KNOW YOUR TOWN MEETING IDIOMS, PROVERBS AND CLICHÉS
If you attend Town Meeting regularly, you've probably heard, or even uttered, some of these idioms and proverbs that have become clichés over time thinking they were indigenous to our special four nights in April at the high school. You are, of course, jumping the gun a little bit and taking it all on faith that these sayings are unique to Nantucket's Town Meeting.

Nonetheless, Nantucketers who frequent this most basic and revered form of democratic rule setting regularly use these little tidbits of witticism from their everyday meeting lexicon. We have compiled a list of the more frequently used idioms and proverbs heard in the high school auditorium over the years for your enjoyment and for your oratories if you're brave enough to stand up and call for the mike.

Study them, learn them, and know them. And keep your ears tuned for their usage, try to count how many get used and how many new ones are spoken.

AD NAUSEAM

To go on endlessly; literally, to continue "to seasickness"

HINDSIGHT IS 20:20

iIf we only knew then what we know now.

WE'RE HEADED DOWN A SLIPPERY SLOPE

A path that leads to problems, a risky plan.

PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE

Not beginning at the proper place and doing things in their proper order.

ELEVENTH HOUR

The latest possible time. Thought to allude to the parable of the laborers (Matthew 20:1- 16), in which those workers hired at the eleventh hour of a twelve-hour working day were paid the same amount as those who began in the first hour.

MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL

To blow an issue or event out of proportion.

THE BUCK STOPS HERE

The person or entity who is ultimately responsible for a given action or plan.

PASSING THE BUCK

To shift blame from oneself to another person.

KILLING THE GOOSE THAT LAYS THE GOLDEN EGGS

Taking action that causes the destruction of the source of wealth.

I THINK WE'LL BE OPENING A PANDORA'S BOX

From Greek Mythology, the first woman, Pandora, bestowed upon humankind as a punishment for Prometheus's theft of fire, is entrusted with a box by Zeus containing all the ills that could plague people. Out of curiosity, she opens the box and thereby releases all the evils of human life.

KILLING TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE

Accomplishing two objectives with a single action.

CHANGING HORSES MID-STREAM

Changing plans or methods after you have already started the process.

PUTTING ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET

Don't concentrate all your prospects or resources in one thing or place, or you could lose everything.

TWO CENTS' WORTH

Getting the chance to chime in and express your opinion by sharing your comment with others.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

Even the biggest project depends on the success of the smallest players and components.

ROBBING PETER TO PAY PAUL

To harm one person in order to do good to another; by extension, to use money or resources allocated for one purpose, for a different one.

GOING TO HELL IN A HAND BASKET

Going to hell feeling peaceful or unconcerned; ignorance is bliss.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND HARD PLACE

In a difficult position with no place to go.

FISH OR CUT BAIT

Make a decision now; stop hesitating. To cut bait is to stop fishing.

PAY THE PIPER

To pay the consequences for self-indulgent behavior.

GET OUR DUCKS IN A ROW

Get organized and get everything planned before we act.

DON'T THROW OUT THE BABY WITH THE BATHWATER

In getting rid of waste, don't also discard what is worth keeping.

MODAM MADERATOR

Former Finance Chairman Phil Bartlett's favorite accidental way of addressing Town Meeting Moderator Sarah Alger from the floor.

POINT OF ORDER, MADAM MODERATOR

The bane of Moderator Sarah Alger's existence at the podium night after night, this phrase is misused countless times by many voters simply to get their words in edgewise.

A point of order is a matter raised during a debate concerning the rules of debating themselves. Most parliamentary and debating systems allow points of order to be raised if the rules have been broken, thus interrupting the debate itself. The point

is resolved before the debate continues. I

- Definitions courtesy of Answers.com, "The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy" and Wayne

Magnuson's English Idioms, Sayings and Slang.