throw down
n.— «I know I didn’t carry it and I know that nobody that I ever worked with—and I went to the academy in 1980 and hit the streets in 1981. Nobody had a throw-down gun.…if you don’t know the difference between a backup gun and a throw-down, you have no business talking on this show, sir.…If we were all carrying these throw-down weapons, we would have been planting guns instead of saying, “Yep, I made a mistake.”» —“Talk of the Nation: Analysis: Growing problem of police misconduct and its impact on effective policing” by David Klinger NPR Feb. 15, 2000. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What’s the difference between a daffodil and a jonquil? Strictly speaking, daffodil is a general term, and jonquils are a specific type of daffodil, called Narcissus jonquilla. Both belong to the botanical genus Narcissus, and most people use...
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...