boots on the ground
n.pl.— «Our cooperation with “boots on the ground” helps assure their future military and political cooperation while increasing United States influence worldwide.» —“FY 97 Defense Authorization” by Dennis J. Reimer in Washington, D.C. Congressional Testimony Mar. 13, 1996. (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...
David says that when he was growing up in Akron, Ohio, his family referred to the grassy area between the sidewalk and street as the devil strip. He’s since moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he doesn’t hear that term. There are lots...