Ghetto Chickens
n.pl.— «The Ravens look very little like the team that went 13-3 last season to win the AFC North, yet they act like every stop is a goal-line stand. No wonder people in this area refer to them as “The Ghetto Chickens,” a term that has been around since even before the first struts of this season.» —“Time for Ravens to stop celebrating” by Tim Pratt Evening Sun (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Nov. 30, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Susan from Virginia Beach, Virginia, shares the phrase her mother used when the kids refused to eat: It’ll grow hair on your back teeth. This supposed motivator likely blends two older traditions: a German idiom, Haare auf den Zähnen haben...
Why do speakers of the same language have different accents? A lively new book called Why We Talk Funny offers a linguist’s look at how and why accents develop. And: If you’ve “stood up” at a wedding, were you supporting the marriage or objecting to...