time the committee had given the plan the
old one-two, there was nothing left I could
do. I gave his proposal the old one-two.
Next time he will be better prepared.old skoolmod. old fashioned; out-of-style;
no longer trendy. Man, your haircut is
strictly old skool.
old soldier 1. n. a cigarette or cigar butt;
a hunk of tobacco. The tramp bent over
to pick up an old soldier off the pavement.
He’s never had anything but an old sol-
dier for a smoke. 2. n. an empty liquor
bottle; an empty beer bottle or can.
Larry hid all his old soldiers under the bed.
Bill hit Tom over the head with an old
soldier.
old-timern. an old person; an old man.
(Also a term of address.) Hey, old-
timer, how’s it going? Ask that old-timer
over there if it has always been this bad
around here.
old womanGo to old lady.
on a rollmod. in the midst of a series of
successes. (See also roll.) Don’t stop me
now. I’m on a roll. Things are going
great for Larry. He’s on a roll now.
on a shoestringmod. on practically no
money; on a very tight budget. (See also
shoestring.) I run my business on a
shoestring. I never know from day to day
whether I will survive. We live on a
shoestring—hardly any money at all.
on a tankGo to on the tank.
on a tight leash 1. mod. under very care-
ful control. My father keeps my brother
on a tight leash. We can’t do much
around here. The boss has us all on a tight
leash. 2. mod. addicted to some drug.
Bart is on a tight leash. He has to have the
stuff regularly. Gert is kept on a tight
leash by her habit.
once and for allmod. permanently. I’m
gonna take care of you once and for all!
I would like to get this ridiculous problem
settled once and for all.
once in a blue moonmod. rarely. I do
this only once in a blue moon. Once in
a blue moon I have a little wine with
dinner.
theonce-overn. a visual examination, es-
pecially of a person of the opposite sex.
The way she was giving him the once-
over, I knew she would say something to
him. Tom, you are always giving the
girls the once-over.
once over lightly 1. mod. quickly and su-
perficially; carelessly; cursorily. (This is
hyphenated before a nominal.) He
looked at it once over lightly and agreed
to do it. It needs more than a once-over-
lightly look. 2. n. a perfunctory exami-
nation; a quick glance. Please give it
more than the usual once over lightly.
Once over lightly is not enough.
onemod. having to do with something
unique or special. (Similar to a definite
article.) Tracy is one fine cook. He
was left with one powerful hangover.
Hank? Now there is one ugly son of a gun
for you.
one and onemod. having to do with the
use of both nostrils in snorting a drug,
usually cocaine. (Drugs.) Max always
takes it one and one. It’s the only way he
can get enough. He does it one and one
because it hits him faster that way.
one and onlyn. one’s lover or sweetheart.
I bought a gift for my one and only.
She’s my one and only, and I love her.
on easy streetmod. in a state of financial
independence and comfort. (See also
easy street.) I want to live on easy
street when I grow up. When I get this
contract signed, I’ll be on easy street.
one brick shy of a loadmod. stupid;
dense. Joyce has done some stupid
things. Sometimes I think she is one brick
shy of a load. Ted is one brick shy of a
load. He can’t seem to do what he is told
without messing up.
one-eyed pants mouseGo to bald-
headed hermit
one for the roadn. a drink; a drink before
a journey. Let’s have one for the road.
Don’t have one for the road if you are
going to be the driver.
one-horse townn. a very small town; a
small and backward town. I refuse toone-horse town