big smoke
n.— «Vaughn is big smoke in Blues’ victory.» —“Sport Section” Indianapolis Sunday Star (Ind.) May 11, 1913. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Jill, who recently moved from Chicago, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, is bothered when restaurant servers say things like, “What would we like to order?” “Are we ready for the check?” and “Would we like dessert?” She says it doesn’t sound right...
Is there such a thing as a “neutral” accent, and if so what does it sound like? And that quirk in the way southern Californians talk about freeways. They’ll say things like take the 405 and get on the 8. Why the definite article...