How do you use the word belt and braces?
the use of two or more actions in order to be extra careful about something, although only one is really necessary: I wrote to them and phoned as well – belt and braces, I admit.
What does braces mean in British slang?
(ˈbreɪsɪz ) plural noun. British. a pair of straps worn over the shoulders by men for holding up the trousers. US and Canadian word: suspenders.
What is the meaning of phrase brace up?
Summon up one’s courage or resolve, as in Brace up, we don’t have much farther to go, or Squaring his shoulders, he braced himself for the next wave. This idiom uses brace in the sense of “to bolster” or “to strengthen.” The first term dates from the early 1700s, the variant from about 1500.
What do you mean braces?
Braces are dental tools that help correct problems with your teeth, like crowding, crooked teeth, or teeth that are out of alignment. Many people get braces when they’re teenagers, but adults get them too. As you wear them, braces slowly straighten and align your teeth so you have a normal bite.
Can you wear belt and braces?
We recommend just sticking to the belt. Suspenders have an iffy connotation, and can make your outfit look more like a costume from another time period when done poorly. Or just go without both — an actual cutting-edge style that doesn’t recall a time when women didn’t have the right to vote.
Where does belt and braces come from?
Belts and braces (a.k.a. bracers) are meant to hold one’s trousers up. Going ‘belt and braces’ is a double insurance against having them fall down. The figurative use, as a general term for cautiousness, was coined around the mid-20th century in the UK.
What do the English call braces?
Braces on your teeth are called “braces” in Britain.
What do they call belts in England?
suspenders
In British English, a suspender belt, or suspenders for short, is a garment used to hold up stockings.
How do you use brace up in a sentence?
1. They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 2. The candidate braced up after his defeat.
What does brace up the Foreyard mean?
: to turn (a yard) nearer to the fore-and-aft position by hauling in the lee brace braced sharp up.
Does brace mean two?
Brace came to mean ‘a pair, two’ from about 1400 and was applied to pistols, pheasants, dogs, etc. Architecture adopted the word to mean ‘a support or prop’ in the 1520s, while the concept of holding or binding ‘two or more things closely together’ emerged in the middle of the 15th century.
How do you use braces in a sentence?
Braces sentence example
- Rostov turned and was about to go, but the man in the braces stopped him.
- Braces are not removable for daily tooth brushing.
- Tall panel framing with arch braces visible at rear.
- The team of doctors, social workers and health workers fit leg braces , provide crutches and give physiotherapy.
What does’belt and braces’mean?
‘Belt and braces’ means being careful – taking double measures to avoid risk. It alludes to the use of both belt and braces to hold up a person’s trousers. What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Belt and braces’?
Is belt and braces the way forward for broken bones?
A spokeswoman said: “It’s a simple fracture, but bearing in mind who she is, she’s 83 and the shock to the system, it’s just belt and braces. We believe Gateshead Council’s ” belt and braces ” approach is the way forward.
What do you call a man who wears a belt?
An optimist is a man who wears a belt and no suspenders. The earliest figurative use of belt and suspenders that I have found is from the following about the Democratic Party, in the column Politics and People, by Harold H. Harris, published in the Brooklyn Eagle (Brooklyn, New York, USA) of Wednesday 2nd April 1952:
Is this the pessimist with a belt and braces?
The original image is of the pessimist who wears both a belt and braces to hold up his trousers. The earliest instance of that image that I have found is from The Citizen (Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England) of Friday 26th August 1921—several British newspapers later reprinted this anecdote: BISHOP DEFINES PESSIMIST.