burnt toast event
n.— «A lot of it…is what we call “burnt toast” events. They’re like a near miss; you have no idea at the time how serious it is—or could have been. Sometimes it’s minor, other times maintenance teams open up the belly and all of the insulation is charred.» —“When There’s Smoke, There’s Trouble” by Kathleen Bangs Business & Commercial Aviation Mar. 1, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
A caller wonders if she’s being hypersensitive about the way her boss addresses her in emails. Can the use of an employee’s first name ever reflect a power differential? And: a community choir director wants a term for “the act of...
Cathy from Lexington, Kentucky, recalls visiting her grandparents in Pennsylvania and enjoying a special treat: toast with coffee, cream, and sugar on it, which they called something like Hotty Tootie. That name is likely related to hot toddy...