english
1
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Phrase(s): forget oneself
to forget one’s manners or training. (Said in formal situations in reference to belching, bad table manners, and, in the case of very young children, pantswetting.) • Sorry, Mother, I forgot myself. • John, we are going out to dinner tonight. Please don’t forget yourself.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
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In addition to the idiom beginning with FORGET, Also see FORGIVE AND FORGET.
American Heritage Idioms
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forget
to not remember something or someone:
• I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name. • It was an experience she would never forget.
don’t remember/can’t remember
used when saying that you have forgotten something:
• I know I needed something at the shops, but I can’t remember what it was.
have no recollection of something
formal to not remember anything about something that happened in the past:
• He told the jury that he had no recollection of the accident.
slip your mind
especially spoken if something that you must do slips your mind, you forget to do it because you are busy thinking about other things:
• I’m sorry I didn’t call. There was so much going on that it completely slipped my mind.
it goes in one ear and out the other
spoken used to say that someone forgets what you tell them very quickly because they are not interested or do not listen properly:
• With kids you have to say everything twice. It all goes in one ear and out the other.
my mind goes blank
especially spoken used to say that you are suddenly unable to remember something at a time when you need it:
• I was so nervous that my mind went blank as soon as they asked me a question.
to try to forget something
forget
to deliberately try not to think about something sad or unpleasant:
• After the divorce came through, I just wanted to forget about it all.
put something out of your mind
to make yourself stop thinking about something that stops you concentrating or makes you angry, sad, or nervous:
• When I’m competing I put everything out of my mind and concentrate on winning.
put something behind you
to stop thinking about something sad or unpleasant that happened to you in the past, so that you can continue with your life and be happy:
• It can take a long time to put a traumatic experience like that behind you.
take/keep your mind off something
to do something that helps you stop thinking about a problem for a short time:
• Sara went out for a walk to try and take her mind off things.
blot something out
to forget an unpleasant memory or thought, by deliberately stopping yourself from thinking about it:
• He started drinking heavily in an effort to blot out the thought of what he had done. • I wanted to blot out the events of the previous day.
shut somebody/something out
to deliberately forget someone or something and not let them be part of your thoughts and feelings:
• The marriage was a disaster, and her husband shut her out of his life completely.
Longman-Thesaurus
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verb ADV. clean, completely, entirely, quite, totally I'm terribly sorry?I clean forgot to give your brother the message. | almost, nearly | never I'll never forget the expression on his face. | quickly, soon | instantly, promptly ‘I will, ’ she promised, and promptly forgot about it. | momentarily, temporarily Her joy was so infectious that he momentarily forgot his own fears for the future. | easily The experience of nearly getting killed is not easily forgotten. | conveniently (ironic) He conveniently forgot to tell me he was married. VERB + FORGET seem to You seem to forget that it was your idea in the first place. | tend to | want to | try to | be easy to It is easy to forget that not all countries have these advantages. | let sb Let's forget last night, shall we? | make sb PREP. about Oh yes! I almost forgot about the party. PHRASES forget all about sth In the excitement I forgot all about my little brother. | forgive and forget It was all a long time ago and now Ellen found she could forgive and forget. | keep forgetting She keeps forgetting where she's put her glasses. | largely forgotten His pioneering work in the field was largely forgotten until the late 1940s.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary