useless canister
n.— «King of Foxrock was third in a maiden hurdle, Alcapone second in a conditions chase, Skibb third in a beginners’ chase and Gimli’s Axe 14th in a novice hurdle. A battle Axe, it was not. In a vernacular unique to the area an animal like that might be described as a “useless canister” or a “scrubbing brush”; for its jockey, it can be a ticket to casualty and if there is one time in the entire year when you do not want to take a fall it is now.» —“Geraghty polishes his Moscow jewel” by Tom English Scotsman (Glasgow, Scotland) Mar. 13, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a word-pecker is “a person who trifles or plays with, or quibbles over, words.” This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of “Word-Peckers” I always love it when I’m looking through the dictionary and...
How do dictionaries define colors? And why are some of those definitions so confusing, like “stronger than carmine” and “bluer than fiesta”? Dictionary editor Kory Stamper explains it all in her new book. Plus, the story behind the expression more...