make (one’s) bones
v.— «Shah is a 41-year-old publisher of small provincial newspapers who made his bones after winning a bitter strike against the unions that tried to shut down his northern England operation when he brought in computers and offset presses three years ago.» —“Murdoch Challenging British Unions” by Timothy Harper Dallas Morning News (Texas) Feb. 24, 1986. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Julie in Fort Pierce, Florida, recalls that on sweltering days her mother would declare the weather was hotter than Billy Blue Blazes! The word blazes is a euphemism for “hell,” as in hot as blazes. The blue in blue blazes has long been used as an...
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a word-pecker is “a person who trifles or plays with, or quibbles over, words.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word-Peckers” I always love it when I’m looking through the dictionary and...