big snip
n.— «The choral tradition has seen a preference for male alto voices.…With few volunteers for “the big snip” these days, they also make convenient stand-ins for the castrato voice—all the rage in vocal music of the baroque to early classical era—while lacking the penetration, power and high notes of these neutered men.» —“Classical CDs” Daily Yomiuri Dec. 8, 1998. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
National Book Award winner Barry Lopez had wise advice for young writers. First, read widely and follow your curiosity. Second, travel or learn a foreign language. And third, find out what you truly believe, because if you’re not writing from...
When a musician is woodshedding a passage of music, they’re trying to master that part by repeatedly practicing it in private, as if having retreated to do so in a woodshed, away from others who might be bothered by it. This is part of a...