midnight plumber

midnight plumber
 n.— «Why would thieves—midnight plumbers as the police call them—tear out the floorboards, toilets, even the walls of the homes, all in search of copper tubing?» —“With the Price of Copper Up, the Plumbing Can Go Missing” by Sean D. Hamill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania New York Times Nov. 27, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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Further reading

That’s It, Fort Pitt

Joe Messina from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, wonders about the saying That’s it, Fort Pitt, meaning “That’s the end of it” or “We’re done.” The phrase goes back to a slogan for the Fort Pitt Brewing Company, which operated in Pittsburgh from 1906 to...

Far Enough From Your Heart Not to Kill You

Nancy Gabriel from Ithaca, New York, recalls her father’s no-nonsense responses to minor injuries when she was a child: After making sure she was really all right, he’d say, It’s far enough from your heart; it won’t kill you. Other times he might...