doctor

Dressed in a showy, flashy, or excessively fancy manner; overdressed. (The meaning of "pox doctor" in this context is not known.) Primarily heard in UK, Australia. He showed up to the interview done up like a pox doctor's clerk. You could tell he was eager to make a good impression—maybe a bit too eager. Why are you all done up like a pox doctor's clerk? We're only going to the movies.

Dressed in a showy, flashy, or excessively fancy manner; overdressed. Said especially of a man. (The meaning of "pox doctor" in this context is not known.) Primarily heard in UK, Australia. He showed up to the interview dressed up like a pox doctor's clerk. You could tell he was eager to make a good impression—maybe a bit too eager. Why are you all dressed up like a pox doctor's clerk? We're only going to the movies.

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.

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.

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?

proverb 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.

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?

slang A psychologist or psychiatrist. "Dome" is slang term for "head." The phrase is usually used in a derogatory way. Ugh, I don't want to see a dome-doctor and talk about my feelings.

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.

rude slang A physician who is regarded as poor or inept. You better get a second opinion on your condition because Dr. Jones strikes me as a horse doctor.

Used to emphasize one's status as a certain type of person to the exclusion of some other type. Modeled on the catch phrase of Dr. McCoy in the television series Star Trek, "I'm a doctor, not a (something)." A: "What do you think would be the best way to market our new app?" B: "Hey, don't ask me—I'm a programmer, not a salesperson." A: "Do you think you can repair the car?" B: "Lady, I'm a mechanic, not a miracle worker. This thing is totaled."

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!

Someone who is overdressed or wearing a showy, flashy outfit. (The meaning of "pox doctor" in this context is not known.) Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Why are you all done up like a pox doctor's clerk? We're only going to the movies. Now that he's making big money, he always goes around looking like a pox doctor's clerk.

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.

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.

dated You are the one in charge or the one who knows best. Said as an indication that one will defer to the judgment of someone else (not an actual doctor). A: "No, I'd rather make the payment all at once, even if it results in a higher transaction fee." B: "OK, you're the doctor." A: "I'm telling you that the witness's life is in danger if she stays here!" B: "All right, all right—you're the doctor. So, what should we do with her, Detective?"

slang A dermatologist. ("Zit" is slang for "pimple.") You may think she's little more than a zit doctor, but she saved my life when she discovered I had skin cancer two years ago! Why would I spend so much money just to have a zit doctor tell me I should keep using moisturizers and sun block?

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.

Jocular You are who I think you are, are you not? Oh, there you are. Doctor Livingstone, I presume?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

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 spin control, uses doctor in the colloquial sense of "one who repairs something."

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.

A proverbial preventive remedy. Versions of this saying date from the seventeenth century or earlier, appearing in John Ray’s proverb collection of 1670 and elsewhere. A cliché by the late nineteenth century, it gave rise to numerous humorous versions, such as “A stanza a day to keep the wolf away” by the poet Phyllis McGinley.

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.