Alligator arms is a joking way to describe a tightwad whose arms suddenly seem too short to reach the restaurant check or a wallet. Bob from Minnesota uses it alongside a little menagerie of similar images: in Argentina, a miserly person may be said...
alligator arms n.pl.— «Some of the best players in the NBA have developed “alligator arms”— sports parlance for not extending the arms—under the pressure of big free throws.» —“The fine art of shooting free throws” by Eric Plummer Bonner County...
alligator arms n.pl. in American sports, especially football, arms that are not sufficiently extended to catch a ball; generally, short arms on a player. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
