![]() ![]() Early use incorporated this time record in phrases such as at a pace or rate of two-forty, but by the turn of the century two-forty had taken on its current adverbial function.Ģ. In horse racing, the former trotting record for a mile was two minutes and forty seconds. ![]() Go two-forty To move at a rapid clip to run, race, or tear to bustle, hurry, or rush. A similar popular American slang expression is to burn rubber, an allusion to the screeching of automobile tires and the streaks of burned rubber left on the road due to rapid acceleration. To burn the earth or wind dates from the late 1800s, while to burn the road and to burn the breeze did not appear until the 1930s. “Ballin’ the jack” is also the name of a dance and the title of a song by Chris Smith and Jim Burris, both of which were popular in the early 1900s.īurn up the road To drive or move extremely fast to go at full speed also to burn the breeze (primarily Southwestern use) or earth or wind. Both are all-out, all-or-nothing, no-holds-barred efforts. Perhaps the secondary meaning of staking everything on one attempt is related to the opening of the engine’s throttle to reach maximum speed. Ball the jack is a slang phrase now used to apply to swift action of any type. The word derives from the signal itself-a raised pole with a metal ball attached to it. In railroad terminology ball is a truncated form of highball, a railroad signal for a jack, or locomotive, to accelerate to full speed. Ball the jack To travel at full speed to go or act quickly to stake everything on one attempt. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |