alligator arms
n.pl.— «“Our goal is to hit a receiver so hard and so often they’ll catch the ball like an alligator. If you’ve ever seen an alligator, their arms are about three inches long. We want to hit a receiver enough to where he doesn’t want to reach very far or very often.”—Kevin Steele, secondary coach of No. 19 Tennessee.» —“Sports News” Associated Press Nov. 6, 1987. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Ophelia in Johnson City, Tennessee, wonders about the exclamation her great-grandmother often used when something surprised her: Cat bristle! That may be her own version of a minced oath, although it fits with the idea of how a cat’s tail might look...
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...