near the flagpole
adv.— «He explains Clem’s presence with an old military saying: “Even though you’re out of the military, you want to stay near the flagpole.”» —“The Blue Soldier: Supernatural Encounters in Fort Douglas” by Wynne Parry in University of Utah Daily Utah Chronicle (Salt Lake City) Jan. 11, 2002. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...
A listener in Park City, Utah, says she and her fellow ski enthusiasts are having heated debates about the word nonplussed. It originally meant “at a loss,” from Latin non plus, meaning “no more,” suggesting a situation in...