Notes

drive someone around the bend
idiom informal (UK also send someone round the bend)
to make someone very bored or very angry:
My mother's been driving me around the bend.
Staying at home all day was driving her around the bend.

stand (up) and be counted: to make your opinions known even if doing so might cause you harm or difficulty:
Those who did have the courage to stand up and be counted were arrested and imprisoned.

head and shoulders above: If someone or something is head and shoulders above other people or things, he, she, or it is a lot better than them:
There's no competition - they're head and shoulders above the rest.

sweep something under the carpet
idiom UK (US sweep something under the rug)
to hide a problem or try to keep it secret instead of dealing with it:
The committee is being accused of sweeping financial problems under the carpet to avoid embarrassment.

draw something up: to prepare something, usually something official, in writing:
I've drawn up a list of candidates that I'd like to interview.

draw yourself up: to make yourself look bigger by standing straight with your shoulders back, usually to try to seem more important:
Like a lot of short men, he tends to draw himself up to his full height in public.

break down: to be unable to control your feelings and to start to cry:
When we gave her the bad news, she broke down and cried.

break into something: to suddenly begin to do something:
break into song He felt so happy that he broke into song (= suddenly began to sing).
She walked quickly, occasionally breaking into a run (= starting to run).

be in the first flush of: to be at the start of something:
He's no longer in the first flush of youth.

can't get your head around sth = make heads or tails of sth
If you say that you can't get your head around something, you mean that you cannot understand it:
I just can't get my head around these tax forms.

miss the boat: be too slow to take advantage of an opportunity:
"people who've been holding off buying anything in case prices drop further could find they've missed the boat"

do (all) the donkey work: do the hard, boring part of a job:
Why should I do all the donkey work while you sit around doing nothing?

save your breath: used to say that it is not worth talking to someone because they will not listen to you:
I don't know why I even try to talk to him - I might as well save my breath.