coin a phrase
coin a phrase
To create a new expression. It is typically used jocularly to indicate the opposite (i.e. that one has just used a well-known or trite saying). Don't try to coin a phrase, just write a straightforward headline. Well, we can't do anything about it now, so "que sera sera," to coin a phrase. Yeah, we have a lot to get done by Saturday, but we'll just have to put our noses to the grindstone, to coin a phrase.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
coin a phrase
Fig. 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.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
coin a phrase, to
To 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.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer