necklace light
n.— «The lights on the bridge cables, in a colorful bit of shop talk, are called “necklace lights.” The phrase, or a variation of it, appears to have been around for a couple of decades (a caption on a 1981 New York Times photo by Fred R. Conrad of one of Mr. Cipriano’s bridge-maintenance forbears alludes to it).» —“Screwing In Light Bulbs, With Pride, on the Brooklyn Bridge” by Jake Mooney New York Times Dec. 28, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...
A listener in Unadilla, New York, says her husband, whose family is French-Canadian, uses the phrase That burns my onions when something irritates him. There are several kitchen-related metaphors used to express anger, including that steams my...