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apple a day
A truncation of the proverb “an apple a day keeps the doctor away,” meaning small, healthful everyday habits will help prevent medical problems in the future. People consider me eccentric for my insistence on going for a walk at dawn each morning, but an apple a day, as they say!
Doctors make the worst patients.
It is difficult to give people help or advice on something in which they are professionals, because they often feel as though they already know better than anyone else how to handle the situation or perform a given task. Mary tried to convince her boss at the bank to see a credit advisor about his growing debt, but he kept insisting that he knew how to manage his money. Doctors make the worst patients.
spin doctor
One who manipulates information, often by attempting to present negative news as being somehow positive. The campaign’s spin doctors somehow made the candidate’s poor performance in the debate look like a sign that he was the more relatable candidate.
an apple a day keeps the doctor away
Eating healthy foods will keep one from getting sick (and needing to see a doctor). Primarily heard in US. Have an apple for a snack, instead of those chips. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, after all.
be just what the doctor ordered
To be exactly what one needed or wanted. The phrase does not usually refer to one’s actual medical needs. I’ve been working on this paper all week, so a night out with friends is just what the doctor ordered! This beach vacation was just what the doctor ordered—I’ve never felt more relaxed.
wear (one’s particular profession’s) hat
To act as one would in one’s particular profession while in a different setting. Bobby, I know you’re off duty, but can you please wear your doctor’s hat for five minutes and tell me what’s wrong with my arm? I don’t want to have to go to the hospital. My wife was still wearing her judge’s hat when she tried to intervene with our neighbor’s arguing kids.
Doctor Livingstone, I presume?
A humorous greeting. The phrase refers to Scottish explorer David Livingstone, who was presumed lost in Africa in the mid-19th century. When reporter H.M. Stanley finally located him, he supposedly greeted Livingstone with this now-famous phrase. You must be the gentleman I’m looking for—Doctor Livingstone, I presume?
doctor up
1. To treat someone medically. A noun or pronoun can be used between “doctor” and “up.” Oh, I cut my hand chopping vegetables and had to get doctored up, but I’m fine now.
2. To alter, and perhaps falsify, something in an attempt to improve it. A noun or pronoun can be used between “doctor” and “up.” The studio says the we have to doctor the script up because it’s too bland. Does this picture look fake to you? I think the defense team doctored it up.
doctor’s orders
Instructions given by one’s doctor. Acting upon my doctor’s orders, I cleared my schedule and spent the week recuperating at home. Samantha, you need to stay off your foot and use your crutches—doctor’s orders, remember?
just what the doctor ordered
Exactly the thing that is or was needed to help improve something or make one feel better. A short nap is just what the doctor ordered. You’ll feel refreshed in no time. New lighting is just what the doctor ordered for the waiting room—it looks so much cheerier in here now!
go for the doctor
To give something one’s full effort or attention. Primarily heard in Australia. They are going for the doctor to win this game, but I will be very surprised if they beat the best team in the league.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Prov. Apples are so nutritious that if you eat an apple every day, you will not ever need to go to a doctor. Remember to take an apple in your lunch today. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Grandma always fed us lots of apples when we visited her. She believed that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Doctor Livingstone, I presume?
Jocular You are who I think you are, are you not? Oh, there you are. Doctor Livingstone, I presume?
doctor’s orders something
that one is strongly advised to do as ordered or as if ordered by a doctor. I have to spend a month in Arizona. Doctor’s orders. I’m doing this on doctor’s orders, but I don’t like it.
doctor someone up
to give someone medical treatment, especially first aid. Give me a minute to doctor Fred up, and then we can continue our walk. I’ll doctor up Fred with a bandage; you can go on ahead.
just what the doctor ordered
Fig. exactly what is required, especially for health or comfort. That meal was delicious, Bob. Just what the doctor ordered. Bob: Would you like something to drink? Mary: Yes, a cold glass of water would be just what the doctor ordered.
spin doctor
someone who gives a twisted or deviously deceptive version of an event. (Usually in the context of manipulating the news for political reasons.) Things were going bad for the candidate, so he got himself a new spin doctor. A good spin doctor could have made the incident appear far less damaging.
You’re the doctor.
Inf. Fig. You are in a position to tell me what to do.; I yield to you and your knowledge of this matter. (Usually jocular; the person being addressed is most likely not a physician.) Bill: Eat your dinner, then you’ll feel more like playing ball. Get some energy! Tom: Okay, you’re the doctor. Teacher: You’d better study the first two chapters more thoroughly. Bob: You’re the doctor.
apple a day
A small preventive treatment wards off serious problems, as in He exercises regularly-an apple a day is his motto. This idiom shortens the proverb An apple a day keeps the doctor away, first cited about 1630.
just what the doctor ordered
Exactly what was needed. For example, This steak is just what the doctor ordered, or You’ve been a great help in our office-just what the doctor ordered. This expression alludes to a physician’s prescription for a cure. [First half of 1900s]
spin doctor
An individual charged with getting others to interpret a statement or event from a particular viewpoint, as in
Charlie is the governor’s spin doctor
. This term, born about 1980 along with
, uses
doctor
in the colloquial sense of “one who repairs something.”
just what the doctor ordered
If you say that something is just what the doctor ordered, you mean that it is extremely enjoyable or useful and helps to make you feel better or to improve a situation. `Meatballs in tomato sauce!’ Max exclaimed happily. `Just what the doctor ordered.’ A few days’ break in Honolulu was just what the doctor ordered.
be just what the doctor ordered
be very beneficial or desirable under the circumstances. informal
1948 Gore Vidal The City and the Pillar The waiter brought her a drink. ‘Just what the doctor ordered,’ she said, smiling at him.
go for the doctor
make an all-out effort. Australian informal
just what the doctor ˈordered
(humorous, saying) exactly what somebody wants or needs: Ah, a long, cool, refreshing drink! Just what the doctor ordered!
doctor up
v.
1. To falsify or change something in such a way as to make it favorable: The corrupt lawyer doctored up the evidence. I doctored the photo up to make myself look younger.
2. To modify something so as to improve or conceal its taste or appearance: The chef doctored up the bland fish by seasoning it heavily. I doctored the eggs up with a little oregano.
couch-doctor
and couch-turkey
n. a psychiatrist; a psychoanalyst. I finally walked out on my couch-doctor. Now I’m getting it all together. I bought three new cars for that couch-turkey! Now I’m paying for his kid’s college!
dome-doctor
n. a psychologist or psychiatrist. The dome-doctor lets me talk while he keeps score.
horse doctor
n. a doctor. (Derogatory. Originally referred to a veterinarian.) That horse doctor says there’s nothing wrong with me.
just what the doctor ordered
n. exactly what is needed. This nice cool beer is just what the doctor ordered.
spin doctor
n. someone who provides an interpretation of news or an event in a way that makes the news or event work to the advantage of the entity employing the spin doctor. (Usually in political contexts in reference to manipulating the news.) Things were going bad for the president, so he got himself a new spin doctor.
You’re the doctor
sent. I will do anything you say!; You are in charge! Put it over here. Okay, you’re the doctor.
zit doctor
n. a dermatologist. The zit doctor I went to was a crater-face!
Doctor Livingstone, I presume?
A 19th-century explorer named Dr. David Livingstone became something of a national hero through his articles and lectures about his adventures in Africa. In 1864, Livingstone led an expedition to discover the source of the Nile. When little to nothing was heard from or about Livingstone after many years, Europeans and Americans became concerned. In 1871, the publisher of the New York Herald hired Henry Stanley, a newspaper reporter, to find Livingstone. Heading a group of some two hundred men, Stanley headed into the African interior. After nearly eight months he found Livingstone in a small village on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. As Stanley described the encounter, “As I advanced slowly toward him I noticed he was pale, looked wearied . . . I would have embraced him, only, he being an Englishman, I did not know how he would receive me; so I . . . walked deliberately to him, took off my hat, and said, ‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume?’ The phrase “‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” caught the public’s fancy, and any number of would-be wits greeted friends with it until the phrase lost all traces of cleverness. But that never stopped people from continuing to use it long past the public’s memory of who Livingstone or Stanley were.
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