Idioms: all-singing, all-dancing

Check out my companion project: An Idiom a Day (www.twitter.com/AVDemid)

Idiom(s) of the day: all-singing, all-dancing

Variation(s): all-singing and all-dancing; all-singing and dancing;

My category (Russian-to-English translation): Преимущество (Advantage)

Explanation(s):

Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idioms, 2004 (CCDI):

If you describe something new as all-singing, all-dancing, you mean that it is very modern and advanced, with a lot of additional facilities. [mainly BRITISH]

The phrase originally appeared on a poster advertising the first ever Hollywood musical film Broadway Melody (1929), described as ‘all talking, all singing, all dancing’.

Lingvo (www.lingvo.com):

an all-singing, all-dancing machine or system can do many things because it is so technically advanced – used humorously

having a large number and variety of impressive features

Babylon (www.babylon.com):

an all-singing, all-dancing system or piece of equipment is very advanced and able to do everything you want it to

Full-featured, with many attributes

Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary v4.7:

Translation(s):

CCDI:

Крутой; с прибамбасами/примочками

Lingvo (www.lingvo.com):

Babylon (www.babylon.com):

Multitran (www.multitran.ru):

со всеми наворотами

Multilex (www.multilex.ru):

Examples:

CCDI:

His rival, the Savoy, has beaten him to the development of an all-singing, all-dancing computer system which is the latest in hotel marketing.

As long as you don’t expect an all-singing, all-dancing Japanese marvel, the camera represents an excellent buy—and one that I can recommend.

Lingvo (www.lingvo.com):

Babylon (www.babylon.com):

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) v4.0:

Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary v4.7:

British National Corpus (BNC), Mark Davies (http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/): all-singing, total 19

A slice of Broadway has come to the region in the shape of an all-singing, all-dancing spectacular.

Anyone acquainted with the ethereal, blissed-out dance pop of Sunscreem's two chart hits, "Love U More" and "Perfect Motion", might be surprised to learn that live they are an adrenalin-soaked, all-singing, all-dancing, all flame-throwing event with the omnipresent thumping beat determinedly UP.

this could be a wedding video, tape/slide programme or an all-singing, all-dancing drama/documentary for a broadcaster.

The Alpha 2.0 processor is one of the newest generation of all-singing, all-dancing sound tools which look set to keep the guitarist's interest in digital effects very much alive …

Especially at the grand-daddy of all "funny black people" programmes, The Black And White Minstrel Show, which, at its all-singing, all-dancing, blackface-'n-white-gloved, eye-rolling, lip-smacking, "Ol’ Man River"--; singing peak, drew an audience of 20 million.

He was still nursing his hand wound and was in pain for most of the evening, but his all-singing, all-dancing performance brought him a standing ovation and fifteen curtain-calls at the end of three magical hours.

In theory, and Apple's market research tended to back this up, the availability of this new, low-cost hardware together with the new all-singing, all-dancing software would create a massive explosion in the use of presentation graphics by the business community.

As a baby brother to the all-singing and dancing Publisher's Paintbrush, it maintained much of the functionality of the more expensive product, but at a vastly reduced cost.

Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), Mark Davies (http:// www.americancorpus.org/): all-singing , total 5

They'd prefer that you think of the RX 330 as the new, improved, bigger, better, all-singing, all-dancing version of the vehicle that started what's become a rush into pricey, car-based SUVs generally called premium crossover vehicles.

Granted, Windows isn't yet an all-talking, all-dancing, all-singing kind of operating system, but there's a lot you can do with Windows and a half-decent sound card.

My companion project: An Idiom a Day (www.twitter.com/AVDemid): Caught in the rush to get the latest all-singing, all-dancing gadgets, we sometimes forget that singing and dancing is the prerogative of humans—no matter how impressive a performance machines put on.

Cut to 140 keystrokes for Twitter: In our rush to get the latest all-singing,all-dancing gadgets,we forget that singing&dancing should be provided by us rather than machines.