A: I’m so busy today that I have to cancel the dinner date with Thomas again.

    B: If you keep pulling the plug on your dates with him, he’s going to stop calling you.

    Note: This idiom means to “stop something” or “bring something to an end.” Electricity is passed through an electrical cord with a plug on the end, which connects an appliance to a power source. When the plug is pulled, it stops the appliance from working. Therefore, when the “plug is pulled,” whatever project or thing you are talking about loses its power or ability to continue. This idiom is believed to have originally come into popular use with the visual of old-style water drains, where if you “pull the plug” it drains all of the water out of the sink, tub, toilet, or whatever was plugged up. If referring to a person, “to pull the plug” means being taken off of life support in the hospital. As a result, the majority of the time, the person dies.