have-a-go hero
n.— «Mr. Smeaton’s celebrity reflects the general relief across Britain that no one was injured in the Glasgow attack, or in the previous day’s attempt to detonate two cars in London. His description of the attack in early news videos showed him as what the Brits call a “have-a-go hero,” basically a selfless everyman.» —“Meet John Smeaton: One Kick and He Is The Hero of Glasgow” by Alistair MacDonald, Ian McDonald in Glasgow, Scotland Wall Street Journal July 7, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It’s hard to remember how to spell the names of some cities. Tallahassee, Florida, for example. Then there are towns with very few letters to remember. Y, a tiny town in northern France, has only two main streets, which come together to form...
Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks stroll the surface searching for objects that have found their way into the river over the centuries, everything from ancient Roman jewelry to modern...