throw up hands
v. phr.— «A youth worker started the talks by saying, “We all know who’s supposed to speak first.” An H-Block leader, who had been shot a few days earlier, said, “It’s time to throw up hands,” street lingo for an offer of peace. His counterpart from Heath responded simply, “Then it’s done.”» —“2 gangs find real peace, in secret” by Suzanne Smalley Boston Globe (Massachusetts) Nov. 5, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Have you ever googled your own name and found someone else who goes by the very same moniker? There’s a word for that: googleganger. Plus, the language of hobbyists and enthusiasts: If you’re a beekeeper, perhaps you call yourself a...
The term skycap for workers who help with luggage at an airport was coined by analogy with redcap, a term for porters on trains who wore red caps. Skycap was the winning entry in a contest. Another contest, held in 1923, gave us the word scofflaw, a...