| 释义 |
Idiom coin a phrase something that you say before you use a phrase which sounds slightly silly.He was, to coin a phrase, as sick as a parrot.
coin a phraseTo create a new expression. Don't try to coin a phrase, just write a straightforward headline. coin a phraseFig. to create a new expression that is worthy of being remembered and repeated. (Often jocular.) He is "worth his weight in feathers," to coin a phrase. coin a phrase, toTo fashion an expression. This term, dating from the 1940s, is often used ironically to apologize for using a cliché, as in “He acts like the cock of the walk, to coin a phrase.” Of course it can also be used straightforwardly and refer to inventing an expression, a usage dating from the late 1500s. |