marble ceiling
n.— «As speaker of the House, Pelosi, 66, would be second in the line of presidential succession, behind the vice president. “For a woman to break through what I call the “marble ceiling’ here is something quite remarkable,” she said. “It sends a message that women can do anything.”» —“ Pelosi: Democrats not out for revenge” in Washington D.C. CNN Nov. 8, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Understanding the varieties of conversational styles can mean the difference between feeling you’re understood and being insulted. “High-involvement” speakers interrupt or talk along with someone else to signal their enthusiasm...
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...