make (one’s) bones
v.— «After he suggested that Cuomo “made his political bones in Queens,” which has been rocked with scandal, he said he should have known it would set off opponents. Cuomo aides complained it was an ethnic slur, since “made his bones” is an expression usually connected with the Mafia.» —“The Race to Be 2nd—in Command Kavanagh—that’s Michael” by Laura Nicholson Newsday (Long Island, N.Y.) Oct. 20, 1986. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Is there such a thing as a “neutral” accent, and if so what does it sound like? And that quirk in the way southern Californians talk about freeways. They’ll say things like take the 405 and get on the 8. Why the definite article...
Floordrobe is the new word for an old habit: piling your clothes on the floor instead of putting them away. The Oxford English Dictionary recently added an entry for it, defining floordrobe as “an untidy heap of discarded clothing left on the floor...