the pits
A low class, blighted and ill-maintained place, motel room or apartment.
Max, this motel is the pits, I will not sleep here!
The end of the road, the point of no return, the point of total ruin of one's health (from the drug anticulture referring to the arm-pits as the only place that had veins for injections).
John flunked high school this year for the third time; he will never get to college; it's the pits for him.
A very depressed state of mind.
Poor Marcy is down in the pits over her recent divorce.
the powers that be
Constituted authority; those in power.
I have done all I can; the rest is up to the powers that be.
the ropes
know the ropes
learn the ropes
teach the ropes
Thorough or special knowledge of a job; how to do something; the ways of people or the world.
On a newspaper a cub reporter learns his job from an older reporter who knows the ropes.
When you go to a new school it takes a while to learn the ropes.
Betty showed Jane the ropes when she was learning to make a dress.
Mr. Jones was an orphan and he had to learn the ropes when he was young to make his way in the world.
The job applicant didn’t have much previous experience or knowledge, but she seemed intelligent enough to learn the ropes quickly.
It took the new schoolteacher a year to learn the ropes regarding administrative and curricular matters.
the score
know the score
The truth; the real story or information; what is really happening; the way people and the world really are.
Very few people know the score in politics.
You are too young to know the score yet.
What's the score anyhow? When will the program begin?
the three R's
(W)riting, reading, and (a)rithmetic, the three basic skills of an elementary education.
Barry has completed the three R's, but otherwise he has had little formal education.
the ticket
Exactly what is needed. Often used with just.
This airtight locker is just the ticket for storing your winter clothes.
the tracks
across the tracks
side of the tracks
right side of the tracks
other side of the tracks
wrong side of the tracks
The line between the rich or fashionable part of town and the poor or unfashionable part of town. Often used in the expression the wrong side of the tracks.
The poor children knew they would not be welcome on the other side of the tracks.
Mary's mother did not want her to date Jack, because he came from across the tracks.
The mayor was born on the wrong side of the tracks, but he worked hard and became successful.
the wiser
Knowing about something which might be embarrassing of knowing. Usually used with nobody or no one.
Mary took the teacher's book home by mistake, but early the next morning she returned it with nobody the wiser.