pig in the python
n.— «It is a population segment that will grow 27 percent by 1990, and that portion of American womanhood that Gilbert Maurer, president of Hearst Magazines, lovingly characterized as ‘‘the pig in the python.’’» —“Advertising; Redbook Rejuggles Its Image” by Philip H. Dougherty New York Times Feb. 11, 1983. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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...
In Russian, an expression for something tantalizingly close but forever out of reach translates as “Your elbow is close, but you can’t bite it.” Much like the English phrase when pigs fly, it’s another colorful way of describing the...