Hello,
This is a part of the story submitted by a group of students:
E: I`m sure I’m not making a mountain out of mole hill. I have been in the field for years and I can recognize the problem.
M: You know, if it isn`t confirmed, the Board will throw their book at you. And God knows what you may end up with.
E: You mean I may find myself pounding the pavement.
M: Hope it will never go as far as this.
E: To tell the truth, I think finding a new job won`t be a hard nut to crack for me after being in this business so long. On the other hand, it may be a blessing in disguise and help me finally get out of the rat race.
M: I hate to think of your leaving the company. If we play our cards right, things will settle down pretty much as before and we`ll save the company name and reputation.
I am not sure about the expression ‘to throw their book at’. My Longman Dictionary Of Idioms lists ‘to throw the book at’ as the only way this idiom should be used, so I feel ‘to throw their book’ is wrong.
Then, ‘things will settle down pretty much as before’. The idea I get after reading this part of the sentence is that there have been similar problems at the company before, but, somehow, they managed to solve them using a set of well-established methods. The idea the students wanted to express, in my opinion, is that when the crisis is over, the atmosphere in the company will be the way it has always been.
So, instead of ‘things will settle down pretty much as before’ I would say ‘everything will be the way it has always been.’
I would appreciate your sharing your opinion on that.
Thank you in advance.