︎polishing the rock
n.— «According to a recently declassified FBI report on the Aryan Brotherhood, “The rule of thumb is that once on the streets, one must take care of his brothers that are still inside. The penalty for not doing so is death.” This practice is known within the gang as “polishing the rock.”» —“Hate Crimes in Prison” by David Holthouse AlterNet Nov. 21, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
Mary Beth in Greenville, South Carolina, wonders: Why do we say four-oh-nine for the number 409 instead of four-zero-nine or four-aught-nine? What are the rules for saying either zero or oh or aught or ought to indicate that arithmetical symbol...