bump up
v. phr.— «He lauded the five killed in the Esperanza Fire as among the most trusted and urged their loved ones to “bump up,” a common firefighting term meaning “move forward.”» —“Firefighters pay tribute to 5 ‘brothers’” by Stacia Glenn in Devore San Bernardino County Sun (California) Nov. 6, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
As we’ve previously discussed, firefighters don and dofftheir equipment, terms deriving from do on and do off. They are also said to dout a fire, meaning they “extinguish” it, dout being a similar shortening of do out. This is part...
Sometimes it’s a challenge to give a book a chance: How many pages should you read before deciding it’s not worth your time? There’s a new formula to help with that decision — and it’s all based on your age. • Have you ever...