who laid the rail
adv. phr.— «He was and is a gamester from who laid-the-rail. A fiercer competitive spirit never burned than the one which fires Grimes.» —“Burleigh Grimes Has Tough Job Ahead Managing the Dodgers” by Henry McLemore in New York Dunkirk Evening Observer (New York) Nov. 6, 1936. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The word filibuster has a long and colorful history, going back to the days when pirates roamed the high seas. Today it refers to hijacking a piece of legislation. Plus, the language of yoga teachers: When doing a guided meditation, you may hear...
After our conversation about towns with extremely short names, many listeners wrote to tell us about Why, Arizona. Others pointed out that there are towns called Ely in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. Other super-short appellations include Rye, New...