lose mark
v. phr.— «You’re going to lose respect if you lower yourself to serve. You’re going to “lose mark,” as the local pidgin idiom expresses it!» —“Servant leadership” by Tapualiki Samasoni in White River Solomon Star (Solomon Islands) June 20, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In one episode of The Great Pottery Throwdown, a soothing British reality show that features amateur ceramicists, someone jokes about spending a night on the tiles. In this case, the phrase has nothing to do with crafting tiles from clay. A night on...
Carpe diem! A new book reveals the surprisingly unfamiliar stories behind familiar quotations. Also: Rock climbers have gumbies, and surfers have kooks. What do those words say about beginners who have more confidence than experience? Plus, if...