bubble under the lino
n.— «Still, if the OFT does take action to curb excessive profits in these areas, wily card issuers will simply come up with other ways to maintain their profitability. I worked in financial marketing for over ten years and used to call this the “bubble under the lino” effect—if you push down on in one area, the bubble pops up somewhere else! Thus, it pays to read those boring statement inserts which arrive with your card, as they usually warn of bad news and extra charges!» —“Credit Cards Strike Back!” by Cliff D’Arcy Motley Fool (United Kingdom) Nov. 14, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
She sells seashells by the seashore. Who is the she in this tongue twister? Some claim it’s the young Mary Anning, who went on to become a famous 19th-century British paleontologist. Dubious perhaps, but the story of her rise from seaside...
If you catch your blue jeans on a nail, you may find yourself with a winklehawk. This term, adapted into English from Dutch, means “an L-shaped tear in a piece of fabric.” And: What’s your relationship with the books on your...