borrow legs
v. phr.— «Opposition demonstrators, comprising students, market women, the employed and the unemployed youths besieged the Government House with sticks in hand, smashed doors and windows and anything that was on their way. They posed such a potent force that the more than 200 policemen on duty in Government House had to “borrow legs.” They sacked government and took over.» —“Bribery: Matters Arising” by Josef Omorotionmwan This Day (Nigeria) Mar. 30, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Chase from Jacksonville, Florida, grew up in Sacramento, California, where kids played Rochambeau instead of rock, paper, scissors. Why the difference in names? Nobody knows. Folklorists call this a choosing game, and while the hand-game itself...
The word budget derives from French bougette, “leather bag.” An old phrase in English to open one’s budget, meant “to speak one’s mind.” The word purse is related to French bourse, a word for the stock market. This is part of a complete episode...