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
In an earlier episode, the director of a women’s choir in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, wondered what to call it when her group gathers to sing together for the sheer joy of it. Listeners responded with many suggestions, including songfest, enchanted...
In her book, Canadian English: A Linguistic Reader, University of Toronto professor Elaine Gold writes extensively about the common Canadian discourse tag eh? This word can serve as a confirmation marker, much like the discourse tag right? The word...