In nautical parlance, if you slacken a rope by pulling in the opposite direction to separate the blocks in a block-and-tackle system, you’re said to overhaul it — the inspiration for the more general term that means to “change significantly,”...
When two people can’t gee-haw together, it means they don’t get along. The terms gee-haw, or gee and haw, come from farming, where a trained animal obeys a command to go left or right–to gee or haw, in other words. Noncompliant animals don’t gee-haw...
The term pull-haul, meaning “a verbal conflict,” is heard in New England, particularly Maine. A 1914 citation in the Dictionary of American Regional English alludes to all the pull-hauling among churches when a new congregant moves to town. This is...
wet fish n.— «Both fish reside in the middle-water column of the ocean, causing those in the fishing industry to refer to them as “wet fish.” This means that a lot of water must be pulled into boats when scooping them in from the sea and...
hang paper v. phr.— «U-Haul mechanics on occasion have falsified repair records, listing work they did not perform—a practice known as “hanging paper,” court records and interviews show. U-Haul says this is rare and never tolerated.» —“Upkeep lags...