torch party
n.— «Some of the soldiers were returning for graduations and births of their children, Auer said, but a number of them are part of what’s known as a “torch party.” A torch party clears the way for a larger advance party of about 75 to 100 soldiers, who will work the logistics of bringing the main body of troops home.» —“Return A Step Closer” by Tony Adams Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Georgia) June 5, 2003. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Megan from Savannah, Georgia, is curious about a phrase her father used: down cellar behind the axe, a phrase whose meaning she never quite understood. Down cellar, meaning “down in the cellar,” is common in New England and the Canadian Maritimes...
A Navy veteran recalls hearing the Southern expression fat lighter from his wife’s family in Troy, Alabama. It denotes an old, resin-rich pine wood that becomes highly flammable as it ages. Fat lighter is prized as kindling and often called fat...