fell flat on its face.My jokes fall flat most of the time.

He was the teacher's pet until he fell from grace by failing the history test.Mary was the favorite grandchild until she fell from grace by running away from home.

We fell short of our goal of collecting a thousand dollars.Ann ran a fast race, but fell short of the record.

Our plans fell through, and we wont be going to Texas after all.The party fell through at the last minute.

I can't seem to make any progress. No matter what I do, I'm just getting nowhere fast.Come on. Speed up this car. We're getting nowhere fast.

Well, I'm through. I got my walking papers today.They are closing down my department. I guess I'll get my walking papers soon.

I won't give up easily. I'll go down fighting.Sally, who is very determined, went down fighting.

I was talking to Mary when suddenly the telephone went haywire. I haven't heard from her since.There we were, driving along, when the engine went haywire. It was two hours before the tow truck came.

Your joke went over like a lead balloon.If that play was supposed to be a comedy, it went over like a lead balloon.Her suggestion went over like a lead balloon.

We really went to the wall on that deal.The company went to the wall because of that contract. Now it's broke.

The company was weak from the start, and it finally went under.Tom had a lot of trouble in school, and finally he went under.

The project failed. I don't know what went wrong.I'm afraid that everything will go wrong.

Business usually hits the skids in the summer.Tom hit the skids after he lost his job.

I have read your report and studied your proposal. It'll never fly.Your design for a new electric automobile is interesting, but it'll never fly!

The cast of the play really laid an egg last night.I hope I don't lay an egg when it's my turn to sing.

Your joke left me flat.We listened carefully to his lecture, but it left us flat.

I'm sorry I let you down. Something came up, and I couldn't meet you.I don't want to let you down, but I can't support you in the election.

She was recovering nicely yesterday, but she lost ground last night.We are losing ground in our fight against mosquitoes.

I almost lost my shirt on that deal. I have to invest more wisely.No, I can't loan you $200. I just lost my shirt at the racetrack.

Ann shot the arrow and missed the target by a mile."Good grief you missed by a mile," shouted Sally.

They put the skids on the project when they refused to give us any more money.That's the end of our great ideal Somebody put the skids on.

Ann did her best, but she struck out anyway.Give it another try. Just because you struck out once doesn't mean you can't do better now.

All of my efforts were to no avail.Everything I did to help was of no avail. Nothing worked.

The whole system barfed about noon, and all the data was lost.My little computer barfs about once a day. Something is wrong.

They tried as hard as they could, but the thing was a bomb from act one on.The latest bomb on Broadway, like all bombs, will only go off once. This one finished to a chorus of boos before the final curtain.

My first try bombed, but things got better.It bombed the minute the first curtain went up.

You expect a program to bomb a time or two.The whole thing bombed out at just the wrong time.

Charlie is responsible for another brick in the accounting department.This whole thing is a mess. Whose brick is this anyway?

The whole project bricked because we sat on the contract too long.The company almost bricked because of delays in signing contracts.

We bummed out at the concert. I dropped my music, and Larry broke a string.The test was horrible. I bummed out, for sure.

The whole project was a bust from the beginning.My whole life is a bust.

If you don't have your modem and your software set the same way as the host, your machine will choke.I did what you told me, but it choked anyway.

I knew I had to do something to cut my losses, but it was almost too late.Sell some of the highpriced stuff to cut your losses.

This whole plan was a dead duck from the beginning.Wally is a dead duck because he flunked astronomy.

I didn't want to be the one who dropped the ball, but I knew that someone would flub up.Sam dropped the ball, and we lost the contract.

The whole idea turned out to be a dud.The play was a dud from start to finish.

Sorry, this paper's a fail if I ever saw one.I pulled a fail in stat.

The whole project was a fizzle.Her first play was no fizzle.

The whole plan fizzled, and we had to start over.The play began to fizzle in the second act.

Pat flagged English again.I'm afraid I flagged algebra.

I'll get a flag on algebra for the semester.I got three flags and an A.

What do you mean your life is a flop?The play was a flop. The entire audience left during the second act.

Martin is flubbing the dub with the fund-raising campaign.Please don't flub the dub this time.

I'm flunking in English lit.Wilbur is flunking everything.

Good grief! She flunked me!I'm sorry, but I am going to have to flunk half the class.

Fred flunked out of school and never tried to go back.That's it. All F's. I've flunked out.

The play folded in the second week.I was afraid my business would fold because of the recession.

The whole team went down in flames.I'd hate for all your planning to go down in flames.

The outcome was a real goose egg. A total mess.The result of three weeks' planning is one big goose egg.

The joke went over like a lead balloon.I'm afraid your plan went over like a lead balloon.

Poor Pete is just a hacker. He'll never go anyplace.Hackers keep trying, but they never succeed.

The community theater laid an egg last night with the opening performance of Death of a Salesman.The film was fun to make, but it laid an egg at the box office.

Dave is a real loser.Only losers wear clothes like that.Those guys are all losers. They'll never amount to anything.

After a prolonged losing streak, Diamond Jane retired and opened some sort of manicure parlor outside Las Vegas.I've been on a three-year losing streak in my business. I'm just about done.

Please don't louse the typewriter ribbon up this time.Jack loused up my effort to win approval for my plan.

I find myself in a no-win situation again.The team—in a no-win situation—punted.

The mayor put the skids under my plan.Tom tried to talk, but the boss put the skids under him.

Well, we struck out again, but we'll keep trying.I hear you struck out on that Acme proposal. Better luck next time.

He tends to take the pipe when the going gets rough.Don't take the gas pipe, man. Stick in there!

The whole plan tubed at the last minute.I tubed, and I'm sorry.

I tubed it, and I'll probably get a D in the course.I was afraid I'd tube it, so I studied my head off.

This whole business is a turkey.The turkey at the town theater closed on its first night.

I sort of felt that the whole thing would go belly up, and I was right.The computer— on its last legs anyway—turned belly up right in the middle of an important job.

Your talents simply underwhelm me.As we were being underwhelmed by a buxom soprano, my thoughts drifted to more pleasant matters.We know you are trying, but you just underwhelm.

I studied all I could, but I still washed out.I don't want to wash out. It's my whole future.

The whole project was a washout. A lost cause from beginning to end.I am beginning to think that Sally's specialty is washouts.