rubber room
n.— «Once, Watson boasted that he played golf in his own private “rubber room:” a state of concentration and confidence so deep that the perils of the course and his own psyche could not reach him.» —“Slumping Watson Is ‘Discouraged’” by Thomas Boswell in Augusta, Georgia Washington Post Apr. 11, 1984. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...