soft ribs
n.pl.— «“Canada has “soft ribs’” said Mr. Chen, 38, using a colloquialism that means it doesn’t have much armour around its sensitive state organs.» —“Canada called easy target for spies” by Colin Freeze Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) June 6, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...
The term fair game, meaning someone or something that’s a legitimate target for criticism derives from old laws governing the hunting of wildlife. This is part of a complete episode.
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