I am looking for a phrase or an idiom that means that i have selected the one object from a group or settled on some solution out of many others. Let me provide some examples:
- I went to the travel agency and they offered me a list of tours. I thought long and hard over the 2 hours and finally selected the most interesting tour among others proposed.
- I asked for a word on ELU and other users kindly provided me with a bunch of words with requested meaning. I thought for a moment and finally selected the only word I really liked.
- I developed some C++ library and ran into a problem. I tried many solutions and finally decided which one will work for the situation.
In Russian we usually use the idiom "ostanovitsya na" that means "to stop on something". What is the similar phrase (or idiom) in American and British English?
Update
I finally end up with "end up"! It is as close to Russian "ostanovitsya na" as it can ever be. Another 2 very similar phrases are "to decide on" and "to settle on".
I would like to deeply thank all those who have contributed to the discussion of this question!
Best Answer
A word mentioned in the question is suitable: settle (sense 7, “To determine, as something which is exposed to doubt or question; to free from uncertainty or wavering; to make sure, firm, or constant; to establish”). You can say, “I settled upon the fourth alternative”. In my mind, settled upon may indicate slightly more thought about the alternatives than would use of picked or chose. Also consider aforementioned selected and decided on or upon. [Links and definitions: en.wiktionary.org.]
As far as idiom goes, I don't know of one comparable to “ostanovitsya na / to stop on something”. One might say, “I took X home to mama” / “My take-home was X” / “I hooked up with X” to express choosing X with more thought or less. Those are all more figurative than idiomatic but are informal and readily understood.
Edit: ezpresso's comment reminded me I left a link out. End up has a sense “to arrive, esp by a circuitous or lengthy route or process”. Eg: “I ended up with the fifth alternative” or “I ended up using the sixth alternative” or “In the end I took the seventeenth alternative”.