TagIdiomatic expression

back up the truck

back up the truck  v. phr.— «The safety of these securities caused financial firms to load upon on them (“back up the truck,” in Wall Street parlance). They were considered so safe that financial firms used borrowed funds to buy more, and...

steel monkey

steel monkey  n.— «This is where not being a sissy comes in. Steel monkeys as they are affectionately called, have to walk the steel girders in order to put the steel beams in place. They walk the beams a hundred feet in the air. One false...

evexy

evexy  adj.— «Your character on Burn Notice, Carla, is described as a mix of evil and sexy, which Bruce Campbell likes to call “evexy.”» —“From Battlestar to Burn Notice with Tricia Helfer” by Reg...

back-porch money

back-porch money  n.— «That’s not to say street money doesn’t cause problems. For one thing, by the time it reaches ward leaders, it is cash. While some ward leaders are assiduous about keeping receipts and filing the necessary public...

foot bullet

foot bullet  n.— «A friend of mine was handed an assignment that I often refer to as a “foot bullet.”  It’s the kind of thing that no one pays any attention to until they go to review the budget versus spend for the quarter and find...

green broke

green broke  adj.— «The afflicted victim has the urge to buy a horse and the only way to lick the dreaded malady is to attend a horse sale.…Since the subject had been brought up I asked in a quieter voice, “Is he broke?”...