big smoke
n.— «Johnny Kay, who is a big smoke in the Indian camp, when approached on the subject, misapprehended the question.» —“Indians Divided On Copper Coins” Nevada State Journal (Reno) July 27, 1909. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
In the 15th century, the word respair meant “to have hope again.” Although this word fell out of use, it’s among dozens collected in a new book of soothing vocabulary for troubled times. Plus, baseball slang: If a batter...