talk out (the side of) one’s neck

talk out (the side of) one’s neck
 v. phr.— «Inside the prison, there is Jimmie’s mentor Virgil Cane, played by F. Murray Abraham, who throws himself rather too heartily into the screenplay’s enthusiastic jive (’‘Hey! Don’t you be talkin’ out the side of your neck when I’m tryin’ to do you a solid!’‘).» —“Tom Selleck as a Police Pawn, in ‘Innocent Man’” by Janet Maslin New York Times Oct. 6, 1989. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Further reading

By a Long Shot (episode #1572)

Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within ten miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words are useful for far more, like applying for a job or...

Cool Beans (episode #1570)

If you speak a second or third language, you may remember the first time you dreamed in that new tongue. But does this milestone mean you’re actually fluent? And a couple’s dispute over the word regret: Say you wish you’d been able...