grease man
n.— «Omaha Republicans have “too long been involved in meaningless turf battles,” King said. Christie “can lead us in unity,” he said. “It’s time to stop pointing fingers,” King said. “It’s time to put away petty disagreement.” King compared the party to a squeaky wheel that needed to be greased. “Bob Christie is our grease man,” King said.» —“Douglas County Party Seeks Unity Republicans Pick Teacher to End Feuding” by C. David Kotok Omaha World-Herald Jan. 25, 1989. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Chris in Omaha, Nebraska, asks about the use of the adjective husky to describe the boys’ clothing section in a department store. This coded term refers to clothes made for heavier fellows. Husky was originally a positive term connoting the...
Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange assignment: find a monarch caterpillar. The result? A memorable lesson in the miracle of metamorphosis...