against the grain »
To sand or plane a piece of wood parallel or nearly parallel to the fibers such that splinters forming ahead of the tool originate below the cutting surface.
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banyan day »
In British naval tradition, this originally referred to a day of the week when galley kitchens served no meat on board ship.
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blanket term »
A word or phrase that is used to describe multiple groups of related things. The degree of relation may vary. Blanket terms often trade specificity for ease-of-use; in other words, a blanket term by itself gives little detail about the things that it describes or the relationships between them, but is easy to say and remember. Blanket terms often originate as slang, and eventually become integrated into the general vocabulary.
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born with a silver spoon in one's mouth »
Note. The original nautical expression is just born with a silver spoon and describes those young gentlemen who were able to enter the Royal Navy without examination and whose promotion was assured. the converse was born with a wooden ladle.
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break ground »
To begin digging in the earth at the start of a new construction, or, originally, for cultivation.
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break new ground »
To begin excavating and levelling earth for a new building, or, originally, for cultivation.
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bring forward »
To make something happen earlier than originally planned.
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chickens coming home to roost »
Consequences visited upon someone who originally had appeared to escape them.
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come full circle »
To complete a cycle of transition, returning to the point of origin.
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dog and pony show »
Originally, a small, traveling circus featuring animals as entertainment.
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drain the swamp when up to one's neck in alligators »
(idiomatic) When performing a long and complex task, and when you've gotten utterly immersed in secondary and tertiary unexpected tangential subtasks, it's easy to lose sight of the initial objective. This sort of distraction can be particularly problematic if the all-consuming subtask or sub-subtask is not, after all, particularly vital to the original, primary goal, but ends up sucking up time and resources (out of all proportion to its actual importance) only because it seems so urgent.
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drink off »
To drink the entirety of in a short period; originally and especially, in a single gulp.
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funny money »
Bills of any foreign currency or of counterfeit origin.
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he who smelt it dealt it »
(colloquial, originally) A person who calls attention to or complains about a fart is likely trying to pretend it wasn't his or her own.(colloquial, by extension) Used to suggest that a person calling attention to or complaining about a given problem may in fact be the source of the problem.
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hold your fire »
Do not discharge your weapon. Used originally for weapons needing a spark or lighting of a fuse to ignite gunpowder, now sometimes used to mean any weapon launching a projectile.
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| BTW, Why won't you become an editor? |
