Bite the Dust:

Be a Foil for Someone:

Claytons. The drink you have when you’re not having a drink:

Cock-and-Bull Story:

cock-and-bull story (n.): an absurd or highly improbable tale passed off as being true. ~ (American Heritage Dictionary).

Day in and Day out:

Elvis has Left the Building: 

• Elvis has left the building (idiom): used to refer to ‘the end’ of a public show, or event, and meaning the show has finished and everyone can go home now; [e.g.]: “What are you waiting for now? Elvis has left the building already”; “I think we delayed too long in coming—Elvis has left the building already”; “The event manager said, ‘I am sorry Mr. Reddy, you are late. Elvis has left the building already’”; “Why has Elvis left the building so soon? The show was supposed to end at eleven o’clock tonight”; “Tom went to the movies to watch ‘Black Panther’ with his friends, and, after the movie had finally ended, yes, Elvis had left the building and it was time to go home”; “I came here, to take photos of the tornado from near, but it turned away before reaching to us. Elvis has left the building already”; (synonyms): (a.) the concert is over—go home; (b.) it’s all over!; (c.) finished or ended; (d.) the end; (e.) the party is over; (f.) over and done with. [origin: this expression was used back in the days at the end of every Elvis Presley concert to let fans know there would be no more performances and they need to go home. Now, it is used more widely to show that someone has made an exit or that a process is complete]. ~ (The-Idioms-Dot-Com).

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• The phrase “Elvis has left the building” is an expression which was often used by public address announcers at the conclusion of Elvis Presley concerts in order to disperse audiences who lingered in hopes of an encore. It has since become a catchphrase and punchline.

Origin: The phrase was first used by promoter Horace Logan at the “Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium” in Shreveport, Louisiana, on December 15, 1956. Elvis had appeared in the middle of the night’s lineup, and the promoter needed to quiet the audience so the remaining performers could play. The full quotation was:

• “All right, all right, Elvis has left the building. I’ve told you absolutely straight up to this point. You know that. He has left the building. He left the stage and went out the back with the policemen and he is now gone from the building”.

The phrase “Elvis has left the building” is also heard at the end of Elvis’ March 1961 “Pearl Harbor Memorial” benefit concert, after Elvis exits at the end of “Hound Dog” and a short coda from the band. Throughout the 1970s, the phrase was captured on record several times, spoken by Al Dvorin (Albert Dvorin, 1923-2004, was a bandleader who was best known for working with Elvis Presley). In later years the phrase would be spoken by some of Elvis’ backup singers to calm down the audience after concerts.

In popular culture: “Elvis Has Just Left the Building” is a song by Frank Zappa, first released in 1988 on “Broadway the Hard Way”. The phrase has since become a catchphrase and punchline, used to refer to anyone who has exited in some sense (even death). For instance, it might be used when someone makes a dramatic exit from an argument, to relieve tension among those who remain. Baseball broadcasters on radio or television sometimes use the phrase as a humorous way to describe a home run, which is typically hit over the outfield fence, leaving the field of play. ~ (2024 Wikipedia Encyclopaedia).

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• ex cathedra (idiom): with the authority which comes with one’s position; this phrase is often used in reference to papal decrees deemed infallible; it is Latin for “from the chair”, and can be used as both an adjective and an adverb; [e.g.]: “This is an ex cathedra statement from the pope, and the Catholic Church must abide by it”; “The CEO was speaking ex cathedra when he made this announcement, so we need to change our approach immediately”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• ex cathedra (adv. & adj.): from the seat of authority; with authority: used esp. of those papal pronouncements that are considered infallible. [1810-20; from Latin: lit., ‘from the throne’]. ~ (Webster’s College Dictionary)

‘Fiddling Whilst Rome Burns’:

• to be preoccupied with trifles in exigent circumstances/ heedless behaviour in the midst of a crisis/a callous disregard for human suffering (the violin was not invented until many centuries after 64 CE).

Get Blood out of a Stone:

[Dictionary Definition]: ‘get blood out of a stone: achieve the impossible ...’. (Oxford Dictionary).

[Dictionary Definition]: ‘get stick: criticism, abuse, blame, censure, reproach, reproof, condemnation’. (Oxford Dictionary).

Get their Rocks off: 

get their rocks off on something (vulgar slang): to be or become particularly excited by or enthusiastic about something, esp. in, or likened to, a sexual manner; [e.g.]: “There are a lot of trolls online who get their rocks off on insulting or annoying other users”; “It’s pretty creepy how some people on the internet get their rocks off on stuff like this”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

Give Lie To:

Give the Game Away:

Going Nowhere fast:

going nowhere fast (idiom): to ultimately yield or achieve no useful, beneficial, or successful result or outcome; [e.g.]: “This meeting is going nowhere fast; we’ve been here for over two hours, now, and haven’t even been able to come up with a name for our product!”; “It appears that talks between Democrats and Republicans on a compromised spending bill are going nowhere”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

Hidden in Plain View:

In the Main:

In the Meanwhile ...

in no uncertain terms (cliché): emphatically, very clearly; this double negative appears to have become very popular about the middle of the twentieth century. Lawrence Durrell used it in Balthazar (1958); [e.g.]: “I told Abdul so in no uncertain terms”; a slightly slangier synonym is “loud and clear”. ~ (Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer).

• jiggery-pokery (n.; informal; chiefly Brit.): dishonest or deceitful behaviour or business; trickery. [C19: from Scottish dialect joukery-pawkery]. ~ (Collins English Dictionary).