children should be seen and not heard
A command issued by adults to children ordering them to be quiet and not to interrupt. A proverb.
Your children should not argue so loudly. Haven't you taught them that children should be seen and not heard?
clean hands
Freedom from guilt or dishonesty; innocence.
John grew up in a bad neighborhood, but he grew up with clean hands.
There was much proof against Bill, but he swore he had clean hands.
cloak-and-dagger
Of or about spies and secret agents. From the wearing of cloaks and daggers by people in old adventure stories.
It was a cloak-and-dagger story about some spies who tried to steal atomic secrets.
The book was written by a retired colonel who used to take part in cloak-and-dagger plots.
close at hand
Handy; close by; within one's range.
My calendar isn't close at hand, so I can't tell you whether we can come next week or not.
I always keep my pencils and erasers close at hand when I work on a draft proposal.
cluck and grunt
The familiar restaurant dish of ham and eggs; since ham is made of pork (and pigs grunt) and eggs come from hens (which cluck.)
"I am sorry I can't fix you an elaborate meal, but I can give you a quick cluck and grunt."
cock-and-bull story
An exaggerated or unbelievable story.
Преувеличенная, невероятная история.
"Stop feeding me such cock-and-bull stories," the detective said to the suspect.
It is a cock-and-bull story, I don’t believe a single word.
Все это курам на смех, я не верю ни единому слову.
come away empty-handed
Уходить с пустыми руками.
We came away from the department store empty-handed.
Из универмага мы вернулись с пустыми руками.
come from far and wide
To originate or hail from many different places.
The students at this university come from far and wide and speak many languages.