grow teeth v. phr. in golf, (said of a course or hole) to become difficult; generally, to increase in importance or effect. Editorial Note: The Oxford English Dictionary has a sense under tooth “pl. denoting the ability to compel or enforce, esp. by the exaction of penalties, etc.” dating to 1925. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What’s the origin of the phrase a country mile? Vida from Rochester, New York, says her husband often uses it, as in “go about a country mile and then make a left.” The expression goes back at least 300 years in the United Kingdom and has long meant...
You know the expression fly in the ointment: It’s that glaring typo on an impressive resume or that first scratch on a brand-new car—the one little flaw that spoils it all. This phrase goes all the way back to the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes! And...