tango uniform
n.— «It comes with a standard V-6 engine, a new unibody chassis and independent rear suspension, and a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty in case all goes, as they say in the military, tango uniform.» —“Not grand, but good” by Dan Neil Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) Apr. 8, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
When there’s no evening meal planned at home, what do you call that scramble to cobble together your own dinner? Some people apply acronyms like YOYO — “you’re on your own” — or CORN, for “Clean Out your Refrigerator...
A librarian opens a book and finds a mysterious invitation scribbled on the back of a business card. Another discovers a child’s letter to the Tooth Fairy, tucked into a book decades ago. What stories are left untold by these forgotten...
“Tango” and “Uniform” are the military radio codewords for letters “T” and “U.” The expression is short for T.U., which itself is short for “tits up,” or non-functioning, deceased.
Yes, that’s what my research found, too. However, no dictionary I have includes the expression so it was worth recording here.
The more formal “toes up” is also cited and will never offend those who oppose “taudry” terms like “tits”.
The roots of this go back to the gyroscope in an airplane. Your artificial horizon can only show so much pitch, yaw, roll. When the gyroscope is at the end of its string, the ^^ symbol is shown. This is there the “tits up” comes from. If you are flying so badly that the ^^ symbol is shown, you are in REAL trouble! Take a look at the gyro markings. This goes back 50+ years…