green ceiling
n.— «In Mexico, I painted, I read and then got the idea that I could be a writer.…Back home, I was going to face what I call the “green ceiling.” It was the attitude among the older generation of Irish that you shouldn’t aspire to anything too “artsy.” The question was always, “Who do you think you are?’ when the idea of being an artist came up.» —“Novelist Hamill still a reporter” by Bob Hoover Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) June 10, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
You may have a favorite word in English, but what about your favorite in another language? The Spanish term ojalá is especially handy for expressing hopefulness and derives from Arabic for “God willing.” In Trinidad, if you want to ask...
Is there something inherent in English that makes it the linguistic equivalent of the Borg, dominating and consuming other languages in its path? No, not at all. The answer lies with politics and conquest rather than language itself. Plus: a new...