dollar-a-year man
n.— «Before his death in 1955, the Pictou-born man was one of the country’s top corporate lawyers, known for driving around the streets of Halifax in the city’s first Rolls-Royce limousine. During the Second World War, Mr. Stewart was in charge of the country’s coal supplies, working for the federal government as what was known as a dollar-a-year man.» —“A pioneer remembered” by Chris Lambie Chronicle Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia) July 1, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Old. Elderly. Senior. Why are we so uncomfortable when we talk about reaching a certain point in life? An 82-year-old seeks a more positive term to describe how she feels about her age. And: a linguist helps solve a famous kidnapping case, using the...
Emily in Halifax, Nova Scotia, is married to a native Dutch speaker, who points out that they buy groceries in a store, so why doesn’t grocery denote just one of those items and not the store where they’re sold? Originally, the French...